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Brewing Pious Monk Dunkel + Recipe – Church Brew works – Pittsburgh, Pa

Pittsburgh, Pa is my home town. It’s where I grew up and where I learned about beer. I’m not talking about Iron City or Rolling Rock. Both or which are no longer made there. Though both do have their place. I’m talking about great beer from Penn Brewery, Church Brew Works and East End Brewing Co. The three main craft breweries that existed in the 90’s and earl 2000’s. Before the glut of breweries that now inhabit ever where.


When I learned that Pious Monk Dunkel from Church Brew Works was listed in the American Homebrewers Association’s list of 51 Craft Beer Clone Recipes of 2019 I knew I had to brew it. I scaled up the recipe to 6 gallons and waited. Not having been to Church Brew for several years, 5 weeks was a long time to wait. I had never done a lager before. How was this going to come out with out a fermentation chamber?

I researched how to perform a decoction mash. I read more than a few articles about lagering at warmer temps. Brew day came and went with out an issue. The beer fermented out in less than a week. Rested for another week and In to the keg it went. After 5 weeks I was rewarded with a memory that I had not encountered in a long time. I had a very accurate clone of one of my favorites.

Don’t be afraid of brewing a lager at less than ideal temperatures. Lagers are not as fragile as you have been led to believe.

You can find the original 5 gallon Pious Monk recipe over on the AHA website. The modified 6 gallon recipe as I brewed it is included below.

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
6 gal 90 min 31.3 IBUs 18.6 SRM 1.052 1.006 6.1 %
Actuals 1.053 1.012 5.5 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Viking Munich Malt Light 5 lbs 40.4
Viking Pilsner Malt 5 lbs 40.4
Melanoiden Malt 14 oz 7.07
Carafoam 12 oz 6.06
Caraaroma 8 oz 4.04
Carafa II 4 oz 2.02

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Perle 0.85 oz 90 min Boil Pellet 8
Tettnang 0.85 oz 20 min Boil Pellet 4.5

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Baking Soda 4.00 tbsp 60 min Mash Water Agent
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 1.50 tbsp 60 min Mash Water Agent
Whirlfloc Tablet 1.00 Items 15 min Boil Fining
Yeast Nutrient 6.00 tsp 15 min Boil Other

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
German Lager (WLP830) White Labs 77% 50°F - 55°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Protein Rest 140°F 35 min
Saccharification 154°F 45 min
Mash Out 168°F 10 min

Fermentation

Step Time Temperature
Primary 4 days 67°F
Secondary 10 days 67°F
Aging 30 days 65°F

Download

Download this recipe's BeerXML file

Music By:
Scott Buckley
https://www.scottbuckley.com.au/

 

Brewing a Belgian Wit (V. 2.5) with WLP500

I have been on a quest to clone Hoegaarden for more than a year. It’s my favorite Summer beer and one that I would really like to make my house beer. The one that I always have on hand. My first attempt was a tasteless extract version that missed the mark. Version 2.0 came about a month later when I made my first attempt at a partial mash version. By the time I brewed this version (2.5) partial mashing was gone and it was all grain.


Changing to all grain doesn’t mean you can’t still make mistakes. Too much coriander. Yeast that is too old. Not using enough orange zest. All contributed to an end product that is no where close to tasting like Hoegaarden.

Since this brew, I have upgraded to creating starters for all brew days. Version 3 of this beer is coming. I’ll be changing out the flaked wheat for German wheat and adding some acid malt. 4 Oz. of orange zest instead of 2. Hopefully that creates a well rounded beer.

Till that brew is ready, here is the recipe I used for version 2.5. The download link is at the bottom.

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
5.5 gal 90 min 44.6 IBUs 3.1 SRM 1.046 1.008 4.9 %
Actuals 1.047 1.01 4.9 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Pilsner (2 Row) UK 4.5 lbs 45
Wheat, Flaked 4 lbs 40
Oats, Flaked 1 lbs 10
Munich Malt 8 oz 5

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Hallertauer Mittelfrueh 1 oz 60 min Boil Pellet 4
Sterling 1 oz 60 min Boil Pellet 7.5

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Orange Zest 2.00 oz 10 min Boil Flavor
Chamomile Tea Bags 3.00 Items 10 min Boil Other
Coriander Seed 1.00 oz 10 min Boil Spice

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
Trappist Ale (WLP500) White Labs 78% 65°F - 72°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Mash In 150°F 90 min

Fermentation

Step Time Temperature
Primary 4 days 67°F
Secondary 10 days 67°F
Aging 30 days 65°F

Download

Download this recipe's BeerXML file

Help out by signing up with Tavour to save $10 on your next unique craft beer purchase.
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Music By:
Nicolai Heidlas
Real Ride
https://soundcloud.com/nicolai-heidlas

Brewing a Belgian Dubbel with WLP611 – New Nordic Yeast Blend

I first heard about the White Labs Yeast Vault back in September of 2017 from the Brew Dudes. At that time I ordered several different yeast strains, including WLP611. The first strain I received was WLP066 which I used in the Sherman’s Planet IPA recipe.

WLP611 as described by White Labs

Isolated from spontaneously fermented apples on a remote island off the coast of Denmark in the fall of 2009, this culture is a unique blend of three yeast strains (two belonging to Saccharomyces cerevisiae and one Torulaspora delbrueckii).

My original thought on a brew for this yeast was to brew a traditional Finnish Farmhouse Ale. It is unbelievably hard to find juniper branches. A main ingredient in the boil for a Finnish Sahti/Farmhouse Ale. At least I couldn’t ind them any where around central Pennsylvania in April. I settled on a Belgian Dubbel. I had been wanting to brew with Belgian candy syrup for a while. And I felt the style would lend itself to the originating nature of the yeast.


The recipe below references WLP500, Monastery/Trappist Ale yeast.  I picked that up when I purchased the grain. I was not sure the delivery from White labs was going to arrive in time.

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
5 gal 60 min 21.0 IBUs 24.6 SRM 1.074 1.010 8.4 %
Actuals 1.073 1.013 7.9 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Pale Malt, Maris Otter 5 lbs 35.4
Pilsner (2 Row) Bel 4 lbs 28.32
Munich Malt - 10L 1 lbs 7.08
Victory Malt 1 lbs 7.08
Wheat Malt, Bel 1 lbs 7.08
Cara-Pils/Dextrine 8 oz 3.54
Special B Malt 8 oz 3.54
Black (Patent) Malt 2 oz 0.88
Candi Sugar, Dark 1 lbs 7.08

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Hallertauer Mittelfrueh 1 oz 60 min First Wort Pellet 4.4
Hallertauer Mittelfrueh 0.5 oz 20 min Boil Pellet 4.4

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
Trappist Ale (WLP500) White Labs 78% 65°F - 72°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Mash In 150°F 75 min

Fermentation

Step Time Temperature
Primary 4 days 67°F
Secondary 10 days 67°F
Aging 30 days 65°F

Notes

Originally From: https://beerandbrewing.com/make-your-best-belgian-dubbel/

Download

Download this recipe's BeerXML file

Help out by signing up with Tavour to save $10 on your next unique craft beer purchase.
https://brewingaroundtherealm.com/tavour

Music By:
Scott Buckley
Homeward
http://www.scottbuckley.com.au/

Bringing all of the Hops to the table – Oldtown Standard IPA Brew Day

Purchasing hops in bulk is the only way to go. It’s cheaper in the long run. It come with one downside. You end up with more hops than you can use in the recipe you purchased them for. You can vacuum seal them and store them in the freezer. They don’t’ last forever. The only option is to brew up a big IPA.


I came up with this recipe after looking at several of my older ones. Knowing I wanted something lighter in color I used the Blizzard of Hops recipe as a start.. That gave me pilsner as a base. I liked the Munich from the Zombie Dirt recipe. Having not used Vienna, I wanted to get some of that in there. An IPA needs some crystal malt. I settled on crystal 40. A little research gave me the correct amounts.

The Hop profile is based mostly on the Blizzard of Hops recipe with influence from the Sherman’s Planet recipe.

I picked Burlington Ale Yeast (WLP095) because it was available at my LHBS. Though I would have selected  WLP001 if I had not seen anything else I liked.

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
6 gal 60 min 71.9 IBUs 6.4 SRM 1.060 1.017 5.7 %
Actuals 1.059 1.01 6.4 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Pilsner - US 11 lbs 78.57
Vienna - US 1.5 lbs 10.71
Crystal 40L - CA 12 oz 5.36
Munich Light - DE 12 oz 5.36

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Idaho Seven 1 oz 60 min First Wort Pellet 11
HopShot 0 oz 60 min Boil CO2Extract 8
Chinook 1 oz 20 min Boil Leaf 13
Centennial 1 oz 10 min Boil Pellet 10.5
Centennial 1 oz 0 min Aroma Pellet 10.5
Chinook 1 oz 0 min Aroma Leaf 13
Idaho Seven 0.5 oz 0 min Aroma Pellet 11
Centennial 2 oz 5 days Dry Hop Pellet 10.5
Chinook 2 oz 5 days Dry Hop Leaf 13

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Baking Soda 1.00 tsp 60 min Mash Water Agent
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 1.00 tsp 60 min Boil Water Agent
Whirlfloc Tablet 1.20 Items 15 min Boil Fining
Yeast Nutrient 5.00 tsp 15 min Boil Other

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
White Labs California Ale WLP001 70% 64°F - 69°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Mash In 152°F 60 min

Fermentation

Step Time Temperature
Primary 10 days 65°F
Secondary 10 days 65°F
Aging 7 days 65°F

Download

Download this recipe's BeerXML file

Help out by signing up with Tavour and save $10 on your net beer purchase.

https://www.tavour.com/?invitedby=276243

Music:
Concerning Hobbits
Scott Buckley
http://www.scottbuckley.com.au/

Northern Brewer Zombie Dirt Clone Tasting and Review

I had a lot of concerns with this in the first week after it was bottled. There was a cloying sweetness in the background that was unpleasant. Having never used Munich malt before I can only assume that was what the sweetness was. Over the following weeks the sweetness began to fade. The overall malt flavor came up. The hop aroma and flavor became more pronounced. After 3 weeks in the bottle the aroma had matured to the pine forest level I describe in the video. The same also applies to the pine flavor.

This turned out to be a great beer that I will definitely be brewing again.


You can view the full brew day video for this one here.

Tasting Notes

  • Color and Appearance
    • Medium Amber
    • Slightly Hazy
    • Good rocky head retention
    • Fast rising carbonation
  • Aroma
    • Pine and spruce with hints of citrus
    • Low to medium malt
    • Grapefruit esters
  • Flavor
    • No detectable alcohol
    • Pine with hints of grapefruit
    • Moderate to aggressive bitterness
    • Medium malt
  • Mouth Feel
    • Low to no astringency
    • Medium body
    • Full carbonation
    • Medium finish

Music:
The Waster
Scott Buckley
http://www.scottbuckley.com.au/

Updated 4/1/18 09:03 AM. A previous version of this story referenced honey malt when it should have been Munich malt.