Grodzinski is a GO!

Grodzinski is a GO!

There is no finer feeling then sampling a brew you've made for the first time, well for me anyway. After a 1.5 Weeks of leaving my Grodzinski to carbonate it was ready to drink and I'm very happy with the result.

Glorious Grodzinski!

As I was kegging the beer I took a gravity reading and the ABV worked out to around 4.5% which I was happy with as Home Brewing for me isn't about making the most Alcoholic drink you can, it's about experimenting with different styles and flavors that aren't readily available from the LCBO and Liquor stores . 

Smoked Polish Beer is something I have never encountered before, in fact the only place I could find on untappd to make it was Iron Hill Brewery who won a Bronze Medal for theirs in 2012. 

On pouring the beer I was delighted with the colour, the Carared© Malt giving the beer an amber glow, and a slight cloudiness from the Wheat DME. Cloudy Beers always remind me of the wonderful brews from Quebec who seem to have a fondness for Wheat and gives the region a unique style. 

Tasting the Grodzinski I was taken aback by how smooth it was, it gently glides down the throat which is always a dangerous profile on a Beer. The smoked malt gives the brew that wonderful smell that conjures up memories of the Fire pits from the Summer past and with Spring breaking on to the horizon it seemed quite fitting to be ready as the snows start to melt. It also gives the brew that little subtle something extra that keeps you interested in savoring every mouthful, which is beneficial with how smooth it tastes.

My only criticism is that maybe the smoked malt is a little too subtle and if I were to make this style again I would look to double the grain bill to see what the outcome would be. Perhaps though the smoked malt would be overpowering where as now it has a little air of mystery where the drinker can try to detect that little flavor over many smooth mouthfuls. 


 If you've made it this far then thanks for reading and please add any comments or contact me at @EyeBeerHolder.

PROST!!

Brewing up a Grodzinski

Brewing up a Grodzinski

So here it goes my first Blog on my Beer adventures. I started Home Brewing about 2 years ago after visiting Creemore Springs to sample all their quality brews. It got me into thinking how may different types of beer there were to try and how here in Ontario in can be quite difficult to get decent beer from Micro Brewery's, although I am a big fan of Ontario Craft Brewers and I hope to bring you some blogs on their Beers in the future.

To the Brew

Name: Grodzinski

Style: Smoked Polish Wheat

About: This is the traditional smoked wheat beer of Poland. It has fallen by the wayside in recent years but Home Brewers are helping it to make a comeback. 

Ingredients: 

WLP011 European Ale Yeast

1 lb Briess Smoked Malt

1 lb Carared© Malt

6 lbs Wheat DME

1 oz Spalt Hops

Additons:

Irish Moss

Yeast Nutrient

Ingredients

The Process: I generally just do partial mash as I find I don't have the time for full grain at this point in time. 

I started out by bringing around 3 gallons of spring water up to about 68OC. After Milling the Smoked Malt & Carared© I added them to the pot and made sure the temperature stayed at about the same temperature. 

Start of the Grain Tea

I let the grains rest for about steep for 30 minutes ensuring the temperature never dropped below 65. After that I let the grains drain off before washing them in steeping water and removing. I brought the pot up to the boil before removing from the heat and adding in the Wheat DME. Once the DME had fully dissolved I brought the wort up to the boil once again and added the Spalt Hops. 

Once all the Foam had cleared

I Kept the boil rolling for 45 minutes before adding the Irish Moss and Yeast Nutrient for the final 15 Minutes. Once the boil was done I removed it from the heat and cooled it for 30 minutes with a wort chiller before adding the wort to the Primary Fermenter. I took the OG reading as 1.052 a little below the .56 I was shooting for, but I did use  a little less DME then the recipe I was following so it makes sense.

As Always the final part was to add the yeast, I had made a yeast starter the night before so added the slurry in the mix and decided it would be better to use a blow off hose as opposed to an Airlock, it proved to be the right decision as within 24 hours the blow off was bubbling away.

Fermenting

I left the Beer in the primary for 5 days before deciding to move in into a secondary as the bubbling seemed to have slowed to a sufficient amount. 

Once the Secondary was filled the Beer was looking a good cloudy colour I would expect from a Wheat Beer and also had a slight smoky smell. I managed to save some of the Yeast to hopefully re-pitch in another brew. 

Beer!!!

So there it is. It still has another couple of days in the Secondary before I move to kegging it. If you've made it this far then thanks for reading and please add any comments or contact me at @EyeBeerHolder.

PROST!!