Fan Fiction aka Beets 4 Life
It was Brewvivial. Pribble and I were beginning to set sail - this deep into the festival we were loosing our volume control. All of a sudden, we stumble upon an odd looking beer from a funny lookin brewer. The beer was Beets, Rhymes, and Life by Fonta Flora. We each take a sample of the ruby beer and pondered. We became calm. We looked at the beer; we looked at each other. It was decided! Pribble was to plant beets in his garden, harvest them, and we were to brew with them.
Hello folks, I've gotten some requests for the Fan Fiction recipe. This is the beet beer Pribble and I got to brew at Edmund's Oast to support our club's charity, Camp Happy Days. The homebrew version of this beer is known as Beets 4 Life. Our goal was to brew an excellent Belgian Golden Strong and enhance it with distinctive beet character. Cheers!
-Trevor
Fan Fiction at Edmund's Oast
Recipe
OG: 1.072 FG: 1.012 ABV: 8% IBU: 45
Fermentables (by weight):
- 80% Pilsner malt
- 20% sucrose
Mash:
- Single infusion @ 149F for 60min
- Mashout
- Minerals to give you approx 100pm each Calcium, Chloride, and Sulphate
Hops:
- Saaz at 90min to achieve 45IBU *Our rate was about 1oz/gal of 2011 Saaz (2%AA)
Yeast:
- WLP570 Belgian Golden Ale aka the Duvel strain
- Pitch rate target 1.5M cells/mL/P
- Pitch at 57F and raise linearly to 80F over 8 days to complete attenuation
- Drop to 40F over the next 3 days and hold for 8 days.
Optimus Beet Prime:
Ok, so here's the secret. We made a beet 'priming charge' (see pic). You need about a pint of juice for 5gal of beer. Use a masticating juicer if possible as a centrifugal juicer will easily clog with fibrous beet pulp. We yielded 18oz and added this juice to a mason jar. We assumed the juice was about 6% sugar and added 8oz sucrose to target 4 volumes of carbonation. The jar was topped off with water to the line and pressure canned to pasteurize. Add this 'priming charge' to the keg at fill. Allow 2 weeks to carbonate at room temp.
Finish:
The final step is to lager the beer once carbonated for at least a month at 32F. When ready to serve, use a long line and/or choker (flow control) at the faucet to reduce flow rate. Serve in a wide glass at 38F with plenty of foam.