OnTap Magazine

“Spend the time and focus on water chemistry when it comes to your brewing. If you are brewing small batches it is really not a big cost to use reverse osmosis water. At least that way there will be a constant baseline to work from and you can build the water/ ion profile from there. There are lots of brewing programs such as BeerSmith as well as free online software that can be used to work out the amount of brewing salts to add to the brewing water. Do this and your beers will start to shine.” “Go big or go home. Prepare to throw out the rulebook when emulating the big American West Coast IPAs. We originally tried for IBUs of 100 with Tomahawk, but eventually settled on 85 for a more balanced beer. We have a hop usage rate of 13 grams per litre. You’re brewing an American IPA, so use American hops. We use up to five varietals which all play off each other and add complexity to the flavour and aroma. A simple, biscuity malt base is used to let the hop bitterness, flavour and aroma shine. Don’t be afraid to use sugar to fully attenuate the beer. At a bare minimum, use light crystal malts to give your beer a gorgeous golden colour. Wheat malt can be used for head retention and lace.” Mike Agar, the creator of the ever- popular Tomahawk IPA, now makes a homebrew version available to lucky Jozi-based homebrewers in kit form. This recipe is based on the all-grain kit but with a few educated guesses by the Homebru crew as Mike is honour- bound by his forebears not to fully reveal ancient Agar family recipes! NUTS & BOLTS Batch size: 19 litres OG: 1.053 FG: 1.008-1.010 IBUs: 20 ABV: 5.7-6.2% WATER PROFILE Calcium 50ppm Magnesium 10ppm Sodium 5ppm Sulphate 105ppm Chloride 45ppm Bicarbonate 0ppm MASH INGREDIENTS 3.28kg pilsner malt 650g wheat malt 220g Carahell® malt 220g dextrose BOIL INGREDIENTS 8g bitter orange peel (add in a muslin bag @ 15 minutes). 24g chamomile tea (add in a muslin bag along with the orange peel @ 15 minutes). 14g Magnum [12% AA] or similar bittering hop @ 60 minutes 15g Hallertauer Mittelfrüh [4% AA] @ flameout FERMENT INGREDIENTS French Saison strain (e.g. Belle Saison by Lallemand) METHOD Using the BIAB method, heat 28 litres of water to a strike temperature of 70°C for a final mash temperature of 67°C. Aim for a mash pH of between 5.1-5.2. Hold your mash for 75-85 minutes. Put the orange peel and chamomile tea into a cheesecloth or muslin bag, something that can be closed or tied off, and add to the boil 15 minutes before the end. At flameout, remove the bag to ensure there is no over-extraction which will result in astringency. Chamomile tea will add bitterness to the beer. There is no need to add Irish moss to the beer: we're aiming for a more traditional, unfiltered style of Saison. Pitch the yeast at 19°C and allow for a free rise during primary fermentation to 25°C. This will add a smoother yeast/spice character to the beer. NOVEMBER CHILD CHAMOMILE SAISON TOMAHAWK IPA 2 3 THE BREWERY: RICHMOND HILL BREWING COMPANY THE BREWERY: AGAR'S BREWERY THE BREWER: NIALL COOK THE BREWER: MIKE AGAR 54 | Summer 2021 | ontapmag.co.za