Vater, Brot, Böse (AKA Father, Bread, Evil) is the last of the “special” brews in preparation for the First Evangelical Lutheran Church’s 175 Anniversary Oktoberfest Celebration come September.
More information can be found here: https://www.firstracine.org
The prior two brews are lagers which are currently patiently doing their thing at 32° F in Mark’s Man Cave. Speaking of … Mark and his wife, Helen, recently took a trip to the SE states (Carolinas) and such. As is his custom, Mark paid visit to a number of breweries along the way collecting brewery stickers for the recently added lager chest freezer. He has done a nice job with the initial decoration of the unit. This 18 cu ft freezer has plenty of real estate to. keep him busy for some time to come.
Try this again. The prior two brews are ….Freudenfest (Märzen) and Gemütlichkeit (Helles Bock). Father, Bread, Evil (Dunkelweizendopplebock) is a combination of beer styles – as you can tell from the style – which really isn’t. It is primarily a high gravity weizen with characteristics of a dunkle and dopplebock. Unlike its predecessors, this is being fermented at ale temperature.
On hand for the brewing event were: Mark, Greg and myself. Greg and I met with Littleport Mark to get the goods while Man Cave Mark was readying the Man Cave, Dorothy Doors and Grill for our anticipated arrival.
Per usual, Man Cave Mark had his Bloody Mary bar set and open upon our arrival and we put it to good immediate use before getting going on the brew. In addition, he had a tray of pulled pork nachos at the ready. What a fantastic way to start a brew session!
Not too long into setup, it became very apparent that getting 20# of grain / rice hulls and mash water into the electric system was going to be a problem. After some ideas were tossed around, it was decided to perform a double mash. Roughly half of the grain and rice hulls were mashed and sparged. Following round one, the same procedure was followed with the remaining grain and rice hulls. This procedure added an extra hour to the process but appeared to be an acceptable solution for the capacity situation. It did produce a very fermentable wort.
Following the Bloody Mary bar, we enjoyed various refreshments as the day progressed. Greg contributed Tap Shack Caribbean Lager by Earth Rider Brewery – Superior, WI. Mark, not to be outdone, opened a bottle of 3 Floyds Brewing Dark Lord – Rrari Crochet (2023).
Along with the above mentioned, the Coconut Porter, a brew from about a month ago, was tapped. Disappointedly, the coconut did not make much of an appearance. Some thoughts were shared as to why and will need to be tested on future batches. This is the fun part about brewing.
Greg, being a service minded individual and interested in quality control, taste-tested the keg of Belgian Quad brewed last Fall at the annual Fantasy Football Draft to be served at this year’s event. He visited the keg a number of times ensuring that it poured clear as there is always sediment that accumulates over time. He may have even been enjoying it in the process of quality control as he revisited it a number of times.
Meanwhile, Mark at the grill was putting the finishing touches on Tri-Tip Steak procured from Danny’s Meats. Mark does great work at the grill. Can’t think of a better partnership: Grilled meats and beer. Brew days at Fieldpointe South are always enjoyable!
This was the second brewing of Father, Bread, Evil. You should be able to locate the first session somewhere back on the site. It must have been brewed at Fieldpointe HQ (North) on the propane system which can handle the grain bill. If memory serves, the max capacity on the propane system is 21# of grain and associated hot liquor for the mash. There is also a 10 gallon converted Igloo cooler for mashing if needed. If I simply would have brought it along on brew day the process could have been done in one shot instead of two. Didn’t think of the capacity concern until the supplies were in hand. Visual observations sometimes come in handy. Usually I procure the supplies a couple days in advance but it didn’t work out that way this time.
Vater, Brot, Böse
Grain
- 9.5 lb – Pilsner Malt
- 5.5 lb – White Wheat Malt
- 3 lb – Dark Wheat Malt
- 1.25 lb – Chocolate Wheat Malt
- 1.5 lb – Cara Wheat
- 0.5 lb – Acidulated Malt
Hops
- 1 oz – Chinook @ 60 minutes
- 0.5 oz – Hallertau @ 10 minutes
- 0.5 oz – Hallertau @ 5 minutes
Yeast
- Fermentis – Safbrew BE-256
Adjunct
- 1.5 lb – Rice Hulls
- 5 g – Calcium Carbonate in the mash
- 0.5 oz – Alpha Amylase in the mash
Projected Analysis
- OG – 1.112
- FG – 1.028
- ABV – 11%
- Color – 30 SRM
- Bitterness – 54 IBU