4 Korn Bier Brew (4 Grain Beer)

[OswaldvW]

Hello all:

I ran across an interesting German ale called 4-Korn Bier (4 grain beer). I have spotted numerous beers in German that use a variety of grains from rye to wheat, spelt, oats, and barley. Germans don't really talk about beers so much as being ales or lagers. Often at pubs, one sees descriptions of "obergärig" and "untergärig" (top-fermenting and bottom-fermenting beers). After having found an easy "obergärig" recipe from hobbybrauer.de, I decided to give it a try. Fortunately my not-too-local homebrew supply shop had malted spelt, so I felt obligated to try the recipe:

20 Liter recipe

Grain Bill:

Pilsener Malt 1700g
Munich Malt 700g
Wheat Malt 800g
Rye Malt 800g
Spelt Malt 800g

Mash Rests:

Rest 1 10 min Temp 55°C
Rest 2 50 min Temp 63°C
Rest 3 40 min Temp 73°C

Hops:

Spalter Selekt 6% Alpha 50g

90 min boil
2/3 Hops at 80 minutes
1/3 Hops at 30 min

Yeast suggestions:
Altbier or German Wheat, or whatever you fancy.

Brix 13.5% (1.054 SG)
EBC 25 (12.7 SRM)
EBU 31 (31 IBU)

 

[OswaldvW]

OK, so with 50% of the grain bill being rye, wheat and spelt, I decided to use 12 oz of rice hulls. Soaked them first before adding to the mash.

Grain bill is 10.75 lbs. My barley crusher did a fine job of dealing with the different malts, and I did have to adjust the rollers a bit for the wheat and spelt as they are smaller than the barley.

I was going to mash outside, but it was 11ºF (-11ºC) this morning so I chickened out. I heated up the strike water to 139º, added grains, kept the mash at 131 for 10 minutes, then used the stove top (my mash tun fits over both burners) to bump it up 10 degrees for a 50 minute rest and then another 10 degrees for a 40 minute rest. After each bump up, I wrapped my mash tun in insulation.

 

[OswaldvW]

Mashout, Sparge and Vorlauf went flawlessly, although looking back I should have sparged just a bit more to collect 7.5 gallons. The 6.5 gallons I collected just didn't give me the complete 5 gallons over the 90 minute boil. The 2nd sparge was still 1.025, so I think there could have been another gallon in there with all the sugars in the grain.

The wort was light and pretty clear. Considering all the rye and wheat, I expected a little more cloudiness.

 

[OswaldvW]

No Spalter Selekt to be found at the LHBS, so I used Tettnanger.

In my case, I used:
.6 oz leaf hops at 90 minutes
.75 oz leaf hops at 30 minutes

 

[OswaldvW]

Got a nice rolling boil. 90 minute duration. Used my copper wort chiller and was able to get the wort down to the low 60's in less than 30 minutes.

I have been reading how a lot of German homebrewers love Nottingham yeast as it can ferment in the high 50's for lager type styles. I had a pack on hand and decided that I would give it a try.

 

[OswaldvW]

I am going to try to ferment 58-62ºF for 4-5 days, then raise the temp to mid 60's. Since I bottle only, I don't know if I am going to age the beer in a carboy in my basement (low 40's), or if I am going to bottle the beer, condition it, and then "faux-lager" the bottles for a month.

Really looking forward to trying this one. The wort had a slight spiciness to it, but it was also very mellow and round from the Pilsener malt.

 

[OswaldvW]

Less than 24 hours later and I have signs of fermentation with Kräusen. Ambient temp of the room is approximately 58ºF.

 

[OswaldvW]

Five days fermentation at 58F. Raising temp to 65F for a few days.View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1427641147.747155.jpg

 

[OswaldvW]

Took SG this evening: 1.014
So, I roused the yeast with the hopes of dropping the gravity a few points.

 

[OswaldvW]

I took a gravity reading again this evening and it is still 1.014

I have used Notty before, so I don't know if the poor attenuation is due to the colder temp fermentation or due to the recipe.

In any event, I look forward to trying this beer. Am deciding what to do next. Bottle? Age? Chill?

 

[WayFrae]

This looks interesting. I love using Notty at 58°F but I have never had an issue with it underattenuating. I would just keg it and start drinking. What kind of flavor does spelt lend to a beer?

 

[OswaldvW]

Spelt is an ancient wheat variety. I don't know exactly what it contributes to the beer since there is both wheat and rye added to the grist. There is a tangy taste to the beer that is balanced with the barley malt and the hops. All indications so far lead me to believe it will be a pretty refreshing beer to help me through the spring months as I garden.

 

[OswaldvW]

Bottled this evening. Added 127 grams of honey to the bottling bucket. Was able to get about 4.73 gallons of beer from the carboy. It looks like it will have a nice golden color. It smells very bready (yummy, complex grain and yeast smell like walking into a bakery) and has definite wheat characteristics. There is a slight noble hop aroma in the nose, but in the taste it is more balanced with the malt. REALLY looking forward to trying this one in the next few weeks.

Photos include racking, finished bottles, and a view of my short pour (which is a little cloudy from having disturbed the bottom of the bottling bucket.

 

[OswaldvW]

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1429540235.862674.jpg
It's a little cloudy and young but it looks promising.

 

[OswaldvW]

View attachment 273764

Malty nose with a slight noble hops presence. Slightly spicy from perhaps the rye. Nice clean finish. I need to lager this for a couple weeks before I have any more.

 

[OswaldvW]

I have had the 4-Korn sitting in the fridge for a month. The spiciness has really rounded out and there is a true blend of all the grains. Definitely can taste the wheat/spelt. The rye is no longer pronounced, but compliments the other grains.

So, I would say 8 weeks from brewing to enjoyment for this beer. I am definitely interested in doing this recipe again. At first I thought I should reduce the rye, but now I am very satisfied with the grain balance. I would be interested in trying this recipe with Wyeast 1007 as well as a Kölsch yeast.

The beer certainly has a "lawnmower" quality about it, so it might be a great platform to try different hops, dry hopping, and the addition of fruits. I am thinking of rhubarb as a perfect compliment.

Would I use Nottingham again? Yes. I think the low temperatures really showed off the yeast. It certainly is not a true lager, but it's pretty clean for an ale yeast.