Pivo Kielich Grodziski #2

Polish brewing history is mostly a nonexistent topic outside of a very small group of beer historians aside from grodziski, the oak-smoked wheat beer developed in Grodzisk, Poland. Grodziski (sometimes spelled grodziskie or the German gratzer) has been saved from the obscurity shared by many Polish and German styles crammed out by the more popular German styles known today. Grodziski survived through the Cold War in an industrialized fashion that turned the 100% oak smoked wheat beer into a part-wheat malt, part-rauchmalz beer. It nearly died in the mid-1990s only to be revived by the hard work of Polish homebrewers who have not only kept the style alive but turned it over to craft brewers who have spread the message of grodziski. My research does not entirely agree with those Polish homebrewers and I'm not sure the Cold War industrialized version of the style is the best style to have brought to the forefront but that is perhaps a discussion for another time.

I've brewed a grodziski in the past in a slightly bigger variant than most recipes seem to follow and although I was happy with that effort I wanted to try my hand at a smaller version to cap off the rest of summer with a lower ABV version and play around with a different hop profile. So this beer clocks in a little below 3% ABV and relies on those wheat proteins to keep the beer from getting too watery. For late hop additions I've opted to combine opal and celeia hops. I am hypothesizing that the earthy opal and floral celeia will come together like an aggressive noble hop. I'm not entirely sure how the lime flavor from celeia will play into the flavor profile.

Pivo Kielich Grodziski #2 Recipe

Batch size: 1 gallon
Est. ABV: 2.7%
Est. IBU: 34.5
Est. SRM: 2.4
Est. OG: 1.028
Est. FG: 1.007

The Grist

1 lb. Weyermann oak smoked wheat malt (2 SRM)


The Water

Water profile based on Bru'n Water Yellow Balanced profile with RO water
Mash volume: 42 oz.
Sparge volume: 1 gal.
Mash ph: 5.5

Mash Water Additions:

Epsom salt: 0.1g
Calcium chloride: 0.2g
Chalk: 0.1g
Lactic acid: 0.2 ml

Sparge Water Additions:

Epsom salt: 0.3g
Calcium chloride: 0.5g

The Mash

Single infusion 42 oz. at 167F for 153F rest for 75 minutes

Sparge with 1 gallon water at 180F


The Boil

60 minute boil

0.11 oz. Belma [12.10%] at 60 minutes 29.1 IBU
0.10 oz. Celeia [4.5%] at 15 minutes 5.4 IBU
0.10 oz. Celeia [4.5%] at whirlpool 0 IBU
0.17 oz. Opal [6.5%] at whirlpool 0 IBU

The Fermentation

Pitch 1g dry US-05 and ferment at 65F
Bottle to 3 volumes

Brewday & Fermentation Notes

Brewed 8/16/15
Preboil volume: 1.2 gal
Preboil gravity: 1.020
Mash efficiency: 65%
Postboil volume: 1 gal
Postboil gravity: 1.024
Efficiency: 64%
 
Bottled 8/26/15. FG 1.002.