Steam Beer
What makes a steam beer a steam style beer?
this is the recipe I'm following:
Steam Beer
8# pale malt extract
1/2# 120L crystal
4 oz Northern Brewer hops (German)
Saflager S23 - Dry Lager Yeast
Now with the NB hops being "German" and not the "American" and the Yeast more of a Western European variety not the Californian or San Fransico type. Can i still consited this a Steam Beer or is it something else?
I always thought the defining characteristic was using a lager yeast at temps warmer than usual for fermentation. So getting the style right is going to depend most on your temperature control. The northern brewer hops are right for the style, I don't even know if they're German, are they English?
I actually thought that NB hops were American. As cmanley said, a steam beer is using a lager yeast at higher than normal lager temps. The Wyeast California yeast is supposed to come from the same strain as that used by Anchor. The batch I brewed before my daughter was born was a steam beer, although I came up with my own basic recipe. I fermented at about 55 degrees (although due to the fermentation going on, the fermenter was about 63). I then lagered it at about 50 degrees. It came out pretty well. I used Cascade and NB hops in my beer.
Where did you get the recipe from? That 120 crystal seems a bit dark.
Also, technically speaking, "Steam Beer" is trade marked by Anchor Brewing Company, so they are supposed to be refered to as California Common. This issue may be a reason why you don't see more of these commerically produced.
The "steam" name comes from the fact that the lager yeast used at higher than normal temps has a vigorous ferment and produces a lot of carbonation, when they tapped the kegs it would spray foam out the top, or "steam". I don't think Anchor could trademark that could they?
this is one of the links where i came up with the recipe:
http://www.homebrewmart.com/beerreci.html#Steam%20Beer
i used this and another recipe from another site and came up with the recipe above, unfortunately i can seem to find the other site yet.
If you're steeping, that amount of 120 should be fine, the combo of 1lb 80 and 1/2 lb 120 crystals would make an all-grain brew dark brown, but steeping might not be so severe.
Beleive it or not Anchor does have the name "Steam Beer" trademarked. They did it right after Prohibition ended.
what i noticed, when i was shopping for ingredients, as far as the diference between "German" and "American" NB hops is the % of alpha acids.
I've never seen them referenced as German before, was the label on the wrong hops?
this was on a couple of websites when ordering my supplies.
I have not seen any German NB hops around, but NB hops are supposed to originate from Halertau hops, which are a German type of hops. I wonder if this is what is being referenced.
here is one site that had them labeled as US and German, although the alpha acid looks to vary.
http://www.highgravitybrew.com/productc … ategory=80
Apparently they are two different hops:
German Northern Brewer
http://www.brew-monkey.com/brewschool/hop.php?id=42
US Northern Brewer
http://www.brew-monkey.com/brewschool/hop.php?id=24
As far as use, it looks like they're close enough to be virtually interchangable.
thats what i figured too, i just was curious if I'm using the German instead of the US for hops and a non California common style of yeast, if i was still making a steam beer( with the Temp reference as a factor noted from above) or something else, like a European Amber of some type.
No, I think youre right on with that recipe. Keep the fermentation temp right, and I think youll have it.
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