This recipe is for the rauchgraf (smoked beer/hard cider hybrid) as seen brewed, blended and fermented in Chop & Brew Episode 123. While I used an orchard fresh apple cider blend of Cortland, Haralson and SweeTango, I believe you could make this using store-bought cider as long as it doesn’t have any preservatives in it, which would basically keep it from fermenting. You could also experiment with a different yeast; I chose Imperial Yeast Flagship because I know it ferments clean so the smoked malt flavors would be highlighted and thoroughly due to cell count. Check out the video and try making your own rauchgraf.
Ingredients
Fermentables:
- 4.5 lbs Weyermann Smoked Malt
- 1.5 lbs Weyermann Caramunich I
- 3 gallons apple cider
Hops:
- 1 oz German Ariana
Yeast:
- Imperial Yeast Flagship
Optional:
- Yeast nutrient
- Apple juice concentrate (one or more canisters to taste)
Process
Mash grains at 153F for one hour.
If BIAB, drain wort. If all-grain, sparge. You’re goal is to end up with about 3 gallons of pre-boil wort for approximately 2.5 gallons of post-boil wort at ~ SG 1.050.
Bring wort to a boil. Add hops and boil for 60 minutes.
Cool wort and pour into sanitized fermenter. Top off with three gallons apple cider.
Aerate by shaking fermenter or with oxygenation stone.
Add yeast nutrient (optional) and pitch yeast.
Ferment cool-ish around 60-63F.
Transfer to keg and backsweeten if needed with apple juice concentrate. See Chop & Brew episode for discussion about and considerations for backsweetening. Carbonate at a fairly high psi for a more sparkling beverage and serve.
NOTE: I’m not sure what to suggest for bottling graf. If you don’t backsweeten it, I think there is not issue. However, if you do backsweeten your graf, I believe you’ll want to add sulfite (to kill anything wild in there) and sorbate (to keep any yeast from reproducing and fermenting again) to stabilize it so that it doesn’t continue to ferment the new sugar, thus creating potential bottle bombs. Here is an AHA article about the process that might help.
Some Addtional Graf Resources:
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