Replicator: Flying Fish Brewery's Farmhouse Summer Ale by Steve Bader The replicator comes up with a homebrew clone recipe for a refreshing commercial summer ale.
Dear Replicator,
Our favorite ale is Flying Fish’s seasonal Farmhouse Summer Ale. We enjoy this beer all summer long at our local pubs and are sad to see that it is out of season. We’ve tried a number of Belgian white ale recipes, but can’t seem to replicate the crisp and refreshing aroma and taste of this brew. Can you help?
Gene and Sharon Zak
Sewell, New Jersey
Replicator replies: I spoke to head brewer Jonathan Zangwill at Flying Fish about this seasonal beer. Jonathan describes Farmhouse Summer ale as a beer that does not fit into a traditionally recognized beer style. It is light in color with low hop bitterness. Jonathan says “what makes this beer so delicious is its crisp, slightly sour and citrusy finish. The beer drinks so easy on hot days, you don’t even realize you are drinking beer.”
The crisp, slightly sour flavor comes from a “sour mash” with a small portion of the grain used to make this beer. If this malt gets so stinky you could never imagine putting it anywhere but the trash can, it’s perfect! For more information visit www.flyingfish.com or call 856-489-0061.
Flying Fish Brewery – Farmhouse Summer Ale
(5 gallon/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.045–1.048 FG = 1.010–1.011
IBU = 18 SRM = 3+ ABV = 4.3–4.6%
Ingredients
3.3 lbs. (1.5 kg) Coopers light malt extract syrup
2.2 lbs. (1.0 kg) Briess wheat dry malt extract
0.5 lbs. (0.2 kg) wheat malt
3 oz. (85 g) Carapils (dextrin) malt
3 oz. (85 g) pale 2-row malt (for sour mash)
1.0 AAU Styrian Golding hops
(0.25 oz./7g of 4.0% alpha acid)
3.5 AAU Magnum
(0.25 oz./1.8 g of 14.0% alpha acid)
2.1 AAU Styrian Golding hops
(0.53 oz./15 g of 4.0% alpha acid)
1.4 AAU Styrian Golding hops
(0.35 oz./10 g of 4.0% alpha acid)
White Labs WLP005 (British Ale) or
Wyeast 1098 (British Ale) yeast
0.75 cup of corn sugar (for priming)
Step by Step
For the sour mash, start 2–3 days in advance. Steep 3 oz. (85 g) 2-row pale malt in a pint of 150 ºF (66 ºC) water, then cover and let sit for 2–3 days. On brew day, steep the sour mash along with the wheat and dextrin malt grains in 3 gallons (11.4 L) of water at 152 ºF (67 ºC) for 30 mins. Remove grains from wort, add the first wort addition of Styrian Golding hops, malt syrup and dry malt extract, tnen bring to a boil. Add the Magnum hops and boil for 60 mins. Add the second addition of Styrian Golding hops for the last 30 mins. of the boil and add the last addition of Styrian Golding hops for the last 2 mins. of the boil. Now add wort to 2 gallons cool water in a sanitary fermenter and top off with cool water to 5.5 gallons (20.9 L). Cool the wort to 75 ºF (24 ºC), aerate the beer and pitch your yeast. Allow the beer to cool over the next few hours to 68 ºF (20 ºC) and hold at this temperature until the yeast has finished fermentation. Bottle and enjoy!
All-grain option:
This is a single infusion mash. Do the sour mash the same as above. On brew day, add 8.7 lbs. (3.9 kg) of 2 row, 0.5 lbs. (0.2 kg) wheat malt and 3 oz. (85 g) of dextrin malt to complete the grain bill. Mash grains and sour mash at 152 ºF (67 ºC) for 60 mins. Collect enough wort to boil for 90 mins. and have a 5.5-gallon (20.9-L) yield (about 7 gallons or 26 L). Lower the Styrian Golding hops in the 30-min. boil to 0.5 oz. (14 g) to account for higher extraction ratio of a full boil. The rest of the recipe is the same as above.
