Paavo Pruul’s koduõlu (western Estonian farmhouse ale)
Paavo Pruul’s koduõlu (western Estonian farmhouse ale)
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.066 FG = 1.016 IBU = ~14 SRM = 8 ABV = 6.6%
I’ve had to extrapolate some of the numbers and ingredients from other brewers on Hiiumaa and Saaremaa, since Paavo never weighed his hops or measured the alpha acids in them. The malts really should be homemade, and most brewers use Estonian bread yeast, but obviously that’s not going to work here. The juniper must be Juniperus communis, branches, not too thick, with some green or blue berries on them.
Ingredients
14 lbs. (6.4 kg) Vienna malt
1–2 blackcurrant leaves (not necessary)
3–4 juniper branches
5–6 stalks of sweet gale (60 min.)
19.6 AAU Saaz hops (60 min.) (7 oz./200 g at 2.8% alpha acids)
Fermentis S-04 or a hefeweizen yeast
Step by Step
First, remember that you are making a farmhouse ale. You don’t have to hit any of the numbers exactly. A day or two before brew day, make a 1-quart (1-L) yeast starter with (optional) crushed blackcurrant leaves mixed in.
On brew day, mill the grains, then put 2–3 juniper branches in the bottom of the mash tun and the malts above them. Add hot water, about 3–3.5 gallons (11.4–13.3 L) to hit a mash temperature of 160 °F (71 °C), and stir well. This should be a very thick mash at this point (where a heavy wooden mash paddle will slowly tilt to the side). Make sure the mash tun is well insulated so the temperature stays high. Leave for two hours. After the first hour, bring about 1 gallon (4 L) of water to a boil with hops and sweet gale in it and boil for one hour. Add the boiling hop- and sweet gale-infused water addition, bringing the mash back up to 160 °F (71 °C), stir again, and start boiling the sparge water with a juniper branch in it. At the end, when you’ve mashed four hours, the mash temperature should be roughly 153 °F (67 °C). Finally, sparge with enough of the juniper-infused water to collect about 5.25 gallons (20 L) in the fermenter.
Pour the wort into the fermenter so it splashes against the bottom, getting lots of oxygen into the wort. Cool the wort to 68 °F (20 °C), then pitch the yeast. Let it ferment 72 hours, then transfer to keg with spunding-valve. Leave the keg in a warm place so the beer carbonates. Note that the carbonation should be well below that of modern beer.
Tips For Success: I realize a lot of the numbers sound absurd, but that’s really the temperatures and times these people use. I’ve brewed Terje’s recipe 3–4 times, and 165 °F (74 °C) and short fermentation really does give the best results.
During the mash, be sure to stir well so that all lumps are broken up, allowing the hot water to pasteurize the malts completely. Don’t shorten the mash, because you need the time to make sure everything is pasteurized.
Remember there is no cold-side, so you really have to sanitize the mashtun, filter, juniper branches, and everything that’s used during mash and lautering. Yes, pasteurization should, in theory, take care of it, but in practice raw ale brewers are very careful with sanitation. Terje dips the juniper branches in boiling juniper infusion, for example.
