Writer: Gordon Strong
Gordon Strong’s American IPA
My recipe is a bit old school since I’m not using the latest sexy hop varieties. I’m just using good old Centennial, which was first called a “Super Cascade” when introduced. It has many of the same characteristics, like citrus, grapefruit, and pine. It’s like talking to an old friend.
Gordon Strong’s American Wheat
Recipe author Gordon Strong states, “My recipe is towards the upper end of the strength range for the style since I don’t think of the style as purely a summer quencher. Feel free to scale it down to around 4.5% ABV if you do want it more sessionable.”
American Wheat – Style Profile
The overall impression for the style is refreshing, often dry and somewhat crisp, highly carbonated, with a bready wheat flavor and a complementary hop character.
Wheatwine
Gordon Strong provides readers with a recipe for a wheatwine. “Stan Hieronymus writes in Brewing with Wheat that wheatwine has its origins in modern American craft brewing, but that it was not intentional. A happy accident produced a higher gravity American wheat ale. The first modern commercial version is credited to Rubicon Brewing Company (Sacramento, California) in 1988, but many breweries now produce it as a limited edition winter release. Some examples are vintage-dated and oak-aged, suggesting they likely will continue to improve with age.”
Gordon Strong’s Maibock
“As with other German lagers, this style is best when it is understated — elegant, clean, impeccably crafted, well-lagered, and unobtrusive. This allows the quality of the ingredients to show themselves in the finished product, and the beer itself to be nicely drinkable despite the strength.” – Gordon Strong
Maibock / Helles Bock
After an excursion into some newer, emerging, or little-known styles, I’m returning to talking about some old favorites — in this case, Maibock, also known as helles bock. Before we talk about
Gordon Strong’s London Porter
This recipe took first place at the SODZ British Beer Festival, and is fairly straightforward. It is meant to be in the style of Fuller’s London Porter (my personal favorite), with brown malt being the key flavor ingredient. It was entered in the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) Brown Porter category.
Gordon Strong’s American Robust Porter
This is a more modern take on an American robust porter, although it probably falls in between the BJCP Brown Porter and Robust Porter categories. Note the general similarity with the second recipe in this collection. It also is a nice base beer for a smoked porter; add a half pound of German rauchmalz and lower the bitterness to about 25 IBUs. For a more ‘robust’ American version, double the black malt, add 2 more pounds (0.9 kg) of base malt, and increase the late hops.
Gordon Strong’s Classic American Porter
This is my take on the lagered porters of the Northeast, in the style of Yuengling. It’s important to not have an overtly roasted flavor; licorice-type flavors are desirable, but not burnt. A less bitter version of this beer without the crystal malt will do nicely as a Dark American Lager. It might work in the Brown Porter category, but entering it as a Specialty Beer would work too.
Gordon Strong’s Baltic Porter
Gordon Strong used a variation of this recipe to win an NHC gold , blending it with a sweet blackberry mead to make a Blackberry Baltic Porter. The base beer is delicious on its own, and is a scaled up version of a Carnegie-style porter that won several medals on its own.
Burton Ale: Style Profile
Burton ale was the beer that originally put Burton on the map, beer-wise. It pre-dates IPA, and was a big export beer to the Baltic countries from about 1740 to 1822.
Gordon Strong’s Burton Ale (Pre-WWI era)
A Burton ale is a rich, malty, bitter, warming beer that has a comforting feel about it, which does make it a good winter beer. However, it traditionally was served year-round when tastes differed.This recipe was based on Burton Ales being brewed during the pre-WWI era.
