Hello, I’m a long-time reader and big fan of Redhook's Winterhook Ale. Is there any way you can publish a clone recipe in a future issue? The information on their website is a little misleading. Thanks Rick Seibt Mentor, OH ____________________________________________________________________________________ Rick, You are right that their website is a bit off, since as of publication of this article their website has an old recipe listed. Redhook’s Winterhook is one of those “seasonal” beers that micro-brewers love to make. Micro-Brewers love to be creative, just like homebrewers, and with seasonal beers, they often tweak the recipe every year. They have again changed the recipe this year. I spoke to brewer Al Triplett at RedHook about what went into this years’ Winterhook. Al said Redhook’s greatest challenge with Winterhook is balancing the malt grist, to achieve the blend of malt flavors that Redhook is after, specifically the Weyermann Carafa malt and the DeWolfe-Cosyns Caravienne. The 5-gallon recipe below reflects the ratio quantities of grain that Redhook uses when brewing this year’s Winterhook. The Weyermann Carafa is dark roasted barley, but with a milder flavor than most roasted barleys. If you can’t find the Weyermann Carafa, you could substitute 50/50 mixture of standard roasted barley and chocolate malt. Redhook also adds a small amount of wheat malt for foam retention, which is a common practice in many breweries. Winterhook has a mild hop bitterness for a winter seasonal, coming in at about 28 IBU’s, many other winter seasonal beers have hop bitterness levels above 40 IBU’s. Winterhook uses a private Redhook strain of yeast. I would recommend an ale yeast that finishes a bit on the malty side, with no esters (fruitiness) evident. There are a number of options here, so use your favorite strain! Due to the high quantity of non-fermentable sugars from the grist, avoid yeasts with low attenuation (ability to convert sugar to alcohol). For more information about Redhook beers, check out their website at , http://www.redhook.com/ or call Redhook at 206-548-8000 . Redhook Winterhook (5 gallon, extract with grains) OG=1.056 FG=1.018 IBU’S = 28 Ingredients 3.3 lbs. Briess Light malt extract syrup 2.0 lbs. Briess Wheat dry malt extract 0.25 lb Briess Dextrin Malt 0.25 lb. Weyermann Carafa malt 0.75 lb. Dewolf Caravienne malt 1.50 lb. Hugh Baird Carastan malt 6.1 AAU Willamette hops (bittering hop) (1.25 oz of 4.9% alpha acid) 2.5 AAU Willamette hops (flavor hop) (0.50 oz of 4.9% alpha acid) 4.4 AAU Tettnanger hops (aroma hop) (1.0 oz of 4.5% alpha acid) 1 tsp Irish moss for 60 min White Labs WLP005 British Ale yeast or Wyeast 1335 British Ale II O.75 cup of corn sugar for priming. Step by step Steep crushed malts in 3 gallons of water at 150º for 30 minutes. Remove grains from wort, add malt syrup and malt powder and bring to a boil. Add Willamette (bittering) hops, Irish moss and and boil for 60 minutes. Add flavor hops (0.5 oz of Willamette hops) for the last 10 minutes of the boil. Add aroma hops (1.0 oz. Tettananger) for the last 2 minutes of the boil. When done boiling, strain out hops, add wort to 2 gallons cool water in a sanitary fermenter, and top off with cool water to 5.5 gallons. Cool the wort to 80º, aerate the beer and pitch your yeast. Allow the beer to cool over the next few hours to 68º-70º, and ferment for 10 to 14 days. Bottle your beer, age for 2-3 weeks and Enjoy! All grain option: Replace Light syrup and wheat powder with 7 lbs. Pale malt and 1 lb. Wheat malt. Mash all your grains at 154º to 156º for 45 minutes. Collect enough wort to boil for 90 minutes and have a 5.5 gallon yield. Decrease bittering hops to 1.0 oz. of Willamette to account for increased hop extraction efficiency in a full boil. The remainder of the recipe is the same as the extract. ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Aloha, I just tasted Widmer Brothers, Hop Jack Pale Ale. Would you have a clue how to replicate it??? Thanks! Mike Kaneohe, Hawaii ____________________________________________________________________________________ Mike, Widmer Brothers brewery first opened in 1984 in Portland, Oregon, and has made a name for themselves with their flagship American Style Hefe-Weizen. Widmers’ Hop Jack Pale Ale has been a Northwest favorite since Widmer started brewing it in March 1998. Rob Widmer was kind enough to give us some insight on how to brew this wonderfully hoppy brew. Rob calls Hop Jack a “Northwest Pale Ale”, which Widmer’s profile sheet describes as a pale ale that is aggressively hopped for substantial bitterness and potent floral hop aroma, with just enough malt sweetness for balance. Rob goes on to say that there is a “citrus quality and piney note” from the Cascade and Centennial hops in Hop Jack, that from my drinking of this beer is one of it’s unique flavors. As far as Homebrewing this beer, Rob stressed using a large amount of fresh yeast. Using a pitchable vial of yeast from White Labs or Wyeast would be a minimum amount of yeast, and increasing the quantity by either making a starter or using 2 vials would be even better. There are a lot of hop additions in this beer, so pay attention to the timing of each addition. Brew and Enjoy! For more information about Widmers beers, check out their website at , http://www.widmer.com/ or call Widmer at 503-841-2437 . Widmer Hop Jack (5 gallon, extract with grains) OG=1.056 FG=1.013 IBU’S = 36-40 Ingredients 3.3 lbs. John Bull Light malt extract syrup 2 lb. Cooper’s Light dry malt extract 0.5 lb Vienna Malt 1.0 lb. Munich Malt 1.5 lb. 40L Crystal Malt .25 lb. Dextrin Malt 2.5 AAU Willamette hops (bittering hop) (0.50 oz of 4.9% alpha acid) 6.2 AAU Cascade hops (bittering hop) (.75 oz of 8.3% alpha acid) 8.3 AAU Cascade hops (flavor hop) (1.0 oz of 8.3% alpha acid) 4.6 AAU Centennial hops (aroma hop) (.5 oz. Of 9.3% alpha acid) 4.2 AAU Cascade hops (aroma hop) (.5 oz of 8.3% alpha acid) 1 tsp Irish moss for 60 min White Labs WLP001 California Ale yeast or Wyeast 1056 American Ale O.75 cup of corn sugar for priming. Step by step Steep crushed malts in 3 gallons of water at 150º for 30 minutes. Remove grains from wort, add malt syrup and malt powder and bring to a boil. Add Willamette and Cascade (bittering) hops, Irish moss and and boil for 60 minutes. Add flavor hops (1 oz of Cascade hops) for the last 10 minutes of the boil. Add aroma hops (Centennial and Cascade) for the last 2 minutes of the boil. When done boiling, strain out hops, add wort to 2 gallons cool water in a sanitary fermenter, and top off with cool water to 5.5 gallons. Cool the wort to 80º, aerate the beer and pitch your yeast. Allow the beer to cool over the next few hours to 68º-70º, and ferment for 10 to 14 days. Bottle your beer, age for 2 weeks and Enjoy! All grain option: Replace Light syrup and powder with 4 lbs. Pale malt, and increase Munich malt to 4.0 lbs, and mash your grains at 150º to 152º for 45 minutes. Collect enough wort to boil for 90 minutes and have a 5.5 gallon yield. Decrease bittering hops to .5 oz of Cascade to account for increased hop extraction efficiency in a full boil. The remainder of the recipe is the same as the extract.
