Brewing Beer with the Seasons

I tend to be time/place-oriented, and I like the idea of seasonal brewing, for a lot of reasons. I am sure that a lot of it goes back to my rural up-bringing, being tied to the Earth and the cycles that move her.

This might sound silly, but I forced myself to brew at a rather furious pace this past year so that I could "synchronise" my planned upcoming brews with the seasons. I finished brewing the last of my "summer" beers in September (they are either just being bottled now, or will be in the coming week or two), and am ready to start several beers for fall and winter. My hope is that by next spring, I'll hit my stride and be able to keep with the seasonal pace.

Having said that, this does not mean that I'll be totally tied to the concept; if I come across an interesting beer that would be "out of season," and still have the means to try it, I probably will. But still, for me, it is a neat idea.

Here's an interesting article that I came across on this subject:

Create Your Own Seasonal Beer Brewing Calendar Posted on September 26, 2016 by David Ackley At certain times of the year, some styles of beers just taste better than others. An imperial stout in summer and a hefeweizen in winter seems equally out of place. But you can’t well wait 'til December to brew your imperial stout and hope that it will be ready by Christmas. Enter: a seasonal beer brewing calendar. Due to the nature of brewing, it’s important to do some planning and scheduling if you want to drink your beer during a certain time period. Plan on at least a month or two of “production” time before your homebrew is ready to drink. With high gravity beers and lagers, you may need even longer. That means if you want to drink your Oktoberfest in October, you should start brewing by mid-August at the latest. A seasonal beer brewing calendar will help you to plan this out. The information below isn’t meant to be an end all resource – you’re welcome to brew and enjoy any style of beer any time of year! There will be a lot of overlapping of beer styles depending on your tastes and time constraints. But for the occasion when you want to pull off – for example – a summer ale for the summer, a seasonal beer brewing calendar can be very helpful to keep you beer styles on schedule. Year Round Beers! These beers seem to work well any time of year and are good options for year-round “house” beers. Consider them for any month on your beer brewing calendar. Pale Ale IPA Amber ale Pale lagers Pilsner Brew in the Winter (for Spring drinking) In anticipation of those long, final months of cold, brew a bock or an Irish stout. Irish stout (as well as Irish Red) will also come in handy on St. Patrick’s Day. Imperial stout and barleywine are often aged for 9-12 months, so this is a good time to get a start on next year’s vintage. Consider putting these beer styles on your beer brewing calendar for fall brewing. Get started on a spring ale or Maibock so they’ll be ready when the weather starts to warm. Irish Red Irish Stout Bock Barleywine (for next winter) Imperial Stout (for next winter) Spring Ale Maibock Brew in the Spring (for Summer drinking) The summer season is high time for lighter colored ales and lagers, from pale ale and Kölsch to pilsner and witbier. Unlike the previous group, these beers do not need much, if any, aging at all, so they can be put on the beer brewing calendar closer to the time of anticipated consumption. The warmer weather also lends itself to brewing some Belgian ales that can tolerate higher fermentation temperatures, like saison and bière de mars. Cream Ale Pale Ale IPA Summer Ale Kölsch Hefeweizen Witbier Light Lager Pilsner Saison Belgian Pale Ales Bière de Mars Gose Brew in the Summer (for Fall/Winter drinking) Darker beers, such as brown ale, start to hit the spot in the fall. Pumpkin beers are popular around Halloween and Thanksgiving. To make sure it’s ready for Oktoberfest, plan on starting your Oktoberfestbier by mid-summer to allow for a long, cool lagering period. You can start an imperial stout or barleywine in the summer and still have several months of conditioning to make sure it’s ready for winter. Brown ale Pumpkin beer Oktoberfestbier/Marzen Vienna lager Imperial stout Barley wine Fall (for winter drinking) By fall, you should be enjoying your Oktoberfestbier and pumpkin ale. Get a jump on some darker beers to get you through the winter, such as stout, bock, and strong Scotch ale. Start some holiday spiced ales so they’ll be ready in time to give away as gifts. If started in the fall, you should be able to pull off a batch of imperial stout or barleywine by winter, though the longer they can age the better. Strong porter Stout Bock Dopplebock Dunkelweizen Shop Brew Kettles Strong Scotch Ale/Wee Heavy Imperial stout (last chance) Barleywine (last chance) Holiday spiced beers http://www.eckraus.com/blog/seasonal-beer-brewing-calendar

Once again, nothing about this is set in stone or a fixed rule. For instance, I am set to brew an American twist on a Belgian Witbier (Think Blue Moon - in fact, I am going to name it "Blauer Mond)". This probably should be considered a "summer beer," but I like the idea of enjoying it in the fall, with the turning leaves and shortening, blustery days.

Anyway, I thought I would throw this out on the table, and see if anyone else had some thoughts on the concept.

Ron

Having brewed those beers, plus a Root Beer Stout, Cranberry Wheat and Das OtterWeizen over the past few days, my upcoming plans for brewing include:

A straight-up English Pale Ale
A straight-up American Pale Ale
Another brewing of Edelweiß

Sooner or later, I will also attempt a Maibock in the near future, as winter winds down. It probably won't be in time for May, but that's no big deal. I also need to attempt my interpretation of Kentucky Common Ale and Buffalo Sweat Oatmeal Cream Stout.

I'd like to get these beers done before the end of July - when I will be meeting up with a friend in South Dakota who introduced me to Buffalo Sweat - but we'll see how it goes....

With the "seasonal" concept in mind - a combination of brewing WITH the seasons as well as brewing FOR the seasons - I came up with this list of upcoming "goals" for the brewing year (not necessarily in any order within the seasons):

Ron's Seasonal Brewing Goals (Remainder of) Spring Grapefruit Honey Ale (x2) Kentucky Common Ale Amerikanisch Pale Ale Englisch Pale Ale Summer Basic Saison Basic Wheat Beer Rose-Cheeked and Blonde Smoked Cherry Bruxelles Blonde Citrus Wheat Peach Cobbler Ale Fall Basic Brown Ale Fall Saison Honey Sage Seasonal Klosterkirche Weizenbier Oktoberfest Pumpkin Dubbel Smoked Wheat Winter SchwarzWälder Braun Bruxelles Black Basic Porter Basic Stout Buffalo Sweat Winter Wheat Blauer Mond

These aren't set in stone and only represent a sketchy plan, but I'd like to give all of them a try, and possibly others, as well.