The French Resolution

Beer of the Month Program

January 2022  - The French Resolution -  $34.99

Each month we release a new recipe for our Beer of the Month. They are always recipes that we have personally brewed ourselves, and have to pass a taste test amongst all of the staff here (tough job we know!). The recipes will be easy to make and we will gladly assist new home brewers in the production of these beers. They will all be 5.5 gallons in size. We find that after fermenting and racking a 5.5 gallon batch turns into a standard 5 gallon batch pretty quickly.

At the start of every month we will post the recipe in store, as well as on our website, Facebook, and Instagram. We will also have a set price for the recipe that will include a discount of up to 25%!

The French Resolution

Grisette – 5.5 Gal - OG 1.042 – FG 1.001 – ABV 5.4% - IBU 19 – SRM 2

Purchase Online | Printable Instructions

This all started with the name. Jeremy came up with an incredible moniker for a January beer, and then from there we developed a beer based on it. It’s not how you’re supposed to make recipes – but in this case it doesn’t matter because the recipe is so great, and suits the name perfectly.

New year, new you. Shake off the turkey, stuffing, and Baltic porters with a light, low carb beer. The French Resolution is a Grisette. After deciding on the name, we did a bit of research and surprisingly there is a not a lot of concrete info about this style of beer. Originally from France, Grisette’s are a farmhouse ale that was consumed by working class miners, they are like Saisons but have some key differences. They tend to be lighter and have a prominent hop profile – leaning towards citrusy.

The French Resolution is a crisp, hop forward beer with some of the classic farmhouse traits you see from Saisons, but with modern citrus forward hops. Not bitter, but aromatic and flavourful hop additions – and only 130 calories per 330ml bottle!

Important Tips on Brewing

• Be extra cautious when it comes to cleaning! Once you have stopped boiling your wort everything that gets in contact with the beer MUST be sanitary.
• The temperature of your mash is ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL. Not being in the 150-155f range can drastically affect your beer. Make sure you correct the temperature ASAP once all of the grain has been added to the mash.
• Always let your beer ferment for 10 days! Do not disturb it, do not open the lid. It is absolutely natural for the airlock to stop bubbling after a few days, it is still fermenting though.
• Oxidization: Airspace is always something to consider. When undergoing primary fermentation airspace is needed so that the beer can bubble up and ferment vigoursley without leaking out of the container. The fermentation creates a layer of CO2 that remains in the pail due to the airlock. Once primary fermentation is over, and the lid has been opened, the layer of CO2 dissipates, and oxygen replaces it. At this point airspace can ruin your beer. When racking into carboys make sure they are filled to the top, or you blast CO2 inside to prevent oxidization. Ask us for details on this!
• Before bottling, make sure you use a priming calculator (many can be found online) to verify the amount of sugar that needs to be added.

Instructions

Mashing -> converting the grain into a fermentable liquid.

• Bring 6 gallons of water in your brew pot to 155°F. This is our strike temperature. Turn off the heat to the pot.
• Wrap the muslin/nylon bag around the brew pot and slowly pour all the milled grains into the bag. Stir them in while adding to prevent clumps. The addition of grain should drop the temperature down to 150-155°F.
• We want to mash the grain at 152°F for 60 minutes. It is very important to hold the temperature at 152°F. If the temperature rises above 155°F it hurts the fermentation, or if it dips below 149°F it can lead to a thinner tasting beer.
  1. The first 15-30 minutes are essential for the success of your brew. The temperature HAS TO BE IN THE RANGE OF 150-155°F. Sometimes adding the grain to the strike water does not lower the temperature enough, in this case add a little bit of cold water to bring the temperature down. Cover the pot with your lid and let it sit.
  2. Most brew pots will be able to maintain 152°F without adding heat for 20 minutes, we recommend checking the temperature every 15 minutes, and if it drops add more heat to bring it up. We recommend opening the lid and using a thermometer in the liquid.
• After 60 minutes, bring the temperature of the mashing grain up to 170°F and hold for 10 minutes. This is our mash out.
• Time to remove the grain. Lift the bag full of grain out of the brew pot. Let the liquid in the bag dribble into your wort. Once that is done, put the bag inside of a brewing pail, or another empty pot. There will be about 4 gallons of wort in the brew pot, we need to get it to 6 gallons before we can begin the next stage.
• Run warm water through the grains in the bag, aim for 170°f – let it run through the grains and add to the brew pot. Add until you reach 6 gallons.
  1. PSA: It is natural to think that the grains need to be squeezed to get all of the liquid out of them, DO NOT DO THIS. Aggressively squeezing the grains will lead to tannin extraction and a doughy taste in your beer. Lightly pressing the bag is fine, but do not try to squeeze every last drop out.

Boiling -> Sterilizing the wort time.

• Bring 6 gallons of your wort to a rolling boil, and let it boil for 5 minutes, this is called the hot break. Start a 90-minute timer. Keep the wort boiling (212°f) and uncovered.
• With 15 minutes left in the timer add 1 ounce of Hallertau Blanc hops, and 1 tsp of Irish moss to the boil. If you have a wort chiller, we recommend adding it at the 15-minute mark.
• When your timer goes off, turn off the heat, and now it’s time to add MORE hops!

Cooling & Whirlpooling -> Let’s Get Hoppy

• We need to cool the beer a bit before adding more hops. Our target temperature is 185°F. This will not take too long to cool if you’re using a wort chiller. Adding hops at 185°F will maximize the flavour of the hops but add just a little bitterness.
• Once the wort is down to 185°F, add ½ ounce of Citra Cryo. Let the beer sit for 10 minutes. Do NOT actively cool the beer. You will need the other half ounce of Citra Cryo in a few days, so re-seal the bag and pop it in the freezer to keep it fresh.
• After the 10 minutes are complete. Start cooling the beer down to 25°C, this is our yeast pitching temperature.

Fermentation -> Turning the wort into beer

• After the boil is done it is time to be extra careful in regard to sanitation. We recommend using a no-rinse sanitizer called Starsan. Mix ¼ tsp of it with water in a 500ml spray bottle. Before we touch any part of the beer, we spray it with Starsan.
• Transfer the cooled wort into your fermenting pail or carboy. Run it though a strainer to catch any hop or grain residue. With all of the hop matter in this beer, it might take a while to strain through all the hops.
  1. It is also good time to take a hydrometer reading. It should be around 1.042 give or take a few points.
• Be sure to use a pail for fermentation. It will be hard to rack a carboy with all the dry hops that are added.
• Make sure the wort has been cooled to at least 25c!!! Adding yeast at a higher temperature will likely kill it.
• Once the beer is in the fermenter, pour in a package of Farmhouse Yeast from Lallemand Brewing (or the Marina Russian Farmhouse Yeast from Escarpment Labs if we have that available.) AND 1/10^th of an ounce of Amylo 300. The Amylo ensures the fermentation will finish at 1.001.
• Put the bung and airlock in the hole (make sure there is water filled up to the line in the airlock). If using a pail, make sure the lid is sealed tight. Put the pail in a room that is in the range of 19-23°c.
• After 6 days have passed, it is time to add the dry hops. Quickly open the lid or remove the bung and pour in 1 ounce of Hallertau Blanc and the remaining half ounce of Citra Cryo.
  1. Potential oxidization is a concern here. If you have CO2 available, we recommend spraying a layer of it in the fermenter after adding the hops.
  2. If you don’t have CO2, then we recommend making a small tincture of dextrose and water. Boil 100ml in the kettle and mix with 100g of dextrose. Stir and dissolve, and then pour into the fermenter. This will create a mini fermentation which will result in the production of CO2 which keeps the oxygen at bay. Have the tincture ready before you add the hops. The less time the lid/bung is open the better!
• Let the beer sit for 4 more days after adding the dry hops.
• After 10 total days have passed, take a hydrometer reading. It should be somewhere between 1.000 – 1.005.
• Lately, we have been of the opinion that secondary is an unnecessary step. Unless you are kegging, we recommend proceeding to the bottling stage. Clarification can occur in the bottle rather than in a carboy, and the risk of oxidization is greatly reduced.

Bottling -> We’re getting close to Beer Time now.

• Rack the now fermented beer into a bucket.
• At the same time, mix the priming sugar with 300ml of boiling water and add to the beer. Stir it in VERY gently.
  1. Make sure to check out a priming calculator to verify the correct amount of sugar. Too much sugar and your beer will end up foamy, or even start blowing the caps off! Too little and the beer won’t be fully carbonated.
• Rack the beer into your bottles or growlers. Then, let them sit for 2-3 weeks at room temperature. Chill and enjoy!