As featured in CAMRA’s – The Modern Homebrewer – Andy Parker & Jamil Zainasheff and sponsored by ourselves The Malt Miller.

We would highly recommend purchasing and reading this book as it feature not only a wide selection of recipes but some great knowledge and techniques from Andy and Jamil on how to brew the best beer possible at home.

This recipe was provided for the book from a professional brewer, all of the recipes were scaled by the writers to a 20ltr batch size using 75% efficiency.

Where ever possible we have matched the exact ingredients, however in some recipes slight changes may be required and volume adjustments based on ingredient available to homebrewers. Be sure to fully read the below details before purchasing so you are fully confident in the process and aware of any ingredients which are not included with this kit that you will need to add.

Weights are removed on this page due to publishing agreements but will be provided on the bags when the recipe is purchased or are present in the book for those who purchase it.

 

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Ingredients Included

Simpsons Malt – Wheat Malt
Simpsons Malt – Imperial
Simpsons Malt – Vienna Malt
Simpsons Malt – Munich Malt
Simpsons Malt – Finest Lager Malt
Saazer – BarthHaas® Pure Hop Pellet
Fuggles T90 Pellets (85 grams)
LALBREW NOTTINGHAM™ – High Performance Ale Yeast – 11g (1 pack)
LALBREW Abbaye – Belgian Style Ale – Dried Yeast 11g (2 packs)

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Method

Beer Style (main): Belgian/French Ales
Beer Style (sub): French-Style Bière de Garde
Batch Size: 20
Original Gravity: 1.065
Final Gravity: 1.007
ABV %: 7.5
IBU: 31
Mash efficiency: 75
Brewing equipment:

THE MASH
Temperature °C (Step 1): 66
Length (mins) (Step 1): 60

THE BOIL
Boil time (mins): 90

Hop / kettle additions and timing:

Fuggles T90 5g/0.17oz @ 90mins
Fuggles T90 30g/1.05oz @ 60 mins

Whirlpool / hop stand:

Whirlpool (for 15 minutes at 92C)

Fuggles T90 50g/1.76oz
Saaz T90 75g/2.64oz
Cooked, mashed up beetroot 800g/1.76lb (NOT INCLUDED)

McColl’s uses pre cooked beetroot, then mash this up by hand (think slightly courser than pureed). They recommend adding this in a hop bag or similar to minimize any complications when cooling the wort.

Yeast: 2 x Lallemand LalBrew® Abbaye, 1 x (11g/0.38oz) of Lallemand LalBrew® Nottingham
Fermentation temperature/steps: Pitch two packs (22g/0.76oz) of Lallemand LalBrew® Abbaye and one pack (11g/0.38oz) of Lallemand LalBrew® Nottingham yeast at 17°C/63°F and ferment at 19°C/66°F until gravity reaches 1.015, then allow to free-rise to 22°C/72°F. McColl’s spund the beer at 15 psi at this point, allowing it to naturally carbonate. Once at terminal gravity, the beer is then step cooled over 72 hours to aid clarity, during which Brausol Special P silica finings are added. A four week maturation period is then observed

Comments:

McColls Brewery – Beet de Garde – Beetroot Biere de Garde – 7.5%

McColl’s Brewery was established in 2016 by Daniel and Gemma McColl, driven by a
passion for easy drinking beers and a love of genuine and welcoming hospitality. They are proud of where they are from – the North East of England- and are really proud to have the brewery situated within the small working-class village of Evenwood, County Durham. McColl’s aims to produce exceptional beers that everyone can enjoy, often heavily influenced by continental European styles, these sometimes develop into hybrid styles with contemporary ingredients and brewing methods but they are always easy drinking.

Beet de Garde has gained a somewhat cult following by McColl’s Brewery drinkers. Inspired by one of their favourite beers from the French Brewery 3 Monts and embellished in a suitably English way, with beetroot. The addition of beetroot isn’t supposed to be a bit of fun, it’s intentional, measured and considered. The Beetroot not only gives this beer its beautiful crimson hue but offers earthiness akin to English hops. A full bodied malt bill pairs with the unique character of the beetroot while the addition of Dextrose aids attenuation, avoiding a cloyingly sweet finish. McColl’s ferments this beer with a co-pitch of 2 strains of yeast, which is something they do often. The aim for this is to gain the flavour and character from the Belgian strain and the unrivalled attenuation that Nottingham is famous for. The result is enough Belgian yeast character without it overpowering the complex flavours in the rest of the beer.

The key to brewing this beer isn’t in the beetroot as you may think, it’s in the process. The
fermentation profile should be stepped up in temperature then stepped down when it’s
finished. Yeast will need to be removed throughout maturation to avoid autolysis. Natural
carbonation via spunding will give you that beautiful carbonation and tight, long lasting foam.
Good brewing practices will help with clarity. The beetroot is there, but it’s the support act.

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