This beer was inspired by an article shitting on the concept of a Landbier, saying it isn’t really a thing. That made me want to do it. A lot.

Fortunately I had recently bought some stuff that was perfect for it. New producers like Rex for Mortlock or Dirk from MR Hops are doing cool stuff, so whenever they send me info on something I like to buy it and figure out what to do later.

Local producers should be supported, because when they are gone they don’t come back.

This beer is a celebration of all things local, but it was also a chance to get back to two concepts that I feel I have unfinished business with: the mash hop, and the low dissolved oxygen method.

Mash hopping is exactly what it sounds like. You fang hops into the mash. The rational types say that you should put them in a mesh bag to prevent it carrying through and giving unwanted bitterness, but I didn’t feel like it. Also they say you should use a thiolized yeast for maximum impact, but they are GMO and as such illegal in Australia. Instead I chose K-97, which is a yeast that contains massive amounts of betalyase naturally, so it felt like a good fit.

Nobody suggested using mash hops in the quantities that I did, it was kinda crazy. 1.75kg in a 60kg malt bill, to make 200L of wort. The oils made the run off almost milky.

Low dissolved oxygen (LODO) brewing is another fun one. The idea is that without oxygen, a more clean and distinct malt profile is available. The day prior to brewing, I hooked up an existing ferment to the dump port of the mash tun, and it purged co2 through it overnight. Then when I arrived for brew day, I chucked in a small amount of potassium metabisulphate (an oxygen scavenging preservative) into the strike water as I heated it, and again into the mash itself. This can give a lot of unwanted sulphur compounds, but after an hour of boiling it has all volatilised off so won’t hurt the yeast or the beer. No dramas.

Anyway, this beer is both very weird and agressively normal.

Enjoy.