Messages

1

Beer Recipes / Re: Westmalle Dubbel recipe wanted

« on: August 05, 2010, 01:51:02 pm »

And of course, you'll want to use Westmalle's yeast strain, Wyeast 3787 Trappist High Gravity yeast.

Probably on the lower end of ferm temp range, right? 65-68F-ish?

You're correct.  Westmalle does not allow their fermentation to go above 68F.  Although they do bottle condition a bit warmer - up to 74F.

Westvleteren also uses this yeast, but they allow the fermentation temperature go much higher.

2

Beer Recipes / Re: Westmalle Dubbel recipe wanted

« on: July 20, 2010, 01:46:54 pm »

According to BLAM, Westmalle uses 3 malts in their dubbel.  The base malt is a Belgian Pilsen malt.  They also use a "local" malt known for its aromatic properties - I'm guessing that this is Belgian Aromatic.  They also use a darker, sweeter malt.  I'm not sure what this is - I'm going to experiment with Belgian Cara 45L, Belgian Caramunich, and Special B.  Hopefully, it's something like that.

Westmalle also mixes up their hop schedule from year to year.  I'm thinking a schedule consisting of Styrian Goldings, Tettnang, and Saaz will get you in the ballpark.

The dark color, and dark fruit aroma and flavor comes from a dark candi syrup that they use.  I'm going to try D2 when I attempt my clone.

And of course, you'll want to use Westmalle's yeast strain, Wyeast 3787 Trappist High Gravity yeast.

3

Other Fermentables / Re: Polish mead

« on: July 12, 2010, 02:12:08 pm »

Czwórniak — A Polish mead, made using three units of water for each unit of honey.  3lb/gal

Trójniak — A Polish mead, made using two units of water for each unit of honey.  4lb/gal

Dwójniak — A Polish mead, made using equal amounts of water and honey.  6lb/gal

Półtorak — A Polish great mead, made using two units of honey for each unit of water.  8lb/gal

... how the... this doesn't seem physically possible.  Poltorak would start around 1.264 gravity and end around 1.118 if it hit 20% ABV.

To make a Półtorak, you start out with a must that's 2 parts water for each part honey.  Then you step feed the yeast, adding the honey in the latter stages of fermentation or during aging.

4

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Honey for Priming

« on: February 01, 2010, 11:51:14 am »

One online calculator says that honey is 84% as fermentable as cane sugar (with corn sugar being 95% as fermentable as cane and DME 55% as fermentable) - but I'm sure that's an average and that it would vary by honey variety.  Still, it's probably a good ballpark figure that you could use for bottle conditioning.

5

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Yeast for Dunkelweizen?

« on: January 27, 2010, 03:24:02 pm »

According to the Wyeast web site, 3056 is a blend of a ale and wheat strains, whereas 3068 is a single strain.  I expect that 3056 will produce fewer esters and phenols than 3068, so you'll get less in the way of bananas and cloves.  I'd probably prefer 3068 for a hefe, but for a dunkel, you'll probably get really good results from 3056.

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General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What's your Favorite Style of Beer?

« on: January 15, 2010, 02:57:21 pm »

Dubbel without a doubt.  Followed by Porters and Scottish Ales.

7

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: what are your goals for 2 ought 10

« on: January 05, 2010, 01:04:15 pm »

Start AG brewing

8

Other Fermentables / How do I stop fermentation?

« on: January 05, 2010, 07:32:40 am »

I've been making a 1-gallon experimental batch of a lemon/orange melomel with Lalvin 71B, and it has reached the desired sweetness.  How do I stop it from fermenting any further?  I crushed up 4 campden tablets and added it to the must a couple of days ago, but the airlock is still bubbling away.  Any suggestions?

9

General Homebrew Discussion / Whatcha brewin' this week? - 2009 Dec 23 - Dec 30

« on: December 23, 2009, 08:22:34 am »

I'll be attempting a scottish 60 for the first time on Sunday.   

10

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Do I need a starter?

« on: December 21, 2009, 07:54:11 am »

Thanks Denny.  That helps a lot!

11

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Do I need a starter?

« on: December 18, 2009, 10:38:46 pm »

OK, mr malty says I need 1 liter (1.06 quarts) of starter for my 5 gallon 1.033 batch.  What gravity should my starter wort be, and how much DME do I need to get that gravity?  Based on a formula from another forum, I figure that if I'm after a gravity of 1.030, then I'd need 1/6 lb of DME per quart.  Is this about right?

12

Yeast and Fermentation / Do I need a starter?

« on: December 18, 2009, 10:54:40 am »

For my next brew, I'm planning on a 5 gallon batch of Scottish 60.  I've never made a starter before.  In fact, this will be the first time I've ever used liquid yeast.  The beer's intended OG range is 1.030-1.035.  Everything I've read about starters say that the starter wort's OG should be in the 1.030-1.040 range.  I didn't calculate exactly how many cells I'd need, but in estimating, I put it in the ballpark of 112 billion cells.  An Activator pack has 100 billion cells.  So my question to you experts: should I make a starter for this batch or not?  If so, how big and what OG should I shoot for?

Thanks

13

Kegging and Bottling / Re: Small Bottles

« on: December 16, 2009, 10:26:01 am »

I've seen both Budweiser and Busch packaged in six-packs of 7 ounce bottles.

14

Kegging and Bottling / Note to self

« on: December 11, 2009, 09:18:56 am »

Note to self: when transferring beer from the fermenter to the bottling bucket, make sure there is no One Step powder sticking to the sides of the bottling bucket....   

15

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Whatcha Brewin' this week -- 2009 Dec 2 - Dec 8?

« on: December 04, 2009, 07:54:21 am »

I have a Belgian Barleywine just into the fermenter, and I hope to add an ESB this weekend.

Belgian Barleywine?  Mind posting the recipe?