Messages

1

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Yeast Strain Identification -- Evil Twin Femme Fatale Brett...?

« on: June 10, 2013, 07:48:01 am »

I got an email back from Jeppe at Evil Twin yesterday. He said that all the variants of Femme Fatale are brewed with 100% Brett C., so it is a different yeast than the WLP644. I don't know if its a proprietary strain of Brett C., but I'm definitely going to play around with it a bit, and try a 100% ferment with it soon.

I have a healthy starter going right now, and I'd be happy to swap some -- let me know what you were thinking, Kyle!

2

Yeast and Fermentation / Infection

« on: June 08, 2013, 08:21:57 am »

The air stone / aeration setup could be a source as well. Those things are really difficult to clean without boiling.

3

Yeast and Fermentation / Yeast Strain Identification -- Evil Twin Femme Fatale Brett...?

« on: June 03, 2013, 03:13:28 pm »

hve you emailed Evil Twin about it? I am amazed at the amount of help some brewers offer to homebrewers.

Huh. Why didn't I think of that?! I'll report back if I hear anything!

4

Yeast and Fermentation / Yeast Strain Identification -- Evil Twin Femme Fatale Brett...?

« on: June 02, 2013, 03:46:27 pm »

Over the last year or so I've fallen hard for 100% Brettanomyces ferments, and have done a bunch of brewing with WLP 644 Brett B Trois. I do realize that this is trending, and I turn here with the hope that there is a vast support network to answer all my questions!

I've also been doing a bit of culturing from bottles. One of my latest has been Evil Twin's Femme Fatale Brett (100% Brett IPA). In scouring the internet (10+ minutes on the google), I have not been able to determine what strain this is. I'm guessing its the Brett Trois (Drie) strain -- the same as WLP644? Does anyone know for certain?

Thanks!

5

Homebrew Competitions / Re: NHC regional experiences

« on: May 03, 2013, 07:46:18 am »

I received my NY scoresheets yesterday, and was happy with most of the feedback I received. (I passed 3 beers to the second round, so I can't complain too much!)

This said, I am rather upset about the sheets I received for my entry in the "Wood and Smoked Beer" category. Sure I got a low score and am a bit bitter about that (but don't worry I'm not going to tantrum here and defend the merits of my beer, etc.). What is really disappointing is that this category was paneled solely by a non-bjcp and an apprentice level judge. So, not one of the judges has scored higher than a 60 on the BJCP exam...

For a national competition where prices were rather steep and stakes rather high, I find it extremely disappointing that I did not receive scoring or feedback from a more experienced judge. I understand that there may be a lack of judges, but even at the smallest of competitions in which I have judged there has always been a "recognized" or higher ranked judge on each panel (and typically "certified" or higher). I'm not one of those entrants that throws every beer I brew into the national competition; I only send the beers I think would do well, and I do expect to receive feedback from experienced palates that will enable me to fine tune and better these beers.

To be clear, this has nothing to do with these two particular judges -- I am grateful for their effort in tackling a rather difficult category with limited experience, and will most likely be responding to them individually with my specific responses to their scoresheets. (If you're out there guys, thanks for the feedback, and stick with it!)

I'm curious to hear if others met with similar panels in other NHC regionals, or if this was only a problem in the NYC regional.

6

Yeast and Fermentation / When/how to add Brett as a secondary yeast?

« on: April 15, 2013, 05:58:57 pm »

Brett B. Trois is relatively clean in my experience - it's typically used for 100% brett ferments.

I finish my saisons with Brett C. and really like the results. Earthy and funky, complementing the sacchro esters.

7

Homebrew Competitions / Re: Judging at 2nd round NHC

« on: February 06, 2013, 08:19:17 pm »

Thanks for the encouragement, all. I'll volunteer to judge, and indicate my willingness to steward if no judging slots are available for lower ranked judges such as myself. Either way it'll be some good experience (and points toward a higher rank!).

8

Homebrew Competitions / Judging at 2nd round NHC

« on: February 06, 2013, 09:20:56 am »

I'm a relatively new judge (recognized rank w/ only 1 point), and am excited to be attending my first NHC this year. At this point I'm planning on judging for the second round of the Competition on Thursday, but am wondering if this is realistic.

In selecting judges for the second round, are less experienced judges passed over for more experienced judges? Or is the competition always in need of more judges, regardless of level?

9

Events / Re: NHC 2013 Hotel?

« on: February 05, 2013, 07:42:57 am »

Toll free worked! Thanks a ton!

Now to wait for the rush for registration...

10

Kegging and Bottling / Re: Cleaning kegerator

« on: October 29, 2012, 11:06:23 am »

I built one of these awhile back and love the thing. Great for running cleaning solution and sanitizer through keg lines without using CO2 or dedicating a keg.

http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/pages/community/pimp-my-system/show?title=pimp-my-system-beer-line-cleaner

11

Wood/Casks / Jim Beam --> Allagash Curieux --> ???

« on: October 13, 2012, 09:57:12 pm »

5 other guys and myself are purchasing a Jim Beam barrel that Allagash used to age their Curieux (a tripel). They only used it once, and the beer was in there for 8 weeks (according to the Allagash website). My question is what we should think about brewing to fill the barrel with. We were considering an imperial porter or Russian Imperial Stout, but I'm wondering how much oak and bourbon character will be around after a batch of beer has already gone through it.

Thoughts or opinions? 

12

Yeast and Fermentation / Brett C and a 1.011 Saison?

« on: September 28, 2012, 07:55:00 am »

I have 10 gallons of a saison that is pretty much done fermenting (sitting at 88* and 1.011 gravity for a couple days now). I'm going to keg half of it as is (it does taste good!), but was considering adding some Brett to the other half. I used the WL 565 Belgian Saison I for my primary ferment, and OG was 1.065.

I'd like to get a bit of a gentle fruitiness rather than the musty horsiness that some of the brett strains throw. I'm wondering if brett clausenni will give me these attributes? Also, at 1.011 is there enough left for the brett to work on? I'm willing to be really patient with this -- 6 months to a year if necessary.

Thanks for the thoughts.

13

Equipment and Software / Re: Burner for 3 gallon boil?

« on: September 21, 2012, 06:42:05 pm »

A 15 amp hotplate should be able to maintain a rolling boil.

If you want to do a calculation, you need to produce enough heat to boil about 0.3 gallons of water in 1 hour plus extra due to heat loss.

Why only .3 in 1 hour? Would that mean it takes 3.2ish hours to boil 1 gallon? (Sorry -- Its been awhile since high-school science, and I'm kinda figuring this out on the fly...)

I do appreciate the help!

14

Equipment and Software / Burner for 3 gallon boil?

« on: September 21, 2012, 10:43:01 am »

Our homebrew club, the Albany Brew Crafters, are planning on brewing a extract / partial boil batch at a local bar for Learn to Homebrew Day on November 3rd. I'm looking for a portable stand-alone type burner to boil 3 gallons of wort, and am wondering if anyone has any suggestions. I think it needs to be at least 1100 watts to get 3 gallons to boil, according to these calculations:

Water Volume (lb) x Temperature rise (°F) x 1 Btu/lb°F= Heat required
(3gal x 8.34lb/gal) x 150*F x 1 = 3496 BTU or ~ 1025 watts

Am I correct? And does anyone have any suggestions regarding burners? We'll most likely be brewing inside.

15

Homebrew Clubs / Club Activities and Learn to Homebrew Day (11/3/2012)

« on: September 12, 2012, 08:54:42 am »

What are some of the club activities that clubs have planned surrounding Learn to Homebrew Day?

We're milling around a couple ideas, including advertising an extract brewing demonstration at a popular local beer bar, but are looking for other options as well...Any ideas?