Messages

1

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Belle Saison Dry Yeast

« on: Today at 07:47:15 am »

Only rehydrate on beers over 1.065. I've pretty much switched my IPA and IIPA over to US-05 because I am using WY1007 on my other styles and I don't care for it as much in IPA/IIPA.

Have you ever used K-97? It's really nice, along the same lines as 1007.

2

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Belle Saison Dry Yeast

« on: May 21, 2013, 08:10:19 pm »

Belle Saison is close enough to 3711 for me that I doubt I'll use 3711 ever again. Belle Saison is a beast. My latest super saison finished at 0.996 with plenty of mouthfeel.

3

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: First beer taste

« on: May 20, 2013, 04:12:21 pm »

IMO a good brewer needs to taste beer all the way through the process, from wort to glass.

I agree, although if you're not very experienced, you don't really know what you're tasting. But the only way you get experience is by tasting it a lot. So I'd say do it, but don't freak out if the beer doesn't taste great when it's warm and flat.

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Ingredients / Re: 3 hour dry hop?

« on: May 17, 2013, 12:26:55 pm »

I've got an accidental Berliner Weisse I think I'll try it on. I've never gone less than 2 days dry hopping before.

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Ingredients / 3 hour dry hop?

« on: May 17, 2013, 10:49:23 am »

I was reading in the Hops book about dry hop extraction times, and how certain compounds are extracted very quickly, but then dissipate, while other take longer to develop. Has any tried to do a very short (3-6 hours) dry hopping? How'd it turn out?

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Kegging and Bottling / Re: Bottles Bursting with Flavor

« on: May 17, 2013, 10:15:25 am »

Just given the time frame involved, if it were only bottling them too early, they'd probably explode sooner. If it takes 6 months for them to explode, that sounds like a bug. If they exploded within 3 weeks, then I'd say too much sugar is likely.

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Kegging and Bottling / Re: Bottles Bursting with Flavor

« on: May 16, 2013, 07:16:00 pm »

How did the beers taste?  Any chance they were infected?

Since they're exploding, it sounds likely they're infected.

8

Commercial Beer Reviews / Re: New Belgium Rolle Bolle

« on: May 16, 2013, 08:22:20 am »

I wish that the seasonals, especially from them, would stay the same for more than a year or two. I personally like the anticipation of a good seasonal instead of ones that are continually changing. I used to love their old spring seasonal Mighty Arrow and every once since it has been a bit of a disappointment to me.

Agreed re: Mighty Arrow. I thought the monkfruit and soursop were just vaguely "fruity" in this beer. Not very distinct. Maybe more of a gimmick than anything else.

9

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Beers for the non-craft drinker

« on: May 16, 2013, 08:19:13 am »

I find that my tripels tend to be popular with people who don't usually drink a lot of craft beer.  For parties, I'll typically make a tripel and maybe a wheat beer of some sort.  I find that non-craft drinkers seem more likely to try it if it looks similar to BMC.

I was just thinking the same thing. Some Belgian styles are prized for being highly "digestible" (drinkable?). A well-made tripel should be pretty light, IMO. Many domestic commercial examples are too thick for me. I use a lot of sugar in mine, usually 25-30%.

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Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Berliner Weisse Fermentation Woes

« on: May 16, 2013, 08:16:09 am »

That makes sense - you're just producing acid with the bacteria, not alcohol.

You're making a little bit of alcohol too, but usually a lot more acid than alcohol.

IIRC, don't quote me on this, but I believe lactic acid is about 75% the weight of sugar. So if you're expecting it to go from 1.030 to 1.010, that'd be a drop of 20 points. You'd likely only see about 1/4 of that drop, so the FG should be around 1.025. At least, that's the typical attenuation I see when I do that. I've stopped measuring the FG for that reason, and just go by taste.

11

Ingredients / Re: 2011 NZ Rakau hops

« on: May 15, 2013, 07:36:26 pm »

all I need is one stupid ounce for a clone of Funkwerks Tropic King.

I hate to burst your bubble, but it was disappointing. . .

12

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Berliner Weisse Fermentation Woes

« on: May 15, 2013, 02:22:35 pm »

Nate - how long does it take the bacteria to reach full attenuation? When I try this, I always seem to get a LOT of acidity but little drop in gravity.

Lactic acid is barely lighter than sugar. That's your problem. The SG isn't a good guide for when it's done. If you taste it, and it tastes super sour, then its done. If you taste it, and it tastes sweet, it's not done yet.

13

Kegging and Bottling / Re: Bottling for Competitions?

« on: May 15, 2013, 11:54:40 am »

I liked the advice given by the lady from Boulevard during one of the NHC presentations: bottle the batch to three different carb levels, and pick the ones you like best to send to the comp.

14

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Berliner Weisse Fermentation Woes

« on: May 15, 2013, 11:52:53 am »

My $0.02: Brew 1/2 of the BW with ONLY bacteria, keeping the wort hot (100* or so) until its done fermenting, brew the other half with only yeast, then blend to taste. I've found the gravity to be very stable post-blending, but you can use heavier bottles if you're concerned about that. I've never used the premade "blends" because I've read a lot of people have trouble with them. I just get the lacto from base grain. It's super easy, super cheap, and super fast.

15

The Pub / Re: NTSB Recommends 0.05% BAC Limit

« on: May 14, 2013, 12:40:40 pm »

I wish I could claim that sort of high ground (refusal to imbibe when needing to drive), but most people don't realize that operating a bicycle is just as illegal as driving with a BAC that exceeds 0.08%....

Just as illegal, yes, but much less likely to kill someone else. Maybe yourself, but there's not much damage you can do to someone else. A few people die each year due to cyclist caused accidents, vs. tens of thousands of people per year due to motorists.