Messages

46

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: More lager challenges

« on: January 02, 2012, 08:19:06 AM »

I believe I can taste fruit in most light lagers once they are warm and flat.  I assumed it was a touch of munich in the recipe or some dark, fruity-like melanoidin from the boil.  It could be the yeast, though, as a lot of commercial brewers lager warm with pressure to try and suppress ester formation.  I don't think it is possible for replicating yeast to produce NO esters. 

Every time I use WLP028, I swear it has fruity character to it.  Then after 3-4 weeks at 32F, it loses it.  All that really happens during this period is that the very fine, non-flocculant yeast cells fall out.  I think they are the source of slight fruity flavors with some green beers.  I suppose some flavor compounds could oxidize below detectable levels, but 32 is pretty cold.

Try it again after you have carbonated and lagered it for a few weeks.  You may be surprised.   

47

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Storage of a Starter

« on: January 02, 2012, 08:08:48 AM »

If you want to store it for a long time, make sure you protect it from oxygen.  Transfer it to another container with a lid that you can tighten.  Then do a 'wake up' with the yeast on your stir plate with fresh wort before you need it.

48

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Boiling starters in a flask

« on: January 02, 2012, 08:06:32 AM »

To avoid the boil over, simply move the flask to the side such that only 1/4 to 1/3 of the flask is receiving heat from the burner.  Then, turn the heat down.  This will allow you to create a low, rolling boil in the flask like you do in your brew kettle.  Just monitor the heat so that you maintain only enough heat to keep it rolling  Any more is unnecessary and will cause a boil over. 

One thing to be cautious of is making a starter with pilsner malt that you intend to pitch whole.  The flask, by its shape, is designed to minimize vapor loss.  The vapors collect on the side of the glass and slide back down into the base liquid.  Thus, you do not boil off any DMS from pilsner malts or extra light DME.  If after you make your starter you are going to chill and decant the liquid, then no big deal.  If I need to boil down my wort or am worried about boiling off flavors compounds out, then I will boil in a pot first, then transfer to the flask.  Then I will boil in the glass for 5 minutes just to make sure everything is sanitized.

Lab grade glassware will handle any stove and can be immediately dunked into ice baths.  The only concern is the depth of the ice bath.  Make sure it is not much deeper than the liquid inside the flask.  If you have 1-2" of wort in your flask and you dunk the flask in 6-8" of ice, then you do risk cracking the upper part of the flask that is not also in contact with liquid inside. 

49

Beer Recipes / Re: Henry Weinhard Private Reserve

« on: December 24, 2011, 11:22:04 AM »

What would be the closest style?  German pils?  Bohemian pils?  Maibock?  Was there a noticeable, citrus hop character?  

Will you be willing to put a guess to the malt bill, OG, FG, hop schedule and total IBU?

50

Beer Recipes / Henry Weinhard Private Reserve

« on: December 24, 2011, 09:34:27 AM »

A close family friend of mine tells me stories of Henry Weinhard’s Private Reserve he enjoyed during the late 70’s and early 80’s.  He says it was the best beer he ever drank.  He is turning 60 next year, and I wanted to surprise him by making him a batch of this beer.   I have full temperature control over fermentation for making lagers, however, I have never tasted this beer.  I know that the original lager strain was brought to the USA, then Portland, likely from Stuttgart, Germany in the early 1850’s.  The beer showcased PNW hops (cascade and possibly Willamette) and pale malts.  Other than that, I have nothing else to go on to make this beer. 

Does anyone here remember this beer? If you do, would you offer me some tips and what to shoot for in terms of malt bill, hop schedule and yeast selection?

Is there another resource I can look into for this information?

51

Equipment and Software / Re: Thermometer Blowout

« on: December 24, 2011, 06:08:13 AM »

Yes, yes, yes and no. 

I do slide the pot forward on the burner to prevent the plastic-rubber guards on the valve handles from melting.  This directs a lot of the heat towards the back of the pot.  Also, the valve serves somewhat as a heat deflector as it is directly between the thermometer and heat source.  If I were getting too much heat going up the front of the pot, then I should melt the cheap guards before bursting 1/8" glass, but they are fine.  Still, shouldn't there be some means of allowing gas expansion within the thermometer to prevent pressure buildup?

52

Equipment and Software / Thermometer Blowout

« on: December 24, 2011, 04:59:31 AM »

I have a brewing thermometer installed on my HLT, MT and BK.  On both the MT and BK, the thermometer burst.  And by burst, I mean literally sent shards of glass flying across my driveway.  From what I can figure, the pressure inside the thermometer must have built up as heat was applied and finally the pressure was more than the glass could hold.  I have a hard time believing there isn't/shouldn't be a pressure relief port (even a pinhole or something) built into the thermometer case. 

Anyone else had this problem?  Is this a design flaw of the thermometer or is there something I should have been doing as maintenance to prevent this from occurring?  The thermometers are 1-2 years old.  The first one blew out last year, the second yesterday.  Should the manufacturer still warranty these?

53

All Grain Brewing / Re: toasty flavor

« on: December 24, 2011, 04:40:49 AM »

I second the brown malt.  Chewing on the grain reminds me of a piece of toast: not lightly toasted, but not yet burnt either. 

54

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Sour Beers

« on: December 21, 2011, 04:15:10 PM »

My first foray in sour beers involved just dumping dregs in a beer that I wanted to sour.

Given that you just used bottle dregs instead of a commercial pitch, I would say some good advice would be to have a lot of patience.  Taste it at 3 months, then 6 months and be ready to give it all the time it needs.   

55

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Secondary yes or no

« on: December 21, 2011, 04:10:03 PM »

I crash cool in the primary, then straight to the keg.

56

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Lacto Starter

« on: December 16, 2011, 02:59:20 PM »

Lactobacillus is a facultative anaerobe, so it can switch between aerobic and anaerobic metabolism.  I think the main difference is that in this study, they used pressured tubes to prevent oxygen from entering and forced the Lactobacillus to grow anaerobically.  The growth rate of bugs during fermentation is significantly reduced, as ATP production from anaerobic respiration is up to 100 times lower than aerobic respiration.  In our examples, we are using stir plates aeration devices in our starters (usually), where oxygen is infused continuously, which allows for greater growth rates. 

My experience with Lacto is limited to homebrew use, but with in 24 hours I generally see a lot of growth in stir plate starters, but I do not have any cell counts to back it up.  In our lab, we work with all kinds of environmental bacteria, Pseudomonas, Bacillus, Mycobacterium, etc., and we have no problem growing up cultures with 1-2 million cells per ml overnight, just starting from a very small starting inoculum. 

57

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Cold crashing a Schwartz

« on: December 16, 2011, 02:39:41 PM »

I agree with the DMS comment.  Also, at 44F, you may not have had an active enough ferment to drive off a lot of sulfur.

58

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Yeast Starter Temp Question

« on: December 16, 2011, 08:01:46 AM »

Sounds like you got it. 

59

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Cold crashing a Schwartz

« on: December 16, 2011, 07:46:34 AM »

At 44F, you are fermenting almost 50% slower than at 52F.  For every 18 degrees, reaction rates double.  A beer that required 2 weeks to ferment at 52F would likely take 3 weeks at 44F, maybe even 4 if a large percentage of the yeast were lulled to sleep.  A gravity reading is your best friend right now.  Taste it too, and see if you should do a diacetyl rest before crashing. 

60

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Brewer Heat pads

« on: December 16, 2011, 07:33:29 AM »

Hi all, Ive been using the plastic brewer heat pads that I purchased.  I use a big chest freezer that I keep at 40 degrees and control with one temp controller.  I insulate one side with foam and put the pads on the foam and my carboys on those and use a separate temp controller to control the heat pads to get my ferm temps.  I have been thinking(perhaps overthinking), that the heat pads are cooking the yeast on the bottom to a higher temp then whats reflected on the carboy since it heats from the bottom up, especially with bottom feeding yeasts like lagers.  Has anyone had any experience with these? Major off flavors etc?  Or is the temperature of the wort on top keeping things in check.

The answer is sometimes yes and sometimes no.  I think it depends on the differential between the air temperature and the desired temperature of the beer.  If the air around your carboy is different by 10-15 F, then that heat pad will be working at its maximum to keep the carboy at the set temperature.  Additionally, if most of the surface area of the carboy is interacting with 40F, then the heating pad will also be working harder to keep up as it can only conduct heat through a very small amount of surface area.  In your case, yes, I think the carboy will be very warm on the bottom.  I had one batch where the probe was left just sitting out next to the carboy at room temperature.  The heating pad tried its very best to warm the ambient temperature of the room to the set point of the controller.  The bottom of the fermenter was darn near blood warm. 

The easiest thing for you might be to put a thermo-strip as close to the bottom of your fermenter as you can and check it often.  Also, you should be able to use electrical tape and wrap the thermal mat around the fermenter to increase the amount of surface area being acted upon by heat and reducing the amount being acted on by the 40F air temperature of the freezer.