Messages

121

Beer Recipes / basic blonde ale

« on: February 01, 2013, 01:48:17 PM »

Hey Guys. I am looking for some basic direction on a simple blonde recipe. I am going for something crisp but with some sweetness. I am not sure yet but I will probably be adding zest, lemongrass, or something at the end of the boil to make it a bit more interesting. Any feedback?

85% two row
10% carapils
5% honey malt

14 g Centennial 60 min
14 g Centennial 10 min

OG 1.048
IBUs 22
US05 yeast

122

Beer Recipes / Re: Belgian IPA Critique Please

« on: January 31, 2013, 10:57:44 AM »

Can you post your final recipe? I am interested to see how it ended up.

123

Ingredients / Re: All Zythos APA or IPA

« on: January 31, 2013, 09:54:51 AM »

Your conclusions are interesting up to this point. My all zythos beers is sitting in the fermenter now. Our beers are strikingly similar. I overshot my efficiency quite a bit so I ended up with a higher OG than planned.

100% Weyermann Munich I
Hop additions: 60, 20, 10, 5, 0, dry
US-05 yeast
OG 1.060
IBUs ~38

When took my first sample, the only aroma that I noted was slight garlic. When dumping in the dry hops the other day I couldn't detect this but I find it interesting you've noticed the same thing. I thought the aroma from the pellets themselves was pleasant but also mild.

124

Beer Travel / Re: top ten brewing cities

« on: January 30, 2013, 02:08:48 PM »

yeah very interesting. San Diego and Portland our my favorites being from Denver. I personally prefer Portland mainly because of the ease of accessibility. The number of breweries that can be visited on foot is pretty impressive as compared to other decent sized cities

125

Ingredients / Re: amarillo-simcoe combo on APA

« on: January 30, 2013, 11:25:14 AM »

I don't think you can go wrong with the amarillo-simcoe combo as those are two of my favs. I am sort of frugal, so I usually use a cheaper bittering hop in my pales and IPAs. If I want something pungent I will go for Columbus, something cleaner I will use Magnum. Much are both cheaper than Amarillo or Simcoe...

126

Ingredients / Re: hop blends - Zythos

« on: January 23, 2013, 08:27:34 AM »

Damn that sounds good! The airlock is bubbling away in my fermentation chamber with great hop aroma present. I am not getting any garlic now which I thought was strange to begin with. I had a new hydrometer flask that I didn't clean out very well....could've been from that somehow.

I thought the aroma of the pellets was fantastic though more mellow than expected. I have been trying to find decent hop type alternatives that are more affordable and available than my favorites Amarillo, Citra, and Simcoe.

127

All Grain Brewing / Re: more efficiency questions...

« on: January 23, 2013, 08:23:10 AM »

goschman, my efficiency varied too depending where I bought the crushed grain. Owner of a LHBS let me mic his mill, turned out to be .055. It prevents stuck sparges but kills efficiency.

Instead of brewing to see where your efficiency is, see if the LHBS will let you mic their mill. If you have a couple of LHBS to choose from pick the one with the smallest setting, assuming it is not too narrow to give a stuck sparge.

Thanks for the idea. I guess the best solution would be to get my own mill and do it at home. I don't see this happening any time soon.

I will be getting grains from this same shop where I got higher efficicency for my next batch. I will try to remember to report back what my results are though my grist will be different. I have been too lazy to dive into pH and water chemistry so I am hoping most of my efficiency inconsisteny issues are indeed tied to the crush.

128

All Grain Brewing / Re: more efficiency questions...

« on: January 22, 2013, 02:52:51 PM »

I would say it is probably the crush that would make that big of difference.  How did the grain look after crushing compared to other place?

Basically the same. Ground pretty fine with a lot of powder. All husks cracked.

129

Ingredients / Re: hop blends - Zythos

« on: January 22, 2013, 01:55:49 PM »

I finally got around to brewing an all Zythos pale ale yesterday using Munich I for the entire grain bill.

For 5 gallon final volume, my additions were

16g 60 min
7 g 20 min
23 g 10 min
23 g 5 min
23 g 0 min

I wasn't planning to do the 20 min addition however I overshot my OG by 9 points so I adjusted a bit. This hop schedule gave a calculated IBU total of 37.5

From the sample, the only aroma that I detected was one of slight garlic, yes garlic. I will try to remember to post my results.

130

All Grain Brewing / Re: more efficiency questions...

« on: January 22, 2013, 12:24:11 PM »

It could be a pH thing, but I'd look at the crush being different from different shops.  The differences in crush can have a huge impact.

Cool thanks. When I brew my next batch, I will go to this last place to compare my results. I am not sure how to plan my recipe design since my projected efficiency is an unknown so it will be kind of a crap shoot. I won't be able to brew too many more batches before taking a hiatus so I probably won't be able to get conclusive results.

It did take a while to mill the grains there but I now remember it wasn't necessarily because of a smaller gap. I remember the rollers turning really slow... I didn't visually notice the crush to be any different from the normal place I go to.

131

All Grain Brewing / Re: more efficiency questions...

« on: January 22, 2013, 11:35:59 AM »

Another strategy you might want to consider is to simply alter your efficiency targets for your big beers rather than chasing a bunch of possible tweaks/fixes.  As long as you're consistent, even it is lower, you'll be able to calculate and hit your volume/gravity targets just fine.

I don't do too many big beers so I am hoping to get reasonably consistent efficiencies for OGs of about 1.045-1.055. I keep a spreadsheet with charts for my efficiencies and yeast attentuation %s. Using my average efficency from about the last 20 batches, I was approximating I would hit about 1.051 with yesterday's batch...got 1.060.

Looking more and more like a mash pH issue maybe...

132

All Grain Brewing / Re: more efficiency questions...

« on: January 22, 2013, 11:22:46 AM »

Depending on how you calculate efficiency, your volume measurements can also have a huge impact.  For example, if you expect to make 5 gallons at an original gravity of 1.060 but you boil too hard and only ended up with 4.5 gallons, then your gravity will look way high by a ratio of 5/4.5, so you might get 1.067, which makes it look like you got like an extra 10% efficiency, when in fact your efficiency is probably the same as it always was, you just boiled it down too hard.  It can happen if you don't account for volumes in your measurements.  Think about it.

I always collect 6.5 gallons of preboil wort so I use my preboil gravity readings to measure efficency. Based on my OG into the fermenter, I calculate what my final volume was...

133

All Grain Brewing / Re: more efficiency questions...

« on: January 22, 2013, 10:43:10 AM »

Thanks for the link...I will go through it when I have some time.

I do not measure mash pH. I think this is the one factor other than crush that may be affecting my results. Shouldn't my mash pH be somewhat consistent when using the same water and mash thickness? May be a stupid question and I assume the answer is no.

I try to keep my mash thickness consistent at about 1.4 qts/lb.

Last batch I did a 90 minute mash at 150
    50% Two row, 43.5% white wheat, 6.5% midnight wheat - 65.9% efficiency
This batch I did a 60 minute mash at 154
    100% weyermann munich I - 79.2% efficiency

The grist was nowhere similar but I usually get 66-70% efficiency regardless of the grist. I guess I will have to keep plugging away at my process and learn as much as I can.

134

All Grain Brewing / more efficiency questions...

« on: January 22, 2013, 09:57:25 AM »

Hi All. So I brewed an all munich pale ale yesterday and overshot my average efficiency by about 10 points and got my highest efficiency ever. I have a feeling it may be due getting my grain from a different shop. Their mills seem to be set to a smaller gap width since it took a lot longer to mill the grain. This aside, I have some process questions and how much they contribute to efficiency.

My mash water and sparge water volumes were almost identical. I have heard that this can increase efficiency. Any truth to this?

I batch sparge. When adding 180F sparge water the mash stabalized at 168. I try to hit 168-170 regularly but sometimes am not successful.

Any feedback would be much appreciated as I am going a bit crazy. My last batch was at about 66% efficiency while yesterday's was about 79%. It has become hard for me to predict my OGs which is really throwing a wrench in recipe design.

135

Ingredients / Re: Lemongrass

« on: January 16, 2013, 01:13:05 PM »

Thanks for the info! I think I wil stick with an ounce or so but it is helpful to know which parts to use. I actually saw a cooking show where he used three different parts of the lemongrass. The heart which is in the middle right above the root seemed to be where the most desirable flavors and aromas are present