Messages

136

Ingredients / Re: briess special roast

« on: January 11, 2013, 09:08:02 am »

This time around I used midnight wheat, pale chocolate and crystal 60 along with the special roast. Maybe I should just get rid of the special roast altogether.

137

Beer Recipes / Re: Thoughts on a Rye Amber?

« on: January 10, 2013, 05:57:15 pm »

My rye APA has 15% and after a couple weeks of conditioning it is barely noticeable in my opinion. I have never done a rye beer with less IBUs but it seems like the bitterness from the hops and rye kind of blend together to where you cannot tell which is which. I am sure this is not the experience of most....

138

Ingredients / briess special roast

« on: January 10, 2013, 05:37:57 pm »

Hey all. I have brewed what I call a black ale that is very similar to a robust porter using about 8.3% special roast. After a month in the bottle, there is a slight whisky and raisin like character that is present. It almost takes like it was barrel aged or something. Although this characteristic isn't bad it also isn't what I intended.

After looking at the description for special roast, it includes sour and tangy so I assume it is coming from that.

Has anyone else experienced this when using special roast? Also, would brown malt be an acceptable sub to get rid of this flavor but keep some of the biscuit/nutty notes?

139

Ingredients / Re: All Zythos APA or IPA

« on: January 08, 2013, 09:02:12 am »

Anyone have any recommedations on what type of Munich to use for an all Munich APA? I was planning to use Weyermann Munich II

140

Ingredients / Re: All Zythos APA or IPA

« on: January 04, 2013, 05:13:05 pm »

At risk of being overly pedantic, A beer with Zythos is not a SMaSH. Zythos is a blend of hops.

but an all munich pale ale is lovely.

Yeah you're right I just never thought about it. I associate one name with one hop although that is incorrect in this case...

141

Ingredients / Re: All Zythos APA or IPA

« on: January 04, 2013, 03:48:07 pm »

I think my next beer is going to be a Munich-Zythos SMaSH. Gonna shoot for about 35 IBUs doing a 60, 20, 5 and 0 min addition. I have not used Zythos at all so I thought this would be appropriate to get a feel for what they are like

142

Ingredients / Re: midnight wheat yield

« on: January 02, 2013, 05:34:11 pm »

You are both right. Most I have ever used is 11 oz. I am just trying to get my grain section in Beersmith 2 dialed in. I am finding that a lot of the default values are incorrect when compared to the malting company specs. My efficiency has been inconsistent lately so I am just double checking everything...

143

Ingredients / Re: midnight wheat yield

« on: January 02, 2013, 09:41:29 am »

Briess responded that the yield of midnight wheat is typically between 65 and 75% on a dry basis. Seems like a pretty large range but at least I got some info

144

Ingredients / midnight wheat yield

« on: December 28, 2012, 05:18:12 pm »

Anyone know what the extract potential or yield is for midnight wheat? I have seen everything from 1.025 to 1.032 and Briess doesn't list it in their pdf specs.

145

Ingredients / Re: hop blends - Zythos

« on: December 21, 2012, 05:41:16 pm »

I was able to find this:

Due to the popularity and fixed availability of pellet blends, we have received numerous inquiries about the future supply of Zythos. Hopunion is pleased to announce that the success of Zythos’ inaugural run has resulted in a decision to continue production and contracting for 2012. Zythos will maintain the strict quality standards and aroma characteristics established in 2011.

Zythos is a customized IPA/Pale Ale style pellet blend designed to embody the powerful tradition and unique aroma characteristics required in premium craft brews. While the unique flavors and aromas of our proprietary varieties cannot be duplicated or replaced, we at Hopunion, along with our growers, recognize the need to supply more of the distinct varieties and exceptional aroma characteristics craft brewers have become accustomed to. Zythos is not a replacement for proprietary varieties, but rather a premium pellet blend designed to compliment existing IPA/Pale Ale lineups. Zythos can be used as a single hop addition or as a compliment to current inventories, imparting distinct tropical (pineapple) and citrus tones with slight pine characteristics.

146

Ingredients / hop blends - Zythos

« on: December 21, 2012, 05:35:23 pm »

I have a basic question about hop blends and Zythos in particular. Since they are blends are they pretty consistent year to year? I would assume that like normal hops, the AA changes but the characteristics are meant to stay pretty consitent.

Sorry I don't have any experience with hop blends but gearing up to do a Zythos pale ale soon. If they are good, I am thinking abou using them a lot in place of the hops that are expensive or hard to get that I love so much.

147

Kegging and Bottling / Re: Dishwasher Sanitize vs. Jet Bottle Washer

« on: December 13, 2012, 03:31:03 pm »

I rinse my bottles well after use and run the dishwasher on short cycle with no dry using about 1/2 oz of star san in the detergent tray. May not be very thorough but I am yet to have a bad bottle

148

Kegging and Bottling / Re: bottling small amount from full batch

« on: December 12, 2012, 04:35:10 pm »

Thanks for all of the good ideas all.

My buddy convinced me to come over, transfer 1 gallon for bottling and the rest to the keg. I should get about 10 bottles to condition and consume independently. I calculated needing 24 g of table sugar for priming which should yield more consistency than I was planning. The keg will end up with less than 5 gallons but there will be 3 other beers on tap that night so it shouldn't be a big deal.

149

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: nothing is Happening

« on: December 12, 2012, 12:37:53 pm »

Depending on what the kit was I bet it won't turn out half bad. Carbonation and conditioning can really change a lot. Sounds like you had a decent fermentation which is great. I always had issues getting my extract batches to finish low enough.

150

Kegging and Bottling / Re: bottling small amount from full batch

« on: December 11, 2012, 09:41:44 pm »

You could put it all in a bottling bucket, add priming sugar, bottle a few and drain the rest into the keg. Let the bottled and kegged beer condition. Good to go.

That was kind of my original idea. The main thing is I want to get the bottling over with before I go over there due to a time crunch. In this instance I would have to transfer back to a cleaned and sanitized fermentation bucket for transportation since I somehow lost the lid for the bottling bucket.

I think I may have talked myself into this option even though it is probably more complicted than necessary. I think this makes sense due mainly to timing.