Topics

46

Commercial Beer Reviews / Ommegang Biere de Mars

« on: July 30, 2012, 09:07:20 am »

So after my horrible Saison Dupont experience (see my other post), I had to dip into something else in my cellar to try to make up for it. I cracked into my bottle of Ommegang Biere de Mars (Batch #2 - October 2008), and it was really, really good. The Brett character was just phenomenal. Big Orval-like cherry pie with a touch of funk. I want to go back and buy them out, but I am a little concerned about long-term storage. I literally untwisted the cage twice and the cork exploded out and bounced off the ceiling. Still, I think beer that good is worth the risk to me...

47

Commercial Beer Reviews / Saison Dupont

« on: July 30, 2012, 08:51:04 am »

Is there any way to get one that doesn't reek of skunk pee? I finally caved and sprung for a bottle a little while back, despite my reluctance to buy green-bottle beer. My whole kitchen reeked the second I opened the bottle, and I could only choke down two sips before I dumped the whole damn thing. I'd love to try a fresh, unskunked bottle sometime, but I don't know if I'd ever take a chance on it again.

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Yeast and Fermentation / Swamp Cooler Lagering

« on: July 29, 2012, 09:14:10 pm »

I just took a hydro sample today of my "Hoptoberfest" and I am really happy with what it tastes like so far. I am using WY2633 (Ofest blend) and I simply have my carboy in a 18-gallon bucket swamp cooler for temp control. I just swap out two frozen 3-liter soda bottles filled with water twice a day. Water temps in the swamp cooler have gone as low as 48 and as high as 58, but for the most part I've been able to keep it between 50 and 55. I'm pretty sure the glass carboy does a decent enough job as an insulator to keep the actual temp swings inside the fermenter even smaller than that.

I know I still have a ways before the final beer is ready (and I'll be sure to share my results when it is), but so far I am shocked at how clean and "lagery" the beer tastes so far. I just thought I'd share so if anyone else out there is afraid to pull the trigger on brewing a lager because they don't have a fridge for temperature control, give it a shot.

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Ingredients / Hop Hoarder

« on: July 27, 2012, 06:32:10 am »

Hello.

My name is Eric and I'm a lupulin addict.

I finally came to terms with the fact that I have a problem last night. I opened my most recent AHS order last night and found 6 ounces of Calypso that I totally forgot I ordered. I currently have at least 14 hop varieties in my freezer that I have 3 oz or more of, a few more straggler open packs, and 3 more varieties being delivered from NB as we speak.

I haven't even been brewing for a year yet, so I never really experienced any of the big hops shortages, but I've heard a lot of the old war stories. Whenever I see a new hop variety that sounds interesting I end up ordering half a pound in case I really like it and it's not there next time I want it. I've spent the past month or two chasing down whatever AUS/NZ hops I could get my hands on just because I may want to use them in my IIPA in a couple of months and I'm afraid they might be sold out everywhere by then. I just got an email from Rebel Brewer the other day saying that they had Topaz in stock and I felt like a drug dealer was waving crack in my face. I know the next time I place an order with Rebel there will be several ounces of Topaz tacked on.

A couple of weeks ago I bought 8oz of a new experimental hop variety (Caliente) just because it was a new experimental hop variety. I opened it up to repackage it and took a whiff. It didn't really smell like much of anything, and I got that feeling like I dropped 20 bucks on a lottery ticket and lost - kinda bummed, but instantly thought "maybe next time".

Thankfully hops are (relatively) cheap, and wanting to experiment with hops is what got me into homebrewing in the first place. Still, I'm accruing hops way faster than I could possibly brew with them. Anyone else have this problem, or should I check myself into Humulus rehab?

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Ingredients / Rauch Malt vs Heavy Toast Oak

« on: July 21, 2012, 07:30:15 am »

I'm starting to plan my robust porter for the fall. I want to get a hint of smokiness in there above and beyond what I'd get from black malt or roasted barley alone. I've seen smoked porter recipes calling for 3-5% rauch malt, but I was wondering how heavy toast oak would work instead. I'm thinking the vanilla would be nice, and I can get away with brewing a lighter-bodied/drier porter and letting a little bit of tannin fill out the mouthfeel a bit.

Does anyone have any experiece with one versus the other? Can I get a nice smoky highlight out of toasted oak before I suck out too much tannin/oakiness? I'm shooting for smoky campfire but not woody campfire.

51

All Grain Brewing / First All-Grain Brewday - plus some followup ?'s

« on: July 19, 2012, 12:23:29 pm »

I had my first AG brewday yesterday, and for the most part it was a rousing success. Despite spilling about a pint or two of my strike water, I was within a degree of my target mash temp. I'm doing BIAB, but with a separate mash tun. This means I don't need to futz around with the heat on my stove to hold my mash temp. Plus, I have it rigged so I can suspend the bag off the bottom of the tun once I drain it and then squeeze the hell out of it against the side of the cooler. I only lost a bit under 1/2 gallon to 6.25 lb of grain.

The biggest surprise was my efficiency. I based my recipe off a 70% brewhouse efficiency. Since I don't get a big boiloff, I need a thicker mash than most BIABers and I guessed low on my target efficiency. Turns out I hit a bit over 79%.

So now my questions. I lost about 4-5 degrees F during a 90 minute mash. This seems reasonable to me, but how does this compare to everyone else? I can't help but wonder if the grain bag may be wicking off a bit of liquid and cooling things down.

Also, my next brew is going to be a Barleywine at about 1.100 OG. Anyone have a guess how much efficiency I may end up losing brewing something this big? Obviously, the actual number will be specific to my system, but what kind of ballpark would you expect if you were batch sparging (for example)?

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Beer Recipes / Belgian Barleywine

« on: July 12, 2012, 08:51:17 pm »

A while back I had some Konigs Hoeven Dubbel, and thought the flavor profile would be fantastic in an English Barleywine (I'm a huge Thomas Hardy fan). I ended up taking a clone recipe for the Konigs Hoeven dubbel and stepping it up/combining it with a recipe for Thomas Hardy. My biggest concern with the recipe is that I do want to end up with a fair amount of sweetness (I'm shooting for a Barleywine with some Belgian flavors, not a dubbel/BDS with some English character).

I haven't brewed with the dark Candi Syrup before, so I'm not sure how much residual sugar that is going to leave. Anyone have any thoughts on the recipe below? My thought was to either add some Special B or maybe bump up the mash temp a bit, but I'm open to any suggestions.

HOME BREW RECIPE:
Title: Belgian Barleywine

Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: English Barleywine
Boil Time: 90 min
Batch Size: 2 gallons
Boil Size: 3.3 gallons
Efficiency: 65%

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.108
Final Gravity: 1.027
ABV (standard): 10.62%
IBU (tinseth): 62.14
SRM (morey): 25.43

FERMENTABLES:
4 lb - Belgian Pilsner (48%)
3 lb - Maris Otter Pale (36%)
0.67 lb - Belgian Candi Syrup - D180 (8%)
0.67 lb - Lyle's Golden Syrup (8%)

HOPS:
0.67 oz - Ultra (AA 9) for 60 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.67 oz - Willamette (AA 5) for 20 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil

MASH STEPS:
1) Infusion, Temp: 152 F, Time: 90 min, Amount: 2.5 qt, Sacc rest

OTHER INGREDIENTS:
1 each - Whirlfloc, Time: 15 min, Type: Fining, Use: Boil

YEAST:
Wyeast - Belgian Abby Ale II 1762

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Commercial Beer Reviews / Rochefort 8

« on: July 12, 2012, 08:17:51 pm »

I just cracked into a Rochefort 8 a little while ago. At first there was something off I couldn't put my finger on, but as it warmed up it became really clear. There is a huge DMS flavor here. It tastes like someone dumped a can of creamed corn in my beer. Has anyone run into this with the trappist ales before? I've had 2 bottles of Chimay Blue over the past few years where I picked up DMS notes too (although not as much as this Rochefort).

It seems like sacrilege to dump a trappist brew, especially at the price they cost, but I think I might have to. Thankfully I have an Ommegang dubbel in the fridge as backup right now...

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General Homebrew Discussion / Timing an IIPA batch

« on: July 07, 2012, 08:55:47 am »

I'm planning on brewing my first IIPA in the next couple of months. I want to have it ready in mid-November, ideally at peak flavor/aroma. My available brew days are mid-August, mid-September or I can request a day off sometime in the last 2 weeks of September (yes, I will take a day off to brew this beer - my obsession has finally reached that level). I don't have an exact recipe nailed down yet, but I'm aiming for around ~1.085 OG, probably using WLP001 or 007. Grain bill will probably be based on Tasty McDole's Pliny clone with a massive fruit-bomb hop selection/schedule (Citra, plus several NZ hops and possibly some Galaxy or Cascade).

My thought is that mid-September is probably the way to go. That gives me 2 weeks for fermentation, about 2 weeks for my dry-hopping regime, then about a month to bottle condition. Does that sound right? I haven't brewed anything this big yet, so I'm not sure how long to count on for bottle conditioning. Should I plan on pitching a half-pack of US-05 at bottling as a safety net to be sure it carbs in time, or will I be fine if I give it a month to carb up?

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Other Fermentables / Archer Farms - Raw Organic Wildflower Honey

« on: July 03, 2012, 06:18:22 pm »

I was just in my local Target and saw that their store-brand organic wildflower honey is on sale for #3.49/12oz (works out to $4.65/lb). I pay around $7 a pound for local wildflower honey, so this is a pretty decent price. Anyone ever use this for mead? Most of their Archer Farms products are pretty good, so I'm thinking of springing for some to try it out.

56

Beer Recipes / Hoptoberfest?

« on: July 01, 2012, 08:39:28 pm »

I just tried Stoudt's Smooth Hoperator today and I really liked the combo of malty lager with a nice hoppiness to it. Sort of like the advanced-class version of Sam Boston Lager. It instantly got me thinking of how I'd want to approach that style. I was thinking of doing a Maerzen hopped to roughly the level of an APA and possibly with some dry hopping as well. Does anyone have any experience/recipes for something like this? Would it be as simple as taking a basic Ofest recipe and applying my standard APA hopping regime to it?

57

Yeast and Fermentation / Yeast recommendations for hoppy pale ale split-batch

« on: June 29, 2012, 12:27:32 pm »

I've been playing around with a base pale ale recipe and I think I finally have the malt bill pretty close. The next thing I want to nail down is the yeast since I haven't found one I'm completely sold on yet. I'm thinking of splitting a batch between 4 or 5 different yeasts for comparison purposes. I have a few ideas, but wouldn't mind suggestions.

I'm looking at about a 1.050-55 beer with about 45 IBU's - mainly from late adds. The malt bill is light DME with about 20% Munich LME plus Maltodextrin (or 2-row/Munich/Flaked Barley if I do this as all-grain).

Here are the definite strains I am trying. I want as clean a yeast profile as I can get, so I'm hoping to get fermentation temps in the very low 60's with a swamp cooler.

Chico (for a baseline)
Kolsch
WY2124 (Bohemian Lager)

I'm debating a couple of the following, my goal is a fairly dry, clean beer, but hopefully not too thin. Accentuating the hops is a plus, but I don't mind if I just need to bump up the hops to make up for a yeast that lowers the hop character in the finished beer:

WLP080 (Cream ale blend)
WLP862 (Cry Havoc)
A saison yeast fermented as low as I can (maybe WY3711 at 65F)
WY1450
One of the cleaner Brett strains (Brett C?)

Any other recommendations/suggestions?

58

Equipment and Software / Mash tun frustration

« on: June 26, 2012, 07:05:40 pm »

So I'm just about ready to start brewing some all-grain batches. There is a 5-gallon Rubbermaid jug cooler at Home Depot for $20 that has been calling my name for a while. I came across a mash tun design online using this cooler and included the exact parts list from Home Depot, so I decided that it was time to make the plunge.

I put everything together tonight. I noticed that some of the parts didn't fit as well as I expected, but eventually I was able to get everything fairly snug. I put in about 2 gallons of water and put a couple of paper towels under the spigot. A half hour later the towels were slightly damp, so I cinched everything down tighter and tried again. This time I saw the leak start almost immediately.

So I started disassembling the spigot and noticed that the O-ring was a hair smaller than the gasket opening. I'm 99% sure that this is where the leak is coming from. I took another look at the website I got the plans from. It turns out that this Home Depot Rubbermaid cooler is a newer/slightly different model! *GROAN*

I'm pretty sure if I used 1/2" fittings instead of 3/8", everything should be OK. Of course now I have to hope I can return everything (a couple of the fittings are scratched since I don't have a proper pipe wrench). My easy mash tun on-the-cheap is starting to look not so easy or cheap anymore. I'm really this isn't going to turn into one of those several week-long projects punctuated by several trips to Home Depot.

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Beer Recipes / Imperial Pilsner - advice/suggestions?

« on: June 24, 2012, 07:41:26 pm »

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to approach an "Imperial" Pilsner? I'm thinking something like an amped-up, hoppy BoPils style. My initial idea is OG in the 1.070-1.075 range and about 50 IBU's. Here are a couple of questions that came to mind:

For those of you who use Munich in your Pilsners (as opposed to 100% Pilsner malt), would you keep the same percentage of Munich in a scaled-up version, the same by weight, or use less overall since the total malt bill is bigger and you might not need as much of that grainy character from the Munich?

Would you consider drying it out with some simple sugars (like you would with an IIPA), or is it OK to end up with a higher FG?

My inital stab at a recipe would be 85% Pils malt (or DME), 10% Munich, 5% Sucrose. 30 IBU's at 90 minutes, 20 IBU's at 15 minutes, a solid flameout addition, and about 2 oz of dry hops. Thinking of using a combo of Ultra and Motueka for the hops.

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Yeast and Fermentation / Swing-top Bottle Carbonation Issues

« on: June 24, 2012, 11:21:00 am »

Whenever I use swing-top bottles for bottling I end up having a couple of bottles that don't hold their carbonation. Are there any tricks to capping these so they hold pressure, or do they just inherently suck? FWIW I am bottle priming and these were all new bottles when I started using them.