Topics

61

Commercial Beer Reviews / Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro

« on: May 20, 2012, 08:32:43 pm »

I'm generally a fan of Left Hand's beers, and there's been a lot of hype on their facebook page about the new milk stout nitro bottles, so I figured I'd give it a try. Color me underwhelmed, both with the nitro bottle and the beer itself. I gave a hard pour from about 6 inches above the rim of my 22oz weizen glass, and I did see a short cascading effect similar to a Guinness widget can, but it was faint and brief. I only ended up with about a quarter inch of head (although it does last forever). The mouthfeel is smooth and creamy, but I definitely attribute that to the oats and lactose more than the nitro.

I must admit, I can't really remember the last time I've had a beer billed as a Milk Stout. Flavor-wise, I can take it or leave it. While the sweetness is certainly not cloying, it is totally superfluous IMO. If this was brewed dry, it would make a fantastic oatmeal stout. As it is, the sweetness doesn't really do anything for me. Maybe this style just isn't my tastes, so YMMV.

62

Ingredients / Punching down dry hops

« on: May 14, 2012, 08:31:28 pm »

I dry hopped my IPA a few nights ago. I'm using leaf hops and I just sprinkle them over the top of the fermenter (no bag). There was still a fairly thick head of krausen when I sprinkled them on, so I took a peek tonight to make sure they made it through and started to steep. The krausen was gone and the cones were all damp, but they still seemed to be floating pretty high (used a lot - 2.25 oz in 5 gallons). I decided to gently punch them down using a sanitized spoon.

Anyone ever try this? Any ideas on whether its worth doing, or am I better off just chucking my hops in and forgetting it until bottling time?

63

Beer Recipes / Basic Dubbel and Tripel recipes

« on: May 12, 2012, 09:36:28 am »

I'm getting ready to start experimenting with some Belgian-style brews. Before I start getting too experimental, I want to get one real basic pale (Tripel) and dark (Dubbel) Belgian-style brew under my belt. Here are the examples I pulled together. Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Basic Tripel

Brew Method: Extract
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 5 gallons
Boil Size: 4 gallons

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.083
Final Gravity: 1.020
ABV (standard): 8.26%
IBU (tinseth): 35.47
SRM (morey): 6.11

FERMENTABLES:
8 lb - Dry Malt Extract - Pilsner (80%)
1.5 lb - Cane Sugar (15%)

STEEPING GRAINS:
0.5 lb - Aromatic (5%)

HOPS:
1.25 oz - Ultra (AA 9) for 60 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
1 oz - Ultra (AA 9) for 20 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil

YEAST:
White Labs - Belgian Golden Ale Yeast WLP570

Basic Dubbel

Brew Method: Extract
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 5 gallons
Boil Size: 4 gallons

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.069
Final Gravity: 1.015
ABV (standard): 7.04%
IBU (tinseth): 16.88
SRM (morey): 20.36

FERMENTABLES:
7 lb - Dry Malt Extract - Pilsner (80%)
1 lb - Belgian Candi Syrup - D2 (11.4%)

STEEPING GRAINS:
0.5 lb - CaraMunich I (5.7%)
0.25 lb - Special B (2.9%)

HOPS:
0.75 oz - Ultra (AA 9) for 60 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil

YEAST:
White Labs - Abbey IV Ale Yeast WLP540

64

Ingredients / Flavor/Aroma hops - adjust for AA% or no?

« on: May 07, 2012, 08:33:50 am »

Up to this point when I've been combining flavor/aroma hops in a recipe I've generally been working with hops in a similar AA% range (i.e., all high-alpha US hops for example). If you're working with two hops with a drastically different alpha acid percentage and you're looking strictly for a similar flavor/aroma contribution from each, do you need to adjust for AA% or would you simply use the same amount by weight?

For example, if I wanted to get an equal flavor/aroma contribution from Columbus at 16% AA and something like Fuggles at 4%, would I want to use 4 times more Fuggles than Columbus in my late/whirlpool/dry hops? Or is the flavor contribution pretty much the same on a per-weight basis?

Obviously, some tasting and recipe-tweaking will likely be involved, but I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with a rule-of-thumb that will get you in the right ballpark to start.

65

General Homebrew Discussion / Squeezing wort out of hops

« on: May 04, 2012, 05:10:36 am »

So I brewed a batch of IPA last night and used a hefty amount of whole leaf hops (6 oz in 5 gallons). I didn't want to waste any precious wort, so when I transferred to my fermenter I dumped the hops into a strainer over the bucket and smashed the bejeezus out of them with a sanitized spoon.

I know some people are of the opinion that you should never squeeze a grain bag otherwise you risk extracting tannins. Is this an issue with hops? Aside from possibly getting more hops bits in the fermenter, is there any issue with squeezing the cooled wort out of hops?

66

All Things Food / Cleaning grill grates

« on: May 01, 2012, 03:41:18 pm »

Anyone have a good method for deep cleaning their grill grates? I've tried a few things but haven't found anything I really like. I was thinking of giving PBW a try after reading the jar. Anyone have any luck with that?

67

Ingredients / Vanilla priming sugar

« on: April 24, 2012, 09:24:46 pm »

So my vanilla dunkelweizen is finally carbed up and ready to go, so I figured I'd report back on what I found. I brewed the extract + steeping grains version of the Austin Homebrew Supply anniversary dunkelweizen kit. I went with WY3638 for my yeast. I pitched 1 smackpack with no starter (deliberately tried to underpitch a bit) and fermented at 64F. I bottled one gallon with plain table sugar and the remainder with vanilla sugar (1 vanilla bean, split and scraped, in about 2 cups or so of sugar for at least a month or so). I carbed up to a calculated 3 volumes.

And the side-by-side verdict is... virtually no noticeable difference. The nose was the same between the two - big banana, a root beer/cream soda note that also reminds me of sweet cinnamon or cardamom, a hint of clove and a touch of roasted malt notes. Basically reminds me a lot of banana bread. On the palate, the phenolic notes are a bit lower, but they are still there. Banana ester is still predominant and I also pick up a bit of cherry. The only noticeable difference was that the beer primed with the vanilla sugar seemed to carry the sweet spice notes a bit further into the finish. Frankly, I peferred the non-vanilla version because the finish is a bit cleaner.

So, my take-homes from this experiment are:

1) Vanilla sugar is just too subtle to give much of a result in the finished product. At least, it can't hold its own against a flavorful yeast strain. I doubt it would be notable in a beer with big roasted notes like a stout or a porter either.

2) I *LOVE* WY3638. Killer yeast flavor. I will probably brew a dunkelweizen or weizenbock with this strain every year.

68

All Grain Brewing / Recipe critique - Hoppy Cream Ale

« on: April 17, 2012, 07:48:27 am »

So I'm planning on brewing my lawnmower beer for the summer. I'm thinking Cream Ale, but I want something with a bit of a hoppy snap to it, sort of like a BoPils. I'd kind of like a balance where I can serve it to my BMC drinking friends without putting them off but with still enough hops for me. I was thinking of aiming for the 30-35 IBU range. Anyone have any experience/thoughts? Is this too high? Could I push it a bit higher and still get away with serving it to friends who aren't into craft beer?

Here's the recipe as it stands now:

Brew Method: BIAB
Style Name: Cream Ale
Boil Time: 90 min
Batch Size: 3 gallons
Boil Size: 4 gallons
Efficiency: 70%

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.051
Final Gravity: 1.013
ABV (standard): 5.07%
IBU (tinseth): 32.4
SRM (morey): 3.03

FERMENTABLES:
2.25 lb - Bohemian Pilsner (41.9%)
2 lb - Pale 2-Row (37.2%)
0.625 lb - Corn Sugar - Dextrose  (11.6%)
0.5 lb - Flaked Rice (9.3%)

HOPS:
1 oz - Ultra (AA 4) for 60 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.5 oz - Ultra (AA 4) for 15 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.5 oz - Ultra (AA 4) for 1 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil

MASH STEPS:
1) Infusion, Temp: 149 F, Time: 90 min
2) Temperature, Temp: 168 F, Time: 15 min, Mashout

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

YEAST:
Wyeast - Kölsh 2565

NOTES:
Ferment at 58F

69

General Homebrew Discussion / Tartness - from infection or fermentation/yeast?

« on: April 08, 2012, 11:03:17 pm »

I brewed my first kit a few months back. It was an Otter Creek Copper Ale clone using Nottingham for my yeast. Per the kit instructions, I pitched the yeast at 65F then kept the carboy at about 63F ambient. Fermentation temps went as high as 68F at high krausen. The beer spent a little over 2 weeks total in primary, as I dry hopped for 10 days or so after getting within a few points of my target FG.

About a week after bottling I couldn't wait any more and cracked into a bottle to taste. The beer tasted very green, which I was expecting at that point. What I wasn't expecting was a considerable strawberry note and quite a bit of tartness that really jumped out right away on my palate. I was pretty concerned that my beer was infected, but I tried to keep calm and decided to let it condition further before I came to any conclusions. Over time, the strawberry note has faded some and the tartness is a bit less, but 10 weeks after bottling I'm still not super thrilled with the results.

So, my question for the experts is whether my beer is infected or whether this tartness is just from my yeast choice and fermentation temp. I'm leaning towards not infected at this point. There is no acetic flavor in the beer. I hate yogurt, so I don't know if I'd be able to pick out lactic acid flavors. I would guess that the tartness would get worse over a couple of months of room-temperature bottle conditioning if it truly was infected, and I'm seeing a bit of the opposite as the beer has had time to age.

I've read a few things about the Notty yeast, and it sounds like it can produce some tartness on its own. I also read (a little too late for this beer), that it does better at cooler fermentation temps (like upper 50's F). So I'm guessing that the strawberry is just a big ester note from fermenting at the high end for Notty, and the tartness is also from the yeast.

I'm pretty confident in my sanitation (I'm a pharmacist in a hospital, so sterile technique is second nature for me), but I did leave my wort uncovered for about 30-40 minutes while I was cooling it in my sink. That's about the only spot in my procedure where I can imagine any chance for contamination would have been. I've brewed a few beers since with no issues.

So, does anyone have any opinions here? Infected or not infected?

70

Kegging and Bottling / Bottling a weizen - safe carb level?

« on: March 23, 2012, 07:25:02 am »

So everything I'm reading about carbing weizens gives a target volume of CO2 anywhere from mid 3's to upper 4's. I'm bottle conditioning in standard 12oz longnecks, so this seems way too high to be safe, right? What does everyone here shoot for when bottling a hefe or a dunkelweizen? Any idea what something like Harpoon UFO is bottled at?

I'm thinking of bottling at 2.8 volumes for my dunkelweizen, but I really want to max out the safe carbonation level for this beer.

71

Yeast and Fermentation / Headspace question

« on: March 16, 2012, 02:58:18 pm »

I just brewed a 5 gallon batch of Dunkelweizen last night. OG=1.053, pitched 1 smackpack of Wyeast 3638 (Bavarian Wheat) that I had smacked and brought to room temp about 5 hours prior to pitching. (I am trying to pitch on the low side a bit to maximize the ester profile in the finished beer). Wort was 66F when I pitched and put it in my basement overnight to hold the ambient temp in the mid 60's.

Here's my dilemma. I am fermenting this 5 gallon batch in my 6 gallon carboy. I didn't catch this blurb on the yeast description at the Wyeast site ( http://www.wyeastlab.com/rw_yeaststrain_detail.cfm?ID=59 ) until this morning:

This is true top cropping yeast and requires fermenter headspace of 33%.

I used Fermcap, but will that be enough to let me get away with half as much headspace as I need? Or should I rack this to my 6.5gal fermenter ASAP to prevent a massive blowoff? Thanks in advance.

72

Extract/Partial Mash Brewing / Extract/steep IPA recipe - advice?

« on: February 14, 2012, 08:29:48 pm »

I am eagerly awaiting my hops shipment from freshops.com and I threw this IPA recipe together in Hopville/Brewer's Friend to make use of the Simcoe, Amarillo and Citra hops on their way.

My biggest question is on the steeping grains. I haven't really played much with many types of grains, and I'm wondering if I need to add/change anything on the grain bill for the steep. I'm shooting for a reddish-copper color (maybe somewhere in the ballpark of a Harpoon IPA, but I'm OK with a little more red). Is there something aside from Carafa-II and Caramel-60 that I should add to get the color I'm looking for. Any other steeping grains you'd recommend in an IPA like this?

Thanks in advance.


HOME BREW RECIPE:
Title: S.A.C.C. IPA

Brew Method: Extract
Style Name: American IPA
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 5 gallons
Boil Size: 3 gallons

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.062
Final Gravity: 1.017
ABV (standard): 5.83%
IBU (tinseth): 69.43
SRM (morey): 12.36

FERMENTABLES:
7 lb - Dry Malt Extract - Light (91.86%)

STEEPING GRAINS:
0.12 lb - Carafa II (1.57%)
0.5 lb - Caramel / Crystal 60L (6.56%)

HOPS:
0.5 oz - Chinook (AA 13) for 60 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil
0.25 oz - Citra (AA 11) for 60 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.25 oz - Amarillo (AA 8.6) for 60 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.25 oz - Simcoe (AA 12.7) for 60 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.5 oz - Citra (AA 11) for 15 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.5 oz - Amarillo (AA 8.6) for 15 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.5 oz - Simcoe (AA 12.7) for 15 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.5 oz - Citra (AA 11) for 10 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.5 oz - Amarillo (AA 8.6) for 10 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.5 oz - Simcoe (AA 12.7) for 10 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.5 oz - Citra (AA 11) for 5 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.5 oz - Amarillo (AA 8.6) for 5 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.5 oz - Simcoe (AA 12.7) for 5 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.5 oz - Citra (AA 11) for 0 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.5 oz - Amarillo (AA 8.6) for 0 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.5 oz - Simcoe (AA 12.7) for 0 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.75 oz - Citra (AA 11), Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Dry Hop
0.75 oz - Amarillo (AA 8.6), Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Dry Hop
0.75 oz - Simcoe (AA 12.7), Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Dry Hop

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

YEAST:
Fermentis / Safale - Safale - American Ale Yeast US-05

73

General Homebrew Discussion / Some noob questions

« on: February 09, 2012, 09:35:23 am »

I just brewed my 2nd batch of beer 2 nights ago. It was my first solo batch and also the first time I was brewing a recipe I developed myself. I had a few questions about things that came up.

- My only fermentable was 3lb of light DME in a 3 gallon (full boil) batch. This should put me at roughly 1.043 for my OG, but I measured 1.049. I just dumped a full 3-lb bag of DME into the pot without weighing it first. Is there generally a bit of overfill in a bag of DME? Should I have weighed it out first? Any other reason my OG would be so high?

- All my calculations for IBU were based on roughly a 3 & 1/4 gallon average boil volume (start at 3.5 gallons, boil down to 3ish), but when I added my DME my brew kettle was probably closer to 4 gallons to start because of the added volume of the DME. Do I have to factor in this extra volume in my IBU calculations? Will I end up with a higher IBU than I calculated?

- My @$#%ing digital thermometer's calibration got all messed up while I was cooling my wort (I was wondering why it took so long to come down those last 20 degrees). So I ended up pitching a vial of WLP001 to wort that was about 59F. I have the fermenter in the warmest part of my basement (about 64F ambient). Last night (24 hours later) the wort was reading 64.5F and I saw 1-2 bubbles/minute coming through the airlock. I've read that WLP001 has an optimal temp of 68-73, should I bring the fermenter into a warmer room to get it to warm up a bit, or will it be ok at its current temp?

Thanks in advance,
Eric

74

Yeast and Fermentation / Way to maximize vanilla flavors from yeast?

« on: February 03, 2012, 01:06:32 pm »

I'm looking to brew a berry-flavored hefe (something in the vein of Leinenkugel), but with a bit of a twist. I was first thinking of adding some vanilla extract, but I know some yeast strains can have a bit of a vanilla characteristic. Does anyone have any suggestions on any strains that have a strong vanilla component? I'd be leaning toward a weizen or wit strain, but I'm willing to experiment. Also, is there a temperature range or any other fermentation variables that can enhance the vanilla (like under/overpitching)?

In going with the fruit/berry/sweetness combo I'm fine with banana and/or bubblegum flavors, but I'd prefer to keep the clove to a minimum. Thanks!

75

Extract/Partial Mash Brewing / First try at a session IPA

« on: January 31, 2012, 09:33:59 am »

I'm just getting started brewing and I want to start working on a recipe for a session IPA in the 4-4.5% abv range that I'm hoping to turn into a house regular. I'm planning on brewing half batches until I get this recipe to where I want it. I don't mind making some mistakes, since this is going to be an experiment in the recipe-development process for me. I just threw this together in Brewers Friend and Hopville to try something out.

I did have a few questions to help determine if there are any tweaks that need to be made before I get started.

-Right now this recipe calculates to about 60 IBU. I love bitter beer, but is that going to be overpowering in a beer with such a low FG/abv? My goal here is aroma/flavor first, but with a nice bite to it.
-My yeast choices are WLP-001, Wyeast 1056 or US-05. I'd like to use the WLP-001 to maximize my attenuation, but I'm not set up to make starters yet. Will I be ok pitching a pack of WLP-001 without a starter if this is only a 3-gallon batch? Or should I stick to dry yeast for now?
-I've been thinking about starting with 1 lb of the DME at the start of the boil and adding the rest at about 20 minutes remaining to maximize hop utilization. Is there any real benefit to this if the OG is so low on this beer? Aside from saving a little bit of my bittering hops, what else do I have to gain by doing this?
-Anything else here that doesn't look right or should be tweaked before I get started?

Thanks in advance!

====================

Brew Method: Extract
Style Name: American IPA
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 3 gallons
Boil Size: 3 gallons

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.042
Final Gravity: 1.010
ABV (standard): 4.22%
IBU (tinseth): 59.31
SRM (morey): 3.86

FERMENTABLES:
3 lb - Dry Malt Extract - Light (100%)

HOPS:
0.5 oz - Galena (AA 13) for 60 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil
0.5 oz - Cascade (AA 7) for 15 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.5 oz - Cascade (AA 7) for 5 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.5 oz - Cascade (AA 7) for 0 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
1 oz - Cascade (AA 7), Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Dry Hop

YEAST:
White Labs - California Ale Yeast WLP001
Starter: No
Form: Liquid
Attenuation (avg): 76.5%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Temperature: 68 F - 73 F