Messages

1156

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

« on: May 16, 2012, 08:25:56 AM »

So I brewed a new version of this last night. I made a few changes to try to fill out the body and balance out the bittering a bit. I added 4 oz of Maltodextrin powder. I changed from WLP001 to WLP051 to try to get a little less attenuation, but keep the same general Cal Ale profile. I also added 1 gram of gypsum and dropped the IBU's from 50 to 40 to kind of balance out the bitterness.

I did change the hops from Galena/Cascade to Columbus/Ultra, but that's more for flavor purposes than anything else. I already have a hop-bomb IPA about to be bottled, so I wanted to try something on the dank side.

I'll report back in a few weeks once the beer is ready.

Title: Dankenstein's Ultra Pale

Brew Method: Extract
Style Name: American Pale Ale
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 3 gallons
Boil Size: 3 gallons
Efficiency: 70%

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.046
Final Gravity: 1.013
ABV (standard): 4.34%
IBU (tinseth): 40.94
SRM (morey): 4.19

FERMENTABLES:
3 lb - Dry Malt Extract - Light (92.3%)
0.25 lb - Maltodextrin (7.7%)

HOPS:
0.2 oz - Columbus (AA 13.9) for 60 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil
0.25 oz - Columbus (AA 13.9) for 15 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil
0.3 oz - Ultra (AA 9) for 15 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.3 oz - Ultra (AA 9) for 5 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.3 oz - Ultra (AA 9) for 0 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.25 oz - Columbus (AA 13.9) for 0 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil
0.7 oz - Ultra (AA 9) for 5 days, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Dry Hop
0.5 oz - Columbus (AA 13.9) for 5 days, Type: Pellet, Use: Dry Hop

OTHER INGREDIENTS:
1 each - Whirlfloc, Time: 15 min, Type: Fining, Use: Boil
1 g - Gypsum, Time: 60 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Boil

YEAST:
White Labs - California Ale V Yeast WLP051

1157

Ingredients / Re: Punching down dry hops

« on: May 15, 2012, 06:15:27 AM »

That's the problem with throwing in leaf hops, they will float the entire time.  I now tie them closed in a muslin sack and weigh it down.  Per majorvices, pellets are much easier to deal with when dry hopping.  They also soak in less water. 

You'll still get your flavor though, just wait it out.  And punching them down is fine. 

How long did you let it ferment until you tossed them in?

Dave

I added the dry hops after 8 days. (FWIW - 1.067 OG, US-05, held at 64F. Brought it up to 67F when I added the dry hops).

While I haven't done a side-by-side comparison, my feeling is that some of the essential oils could be lost during pellet production since they have such a low flash point. Since this is what I'm trying to get out of my dry hops, I'm hoping whole cones will get me more hop aromatics. I'm not sure whether the difference is noticeable, but it makes me feel better so I'm going with it.

When next year's hop crop is released I'll do a split batch of an APA - half dry-hopped with pellets and half with whole cones to to do a comparison.

1158

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Consensus on racking out of primary?

« on: May 14, 2012, 08:46:18 PM »

What about dry hopping?  Can you do that in primary or is that a qualifier for secondary?

FWIW, I still consider myself somewhat of a novice when it comes to homebrewing, but I've never used a secondary (thanks largely to the great advice everyone has provided here). I'm a huge hophead, and I generally dry hop the hell out of my beers. I've used both pellets and whole cones, no hop bags, and just sprinkle them right into the primary. The results have been great. Unless I start harvesting my yeast, I don't think I'd ever bother with racking to a secondary for dry-hopping.

1159

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?

1160

The Pub / Re: The Trash Thread

« on: May 13, 2012, 05:27:47 PM »

Never argue with a fool... he may be doing the same thing

1161

Beer Recipes / Re: Basic Dubbel and Tripel recipes

« on: May 12, 2012, 09:22:56 PM »

I would personally not use any special B in a dubbel and up the amount of Dark candi syrup. I think you might be starting to see there is not really a right or wrong answer here, but personal preference.

That almost makes me want to do two mini-batches, one with Candi Syrup and one with Special B, just to get a good idea of what each one brings to the party. Would you be able to pull off a Dubbel with more Special B and no Candi Syrup, or would the amount of Special B that would be needed be so much that the beer would end up too sweet? Thinking something like:

7 lb Pilsner DME
1 lb Special B
1/2 lb Caramunich
(and maybe 1/2 lb sucrose)

1162

Beer Recipes / Re: Basic Dubbel and Tripel recipes

« on: May 12, 2012, 12:22:01 PM »

On you Dubbel, you might want to think about adding a bit of Special B.

Already there. I've been wanting to brew with Candi Syrup and Special B for a while, so I'm especially looking forward to this one.

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%)

1163

Beer Recipes / Re: Basic Dubbel and Tripel recipes

« on: May 12, 2012, 10:56:32 AM »

But a tripel shouldn't have that....at least if you want to stay true to the style.  So no, I really can't suggest anything.  My tripels are simply pils malt and table sugar and I love them that way.

+1 - think of a tripel as the Belgian answer to a pilsner, but higher gravity and with Belgian yeast.

I included the Aromatic because I've heard some podcasts and seen a few recipes for tripels that call for it. But if it's not needed, then I'll definitely take your advice and drop it from the recipe. The simpler, the better AFAIC. Thanks!

1164

Beer Recipes / Re: Basic Dubbel and Tripel recipes

« on: May 12, 2012, 09:57:34 AM »

I'd cut the aromatic from the tripel.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Any suggestions on something I can steep in its place to give a bit of that malty roastiness? I know I won't get much conversion from steeping the Aromatic, but I wanted to at least get some of the flavor/color contribution from it.

1165

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

1166

Beer Recipes / Re: Community IPA Recipe Project

« on: May 11, 2012, 08:21:04 PM »

My suggestion for the hop additions would be to use all the Chinook and Magnum at 60 minutes, plus however much Simcoe you need to get you about 75% or so of the IBU's your shooting for. Then have a little fun with the rest:

Combine all the rest of the hops and split it into 3 equal parts. Start sprinkling small amounts from the first third at 20 minutes and every couple of minutes from there. Pace yourself to be adding the last bit just before flameout. The second part goes in at flameout as soon as the boil dies down. Let the hops do a hot steep for an hour before chilling. The last third is your dry hops. If you want to get really adventurous, split that into 3 more parts and add them each in 3 days apart. Bottle or keg 3 days after the last dry hop addition.

1167

Beer Recipes / Re: Is it CDA or BIPA?

« on: May 11, 2012, 08:32:01 AM »

So here's a theoretical for you. What if I make a beer in this style and hop it with EKG and Fuggles? Does it become an English CDA? Will we need separate American Black Ale and English Black Ale subcategories? Or even worse - American Black IPA and English Black IPA?

And then what if I use Belgian yeast? Does it become a Belgian-English-Cascadian Dark Ale? Oh, the humanity!

1168

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Re: My homebrew smells like vomit

« on: May 10, 2012, 11:35:45 AM »

Anyway I'm hopeful that a long secondary will eat up the vomit.

If not I know a Labrador Retriever that likes to eat barf...

1169

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: A Rose By Any Other Name

« on: May 09, 2012, 08:28:51 PM »

So there is small brewery in Loveland, CO called Big Beaver Brewery. all there brews play on some "potty humor" they are very clever. I like their names and more importantly the beers are very good.
some examples are: Shaved tale ale, But-a-nut brown ale, black curly's Ipa, and big woddy ipa 2.0
here is link to their site http://bigbeaverbrew.com/brews/

Love the name "Breezy Bean Bag Scotch Ale"

1170

All Things Food / Re: They're Baaaack (pic)

« on: May 09, 2012, 05:44:03 PM »

I'll have to try these out. Thinking of making a mango mead dry-hopped with Citra.