Topics

1

General Homebrew Discussion / Best Order for a tasting?

« on: August 24, 2012, 06:13:24 PM »

Tomorrow, I'm hosting my first tasting for a group of people.  I'll be featuring seven of my beers and two guests.  I think I have a good order together, but want to see what the experts think    Here's what I'm thinking:

1. Am. Wheat - very light, almost BMC-ish
2. Scottish 70/-
3. Biere de Garde (Domaine Dupage clone)
4. Pils
5. Amber Ale - hoppier, west coast style
6. Black IPA/IBA (whatever you want to call it)
7. Bock - somewhere between American style and traditional
8. St. Martin Tripel
9. Stone Russian Imperial Stout

Any input would be much appreciated.  Thanks!

2

Yeast and Fermentation / Stuck Fermentation - Best Course?

« on: July 24, 2012, 08:44:47 AM »

Brewed up a a Robust porter two weeks ago.  OG. 1.065.  Fermented with WLP013 London Ale at 67 degrees.  It has been in the primary for twelve days.  The fermenter has been quiet for a couple days, so I pulled a gravity/tasting sample to see where I was.  I was expecting a FG somewhere in the neighborhood of 1.017, but I have 1.022 (insert favorite swear word(s) here  ).  It tastes like the cloyingly sweet mess you would expect finishing five points high.  I haven't had a stuck/under-attenuated brew in quite a while.  What is my best course of action to save this batch?  Throw in some yeast energizer or run to the store to get some S-05 and dump it in?  As always, thanks for the advice.

3

Yeast and Fermentation / Best Yeast for an Oatmeal Stout?

« on: July 03, 2012, 08:25:46 AM »

I am putting together a recipe for an Oatmeal Stout.  I am using a clone recipe for Rogue Shakespeare Stout as the basis, but I wouldn't exactly call it a clone.  Obviously, the original recipe called for PacMan Yeast.  I can't source Wyeast, and I don't think they make that anymore. I'm looking on opinions for a good White Labs yeast for American/Oatmeal stouts.  I was thinking either WLP005 British Ale or WLP013 London Ale.  I am thinking of going with the London Ale.  Thoughts?

4

Beer Recipes / Strawberry Blonde

« on: July 03, 2012, 08:02:13 AM »

I have been scratching at this Strawberry Blonde ale recipe for a while and was looking for some input.  I'm not usually a fruit beer fan, but a local brewpub makes a good one.  It has just a subtle hint of strawberry - just enough to know it's there but not overpowering.  I was looking to try to replicate it.  Here's what I have come up with so far:

8.2 lbs. Domestic 2-Row
7 oz. Crystal 10L
.4 oz. Galena @ 60 min
White Labs WLP 011 European Ale Yeast
1 lb. frozen strawberries - secondary for five days
OG: 1.051; IBU: 18; est. FG 1.014; est. ABV 4.7%

I am pretty confident in the base beer.  The only switch I made was to go with the European Ale Yeast to compliment/support the fruit better.  What I am unsure of is the fruit.  I wanted to go with the frozen berries because I don't like extract flavors.  Not sure of the amount though.  I don't want it to not come through at all, but I don't want to make fruit juice either.  Thanks in advance for your input!

5

Yeast and Fermentation / Starters: when to pitch and how much is too much?

« on: August 05, 2011, 07:33:15 AM »

Yesterday was my brew day for my Bier de Garde that I am fermenting with WLP 011 European Ale Yeast.  Up until now, my SOP for starters was to make up an appropriately sized starter (per Mr. Malty) 48-72 Hours before the brew, let it ferment out, decant the starter beer, and pitch the cream.  With this brew, it took the yeast almost 36 hours to get going - from what I've read typical for 011 - so it didn't have time to ferment out.  Rather than risk increasing under-pitching and increasing my lag time, I decanted off about half of the 2.75 qt. starter and pitched the rest.

So far, I'm impressed with the results - I had slow bubbling within 3 hours of pitch and aggressive fermentation inside of 12 hours.  This is definitely getting me to rethink when to pitch.  My lingering question is how much starter beer is too much to pitch into a 5 gallon batch? 

6

Ingredients / Yeast for a Biere de Garde?

« on: August 03, 2011, 08:19:19 AM »

I'm planning on brewing a Biere de Garde tomorrow.  I had planned to use White Labs' 011 European Ale.  I made up a 2 qt. starter yesterday and pitched the yeast at about 7 last night.  As of 10 this morning - nada.  So, I'm thinking I have a $6 vial of dead yeast.  Anyway, I don't want to lose my brew day tomorrow - around here getting them is too hard!  What's a good dry yeast to use in a pinch?  S-05?  Nottingham?

7

All Grain Brewing / Urbana, IL Water Profile

« on: July 11, 2011, 06:42:18 AM »

I recently relocated to Urbana, IL and was wondering if anybody had the specific numbers for the water report here.  As usual, the online water report was not that helpful.  I'm a life-long central IL resident, so I have a good idea of what the water is, but was hoping to get the specifics without spending the $16 for Ward (I'm a tight a$$).  Thanks!

8

Ingredients / source for Invert Sugar?

« on: February 03, 2011, 09:43:24 PM »

As I'm planning my brews for the year, I'm setting up to do a Standard Bitter - the Boddington's clone in Beer Captured.  As with my Bitter recipes, it calls for invert sugar.  Where is a handy place to get a hold of that?  The recipe only calls for 1/3 of a pound so I don't want a ton of it.  What if I substituted dextrose?

9

Equipment and Software / Did I do a stupid?

« on: February 01, 2011, 08:59:48 AM »

I think I did something fairly dumb yesterday, but I'm not sure how much damage I did.  Sunday, I was cleaning up after my last brew.  I put PBW in my SS boil pot and threw in my immersion chiller and my copper pipe manifold.  I meant to let them soak for a little bit and come back, but got distracted by family duties.  Long story short: I ended up leaving my copper immersion chiller and manifold soaking in PBW in my SS pot over night.  When I came back Monday, the PBW was a bluish green color.  I gather the copper had some sort of reaction.

Did I do anything bad?  If I did, how do I fix it?  Do I have to go shopping for a bigger boiler   

10

Yeast and Fermentation / Fermentation schedule for Belgian Pale

« on: January 31, 2011, 04:15:46 PM »

I brewed a Belgian Pale Saturday afternoon - Jamil's "Antwerp Afternoon" recipe.  OG was 1.054.  Fermenting with WLP 515 Antwerp Ale.  I had originally planned to do a two stage fermentation with a week or so in primary and three in secondary, but I'm rethinking this.  My fermentation took right off and looks like it could be done in another day or so.  I'm wondering now if a longish (3 weeks or so) primary might be all I need given the OG, but I'm unsure as I have never brewed this style before.  Thoughts?

11

Yeast and Fermentation / Minimum time needed for a starter

« on: September 14, 2010, 09:07:58 PM »

I'm planning on brewing Northern Brewer's Winter Warmer this weekend fermented with Wyeast 1728 Scottish Ale yeast.  Here's my problem - I just ordered it today (the 14th) - it should be here the 16th.  I meant to put my order in the end of last week, but forgot.  Plus, I didn't think I would be able to brew until the 25th.  Now, an opportunity has presented itself to brew Saturday (18th).  I dare not waste such opportunities - they are a rare commodity 'round these parts! 

So the question is - I was planning on making a 2.5 liter starter (per Mr. Malty, needed for the 1.069 OG).  My usually procedure has been to get my starter going 3-4 days to ferment completely, decant the starter liquid and pitch.  If I make my starter as soon as I get the yeast, the starter will only have two days.  Will that be enough time, or am I better off letting the opportunity pass me by this weekend and brew next weekend?  Thanks!

12

Other Fermentables / Homemade hard lemonade

« on: July 18, 2010, 05:38:23 PM »

First of all, let me begin this post by stressing how much it pains me to post this.    I find this crap absolutely awful, but SWMBO loves the stuff, and who couldn't stand to score a few extra points, right?

So, does anybody have a way to makeup something like Mike's at home?


Geez, I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.... 

13

Yeast and Fermentation / WLP 820 rate of Fermentation?

« on: July 12, 2010, 09:01:47 AM »

O.k., I am sweating my aforementioned Oktoberfest again.  I pulled a gravity sample today to see if I am getting near needing to start my diacetyl rest.  It has been in primary for 11 days.  The bubbling has slowed to about 8 blips a minute, so I was figuring it was probably somewhere in the mid-20s after starting at 1.055.  My hydrometer read 1.041!     I even took the reading twice. 16 points in 11 days?  What gives?! 

I had previously checked gravity 5 days prior and got a 1.046.  Again, I am a newbie with lager yeasts.  Is this typical performance for this yeast?  At this rate, it's going to take forever to ferment out.  Any insights would be helpful.  Thanks!

14

All Grain Brewing / First decoctition match

« on: June 30, 2010, 01:16:25 PM »

For my Oktoberfest I'm brewing, I decided to try my hand at a decoctition mash.  I decided to go with a single decoctition as described in "How to Brew:" Infuse to 151 for 35 min., pull the decoctition, hold at 160 for 20 min, then boil for 45, and back into the main mash for mash-out.  However, I goofed.  This was my first shot at trying to hold a temp with my burner.  I managed to spike it to 170 for a few minutes before I got it cooled it back down to 160.  I guess I need a little more patience!  What kind of damage did I do?

15

Yeast and Fermentation / Getting and Oktoberfest starter ready to go to work

« on: June 29, 2010, 08:09:21 PM »

My 3 qt. starter of White Labs 820 Oktoberfest Lager is chugging away.  I pitched the yeast Sunday, but it didn't really get going good until last night.  It's currently at 60 degrees.  My question is this - I'm going to go ahead with the brew tomorrow.  It's a little early for the starter, but I'm a little schedule pinched.  Normally, I would let it ferment out longer.  Plus, I'm this is my first full lager and I'm not real sure how lager yeast behave.  I was thinking of cold crashing it in the morning to get the yeast to settle out, then warming it back up to fermentation temp for pitching sometime around early evening tomorrow.  Good plan or good way to wreck good yeast?