Messages

31

Going Pro / Re: Recipe Scaling

« on: January 30, 2013, 11:25:43 PM »

For grain, it depends on the beer and the recipe. For hops, it depends on the equipment (what sort of utilization are you getting?) and your technique (how long are you whirlpooling? how long are you letting it settle? do you have a hopback?)

32

Going Pro / Re: "House" Yeast Strain

« on: January 25, 2013, 01:08:25 PM »

Equipment limitations could also be a factor. In one brewery, I had to switch to a top-cropping strain (1332) because there was no way to reliably harvest yeast from the dish-bottom fermenters.

Was there a manway on the top?

33

Going Pro / Re: "House" Yeast Strain

« on: January 25, 2013, 08:19:08 AM »

We've only brewed a half dozen batches, so for whatever its worth... but I used BRY-97 for all of our initial beers. Coming to a new system, a new scale, at times new ingredients, etc. I wanted to eliminate as many variables as possible, so the ease of using dry yeast was hard to pass up. For our British/session beers, we are using the Timothy Taylor yeast from BSI.

I'm subject to the same limitations that majorvices mentioned. I could decide to just brew something using a random yeast but a pitch of yeast isn't cheap so it has to be used on an entire series of beers to really fit into the budget. One brick of BRY-97 was about $150 and had enough yeast to be directly pitched into two batches (one 12P, one 17P). The only way to make that more economical is to re-use the yeast.

Keeping a pitchable quantity of the yeast in good condition is another trick. If you switch yeasts mid-stream, your original yeast may sit around for a week or two and lose viability. Right now, I don't really have a good setup for a yeast brink and so I've just been trying to keep the yeast going with new batches of beer.

I will likely switch away from BRY-97 once I have a good handle on all the other things there are to worry about. Ultimately, if you're starting out with fewer than 3 or 4 fermenters, you will need to pick a yeast that is versatile. Something that will flocculate out either with or without some fining encouragement.

I don't know that specifically being familiar with a strain is a pre-requisite as long as the strain is consistently well-reviewed. You will become familiar with the strain within a couple batches as long as you keep decent notes, follow the same temperature regimen, etc.

34

Ingredients / Re: Gambrinus Pale Ale Malt?

« on: January 21, 2013, 01:05:13 PM »

We use it as our domestic base malt. I think it has a nice more full flavor than a regular 2-row from Rahr or CMC but it is comparable to their pale offerings.

35

Going Pro / Re: German commercial breweries batch sparging?

« on: January 18, 2013, 05:30:10 PM »

I just discovered that the material I posted was proprietary.  I have deleted my post.  I apologize to the BA for posting it.

I didn't care before but now I have to find out...

It came from the BA members list. I'm guessing their blanket policy is that things posted there are proprietary to the BA. I didn't get the impression that the information Mr. Dornbusch shared itself was secret, but I imagine the BA doesn't want to make a habit of having emails from the list published into public forums because often times you have brewers from various breweries asking questions, etc. and its supposed to be an environment of trust, no stupid questions, etc.

36

Going Pro / Re: German commercial breweries batch sparging?

« on: January 18, 2013, 04:57:35 PM »

Even if you happened to walk into a German brewery where you were all setup for batch sparging and then decided not to decoct because 4 out of 5 Dennys agree that it doesn't make a difference, you would experience some serious problems because the system was designed around decocting (again just as Mr. Dornbusch shared).

Well, not necessarily. I know of at least two American brewpubs that have German-style, decoction-designed brewhouses but just use single infusion mashes.

How exactly is an American brewpub a German brewery? 

It depends on the manufacturer, but either way if you have a lauter/whirlpool combi (like ABT makes) instead of kettle/whirlpool (like Premiere makes), you have to make adjustments, you may be doing a single infusion but you probably have to do some form of a step mash (i.e. fire up the kettle to take you to a mash out temperature) to compensate for heat loss doing the sparge. Again depends how much rock wool you have on your lauter vessel I suppose

37

Going Pro / Re: German commercial breweries batch sparging?

« on: January 18, 2013, 03:27:49 PM »

Just to be clear, I wasn't advocating one way or another. And I wasn't saying the efficiency change would be large, but I said it would add up. On a 15P beer, on a 15 BBL system, 3% is somewhere in the realm of 15-20 pounds of grain. Every 3-4 batches you would be using up 1 more bag of grain than you needed to. If you have a tasting room, the beer prices can easily absorb that, even if you're just a distributing brewery, you can likely absorb that.

Yes, it is completely dependent on equipment. It will depend on how much deadspace there is in the lautering vessel, etc. I was simply expressing the opinion that walking up to any random brewery's brewhouse and deciding to batch sparge has a high chance of having a lower efficiency than is normal with that system because the overwhelming vast majority were designed for continuous sparge, obviously there are exceptions, like the folks who have Meura setups.

I was echoing the sort of sentiment Horst was expressing in his anecdote about attempting to brew an American style ale on a German system and experiencing a 20% efficiency drop.

Ultimately, if you're buying a new brewhouse, you want a system designed around whatever technique(s) you have adopted in your brewery. If you're stuck with an existing system, your technique choices will be somewhat bound by what the system was originally designed to handle. Continuous vs batch sparging is only one of those decisions, pellet vs whole, already milled grain vs milling on site, cleaning under pressure or not, caustic or alkaline+acid, etc.

Even if you happened to walk into a German brewery where you were all setup for batch sparging and then decided not to decoct because 4 out of 5 Dennys agree that it doesn't make a difference, you would experience some serious problems because the system was designed around decocting (again just as Mr. Dornbusch shared).

38

Going Pro / Re: German commercial breweries batch sparging?

« on: January 18, 2013, 12:23:50 PM »

Are these just gut feelings or do you have some data to support that?

I think Kai Troester's experiments and data support that.

39

Going Pro / Re: German commercial breweries batch sparging?

« on: January 18, 2013, 10:56:51 AM »

I don't think there is a huge efficiency hit. I think that is a myth. The only limitation is the size of the MT. My MT has a motorized paddle so stirring would not be an issue. On lower gravity beers it would be possible for us to batch sparge and I have thought about it to save time but haven't.

I think that all things being equal, if you simply change from continuous sparging to batch sparging, you will see an efficiency hit. That isn't to say you can't redial in the system to get the same or maybe even better efficiency than you were getting.

There is also no doubt in my mind that for the same amount of sparge water used, continuous sparging will yield a higher lauter efficiency than batch sparging. Again, that isn't to say you can't adjust to compensate though.

40

Going Pro / Re: German commercial breweries batch sparging?

« on: January 18, 2013, 07:56:28 AM »

Its certainly possible but the efficiency hit adds up depending on your system size. And again depending on your system and if you have rakes or not, I would think all that stirring might get old too.

41

Ingredients / Re: Coconut Extract

« on: January 15, 2013, 09:27:16 PM »

Make sure you spring for the actual coconut extract and not the imitation stuff. The imitation stuff makes your beer taste like sun tan lotion.

42

Going Pro / Re: Beer volume vs. Profit margin.

« on: January 14, 2013, 08:21:19 AM »

Yeah, I don't get out to the western slope often. I do have a friend that brews at a pub in Durango and in general it does sound like it has some catching up to do

Say what now? We have four breweries for 18,000 people, plus a fifth one opening this year and a sixth in planning. Per capita, that would be like the Denver metro area having 800 breweries.

Wasn't necessarily referring to the number of breweries there. 

43

Going Pro / Re: Beer volume vs. Profit margin.

« on: January 13, 2013, 10:19:05 PM »

In some ways, I think Colorado has reached a point of super saturation where it is hard to draw parallels to other markets that are still developing. There are a few other places like this that come to mind as well.

You must not have gone to Grand Junction, because it's really nothing like anywhere else in CO (read: the front range).

Yeah, I don't get out to the western slope often. I do have a friend that brews at a pub in Durango and in general it does sound like it has some catching up to do

44

All Grain Brewing / Re: Base malt recommendation for Belgian brews

« on: January 13, 2013, 10:15:18 PM »

I like to use MFB pale as my Belgian base malt. At times I think Pils distracts from what you're trying to do in those beers. The few breweries I've toured in Belgium and Germany all seemed to use a mix of pils/pale depending on the brewery. I remember munching on the grain at Ayinger and thinking that their base malt, which they described in typical German fashion as 'lager' malt, seemed much more subdued than typical Best or Weyermann Pils.

45

Going Pro / Re: Beer volume vs. Profit margin.

« on: January 13, 2013, 10:05:14 PM »

Sometimes they are destinations. Drydock in Aurora CO is a great example. Horrible location, but doing very well.

In my hometown (Grand Junction, CO) I've seen a few good breweries with bad locations do poorly, and some awful breweries with good locations do very well.

In some ways, I think Colorado has reached a point of super saturation where it is hard to draw parallels to other markets that are still developing. There are a few other places like this that come to mind as well.

I remember last Christmas taking my family to visit with my folks back in Loveland, my Dad and I decided we would do a 12 breweries of Christmas tour. We hit 15 breweries and we didn't travel further than 35 miles out of Loveland.

And there were a couple of breweries that without a taproom, I'm not sure they would be in business. There was one in particular in Loveland that was serving the most disgusting beer but folks were in line, filling up growlers, and enjoying the place. Another good example is Grimm Brothers, they are in an industrial park sort of setting, but the taproom always seems to be hopping.

Our tasting room is an integral part of our business plan. We are located far enough from downtown so that bars won't feel competitive pressure from our operation but close enough that people won't have to drive very far to visit us. Far enough that rent is cheaper, but close enough to use municipal transportation, etc.