Topics

16

Yeast and Fermentation / Lacto Culture Experiment

« on: May 14, 2012, 07:57:18 AM »

This weekend I brewed a beer I intend on souring with lactobacillus. I wanted to try out a few simple ways to culture up lacto from the grist. I made two cultures with these methods:

1. A "Sour Starter" from a recent issue of Zymurgy - basically a few teaspoons of grain in a pint of 1.030 sugar solution.

2. A pint of second runnings, taken from the vorlauf - OG = 1.030.

To ward off beer-spoilers, I'm going to let the cultures work until the pH has dropped below 4.3 and the media has no off flavors/aromas. I'll take the one that smells best for my beer.

To run the full experiment, I'll draw off a bit of green beer from primary to fill both starter containers (growlers). I'll chart acidity and flavor development (qualitatively). I intend on reporting my results back here.

Anyone else tried something similar?

17

Going Pro / Outside Help - Where Is It Worth It?

« on: May 10, 2012, 08:33:35 AM »

Pros: In your experience, when is it necessary/advisable to hire a specialized hand when expanding, upgrading, or simply maintaining a brewery?

Specifying/purchasing/setting new equipment? Adding a packaging line? Yeast maintenance/lab work? Properly dealing with wastewater/sewers/etc.?

I am a biochemical/electrical engineer currently working for a big consulting firm. The projects I've done, and the skills/knowledge I've gained would translate well to microbreweries. The question is - is there a market for ANY type of engineering help in craft beer?

I will strike out on my own at some point in the future (working for "The Man" hasn't been much fun!). I know I want to be a part of the great craft beer business community in America, but I don't think opening a brewery is my calling.

18

Beer Recipes / Flanders Red - Making an Award-Winner

« on: November 07, 2011, 08:42:45 AM »

BJCP Judges -

I want to improve my Flanders Red for BJCP competitions.

What are the identifiers of a first-rate Flanders Red, in your opinions?

Must they be SUPER dry and sour?

How much malt character should there be? Personally, I love a bit of the grainy flavor from high-quality pils malt and some nuttiness from aromatic malt and/or a long, hard boil.

How much oak character do you look for? Can a great Flanders be made without using oak?

Are there some techniques you find are key to producing well-received Flanders beers?

I know the answers to these questions to suit my own tastes, but I am not a judge, and my current Flanders recipe does not do as well as I would like it to.

19

General Homebrew Discussion / Homebrew Book Topics

« on: October 13, 2011, 07:46:34 AM »

I LOVE to read about and research brewing. Techniques, history, styles, brewing science; anything that will either make me a better brewer or give me more of an appreciation for the craft.

I would like to concentrate these efforts into a tool that will help other brewers accomplish the same goal. Whether it be a book, a series of magazine articles, or another form of published material, I believe there is still a lot of knowledge out there that can be collected, distilled, and presented in a way that will help the homebrewing community to make better beer.

What specific brewing topics do you wish you knew more about? Have you read any Zymurgy/BYO articles that could be researched in more detail?

Please share your thoughts!

Here are a few ideas I have:

- Brewing science topics presented in a no-nonsense, applicable manner: water chemistry (with simplified salt addition tools), multi-step mash (tied to techniques with various mash setups), wild yeast fermentation and sanitation.

- Revitalizing historical styles (an expansion of some of Randy Mosher’s publications)


- Historical/unusual brewing techniques and their application to homebrewing: partigyle, “capping”, sparging with 1st runnings,  decoction, turbid mash, mashing unusual ingredients, long/short/no boils, hopping (Mash, FWH, in-between KO and dryhops), krausening, creating cask ale

- Misc. stuff: Creating your own style, making recipes your own,  creating beer for friends/parties/non-beer drinkers, utilizing techniques from the wine/spirits industry, homebrewing to go pro, using new ingredients, improving homebrew by drinking craft beer.

20

Equipment and Software / Using March Pump to Boost Water Pressure

« on: August 08, 2011, 12:10:35 PM »

Anyone ever attempt this?

I would like to try this to get more cooling out of my immersion chillers (2 in series - one in ice bath). Right now I'm only getting down to about 95-100F.

I have pretty low water pressure at my house - will also help during clean up!

21

Classifieds / Wanted: < 5 gal corny kegs

« on: July 19, 2011, 06:58:20 AM »

I'd love to have small kegs for experiments, small batches, tailgating, etc....

I have seen 3 gal and 9.8L kegs on the internet, but they are always new and expensive.

Please let me know if you have any you're willing to part with (or know of a LHBS that carries them used)... we can haggle based on size, age, condition, etc.

Thanks!

Kyle

22

Wood/Casks / French Oak cubes - Heavy toast

« on: September 15, 2010, 10:20:29 AM »

I have some heavy toast oak cubes laying around...

Most sources will suggest using french oak with medium toast. What differences can I expect?

23

Yeast and Fermentation / Adding gravity to over-attenuated stout

« on: September 06, 2010, 12:42:27 PM »

My American Stout (OG = 1.070) fermented out a little too low (FG = 1.012) and tastes a bit thin.

Is there any reason I couldn't add some dissolved malto-dextrin/lactose to the beer at kegging to bump the FG up a notch?

What would be better between the two? a combination? maybe even a little DME?

24

Beer Recipes / Oktoberfest

« on: September 01, 2010, 01:06:13 PM »

Made a pretty good Oktoberfest this year... thought about switching some things up.

I had equal parts Pils/Munich for my base malt (with some Vienna)... thought about switching to all Munich for base. Anyone use Munich as their primary base malt in an Oktoberfest or other German lager?

Also... I thought about making it an "Oaktoberfest" with a bit of boiled, soft french oak... maybe I'll just pull a gallon when lagering and scale down the oak to try it?

25

Beer Recipes / AHA recipe Wiki needs a boost!

« on: August 27, 2010, 08:01:34 AM »

Yes indeed... she's still pretty skeet in some key areas (only one recipe for Am. Stout???)


I've seen a LOT of recipes posted on forum topics... lets get 'em logged into the wiki!!!

I'll start it off by submitting a 2nd place Trad. Bock.

26

Wood/Casks / Oak Cubes - Lonnnnnng soak in Port

« on: August 25, 2010, 11:51:48 AM »

I filled a small tupperware dish full of oak cubes soaked in port about 2 years ago... can I still use them?

27

Ingredients / Frozen, un-dryed hops

« on: August 25, 2010, 07:08:52 AM »

My mom grew some hops for me... and she brought me a shoebox of them last weekend.

I wasn't brewing, so I put them in a freezer bag, sucked the air out with a straw, and put them in the freezer.

Can I still use these hops? Do hops suffer from freezer burn???

28

Commercial Beer Reviews / Jolly Pumpkin's Noel de Calabaza (2008)

« on: August 24, 2010, 07:47:33 PM »

This beer was excellent...

9% ABV seasonal... don't know if they add spices, but it is very complex. The first impression is that of Orval... the wild strains of yeast are very similiar. I think these beasties did their work in the bottle... it damn near exploded on me!

JP's wild yeast produce flavors/aromas ranging from pineapple to sawdust to old books. Following that is the warmth of alcohol. As you gulp it down, you get the spiced base beer - a wonderful belgian dark strong.

Definitely one I would LOVE to try a Christmastime vertical! I will also be pouring the dregs into my Flanders Red. It may not be "to style", but I would love to keep these wild yeasts in (the right area of) my brewhouse!

29

Beer Recipes / English IPA tips

« on: August 19, 2010, 12:58:16 PM »

Giving a first attempt at an English IPA, but I don't have a lot of resources outside of Jamil's book...

What are your opinions on:

 - Good commercial examples, especially ones brewed here (I, for example, LOVE Three Floyds' version)
 - Yeast selection
 - Hop schedule (dry hopping?)
 - OG/FG

I will also gladly accept award-winning recipes if you've got 'em  

30

Yeast and Fermentation / Kolsch tastes like a rubber band

« on: August 17, 2010, 06:40:06 PM »

I brewed my kolsch with 1056 and it was one of "those" brewdays...

... had to trade out a bazooka screen because it got a hole in the middle of vorlauf. Went to "no-sparge method" afterwards...
... still wouldnt clear on vorlauf, got some husks in the boil.
... only got ~ 4 gal after the boil because there was so much sediment.
... couldn't get the temp past 80F. Put it in my keezer overnight to get down to 65F.
... forgot to cover the carboy when i put it in the basement.

After primary, it tastes hot and rubber-bandy. Could any of these brewday follies have caused this?