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1

Extract/Partial Mash Brewing / Add Extract DURING a Mini-Mash to use the Enzymes?

« on: January 19, 2013, 06:40:16 AM »

I am normally an all-grain brewer, but at the request of a friend, recently I came up with an extract/mini-mash recipe for Bud Light.  And then I was thinking, I might actually want to give this recipe a try in my own house, as it is just crazy enough that it might actually work.  And I want this beer to be as dry as possible, no residual sweetness to speak of, just like the real Bud Light.  All distilled water would be used, maybe even a little acid to help bring the mash pH down.  However, I also know that the various extracts in the market today have different attenuability depending on which manufacturer, i.e., some extracts won't ferment down below 1.018, no matter what you do or how much simple sugar or adjuncts you add or whatever.  But.... what if it were possible to level this playing field?  What if you could use ANY manufacturer's extract and still get reasonably consistent results in regards to high attenuation (goal would be 1.010 or less).  Since this is a mini-mash beer, what would happen if you used the following process?:

1) Steep a pound of crushed 6-row malt in a bag (mini-BIAB) in about 3 quarts of water at 147 F for 75 minutes.
2) Pull the bag out, but while the enzymes are still active, add all your extract, ensure it is all dissolved, and also let THAT sit at 147 F for another ~20 minutes.  A small amount of heat will need to be added to bring temperature up, but since there's only 3 quarts of sweet wort at this point, this is not difficult at all.
3) After "mashing" the extract for ~20 minutes using the dissolved enzymes from the grain, add all the rest of your brewing water (total of 6 gallons), bring up to a boil, and brew as normal (5 gallon recipe).

The theory is that the high enzymatic content of the 6-row will be plenty to break down any complex sugars that may be in the extract -- you could extend the extract "mash" to an hour or more if you wanted the beer to be as dry as possible, but my guess is 20 minutes would suffice.  Then add your water and brew as normal.

I have a feeling this will work, and I kind of want to try it.  What do the other all-grain mashing experts think?  Has anyone else tried anything similar to this process before?  How did it turn out??

2

General Homebrew Discussion / Black IPA / Cascadian Dark Ale "Style"

« on: April 20, 2011, 12:58:25 PM »

I can't help but be hypercritical of the relatively new "style" called Black IPA or Cascadian Dark Ale.  Answer me this -- How is it much different from existing BJCP style categories, including:

12B Robust Porter -- allowed to be heavily hopped
13E American Stout -- many of them fit here and aren't far from the benchmark, Rogue Shakespeare Stout
13F Russian Imperial Stout -- any of your stronger versions likely fit here

To those who think Black IPA is the next big thing -- Please take a step back and ask yourself, is it not just a big bunch of hype, and in reality just more of the same?  If you want to be a trendsetter, more power to you, as there is ground to be broken in many areas, but don't expect educated jerks like me to give you any credit for reinventing the wheel.   

Another peeve of mine is that the term Black IPA is inherently illogical, for if it were spelled out, it would be a contradiction in itself.  A black pale ale?  Really?!  Which is it -- black, or pale?  Just silly.  Call it Cascadian Dark if you must, but don't make yourself look like an idiot by calling it both black and pale.   

What are your thoughts?  Don't care?  No pants?  Shut up?  Ah, yes... the likely response from your typical Gen X/Y/Z American....   

/rant

3

Other Fermentables / Fermentation Temperature for Mead

« on: February 14, 2011, 05:34:28 AM »

I've just made a simple mead with the Wyeast 4184 Sweet Mead yeast.  It is currently at 70 F.  I have made good meads at 70 F in the past; however, now I'm ready to make REALLY GOOD mead that would please even the conneisseurs.  So my question is:

What is the RIGHT temperature to ferment mead using the 4184 sweet mead yeast?

Thanks,

4

Yeast and Fermentation / Contaminate Individual Bottles on Purpose??

« on: October 12, 2010, 07:23:10 PM »

I've got an odd question.  Has anyone ever purposely tried to funkify a beer by adding a few raw grains, or otherwise introduce Lacto or wild critters, to each bottle?  Here's the deal:

I've made a saison which is done fermenting but still in primary.  It tastes very nice -- dry, firm bitterness, a little spicy, and a pleasant peach/apricot sort of fruitiness.  But in reading the BJCP style guidelines, they talk about a certain "tartness" that should be there, which I am just not getting.  The beer is good, but perhaps too clean.  It seems to be wanting a certain funk.  But while I know I could purposely induce sourness by throwing in a handful of raw grain, or by inocculating with some live Lactobacillus from yogurt, etc., I also don't really want to dedicate another fermenter and associated gaskets and hoses to Lacto or other wild beasts as I just bought new equipment.

So I had this crazy crazy thought -- what if... I were to place, say, 3 little grains of raw malt into each bottle (I will be bottling)?  The theory is that with aging, a few wild critters present in the grains might multiply, probably only slightly, but give off a litte funk in the final beer.  Is this just asking for trouble?  Will the bottles gush or explode?  Most importantly -- has anyone else ever tried anything so stupid that it actually just might work?  If nothing else, I might try it just on 4 or 5 bottles just to see what happens.

Thoughts?  Is this just a little TOO crazy??  Yeah, I know.... I'm the guy who's not afraid taking a few risks, and who thinks outside of the box, maybe too much for my own good.

5

Yeast and Fermentation / Yeast Starter had Zero Krausen

« on: September 14, 2010, 05:30:17 AM »

When I make a yeast starter, I am used to seeing a big foamy krausen on top, complete with "braun hefe".  But my last starter for my saison, made with WLP570, had absolutely zero foam, and now, after 24 hours, my fermenting beer (2.5 gallon batch) appears likewise -- it is obviously fermenting strongly, but there is no krausen.  How could this be?  I wonder if I screwed up the starter wort somehow, but I don't know how.  I know the starter was fermenting strongly as indicated by the tiny bubbles rising that broke when they hit the surface, and I ended up with much more yeast on the bottom than I started with.  And of course, all the spicy fruitiness in the aroma and flavor to go with it.  But what gives?  Is this normal perhaps for WLP570?  Are there sufficient fusels being produced to entirely kill head retention?  Is my final beer also going to have zero head retention, or will it be much different after fermentation is complete?  In both the starter and in the fermenter, it is going at about 73 F, which I figure is fine for a saison.  Finally, is there anything I can do after fermentation has started to perhaps improve head retention in my final beer?  A saison with zero head just seems so wrong to me.