Messages

46

Homebrew Competitions / Re: NHC 1st Round Judging - Philadelphia Region

« on: April 10, 2012, 12:48:56 PM »

We made the mistake of getting rid of our reserve bottles last year and had to rebrew in order to send in our second round beers.

Don't count on the cover sheet to let you know if you have advanced.  We had two entries last year that advanced, neither were indicated on the cover sheet. 

47

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: First lambic - what to expect in fermentation

« on: April 06, 2012, 09:26:07 AM »

It is much more subtle than your typical fermentation.  You might see some airlock activity once the new microbes adapt to their new environment.  I would not be worried if you don't see any airlock activity.  I did something like what you did with a Flanders Red but with the WYeast Lambic Blend.  I did not use an airlock though, just a carboy cap loosely attached.  I wanted oxygen to slowly seep into beer to mimic barrel fermentation. 

48

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Beer of the Week

« on: March 15, 2012, 07:57:21 AM »

I've seen this recipe or something very similar in BYO, and the ferment temp was 50 oF with a DA rest at 55 oF.  I'd be really sruprised if he fermented such a big beer like an Eisbock at 35 oF.

http://www.byo.com/stories/techniques/article/indices/41-lagering/2503-the-big-chill

49

All Grain Brewing / Re: Gelatinizing Raw Wheat

« on: March 06, 2012, 08:23:23 AM »

We just did a lambic as well.  I detailed our brewday on another forum, but have placed that post below.  We used ~1.4 quarts of water per pound of grain and the cereal mash turned out just right.  Very little scorching.

-------------------------------

A while ago we were given a 5 gallon bucket full of raw wheat. The only beer styles that I can think of to use this in are Witbier or Lambic. Well we went with a lambic yesterday. Here is the recipe and procedure we used. It is based on the recipe for Gueuze-Lambic in the Classic Beer Styles book Lambic

Beer Name: Hope
Style: Lambic
Batch Size: 11.5 gallons (10.5 gallons in the fermentor)

14.5 lbs Pilsner Malt (Gambrinus)
7.75 lbs Wheat, Raw
1.0 lbs Crystal 40
6.0 oz Willamette (Aged warm for 2 years)
2 pkg fresh WYeast 3278 Belgian Lambic Blend (dates: 2-22-12 and 2-29-12)
2 pkg of old WYeast 3278 Belgian Lambic Blend (dates: 7-2011 and 10-2011)

Mash: Did a cereal mash with the wheat (7.75 lbs), 1.5 lbs of pilsner malt and 13 qt of water (168 oF). The initial temp was lower than the rest temp we desired so we heated this with stirring to get up to 158 oF. We let this sit for 10 min and then slowly and with constant stirring brought the CM to a boil. We stirred constantly for 30 min and it thickened up to the consistency of thick oatmeal. We then added the near boiling CM to the main mash ( 13 lbs pils malt, 1 lb crystal malt and 14 qts of water) which was resting at 120 oF. This got the temp of the main mash up to 150 oF. We added some rice hulls (~3/4 lb) and hot water to raise the temp of the main mash up to 153 oF and let this sit for 30 min. No mash out.

Vorlauf/Sparge: We vorlaufed with a pump for 15 min and then continuously sparged with 180 oF water to obtain ~13 gallons of wort. No stuck sparge!

Boil: We boiled for 90 min, and added the hops with 80 minutes left in the boil.

Cool/Aerate/Pitch Yeast: We circulated 1-2 gallons of hot wort before sending it through a small Shirron plate chiller. After running the cooled wort (66 oF) into two carboys, we pitched 2 pkgs of yeast (one old and one new) into each carboy. We then slowly bubbled oxygen (2 min) using an aeration stone into each carboy.

Fermentation: Started a controlled fermentation at 66 oF, bubbling away nicely...

We forgot to get a hydrometer sample of the chilled wort, but were able to get a refractometer reading of 14.4 Brix. Which suggest around a 1.058 OG.

50

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: American Brown Style Guidelines

« on: February 24, 2012, 10:37:11 AM »

I would say you could expand this discussion to include American Stout.

Question:  How would perfect clones of Deschutes Obsidian Stout or Rogue Shakespeare Stout fair in competition as American Stout?
I think the feedback on these "classic examples" would very often include that they needed hops... 

Agree?  Disagree?

cheers--
--Michael

http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/pages/zymurgy/commercial-calibration/Brewery/22/shakespeare-stout

Only DH mentioned low hop character as an issue...

As far as American brown ales go.  We got a silver medal with an Am Brown in last year's NHC.  It was hopped with Willamette and Mt Hood and scored in the mid to high 30s in each round, but somehow rose to the top during the mini-BOS rounds.  Don't cave in to the American citrus hop bias for this style!  You can make an award winning American brown without them.

51

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Fermentation Temp Too High?

« on: January 24, 2012, 03:33:26 PM »

You'll probably be OK.  My experience has been that after a few days of cold (low to mid 60s) temp fermentation most yeast strains do not produce the fusel alcohols you are concerned about.  I have had problems with fermenting at too low of a temperature at the beginning of fermentation and then having the beer not finish as dry as I would have liked.  I'd be more concerned with a high FG than an overly estery/fusely beer.  Most yeast strains don't really like the wild temperature swings you are describing, so I'd actually try and keep the beer in the 70s versus plummeting back down to 57. 

52

Beer Recipes / Re: What kind of beer?

« on: January 18, 2012, 07:56:52 AM »

If it looks like a wit and tastes like a wit, then by most measures its a wit...

By scaling back the wheat and dropping the coriander and orange peel you probably end up with something that resembles a low alcohol Belgian blond.

53

The Pub / Re: Talk me into brewing Saturday morning

« on: December 16, 2011, 10:22:26 AM »

Here is what I would attempt:

Today: pickup all the stuff you need for brewing (Hank Hill voice: popane, propane accessories...).

Tonight after your kids are in bed: test your burners, start your yeast and clean any equipment that needs it so that you will be ready to go first thing the next morning.

Saturday Morning: Dough-in your grains and then run off to see your lady.

Saturday Afternoon: Finish the rest of the brewing (sparge, boil, cool, pitch yeast).

54

Equipment and Software / Re: Blichmann Beer Gun

« on: November 03, 2011, 01:51:13 PM »

I generally like my beergun, but have had problems with the little black rubber tip popping off at in opportune times.  I've replaced the  tip once (expensive  ), but it still comes off every now and then .  I find the conveniences (especially being able to purge each bottle with CO2) out-weigh this one annoyance.  I do worry about bottling sour beers with it, my nemesis could harbor some critters that I may not be able to clean/sanitize away.

55

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What's Brewing This Weekend - 8/12 Edition

« on: August 10, 2011, 10:36:53 AM »

Repitching the yeast (WY3068) from a dunkelweizen, so probably a weizenbock.  I am also considering crafting a gose with a mix of the german wheat yeast and some lactobacillus.

56

The Pub / Re: Done. Passed.

« on: August 09, 2011, 10:47:55 AM »

Great to hear!  What beer did you celebrate with?  Westy 12?  Homebrew?  All of the above and more?  Hope our paths cross sometime soon!

57

The Pub / Re: Done. Passed.

« on: August 09, 2011, 09:51:52 AM »

A little late here, but congratulations Tom on finishing your thesis and passing your exam!  Hope your next step is not too far away.

Cheers,
Mike

58

Yeast and Fermentation / Repitching Roeselare (WYeast #3763) or Lambic Blend (WYeast #3278)

« on: July 15, 2011, 08:27:52 AM »

I'm about to transfer a split batch of Flanders Red Ale to secondary fermenters, and wanted to know if anyone has had success with repitching these types of blended products (WYeast #3763 or #3278)?  Would one work better than the other?  My plan was to was mix the yeast cakes with some sterile water, let stand for 15 min and then decant off the upper layer (~80% of the entire volume).  I'd then pitch this into a Flanders Brown Ale (OG 1.070).  Just seems a waste to just dump this mix of yeast and bugs down the drain.

Thanks,
Mike