Topics

1

General Homebrew Discussion / Sage in White IPA

« on: May 19, 2013, 05:58:20 AM »

I'm interested in putting sage in a White IPA and am wondering how much to use/when to use it. Has anyone tried brewing with sage? How much do I need, and how should I add it? I've read about making a sage tea and adding it to the secondary. Anyone thrown it into the boil?

2

Ingredients / Hop suggestions for White IPA

« on: May 12, 2013, 01:23:27 PM »

Anybody have any suggestions for hops to use in a White IPA? I was thinking of a fruitier, citrus and melon profile to complement the orange peel. What about hopping rates and when to add spices?

3

General Homebrew Discussion / Souring a Berliner Weisse

« on: March 04, 2013, 09:41:09 PM »

I've got a vial of the WLP630 Berliner Weisse Blend and am wondering whether I need to leave the wort to sour, or if I can do a standard brew process and rely on this yeast to deliver enough tartness. I want a beer that's true to style and don't want to go overboard on the sourness. Anybody have experience with this yeast?

4

General Homebrew Discussion / What is BHA and why is it in beer?

« on: February 10, 2013, 02:13:34 PM »

I just saw a list with the "11 Scariest Things in Your Food" and saw a reference to Butylated HydroxyAnisole (or BHA). Among the foods listed for this ingredient was "beer." Looks like it's some kind of preservative, but I've never used it to my knowledge. Does anybody know anything about this? What commercial beers would it be used in?

5

Yeast and Fermentation / Best Beer for S-23?

« on: February 07, 2013, 06:05:16 PM »

I've got a pack of S-23 yeast and am not sure what to do with it. I was hoping to do a pilsner, but from what I've read, this is an estery lager yeast. Any suggestions on styles I should consider for this?

6

General Homebrew Discussion / Lagering question

« on: January 21, 2013, 03:25:41 PM »

I'm fermenting a bock right now and am weighing whether to bottle or transfer to a secondary. I've been fermenting it in a cooler that holds the temperature at a steady 50 degrees, but don't have the ability to lower the temperature further, as many recipes recommend, and lager it for an extended period without risking some more significant temperature fluctuations. (Basically, I'd put it out in my mudroom, where it gets plenty cold, but can have temperature swings of 20 degrees.)

Is it worth transferring to a secondary and continuing to hold it at 45-50 degrees for a month or more, or should I just bottle it when fermentation is complete, as I do with most ales?

7

Other Fermentables / Medicinal flavor in mead and braggot

« on: November 17, 2012, 07:06:51 AM »

My last three experiments with fermenting honey have all resulted in a kind of medicinal, almost minty flavor and I can't figure out what's causing it. I used different yeasts for all of them (Red Star Premier Curvee, Red Star Côte des Blancs and White Labs Champagne), each resulting with the same off flavor, to varying degrees. The Red Star yeasts were used in mead recipes, and the champagne for a braggot.

I've used the same supplier of wildflower honey for each batch. Anybody had this problem?

8

General Homebrew Discussion / Star Anise in Winter Warmer

« on: November 02, 2012, 03:19:21 PM »

I'm brewing a winter warmer next week and am considering using star anise. Does anyone have any advice on how much to use, and when to add it? I'm brewing a 10 gallon batch and plan to use .25 oz., added with 10 min. left on the boil. The other spices I'm using will be cinnamon (3 sticks), ginger (1 oz.) and orange peel (.25 oz.), all added at the 10 minute mark.

I'm aiming for modest, but noticeable spice. Any suggestions?

9

General Homebrew Discussion / Any way to save a Band-Aid beer?

« on: August 03, 2012, 08:37:30 AM »

My first attempt at an all-Brett beer has produced a pretty phenolic mess. It's slightly tart, but there's a lot of plastic Band-Aid and I'm not sure what to do. I've heard the arguments about "never give up on a beer," but I don't know about this one. Any thoughts out there? It's been 2 months and the beer is in the secondary now. Is there any chance it will clean up? Any way to turn this into a drinkable beer?

10

General Homebrew Discussion / Two-toned beer?

« on: July 16, 2012, 02:57:28 PM »

I've got a Brett beer that has a dark-rum colored rim round the top with a cloudy, amber body. The ring is about 3/4 inch thick and fairly distinct. Has anyone seen this before? What is it? Here's a picture:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisfleisher/7585997108/in/photostream

11

General Homebrew Discussion / Brett and phenols?

« on: July 13, 2012, 08:47:20 AM »

I just transferred a brett beer to the secondary and it was waaayyy phenolic. Much more than I'd hoped. My temperature control was pretty good and I have no reason to think this is a sanitation problem. (It was a split batch, and the other carboy with saison yeast was awesome.) Has anyone had this issue with Brett? Any chance the phenols will dissipate over time? It was in the primary for almost a month.

12

General Homebrew Discussion / 100% Brett

« on: June 13, 2012, 02:39:29 PM »

The latest Zymurgy convinced me to try making an all Brett beer. I was wondering, however, how this would affect equipment? At the end of the article, it said that Brett posed "less of a threat to equipment than the bacteria involved in sour brewing." How much less of a threat? Should I just set aside the carboy and make it a "Brett-only" bucket?

13

General Homebrew Discussion / Utilization from spruce tips

« on: May 13, 2012, 05:01:19 PM »

I've heard that spruce tips should be added for at least 60 minutes in the boil, because extracting the spruce aromas and flavors takes more time than with hops. Does anyone know about how to use spruce? My question is whether adding the spruce at the end of the boil, or even dry-hopping with it, would yield anything at all.

14

General Homebrew Discussion / Sanitizer question

« on: March 08, 2012, 05:58:14 PM »

How long can sanitizer stay 'potent' after it is mixed with water? Is there an expiration date on this stuff? I'm going to be a lot of beer stuff over a series of days and don't want to have to mix up a fresh bucket every time.

15

General Homebrew Discussion / Trucking wort?

« on: January 18, 2012, 07:14:57 PM »

Hey everyone,
I got a message from a buddy of mine down in Tennessee, who said Granite City Brewery makes their wort in Iowa, and then trucks it to other locations to be "finished off"? Frankly, this seems ridiculous to me. But are any of you aware of a good reason to do this?

Here's what he said:
"This isn't for a story, but it came up in the process of reporting on a new brewery expanding to this area. Granite City says they begin the brewing process in Iowa then truck the wort to their locations across the Midwest and finish the beers
there. They'll be using this practice for a new location in Williamson County, TN, just south of Nashville."