Messages

2476

Beer Recipes / Belgian Strong Golden Recipe

« on: December 21, 2009, 11:36:47 AM »

I'm going to be brewing this one over the extended New Years weekend.  I've already got the starter going.  Shooting for a pitch rate of approximately 320B cells (2 qts, decant, 2 more quarts).  This is what I've come up with so far.  Any comments would be appreciated.  On the mash schedule I was thinking of mashing this at 149 to get a little better attenuation.  That a good idea or should I stick with a more normal 152 or so?


BeerSmith Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Belgian Strong Golden Ale
Brewer:
Asst Brewer:
Style: Belgian Golden Strong Ale
TYPE: All Grain


Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.00 gal     
Boil Size: 7.44 gal
Estimated OG: 1.089 SG
Estimated Color: 5.4 SRM
Estimated IBU: 30.6 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount        Item                                      Type         % or IBU     
12.50 lb      Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM)             Grain        72.46 %       
2.00 lb       Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM)                 Grain        11.59 %       
1.00 lb       Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)              Grain        5.80 %       
1.50 oz       Hallertauer Mittelfrueh [4.00 %]  (60 min)Hops         20.8 IBU     
0.50 oz       Saaz [4.00 %]  (20 min)                   Hops         4.2 IBU       
0.50 oz       Hallertauer Mittelfrueh [4.00 %]  (20 min)Hops         4.2 IBU       
0.50 oz       Saaz [4.00 %]  (5 min)                    Hops         1.4 IBU                 
1.75 lb       Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (1.0 SRM)          Sugar        10.14 %             
1 Pkgs        Trappist High Gravity (Wyeast Labs #3787) Yeast-Wheat               

Total Grain Weight: 15.50 lb
----------------------------
Clint's Batch Sparge Mash
Step Time     Name               Description                         Step Temp     
60 min        Mash In            Add 23.25 qt of water at 165.5 F    149.0 F       
0 min         Sparge             Add 12.76 qt of water at 185.2 F    160.0 F       

2477

Extract/Partial Mash Brewing / Re: Why is partial mash steeping done at 155 degrees F?

« on: December 20, 2009, 12:10:19 PM »

You want to water to be hot to made it easier to get the sugars out of the grains and into solution in the water.  But you don't want it too hot (above 170) or you extract tannins into the wort.  So 150-170 is the generally given range.  145 would probably work just as well.

2478

The Pub / Re: hey Pinnah we are finally getting hammered

« on: December 19, 2009, 06:43:53 PM »

Sterling, VA here.  Looks like we're sitting under about 2 feet give or take.  That's going to shut this area down for several days at least.

2479

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Whatcha Brewin' this week -- 2009 Dec 16 - Dec 22?

« on: December 19, 2009, 02:19:53 PM »

Nothing this week but kicked off the starter for my Belgian strong gold that I'm brewing on Jan 4th.

2480

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Oops, missed

« on: December 19, 2009, 02:19:11 PM »

So this one was still bubbling after 8 days and I was a little confused why it was taking so long.  Took a reading on Wednesday and it was at 1.016 which should have been close to my planned FG.  Let it sit and took another reading today and it was at 1.014 but still about four bubbles per minute in the airlock.

When I was brewing this one I had a discrepancy between my two floating thermometers.  I picked the newest one and went with that but in the meantime I got a lab thermometer and also a digital one.  After comparing all of them today when I was making a starter for another batch and testing the SG on this one it turns out the one I relied on was reading too high.  I probably really mashed at around 146.

So this one is going to be pretty thin I guess.  The beer from the hydrometer tasted okay, just a little too bitter and I'm sure it'll be pretty lacking in body once it's done.  I'm chalking this one up to a lesson learned. 

2481

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Yeast pitching for a high OG noob

« on: December 19, 2009, 02:11:38 PM »

Went with a two quart starter.  Once that's done I'll chill it for a couple of days, decant, and toss another two quarts in there.  That should get me to about 320B or so.

2482

The Pub / Re: merry christmas folks

« on: December 18, 2009, 08:56:43 PM »

Merry Christmas.  Got an early present today.  Since we're about to (are in the process of) get a foot of snow or so dumped on us my normal biweekly saturday class was canceled.  So instead of an hour or two of homework tonight I'm working on my new mash tun and drinking scotch   

2483

Equipment and Software / Re: Coleman Extreme 70qt Silver

« on: December 18, 2009, 08:47:14 PM »

Got all the hardware I needed and attempted to turn this thing into a mashtun tonight.  I understand what the guy said about having trouble with the inside washer.  For this cooler its a little too wide to fit into the slightly recessed drain.  I don't have the tools to grind it down like he recommends so I omitted the washer inside.  And without it, I can't get it tight enough to prevent a very slow, but steady drip when I add water to the cooler.

I might try to find a friend with a grinder to square off the washers a bit.  Another thought I had was to add some food grade silicon sealant before tightening everything up.  Anyone have any thoughts on that idea?

I was thinking of something like this:

http://www.emisupply.com/catalog/silicones-unlimited-su5005-food-grade-silicone-clear-103oz-p-2283.html

2484

Kegging and Bottling / Re: Force Carb in Mini-Keg?

« on: December 17, 2009, 10:56:56 AM »

Haha, great first post 

Yeah, I'm definitely going to take the kegging plunge in the very near future but I think I've used up my brewing budget this month.  Plus I doubt I have the time to figure out the specifics to my satisfaction before then.  I want to make sure I'm allocating enough time to the decision to give those kegs the proper respect.

Thanks for the advice though.  I'll take you up on that offer of instruction when I get around to it.  I'm sure I'm going to need some help.

2485

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: OLD liquid yeasts!?

« on: December 16, 2009, 09:17:28 PM »

You can also reset the calculator to use a single pack and it will tell you how big a starter to make.

Do you mean using the slider bar at the bottom to increase the "Growth Factor"? 

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the calculator on MrMalty?  According to yeast viability determines the number of smackpacks or vials needed for the required size for the starter? 

This is a good question.  Both that slider bar on Mr. Malty and the table in Palmer's book indicate that the final yeast cell count in a starter is dependent on the amount of cells you start with.  For example, using the table on page 69 of How to Brew if I pitched 50 billion cells into a 1.040 4 qt starter I'd end up with 206B cells.  But if I pitched 100B cells into the same 4 qt starter I'd have 305B cells.

My initial question before I thought this through was:  Why is that?  Wouldn't the yeast just keep growing to the same level no matter what the pitch cell count?

However on further reflection I get it.  The yeast are going to keep eating and reproducing until the food is gone.  A higher initial pitch rate means more cells reproducing and therefore a higher ending cell count using the available food.

2486

Extract/Partial Mash Brewing / Re: Do I need to re-pitch

« on: December 16, 2009, 08:55:58 PM »

You should be fine and not have to add additional yeast.  Despite the low temperatures it hasn't been lagering for that long so there should still be enough yeast in suspension to carb.

2487

The Pub / Re: Buying the Pabst Brewing Company

« on: December 16, 2009, 08:00:09 AM »

Yeah, I thought that the benefits promised (other than a token amount of beer) where a little vague.  Even if it's not a complete scam what does "ownership certificate" mean?  You get a certificate they printed off from their computer saying, "Congratulations, you are the proud owner of 0.0000017% of the Pabst Brewery!"

2488

Kegging and Bottling / Force Carb in Mini-Keg?

« on: December 15, 2009, 08:16:26 PM »

So due to unfortunate timing the ESB I just brewed will not be ready in time for NYE.  I could rush it into the bottle but the most I could hope for, assuming I don't secondary it and it clears in the primary in two weeks from the brew date, would be to have it in the bottle for a week.  That's doable I know, but is a little more rushed than I would have hoped for, and one week in the bottle in my experience isn't really going to result in reliable carbonation.

I was wondering if it would be possible to force carb in a mini-keg.  I have a couple of the five liter stainless steel mini-kegs with a hand held CO2 injector.  I do not have a regulator or any other kegging equipment as of yet so there's no way I could measure the pressure. 

Also, I do not have any way to simply pressurize the keg and have it sealed.  What I have is the dispenser that came with the mini-keg kit and that will have to be in the keg when I pressurize it.

Soooo.....the more I think through this the more I think this would not be all that successful.  But does anyone have experience with this?  Could I just put it in the fridge and pressurize it with as much as it will take with the handheld CO2 injector, maybe slosh it around a bit once it's pressurized, for a couple of days and get at least an acceptable, if low, amount of carbonation into the beer.

I'd only be filling one mini-keg from the 5 gallon batch so I'd have some to sample on NYE.  So if it doesn't work it wouldn't be a total loss.

2489

Equipment and Software / Re: Coleman Extreme 70qt Silver

« on: December 15, 2009, 07:33:18 PM »

These are the instructions I followed:

http://brewing.lustreking.com/gear/mashtun.html

Just got mine in the mail today.  Looks like I'm going to have to follow these instructions.  I was hoping to just pop in a new mini-keg bung and move the assembly from the old mash tun but the walls on this one are a lot thicker and that's not going to work.  Good news that this one is better insulated but I guess I'm heading out to Lowe's again.

2490

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Yeast pitching for a high OG noob

« on: December 15, 2009, 12:34:38 PM »

what table is that? I am trying to find online and I guess I am missing it?

The yeast growth table I referred to in my earlier post is in How to Brew 3rd edition on page 68 I believe.  It has initial cell count down one side and starter sizes from 1-4 qts (liters) on the top to estimate how many cells a starter will give you.  I don't think that table is on the online version.