1
General Homebrew Discussion / An observation...
« on: May 09, 2013, 08:42:39 AM »
I was at the gym this morning, and I realized, I haven't had a six pack since I started kegging 
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2
Yeast and Fermentation / Bretta B. and Those crazy Danish guys
« on: May 06, 2013, 08:03:18 PM »
Just cracked open a bottle of Mikkeller 'Yeast' series. This one is Bretta B. I also have a Bretta L. in the fridge. I poured off 90% of the bottle into my glass and then the rest went into 600ml of wort. The Bretta L. will go in after that. and then I have a bottle of Flemish ale that I will decide on after I open it.
Ahh fun with yeast.
Ahh fun with yeast.
3
Beer Recipes / Accidental clone?
« on: March 25, 2013, 08:07:55 AM »
So a few weeks back I brewed up an ordinary bitter.
10 gallon batch
3.75 kg california select
3 kg munich 10L
.5 kg c40
Mashed at 162 for 45 minutes
5.3 IBU pacific Gem FWH (calculated as a 20 minute addition)
10.9 IBU Pacific Gem at 60 minutes
7.3 IBU challenger at 20
4.4 IBU challenger at 10
4.1 IBU belgian goldings at 10
35 grams Belgian Goldings at 0
Pitched a 2 liter starter (actually 2 1 liter starters) of WLP002.
OG 1.040 FG 1.012
fermented at ambient (55-65 night day swings) in the spare bathroom. for a couple weeks and cold conditioned for about 3 weeks.
Anyway. THe other day I was in the local bottle shop and I noticed they had the Timothy Talyor Landlord in bottles. I am sure that this beer, after a 6000 mile trip in a bottle was not at it's best but I grabbed a bottle because I was curious and I had heard so much good stuff about it here.
Since I had it at home I figured it would be fun to compare to my homebrewed bitter. Poured about 4-5 oz of each into identical pint mason jars (my tasting glass of choice) and was astonished to realize they were EXACTLY the same color and clarity (mine might have been a touch clearer as the Landlord was bottle conditioned)
The Landlord had a creamer smoother and slightly longer lasting head but then mine had only been in the keg for about 5 days.
Tasting them... again, astonished. They tasted so similar. The landlord had a slightly fuller, maltier, sweeter note and mine had a hit of dyacetyl (I think) but the bitterness was spot on and the hop flavour and aroma were spot on.
Anyway. Just thought I would share this story of an accidental clone.
10 gallon batch
3.75 kg california select
3 kg munich 10L
.5 kg c40
Mashed at 162 for 45 minutes
5.3 IBU pacific Gem FWH (calculated as a 20 minute addition)
10.9 IBU Pacific Gem at 60 minutes
7.3 IBU challenger at 20
4.4 IBU challenger at 10
4.1 IBU belgian goldings at 10
35 grams Belgian Goldings at 0
Pitched a 2 liter starter (actually 2 1 liter starters) of WLP002.
OG 1.040 FG 1.012
fermented at ambient (55-65 night day swings) in the spare bathroom. for a couple weeks and cold conditioned for about 3 weeks.
Anyway. THe other day I was in the local bottle shop and I noticed they had the Timothy Talyor Landlord in bottles. I am sure that this beer, after a 6000 mile trip in a bottle was not at it's best but I grabbed a bottle because I was curious and I had heard so much good stuff about it here.
Since I had it at home I figured it would be fun to compare to my homebrewed bitter. Poured about 4-5 oz of each into identical pint mason jars (my tasting glass of choice) and was astonished to realize they were EXACTLY the same color and clarity (mine might have been a touch clearer as the Landlord was bottle conditioned)
The Landlord had a creamer smoother and slightly longer lasting head but then mine had only been in the keg for about 5 days.
Tasting them... again, astonished. They tasted so similar. The landlord had a slightly fuller, maltier, sweeter note and mine had a hit of dyacetyl (I think) but the bitterness was spot on and the hop flavour and aroma were spot on.
Anyway. Just thought I would share this story of an accidental clone.
4
Events / NHC Direct links email
« on: February 26, 2013, 11:05:42 AM »
Hey,
I got an email last week about the NHC entry opening today (Woo Hoo) and it mentioned that we should get an email today with the list of direct links to the various sites. I havn't recieved that yet has anyone else?
Any idea from the AHA crew when we might expect that? is it going to be a 'last minute before opening thing'?
I got an email last week about the NHC entry opening today (Woo Hoo) and it mentioned that we should get an email today with the list of direct links to the various sites. I havn't recieved that yet has anyone else?
Any idea from the AHA crew when we might expect that? is it going to be a 'last minute before opening thing'?
5
Beer Recipes / Geesh, seems like everyone is getting ready to brew an octoberfest
« on: February 23, 2013, 05:01:18 PM »
Including me!
I am getting ready for my first lager (voice trembles slightly with excitement) and I am thinking that an marzen/fest might be just the thing.
I have a little over half a sack of munich and some pilsner and two row on hand. a little hallertaur, some saphir, then nelson, goldings, challenger, pacific gem.
I can get more hops if need be.
The yeast is what ever the local brewery uses as I will be grabbing a quart of that (they brew a decent o-fest themselves)
I was looking at the recipe wiki and as always I am drawn to the simplest recipe up there which is the rocktoberfest from VPB which is 100% munich and then several varieties of hallertauer.
Any thoughts?
Good reasons to add some crystal or caramunich or melanoiden?
I am getting ready for my first lager (voice trembles slightly with excitement) and I am thinking that an marzen/fest might be just the thing.
I have a little over half a sack of munich and some pilsner and two row on hand. a little hallertaur, some saphir, then nelson, goldings, challenger, pacific gem.
I can get more hops if need be.
The yeast is what ever the local brewery uses as I will be grabbing a quart of that (they brew a decent o-fest themselves)
I was looking at the recipe wiki and as always I am drawn to the simplest recipe up there which is the rocktoberfest from VPB which is 100% munich and then several varieties of hallertauer.
Any thoughts?
Good reasons to add some crystal or caramunich or melanoiden?
6
Yeast and Fermentation / Dieu Du Ciel
« on: February 22, 2013, 08:53:28 AM »
Anyone know if they bottle with the same strain they brew with?
in particular wondering about the Blanche Du Paradis.
That's a really nice wit beer and I think it's really about that yeast.
in particular wondering about the Blanche Du Paradis.
That's a really nice wit beer and I think it's really about that yeast.
7
Questions about the forum? / Can't post or reply
« on: February 21, 2013, 10:55:22 AM »
If this works at all then I am not sure what is going on, but when I try to post on my pc (most recent version of ie) it gives an ere saying my session has timed out. Also this morning the my replies and recent unread buttons are not working.
8
General Homebrew Discussion / travelling with lots of beer
« on: January 10, 2013, 09:42:43 AM »
Hey All,
I am headed to philly for NHC hopefully this year and I wanted to bring some brew as the friend we are staying with is a new homebrewer and I wanted to share.
What's the best way to travel with say a case of bottles? will the airlines allow them if they are checked baggage? if I have to ship them it's only gonna be a couple bottles as that is expensive!
I am headed to philly for NHC hopefully this year and I wanted to bring some brew as the friend we are staying with is a new homebrewer and I wanted to share.
What's the best way to travel with say a case of bottles? will the airlines allow them if they are checked baggage? if I have to ship them it's only gonna be a couple bottles as that is expensive!
9
Yeast and Fermentation / ridonkulous AA%
« on: December 21, 2012, 09:14:21 AM »
So I just sampled a barley wine I brewed back in late november(around t-day). The recipe, if I recall correctly (as I am away from my home computer with my recipe info) was %60-%40 or %70-%30 pilsner and munich 10L for an OG of ~1.086. Adjusted RO water for pH and calcium with calcium chloride and gypsum. First runnings only went into the barley wine. I capped the mash with some wheat malt, flaked oats and a bit more pilsner and got a really nice wit out of the second runnings but that's not really related to the question/comment.
So I mashed this pils, munich grist low, around 149-150 for 90 minutes. did a 90 minute boil did NOT add any yeast nutrient as I have been getting some slight metalic flavours I suspect from the nutrient. chilled as far as i could, put it in the fridge to finish chilling, aerated and pitched a 2 step (1.5 l per step) starter of Wlp037 and stuck it in the spare bathroom as the garage can get a little chilly at night and I didn't want any stalling going on.
After 1 week I added 1 quart maple syrup (~2.5 lbs) which should have bumped my 'og' to about 1.100.
When I added the syrup I noticed a thick green chunky cap on the beer and I figured it was a combo of thick krausen from a true top cropper mixed with lots of hop gunk (I am not terribly careful to keep that stuff in the kettle) didn't think anything of it except 'ew gross' and put the syrup in.
two weeks later I took a gravity reading 1.016. Looking good! tasting pretty good as well. ugly cap of greenish gunk still there. But i am bottling this batch and I don't have time right now so it gets another couple weeks to condition on the yeast before I am ready.
fast forward to last night. out of curiousity I decided to sample and check gravity. Greenish gunk cap, STILL THERE! but whatever, it is what it is. no mold or anything actually gross just yeast and hop gunk. fill the cylinder, drop in the hydro and... 1.002!!!!! (the temp might have been as high as 68-70 so adjust that up to 1.003 or 1.004 maybe.
That's like 96-98% AA wow, this yeast is only supposed to handle ~75%.
Checked my hydro in plain tap water and at 78 it read .97ish so that's pretty accurate, maybe a point or two low so maybe we are talking about 1.006 tops.
I wouldn't be able to tell if there was a pellicle because the greenish gunk cap. I didn't get any strong funk in the flavour, it actually tasted pretty good. a little pilsner sweetness sort of highlights the maple flavours. Clarity is pretty good. I can't decide if I am tasting a hint of brett or just imagining that because of the insanely low FG but DARN. never seen attenuation like that from a non-belgian strain. According to beer smith that puts it at just over 13% ABV making this the biggest (ABV) beer I have ever brewed.
now that that is all out there, I guess it's not really a question but if all y'all want to hazard guesses as to what might have happened my ears are open.
It's going in bottles next week sometime primed with more maple syrup.
incremental feeding rocks to by the way. the flavour is not hot at all. you would NEVER guess this was a 13% beer.
So I mashed this pils, munich grist low, around 149-150 for 90 minutes. did a 90 minute boil did NOT add any yeast nutrient as I have been getting some slight metalic flavours I suspect from the nutrient. chilled as far as i could, put it in the fridge to finish chilling, aerated and pitched a 2 step (1.5 l per step) starter of Wlp037 and stuck it in the spare bathroom as the garage can get a little chilly at night and I didn't want any stalling going on.
After 1 week I added 1 quart maple syrup (~2.5 lbs) which should have bumped my 'og' to about 1.100.
When I added the syrup I noticed a thick green chunky cap on the beer and I figured it was a combo of thick krausen from a true top cropper mixed with lots of hop gunk (I am not terribly careful to keep that stuff in the kettle) didn't think anything of it except 'ew gross' and put the syrup in.
two weeks later I took a gravity reading 1.016. Looking good! tasting pretty good as well. ugly cap of greenish gunk still there. But i am bottling this batch and I don't have time right now so it gets another couple weeks to condition on the yeast before I am ready.
fast forward to last night. out of curiousity I decided to sample and check gravity. Greenish gunk cap, STILL THERE! but whatever, it is what it is. no mold or anything actually gross just yeast and hop gunk. fill the cylinder, drop in the hydro and... 1.002!!!!! (the temp might have been as high as 68-70 so adjust that up to 1.003 or 1.004 maybe.
That's like 96-98% AA wow, this yeast is only supposed to handle ~75%.
Checked my hydro in plain tap water and at 78 it read .97ish so that's pretty accurate, maybe a point or two low so maybe we are talking about 1.006 tops.
I wouldn't be able to tell if there was a pellicle because the greenish gunk cap. I didn't get any strong funk in the flavour, it actually tasted pretty good. a little pilsner sweetness sort of highlights the maple flavours. Clarity is pretty good. I can't decide if I am tasting a hint of brett or just imagining that because of the insanely low FG but DARN. never seen attenuation like that from a non-belgian strain. According to beer smith that puts it at just over 13% ABV making this the biggest (ABV) beer I have ever brewed.
now that that is all out there, I guess it's not really a question but if all y'all want to hazard guesses as to what might have happened my ears are open.
It's going in bottles next week sometime primed with more maple syrup.
incremental feeding rocks to by the way. the flavour is not hot at all. you would NEVER guess this was a 13% beer.
10
Ingredients / calciuim chloride post ferment
« on: December 13, 2012, 11:47:16 AM »
Hey All,
My christmas beer is an oatmeal raisin stout with spices this year. It's all done and in the keg and it's pretty nice except for two things;
There is a bit too much astringency, I suspect because I soaked cinnamon sticks in vodka for a month and added the vodka to the keg. I suspect this because the astringency is kind of woody, like that you might find in a wood aged beer. Although I also think the skins of the raisins might have added some tannins, they were in the beer for a couple, three weeks.
There is a touch too much tartness, I suspect from the raisins as it's kind of raisiny/grapy/fruity tartness, I don't THINK it's infected but it could be that as well I supose.
So last night I decided to do an experiment, I took a couple tiny grains of calcium chloride and dropped them right in my glass with a couple oz of beer and swirled it around and I think it helped. I think by accentuating the malt a bit more it draws attention away from the flaws a bit while still allowing those flavours that I want to be showcased. I LIKE the tart raisin and the slightly woody cinnamon, just not quite so much.
Finally to the actual question. As a ball park how much Calcium Chloride should I be thinking about adding? I can't imagine I would want more than say 5-10 grams. Is there a convienient way to use bru'n water to figure out some PPM values for the chloride based on post ferment additions? I suspect I could simply by plugging in the volume of beer in the keg and adding the salt until the ppm is where i want it.
I see recommendations for a roughly 2:1 sulfate:chloride ratio for hoppy beer, would I want to reverse this for malty beers? 1:2 sufate:chloride?
My christmas beer is an oatmeal raisin stout with spices this year. It's all done and in the keg and it's pretty nice except for two things;
There is a bit too much astringency, I suspect because I soaked cinnamon sticks in vodka for a month and added the vodka to the keg. I suspect this because the astringency is kind of woody, like that you might find in a wood aged beer. Although I also think the skins of the raisins might have added some tannins, they were in the beer for a couple, three weeks.
There is a touch too much tartness, I suspect from the raisins as it's kind of raisiny/grapy/fruity tartness, I don't THINK it's infected but it could be that as well I supose.
So last night I decided to do an experiment, I took a couple tiny grains of calcium chloride and dropped them right in my glass with a couple oz of beer and swirled it around and I think it helped. I think by accentuating the malt a bit more it draws attention away from the flaws a bit while still allowing those flavours that I want to be showcased. I LIKE the tart raisin and the slightly woody cinnamon, just not quite so much.
Finally to the actual question. As a ball park how much Calcium Chloride should I be thinking about adding? I can't imagine I would want more than say 5-10 grams. Is there a convienient way to use bru'n water to figure out some PPM values for the chloride based on post ferment additions? I suspect I could simply by plugging in the volume of beer in the keg and adding the salt until the ppm is where i want it.
I see recommendations for a roughly 2:1 sulfate:chloride ratio for hoppy beer, would I want to reverse this for malty beers? 1:2 sufate:chloride?
11
Kegging and Bottling / bottling from the keg
« on: December 03, 2012, 11:27:30 AM »
Hey all,
I am fairly happy with my bottling from the keg process. It seems like the carbonation level is okay and for the most part I don't usually get any oxidation but I think I can do better. I have gotten notes on some bottles that have some oxidation problems or carb level problems which says to be I am being inconsistant.
I am probably not going to buy a beer gun or CPF but in the best Cheap-N-Easy style inspired by Denny I can probably see my way to buy a rubber stopper that fits in my bottles. But what size is that?
Currently I stick a bottling wand or piece of tubing on the end of the cobra tap and fill the bottles from the bottom, lifting the tube at the end to make sure I get a complete fill and cap on foam.
It is possible that it's not an issue with the bottling at all but that the capper sometimes crimps the caps with little inconsistancies like one crimp sticking out a little further than the rest. (cheapo italian red handled capper by the way)
I was considering putting a tiny bit of sugar syrup in each bottle and doing a hybrid force/natural carb like Sierra Nevada does as well. Thoughts?
anyway, any cheap and easy bottling advice welcome.
I am fairly happy with my bottling from the keg process. It seems like the carbonation level is okay and for the most part I don't usually get any oxidation but I think I can do better. I have gotten notes on some bottles that have some oxidation problems or carb level problems which says to be I am being inconsistant.
I am probably not going to buy a beer gun or CPF but in the best Cheap-N-Easy style inspired by Denny I can probably see my way to buy a rubber stopper that fits in my bottles. But what size is that?
Currently I stick a bottling wand or piece of tubing on the end of the cobra tap and fill the bottles from the bottom, lifting the tube at the end to make sure I get a complete fill and cap on foam.
It is possible that it's not an issue with the bottling at all but that the capper sometimes crimps the caps with little inconsistancies like one crimp sticking out a little further than the rest. (cheapo italian red handled capper by the way)
I was considering putting a tiny bit of sugar syrup in each bottle and doing a hybrid force/natural carb like Sierra Nevada does as well. Thoughts?
anyway, any cheap and easy bottling advice welcome.
12
General Homebrew Discussion / Gotta give the Club some love
« on: November 05, 2012, 11:02:09 AM »
Just had to give a shout out to the Greenbelters out there.
We just won the Anchor Brewing California Homebrew Club of the Year!
Way to go GBA!
We just won the Anchor Brewing California Homebrew Club of the Year!
Way to go GBA!
13
All Things Food / Olives
« on: October 30, 2012, 08:51:43 AM »
I was certain I had seen a topic on this already but by searching turned up nothing. Anyway there is an olive tree in my backyard that decided this year to produce a small crop of fruit. I suspect because big branch on another tree came down last winter so that one area on the olive tree got sun for the first time in years.
being the kind of person who can't really walk past free food just hanging on a tree I feel I must cure these little critters and eat them up.
I prefer lye cured olives over salt cured and don't care for oil cure at all. so I am thinking lye cure but... I look around on the internets and at least one person says that you want pretty unripe green olives to avoid mushy finished product.
Well how hard is hard? The ones in my yard are mostly green but they are starting to get a slight darkening on one side. They are not rock hard at all.
So anyone out there cure olives? what methods have you used? what kind of results have you gotten?
being the kind of person who can't really walk past free food just hanging on a tree I feel I must cure these little critters and eat them up.
I prefer lye cured olives over salt cured and don't care for oil cure at all. so I am thinking lye cure but... I look around on the internets and at least one person says that you want pretty unripe green olives to avoid mushy finished product.
Well how hard is hard? The ones in my yard are mostly green but they are starting to get a slight darkening on one side. They are not rock hard at all.
So anyone out there cure olives? what methods have you used? what kind of results have you gotten?
14
Commercial Beer Reviews / Crooked Stave Surette Reserva
« on: October 12, 2012, 10:58:08 AM »
Yum! grabbed this my last night in Boulder to drink with some fries and what a treat it turned out to be.
when first opened it was still a little cold so mostly tart lactic lemony sour happening but as it warmed the funk came out and supported all that tart wonderfully. still warmer and some nice vinous sweetness rolled in. by the end of the bottle I was pretty blown away. it was tart and acidic but not so much that it makes your tummy sour. comples enough to enjoy on it's own but light and refreshing enough that you can eat it with fries and aoili. Also sitting at around 6% I don't get shnockered drinking 750ml by myself.
I would grab a few of these if I had the expendible income. ~20$ per bottle where I found it.
when first opened it was still a little cold so mostly tart lactic lemony sour happening but as it warmed the funk came out and supported all that tart wonderfully. still warmer and some nice vinous sweetness rolled in. by the end of the bottle I was pretty blown away. it was tart and acidic but not so much that it makes your tummy sour. comples enough to enjoy on it's own but light and refreshing enough that you can eat it with fries and aoili. Also sitting at around 6% I don't get shnockered drinking 750ml by myself.
I would grab a few of these if I had the expendible income. ~20$ per bottle where I found it.
15
Yeast and Fermentation / more aeration on day 2-3?
« on: October 08, 2012, 10:30:03 AM »
I've got 5.5 gallons of 1.102ish Barley Wine wort in the fridge at home getting down to temp. I drained it out of the kettle into the fermenter at ~80* with a drop of about 4 inches from the spigot to the top of the bucket. Tonight I will whip the bee jee sus out of it with the mix stir before pitching 2 11g packets of s04 properly rehydrated in boiled, cooled RO water at about 90*.
I added a little over a tsp of generic C&B yeast nutrient at T-10 minutes from flameout as well. I had planned to add a bit more than that but that was all that was left as it turned out.
So my question is should I hit it with the mix stir again tomorrow night? or the next night? night after that? or just leave it be?
as an aside, this was the first time I used Sean Terrills partigyle simulator and it worked like a charm. My overall efficeincy was a little higher than I planned (BW was 1.102 when I planned 1.091, small beer was pretty right on, 1.036 instead of 1.040)
the above is not really germaine to the original posted question but I wanted to give props to sean.
I added a little over a tsp of generic C&B yeast nutrient at T-10 minutes from flameout as well. I had planned to add a bit more than that but that was all that was left as it turned out.
So my question is should I hit it with the mix stir again tomorrow night? or the next night? night after that? or just leave it be?
as an aside, this was the first time I used Sean Terrills partigyle simulator and it worked like a charm. My overall efficeincy was a little higher than I planned (BW was 1.102 when I planned 1.091, small beer was pretty right on, 1.036 instead of 1.040)
the above is not really germaine to the original posted question but I wanted to give props to sean.