Membership questions? Log in issues? Email info@brewersassociation.org

Author Topic: Nov/Dec Zymurgy  (Read 3845 times)

Offline beersk

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 3721
  • In the night!
Re: Nov/Dec Zymurgy
« Reply #15 on: October 30, 2014, 07:24:31 am »
I stopped bothering with decoction too. I didn't think it added anything to my beer and it is a pain in the a$$ to do. I do like Hochkurz infusion step mashes though, but haven't really been doing those lately either because I'm not sure they add or improve anything.
Jesse

Offline klickitat jim

  • I must live here
  • **********
  • Posts: 8604
Re: Nov/Dec Zymurgy
« Reply #16 on: October 30, 2014, 12:43:13 pm »
Good to know! ha.

As I mentioned, there are definitely loop holes in what we did, and we certainly learned a ton. I'm glad its garnering some conversation. As we know, everyone has their own way of doing something and if you ask 3 people the same question on process, etc., you will get 3 different answers. It makes brewing always exciting!

Im glad you aren't offended by anyone's nit picking. We're just really into brewing and see little things and talk them up.

So im curious about pitching warm. The article says it was to get fermentation started. I'm guessing you did that because you didn't do starters and were worried about lag time? Or do you guys usually pitch warm?

Offline denny

  • Administrator
  • Retired with too much time on my hands
  • *****
  • Posts: 27093
  • Noti OR [1991.4, 287.6deg] AR
    • Dennybrew
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

www.dennybrew.com

The best, sharpest, funniest, weirdest and most knowledgable minds in home brewing contribute on the AHA forum. - Alewyfe

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell

Offline denny

  • Administrator
  • Retired with too much time on my hands
  • *****
  • Posts: 27093
  • Noti OR [1991.4, 287.6deg] AR
    • Dennybrew
Re: Nov/Dec Zymurgy
« Reply #18 on: October 30, 2014, 01:39:58 pm »
Good to know! ha.

As I mentioned, there are definitely loop holes in what we did, and we certainly learned a ton. I'm glad its garnering some conversation. As we know, everyone has their own way of doing something and if you ask 3 people the same question on process, etc., you will get 3 different answers. It makes brewing always exciting!

No, if you ask 3 people you'll get 7 answers and 4 of them will be correct.  ;)
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

www.dennybrew.com

The best, sharpest, funniest, weirdest and most knowledgable minds in home brewing contribute on the AHA forum. - Alewyfe

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell

Offline klickitat jim

  • I must live here
  • **********
  • Posts: 8604
Re: Nov/Dec Zymurgy
« Reply #19 on: October 30, 2014, 01:52:41 pm »
Good to know! ha.

As I mentioned, there are definitely loop holes in what we did, and we certainly learned a ton. I'm glad its garnering some conversation. As we know, everyone has their own way of doing something and if you ask 3 people the same question on process, etc., you will get 3 different answers. It makes brewing always exciting!

No, if you ask 3 people you'll get 7 answers and 4 of them will be correct.  ;)

Lets break that down though.
3 brewers 1 question
1 brewer wasn't listening because he was playing with his new FermBot on his iPhone, so no answer
1 brewer gave a sarcastic, off topic, but witty answer
The 3rd guy gave one answer but it was long winded and included 6 different ways to do it, 3 were correct and the other 3 were things he heard on a pod cast.

Offline HoosierBrew

  • I must live here
  • **********
  • Posts: 13031
  • Indianapolis,IN
Re: Nov/Dec Zymurgy
« Reply #20 on: October 30, 2014, 03:29:34 pm »
Good to know! ha.

As I mentioned, there are definitely loop holes in what we did, and we certainly learned a ton. I'm glad its garnering some conversation. As we know, everyone has their own way of doing something and if you ask 3 people the same question on process, etc., you will get 3 different answers. It makes brewing always exciting!

No, if you ask 3 people you'll get 7 answers and 4 of them will be correct.  ;)

Lets break that down though.
3 brewers 1 question
1 brewer wasn't listening because he was playing with his new FermBot on his iPhone, so no answer
1 brewer gave a sarcastic, off topic, but witty answer
The 3rd guy gave one answer but it was long winded and included 6 different ways to do it, 3 were correct and the other 3 were things he heard on a pod cast.


LMAO. Good stuff, man .
Jon H.

Offline Hillside Brewing

  • 1st Kit
  • *
  • Posts: 5
Re: Nov/Dec Zymurgy
« Reply #21 on: October 31, 2014, 09:14:48 am »
Good to know! ha.

As I mentioned, there are definitely loop holes in what we did, and we certainly learned a ton. I'm glad its garnering some conversation. As we know, everyone has their own way of doing something and if you ask 3 people the same question on process, etc., you will get 3 different answers. It makes brewing always exciting!

Im glad you aren't offended by anyone's nit picking. We're just really into brewing and see little things and talk them up.

So im curious about pitching warm. The article says it was to get fermentation started. I'm guessing you did that because you didn't do starters and were worried about lag time? Or do you guys usually pitch warm?

Well getting offended won't do much, only cause more issues!

We pitched warm somewhat because of lag time, but also proximity to where we brewed vs where our lager fridge was. We brewed the beers at my house (Torrington, CT), and the brew day was 12+ hours. The lager fridge that is big enough to hold all four carboys, is owned by a club member who lives 20 or so minutes away. After the 12 hour brew day (and some "sampling"), I wasn't up to making the trip. Also, several people in the club who make lagers, said they start warm with all their lagers and then drop. So, we gave it a go. Maybe that was a lesson also, not to go that route. Even changing one variable of this whole thing could have changed the entire outcome!

Offline ynotbrusum

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 4882
Re: Nov/Dec Zymurgy
« Reply #22 on: October 31, 2014, 12:49:22 pm »
I try to pitch ales and lagers colder and then rise into the zone, but a short period of time when the pitched wort is dropping in temperature slowly a few degrees is probably fine.  If it is held high for a good day or so, I would expect esters and perhaps phenols and at worst some fusels, if it was way high.
Hodge Garage Brewing: "Brew with a glad heart!"

Offline klickitat jim

  • I must live here
  • **********
  • Posts: 8604
Re: Nov/Dec Zymurgy
« Reply #23 on: October 31, 2014, 05:42:58 pm »
I try to pitch ales and lagers colder and then rise into the zone, but a short period of time when the pitched wort is dropping in temperature slowly a few degrees is probably fine.  If it is held high for a good day or so, I would expect esters and perhaps phenols and at worst some fusels, if it was way high.

Agreed its all relative. According to the article their's was 11º high for 12 hrs. I don't know that its enough time to ruin a beer but when coupled with an 11º drop in temp, it can't be helping the beer.

Offline chinaski

  • Brewmaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 571
Re: Nov/Dec Zymurgy
« Reply #24 on: November 01, 2014, 06:33:54 am »
Thanks for undertaking it, Tim.  If yo do it again, please try to do a triangle evaluation.

I was looking for that too, based upon what I already knew about the test and Drew Beecham's very succinct explanation of when, why, & how the triangle test is used that you can find on the Basic Brewing Radio Podcast (while plugging his and Denny's book).

They did have more than two beers to test, so I imagine that could have used a system of multiple triangle tests, followed by more detailed sensory analysis to describe any differences in the beers.  That said, what they did to answer the question "Does decoction make better beer?" seemed okay, just perhaps didn't get at the minor differences in each beer that may be detected and described by using something other than a score sheet.  Different beers can score very similarly but taste/smell/feel very different.  It was cool to see this work in print- nice work!
« Last Edit: November 01, 2014, 03:30:41 pm by dbeechum »