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Author Topic: Making Norther Brewers "Off the Topper" Juicy?  (Read 10454 times)

Offline HoosierBrew

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Re: Making Norther Brewers "Off the Topper" Juicy?
« Reply #45 on: January 24, 2017, 04:37:31 pm »

Totally agree. I don't judge or care how someone brews - the whole different goals, available time, etc, thing . But those of us who are interested in the info are entitled to read it without the same redundant noise. It's become like the movie Groundhog Day played nonstop at this point. Not gonna lie - arguments (vehement or not) against ANYTHING don't carry much weight when the protester hasn't actually tried the entire process. Brew and let brew (might have been a James Bond movie title. Or not).

Homebrewers are generally a very sensitive bunch.  This is one of the reasons why I have a very limited attention span for homebrew forums.  If the collective had thicker skin, maybe I would disappear less often.

The basic context of this LODO acceptance problem is one camp has a brewing method validated by science and they think it makes the "best beer" because science and opinion.  They need to be reminded that the term "best beer" is not something science can determine.

The other camp makes beer they really enjoy drinking and maybe they have won some awards to validate the quality of their beer.  If they make beer that they honestly think can't be improved, then I guess I can relate to their contempt for a process they think they don't need.

I'm absolutely certain both camps believe they make great beer.  There are many, many ways to make great beer and they don't necessarily need to be supported by science.

Blanket dismissals of the LODO process doesn't invalidate it's legitimacy.  I'm semi-LODO and can't think of any reason to introduce more DO into my beer based on science and subjective taste. 




I don't disagree. There are a lot of approaches to brewing, most of which make good beer. I'm probably considered semi lodo at this point too , with some more equipment upgrades needed to reduce O2 further. I see it as similar to the game of baseball, in that you can make it as simple or as complicated as you like. Pretty hard to argue that O2 in beer isn't something to at least try to reduce, at the very least.
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Offline klickitat jim

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Re: Making Norther Brewers "Off the Topper" Juicy?
« Reply #46 on: January 24, 2017, 04:43:44 pm »
Most of us were LODO before it became a thing, at least cold side. I'm not bothered in the least by it. It's the "your beer, which I've never tried, sucks" mentality that makes me more and more disinterested as nearly every thread becomes a sophomoric LODO debate.


Offline denny

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Re: Making Norther Brewers "Off the Topper" Juicy?
« Reply #47 on: January 24, 2017, 04:47:51 pm »
Most of us were LODO before it became a thing, at least cold side. I'm not bothered in the least by it. It's the "your beer, which I've never tried, sucks" mentality that makes me more and more disinterested as nearly every thread becomes a sophomoric LODO debate.

Well said, Jim.  It's the attitude from some LODO proponents that gets under my skin, not the way they decide to brew.
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Offline Kutaka

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Re: Making Norther Brewers "Off the Topper" Juicy?
« Reply #48 on: January 24, 2017, 05:01:55 pm »
Most of us were LODO before it became a thing, at least cold side. I'm not bothered in the least by it. It's the "your beer, which I've never tried, sucks" mentality that makes me more and more disinterested as nearly every thread becomes a sophomoric LODO debate.

I haven't read anything from the LODO people that claims non LODO beer sucks.  Even if they did say it directly and often, who cares?  You are the ultimate judge of what you pour down your beer hole.  Everyone else has a valid opinion.  Let them have it.  The only one that really matters is your own.

Intolerance for opposing opinions is the basis for an echo chamber.  This forum has been an echo chamber a lot more than once.   ;)

Offline Phil_M

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Re: Making Norther Brewers "Off the Topper" Juicy?
« Reply #49 on: January 24, 2017, 05:02:18 pm »
I guess I don't see that as much from the LODO camp as I used to. I do see some snarky/tounge-in-cheek comments that I think are taken a little out of context, but it's still way better than it was.

I'm on the fence about if too many technical details are a good thing, or a bad thing. In the workplace I've seen enough misinformation spread from a good simplification to know that this isn't always the correct approach...on the other hand, I've seen a lot of people desperate to learn the inner workings of what was my system blinded by details to know that doesn't always work either.

I think a mix of both is the best approach. As in, "LODO may be the ideal, but try this in the meantime..."
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Offline klickitat jim

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Re: Making Norther Brewers "Off the Topper" Juicy?
« Reply #50 on: January 24, 2017, 05:03:08 pm »
Que the thread derailment complaints 😂

If by juicy we mean fruit juice flavors from hops, in my experience the best way is to chill post boil to 170f and add a gob of hops. Let them stand for about 20min before continuing the chill.

If by juicy you mean appearance, that's probably yeast and protein derived.

Offline klickitat jim

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Re: Making Norther Brewers "Off the Topper" Juicy?
« Reply #51 on: January 24, 2017, 05:08:20 pm »
I misused " ". No one perhaps has said those precise words. But there have been words that amount to that.

I'm out on lodo from here on. I don't need more stress in my life. Have fun, I hope you get famous on it. More power to you.

Offline bayareabrewer

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Re: Making Norther Brewers "Off the Topper" Juicy?
« Reply #52 on: January 24, 2017, 05:23:06 pm »
I've tried the mini mash that is suggested by the LODO fellows, and didn't care for it. My years working in wine have taught me that meta isn't particularly useful at higher ph's. My experience with microbreweries tell me that the lodo principles preached and practiced here are not accepted, applied or respected by most professionals making the beer we admire and attempt to emulate and my experience here has found the delivery of Bryans message is snarky, condescending, dismissive, rude, and in this threads case, unhelpful.

An example that the Bryan could follow is that of Denny and batch sparging. Denny has a brewing method/technique that he came up with and innovated in a quest to make better beer. He fully believes in it, and has proven to himself and others that it is an effective method, and I have never once seen Denny refer to a fly sparger or BIAB brewer as amateurish or wrong or stating that they must just prefer brewing poorly for not adhering to his methods. He vocally advocates for his methods while still maintaining a respectful and open minded tone. Its just basic social skills really.

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Re: Making Norther Brewers "Off the Topper" Juicy?
« Reply #53 on: January 24, 2017, 05:29:25 pm »
I've tried the mini mash that is suggested by the LODO fellows, and didn't care for it. My years working in wine have taught me that meta isn't particularly useful at higher ph's. My experience with microbreweries tell me that the lodo principles preached and practiced here are not accepted, applied or respected by most professionals making the beer we admire and attempt to emulate and my experience here has found the delivery of Bryans message is snarky, condescending, dismissive, rude, and in this threads case, unhelpful.

An example that the Bryan could follow is that of Denny and batch sparging. Denny has a brewing method/technique that he came up with and innovated in a quest to make better beer. He fully believes in it, and has proven to himself and others that it is an effective method, and I have never once seen Denny refer to a fly sparger or BIAB brewer as amateurish or wrong or stating that they must just prefer brewing poorly for not adhering to his methods. He vocally advocates for his methods while still maintaining a respectful and open minded tone. Its just basic social skills really.

You are totally missing the point: OP asked for opinions, and instead of giving one, you chose to instead just disagree with Bryan.

Offline bayareabrewer

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Re: Making Norther Brewers "Off the Topper" Juicy?
« Reply #54 on: January 24, 2017, 05:30:06 pm »
I've tried the mini mash that is suggested by the LODO fellows, and didn't care for it. My years working in wine have taught me that meta isn't particularly useful at higher ph's. My experience with microbreweries tell me that the lodo principles preached and practiced here are not accepted, applied or respected by most professionals making the beer we admire and attempt to emulate and my experience here has found the delivery of Bryans message is snarky, condescending, dismissive, rude, and in this threads case, unhelpful.

An example that the Bryan could follow is that of Denny and batch sparging. Denny has a brewing method/technique that he came up with and innovated in a quest to make better beer. He fully believes in it, and has proven to himself and others that it is an effective method, and I have never once seen Denny refer to a fly sparger or BIAB brewer as amateurish or wrong or stating that they must just prefer brewing poorly for not adhering to his methods. He vocally advocates for his methods while still maintaining a respectful and open minded tone. Its just basic social skills really.

You are totally missing the point: OP asked for opinions, and instead of giving one, you chose to instead just disagree with Bryan.

of course I disagreed, it wasn't helpful for the OP.

Offline Kutaka

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Re: Making Norther Brewers "Off the Topper" Juicy?
« Reply #55 on: January 24, 2017, 05:36:44 pm »
I've tried the mini mash that is suggested by the LODO fellows, and didn't care for it. My years working in wine have taught me that meta isn't particularly useful at higher ph's. My experience with microbreweries tell me that the lodo principles preached and practiced here are not accepted, applied or respected by most professionals making the beer we admire and attempt to emulate and my experience here has found the delivery of Bryans message is snarky, condescending, dismissive, rude, and in this threads case, unhelpful.

An example that the Bryan could follow is that of Denny and batch sparging. Denny has a brewing method/technique that he came up with and innovated in a quest to make better beer. He fully believes in it, and has proven to himself and others that it is an effective method, and I have never once seen Denny refer to a fly sparger or BIAB brewer as amateurish or wrong or stating that they must just prefer brewing poorly for not adhering to his methods. He vocally advocates for his methods while still maintaining a respectful and open minded tone. Its just basic social skills really.

Pretty sure Denny didn't invent batch sparging.  He just made the first homebrew website dedicated to it and subsequently preached it relentlessly just like the LODO people.  Sound familiar? 

Batch sparging making "better beer" isn't validated by science.  It's simply a less complicated way to sparge and a very good way to tasty homebrew faster.

The Beerery

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Re: Making Norther Brewers "Off the Topper" Juicy?
« Reply #56 on: January 24, 2017, 05:39:31 pm »
It's not about getting "famous" as you will never see a book or any "deal" from me. Everything I have done to date has been on my dime with no "endorsements" or hope for paybacks. It was about me giving people a higher knowledge of the brewing process and giving people a means to produce the best beer possible while learning from what the pros do. If everything in the pro mentality was cheap and easy this wouldn't even be a thing.
But If I told folks general statements like  Denny told us low oxygen brewers earlier about how our way was not easy or fun, there would literally be a riot. I have literally always backed my reasonings with either scientific data, sensory analysis, measured readings, etc as for some reason that has always been required of me (which I mind little as it keeps me honest and it's good data points anyways). The moment I ask others it suddenly doesn't matter. So it works both ways gents. 
I honestly don't care who brews how, but the cool thing about science is that just because you don't agree with it.  Doesn't make it stop being true. I will continue to cite and provide information on the technical side because as I said, just because you don't do it, doesn't make it invalid. You guys seem to forget I have been an avid brewer for nearly 20 years now with over 1000 batches down. Only ~250 or so of those being low oxygen.
Hell I thought the new motto is challenge the dogma of homebrewing myths. We literally have members that have experimental brewing shows and books, and have sponsored websites running specific tests. I would have thought the new ideals and methods would have been at least tested once. But anyways I rambled on.  Sorry OP.


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Offline Kutaka

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Re: Making Norther Brewers "Off the Topper" Juicy?
« Reply #57 on: January 24, 2017, 06:07:36 pm »
Wait...1000 batches?  That's a lot more than Denny.  You're my new online homebrew hero!  I can't even begin to imagine how amazing my beer will be when batch 1000 gets made.

Offline bboy9000

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Making Norther Brewers "Off the Topper" Juicy?
« Reply #58 on: January 24, 2017, 10:46:24 pm »
One person again managed to derail this early on so I'll try to get this back on track. 

If by "juicy" you mean flavor just do all flameout and whirlpool hop additions as others have said.  If you want a little more bitterness  do a single early addition of a neutral hop such as Magnum.  The other hops should be fruity or citrusy varieties. If that's the goal try Amarillio, Citra, etc.  Read the about hop profiles online and experiment with the hops that sound good to you. Take hop descriptions with a grain of salt though.  Year them out and use the hops you think are "juicy."  Do nothing with water chemistry and you'll likely be okay unless you have soft water or use RO or distilled water.

If "juicy" means appearance, the orange color can be had with a little C-60 malt.  By a little I mean a few ounces in addition to something lighter like C-20. If by "juicy" you mean "haziness" just tip your keg ipside down and up again or swirl the bottle and pour the dregs.  I personally don't like either option but it would work.
« Last Edit: January 24, 2017, 11:07:11 pm by bboy9000 »
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Offline JT

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Re: Making Norther Brewers "Off the Topper" Juicy?
« Reply #59 on: January 25, 2017, 05:30:27 am »
Couple methods that seem to work well for that "juicy" character.

1.) High Chloride to Sulfate ratio (Opposite of what we would typically do)
2.) Flaked wheat or oats (up to 10%)
3.) Yeast that leave a slight ester (Gigayeast Vermont Ale, Omega DIPA)
4.) Most, if not all hops added between whirlpool and dry hop (Stick with tropical fruit forward hops such as Citra, Mosaic, Galaxy, etc...)
5.) Drink fresh!!
Most helpful post for the OP and what I would recommend.  Some more reading. 
https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/how-to-brew/tips-brewing-new-england-ipa/


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