[jverduin]

I decided to make some last minute decisions which may have been too independent of ingredients I had on hand. I decided to not make the NEIPA I was planning and craft up a barleywine. Nothing too abusive, something in the 1.095 range. My problem, I had some Imperial Juice (Wyeast 1318 London III equivalent) instead of what I am used to using (Chico).

I read quite a bit first, realized it was a recommended strain for English Barleywine, and could tolerate alcohol to 10%. So... I went with it. I thought that it isn't my first choice, but I find the flavor profile decent for other hoppy styles.

Brewday - normal. The beer finished at the expected 1.095. I had a nice 2L starter from 200 billion cells in a pack that was less than 3 weeks old (475 billion cells according to Beersmith for a 5 gallon batch). The starter was about 14 hours old and seemed to be pretty active. I pitch the whole starter instead of decanting. I aerated decently with pure oxygen. I don't measure flow, but let it go slowly for about 2 minutes (about twice as long as a normal gravity ale). I pitched around noon.

By 9:00pm, there was several inches of krausen and the next day the yeast was really flowing out the blowoff tube. Ambient temperature was 62 degrees.

This was in my garage (thankfully) because yeast was everywhere; it pressed out the lid of my fermenting bucket. By day 3, the krausen died down enough for me to clean up a little and replace the blow-off with an airlock.

Here is my, "What have I done?" question. The esters coming off the airlock are like a fruit salad. Not unpleasant, but really strong. I did use an ounce each of Chinook, Cascade, Centennial, and El Dorado at about 190 degrees after flameout while beginning the cooling process. So unlike a hopstand, temps dropped fairly quickly.

Yes I am not relaxed. I also am worried, but I am having a homebrew. Does anyone have experience with strain going Defcon 1 with ester production at, what should be, reasonably cool temps?

[Iliff Ave]

Sounds like what A38 is supposed to do. It’s called juice for a reason. Very fruit forward and complementary of new school fruity hops.

[hmbrewing]

It's too early for you to worry (HA! Look at me, giving this advice! I should take it sometime).

Seriously, you'll probably be fine. Let it go. I have never used this strain before but I did have another strain go Defcon 1 on me and literally blow the lid off a bucket. The esters it was throwing off where unbelievable. Like you - I was freaking out. It was one of the best beers I've brewed.

[denny]

I don't have qqny 3xperience with that particular yeast, but if it's the same as 1318 then I do have experience with that.  I've never found 1318 to be particularly fruity.  Maybe what you're experiencing is simply from fermentation and won't end upon your final beer.

[Iliff Ave]

Are you sure A38 is equivalent to WY1318?

A38 Juice

Juicy. Fruity. Juice is an amazing strain for East Coast IPAs. The ester profile of Juice brings out the aromas and flavors of the new school hops and creates a beer that is greater than the sum of its parts. Keep an eye on this strain, it likes to move to the top of fermentation and will climb out the fermenter if too full.

Temp: 64-74F, 18-23C // Flocculation: Medium // Attenuation: 72-76%

[jverduin]

Thanks for the responses. I am oddly anxious even though I’ve brewed too many batches to count. I still seem to pay a lot of attention to sights (staring into a carboy), sounds (listening to air locks - even though buckets have awful seals sometime) and smells (not sure if anyone else sniffs the air out of an airlock, but I seem to with every batch).

I think I just panicked a little.


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[BrodyR]

Juice, in my experience, acts like a top-croppable english ale strain. I think the emphasis on the juicy NEIPA thing is appropriate marketing since some NEIPA brewers allegedly use similar strains (Tired Hands & Hill Farmstead) but I certainly wouldn't think it out of place in an English style ale.

[hmbrewing]

Thanks for the responses. I am oddly anxious even though I’ve brewed too many batches to count. I still seem to pay a lot of attention to sights (staring into a carboy), sounds (listening to air locks - even though buckets have awful seals sometime) and smells (not sure if anyone else sniffs the air out of an airlock, but I seem to with every batch).

I think I just panicked a little.


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I'm a proud airlock sniffer!!! And I do exactly what you do - except I can't watch anymore (ferment in kegs). But I still watch the bubbles and sniff the airlock. It's a like a chef smelling and tasting their food as they prepare it. I can always tell if my fermentation is on the right track based on what I'm smelling. Well, that's what I tell myself anyway. My most recent batch was a Bohemian Pilsner. This time around I started getting some sulfur through the airlock. Didn't get it the first time it fermented out. Because I picked up on that (not hard to do with sulfur) I let it go a little longer at a warmer temp just to be sure it would off gas the sulfur. Tastes delicious so far!

[jverduin]

Thanks for the responses. I am oddly anxious even though I’ve brewed too many batches to count. I still seem to pay a lot of attention to sights (staring into a carboy), sounds (listening to air locks - even though buckets have awful seals sometime) and smells (not sure if anyone else sniffs the air out of an airlock, but I seem to with every batch).

I think I just panicked a little.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm a proud airlock sniffer!!! And I do exactly what you do - except I can't watch anymore (ferment in kegs). But I still watch the bubbles and sniff the airlock. It's a like a chef smelling and tasting their food as they prepare it. I can always tell if my fermentation is on the right track based on what I'm smelling. Well, that's what I tell myself anyway. My most recent batch was a Bohemian Pilsner. This time around I started getting some sulfur through the airlock. Didn't get it the first time it fermented out. Because I picked up on that (not hard to do with sulfur) I let it go a little longer at a warmer temp just to be sure it would off gas the sulfur. Tastes delicious so far!

I knew I wasn’t a weirdo... or perhaps the only weirdo.


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[James K]

I think you’re gonna be fine. It might have a really pungent aroma but overall will probably come out pretty nice. You fermented that strain on the low side of the temp range so it shouldn’t be too fruity once it finishes out. I’d probably let it sit for a while though because of the high abv.

Curious about your grain build, because my guess is you’re going to have a malty sweet strong beer with a nice aroma of hops.

[jverduin]

Curious about your grain build, because my guess is you’re going to have a malty sweet strong beer with a nice aroma of hops.

The grain bill included:
18 lbs of 2-row malt
1.5 lbs of Crisp Crystal Dark - 77 L

Mashed at 149
IBUs: 82

I've used this base malt bill before along with the Chico strain - at least with that strain, the beer finishes without being too sweet (for a barleywine). We'll see where this one finishes. It is estimated to get down to 1.023.