Lets Talk Brewing

[alexander]

So, I know some of you brew, so i know i am not the only one here that would be interested in discussing brewing, (and those of you who do brew, and i know you do, juuuust reminding you, I'm watching you :naughty: )

 

Lets talk wine, beer, mead or any combination of thereof, discuss ideas, thoughts, ingredients. If you have questions on something, something not coming out, or you aren't sure about something, ask ;)

 

For myself, i just did a batch last night. 3 gallon batch, 3.3lb of liquid dark barley malt, a cup of dry wheat malt, 2 types hop pellets - a British and Belgian fuggle about 1-1.2 oz in total, dried apricots, black currant raisins, and some golden raisins(about a cup and a half of coarsely chopped apricots, about a 1/2 cup (or a pile) of both currant and golden raisins, i'll have to get back to you on the yeast i got for this one, it's a dark ale yeast thought, 1/2 cup of brown sugar.

 

so why the ingredients:

dark malt - darker beer with carmel overtones

wheat wart - i wanted to give the beer a level of bitterness, and this also contributes to a fuller body

hops - get a british base, and flavor it from there

fruit - add to the aroma and the complexity of beer

yeast - well, adds to soo many factors

 

bring water to 170F take off heat, mix in the malts, mix well, put back on fire and bring it to a boil, when it comes to a boil, add a few pellets of hops (this will prevent the common running of the wart when hops are added), boil 5 more minutes. Mix all of the british fuggle in at the beginning of the boil ( set timer for 60 min at that point), 15 min to to the end, added brown sugar, 10 minutes, all the dried fruit, 5 minutes belgian hops were thrown in to seal the fate (not 10 minutes, because i wanted to have more aroma, flavors will come from other things) ;) (by the way british hops seemed really kind of down to earth feel, really not super aromatic or a bright green color, but felt really down to earth basic british ale starter hops, belgian ones were very aromatic, really bright green in comparison with the other ones) I added about a half to may be 3/4 of an oz of each, because it's planned to be a 2-stage ferment, with more sugar added, i needed to balance it all out, and well, 1-1.5oz was the goal here...

 

well it went to the primary this morning (about 2 hours ago) we'll see where this batch goes :)

[alexander]

Oh, i'm kind of excited, i really want to see how this comes out :naughty: and the next one i will also make a part grain...

[alexander]

found it, i'm using a Safbrew S-33 yeast

[alexander]

Ok, so a week into it, and a few things happened. I have replaced my broken equipment and i now have a new graduated flask to measure gravity in. In 3 days of active fermentation the gravity was down to 1.02 (i dunno where it started). The fermentation died rather rapidly, leading me to believe that perhaps not enough yeast got into the reproductive stage, so i added some yeast energizer, pitched another packet of S-33 in. I also added more fermentables, about 3-4oz of maple syrup and about 4-5 oz of Lyle's Golden Syrup (partially separated into glucose and sucrose cane sugar syrup).

 

I just racked the (now beer) into a glass carboy to clear, gravity is once again down to 1.02, i'm going to see the beer will clear up before i bottle it (it's a porter with noticeable fruity overtones, so far pretty pleasant to smell )

[Boerseun]

Cool!

 

I'm waiting for winter to settle over here so I can make a Lager again. It's generally too hot in my neck of the woods to go summer-brewing.

 

Dried fruit in your brew? Now that's a thought! I might chuck in a some fruit when I get down to brewin' again in a few week's time, but wouldn't you run a greater risk of infection when pitching fruit? I mean, dried fruit is bacteria heaven, not so?

 

In a previous thread about home brewing, you mentioned your plan to make a russian honey brew. Any luck with that?

 

What do you expect your final gravity to be with this mix?

[alexander]

Dried or fresh fruit is awesome in your brew, especially if you are brewing a light beer, it gives you aromas that you normally wont get in those beers and adds complexity. You don't want to do it for everything, you certainly don't want to over do this, but adding fruit can be a good thing. As with any beer, sanitation is a MUST, so precautions should be taken with the fruit. If you are planning to use dried fruit, it's a good idea to get it as fresh as you can from your local whole foods store or something, they will not be the cheapest, but they will likely be the freshest. If using normal fruit, try to pick it up from a local farm, if you can't then once again, whole foods place or a farmer's market is your best bet. Thoroughly clean the fruit and cut it up. Lastly, you are generally adding fruit at the end stage of the boil, generally between 10-5 minutes to the end, generally a the gentler flavors will go in towards the end, like berries, and boiling wart is a pretty good sanitizer as well, so as long as you are not introducing the fruit after the boil, you should be OK. Also some fruit, mainly berries, you should strain out the solids when you are putting it in your primary ;)

 

I'm working out some kinks i had with that particular project. I will be making some more honey-based drinks over the summer, next honey-based project in line is waiting for first local raspberries, making a raspberry wine with honey (lots of raspberries, some honey, a couple of spices, mmmmm). I did learn good lessons from my first attempt, namely, its a good idea to keep the gravity in the sane zone... Super high gravity != fun.

 

As for gravity for this batch, it's going to end up in 1.015 range somewhere (probably wont be 1.010 like what you are looking for for lighter beer). For alcohol content, it's likely somewhere around 4-5% mark, pretty much on the dime for a porter :shrug:

 

Not sure what i am making next... thinking maybe a triple chocolate stout or chocolate-coffee stout in the 6-7% mark, or maybe something very lite, like a proper berliner weiss (a very sour wheat beer 2-3% per volume, meant to be drank with a syrup of some sort)

[JMJones0424]

I used to home-brew quite a bit, but now I live quite a distance from the nearest brew supply shop, so I only do it for special occasions. One thing I got in the habit of doing is adding Irish moss (which is neither Irish, nor moss) to aid in clarification of the wort. It doesn't affect taste, and helps quite a bit of the suspended proteins settle out of the wort before transferring to the primary fermenter.

 

I brew almost exclusively ales, as I don't have a refrigerator large enough for a carboy, and my favorite by far is a nice chocolate porter with a hint of coffee. I also make a porter on occasion with a tiny bit of mole poblano.

 

I think it is worth the cost to use glass carboys, and also worth the hassle to use two, one for primary fermentation (for about a week), then transfer to the second for finishing and to allow more settling (for about another week) prior to bottling. Another thing to consider is to make sure the pot you use to boil the wort in is non-reactive (not aluminum). Large stainless steel pots can be two or three times more expensive than aluminum, but I think there is a difference in flavor. And NEVER use your expensive 6.5 gallon pot for anything other than making beer. I found out the hard way after a crawfish boil. The next few batches of beer had a distinct seafood hint to them.

[alexander]

Yes, you definitely can add Irish Moss to the boil to clarify the wart, when you don't care, if it's a stout or a porter you just don't add it, but if you are brewing a lighter beer, irish moss is your friend ;) (it does not add flavor, and you generally throw it in about 20 minutes to the end of the boil)

 

I would also recommend using stainless, enameled pot for the boil. I also recommend washing everything you are going to be using with B-Brite, it's a little expensive, but it's the best cleaner on the market today, it kills ANY odors too, so with your crayfish story, it would totally kill those odors :shrug: (yes it's that good)

 

I use plastic primary and glass secondary, i find it easier to work with a bucket for primary, and there are no plastic flavors added :eek:

[GAHD]

If you want to keep more of the flavour in that beer, lower the pressure in the brewing container. This lowers the boiling temp, reducing the destruction of those tasty complex molecules.

[alexander]

You mean mashing container? That or i am not understanding you...

 

Brewing container, there are a few things that can go into that:

 

mashing pot (its ran at around 150F to break the starches in barley and/or wheat into sugars) It's generally simmered, but it's not often under any pressure.

 

boiling pot - something that generally isn't even covered, its where you boil your malt for a period of time with spices (hops and what have you) to sterilize the malt, kill any wild yeast/bacteria that may be there after mashing (if you mash your own) and to infuse those flavors all together.

 

Carboy - this is the vessel that has some internal pressure, it's formed by the CO2 that is produced by the yeast as a byproduct of fermentation, some internal pressure is there because the airlock has water in it, and it takes some pressure inside to get excess CO2 to escape. But you cant keep a lower pressure here, nor does it have anything to do with boiling, because the contents go and hopefully stay in the carboy at 55 degrees for lager and around 68-70 for ale.

 

Now what i think you mean is a still, in which both of what you have said is very true, but we havent talked about anything that needs distilling yet... But it is true, you do want to keep a low pressure in the still to keep special flavors :) .

[alexander]

Just bottled it (and no i didnt drink that glass, honestly its a bit discusting drinking flat 70 degree beer, but this gave me a chance to check on how the final product will taste)

 

its a dry english brown ale, or maybe a dry porter :)

 

you decide, its malty, its a touch sweet, it's only a little hoppy, and has pronounced alcohol taste which leads me to believe its in 6-7% mark... it does have some fruity overtones which are nice in this particular beer, so i cant wait to test the final final result...

 

And i just started on a stout (details later)

[alexander]

New batch :QuestionM (a double chocolate coffee stout)

 

~2.7-3 Gal

 

Pre-Boil:

 

8oz American Crystal Malt

8oz British Chocolate Malt

 

put in cheese cloth bag or a pre-boil sock and keep at 150F (usually +- 5 to 7 degrees) for 20 min

 

bring to 170 degrees, take off heat and add 3.3lb of dark malt extract

 

Boil:

 

bring to a boil, first add a few pellets of hops (like 4-5) (this will prevent the run when you add the majority of hops

 

0.75oz of Fuggles (hop)

0.25oz of Willamette (hop)

~3oz of Ghirardelli all natural cocoa powder

~3oz of Ghirardelli sweetened powdered baking chocolate with cocoa

 

set timer (60 min)

 

15min to end

1 cup of dark brown sugar

0.5oz of Willamette

 

2 min to end

0.25oz of Willamette

 

Gravity at start is 1.057 at 70F

 

tomorrow i am starting a cold press of about 4-5 cups of coffee (extra strong) about 5 tbsp of ground bean per cup (normally you'd use two) (put coffee and water into the press, cover the press with some cling wrap and throw in the fridge. In 2 days take it out of the fridge, and press the coffee down, put the cold press into a stainless pot and boil for at least 5 minutes to sterilize. Also i will add some Lyle's Golden Syrup, probably 3/4 of the small tin i have (whatever is left in there) then.

 

also i will add some more coco at racking, probably failry little, about , probably with corn sugar syrup i am going to use for primer. But very little, about 0.25-0.3oz, to give some more fresh chocolate scent.

[alexander]

Oh i'm using Safale S-04 yeast here

[alexander]

my first experience with liquid yeast :surprise:

 

new alex's variation on Belgian Wit:

 

preboil tea:

1/2 lb crystal malt

1/2 lb wheat malt

 

boil:

3.3 lb northerner witbier malt

2 cups of powdered wheat malt

1 oz of Amarillo .75 at start of boil .25 2 minutes before the end

1tbsp of dried sour orange peel

1 lime peel (this and orange peel were split into about 3/4 1/4; 3/4 were added at 10 minutes before the end of the boil, and 1/4 was added about 2 minutes before the end with hops)

 

after the boil wait for temperature to drop under 200F and i added

juice of one lime

the inners of 1 passion fruit per gallon of wart (i used 3)

 

let it sit uncovered until the temperature gets to about 165, cover it for 20 minutes to keep it in 165-155 range for 20 minutes, then continue the cooling process

 

also i had to add almost 6 cups of water to dillute the wart to 1.050

 

I used wyeast belgian wit yeast slap pack for this one

 

anyhow, it took off inanely, i have over 3 inches of foam on top right now, fermentation is expected to end by this weekend :naughty:

 

 

that first porter is ready to drink, and its good :eek_big:

[alexander]

So where to next?

 

i am working on creating a rather crazyfying beer, here's what i'm thinking towards

 

preboil grain bag

 

12-13lb of extra light extract for 4 gallons of water

light brown sugar

Lyle's syrup

perhaps some grape juice or grape juice concentrate

thinking i'll want some nutrient here too

dunno how much or of what hops yet, there will have to be a lot of them though, in the process of thinking about that right now, thinking i would have to push it to a pretty high IBU though i'm thinking somewhere up in 65-80 range, i'll have to think about that...

 

starting gravity around 1.10

 

pale ale yeast

 

hour of aeration with an aquarium pump and a fine aerating stone

 

in 3-4 days after start, start adding an oz of sugar a day for 5 days, in this order demerara, cane, demerara, cane, demerara.

 

thinking of letting it go for another week to 8 days until it stops actively bubbling, racking it, adding some muscovado sugar, an oz more of demerara, adding some more hops, pitching in some distiller's yeast and aerating this for another hour, then for the next 4 days adding 1oz of belgian candy, demerara, belgian candy and demerara. At which point i shall leave it to ferment out for 2 weeks or so, racking it, waiting another week, and finally bottling it with some champagne yeast....

 

expected alcohol content is around 14-16%abv

 

So, anyone make anything quite like this? and/or does anyone have any suggestions or direction they would nudge me in (mind you this is still about 2-3 weeks out from starting, i'm churning over the recipe in my head, trying to figure out how to preserve the body, and add complexity)

[freeztar]

does anyone have any suggestions

 

Yes! Save some for me! :shrug:

 

I wish I had some advice for you, but it seems you've advanced way past the level I reached when I was brewing. It's nice to experience it vicariously though.

[alexander]

If you lived around here i'd invite you over for some double chocolate coffee stout, as it stands, perhaps we can hang out sometime at some conference or a museum trip or something, in which case i'll bring some home made stuff :shrug:

 

Where do you live, freezy? (you can pm me)

 

Seriously, i find this to be an excellent experiment, because i an a flavorologist, or a flavorographer, or maybe a flavicist, whatever, i really enjoy playing with flavor to achieve something that someone hasn't tried and that would seem interesting to someone. With beer its simple flavors put together for complexity, and the drive to preserve the body and perhaps hide a surprise and above all be creative and not stick with beer stereotypes...

 

With food its complexity through simplicity and putting flavors together that make people scratch their heads and go "you did what and mixed it with what... and that tastes, oh really.. oh this is good"... like a sweet onion and rasin garnish i've created :omg:

 

Besides making beer is the closest i get to doing actual chemistry, that elusive subject that i cant quite grasp :)