What's brewing July edition

Checking in on my Averagely Perfect ESB. In the fermenter for 6 days only. Still has high kausen. SG is down to 1.014. Hydrometer sample is very tasty. With the yeast not yet flocced and their yummy esters, and the orangey appearance, it looks like a NEIPA. Hopefully yeast drops pretty clear though.

 

Just kegged a Citra/Pilsner/WLP644 SMaSH IPA, and bottled a gallon of it to save until next summer.

This was my first batch with proper temperature control, using what you could call a lazy (or lucky) man's thermowell.



I ordered a carboy thermowell hoping it would fit in the airlock hole of a bucket, but it was too small to seal. Perusing my lhbs for a jerry-rig solution, I saw a bag of replacement seals for grolsch bottles. They fit the thermowell tube perfectly. I put 2 on either side of the lid and used the original carboy stopper to jam it sealed, because it doesn't slide easily. Airtight.

 

Yesterday I did a 10 gallon batch of an Oberon clone (my wife's favorite beer). 5 gallons will get bottled and taken to Michigan for a late August camping trip. The other 5 kegged.

I've also modified my system and routine a bit. I'm planning on going lager only for now. For a long time I had been alternating a lager batch with an ale, it's just hard to plan on syncing those up with empty kegs, peak freshness, etc.

I used to have an old fridge that I used for temp control that died on me and a good friend gave me an old large chest freezer. I can fit 15 gallons in it easily. My plan is to do a double brew day once every 6 weeks. One ten gallon batch and one five. That way I can add some variety, cut down on brewing as often (gasp!), and keep a supply of fresh beer going that is consistent with my consumption (which is normally 5 gallons every 2 weeks).

 

I'm not sure if you have used 1469 before or not. From my experience it always gives me what I call a "sticky" krausen that persists well after reaching FG. Sometimes I can't get it to drop without cold crashing.

I brewed the AP ESB early last month and forgot to add gelatin to the keg (my normal practice for UK ales). That beer remained hazy until the bottom third of the keg. I know 1469 is supposed to be highly flocculent, but that has not been my experience.

Looking forward to hearing how this turned out for you. I found the Target hops interesting.

 

I have used 1469 before. This time around is the stickiest krausen. But it has only been a week, and I'm grateful I had fermentation given the yeast was 4.5 months old (did a 2 stage starter). I have fallen out of practice of using gelatin, but if I think of it when the time arrives, I will add at kegging here. Thanks for the tip.

I posted elsewhere that the Target hops had the least aroma of the three that I used in the recipe. The EK Goldings smelled great and I almost wish this were single hopped. For some reason, I have experienced inconsistencies in UK hops over the course of the past 12 years, and EKGs have always been a huge disappointment. I never felt like I knew what the fuss was about for this iconic English hop, but the 1 oz packet I used for this recipe was potent. While, I'm tempted to blame my past experiences the added rigors of import, I don't feel that I can make as strong a case for inconsistency among the continental and southern hemisphere hops I have used.

 

From the Target I got "tobacco" but in a mild, pleasing way. When I did the AP ESB I also brewed 5 gallons of another ESB using my standard practice, all EKG hopping. I actually preferred this beer slightly more to the AP ESB, but thought the Target offered a bit of a change of pace. I also get some variability in EKG hops. Sometimes they are rather "flat." When they are "on", I love the spiciness that I perceive.

 

007 Golden Hop Pale Ale brewed early this morning and in the carboy by 1030 a.m.
Had a good yeast starter going even w/o my stir plate (lost the dang stir bar, just realized it last night when I needed it).....was activity by 3 p.m.

Simple recipe:
4.4lbs Pale Ale Malt
3 1/2lbs Maris Otter
1lb Crystal 40
4oz 007 Golden Hop (.5 @ 60 / .5 @ 15 / 1 @ 5 / 2 next week to dry hop in secondary
San Diego Super Yeast

Tried out the Megapot 1.2 for the first time......great brewing day today!

 

Just brewed a Two Heart clone yesterday in the new place!

Took a taste of the KBS after 4 months on bourbon and wood - freaking delicious and a lot "mellower" than the tasting at 2 months.

Also have a pretty, blonde sour that is aging away on some brett dregs from Prairie Artisan.

 

Pils/EKG smash saison with yeast bay saison blend was a great batch earlier this year. Went way too fast!

 

Tapped my new bitter today.. Unfortunately, it's not good... At all.

Which is weird, considering very similar recipe to one I did last year which turned out amazing. Same yeast, similar hops and grist, water profile, fermentation temps, mash pH, ABV/IBU, etc... The thing that is making it so bad is it that it tastes like rubbing alcohol... Which is very weird considering it's only 3.5% ABV and was fermented cool at 64F (I have temp control). I decided to pull the keg and place it back in the basement... Perhaps in a few months or so I will try again and see if any improvement was made, but I am not hopeful. FWIW, I kegged it 3 weeks ago (it fermented 3 full weeks prior) and had it cold conditioning at 32F for two of those weeks. Perhaps it just needs more time to mellow/condition.

The only thing I can think of was the yeast was stressed?... I did a starter from 8 month old yeast (I have done it before...) and it took two days, but it did start up. English Ale (WLP002). Perhaps that is a culprit, but given that I did do a starter and fermented cool, it's strange that it's so 'boozy'.

But maybe it just needs a few months time to turn around... I just never had one this rough before at this age! I guess a silver lining is that now I get to start carbing up the Rye RIS I brewed back in March, so in about 3-5 weeks that will go on in place of the bitter.

 

I'm debating if I want to try my hand at making an Oktoberfest this year. I have a chest freezer at which I could use to lager so I might brew that next. Otherwise, I just kegged and am now enjoying a cream ale/Pilsner Ale I Brewed a few weeks ago. Came out nice and smooth, slight sweetness. I can see this being great on a hot summer day

 

A Citra Lager sounds amazing!

 

You're not sanitising with the stuff are you?

Is it more like a medicinal / Band-Aid sort of smell/taste? If so, could be an infection - it would make sense why everything could be the same but with a different result.

 

Haha, nah… Star San is my go-to sanitizer. I have also done 30 some batches so far, never had contamination (not to say it can’t happen now). But no, I don’t get medicinal or band-aid (which I find I am quite sensitive to). It just has a harsh, hoppy/boozy note.

 

In a sad mood today...went to keg my inaugural milkshake IPA and tastes like a mix of chewing on 3 band-aids and 2 aspirin simultaneously...haven't had a failed batch like this in a long, long time...
Oddest thing with the yeast...had a fairly new smack pack of 1318 (2 months post manufacture), smacked it morning before making starter. Made starter that evening without much signs of inflation...but not concerned at that point. Dump yeast in starter...brewing two days later, looks to me like yeast has taken off with small bubbles and turned a milkshake color. Pitch yeast....don't think about it for 2 days. Check airlock, and no bubbles...okay maybe bad seal on the bucket? Open fermenter...no sign of krausen...
Pitch a packet of Mangrove Jack west coast ale yeast I have on hand. Come back next...no signs of activity. Pitch a packet of Windsor yeast...come back next day...finally signs of life. Dry hopped 3 days later and smell was off...but was hoping maybe just off-gasing funk. Nope...full on infected. Going down the drain and bucket is currently soaking in bleach...
I really want to know what happened to my yeast from the starter...

 

What's your procedure for saving and storing yeast?

 

If for some reason you can't maintain the Lagering temps or just don't feel up to it yet, google Mocktoberfest. It's a good solution for brewing an Oktoberfest style ale without having to keep it at such low fermentation temperatures!

 

Is it possible that your smack pack was contaminated? Sure. More likely that the contamination happened on your side of things.