Brewing Activities (2019)

Certainly lots of pointless babbling. The rest of us know what you are talking about VikeMan.

 

@JimboBrews54 this thread is about current brewing activities. If you want to discuss your "old English" brewing techniques, start a new thread. Or better yet go to a different site.

 

Getting a starter ready for what will be a Cali/ Idaho Rye Lager. Which is a lager with rye malt and cararye. Fermented with WY2112 California lager yeast and hopped with Idaho 7.

Also, kegged and added guava puree to a cashmere hopped kettle sour. First time using Amoretti purees, and so far impressed.

 

I've been trying to figure out what the deal is with Amoretti craft purees. I get ads for them all the time. So I looked at the ingredients for their Blood Orange Puree:
water, cane sugar, dextrose, fructose, orange, natural flavor, plant extractives
Given orange's spot in the list, and the fact that there also ingredients listed after it, the amount of orange in this stuff is less than 20%. (How much less I don't know.) In spite of that, one of the ads I keep seeing says "Our Craft Purees are about 20x more concentrated than straight purees." I've emailed them about the latter, asking what that is supposed to mean. I'll post if they respond.

 

I will be brewing two new ones this weekend. I am going to make a Hefeweizen extract with Hallertrau hops, I will be using dried mangoes, bananas and oranges, no mash, just straight on flavor. But then again is that traditional enough or am I just spinning my wheels. My other one would be a going to be a golden hoppy ale, brewed with Pilsen light extract, 1 LB of Breiss grains, Mt. Hood, Liberty and UK East Kent Golds. Should be a golden ray of sunshine throughout my beer this summer!

 

You may know what you're talking about, but your posts are doing a poor job of getting that across to others in the forum. Your post #410 -- the first in this thread actually in the spirit of the thread, to discuss beers currently being/very soon to be brewed -- is better, but still a bit rambling. How are you using the dried fruit in the hefeweizen? What kind of Briess grains are you using in the golden hoppy ale, and when are you using the hops (and how much of them)? You may consider providing this kind of information an attempt to "placate", but its part of the point of this thread. We learn from each other in that way.

I have never used black pepper in a beer, so I would in fact like to know more about how you and others have.

 

@frozyn I did not know there was a specific guideline of ideas or you had to be so precise that anyone really cared about input. Rambling is a good way to get ideas out, for the hefeweizen I will be using dried mangoes, the rest is all going to be fresh fruit at the bottom of the barrel with the hop pellets. I will just be warming and boiling the extract until golden, then pouring it in the bucket letting it all settle and then adding the yeast when it cools down. I need to get back to you on the golden ale, I need to figure that one out, any suggestions?

 

It’s also a good way to find yourself alone. Structure is good for many things in life. Especially conversations meant for exchanging ideas and insight. Otherwise, you are asking others to work too hard to understand you and your “unique” way of communicating.

You may have some great things to share. I think you are just being told how to do it better in this forum by people that have been at this for a long time.

 

On another note I’m brewing for another wedding soon(really opened a can of worms). I want to brew an 10 gallon ipa (obviously) and a refreshing American wheat ale/ Hefeweizen split fermentation. I have all the usual suspects in the hops freezer for a crowd pleaser using “cheater hops” so I’m thinking Citra mosaic cashmere for the 5 minute additions Dryhop half with those 3 and half with Sabro Medusa and strata to get weird with it. Any suggestions for hopping the wheat beers? I also considered souring half of the wheat beer wort for a strong Berliner Weiss. Sorry for the long post. Suggestions welcome

 

Hallertrau and Chinook for the wheat beer.

 

Amarillo or Idaho 7.
In a 5-gal wheat-ish beer I whirlpooled 1 oz Pacific Jade, 1 oz Idaho and 2 oz Amarillo, and dryhopped 3 oz Idaho on day 3 with 5 g dried sweet orange peel. Very pleased with the orange aroma without a citric acid type of bite.

I'm a fan of wheat beers and of Amarillo. You might find some inspiration here. I haven't made it yet but intend to this summer. Of particular interest to me

 

If you're going to use fresh fruit I'd recommend freezing it first and adding after primary fermentation is complete. Most of the fruit flavor will get fermented out if you add it before adding the yeast.

You're last few posts have been more normal but we had a reason to be harsh since you were denying all advice and telling us off for giving it. Sounds like you are doing extract batches with steeping grains so some of your posts make a little more sense. VikeMan was trying to make two simple points that are indisputable brewing facts: 1. Boiling grains is a bad idea and will not lead to good beer. You can "steep" or mash grain at temps under 170 F. 2. Not everything is fermentable.

So in short: keep your posts more on point to the topic (this thread is about brewing activities), feel free to create new threads if you want get ideas out, take feedback from experienced brewers, and don't ramble about random things.

 

Back on topic I bottled my first "pastry" stout yesterday with a FG of 1.052. For sure the highest FG in my brewing life so hopefully it'll be able to bottle carbonate without any issues. Planning to make an Irish Stout next aiming for a 4% abv which will get a healthy dose of vanilla beans. Also am getting impatient with the carbonating of my Berry Lager. It tastes great but just needs some more bubbles or it just tastes like fruit juice.

 

I think right around 1.050-ish is the sweet spot (no pun intended) for big, sweet stouts. Were you aiming for 1.052, or are you concerned that the yeast quit early and therefore may not be up to carbonating the bottles?

 

Yeah I was aiming for right around 1.050 but for sure concerned that the yeast may not carbonate it. Being a novice on this type of beer I'm probably just overthinking it.

 

What's the ABV and the yeast strain?

 

i am also interested in souring yeast. Never heard that said.

 

OG and FG notes are at home but I'm sure the abv is somewhere between 8.5-9%.

I used Denny's Favorite 1450 (for the first time) pitched at a rate of 1.0 m/ml (about 600B) and fermented at 65 for a few days before letting it rise to 68. Also I don't have a way to directly add oxygen so I just dump from the kettle into the fermentor and use a wine degasser for some more oxygen. Never had a problem getting the fermentation where I want it doing it this way though.

I think some of my nervousness is using the 1450. Maybe I should have stuck with a yeast I know well like 1056 as I've gotten it to ferment to 15% abv before (though I was aiming for lower attenuation). Maybe tried too many new things at once here but hopefully it turns out alright in the end.

 

I've never used 1450, but it's supposed to have an ABV tolerance of about 10%. My guess, given that your FG was close to what you expected, is that your carbonation will be fine. Maybe a little slow, but probably fine.

 

Hey, me too! That being said, you don't have to know shit about cooking, flavors, or fermentation to pass the ServSafe exam. If you don't have any extra chromosomes, it's pretty much guaranteed.
Please, everyone on here is trying to help. If you're actually a cook, you know that helping words often come across as harsh. We are trying to protect you from yourself.