Brewing Activities (2020)

All prepped for my newest formulation of American Amber, however, gonna hold off until tomorrow due to a big storm rolling through. It would suck to lose power in the middle of a session on an electric system.

 

good news, had numerous bottles returned some time when i was at the plant, soooooooooooooo,,,, out comes the garden sprayer filled with a strong chlorine mix, then , while whereing gloves, dumped them all in a chlorine bath. current count looks like im on track for another 3 brews next week when im off.

brew on

 

Stepped up a starter of WLP838 for a Munich Helles that will get brewed soon. Then the plan is to reuse the yeast cake for a Dopplebock after the Helles gets kegged.

 

So I found myself brewing an experiment on Monday. I'm in quarantine, it was raining, and my LHBS didn't doesn't open for curbside pickup until Wed. All I had on hand was a ridiculous amount of flaked spelt I ordered online last year, so I put together a 1 Gal. recipe for a 100% flaked spelt saison. I pretty much knew what to expect doing this, but what the hell. I threw in a ton of rice hulls hoping to prevent a stuck mash, mashed in at 152, 60 min rest, aaaaaaand stuck mash. So instead of dumping it, I winged it and basically did a hot water pour over, collected 1.70 gal, and boiled for 60 min. Added some leftover noble hops. By the end of the boil it reminded me of a white imperial stout. The wort was incredibly viscous, but it had a really nice toasted almond aroma. OG was 1.030. Let it cool, pitched Belle Saison and Omega Bit O Funk, and let it go. Started fermenting within 12 hours and three days later now looks like this. I'm pretty much fermenting porridge, but it's slowly settling out every day. At the very least I can use the liquid portion to inoculate other beers, or transfer it to top off existing sour projects, but thought I'd share my experience in case anyone is tempted to try something similar. Moral of the story, don't do 100% Flaked Grain beer. Has anyone tried a 100% (Malted not flaked) Spelt Saison before? Just curious of your outcome. I'll make sure to post back if it comes out tasting good/different.

 

If flaked spelt was 100% of the grist, the starches would not be converted to sugars/dextrins.

I suppose the Brett in the Omega blend will eat the starches over time.

 

But if I had used Malted Spelt, Wheat, Rye, etc instead of flaked, it would have been converted correct? That was always my understanding.

 

Brewed 5.1 gallons of something vaguely (and I do mean vaguely) like a Wee Heavy today.

78% Crisp Maris Otter
14% Rye Malt
8% Carafoam
Mashed at 157F
OG:1075

Amarillo at 60 and 10
19 IBUs

16 oz Cocoa Powder and 2 tsp of (very old) Grains of Paradise (ground) in Boil

WLP028

No, I haven't lost my mind. This was for a club challenge, and these were the ingredients I had to work with.

 

Yes.

 

Prolly doing a Pale ale with some rahr 2 row, little victory, glacier throughout (maybe eroica), Us-05

 

Was this a fantasy football style ingredient draft?

 

We did a fantasy draft last year. This year, we're doing something a little different, using randomly selected ingredients, where everyone has to use (mostly) the same ingredients. Here's a summary:

 

@VikeMan interesting... my homebrew club does the same exact thing 3-4 times a year. Switching between fantasy style draft and set ingredients like you do as well. Always a lot of fun tasting other people’s stuff compared to what I made. Unfortunately the pilsner competition can’t be tasted this time due to quarantine.

 

Kölsch

All Pils with a touch of wheat and Vienna using Wlp029.

Great looking color. Stronger than traditional as OG was 1.055. Currently fermenting at 63*

 

@Naugled

thoughts/feedback on that canner.

 

Since Belle Saison is a diasticus strain, wouldn't it break down the starches somewhat?

Don't see why it wouldn't.

 

I did a saison using about 30% spelt malt once. The break material looked like egg drop soup. It was kinda a kitchen sink brew, so can't say too much about the flavor the spelt brought, but the mouthfeel was great.

 

Maybe. Probably. My understanding is that most, but not all, strains that have the STA1 gene do make glucoamylase. I don't know specifically about Belle Saison.