Brewing Activities (May edition)

Brewed up my new IPA, with Simcoe, Galaxy and Vic Secret. Grist just 2-Row, White Wheat and Vienna. WLP007. OG of 1.051.

Really liked using my new pump to whirlpool... Got those hops really moving in the beer, basically making the wort look like a NE IPA by the time it was chilled and done (never seen it like that before, bright yellow and turbid). Chilled the wort down to 170ish for a majority of the whirlpool. Also made an epic hop/trub cone in the middle which was nice for racking to the fermenter. Never could get that by hand...

Also got my tap lines cleaned and lines replaced during the off-times while brewing. Ready to tap them four new beers soon! Speaking of, Hefe is all set to go into the keezer. Spunding has completed.

 

Seeing what bugs I can catch in the backyard. No long-term plan yet of what I’ll do if I’m successful.

 

Well, damn it. Next time I do this I'll check the forecast first.

 

Big day tomorrow but no actual brewing, hopefully Monday...

Moving my first truely Sour beer into secondary. I’ve used Brett before, but never Brett + Bugs. Went the New Belgian route and primaried with lager yeast, 34/70. Beer ended up attenuating a little further than expected and actually tastes great but going to transfer and pitch some Russian River, Jolly Pumkpin, HF dregs I’ve been propping up. Revisit it in 6 months.

Moving a Brett Saison into secondary for hopefully no more than a month. Tastes great already but needs a little longer to dry out.

Dry hopping a Belgian Pale with some Mandarina. Used the latest Wyeast PC release, Belgian Schelde, for this. So far pretty subdued phenolics which is nice.

Gotta figure out how much coffee to dose a 5% Milk Stout with. I steeped grounds in my last coffee beer and didn’t like the slight green pepper I got from it. Gonna try cold brew this time. Anyone ever mess with their water when doing this? Optimal PH specifically?

Going to transfer a Mexican inspired lager of sorts to a corny and let it sit at 50 for a few days while my next lager gets going so I can krausen the present batch. I was really pleased with the last Pilsner I krausened. I really think it had a very positive effect on the mouthfeel specifically.

 

Anyone ever use Vinter's fruit purees in their beers?

Thinking about using this in the secondary for a week or two?

https://labelpeelers.com/wine-making/fruit-purees/vintners-harvest-strawberry-puree-49-oz/

Any input is appreciated since this sweet deal is today only. It is a shake recipe. Do you just toss it in a muslin sack and drop er in if you have used it

 

They are good. Highly recommend.

 

Thanks, can you tell me how you used it? Did you just dump it in during secondary? Did you sack it? How long did you let it sit to achieve the flavor you were looking for?

 

Dumped it into primary.

 

Slight change in plans- found a half pound of over-toasted flaked oats in the malt bin, so using that instead of the GNO. Oats are toasted at what I estimate are around SRM 60 (brown malt), rye is toasted at around SRM 30 (amber malt). Other than that, everything else is the same. Should be interesting...

 

In a bag? Did it separate just fine?

 

I literally dump it all in. No bag.

 

That is my next brew too. I want to dump a little french pressed coffee in there this time. Go for an iced chocolate coffee vibe for the summer

 

Me too, but only a pound. It is about 60% pale 2 row, 10% maris otter 10% roasted barley, 10% chocolate and 10% simpsons brown.

I always think about adjusting this but it just has never been bad so I leave it alone *shrugs*

 

first brew of the month (well technically April 30th but whatevs) didn't go great. It's a slight variation of a NEIPA i've brewed a few times before, but first time I scaled it up to a full 5G batch (as I finally got a keezer/5G keg).

Totally missed my SG (1.058 vs 1.072) with terrible efficiency. I know why, and hopefully I figured out thefix, but if all goes well (i'll pull a sample today and cold crash), I should have a decent citra/mosaic session IPA, which is nice i guess.

So, I have a 10.5G pot that I BIAB in. I use a "hotrod" connected to a pid controller to maintain mash temps. To keep my grain bag off the element, I use an aluminum steamer basket - the one that came for the pot was much to big to allow for the use of the heat stick, so I purchased a smaller one -- much too small apparently at 30 something quarts. With roughly 15LBs of Grain (and 7 gallons of water), the steamer basket compacted the grain way too much and despite plenty of stirring and mash recirculation, the grains just didn't get properly "soaked" so to say. So I purchased a new stainless steel basket that is 40QT compared to the original 42QT and with the help of pliers and a hammer - I can fit the heatstick in and should have plenty of room for grain and water. I'll be doing a test run of it this coming week with a 3 gallon batch -- it'll also be a test of mixing some dry yeast.

 

Have you ever used Chocolate Rye?

 

@GormBrewhouse hmmm that sounds fun. Is it as sweet as it looks like it should be?