Brewing Activities (2019)

It's friggin cold in Wisconsin... damn winter. But my brother and I did a lot of experimenting this last weekend. Sampling different base malts, playing with water chem, and dry hopping for flavor and aroma analysis. Really, really fun. So many ideas for when it finally warms up!

 

Brewed the base beer for a golden sour solera project on Monday. 81% pils, 14% wheat, 5% oats. Pitched a small starter of WLP644 into 6.25 gallons of 1.051 wort on Monday evening and this morning (~36 hours later) it was already at 1.011. That yeast works crazy fast!

 

Got a new toy to put though it’s paces.

 

That is awesome.

 

Remote brew session today.. so far so good.

 

That’s awesome. How remote are we talkin?

 

20 miles away at work.

 

Czech Pils
Czech Pilsner Malt
Saaz to 60 theoretical @ FW, 45, 20
- I get crappy utilization at 7000 feet
Blend of 2001 and WLP835
133/15 -> 145/45 -> decoct -> 162/35 -> decoct to 168/10
1.046 hopefully

 

Doing the mise en place for tomorrow's brew day. Orval inspired.

 

Just transferred the experimental Pale Ale into the keg.
Turning the fermenter around for a Pineapple IPA tomorrow.
I used this stuff for some pineapple ciders last year that blew me away so I’m gonna give it a whirl in a Citra/Mosaic IPA.

https://amoretti.com/products/pineapple-artisan-flavor

 

I haven't used that product, but I have looked at the specs for a few amoretti flavorings, and they all were made up mostly of simple sugars. So you may want to look into that, if you care.

 

Yes, it has cane, dextrose, fructose and glucose.
In the two ciders I made I tried it once during primary and once after primary had completed. It spiked up a short secondary fermentation the second time though I didn’t track how many points it reduced the FG. Wasn’t much. I only used 4 oz in a 5G batch and got a nice punch. More than enough for a beer I think.

I thought the flavor actually stood out more when used during primary. Granted I used MJacks cider yeast on the first and a wine yeast on the second and that played a role. But the pineapple was there in both. I didn’t use any kmeta or backsweeten either cider as I like them dry.

If you got a suggestion let me know. I’d love to use your brew cipher but that’s gonna take me a while to figure out. I’m thinking just drop 4 oz in before pitching.

 

Small world.Local hbs had the peanut butter and i was surprised they only recommend 4oz. You wouldn't think that would be enough.

 

It’s crazy how much pineapple flavor is packed in there.

 

What’s been your experience with overnight mashes? I did an extended mash (5 hours) on a pale ale once, that resulted in a bone dry beer. Just wondering if a highly fermentable wort is what you’re after, or if there are any tricks to this to still achieve some residual sweetness in the finished beer? Or is that where the honey malt comes into play

 

Bottled my raw / partial boil ale using pilsner, white wheat, golden naked, and melanoidin.
Used simcoe in the 5 minute partial boil, and calypso for steep under 180ºf, and pitch
Rakau for active fermentation using Hornindal.
Began around 1049, ended up at 1008.
Shooting for 2.6 vols bottle carbonated.
Hazy is an understatement with this one.

 

Finishing the boil on a Maibock, hoping for an early spring. 75% Weyermann Pilsner and 25% Weyermann Munich.

 

Well what do you know? I managed to input the recipe into the recipe sheet in Brew Cipher. Feeling all sophisticated now.

I entered .25 lb of sucrose to compensate for the 4 oz of Amoretti.
It added 2 points to the OG while simultaneously subtracting 1 from the FG. Looks like I can get the FG point back by mashing a degree higher. If I’m doing this right.
Still, everything is in range.
Nice work VikeMan.

 

You learn something new everyday.
What’s the benefit/allure of a raw/partial boil?

 

Trying the Hornindal yeast out in making a hazy Americanized pale ale in what would be the traditional way the yeast was used back in Norway.
With no hotbreak, I'm not losing proteins in it, so there is definitely something happening in the flavor profile that tastes more like what the raw grain would. More grassy, which plays with the yeast and hops.
I bottled it at 6 days from brewday, which is perfectly acceptable for Kviek yeasts, and also recommended for them, so it's still super immature carbonation today, and that is definitely masking what I was hoping for out of the recipe.