Brewing Activities (2020)

Bottled up my Coronaweizen. OG was 1.055, finished at 1.009. Really liking the phenolic notes from the WLP351. Fermented at 70 F. Initial tasting was pretty awesome - can't wait til it's carbed and ready to drink!

 

Brewing a NEIPA with the typical grain Bill. Citra, HBC 586, Eroica. Fermenting with safale 04 which I’ve had good success with. Never used these hops but their descriptors are fruity and melon so hopefully the work out

 

Sending some wit into a keg with some priming sugar after reading about a possible co2 shortage. Initial sample tastes good so I will let this sit for 2 weeks then chill and serve.

 

Luckily I can smell this. 1st 30 minute addition of 1 oz citra.

 

Just weighed grains for a Biere de Garde of sorts tomorrow.
90% Golden Promise
4% CaraRye
4% Amber Malt
2% Brown Malt
Mashing low and slow 150F for 90min
Willamette to bitter at 20 IBUs, another 2 IBU at 10
Omega Gulo

 

Brewed a mixed ferm Belgian Tripel with all Hallertau Blanc, and a Rye Saison with late additions of Cashmere today. First time using either of those hops but they smelled great so I’m excited.

Bottling a Petite Saison and Biere De Garde tomorrow.

 

I'd be interested in what you think of the Hallertau Blanc in your Tripel and whether or not you'd use it again in a high gravity beer, or if you think it'd be better in a different style.

 

Planning on letting it sit for at least a few months, but I’ll definitely post back.

 

Troubleshooting.
The aroma from fermentation on days 2 though 5 of this brew were banana and, to a lesser extent, bubble gum. Gravity sample tonight (day 7) is 2 points away from predicted FG.
It has a slight medicinal (maybe clove?) aroma and, when swirled in my tasting glass, the medicinal/clove wafts to the ether and is muted by lightish banana and Bazooka Joe bubble gum aroma, which is not noticeable unless swirling. The taste is non-descript, pretty much meh.
Fermented with WB-06 at ~70° +/-1° which, IIRC, is within the range to produce a clove taste.

Will bumping the ferm temp until it's done help to subdue the medicinal/clove? Or maybe it's now baked in the cake?

 

So, once a hefe wort is in the fermenter (taking everything before yeast pitch out of the equation), the way to subdue clove is to hide it behind banana, with high-ish fermentation temps. Problem though, is that the "stage" for the final ester concentrations (including isoamyl acetate, aka banana) is set pretty early in the fermentation. Esters do increase later, but it's the initial conditions that drive the amount of fusels (which the yeast ultimately transform to esters). So I don't think there's really anything you can do at this point (i.e. a week in).

That said, I once did a series of one gallon A/B hefe batches, trying to find the right combination of factors for the perfect hefe. I failed.

 

Yep, dang it. I kinda/sorta knew that but for some reason went against my gut feeling, which was to set the ferm temp to 74°. Would there be any benefit (sans any baked in the cake aspects) of raising the temp at this point...or better to just let it play out to FG, then package?


ETA:

Re-reading, your reply suggests clove is still there, but banana is more prevalent and overpowers clove when conditions favor 'isoamyl acetate, aka banana'. Interesting....that many attributes coexist but detection is threshold dependent.
Learn (or hope to) something new every day.

 

I can't think of any real advantage to doing this, other than finishing faster. I suppose if the yeast were not particularly vital, and thus were ready to quit, raising the temp might prevent that, but that's overthinking a problem that very probably doesn't exist. Just as an aside, if the yeast did quit before all the esters were formed, you'd be left with elevated fusels.

Yeah. Damned if I can find it, but I once read about a sensory analysis thing where they dosed beer with 4-Vinyl guaiacol (clove) and Isoamyl Acetate at various levels. As one (either one) was raised, sensory perception of the other was diminished. Got any Isoamyl Acetate lying around?

 

secondary on frozen bananas ?

 

Who the hell would do something like that?
https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/cocoa-banana-sweet-stout-all-grain.386645/

 

Like comedienne Paula Poundstone said when asked if she had any kids, "No. Well, none that I know of".

me have no bananas.

 

Brewing a saison today. Using Omega Saison II for the first time, keeping the rest of my recipe the same but raising my sulfate level slightly to get the Chloride to Sulfate ratio to 1.5.

74% Weyermann Barke Pilsner
21% Weyermann Pale Wheat
5% Weyermann Barke Vienna
18 ibu from Styrian Goldings
OLY-42 Belgian Saison II

Will ferment at 80 degrees

 

Have a WLP002 starter in process, planning to brew tomorrow or Tuesday some type of Porter/Stout. Not finished the recipe yet, but likely more American style, around 6%. Its been a minute since I've done a dark beer.

 

Munich Classic is the bees knees when it comes to dry hefeweizen yeast.