Brewing Activities (April edition)

recipe?

 

how do you use a spunding with a lager? when do you transfer to keg?

 

When the beer is 2-3 points from FG I rack from the fermenter into the keg. Seal the lid and let the keg sit at my fermentation temp of 48F or so. Set the spund valve for the proper pressure and just let it finish. Once complete a week or so later once the pressure stops increasing in the keg, crash to lager temp and let sit a few weeks.

 

Do you bring temp. up to 65*F or so in keg to get rid of diacetyl?

 

That one is pretty easy to find - Bells sells a kit, which really contains the recipe - https://store.bellsbeer.com/collections/brewing-kits/products/oberon-ale-clone-all-grain-ingredient-kit

See also: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2239/2667/files/Oberon_Instructions_-_All_Grain.pdf

Here is some advice from Bells: https://www.bellsbeer.com/news/homebrewing-oberon-tips-cloning-our-american-wheat-ale
Here is someone's recipe. Not quite what I had compiled - http://alestolagers.blogspot.com/2010/05/recipe-of-week-bells-oberon-clone.html
Here is another: https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/390303/bell-s-oberon-clone

 

I do not. Diacetyl has been a non-issue for me with a proper (large!) pitch of healthy yeast. After about a week after keg/sounding I drop a few degrees per day to 30F.

I used to do D-rests, but not anymore. Have noticed no issues with skipping that step personally.

 

Dry hopped my IIIPA a couple days ago. Now it is crashing. Going to fine it tmro, then keg Saturday, start drinking Sunday. Damn tasty right now. 10% ABV, dry, 115 IBUs, light toasty honey, peach, papaya, pine, pineapple, touch of citrus, hint of good kush.

 

I had to look kush up... I guess I'm getting old.

What was your hop bill?

 

It's the Bell's official recipe, fermented with US-05. It turned out really well. I fermented somewhat cool which brought out a peachy flavor, which is not exactly what I wanted, but tastes nice.

I do a D-Rest on any beer I temperature control, just because it is not much extra work for me. My other beers that I just toss under the steps, I don't bother. I do always do a D rest on my lagers though.

 

60 - 2oz Polaris
10 - 2oz Simcoe, 2oz Ekuanot
30 min 170* WP - 2oz CTZ Cryo, 2oz Simcoe, 4oz Ekuanot, 4oz Citra
48 hr DH - 2oz CTZ (pellets), 2oz Simcoe, 4oz Ekuanot, 4oz Citra

 

You can also harvest some Oberon yeast pretty easily. Their yeast is a little different than US05. It will help you get closer to the real deal.

 

I'm only in the contemplating stage of my next brew but I'm contemplating a wheaty, passionfruit saison for drinking in the summer weather.

 

I think we are going to attempt to do it again and harvest the Oberon yeast. We brewed it before Oberon released this year.

 

I'm hoping to get a brew day in this weekend. Planning on a SMaSH dampfbier (or at least that's what I'm calling it).

- 11 lbs Vienna
- Czech Saaz to about 20 IBU (probably all late boil additions since I have a bunch from last year to use up, and I want to get a sense of their flavor additions)
- Wyeast 3068

 

Just bottled my first Gueuze, well kinda of a Gueuze. This is a five gallon pull from my ongoing Solera project. Every year I pull five gallons and add five gallons of fresh wort. So this is my third pull, hence a blend of 1,2, and 3 year old beer is in there.

Cheers!

 

Neat idea. Let us know how it tastes and looks.

 

Nice photo. I have been pulling from my Solera's for about 10 years now. I see you are a trader. You interested in trading any?

Also, what was your base bear and what was your starting culture?

I have two going, Both started with mostly pilsner/wheat wort and I try to replenish with the same. One was started with Fonteinen dregs and the other with Cantillion dregs. I only pull about 2 gal out of each per year.

 

My base beer is always the same going into my Solera(s). 70% pilz 30% wheat, turbid mash, long boil, aged hops. I started with Roeselare and a shit ton of dregs (Cantillon, 3F, etc.). Every year I take five gallons out and put it on fruit. I fill the solera back up with real young beer, usually partially fermented with the Belgian Saison strain.

 

Brewing a helles and a Czech-style pilsner this weekend. I'm planning on doing a similar process as @invertalon mentioned above regarding spunding for natural carbonation/lagering process.

Pitching 2124 Bohemian lager at an estimated 2.0 mil cells per ml per degree plato for both. Last time I used this yeast it was producing some serious sulfur during primary but luckily it wasn't noticeable in the end product. Going for 46-48F range for entirety of fermentation.

Has anybody ever shot for a mash pH below 5 in pilsners? I remember reading somewhere this is what a lot of Czech pilsner brewers do. I think I may shoot for 5, extend the mash longer (single infusion) to make sure there's good conversion, and use a thin mash hoping the pH doesn't rise too much by the end of sparging. I think 2 quarts per pound is as thin as I can get it without overflowing my mash tun. Going to add a combination of CaCl and Gypsum to get Calcium up to 50ppm. Seattle water only has around 7ppm Calcium, 3 ppm Chloride and virtually no sulfate so the water will still be very soft. Going to add lactic acid to the mash and keep adding it as necessary to get it to the final pH, shouldn't need to add more than a teaspoon to get it down to 5.

For the Helles I'm just going to add CaCl and Gypsum to get enough calcium to end in the 5.2-5.3 mash pH ballpark, with a greater emphasis on Chloride than sulfate.

 

it looks like you would need to add a ton of acid to get your ph below 5 with that malt bill and that water profile. what is your plan cause I may take soemthing from it for my own.