December Homebrewing

Second the 099 yeast. @stealth has made brews over20% with that yeast, star O2 and yeast nutrients.

 

And try to get that WLP099 into the beer while the ABV is still low (<10%). I've found it doesn't perform nearly as well when you throw it into a higher abv/toxic environment.

 

Kegged my SMaSH dry hopped Saison and washed the yeast for future use.

Side by side of the Helles and Saison.

 

Just stopped at the LHBS during lunch and picked up some acid malt, 20L and a new bucket/lid fermenter. My existing one is two years old and start noticing some scratching on it, so better safe than sorry!

 

Have a RIS in the fermenter that I plan to use to mix with a previous batch that I over oaked. I couldn't leave well enough alone and then left the cubes in too long. Hoping I can come up with a good blend to mellow it out.

 

I was only able to get WLP090 and I'm going to make a starter with 2 packs. 2L @ 1.04 over night and pitch tomorrow.

 

Sampled my Oud Bruin I brewed back on 4/5/15 and it's telling me it's ready for bottling. It has been sitting on some tart cherries for a while so I threw in some oak that has been soaking in cabernet since february, along with 4oz of that fucking oaky as hell wine. Will bottle in a couple weeks so it should be ready for drinking by its 2nd birthday.

 

Was it the clone from the AHBA website? That recipe quickly became a favorite of mine and is now an annual brew. If you haven't brewed it before I think you'll be impressed!

 

Either today or tomorrow, I'll make the last beer of 2016. It's going to be a Wisconsin mild:

• All Briess malts in the grist.
• All Wisconsin hops (maybe ironic that they'll be Willamette variety, from these guys in Arkanansaw. Yeah, that's a "w" on the end, for Wisconsin)
• And English yeast from Canada (Windsor). Yeah, I know, but that's only 11 grams out of the whole thing not coming from WI!
• Apologies to Brewing Local author Stan Hieronymoys for not including unusual, seasonal locally grown oddities. I guess I could stir the mash with a birch stick collected from my back yard or throw a snowball in at the end of the boil..

I usually brew at least 1 mild per year, but haven't brewed one this year. Out of curiosity, when the authorities come knocking at my door to find out if I stayed under my 200 gallon annual limit, does this batch count towards 2016 or 2017? Does it depend on whether I pitch the yeast before midnight, tomorrow? Maybe this will be the first beer of 2017?

 

So I wasn't able to add the 3L starter yesterday to the beer. I currently have the batch split up into 2-5 gallon fermenters. Would you guys recommend to transfer over to only 1 fermenter and rack on top of the starter to minimize splashing? Or would I be ok to just adding the starter to the split wort?

 

Are you worried about splashing because O2 or the possibility of infection? Yeast shouldn't mine the additional O2 from any splashing, especially for such a high gravity beer, and transferring adds another step where infection could happen. I'd swirl the starter and pitch half in each fermenter.

 

O2 was my concern. Even though a 1.150 beer wouldn't mind it. I'm just inexperienced in this stage because the beer has been fermenting since Monday night and the additional dose of O2 was already added.

 

Beer is currently sitting at 1.07 and I just added the 3L starter of WLP090. Looks like I added at a *perfect* time. Wort sample is super toasty.

 

Recreational Lager is boiling...next up throw the wort chiller in and then add some late CTZ and Citra...this one will get dryhopped with 2 oz Citra in a fortnight

 

Sorry about the delay...holiday festivities.

Yep...that's the one. I just got my membership via Santa! Anyway, I found the same recipe elsewhere. Where? Couldn't tell you if you paid me.

There's a "however" for this batch. After the fact I discovered that my crusher loosened up, which accounted for the low OG. I'm still looking forward to tasting the sample I'll pull for FG measurement. Cheers!

 

I kegged for the first time yesterday, a batch of the AP NE IPA. It went mostly without a hitch, though the drop in tank pressure after putting it in the fridge had me concerned there might be a leak. I didn't find one. I was relieved when the pressure settled out and concluded it was just do to the temperature drop. (Does that sound right, anyone?)

I now have it burst carbonating, hoping it'll be drinkable tonight. I've already taken a couple small "test" pours. I love the blast of aroma each time I open the tap.

 

Why so long?

 

Brewed up a IIPA yesterday. Stuck the landing on my OG at 1.074. Mostly golden promise with some white wheat, flaked barley and oats and a touch of caravienne for color. Trying some new things on this batch. Using only Idaho 7 and Denali hops. First time using Denali and they smell amazing out of the bag.

Also co-pitching Omega's Conan strain and a vial of 644. I purposely under pitched and set the temp at 70. I will start ramping up after day 3 and hold at 72 until day 7. If not done then I will push it to the mid 70s to keep the 644 going. I want to stress the yeast a little and see what kind of fruity esters I get. Hoping to finish around 1.013.

Doing my usual 3 stage dry hopping schedule. Last batch done like this is still vibrant after 2 months in the keg. Never going back.

May your next year be better than your last year all!

 

That's right. The pressure is a function of the temperature. And given a constant temp, the pressure will stay the same until the cylinder is very nearly empty.

 

Hey, that's how air conditioning works. SCIENCE!