re: Homebrewing Thread: Volume II

Originally I did Wyeast 1968, then M15 dry yeast, then another liquid yeast but idk what the final one was.... Beer turned out good too.

I did my first keg to keg transfer last night, and I can confirm now that fermenting in kegs is awesome... Just hooked up a line from one liquid port to another, add CO2 to my fermenting keg, and pull the pressure release valve on my serving keg every now and then. Took 10 min, but could have easily been less if I had higher pressure on. The clear beer draught system worked awesome too, almost none of the yeast cake was transferred to my serving keg. Only 4-4.25 gallons, but a simple and completely closed transfer.

I also under pitched by using one back of liquid with no starter. Going to pitch one more but in the future with make sure to either use a starter or pitch more than enough yeast.

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Does this usually happen due to under pitching or was there a temperature issue?

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It's not so much underpitching, which that is an issue if you are just pitching one pack of yeast. But the problem is having healthy viable yeast. That's why i emphasize yeast starters so much. Not only does your cell count get a hefty boost, but you are ensuring that your yeast is healthy and active.

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How do you make your starter?

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Beersmith (if you use it) can give you your quantities of what you need, but you mix DME (dried malt extract) with water and you are essentially making a "mini beer". So as I said, the starter tab on beersmith can guide you, or if you don't have that, there is a yeast pitch app you can get on your phone that is made by brewersfriend.

IF you are using the app (i have it pulled up right now),
1) touch the starter tab on the bottom.
2) Input your yeast cell count. Fresh yeast by the big lab companies such as white labs/wyeast is typically 100 million cells. I believe dry yeast is the same. It usually states it on the package.
3) Starter size - typical starter size is anywhere from 1.5 to 2 liters. I use this as my water volume. I typically go 1.5 liters, just because my simmer pot is near overflow with 2 liters. So take 1.5 liters of water and warm it up to a boil.
4) Gravity - your target OG for a starter should be 1.036 - 1.04. Don't worry, you don't have to measure it. This field is just helping to tell you how much DME you'll be using.
4) Growth Model and Aeration - This field in the app is asking how you will agitate your starter. I use a stir plate, but it's not necessary. Just helps your yeast become even healthier and speeds up your cell growth rate. I'm assuming you don't have one, so you'd select the shaking/stirring/agitate method. For some reason the drop down is not working on my app so i'm stuck with braukaiser - stirplate, as my only option.

So anyway, simply put, you add your 1.5-2 liters of water to a pot and bring it up to a boil. You then add your DME. Be careful, because as with a typical brew day, the pot will start to foam up until teh protein has coagulated and fallen to the bottom. Fermcap S helps with this, or you can just keep it to a gentle boil. I then boil for about 10 minutes just to sterilize, and then i cool to around 70-80 degrees (yeast pitching temp). Transfer your wort to an erlinmeyer flask of a large mason jar that can hold 2 liters of wort. Pitch the wort and then yeast in the jar, give it a little swirl, take some tin foil sprayed with starsan and place it firmly over the lid. And that's it. If you have a stirplate, then you'd but the flask/jar on the stir plate and throw in a stir bar, and the plate will aerate the jar for you. Yeast need Oxygen to get going. If no stir plate, then simply swirl the flask/jar every few hours or as often as you'd like.

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Don't they take a couple days to get going?

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Not necesarily. I typically do a starter the day before brew day. But i also have a stir plate, so yeast multiplication is much quicker. However, i did a double brew day a couple weeks ago and had only 1 stir plate, so one starter was on the stir plate, the other i just swirled every now and then. Both fermentations in the fermenter took off rapidly. I had a mess to clean up in my fermentation fridge.

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I've got half fermented wort sitting there so a starter is not advisable for this case correct?

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I don't see why you wouldn't add it. Just keep your fermenter sealed. If the yeast are dead or just slowly working, it won't matter. You will need to make sure you have headspace to add your starter volume to the fermenter. Some people cold crash their starters, but i don't bother. I just account for the headspace. I figure 1.5 liters in 5-6 gallons of beer doesn't impact my beer enough for me to worry about it.

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I've read that palmer chapter a few times and will make a starter from here on out.

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It will save you some anxiety for sure. There are also plenty of good youtube videos on how to make a yeast starter.

For this batch I used dry yeast, so I didn't have to account for the volume of a starter. I also dropped some fermcap in there so it wouldn't clog anything. As far as I know it worked but I really have no way of telling...

I might try and weigh the kegs next time because right now I have no way of knowing how much beer is in my serving keg. It feels pretty full though, I'd imagine at least 4 or 4.25 gals... I just am not drinking them fast enough to care about the extra gallon. If anything, I will like this better so I can brew and change up the taps more frequently.

Almost 48 hours later after re pitch and almost no activity in the airlock. 1.031. thinking about leaving it one more day before pulling the plug. Ideas?

Got an assortment of funky yeast coming in this week. In addition to my order from Bootleg biology, i needed some more brett cultures to reinvigorate some of my sours. Bootleg had a small supply this release, so i decided to shop on the yeast bay. Got the following brettanomyces yeast coming in.

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AMALGAMATION - BRETT SUPER BLEND

Amalgamation is the union of our six favorite Brettanomyces isolates from our microbe library. Each isolate produces a unique bouquet of bright and fruity flavors and aromas, and the combination of all of them into one blend results in the coalescence of these unique flavors and aromas into something truly special.
Expect this blend to create a dry beer with a bright and complex fruit-forward flavor and aroma of berries and citrus, accompanied by some funk on the palate.

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AMALGAMATION II - BRETT SUPER BLEND

The next installment of our "Brett Super Blend", Amalgamation II is a blend of 5 Brettanomyces isolates: Brettanomyces bruxellensis - Strain TYB184, Brettanomyces bruxellensis - Strain TYB207, Brettanomyces bruxellensis - Strain TYB261, and both Beersel Brettanomyces Blend isolates.
This culture is the coalescence of all of the great qualities of each isolate: The balanced funk of the Beersel isolates and TYB184, the sweet tart character of TYB207, and the tropical bouquet of the combined ester profile of lemon/pineapple/guava/mango/papaya contributed by all the isolates.
Expect beers fermented with this blend to finish crisp, dry, tart and unbelievably fruity with just a touch of funk on the finish. This blend produces noticeable character only 3-4 weeks into fermentation and is well suited for faster turnaround beers. Amalgamation II shines as a primary or secondary fermenter, and is sure to please any brewer of Brettanomyces-driven beers

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LOCHRISTI BRETTANOMYCES BLEND

This blend combines Brettanomyces strains isolated from a unique beer produced in the Lochristi area in East Flanders. One strain provides a moderate funk and light fruitiness, while the other strain adds a more assertive fruitiness dominated by hints of strawberry. This blend also imparts a pleasant acidity over time that helps to balance out the profile of the finished beer. It can be slow to start up.

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BRETTANOMYCES BRUXELLENSIS - STRAIN TYB184

Isolated from a rustic farmhouse style beer produced in the Northeastern United States, this isolate is attenuative, produces a moderate acidic-like character and an ester profile of lemon/pineapple. Another notable characteristic of this isolate is the mild barnyard character it produces that doesn't take over the profile; rather, it balances the ester profile. The unique character balance in this strain is what makes it well suited for use on its own, in both primary and secondary fermentation.

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BRETTANOMYCES BRUXELLENSIS - STRAIN TYB207

Isolated from a Belgian-inspired brewery in the Northeastern United States, this isolate exhibits good attenuation, and produces a moderate acidic-like character and an ester profile the combination of which produces a character reminiscent of sweet tarts. It's a fruity, funky tartness that's refreshing and crisp.

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Amalgamation 1 or 2 will be used when i make my solera pull. Plan to pull about 3-4 gallons of my solera which was originally pitched with Bootlegs Funklandia which was a mega blend of various brett/sach/ and LABs. Well i'm going to pull 3-4 gallons of the 6-7 gallons in teh fermenter and bottle with bootleg biology funk weapon #2. I'll probably primary the top-off batch of the solera separately for a few weeks and pitch one of the amalgamations + a sach strain so i don't have to worry about the solera sitting on the dregs from the new beer. The remainder of that beer, i'll either let it ride for a month and add some oak, before bottling, or i'll top off with more new beer in a later batch and add add some lacto or pedio to get some acidity, if it isn't already developing.

Lochristi will be used for a new sour batch. Not sure of the base profile.

The other 2 brett strains, TYB184 and TYB207, will be saved for either bottling or reinvigorating other existing sours.

My lord. Are you in the NOLA area? I’d love to try some of those.