re: Homebrewing Thread: Volume II

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BugAC

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Appreciate the feedback brother!

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puffulufogous

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Thanks, I'm really trying to dial in my process for fruiting beer & this helped!

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My gravity after primary was 1.012. After two weeks of fermenting on flesh the Final gravity was 1.015, so the fruit did contribute a few points.

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Just a note on this. You can’t accurately predict your FG this way if you are looking for true alcohol content. Fruit is comprised of mostly water and sugar, so you are essentially adding small unfermented wort receptacles into an already fermented out beer. So as you add fruit, theoretically, both your OG will rise, and then you have to recalculate for the % of fermentation of the fruit And that not 100% of the sugars in the fruit will ferment out (depending on yeast strain)

. There is an online calculator for fruiting sours that can do this, but it’s confusing. Depending on the amount of fruit, I usually take my FG pre-fruited and add maybe 1/2 of a percent if you want to know your numbers. I stopped taking gravity readings completely once I fruit my beer, and just realize that my abv will be slightly lower than measured.

My second brew consisted of a milk porter that was inspired by my flavor memory of Creature Comforts Koko Buni which is a coconut, coffee, & chocolate milk porter. I chose to omit the coconut to focus on the coffee & chocolate. I think I really overcomplicated the recipe. I need to brew it & taste it without adjuncts to see where my base flavor is.

The recipe is 63% Marris Otter, 2% chocolate malt, 2% chocolate rye malt, 4% biscuit malt, 3% black patent malt, 6% flaked oats, 6% lactose & #1 rice hulls. Oats were toasted, single layer in a 200°F oven, until fragrant (8-12 minutes). I used boiled tap water to remove chloramine & because my tap water profile works well with darker beers.

Mashed in @ 160 for 1:20 then transferred & brought to a boil. Hopped with 6oz Willamette @ 60 minutes & 1.25 oz EKG hops @ 15 minutes respectively. Irish moss went in with the EKG too. I cooled to 170 & whirlpooled #2 of dark cocoa powder mixed into the the #1 lactose for 30 minutes. Both carboys received 1pk of WLP002. After terminal gravity was reached, I then added 2oz of fresh ground coffee beans to one carboy & 4oz toasted cacao nibs steeped for 24 hours in vodka to the other. Each sat on their respective flavorings for 5 days & received #1 lactose @ bottling.

This is possibly one of the better beers (as far a taster response and personal opinion) that I've brewed. Of course I'm more critical and scrutinize on a much stricter criteria than 1) does it taste like beer & 2) does it feel like beer.

The coffee beer had good coffee flavor but may have stayed too long on the coffee beans which left a very faint, yet detectable bitter finish. The chocolate could have used more cacao nibs & some additional chocolate flavor. The beers worked well together when mixed in 50/50 in a glass.

I have 2 1L barrels that I age & blend in. One strictly holds bourbon & the other tequila. 60% coffee beer & 40% chocolate beer along with 1 vanilla bean steeped in vanilla vodka went into the bourbon barrel & 60% chocolate & 40% coffee along with 1 vanilla bean steeped in vanilla vodka went into the tequila.

Looking forward to the right time to open them!

How long does it take y’all to go from kettle to glass? Maybe I’m too inpatient but it usually takes me 7-10 days. I brewed a NEIPA last Saturday dry hopping went in Monday, it was done fermenting on Wednesday, Cold crashed it on Friday and I kegged it today.

Am I rushing it? I use liquid yeast with fairly big starters and they run through my wort in two to three days. Most of my beers are around 6 to 7%.

To me, a young IPA is harsh. I'm not saying age it, but give it some time. I think even my two weeks is sometimes too short to be drinking. There is such a huge difference between a freshly kegged beer and a keg that's had a week or two more to mellow.

Smithsonian magazine article on Charlie Papazian

Was an interesting read. Crazy to hear about how far the brewing industry has come in the last 50 years.

Damn dude that's commitment. I couldn't wait 2 years for a case and a half of wine. Hope it's awesome

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Damn dude that's commitment. I couldn't wait 2 years for a case and a half of wine

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It's a game of patience for sure, and I'll admit, sometimes I forgot about it. But it is well worth the wait.

I haven't tried it yet, but that sounds like the ideal way to me. It's concentrated so it doesn't add a ton of volume. The cold brew method is less bitter and acidic. Cold brew also has the benefit of making mediocre coffee taste like good coffee. That might save you a few dollars on your brewing costs as well.

Speaking of dark beers I would love to make an oatmeal cream pie Porter or stout. Was thinking oatmeal in the grain bill and fermenting on mashed up OCPs. I've seen people add lactose before bottling and before fermenting. What's the difference?