re: Homebrewing Thread: Volume II

Jeez. I was thinking about grabbing a couple 6 gal buckets with omega lids and a cereal killer.

My MM2 mill is from when they first came out. At that time there weren't as many mill options on the market. It was either a Monster Mill, old-school corona mill, or DIY.

My containers were a budget buy at Big Lots. They're probably not the best, but they work. Plus they fit on my garage selves nicely.

quote:

---

I found a vac sealed 1 lb back of el dorado hops from 2017. Do you think these would still work as a dry hop? What would you do with them?

---

Have they been in the freezer? I'd probably go with it if they've been frozen. They won't be the best, but they won't be the worst. I'd toss them if they weren't frozen.

Ok, i've found a home for all of the funk in the fridge. Designing 3 beers right now, 2 will be brewed this weekend, and i'm trying to use up all the brett I've bought over the past year.

Beer #1 - Saison (L'internationale base recipe) - Saison profile. Staggered pitch (sach first, then brett).
Sach strain - Bootleg Biology Saison parfait
Brett Strain - Bootleg Biology Funk Weapon #2
Bottling Strain - TBD Brett strain
BLEND - Blend with 1 - 2 gallons of mature mixed ferm beer

Beer #2 - Biere de Garde (L'internationale de garde base recipe) - Staggered pitch
Sach Strain - Wyeast 3522 Ardennes
Brett Strain - Bootleg Biology Funk Weapon #3
- Ardennes produces some phenols and esters that FW#3 should feed on nicely.
Bottling Strain - TBD
Blend - Blend with 1 year old BDG mixed ferm (same base malt recipe). Will need to taste to decide my ratio. Tasting may conclude that blending is not necessary. If that's the case, then this beer will be racked onto the trub of the 1 year old BDG for acidity.

Beer #3 - All the Bretts Saison - Base saison or pale ale malt bill (copper not golden. Think NOLA Sauvage).
Sach - Wyeast 3724 Belgian Saison - Ferment in 80's to produce some nice phenols OR no sach yeast at all, and strictly brett.
Brett - Bootleg Biology Funk Weapon #2, The Yeast Bay TYB184, TYB207, TYB Lochristi Brett blend
Blend - Have no idea how this will taste in 6 months. If i'm happy with the taste, no blending. If it needs a touch of tartness, then i'll pull 1-2 gallons from a long aged mixed ferm and let rest for another 3 months.

quote:

---

Have you ever used champagne or wine yeast? I’m curious how that would work.

---

I've used it for bottling many times. Personally, i prefer bottling with brett. When you bottle with wine/champ yeast, the flavor at bottling, will be the flavor you get, for the most part, with each pour. The flavors may evolve slightly, but nowhere near than when you bottle with Brett. Bottling brett, your beer may taste different every 2-3 months. It's pretty fun not knowing how the beer will evolve.

I had a super funky mixed ferm sour i made. It was so funky, that i thought i ruined the batch. Had strong notes of burnt plastic, leather. After about 5 months in the bottle, it started to smooth out a little. 6+ months, and the plastic was gone, and had some great cherry funk flavors.

quote:

---

I was wondering as a primary yeast and not bottled conditioned. Would it just be a very dry beer?

---

Never used it for primary. I assume very dry and neutral. Wine likes to let the grapes and terroir shine, and not the yeast.

The evolving i was speaking about when bottling with wine yeast, is the brett from the fermentation evolving. It compounds when you also have brett at bottling.

You need to be aware with champagne/wine yeast that a lot of strains are incapable of breaking down maltotriose and maltose, so you'll have some attenuation issues. You can add amylase to help it, or if you have a non-killer wine strain you can add a beer yeast to finish.

Listen to this episode of The Session. It's probably the most informational episode they've ever produced. Bonus info on oak.

Does anybody know of a reliable dilution calculator? How much vodka to add to how much water to end up with 5 gallons @ 5% ABV? I came up with just over 2 liters of vodka.

For my fourth beer, a friend suggested a DIPA, but I wound up with an IPA. Mash tun capacity being a limiting factor. Recipe was still rather large. The #36 grain bill was comprised of 50% german pilsner, 36% golden promise, 5.6% golden naked oats, 5.6% white wheat malt, & 2.8% rice hulls.

Mashed @156°F for 45 minutes then moved on to the boil. I decided to boil 90 minutes to get my preboil gravity of 1.066 closer to the 1.075 target. I added Irish moss & yeast nutrient with 15 minutes left & a half ounce each of centennial & mosaic went in for the last 10 minutes of the boil. Then six ounces of citra, .75oz of centennial & mosaic whirlpooled  @180°F for 30 minutes. OG measured 1.072, .003 points low.

I split the batch between two carboys & pitched half of a large starter of London ale III (wyeast 1318) on each. Signs of fermentation were present within the first 6 hours.

I fermented @ 64°F for two days, 67°F for two days & then took a gravity reading. I hit 1.031 which  was .008 points away from my target of 1.023. I allowed the temp to free rise to 70°F & let it sit between 70-72°F for a two day diacetyl rest. By this time I was still .001 point away from target but I still  decided to go ahead & soft crash to 45°F & hold for 2 days. I let the temp free rise to 58°F before adding my dry hop addition.

One carboy received the 4oz citra & 1oz mosaic (DH) as prescribed by the recipe & the other received 8oz citra & 2oz mosaic (DDH). After 2 days I started to step down the temperature by 10°F each 24 hour period, adding 8 grams of agar-agar dissolved in a half cup of water to each carboy around the 40°F mark. FG was 1.020, .003 points under target. Estimated ABV 6.9%.

After two more days at 34°F, I racked, primed, & bottled each up. That was Sunday June 7th.

Initial analysis, the DH version dropped bright & has a nice hop aroma. The flavor of the uncarbonated beer was good with a nice balance of hop & malt but slightly on the sweet side. The DDH version is not as clear but should brighten up as it bottle conditions. The hop flavor dominates & gives the beer slightly more perceived bitterness.

Only thing I would change is to split the dry hops for the DDH variant into two separate additions to see if this would give more hop aroma & complexity.

Overall I'm happy with the way this beer turned out.

Now I need another beer to brew.

What set up do you have? I have an electric set up. I brewed kettle sours twice and they were fun.

I want to try a light color coffee stout. I saw a recipe on brulosophy that seemed interesting.

I did a NEIPA last and I am really enjoying it. I think I’m going to do a hoppy Pilsner with some centennial and Ella next. Something easy drinking for the summer.

quote:

---

What set up do you have?

---

A 50 Amp Brew Buddy II powering a HERMS with a 20 gallon boil kettle rocking a 5500W 240V element, a 10 gallon HLT with a 50' coil & 2200W 220V heater, and a 15 gallon mash tun. I've got two Blichmann RipTides to move liquid around & a stainless steel counter flow wort chiller to cool it down. My water source runs through a three stage RO filtration system.

Still trying to figure the whole science of brewing out. It's definitely been a fun journey so far.