Craft Beers, Microbreweries and Homebrewing

  • Thread starter Astronuc
  • Start date
In summary, Bell's Brewery is a good brewery. Some American beers are brewed with top or bottom yeasts, but ultimately it depends on the style.
  • #316
The last time I went to http://freestatebrewing.com/beer" to fill my growlers, I bought one of their glasses. The Bartender recommended this one. I particularly like the saying.

http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/yhst-67605305109593_2158_819990

"...because without beer, things do not seem to go as well..."

Diary of Brother Epp, Capuchin monastery
Munjor, Kansas 1902
 
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  • #317
Nice quote...
 
  • #318
Bottled my pale ale this past weekend, and then brewed another batch of it with some smoked malt and paradise seeds added to knock it up a bit.
 
  • #319
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  • #320
I noticed as I was draining it from the boil kettle into the carboy, a small fly/gnat had somehow gotten inside the carboy. I was hoping it would managed to fly out, but it did not. Rather then waiting longer and allowing more in, I capped it. Just a minute amount of extra protein. Once the fermentation starts, the krausen will likely push it out.

It will be our secret.
 
  • #321
Insanity said:
It will be our secret.

I never even noticed it going down. :wink:
 
  • #322
Sorry its been a while guys. Just got a job at 3M... so I've got a good excuse. ;) Just started on my first double IPA. OG: 1.071.. FG: 1.015. IBU's calculated out to 121.5 (even though I don't think the scale actually goes that high).

I actually just found a gnat in my water-lock two days back now that you mention it. Checked the fermenter and none were found within. I figured any would die from the lack of O2. But who knows. Hopefully this batch stays healthy.

I also have some ingredients to make a Stone Pale Ale clone. Should be starting it this weekend sometime. Hope all is well with you guys.
 
  • #323
redpenguin said:
Sorry its been a while guys. Just got a job at 3M... so I've got a good excuse. ;) Just started on my first double IPA. OG: 1.071.. FG: 1.015. IBU's calculated out to 121.5 (even though I don't think the scale actually goes that high).

I actually just found a gnat in my water-lock two days back now that you mention it. Checked the fermenter and none were found within. I figured any would die from the lack of O2. But who knows. Hopefully this batch stays healthy.

I also have some ingredients to make a Stone Pale Ale clone. Should be starting it this weekend sometime. Hope all is well with you guys.

What yeast did you use? At first glance it looked like it did not finished completely, but then I figured the attentuation to be ~78% which is typical for most ale yeast.

Which hops and how much did you use? That looks to be a good BU:GU ratio for in IPA. I have yet to make one myself, perhaps I will shortly.

I am not too concern about the gnat, I figure the yeast will pickup quick enough and consume all the sugars rapidly. Potentially they may even consume what the gnat may have introduced. The krausen will likely flush out any near the surface.

The airlock did its job then if you found it there. Do you use just water? I have used vodka in the airlock as if anything does get in the airlock, the vodka should kill. Sometimes I'll use a bit of sanitizer solution, at least until after the big krausen is done.
 
  • #324
The yeast I used was Wyeast American Ale #1056. I'm sure it had a point or two left to go.. but I'd rather eliminate the number of times I open my fermenter personally (had to check for gnats.. had a bit of a panic attack there for a minute). From what I've read, if it isn't done fermenting, it will affect the amount of aroma obtained through dry-hopping. But I've also read that you can always add more if that is the case.. same goes for off-gassing. Expected finishing gravity was 1.016-1.018 so it is high of its target. Fermentation temps have been kept between 60-68F the entire time.

I had a total of 9.3lbs of Gold LME, but I opted to only use 6lbs during the initial boil (adding the remaining 3.3lbs post-boil). I think cool-down gravity would be around 1.042 judging from my last brews, if you are only accounting for 6lbs of LME for the boiling gravity. Total boil volume was 4 gallons.

Specialty Grains (all pre-boil): 4oz Aromatic, 12oz Caramel 60, 8oz Victory
Hop Schedule:
- 1oz Chinook Pellet (12.5AA) - 60min.
- 0.5oz Cascade Pellet (7.6AA) - 45min.
- 0.5oz Centennial Pellet (8.9AA) - 30min.
- 0.5oz Cascade Pellet (7.6AA) - 20min.
- 0.5oz Centennial Pellet (8.9AA) - 10min.
- 1oz. Crystal Pellet (4.3AA) - 5min.
- 2oz. Crystal Leaf (7.6AA) - Dry Hop

As for the water-lock.. I used water the first 2 days. But after seeing some flotation (which was probably an egg sack) I cleaned it and added a bit of well-diluted ISO. The gnat was dead the day it hatched and it was found on the outer portion of the air-lock. I also changed the dilute alcohol out to a diluted Star San solution since the bulk of fermentation was complete.

Ideally.. I would have gone 21 days without opening my fermenter. But I had to go with 12 days this time. Definitely earlier than what I hoped for, but most of the krausen had subsided by this time.
 
  • #325
As far as taste goes when I was checking my gravity... it definitely has a good amount of hop bite to it, but it isn't nearly as dark or malty as most of the American IPA's I have tried. I would describe the body as medium-light.. and color as golden. The hop aroma was almost non-existent prior to dry-hopping, but after smelling the hops I'm sure that will change.

From what I've read about Wyeast #1056.. if you keep it between 60-66F you can get some slight citrus flavors. Although I could not point it out myself through the hop bite, I was very pleased with the way this yeast has performed. No off-flavors what-so-ever. No alcohols.. esters.. or diacyl. I think I can attribute that to my more strict temperature control as well this time around.
101_0448.jpg
 
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  • #326
redpenguin said:
The yeast I used was Wyeast American Ale #1056. I'm sure it had a point or two left to go.. but I'd rather eliminate the number of times I open my fermenter personally (had to check for gnats.. had a bit of a panic attack there for a minute). From what I've read, if it isn't done fermenting, it will affect the amount of aroma obtained through dry-hopping. But I've also read that you can always add more if that is the case.. same goes for off-gassing. Expected finishing gravity was 1.016-1.018 so it is high of its target. Fermentation temps have been kept between 60-68F the entire time.

Wyeast has the attenuation for #1056 being 73-77%, I figured you were at ~78%. So you are on the spot. 71-15/71 = 78.8%, if you get in mid to high 70s%, you are typically fine.

White Labs Super High Gravity WLP099 is crazy, they have it >80% and can tolerate ABVs >25%. When I used it for my barleywine I figured it hit 95% attentuation. Kept in the basement for constant temp over 2mos before bottling. ABV 11.4% with the OG 1.091, got a high ABV with that yeast. A typical ale yeast may have reached 9.5%.

I had a total of 9.3lbs of Gold LME, but I opted to only use 6lbs during the initial boil (adding the remaining 3.3lbs post-boil). I think cool-down gravity would be around 1.042 judging from my last brews, if you are only accounting for 6lbs of LME for the boiling gravity. Total boil volume was 4 gallons.

I think your gravity is higher based on what you described here. 9.3lbs of LME, plus the grains, in 4 gallons should yield an OG of 1.090. Sounds like you said you measured the gravity after the boil with only 6lbs LME and the grains, correct?

Specialty Grains (all pre-boil): 4oz Aromatic, 12oz Caramel 60, 8oz Victory
Hop Schedule:
- 1oz Chinook Pellet (12.5AA) - 60min.
- 0.5oz Cascade Pellet (7.6AA) - 45min.
- 0.5oz Centennial Pellet (8.9AA) - 30min.
- 0.5oz Cascade Pellet (7.6AA) - 20min.
- 0.5oz Centennial Pellet (8.9AA) - 10min.
- 1oz. Crystal Pellet (4.3AA) - 5min.
- 2oz. Crystal Leaf (7.6AA) - Dry Hop

I figured 128 IBU, you got 121 IBU. IBU calculations are not really exact anyways. The tasting method is preferred anyways. I've thought about brewing a typical ale, but breaking it into smaller volumes for the boil, and hopping each one with different amounts, and train myself to taste/smell the variations. Train my senses to be the analytical lab for beers.
 
  • #327
redpenguin said:
As far as taste goes when I was checking my gravity... it definitely has a good amount of hop bite to it, but it isn't nearly as dark or malty as most of the American IPA's I have tried. I would describe the body as medium-light.. and color as golden. The hop aroma was almost non-existent prior to dry-hopping, but after smelling the hops I'm sure that will change.

From what I've read about Wyeast #1056.. if you keep it between 60-66F you can get some slight citrus flavors. Although I could not point it out myself through the hop bite, I was very pleased with the way this yeast has performed. No off-flavors what-so-ever. No alcohols.. esters.. or diacyl. I think I can attribute that to my more strict temperature control as well this time around.

Good temperature control keeps the yeast in check.
Esters and Diacetyls can be appropriate depending on the style, but neither are appropriate for an IBA by the BJCP guidelines.

Is the image of the final product prior to bottling? What temperature to do sparge at? It seems a bit cloudy to me, which if you use wheat will happen, but you didn't use wheat. Sometimes a high sparge temperature can lead to a permanent cloudiness.
 
  • #328
Everything together was 1.071 (adjusted to 60F). Yield for this LME is roughly 80%. I was just going off of what the 6lbs of LME produced for my last two brews (which was 1.042-1.044). Forgot to add that the total batch size was 5 gallons.. off of the 4 gallon boil size. Might be where the discrepancy is coming from. Sorry for the confusion.

Edit: The image itself is from 2 days ago when I tested the gravity... definitely a very cloudy brew at this point. I have at least 2 weeks before I am even planning on bottling. 10 days of dry-hopping along with a 3-4 day cold crash to follow. Sparge temp I assume are what the grains were steeped at... which was 155F (+/- 2F)
 
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  • #329
redpenguin said:
Everything together was 1.071 (adjusted to 60F). Yield for this LME is roughly 80%. I was just going off of what the 6lbs of LME produced for my last two brews (which was 1.042-1.044). Forgot to add that the total batch size was 5 gallons.. off of the 4 gallon boil size. Might be where the discrepancy is coming from. Sorry for the confusion.

Yep, that all makes sense then. Seems like you are getting a good efficiency too.

Edit: The image itself is from 2 days ago when I tested the gravity... definitely a very cloudy brew at this point. I have at least 2 weeks before I am even planning on bottling. 10 days of dry-hopping along with a 3-4 day cold crash to follow.

I always measure the gravity just before pitching yeast, or even immediately after the boil is done and I am chilling it. Then measure it after about 2-3 weeks, and then once more just before bottling. Cold-crashing will help clear any cloudiness.
 
  • #330
Not quite 10 hours when this morning the brew already had high krausen and I needed to add a blowoff tube.
 
  • #331
This Saturday, August 6th, is American Homebrewers Association Mead Day
So get with people, and either brew a mead or drink a mead.
 
  • #332
Happy international IPA Day. Think I might go grab a couple Stone Ruinations here in a bit.

I am also heading to my local homebrew store for Mead Day. They are holding a few events.
 
  • #333
Unfortunately I don't think there is any local events, but I plan on making mead myself. Planning on adding some fruit later in the fermentation, maybe raspberry or blueberry.
 
  • #334
Mead has been brewed.

~11 lbs of honey, 5 gallons of water, ~5 tsp yeast nutrients.
OG: 1.075, using Lalvin 71B-1122 wine yeast. Bubbling away.

Lalvin says the 1122 has a alc% tolerance of 14%, but I don't think there is enough sugar to hit that. Have not info on the attenuation though, but wine yeast tends to be a bit higher then ale yeast.

Planned on it being a semi-sweet mead, I'd expect it to get into the 8-10% ABV range. May add some fruit later too.
 
  • #335
Just picked up a new fermenter and pitched a new batch. This time Rocky (I) Pale Ale. I added in an extra 1/2oz of Magnum hops at 13.1%AA for 30min. I also picked up an extra 1oz. of Cascade leaf hops to throw in the fermenter later. Looking back on it, I probably should have picked a different yeast since I bumped up the hop addition. Guess we'll have to see how this turns out.
OG: 1.061
IBU: 60
Yeast: Wyeast London ESB #1968 Activator
 
  • #336
the hops shouldn't effect the yeast. really high gravity may make the yeast sluggish, but I'd bet you'll be fine. If the fermentation stops, either rack it or agitate the fermenter a bit with a swirling motion.
Back in the days, breweries would take the full barrel out for a walk to stir the yeast back up.
 
  • #337
Okay. I just returned home with a couple of gallons of my favorite Wheat State Golden. I realize that it must be hard to make consistent batches as I taste slight differences every time I get a refill. But today has the best hops flavor yet. So my question is, "What is the secret of consistency?"; from your experiences.
 
  • #338
dlgoff said:
Okay. I just returned home with a couple of gallons of my favorite Wheat State Golden. I realize that it must be hard to make consistent batches as I taste slight differences every time I get a refill. But today has the best hops flavor yet. So my question is, "What is the secret of consistency?"; from your experiences.

Things that affect the hop profile is the amount of hops used, the alpha acid content, hop boil time, the gravity of the wort during the boil.

If it is the same brew being made, more then likely the wort gravity will be the same, or close enough, from batch to batch. Also the hop boil time would likely remain the same.

That really leaves the amount of hops and the alpha acid content as variables.

The alpha acid content is usually shown as a percentage, i.e. 5.75% AA. The value varies from type of hops and from season to season even within a single type of hops. Each type does have a "known" range of the %AA, i.e. cascade hops may be 4-7%, but I've gotten some at 7.5%.

For homebrewers, there is a simple formula; weight of hops in ounces x %AA = Homebrewers Bittering Units. W x %AA = HBU

so if one batch you used 2 oz of cascade that had 6.5% AA, you had 13 HBU. If you are then later wanting to make the same, but this time your cascade has 7.5%, algebra shows you only needs about 1.75 oz. The exact amount is 1.7333, but I would weigh out 1.75oz.

For professional brewers, the math gets a bit more complicated, especially as the amount of hops needed to achieve the same perceived bitterness increases as the gravity during the boil increases.

If the perceived bitterness varies from batch to batch, its probably due to a bit more hops being used or the hops had a bit more %AA. Even how fresh the hops were at the time of brewing will affect it as well. Picking them straight from the vine into the pot is about as fresh as you can get. The longer they are stored, the lower the %AA will drop over time.

If buying hops for homebrewing, if the place does not have the %AA and does not store them in at least a refrigerator, or a freezer, do not buy them there.
 
  • #339
Thanks Insanity for the education. I actually have a much better understanding of the complexity that the hops plays. [URL]http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd218/alvinbambino/Emotion%20Icons/Bowdown.gif[/URL]
 
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  • #340
Can also dry hop your ales and beers. This is simply adding dry hops directing to the ale or beer after fermentation is done. It does not add much in the way of bitterness, but does add more aroma. The British brewers usually added a lot, a handful of fresh hops per week to the full cask for a month.

Just for you, I looked this up in Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels.

The basic equation for estimating the IBUs or bitterness looks like this;

IBU = (Woz x U% x A% x 7,489) / (Vgal x Cgravity)

Where:

Woz = Weight of hops in ounces

A% = Alpha acid level in hops as a decimal

U% = Percent of hop utilization, as a decimal (see table 9.3)

Vgal = Volume of final wort in gallons

Cgravity = Correction for the wort that have gravities over 1.050, which is equal to Cgravity = 1 +((Gboil-1.050)/0.2)

Did not include table 9.3, but hop utilization is higher with hop pellets vs. whole leaf hops. Many brewers use pellets as its easy to weigh accurate amounts.
 
  • #341
Just racked my mead, and measured the SG at 0.996, giving ~9.9% ABV. I also racked it onto some blueberries, which will add more sugar and increase the ABV too. Going to see if I can guesstimate how much sugar the blueberries added.

EDIT:

Seems blueberries have 9.96g sugar per 100g weight, so 9.96%. I used ~21oz blueberries, so that gives 9.96oz sugar added.

C6H12O6 → 2 C2H5OH + 2 CO2

considering molar weight, the weight of the ethanol is 51% of the glucose, so ~10.7oz of ethanol will be added, assuming the yeast ferment it 100%. The total weight of the mead if there was 5 gallons at racking is;

9.9% ABV gives 0.485 gallons alcohol, the ABW is 7.85%, so doing some conversion and math, rough guestimate 11.1% ABV.
 
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  • #342
Insanity said:
Just racked my mead, and measured the SG at 0.996, giving ~9.9% ABV. I also racked it onto some blueberries, which will add more sugar and increase the ABV too. Going to see if I can guesstimate how much sugar the blueberries added.

EDIT:

Seems blueberries have 9.96g sugar per 100g weight, so 9.96%. I used ~21oz blueberries, so that gives 9.96oz sugar added.

C6H12O6 → 2 C2H5OH + 2 CO2

considering molar weight, the weight of the ethanol is 51% of the glucose, so ~10.7oz of ethanol will be added, assuming the yeast ferment it 100%. The total weight of the mead if there was 5 gallons at racking is;

9.9% ABV gives 0.485 gallons alcohol, the ABW is 7.85%, so doing some conversion and math, rough guestimate 11.1% ABV.
I'm getting a buzz just looking at your numbers. :approve:
 
  • #343
dlgoff said:
I'm getting a buzz just looking at your numbers. :approve:

Try doing it while buzzed...
 
  • #344
I'm drinking a Miller Light
 
  • #345
FlexGunship said:
I'm drinking a Miller Light

Not going to say anything about that.
 
  • #346
Insanity said:
Not going to say anything about that.

For someone who's not going to say anything about it, you sure are talkin' a lot about it... you pickin' a fight, boy?

(I said I was drinking a Miller Light... not that I was drinking my FIRST Miller Light.)
 
  • #347
FlexGunship said:
For someone who's not going to say anything about it, you sure are talkin' a lot about it... you pickin' a fight, boy?

(I said I was drinking a Miller Light... not that I was drinking my FIRST Miller Light.)
And your panties are what color? Just askin' :devil:
 
  • #348
FlexGunship said:
For someone who's not going to say anything about it, you sure are talkin' a lot about it... you pickin' a fight, boy?

(I said I was drinking a Miller Light... not that I was drinking my FIRST Miller Light.)

Them fightin' words!

Drinking your first would be excusable, continuing to drink more isn't. :-p
 
  • #349
Insanity said:
Them fightin' words!

Drinking your first would be excusable, continuing to drink more isn't. :-p
I got your back buddy. :wink:
 
  • #350
FlexGunship said:
I'm drinking a Miller Light
Pity.


In contrast, I enjoyed a bottle of Scottish Midnight Sun Dark Porter Ale from Williams Bros Brewing Co., Scotland, and a bottle of Pugsley's Shipyard Imperial Porter.

http://www.williamsbrosbrew.com/
http://www.williamsbrosbrew.com/contemporaryales.php

http://www.shipyard.com/taste/
Oddly - they don't list the Imperial Porter
 
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