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adding yeast to bottling stage for lager?

aelliott — Sat, 04 May 2013 16:13:47 GMT

In that case are you sure it was a vinegar flavor? Perhaps more like green apple or cidery? A lot of the yeast byproducts that you may taste early on will be further metabolized by the yeast and removed by them as part of the lagering process. Green apple flavor and aroma is acetaldehyde which is an intermediary step for alcohol production. Cidery off flavors are generally caused by too-warm fermentation temperature or too much sugar but will lager out, as you are describing.

Accurate descriptions are difficult, but come with experience (and screw-ups). Helping with judging at beer contests can help with your palate and vocabulary development at the expense of only having to have one sip of a bad beer and ask someone more experienced "what made it taste like that". Sounds like yours turned out fine!

DR Swap

aelliott — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 16:40:44 GMT

I didn't get any either. I'm sure I'll taste some at some point, but lost interest in the exotic beer hunt. Sticking to homebrew as primary beer source with an occasional sixer off of the shelf!

BeerSmith software

jwatson — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 21:25:52 GMT

I use www.brewersfriend.com and use pro mash to design my decoction mashes.

It is cloud based and is a subscripton service. I have been extremely pleased with it. They are very responsive to feedback, and are constantly making improvments.

The site is mobile friendly and there is an app as well.

I highly recommend it. I believe they have some sort trial account that you can use to try it out.

Jeff Watson

Brewing and Baking

aelliott — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 20:30:59 GMT

So this past weekend I took the opportunity to combine two hobbies. I've done plenty of bread baking before, but this time timed it with a brew session. I used 1c of spent grain from my Dunkel, added 300mL of the final runnings, some salt, sugar, 1/2c yeast slurry from a batch of Helles (WYeast 2308) and I'd guess around 700g of flour. I'm guessing on the flour, as I usually start with ~2c (500g) and work my way up from there to get the consistency just right. Kneaded and allowed to rise as usual. Baked in a 450F dutch oven (lid on for 30min then removed for 10-15 more min).

Anyone else given this a shot?

sparging

aelliott — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 15:47:08 GMT

You probably are fly sparging and just don't realize it, or perhaps you aren't but don't realize you could be! For a batch sparge, you completely drain your mash, then fill with sparge water, vorlauf again to clarify, then drain off a second time. The second drain most people do quickly. The way I fly sparge, I simply keep the hot water at a more-or-less even level above the grain bed. I put the hot water into an igloo on the ground, and when the level in the lauter tun drops below whatever pre-determined level, I scoop some out and pour it gently over the top of the mash, keeping the runoff constant. It should take around 45min to complete the sparge. If you sparge too fast, you risk losing efficiency. For opening all the way on a batch sparge, you will reduce extract, but you will also reduce tannin extraction as well. For all brewers, adding 1tsp of 88% phosphoric acid to 5gal of sparge water will help minimize tannin extraction.

Over-fermented Porter ... any fixes out there?

aelliott — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 14:22:39 GMT

That comes out to around 86% apparent attenuation, but 70% real attenuation -- ballpark for that yeast. What was your grist like? For 5gal, around 1/2 # of crystal malts would help keep the mouthfeel up there. If you're to try again, next time with a British Ale strain (less attenuative), more crystal malt in the grist (around 5%), and/or mash a bit warmer -- in the 154-156F range. If you prefer to adjust what you currently have, grab some Malto-Dextrin powder. One pound will boost the gravity of 5gal by 8 points. Maybe go for 1/2lb in a pint of water, then boil before adding to your beer.

Saint Arnold clone recipes

Comrade Mark — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 11:09:34 GMT

Munich Dunkel / UB Dunkel 2007 DC BOS

aelliott — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 20:53:53 GMT

For anyone interested, below is the recipe I came up with that Jeff Hilland and I brewed. This beer was entered for feedback purposes only, but went on to take first place and best of show at the 2007 Dixie Cup as well as 3rd place at MCAB (Master Championships of Amateur Brewing). Happy brewing!

Volume: 11Gal

OG: 1.055

FG: 1.016

IBU: 22

Grist:

18# Munich Malt

4# Dark Munich

1# Cara Munich

Hops:

First Wort, 3oz Spalter Spalt Pellets, 4%

Yeast: 2L starter

WYeast 2308 or White Labs WLP838

Ozarka Spring Water

Mash:

Infuse for Mash in at 125F, rest 20 min

Infuse next step to 145F, rest 20 min

Infuse next step to 157F, rest 20 min

Decoction for final step up to 167F: Pull 1/3 of mash, boil for 30 minutes, then return to the mash and rest 20 min.

Sparge 168F water to collect 13gal and boil for 90 minutes.

Crash cool and ferment in primary at 44F for 2 weeks. When Krausen subsides, allow to warm up to 68f for 2 days, then cool again. Rack to secondary (or keg) and lager 8 weeks.

When young, it will taste quite toasty. As it ages, the complexity will increase -- peak was at 9 months.

Anyone brew on weekdays?

Rhino — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 19:34:26 GMT

I'm most likely going to do weekdays as well. I'm not up on all-grain yet so I'm not sure how instructive I'll be but I'm all for having a brew buddy.

KGB Love from the Chronicle

Rhino — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 19:32:19 GMT

FWIW, that article is how I found out about the KGB. It's good to advertise.

The ghost town has visitors...

Comrade Mark — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 21:27:28 GMT

Just when I thought it was truly time to get rid of the forum from the KGB web site, we get two new threads started in as many days.

Spread the word, comrades. The KGB forum is back!

Another New Guy

Comrade Mark — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 20:49:58 GMT

Welcome aboard, Allen! Our next meeting isn't until November, but the Dixie Cup is Houston's city-wide beer-a-palooza for October. Don't miss the November meeting. It is always a doozy.

By the way, this forum has become pretty much a ghost town. See if you can revive it!

Equipment for sale-cheap

AColdStArnolds79 — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 23:15:38 GMT

The keg has no handles. In fact it's never been cooked in. The corny keys are the ball type lock I think. The hose attaches by pulling up the sleeve on the connection, pressing it onto the keg post and then the sleeve goes down the secure it. Hope that make sense. I have three corny kegs. The bottle capper for anyone interested is a Super Colona.

Flying visit to Houston

IrishPartyAle — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 08:24:35 GMT

Thanks Mark! Id say the Flying Saucer would be my best bet! Thanks for the tip!

Too much yeast?

Comrade Mark — Thu, 31 May 2012 18:29:59 GMT

That's definitely not too much yeast; there just isn't enough head space for the fermentation. It will slow down very soon (if it hasn't, already).

Just keep everything clean so you don't get any nasties coming in through the mess.