Bottled my american wheat yesterday. This was earlier than I normally bottle as I generally like to give the beer a full 2 weeks in the primary to condition. However, I've got a really busy week and will be out of town for 10 days at the end of the week so I didn't really have another good time to do it.
I checked the gravity and it was 1.013 two days in a row, so hopefully it has reached the approximate terminal gravity. If i come back from vacation to exploded bottles, I'll know otherwise (condition in covered plastic tub just in case :) ).
Anyhow:
I got almost exactly 5 gallons of bottled beer (54 x 12 oz. equivalent). I bottled with 5/8 cup corn sugar for an estimated 2.2-2.3 vol CO2. This was on the low end of the range for this style, but my original gravity was also on the low end so I don't want to thin it out the malt flavor too much by overcarbonating. Also, since I did bottle earlier than usually, I didn't rule out that it may have another point of so to go down which would further carbonate the beer.
Final Gravity ~ 1.013
OG ~ 1.038 (1.040 if you count priming sugar)
% attenuation ~ 65 %
% abv ~ 3.2 % (3.4 % factoring bottling sugar)
Calories per 12 oz. ~ 126
A few notes on this beer:
1. This is the first truly top flocc'ing yeast I've used, the yeast were all floating on top of/within the beer when I bottled. Maybe they would settle after another week in the fermentor, but it didn't look like they were going to sink like all the other yeast I've used.
2. This beer tasted delicious right out of the fermentor. The flavor was very remeniscent of Bell's Oberon Ale. Has that orange/citrus tang to it. Apparently Wyeast 1010 is the yeast they use for that brew, so it makes since. This beer would make it a good candidate for a bootleg straight-outta-the-fermentor cask ale that I have contemplated doing for a party or something. I'll keep that in mind.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Fermentation Notes, American Wheat
Thurs-Friday 22-23may: Temps were held around 67-68F. Visual signs of fermentation were noticed at 20 hours (but could have been there as early as 12 hours as I was asleep from 12-20 hours). I'm going to run this one around 70 F so it will ready to bottle next week, and because I'm going out of town for a week after that and don't want it to sit forever.
UPDATE Fri 23may: Fermentation is now kickin. Room temp is 68F, fermentor temp is 70-71F. The yeast is putting off a slightly fruity and sulfury smell.
UPDATE Sat 24may: Fermentation still going, not quite as fierce seeming as last night. Decided to go ahead and cling wrap the fermentor lid as normal to make sure any nasties are out (a little paranoid as my infected last batch).
UPDATE Tues 28may: Gravity is measured @ 1.013 and the beer tasted delicious! I am planning to bottle tomorrow afternoon as long as the the hydrometer reading is the same. If it has gone down any further I will wait and check again on thursday.
UPDATE Fri 23may: Fermentation is now kickin. Room temp is 68F, fermentor temp is 70-71F. The yeast is putting off a slightly fruity and sulfury smell.
UPDATE Sat 24may: Fermentation still going, not quite as fierce seeming as last night. Decided to go ahead and cling wrap the fermentor lid as normal to make sure any nasties are out (a little paranoid as my infected last batch).
UPDATE Tues 28may: Gravity is measured @ 1.013 and the beer tasted delicious! I am planning to bottle tomorrow afternoon as long as the the hydrometer reading is the same. If it has gone down any further I will wait and check again on thursday.
Partial mash ideas for Oatmeal Stout
I was thinking about how to best do a partial mash Oatmeal Stout recipe I've got planned in the future. Here's my idea (mainly for me to remember..):
The grain bill (excluding extract) includes:
1.5 lbs Maris Otter
1.0 lbs. Flaked Oats
.5 lbs. Roasted Barley
.5 lbs. Chocolate Malt
.5 lbs. Dark Crystal Malt
---------------------------
4.0 lbs. Total to be mashed
I would normally just mash the Maris Otter and oats, but it is already combined, so I will mash it all together.
I am planning to using 1.25-1.5 quarts H20/lb. grain for a total of 5 - 6 quarts of water for the mash. I will sparge with an equal amount of water.
My plan for the partial mash:
1 - In the cephalon pot with strainer/false bottom heat up 1.25-1.5 gallons H20 (assuming the grain wont occupy more than the remaining 1/2 gallon capacity, adjust if necessary) to approximately 160-165 F. This is to account for the loss of heat when the cooler grains are added in. Then add all grains while stirring to prevent clumping and ensure all grains get moistened adequately.
2 - Cover with blankets/towels, put in cooler for 60 minutes.
3 - Pull strainer/false bottom up to allow grains to fully drain. Pour the drained wort into boil kettle.
4 - Put strainer/false bottom back in cephalon pot with grain still in it. Gently fill up with 1.25-1.5 gal of 170F water to sparge. Let sit for 10 minutes.
5 - Pull strainer/false bottom up to allow grains to fully drain again. Pour the drained wort into boil kettle.
6 - Top up to at least 2.5 gallons in boil kettle (depending upon how much the grain soaked up during mash).
7 - Proceed to add DME and LME and bring to boil as normal.
So hopefully that procedure will serve as an adequate partial mash to convert the oats and barley and make a tasty oatmeal stout. I made a very similar recipe to this with my previous one and it was one of my better beers.
The grain bill (excluding extract) includes:
1.5 lbs Maris Otter
1.0 lbs. Flaked Oats
.5 lbs. Roasted Barley
.5 lbs. Chocolate Malt
.5 lbs. Dark Crystal Malt
---------------------------
4.0 lbs. Total to be mashed
I would normally just mash the Maris Otter and oats, but it is already combined, so I will mash it all together.
I am planning to using 1.25-1.5 quarts H20/lb. grain for a total of 5 - 6 quarts of water for the mash. I will sparge with an equal amount of water.
My plan for the partial mash:
1 - In the cephalon pot with strainer/false bottom heat up 1.25-1.5 gallons H20 (assuming the grain wont occupy more than the remaining 1/2 gallon capacity, adjust if necessary) to approximately 160-165 F. This is to account for the loss of heat when the cooler grains are added in. Then add all grains while stirring to prevent clumping and ensure all grains get moistened adequately.
2 - Cover with blankets/towels, put in cooler for 60 minutes.
3 - Pull strainer/false bottom up to allow grains to fully drain. Pour the drained wort into boil kettle.
4 - Put strainer/false bottom back in cephalon pot with grain still in it. Gently fill up with 1.25-1.5 gal of 170F water to sparge. Let sit for 10 minutes.
5 - Pull strainer/false bottom up to allow grains to fully drain again. Pour the drained wort into boil kettle.
6 - Top up to at least 2.5 gallons in boil kettle (depending upon how much the grain soaked up during mash).
7 - Proceed to add DME and LME and bring to boil as normal.
So hopefully that procedure will serve as an adequate partial mash to convert the oats and barley and make a tasty oatmeal stout. I made a very similar recipe to this with my previous one and it was one of my better beers.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Brewing Notes, American Wheat (Thurs 22may)
Brewed an American Wheat from extract today.
The recipe was:
6.0 lbs Wheat LME (60 % wheat, 40% barley)
1 oz. Williamette hops (60 min)
1 oz. Cascade hops (15 min)
Boiled for 10 minutes prior to first hop addition. The wheat LME really produces a ton of hot and cold break, probably because of the high protein content of wheat. I skimmed off some of the hot break once it formed a large layer of foam.
***Note on boil: With an initial boil volume of ~ 3 gallons (including 1/2 gallon LME), ~ 3/4 gallon boiled off during the 70 minute boil. This was slightly less than the intended gallon to boil off. Maybe due to no 30 minutes of steeping grains with this one***
Pitched a 1 quart starter that was made 18 hours ago with wort at 66F.
***Note on starter !don't directly put hot jar of wort in ice bath, or it will crack and spill out! I had to repeat my starter process because I did this, was quite annoying and dumb on my part. I need to get a nice Pyrex piece for my starters. Time to break into a chem lab.***
Original gravity came out at ~1.038, likely due to the extra quart or so of liquid that I didn't get boiled off like intended. Oh well, pretty close.
Hopefully my intensive cleaning and attention to sanitization with this batch will prevent a reoccurence of the infection in my last batch.
Cooled for 25 minutes using two ice additions. No
The recipe was:
6.0 lbs Wheat LME (60 % wheat, 40% barley)
1 oz. Williamette hops (60 min)
1 oz. Cascade hops (15 min)
Boiled for 10 minutes prior to first hop addition. The wheat LME really produces a ton of hot and cold break, probably because of the high protein content of wheat. I skimmed off some of the hot break once it formed a large layer of foam.
***Note on boil: With an initial boil volume of ~ 3 gallons (including 1/2 gallon LME), ~ 3/4 gallon boiled off during the 70 minute boil. This was slightly less than the intended gallon to boil off. Maybe due to no 30 minutes of steeping grains with this one***
Pitched a 1 quart starter that was made 18 hours ago with wort at 66F.
***Note on starter !don't directly put hot jar of wort in ice bath, or it will crack and spill out! I had to repeat my starter process because I did this, was quite annoying and dumb on my part. I need to get a nice Pyrex piece for my starters. Time to break into a chem lab.***
Original gravity came out at ~1.038, likely due to the extra quart or so of liquid that I didn't get boiled off like intended. Oh well, pretty close.
Hopefully my intensive cleaning and attention to sanitization with this batch will prevent a reoccurence of the infection in my last batch.
Cooled for 25 minutes using two ice additions. No
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Infection!
So, I've had my first beer infection....
My most recent brew, has continued to develop a filmy layer over the top of the beer in the bottles, much like was present in the fermentor prior to bottling. The taste isn't horrible, just kind of off, a strange bitterness to it. Anyhow, the game plan is going to be to just drink this beer up as quick as possible before the taste is more affected by the infection.
As far as my sanitation, a couple of things I have thought about:
1 - Be more diligent in monitoring my Star-San concentration and also of reusing the solution after too long or after it has been tainted with wort/etc...
2 - Take apart and clean my drum taps and spigots after each brew, or after the last of a repitched series of brews. I got lazy and just cleaned the last time without removing the drum tap on my fermentor.
3 - Continue to focus carefully on sanitation of everything during brew day.
4 - Will be making starters every time with liquid yeast to reduce lag times and potential for the wrong organism taking hold in the wort.
Anyhow, I have learned a valuable lesson, that laziness in any phase of sanitation is asking for trouble. Hopefully this will be the last of any issues since I really scrubbed down everything after my last brew was finished.
My most recent brew, has continued to develop a filmy layer over the top of the beer in the bottles, much like was present in the fermentor prior to bottling. The taste isn't horrible, just kind of off, a strange bitterness to it. Anyhow, the game plan is going to be to just drink this beer up as quick as possible before the taste is more affected by the infection.
As far as my sanitation, a couple of things I have thought about:
1 - Be more diligent in monitoring my Star-San concentration and also of reusing the solution after too long or after it has been tainted with wort/etc...
2 - Take apart and clean my drum taps and spigots after each brew, or after the last of a repitched series of brews. I got lazy and just cleaned the last time without removing the drum tap on my fermentor.
3 - Continue to focus carefully on sanitation of everything during brew day.
4 - Will be making starters every time with liquid yeast to reduce lag times and potential for the wrong organism taking hold in the wort.
Anyhow, I have learned a valuable lesson, that laziness in any phase of sanitation is asking for trouble. Hopefully this will be the last of any issues since I really scrubbed down everything after my last brew was finished.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Bottling Notes, Southern English Brown (Wed 14may)
Notes on amount of priming sugar (dextrose): Going to use 3.5 TBSP (7/32 cup) for an estimated 1.3-1.4 volumes CO2 in ~ 5 bottled gallons. Shooting for a low carbonation appropriate for this style.
Notes after bottling:
***Strange skin with air bubble underneath it on top of beer. Looks like the color of yeast. I have never noticed this before, but I haven't always checked each batch before transferring to my bottled bucket. I'm hoping that this was just a thin layer of yeast that floc'd to the top instead of the bottom of the beer and not some kind of infection. I attempted to skin most of it off with a sanitized spoon. There looked to be what could have been the starting of some grey mold/fuzz on the trub that had caked to the walls of the fermentor where the krausen was, but again, I'm not sure and am hoping it is just colored yeast.***
Anyhow:
Bottled ~ 52 x 12 oz. of beer.
Final Gravity ~ 1.018
% Attenuation ~ 64%
% ABV ~ 4.4%
Calories/12 oz. ~ 175
So I'm going to hope that that the skin-like membrane is not a sign that I'll end up with a tainted tasting final product in a few weeks. This was at least a good motivation that got me to really scrub every since inch and groove of my equipment down, so it will be ready for the next brew with no infection worries. I may have to reconsider repitching and am going to be more precise with my concentration of Star-San to ensure I'm not overdiluting. Next up, wheat beer!
Notes after bottling:
***Strange skin with air bubble underneath it on top of beer. Looks like the color of yeast. I have never noticed this before, but I haven't always checked each batch before transferring to my bottled bucket. I'm hoping that this was just a thin layer of yeast that floc'd to the top instead of the bottom of the beer and not some kind of infection. I attempted to skin most of it off with a sanitized spoon. There looked to be what could have been the starting of some grey mold/fuzz on the trub that had caked to the walls of the fermentor where the krausen was, but again, I'm not sure and am hoping it is just colored yeast.***
Anyhow:
Bottled ~ 52 x 12 oz. of beer.
Final Gravity ~ 1.018
% Attenuation ~ 64%
% ABV ~ 4.4%
Calories/12 oz. ~ 175
So I'm going to hope that that the skin-like membrane is not a sign that I'll end up with a tainted tasting final product in a few weeks. This was at least a good motivation that got me to really scrub every since inch and groove of my equipment down, so it will be ready for the next brew with no infection worries. I may have to reconsider repitching and am going to be more precise with my concentration of Star-San to ensure I'm not overdiluting. Next up, wheat beer!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)