What's in your fermenter? 2019

[Otto Von Blotto]

Doesn't sound anything like what I experienced with Cluster hops. I used it twice in XXXX bitter clones as a bittering hop with a small amount later in the boil as well. Those beers are a bland style where any shitty flavour like that would be well noticed, but I didn't get any. 

The onion like flavour would be more likely contamination, which could be the cause of the other problems as well. 

[ChristinaS1]

2 hours ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

Doesn't sound anything like what I experienced with Cluster hops. I used it twice in XXXX bitter clones as a bittering hop with a small amount later in the boil as well. Those beers are a bland style where any shitty flavour like that would be well noticed, but I didn't get any. 

The onion like flavour would be more likely contamination, which could be the cause of the other problems as well. 

Maybe, but if so it is unlike ones I have had before. I didn't see anything growing on the surface of the beer. The MJ Liberty Bell yeast took off in five hours, so you wouldn't think wild yeast would have had a chance. But just in case it is contamination, I won't be using the slurry I collected. This was a fresh pack of yeast by the way, not slurry.

It is such a shame. The malt bill for this English Bitter is identical to one I made a few batches ago, which was delicious. The only difference was the hops and the yeast. 

Maybe Cluster is not suited to dry hopping?

[joolbag]

Sorry to hear your beer didn't turn out as expected @ChristinaS1.  It's a rotten feeling, knowing what the beer could have been!  Might be worthwhile cutting those losses and tipping it if you really don't enjoy drinking it.

 

I don't have a lot of experience with Cluster as I have only ever used it in small amounts alongside other American aroma hops.  I do empathise with you though.  I brewed a steam beer using the traditional Northern Brewer hops and really did not enjoy it.  Woody, minty are my tasting notes.  I tried a commercial steam beer hopped with Northern Brewer and the same notes came through.

 

I should do another steam beer for kicks, just swap out the hops for something I know that I like.

[Titan]

Same here, I did a steam beer with strictly NB hops, not a fan. I also did a lager using the same hops as was not convinced that the steam flavour profile was only related to that hop. Sadly it was. Took me ages to get through these beers.

[ChristinaS1]

11 minutes ago, joolbag said:

Sorry to hear your beer didn't turn out as expected @ChristinaS1.  It's a rotten feeling, knowing what the beer could have been!  Might be worthwhile cutting those losses and tipping it if you really don't enjoy drinking it.

 

I don't have a lot of experience with Cluster as I have only ever used it in small amounts alongside other American aroma hops.  I do empathise with you though.  I brewed a steam beer using the traditional Northern Brewer hops and really did not enjoy it.  Woody, minty are my tasting notes.  I tried a commercial steam beer hopped with Northern Brewer and the same notes came through.

 

I should do another steam beer for kicks, just swap out the hops for something I know that I like.

 Thanks Jools. I agree with you about Northern Brewer; I don't like them either. Maybe that should have given me a clue as Cluster and Northern Brewer are often suggested as substitutes for each other. 

I will see how it tastes after it carbonates. Maybe I will take your advice and dump it if it is still the same. 

Cheers,

Christina.

[karlos_1984]

Brewed an upscaled version of an experimental leftovers small batch brew that turned out well last time.

1kg quick oats steeped

1.5.kg LDME

1.5 kg Wheat DME

15 ltr boil

15g Galaxy @ 30 mins

25g Galaxy @ 10 mins

25g Galaxy @ FO

Transferred/strained  into round drum/FV topped to 21 ltrs.

Sealed and left overnight in fermenting fridge set to 18 degrees.

Stirred for a good 15 mins the following morning to oxygenate, pitched 2 X Cooper's APA yeasts (rehydrated) @ 18 degrees.

Will likely dry hop with 75g Galaxy.

OG was 1065.

IBU was around 30.

See what happens, dunno expected FG as IanH spreadsheet doesn't allow for the quick oats. It'll probably end up around 6 to 6.5 ABV I'm guessing.

[Titan]

5 minutes ago, ChristinaS1 said:

 Thanks Jools. I agree with you about Northern Brewer; I don't like them either. Maybe that should have given me a clue as Cluster and Northern Brewer are often suggested as substitutes for each other. 

I will see how it tastes after it carbonates. Maybe I will take your advice and dump it if it is still the same. 

Cheers,

Christina.

Just invite some people over. Pretty sure they will drink it if free.

[Smash]

58 minutes ago, karlos_1984 said:

IanH spreadsheet doesn't allow for the quick oats

IanH's extract beer designer doesn't have quick oats, but his BIAB beer designer does. I've copied everything from his BIAB beer designer inventory tabs into the extract designer, meaning my extract designer has heaps of different ingredients. Easy 

BIAB_Beer_Designer_v1.3.xls

[ChristinaS1]

@karlos_1984  the thing about steeping (not mashing) 1kg of quick oats (which is around 25% of your recipe) is that it adds a lot of unconverted starch. Those starches are food for bacteria. In theory could make your brew prone to bacterial overgrowth. 

Cheers,

Christina.

[karlos_1984]

9 hours ago, Smash said:

IanH's extract beer designer doesn't have quick oats, but his BIAB beer designer does. I've copied everything from his BIAB beer designer inventory tabs into the extract designer, meaning my extract designer has heaps of different ingredients. Easy 

BIAB_Beer_Designer_v1.3.xls

Didn't know that existed. Thanks mate.

[karlos_1984]

2 hours ago, ChristinaS1 said:

@karlos_1984  the thing about steeping (not mashing) 1kg of quick oats (which is around 25% of your recipe) is that it adds a lot of unconverted starch. Those starches are food for bacteria. In theory could make your brew prone to bacterial overgrowth. 

Cheers,

Christina.

It worked last time. See what happens...

I appreciate the advice and I know it's all a learning curve. Bit the beers in the fv now and fermentation is kicking away nicely. Can't change it now so we'll see how it turns out

Edited March 28, 2019 by karlos_1984

[ChristinaS1]

Apparently 3 Floyds Alpha King is one of the best rated IPAs in the USA. I can't get it where I live so have never tasted it. This recipe is inspired by some of the clone recipes on the net, but scaled down to a lower gravity, and to APA bitterness.

 

3 Floyds Alpha King - APA style

 

1.7kg Mexican Cervesa

1.3kg Briess Golden Light LME

150gm Caramunich

150gm C60L

650gm Pale Ale Malt

10gm Cascades @ 20 min

8gm Warrior @ 20 min

30gm Centennial @ 4 min

22L 

14 ale/lager blend rehydrated. 

 

12gm Centennial DH

12gm Warrior DH

 

OG 1.047 FG 1.011 ABV 4.7% IBU 32 BU:GU 0.70 EBC 14

 

Apparently 3 Floyds uses Simpson's C60L, but I can't get it. I did a split between Caramunich and Canadian C60L to try to fake it.

[Popo the Reprobate]

Good luck @ChristinaS1. I hope it turns out great for you. I have only ever used Warrior early in the boil. Looks good. You will have to keep us posted how it goes.

I really like the look and sound of the 3 Floyds beers. The guys there look like they have a lot of fun. I haven't tried making Alpha King but made clones of a couple of their others and really enjoyed them.

[Norris!]

@ChristinaS1

I understand your dilemma. I bought some crystal malts to brew with but every time I used them I felt that the batch was ruined. I learned later, thanks to some other well respected brewers sharing their brews, that it wasn't a bad batch just I didn't like the crystal malts. I still dumped the batches. It sucked throwing that beer and money away but it would of cost more because I inevitably would have bought beer instead anyways while keeping a batch kegged that would take months and months to drink.

I say dump it or give it to someone who likes it, or store it and see if it grows on you. But if you have limited bottles or kegs I would get rid of it and drink something that I like and made, like that nice recipe you have just posted! I really like Briess golden light lme.

Norris

[Beer Baron]

I just realised that I forgot to take a gravity reading for my Orange XPA yesterday. 

I guess I’ll just use the OG from the recipe

[ChristinaS1]

On 3/27/2019 at 6:59 PM, ChristinaS1 said:

Maybe, but if so it is unlike ones I have had before. I didn't see anything growing on the surface of the beer. The MJ Liberty Bell yeast took off in five hours, so you wouldn't think wild yeast would have had a chance. But just in case it is contamination, I won't be using the slurry I collected. This was a fresh pack of yeast by the way, not slurry.

It is such a shame. The malt bill for this English Bitter is identical to one I made a few batches ago, which was delicious. The only difference was the hops and the yeast. 

Maybe Cluster is not suited to dry hopping?

The other possibility for why this batch tastes like marijuana is that it has something to do with FWHing the Cluster hops for 30 minutes before the 20 minute boil. Perhaps something in the Cluster chemistry (its high cohumulene level maybe) may make it unsuitable for SFWH. There are probably more polyphenols in this beer than usual as well....To tell the truth, I have become a little gun-shy of SFWH. I did not use it in my most recent batch.

In terms of the astringency I noted, it might be coming from over-sparging. I usually only sparge for 10 minutes, but I sparged this batch for 30 minutes. Because I was FWHing, that was convenient; I never considered the possible ramifications.

Cheers,

Christina.

Edited March 29, 2019 by ChristinaS1

[Hairy]

Just make sure you have a bag of Doritos handy after trying this beer.

 

[Otto Von Blotto]

Hops are from the same plant family but I doubt that's anything to do with the issue. 

The batches I used it in I didn't FWH it, just a 60 minute boil and some at 15 minutes as well. No weird Mary Jane flavours though

[Titan]

Ok so i have this sour in the fv at the moment. Came down this morning to a slight blow off, not much mess as probably only started 1 hour before. Is this normal for a sour to have such a vigorous ferment? Secondly im planning to add 1kg raspberrys and 200g of coconut flakes. Anyone used these and would i just throw them in or try to contain in a chucks cloth.

[porschemad911]

I took a gravity reading on my Smoked Porter a couple of days back. It was down to 1.016 (so a tiny bit more to go) and tasted brilliant. I could see what each ingredient brought to the beer, and the overall balance of the flavours was very nice. Probably bottle it up one evening next week.

Cheers, 

John 

[joolbag]

2 hours ago, Titan said:

Secondly im planning to add 1kg raspberrys and 200g of coconut flakes

Hey mate. I recommend whizzing the raspberries with a stick mixer to break all of the berries up so they infuse into your beer. 1kg should be good. I did mine commando and cold crashing settled them into the trub. But containing them in a cloth is a good idea and I will do it next time. Can't help with coconut flakes. Sorry, haven't used them but I know others on here have.

 

I didn't notice the sour ferments being more or less vigorous. Perhaps just a councidence

[Hilltop hops]

Easiest brew day ever, feel like im cheating. All Inn Brewing Mosaic pale ale fresh wort kit. Using Bry-97 American West coast yeast for the first time. See how it goes. 

[ChristinaS1]

18 minutes ago, joolbag said:

Hey mate. I recommend whizzing the raspberries with a stick mixer to break all of the berries up so they infuse into your beer. 1kg should be good. I did mine commando and cold crashing settled them into the trub. But containing them in a cloth is a good idea and I will do it next time. Can't help with coconut flakes. Sorry, haven't used them but I know others on here have.

 

I didn't notice the sour ferments being more or less vigorous. Perhaps just a councidence

Wouldn't a stick mixer chop up the seeds too? 

Best way to get the juice out of fruit is to freeze it. You could crush the thawed berries in a bowl with the bottom of a wine bottle, but gently, to avoid crushing the seeds.

Raspberries and blackberries are seedy. In country wine making we go through a lot of effort to limit tannin extraction from the seeds. With beer you use a lot less fruit, and the alcohol level is lower, so it is less of an issue, but I still think it is a good idea to try keep the seeds intact. For the same reason I would not leave seedy fruits in the beer too long.  Take them out as soon as fermentation subsides. Containing them in a bag makes them easy to remove.

Cheers,

Christina.

[Beer Baron]

I just looked in my fermenter because my airlock always works, I know I know.........I just wanted to have a quick look to see the signs of fermentation and when I opened it I could see a nice krausen and I got a hit of orange which is promising. Hopefully this Oranges XPA is a cracker!!!

[Titan]

Thanks for the replies. My thinking was to just squish them up in the bag they came in before opening and pitching commando. More wondering about what happens to the coconut flakes. Anyhow i have a sample on my bench and just put a couple of flakes in there to see what they do. Obviously they will go soft but want to know if they breakdown and sink or remain floating. Based on this i will decide of they need to be contained.