RDWHAHB - What Are You Drinking in 2020?

[Journeyman]

10 hours ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

Gelatine has been reported to strip flavour but I'm not sure about that from my own experience because I didn't use it enough. Got the shits with the fluffy easily disturbed sediment it created. 

I've also shelved biofine for the time being. It resulted in an inch or two high layer of yeast at the bottom of the fermenter, which went above the tap level. Kind of pointless dropping it out like that when it just gets dragged into the keg anyway. 

Back to my old isinglass and polyclar regime which had always given top results, really good clarity and no effect on flavour.

Not sure I could handle too much more flavour and I've used gelatin all along. But I haven't noticed 'fluffy' trub at any point until right near the end of bottling when I was tipping the FV. (with things tight I ain't letting none of that there luvverly liquid get tipped)  

Be interesting to try kegs as I have started, when I began bulk priming, tipping the FV's backwards in the ferment so the trub is well away from the tap.  Next step is to not use finings at all, which I am planning for the kegs.  I'm getting very clear beer without the trub near the tap so I wondered how much might have been getting sucked off the top of the trub when it was just below the tap intake.

[Otto Von Blotto]

I'm glad it works for you but personally I hate the stuff. Never had a good experience with it in any batch it was used in. Didn't affect flavour that I could tell but just did weird shit with the yeast. It was probably more in the bottles that I noticed it being fluffy. I'd start pouring one and almost immediately the sediment would stir up, no matter how carefully I poured it. This never happened without gelatine. I'd also often find some of it stuck to the sides of the bottles. 

I don't know why it did this, maybe I didn't use it properly but in any case I found other products worked much better and aren't really any more difficult or complicated to use.

[Journeyman]

36 minutes ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

I'm glad it works for you but personally I hate the stuff. Never had a good experience with it in any batch it was used in. Didn't affect flavour that I could tell but just did weird shit with the yeast. It was probably more in the bottles that I noticed it being fluffy. I'd start pouring one and almost immediately the sediment would stir up, no matter how carefully I poured it. This never happened without gelatine. I'd also often find some of it stuck to the sides of the bottles. 

I don't know why it did this, maybe I didn't use it properly but in any case I found other products worked much better and aren't really any more difficult or complicated to use.

Would gelatin even be in the bottles? It should be left behind in the trub, shouldn't it? I'll take note of next time I pour - as I said, about to try without gelatin and will have a few bottles left from each batch so can see if it is different to what I have now.

[ben 10]

Super hazy DIPA

 

 

[Otto Von Blotto]

2 hours ago, Journeyman said:

Would gelatin even be in the bottles? It should be left behind in the trub, shouldn't it? I'll take note of next time I pour - as I said, about to try without gelatin and will have a few bottles left from each batch so can see if it is different to what I have now.

Well, it should drop out but maybe the disturbance from moving the fermenter to bottle it got some in the bottles. I dunno, it was a few years ago now. I switched to isinglass which does a good job of dropping yeast but compacts it nicely as well and it doesn't disturb easily. I'll find out in a week what effect it has on chill haze by itself too. 

[ben 10]

Saison

 

[Red devil 44]

My Pacific Summer Ale as per Coopers Recipe, first one off the tap.

Only change was Saaz hops replacing Summer Hops ( couldn’t get Summer )

Nice, full of flavour, quite sharp in taste.

Overall very happy with it

Cheers RD44

[RDT2]

First ever Smash using Simcoe and MO beautiful beer very smooth at 36ibus 4.8% could of been more aggressive on the pour but kept a head all the way down as pictured with second shot and also pretty clear with nice aroma only been in the bottle for just over a week. Looking to see which hop it is that I really love in WC IPA’s will try Nelson Sauvin for my next Smash but will have a couple beers in line first. Just bottled a milk stout and have a brown porter in the fermenter

Edited April 24, 2020 by RDT2

[Pezzza]

5 hours ago, Red devil 44 said:

My Pacific Summer Ale as per Coopers Recipe, first one off the tap.

Only change was Saaz hops replacing Summer Hops ( couldn’t get Summer )

Nice Red!  A nice looking drop and perfectly kegged and poured ha ha ; )

It's good to have a Brewer like you on board who is into the gas-n-pour thing -- as with kegging as am not sure I have mastered it quite yet : |

[ben 10]

Drinking a Flanders while roasting a leg of lamb and making bread and bagels while listening to a dj mix yesterday.

[ben 10]

[ben 10]

ANNND onto my aussie draught style beer.

Coopers malt, PoR hops and M54 lager (not lager) yeast. Great colour, great taste. I will add some sugar next time and remove some malt. Needs to be drierer...

[The Captain!!]

1 hour ago, Ben 10 said:

ANNND onto my aussie draught style beer.

Coopers malt, PoR hops and M54 lager (not lager) yeast. Great colour, great taste. I will add some sugar next time and remove some malt. Needs to be drierer...

Probably the closest thing to a lager that’d be worth drinking ha ha ha. 
Nah, looks good mate. 
guess if you want an Aussie draught than yeah you got to remove that “maltiness”

[Pezzza]

Red Mountain Pilsener... aka ANZAC Sunset SMASH... (not quite a true smash as the Pils Malt had a bit of Wheat plus some Roasted Barley for colour... added but only Galaxy hops)

Is lush... I like that serious Bitterness that festive Aussie Galaxy can deliver.... Woohoo.... Brew up and Brew on Brewers!

[The Captain!!]

Really easy way to get clarity without filtering or additives is just don’t dry hop. 
Proof in the pudding. This pale is so easy drinking it’s unreal. Pity about the aroma 

Edited April 25, 2020 by The Captain!!

[Titan]

Maris otter pekko smash i did about 4 weeks ago now with my year old yeast harvest. Tasted this about 1 week in the bottle and was convinced that bottle ferment had not quite completed as it was a little sweet. Sadly its not the case. Now im wondering if: 

1: I didnt use enough bittering hops. Recipe said 40 IBU.

2: The yeast did not finish the job. Recipe 1.009, actual 1.011.

Its a good beer tho just a little sweet for my palate.

[Shamus O'Sean]

California Riptide Pale Ale

I used 210g of LDM instead of Smooth Liquid Malt Extract.  Also used Coopers APA and IPA Craft kit yeasts instead of US-05.  I brewed this to 10L to lower the ABV to 4.9%.  1 week carbonating in the keg at serving pressure, as of yesterday.

Amber colour.  Very clear (Fish guts and plastic finings).

Hoppy aroma nice citrus mix.

Resinous taste some floral hints.  Good hit of bitterness.

[Shamus O'Sean]

Abbey Dubbel

Used Hallertauer in the dry hop instead of Saaz, because I did not have Saaz.  Brewed this to 10L to lower the ABV to 4.5%.  I did this brew alongside the California Riptide Pale Ale so this one has also been in a keg on serving pressure for a week as at tasting time yesterday.

Deep amber colour.  Pretty persistent head.

Spicy clove-like aroma.  Also could describe it as aromatic wood of some kind.  Not pine.  Cannot detect anything from the Hallertauer dry hop.  It might be noticeable in a side-by-side test with one not dry hopped though.

Smooth bitter undertone.  After-taste of fruit cake.  I like this beer.

Edited April 25, 2020 by Shamus O'Sean

[Otto Von Blotto]

Had a sneaky sample glass of the pale ale kegged last weekend and put in the fridge on Wednesday. It's already nicely carbonated, but will probably benefit from an extra week sitting cold in there. It tasted pretty good but there's room for improvement. Balance was good but the hop flavour was a little lacking. I'm hoping that improves with more conditioning, as has happened with batches in the past.

It was also quite cloudy, which would be mostly chill haze as I did actually pour a small amount out of it when I first put it in the fridge and it was a lot clearer. Obviously isinglass on its own doesn't do much for chill haze. 

[ben 10]

4 hours ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Deep amber colour.  Pretty persistent head.

Spicy clove-like aroma.  Also could describe it as aromatic wood of some kind.  Not pine.  Cannot detect anything from the Hallertauer dry hop.  It might be noticeable in a side-by-side test with one not dry hopped though.

Smooth bitter undertone.  After-taste of fruit cake.  I like this beer.

Sounds bloody fantastic, looks the goods too.

Well done.

[ben 10]

20 hours ago, The Captain!! said:

Really easy way to get clarity without filtering or additives is just don’t dry hop.

Still have haze though....

[Shamus O'Sean]

4 minutes ago, Ben 10 said:

Sounds bloody fantastic, looks the goods too.

Well done.

Thanks Ben. It is just a kit too.  Just shows how much influence a different  yeast can have.  In this case Safbrew T-58.

Both of the above brews use the Bewitched Amber Mr Beer Craft kit, but they are completely different beers.

[Otto Von Blotto]

22 hours ago, The Captain!! said:

Really easy way to get clarity without filtering or additives is just don’t dry hop. 
 

 

Yeah that never worked for me personally. I'd have lagers that weren't dry hopped, chilled for 4-5 weeks before bottling, bottles fridged for a week or more before drinking them and still had more haze than that beer there. And it wasn't yeast either. That said, they were obviously no chilled.

I'm not sure there is one thing that necessarily works for all beers, other than perhaps fast chilling post boil. 

[iBooz2]

On 4/24/2020 at 5:03 PM, Red devil 44 said:

My Pacific Summer Ale as per Coopers Recipe, first one off the tap.

Only change was Saaz hops replacing Summer Hops ( couldn’t get Summer )

Nice, full of flavour, quite sharp in taste.

Overall very happy with it

Cheers RD44

@Red devil 44  Sorry RD, I have been a bit of a hoar. 

A summer hoarder that is.  Accept my apologies.

Its probably my fault as I think I purchased nearly all the summer hops I could find anywhere, even the half kilo packs which I vacuumed down into smaller usable lots as I really love this beer.

This mob here still have them in half kilo packs and if you watch carefully they will suddenly release 50 g packs of summer say 10 at a time, obviously busting a larger pack down to move stock.  I did purchase their so called last 10 x 50 g packs but then a few weeks later they offered another 10 x 50 g packs.

I have made about six batches of this beer and cannot wait to attack it once its kegged.  Yours looks the goods, I can smell and taste it now.  Enjoy!

Just tapped another one of mine this weekend.

Cheers - AL

 

[The Captain!!]

7 hours ago, Ben 10 said:

Still have haze though....

Not much but true