What's in Your Fermenter? 2021

[iBooz2]

2 hours ago, CLASSIC said:

Yeah I didn't mean to make it sound so basic I do like & try different things, but I suppose we are learning everyday.  I am going to start adding equipment slowly to broaden my possibilities with brewing, I will be trying more mini-mash's & I always add a hop tea so it can only get better.

That's the way Phil, but make sure you keep accurate notes not only for the recipe changes but ferment temp etc.  The one thing that most brewers don't do is keep good tasting notes over the consumption of the batch and rely on memory.  I know as I am guilty of that too in some circumstances.  When you get close to a real winner don't over do the tweaks and kill it, don't over brew batches of it because it will lose its appeal and you will then wonder what you saw in it in the first place.  Get a collection of winners and mix them up, in the meantime to keep your interest feeding on itself introduce a whole new brew and see where that one takes you.  Yeah I know, too many recipes and not enough years left. 

I am gonna talk to that big guy in the sky and see if I can get a "go round again" pass.

[Classic Brewing Co]

2 minutes ago, iBooz2 said:

That's the way Phil, but make sure you keep accurate notes not only for the recipe changes but ferment temp etc.  The one thing that most brewers don't do is keep good tasting notes over the consumption of the batch and rely on memory.  I know as I am guilty of that too in some circumstances.  When you get close to a real winner don't over do the tweaks and kill it, don't over brew batches of it because it will lose its appeal and you will then wonder what you saw in it in the first place.  Get a collection of winners and mix them up, in the meantime to keep your interest feeding on itself introduce a whole new brew and see where that one takes you.  Yeah I know, too many recipes and not enough years left. 

I am gonna talk to that big guy in the sky and see if I can get a "go round again" pass.

Because I am a self-confessed perfectionist I have always kept a one to page diary on all brews, dates, mix, readings all that, I appreciate your comments. It is important to go back & compare notes in case something is different to an earlier brew, I have 3 fermenters now & being retired I am having a blast knocking out all of these different brews.

@Gully85  was around last night & we had a few & he is bringing around a few things for me to try, He grows his own hops, AG brewer & kegs so pretty much into it. 

I will always keep records & strive for the better brew. Thanks for your input.

Cheers

Phil

[Cee]

 

Back...

...missed you folksez...

Anyhow at the moment, I have a Coopers Pale Ale

It has 1x kit yeast, 1x SA04 to boost malt profile

BE 2 plus 250gm LDM

Tomorrow I plan to dryhop Mosaic 

(I have only hopped with Galaxy and love it - but in the spirit of experimenting I am trying Mosaic here). This brew gave me my most active krassen yet, felt quite satisfactory I must say

 

...I have played with a couple of brews since I was last here and I am conditioning a cherry Canadian Blonde with Galaxy hops and Champagne yeast

 

...Oh and I got a request to do another batch of "non-alcoholic" GingerBeer - woohoo Requests!! 

 

Sincerely hope everyone is ok in these days of chunder, and if not, I hope you aren't trying to do it all on your own. 

 

Cheers brewers!

C.

 

[Pale Man]

28 minutes ago, Cee said:

Sincerely hope everyone is ok in these days of chunder, 

Huh?? 

[ChristinaS1]

On 1/31/2021 at 7:17 AM, ChristinaS1 said:

My keg is 19L. I used 70gm of table sugar, which is the amount PB2 recommended. This is less than I would expect based on how much I used back when bulk priming, but I am taking it on faith. 

Just a little update on my naturally carbonating in the keg experiment. Put it to chill in the keg fridge yesterday, after two weeks at ambient temp to carbonate. I notice the bubbles are very fine, more so than if I force carbonated. The beer does not have much head and kind of looks like an English Bitter.

I used 70gm of sugar this time. I think that next time I will up the priming sugar to 85gm to see what that is like.

BTW, the recipe turned out good. Yummy.

Cheers,

Christina.

 

[Cee]

2 hours ago, Pale Man said:

Huh?? 

Um...

Genuine well wishes during a time of sickness...

[Pale Man]

2 hours ago, ChristinaS1 said:

Just a little update on my naturally carbonating in the keg experiment. Put it to chill in the keg fridge yesterday, after two weeks at ambient temp to carbonate. I notice the bubbles are very fine, more so than if I force carbonated. The beer does not have much head and kind of looks like an English Bitter.

I used 70gm of sugar this time. I think that next time I will up the priming sugar to 85gm to see what that is like.

BTW, the recipe turned out good. Yummy.

Cheers,

Christina.

 

Do you think the head will improve with more time on serving pressure?

[ChristinaS1]

1 minute ago, Pale Man said:

Do you think the head will improve with more time on serving pressure?

It might. I hope so. I will let you know.

Cheers,

Christina.

[Tone boy]

2 hours ago, ChristinaS1 said:

Just a little update on my naturally carbonating in the keg experiment. Put it to chill in the keg fridge yesterday, after two weeks at ambient temp to carbonate. I notice the bubbles are very fine, more so than if I force carbonated. The beer does not have much head and kind of looks like an English Bitter.

I used 70gm of sugar this time. I think that next time I will up the priming sugar to 85gm to see what that is like.

BTW, the recipe turned out good. Yummy.

Cheers,

Christina.

 

I imagine you had some bottled as well @ChristinaS1 ? Be interesting to see the difference in carbonation there. 
Ive never used the draught can, good to hear it turned out well

[ChristinaS1]

1 hour ago, Tone boy said:

I imagine you had some bottled as well @ChristinaS1 ? Be interesting to see the difference in carbonation there. 
Ive never used the draught can, good to hear it turned out well

Excellent point @Tone boy Yes I do bottle some as well. When I try one I will be sure to take note.

I used the Draught can because my LHBS was out of the APA, which I usually use. The colour is darker on this brew that what I usually have, but bitterness is about the same. 

Cheers,

Christina.

Edited February 17, 2021 by ChristinaS1

[Tone boy]

1 hour ago, ChristinaS1 said:

Yes I do bottle some as well. When I try one I will be sure to take note.

I can feel some boozing (sorry, product data collection) coming on!!

[Pezzza]

11 hours ago, ChristinaS1 said:

Just a little update on my naturally carbonating in the keg experiment. Put it to chill in the keg fridge yesterday, after two weeks at ambient temp to carbonate.

Sounds great Christina.  Maybe a tad more Zucker next time as you say.... ?   Think from memory that our old friend @PB2 used to suggest half a cup of white sugar for in-keg conditioning?

Any issues with yeast at all or did it clear up quickly with no line-plugging probs?  I think I might do a few in-keg conditioning beers and let them sit in ambient while I have a rest off the grogs.   But maybe better not to go too hard on the secondary ferment carbing - so if leaving a few months that I don't end up with a heavy consolidated sealing cake of yeast at the base around the liquid offtake? dunno...  have done once before and big keg was fine but little keg clogged badly... and they were not left thaaaat long... maybe a month or 6 weeks... 

Edited February 18, 2021 by Graubart

[Pezzza]

14 hours ago, Cee said:

Nice pair of Fermentation Vessel sockies?!  (and the brew looks nice as well) 

[Cee]

2 minutes ago, Graubart said:

Nice pair of Fermentation Vessel sockies?!  (and the brew looks nice as well) 

Haha

This house has stumping that needs retirement, and creates interesting angles I did not notice until I started seeing my FV seeming tilted like a malty spirit level. The "sockies" are actually tissue I balled up to compensate for my FV leaning forwards - next week it may need glovies to rebalance it the other way

Well even if the beer turns out like gopherpiddle at least it wears its socks well - fashion goes a long way these days in making up for lack of substance

I'm looking forward to this first Pale Ale experiment! 

[Pezzza]

2 minutes ago, Cee said:

I'm looking forward to this first Pale Ale experiment! 

And if dry hopping with fresh aromatic Mosaic mate I reckon you will be on to a winner ; )

All the best for your latest brew! 

[Classic Brewing Co]

3 minutes ago, Cee said:

 

I'm looking forward to this first Pale Ale experiment! 

Hi Cee, 

By the look of it so far you should end up with a nice beer, if you listen to the advice given by the experienced brewers you won't go wrong. Good Luck.

[Cee]

2 minutes ago, Graubart said:

And if dry hopping with fresh aromatic Mosaic mate I reckon you will be on to a winner ; )

All the best for your latest brew! 

Thanks mate

I love the Galaxy but for diversity I asked for something kinda opposite-ish and my local guy suggested Mosaic.  

You know, I thought I would be able to relatively quickly figure out how to homebrew my perfect drop... But the more things I try the less possible that seems - in the acest possible way 

 

 

[Cee]

3 minutes ago, CLASSIC said:

Hi Cee, 

By the look of it so far you should end up with a nice beer, if you listen to the advice given by the experienced brewers you won't go wrong. Good Luck.

Oh I listen

I listen, consider, do it my way anyway, then I come back and listen again but this time properly coz my way didn't work lol

 

No this hobby is actually one where I have listened to those who know. This community is invaluable, inclusive and appreciated 

Thank you mate

[Journeyman]

31 minutes ago, Cee said:

You know, I thought I would be able to relatively quickly figure out how to homebrew my perfect drop... But the more things I try the less possible that seems - in the acest possible way 

Nah mate... what happens is each time you try anything other than exactly following the recipe someone ELSE decided on, you slip a little further down the rabbit hole.

Also, each person has different tastes and opinions, so while what they SAY sounds perfect, when you try it yourself it's not. That's where the trying things out comes in to things - you learn each time whether a particular step moves closer to your 'best' beer for further away.

Best advice? Change only one thing at a time. Then you have an idea of just what caused the effect.

I'm 45 brews in, 18 months, and still making adjustments. I'm up to about 4 or 5 regular beers I make - by having variety you keep the palate fresh. So at any time I will have two of my regulars in the keg fridge and 2 I'm playing with.

I don't know if there is a bottom to the rabbit hole - maybe when you have your own successful brewery and being feted by drinkers around Australia?  

Edited February 18, 2021 by Journeyman

[Stickers]

my dass alto is going well. brewing ambient, didn't really pay attention to the temp of the recipe (suggested 16c) nor the forecast for melbourne this week (medium hot) so i'm probably running closer to 26c. should still be a good batch though, i've brewed with nottingham yeast before over summer and it does the job nicely. will dryhop tomorrow and bottle hopefully sunday.

[Cee]

45 minutes ago, Journeyman said:

Nah mate... what happens is each time you try anything other than exactly following the recipe someone ELSE decided on, you slip a little further down the rabbit hole.

Also, each person has different tastes and opinions, so while what they SAY sounds perfect, when you try it yourself it's not. That's where the trying things out comes in to things - you learn each time whether a particular step moves closer to your 'best' beer for further away.

Best advice? Change only one thing at a time. Then you have an idea of just what caused the effect.

I'm 45 brews in, 18 months, and still making adjustments. I'm up to about 4 or 5 regular beers I make - by having variety you keep the palate fresh. So at any time I will have two of my regulars in the keg fridge and 2 I'm playing with.

I don't know if there is a bottom to the rabbit hole - maybe when you have your own successful brewery and being feted by drinkers around Australia?  

Hmm this rabbit hole...

I am reminded of Eddie Murphy in The Golden Child, tossing a coin down a hole to prove it is not bottomless, waiting for the tinkle when it hits ground... Until it dawns on him...

"There's No Ground Here!!!"

Thank the stars for subjectivity in tastes. In all things, but especially beer. It drives us to refine, explore, and share 

I too will need multiple FV - same idea. To have my Ol' Faithful favourites brewing, my experiments, and a third as support for the others (racking etc) or maybe wines/requests... Hmm this rabbit hole is a brewery in itself!!!

 

[Cee]

34 minutes ago, Stickers said:

my dass alto is going well. brewing ambient, didn't really pay attention to the temp of the recipe (suggested 16c) nor the forecast for melbourne this week (medium hot) so i'm probably running closer to 26c. should still be a good batch though, i've brewed with nottingham yeast before over summer and it does the job nicely. will dryhop tomorrow and bottle hopefully sunday.

I now need to resrarch this brew... It looks delish.

I have the Melbourne temperature issue too - 10 degrees from recommereconded 16 to Melbourne's 26 is a big jump.  I was thinking I would have to brew such brews only in Winter but if yours are working well enough this is good news. 

How does the temp difference effect the final product in tjis brew? I am keen to find out how it goes for you. 

 

[Stickers]

2 minutes ago, Cee said:

I now need to resrarch this brew... It looks delish.

I have the Melbourne temperature issue too - 10 degrees from recommereconded 16 to Melbourne's 26 is a big jump.  I was thinking I would have to brew such brews only in Winter but if yours are working well enough this is good news. 

How does the temp difference effect the final product in tjis brew? I am keen to find out how it goes for you. 

 

https://www.diybeer.com/au/recipe/dass-alto.html

cooper's recipe site.. great place for ideas

[Pezzza]

1 hour ago, Cee said:

I love the Galaxy but for diversity I asked for something kinda opposite-ish and my local guy suggested Mosaic. 

I guess it depends on what spectrum you are talking about re Gal being opposite to Mozzie... but they are both good.

I sorta think Gal and Mozzie are closer together than to (East Kent Goldings) EKG and Fuggles  or to Hallertau variants but I guess it really depends upon which spectrum you're on...

If in Pales... well Gal is different to Mozz I guess... but I think some of the dank-contributing hops maybe like Amarillo-Columbus-Chinook would be more different again... 

But honestly who cares - trying different hops malt yeasts temps is all part of The Beautiful Brewing Journey 

[Pezzza]

35 minutes ago, Cee said:

I have the Melbourne temperature issue too - 10 degrees from recommereconded 16 to Melbourne's 26 is a big jump.  I was thinking I would have to brew such brews only in Winter but if yours are working well enough this is good news. 

@Stickers Stickers - wouldn't have thought a jump to 26 would be something you would want in your brew?

But if yer nivver had a problem before well I guess not then hey? 

And I guess if most of the ferment is done and you want to raise it a little to finish off then maybe 23-24 might be gold for a few days?

Edited February 18, 2021 by Graubart