What are you drinking in 2023?

[Shamus O'Sean]

5 hours ago, Pale Man said:

Its been a long time since I brewed a Duvel Clone, but the last time I did I impressed myself that much I took the day off, I could hardly tell the difference, and in fact prefered mine to the real Duvel.

It was a very simple brew too. German Pilsner Malt, White Sugar, Styrian Golding Hops and Lalbrew Abbaye Belgian Yeast. Just a single mash. No sweetness issues. It was a thing of beauty.

How long do you suggest a big beer like this should condition before drinking?

I followed @stquinto's recipe pretty much, except I did the 63°C mash step for 40 minutes instead of 20 minutes.

But because of my Parti-Gyle process fails I ended up with about 15 litres instead of 23 litres.  And my hop boil was for a 23 litre brew so instead of 33 IBU, it is around 49 IBU.  The samples from the SG readings do taste proportionately quite bitter.  It will be interesting to try the final carbonated beer.

[Shamus O'Sean]

Bright Brewery - Affogato Stout

Aroma: Coffee with Lactose sweetness

Flavour: Tastes better than I expected an Affogato Stout to taste.  Smooth coffee, creamy sweetness, roasty aftertaste. Bitterness is quite subdued.

[Shamus O'Sean]

Boatrocker - Hop Bomb - West Coast IPA

• Resin, Dank, Over-ripe fruit aromas
• Robust bitterness and very malty
• Classic

[Brauhaus Fritz]

After three weeks in the bottle it is really good.

And in a long neck even better 

And I will call it “A Fritzer Shade Of Pale”

[stquinto]

On 10/13/2023 at 12:14 PM, Shamus O'Sean said:

Nice.  My Duvel clone looks like coming in at 8.4% in the keg or 8.8% for those that I bottle condition.  Just started the cold crash this Friday night having brewed last Saturday.  Very quick for such a high ABV brew.

What FG did you end up with Shamus ? The only time I bottled I added 2g of F2 yeast. They turned out lovely from the bottle, I had to mature it for several months. The only downside was I couldn't pour it clear.

Once I sort out my residual sugar problem I might try bottling some from a keg. I bought a bottling gun a while back and have never used it.

 

[stquinto]

On 10/13/2023 at 12:30 PM, Shamus O'Sean said:

How long do you suggest a big beer like this should condition before drinking?

I followed @stquinto's recipe pretty much, except I did the 63°C mash step for 40 minutes instead of 20 minutes.

But because of my Parti-Gyle process fails I ended up with about 15 litres instead of 23 litres.  And my hop boil was for a 23 litre brew so instead of 33 IBU, it is around 49 IBU.  The samples from the SG readings do taste proportionately quite bitter.  It will be interesting to try the final carbonated beer.

Personally I'd leave it a couple of months. If you can  ...

[Shamus O'Sean]

7 hours ago, stquinto said:

What FG did you end up with Shamus ? The only time I bottled I added 2g of F2 yeast. They turned out lovely from the bottle, I had to mature it for several months. The only downside was I couldn't pour it clear.

Once I sort out my residual sugar problem I might try bottling some from a keg. I bought a bottling gun a while back and have never used it.

 

Hey Stquinto, mine got down to 1.008 from 1.072.  I used Lallemand's Belgian Abbaye yeast, but I made a starter.  I ended up getting 15 litres into the fermenter, but the recipe was supposed to be 23 litres.  So I had plenty more yeast that I really needed.  Probably why it fermented so quickly.

I am also thinking that my hop schedule was for a 23 litre batch.  Therefore, it will also be a lot more bitter than intended.

With only 15 litres, I might bottle it all.

[Uhtred Of Beddanburg]

Pale Lager FWK with 50 gram cascade dry hop in keg for 2 days. All up a month in the keg. 

Poor lighting inside and out cloudy day

[Brauhaus Fritz]

After having a little preview yesterday without taking a photo I had to try another  one today. My second AG brew. A Hefeweizen. On bottling day it tasted a bit thin and I wasn’t so sure about it. But after only one week bottle conditioning it is already really nice. Great carbonation and nice balance of cloves and banana. Great mouthfeel as well. Really happy so far. Will be hard to restrain myself from further previews.

[Kegory]

Last night's Priming Sugar Challenge: Fuku Japanese Lager FWK, bottled 13/8/23, conditioned 18 days, lagered 6 weeks.

Poured from left to right: carbonation drops; dextrose; white sugar.

The sugar primed beer had the biggest head and initially left the most lacing. The carbonation drops primed beer had better head retention and a constant stream of fine bubbles rising. The dextrose primed beer ran a distant third.

Initially the sugar seemed to produce the strongest aroma, followed by the carbonation drops then the dextrose but after about 5 minutes they seemed equal.

Sugar produced a drier, sharper, slightly more bitter tasting beer with a sweetness at the end that seemed somehow tied to the green apple taste (acetaldehyde). Dex was too lightly carbonated: it needed more fizz. Carbonation drops produced the best, lasting carbonation, a soft mouthfeel, the most lacing down the glass, and a little more green apple sweetness with a little less bitterness.

Here are the brewing notes

[Pale Man]

Coopers Brew A IPA with 3.5 kilo of Gladfield Ale Malt. 30 gram Cashmere and 30 gram Citra dry hop.

Sensational beer. You wouldn't pick it 4 days in the keg for a canned beer. The Gladfield Malt really comes through but also perfect bitterness from the Coopers can. Dry hops are definitely there but I could even go more. This is a nice IPA. Very happy Coopers.

 

 

[Aussiekraut]

This is the cold extracted low-ABV beer, aptly named Lowrider Pale Ale. It comes in at approx. 0.8% ABV. The hop bitterness is a little harsh but I am confident it will mellow out a little. After all, it's only been in the keg for 5 days. Next time, I'll drop the amount of bittering hops a tad to make it smoother. The flavours of the dry hops are coming through nicely. The body is a little light but a few tweaks to the recipe might help with that too. Head formation and retention are pretty good. Nice creamy foam that lingers around for a while. The lacing in the glass is also very nice.

Overall, the beer needs some tweaking but for a first attempt, it isn't bad at all. Less than 1% ABV makes for guilt-free drinking  

A few more tries and I should have it well and truly sorted.

[Triple B Brewing]

1 hour ago, Aussiekraut said:

This is the cold extracted low-ABV beer, aptly named Lowrider Pale Ale. It comes in at approx. 0.8% ABV. The hop bitterness is a little harsh but I am confident it will mellow out a little. After all, it's only been in the keg for 5 days. Next time, I'll drop the amount of bittering hops a tad to make it smoother. The flavours of the dry hops are coming through nicely. The body is a little light but a few tweaks to the recipe might help with that too. Head formation and retention are pretty good. Nice creamy foam that lingers around for a while. The lacing in the glass is also very nice.

Overall, the beer needs some tweaking but for a first attempt, it isn't bad at all. Less than 1% ABV makes for guilt-free drinking  

A few more tries and I should have it well and truly sorted.

Hi @Aussiekraut, I’m really interested in your low ABV brew “Lowrider Pale Ale.” It looks and sounds like the bees knees to me (lots of guilty free cold ones - that’s what I’m talkin bout )

Would you be happy to share the method you used and the recipe. 
As previously mentioned I’m very much a “Kit n Bits” brewer, but I need to find a way to make great tasting very low ABV beers. 
Any suggestions, recommendations or references in this space would be greatly appreciated.

Enjoy !

Cheers Vince 

[Aussiekraut]

2 minutes ago, Triple B Brewing said:

Hi @Aussiekraut, I’m really interested in your low ABV brew “Lowrider Pale Ale.” It looks and sounds like the bees knees to me (lots of guilty free cold ones - that’s what I’m talkin bout )

Would you be happy to share the method you used and the recipe. 
As previously mentioned I’m very much a “Kit n Bits” brewer, but I need to find a way to make great tasting very low ABV beers. 
Any suggestions, recommendations or references in this space would be greatly appreciated.

Enjoy !

Cheers Vince 

I used cold extraction, so instead of mashing the grains hot, they get steeped in cold water overnight. This will extract a lot less starch from the grains than a proper mash would do. The liquid is then run through the mash process to convert the starch into sugars, so the yeast has something to eat. If mashed high enough, more long-chained sugars are created, aiding the body of the beer. Then boil and hop as per usual. This particular beer started at 1.010 and finished at 1.004. To not waste anything, I used the leftover grains and mashed them properly, extracting whatever was left in them. This gave me a 1.023 OG beer, which finished at 1.008. So it has about 2% alcohol. This one is still cold-crashing and will go into a keg on the weekend.

You won't get that low doing K&B though. But you could start adding fewer additional fermentables. This will make the beer lighter but also thinner. You can counter that by adding steeped Crystal malt for example and maybe a bit of maltodextrin. You can also add lactose. Either will aid body and mouthfeel to counter the thinness of the beer. You won't get too low in terms of ABV but 3% should be possible.

You can also take half of your batch after it has finished fermenting, put it into a big enough stock pot and place it into a 78C oven for about 20-30 minutes. This will evaporate the alcohol in the beer and once you pour it back into the rest, you should have halved the alcohol content of the lot. There probably would still be enough yeast left to bottle condition but I wouldn't rely on it. I recommend this method only for force carbonation. 

[Tone boy]

Real ale with victory malt. Real Victory!

[Back Brewing]

My Cali IPA after 10 days in the keg it is a great fruity beer with a nice subtle bitter finish I will definitely make this one again 

 

[Pale Man]

5 hours ago, Aussiekraut said:

This is the cold extracted low-ABV beer, aptly named Lowrider Pale Ale. It comes in at approx. 0.8% ABV. The hop bitterness is a little harsh but I am confident it will mellow out a little. After all, it's only been in the keg for 5 days. Next time, I'll drop the amount of bittering hops a tad to make it smoother. The flavours of the dry hops are coming through nicely. The body is a little light but a few tweaks to the recipe might help with that too. Head formation and retention are pretty good. Nice creamy foam that lingers around for a while. The lacing in the glass is also very nice.

Overall, the beer needs some tweaking but for a first attempt, it isn't bad at all. Less than 1% ABV makes for guilt-free drinking  

A few more tries and I should have it well and truly sorted.

Love your work AK.

[Pale Man]

1 hour ago, Tone boy said:

Real ale with victory malt. Real Victory!

Mmmmm. Ive got a Real Ale can to do something with.

[Brauhaus Fritz]

1 hour ago, Back Brewing said:

My Cali IPA after 10 days in the keg it is a great fruity beer with a nice subtle bitter finish I will definitely make this one again 

 

Did you do the ROTM? Mine turned out really well, loved the flavour and orange colour 

[Back Brewing]

21 minutes ago, Brauhaus Fritz said:

Did you do the ROTM? Mine turned out really well, loved the flavour and orange colour 

Yep ROTM bloody beautiful 

[Triple B Brewing]

7 hours ago, Aussiekraut said:

I used cold extraction, so instead of mashing the grains hot, they get steeped in cold water overnight. This will extract a lot less starch from the grains than a proper mash would do. The liquid is then run through the mash process to convert the starch into sugars, so the yeast has something to eat. If mashed high enough, more long-chained sugars are created, aiding the body of the beer. Then boil and hop as per usual. This particular beer started at 1.010 and finished at 1.004. To not waste anything, I used the leftover grains and mashed them properly, extracting whatever was left in them. This gave me a 1.023 OG beer, which finished at 1.008. So it has about 2% alcohol. This one is still cold-crashing and will go into a keg on the weekend.

You won't get that low doing K&B though. But you could start adding fewer additional fermentables. This will make the beer lighter but also thinner. You can counter that by adding steeped Crystal malt for example and maybe a bit of maltodextrin. You can also add lactose. Either will aid body and mouthfeel to counter the thinness of the beer. You won't get too low in terms of ABV but 3% should be possible.

You can also take half of your batch after it has finished fermenting, put it into a big enough stock pot and place it into a 78C oven for about 20-30 minutes. This will evaporate the alcohol in the beer and once you pour it back into the rest, you should have halved the alcohol content of the lot. There probably would still be enough yeast left to bottle condition but I wouldn't rely on it. I recommend this method only for force carbonation. 

@Aussiekraut, mate you are an absolute bloodi legend - thank you so much for your time you have taken to provide me with some really helpful starting points and clear instruction on how to go about it - a couple of enticing tips there that I will in time absolutely put to the test. I mean if I can maintain some sound flavours, mouthfeel and body, 3% would be a good outcome I reckon. 

I gotta say, I really like the idea of getting two brews from the same mash as well - that's really cleaver  - I will keep an eye out for your review on how they turned out 

So thank you, just super cobber and really greatly appreciated 

Cheers ta cold beers eh 

[Shamus O'Sean]

8 hours ago, Aussiekraut said:

I used cold extraction, so instead of mashing the grains hot, they get steeped in cold water overnight. This will extract a lot less starch from the grains than a proper mash would do. The liquid is then run through the mash process to convert the starch into sugars, so the yeast has something to eat. If mashed high enough, more long-chained sugars are created, aiding the body of the beer. Then boil and hop as per usual. This particular beer started at 1.010 and finished at 1.004. To not waste anything, I used the leftover grains and mashed them properly, extracting whatever was left in them. This gave me a 1.023 OG beer, which finished at 1.008. So it has about 2% alcohol. This one is still cold-crashing and will go into a keg on the weekend.

You won't get that low doing K&B though. But you could start adding fewer additional fermentables. This will make the beer lighter but also thinner. You can counter that by adding steeped Crystal malt for example and maybe a bit of maltodextrin. You can also add lactose. Either will aid body and mouthfeel to counter the thinness of the beer. You won't get too low in terms of ABV but 3% should be possible.

You can also take half of your batch after it has finished fermenting, put it into a big enough stock pot and place it into a 78C oven for about 20-30 minutes. This will evaporate the alcohol in the beer and once you pour it back into the rest, you should have halved the alcohol content of the lot. There probably would still be enough yeast left to bottle condition but I wouldn't rely on it. I recommend this method only for force carbonation. 

Really good advice AK.  But to be controversial, only to a point. Heating your fermented beer to 78°C would kill any yeast.  You would need to add fresh yeast once the beer has cooled, if bottle conditioning.  If kegging and carbonating with CO2, you would be fine.

[Aussiekraut]

8 hours ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Really good advice AK.  But to be controversial, only to a point. Heating your fermented beer to 78°C would kill any yeast.  You would need to add fresh yeast once the beer has cooled, if bottle conditioning.  If kegging and carbonating with CO2, you would be fine.

You're right, it does kill the yeast. If you only do it with half the brew, it might be okay as there is live yeast in the other half but might be slower to carb up. I did say I only recommend it for force carbonation but didn't say why  

[Triple B Brewing]

4 hours ago, Aussiekraut said:

You're right, it does kill the yeast. If you only do it with half the brew, it might be okay as there is live yeast in the other half but might be slower to carb up. I did say I only recommend it for force carbonation but didn't say why  

Thank you @Aussiekraut and @Shamus O'Sean that makes sense.
For me it wouldn’t make any difference as I use a force carbonation system (kegging) but appreciate you clarifying for correctness in detail for the thread

[Shamus O'Sean]

On 10/20/2023 at 7:35 AM, Aussiekraut said:

You're right, it does kill the yeast. If you only do it with half the brew, it might be okay as there is live yeast in the other half but might be slower to carb up. I did say I only recommend it for force carbonation but didn't say why  

Ahh.  I did not notice the splitting the brew note.  Yes, the yeast in the non-heated half will still the job.