In fact, I myself used to believe that squeezing the specialty grains to get more liquid out would extract tannins and lead to astringent beer.
But I've heard others say that it's not true (again, see the threads above).
So which is it? I've designed this experiment to find out:
Overview:
Brew a small, split-batch using malt extract and specialty grains. Split the batch so that the liquid from squeezing the specialty grains only ends up in one half of the split. Conduct a blind taste test at the end to determine the results.
Ingredients:
1 lb Gold DME
1 lb Caramel 40L
0.25 oz Fuggle 4.6% @ 60 min
1 pkt Nottingham Dry Ale Yeast
Procedure:
Steep the caramel malt in a grain bag for 1/2 hour in 3qt of 155* water. Sparge with 3qt 165* water. Tea-bag and drain as usual. Place in a colander in a bowl and squeeze by placing another, smaller bowl on top and pressing down on it.
Pour all squeezed liquid into a measuring cup and note the amount (if very small, may not be worth the trouble and unlikely to cause any flavor changes; if very large, flavor changes are more likely, but so is the temptation to squeeze).
Save the squeezed water for the moment. Add the DME to the pot and mix thoroughly. Dip out 1qt at a time, first topping off the squeezed dregs. Pour these quarts into alternating pots, keeping them even at all times. Top off any remaining wort with tap water and split that between the two pots. The pots should each have an equal volume of wort, totaling about 2 gal (assuming 1.5 gal total after boil-off). Split the hops and add to the two separate pots.
Boil as usual.
Chill with an ice water bath; these will be small pots, so it should go quickly.
Aerate, dump into gallon-sized jugs, add 1/2 pkt of rehydrated Nottingham yeast to each. The other 1/2 pkt will be discarded. Note that this is a minor over-pitch, but is unlikely to cause any off flavors.
The jugs will be covered with sanitized aluminum foil while they ferment for 1 month.
End of recipe
Does anyone have any suggestions? Should I modify the recipe a bit? The point with using such a large amount of steeping grains is to emphasize any flavors that they may impart. Oh, and lastly, has anyone done this experiment before?
OG: 1.046
FG: 1.011
Color: 11* SRM
Bitterness: 15.8 IBU
Alcohol: 4.7% by volume
Bittering:Gravity: 0.34 (relatively malty sweet)
I wanted a sweeter brew so that the bitterness of the hops wouldn't cover up any astringency extracted from the grain squeeze.
Also, the Nottingham was chosen for its high flocculation (less yeast in solution to mess with the flavor) and ease of use (less chance of infection with dry yeast as opposed to a starter).
This is a great idea. This is definitely one of those confusing areas that there is not agreement on. The only suggestion I would make is to leave out the irish moss. Fining agents have been suggested to help mitigate the effect of tannin extraction. The beer will not be as clear, but if tannins have been extracted, you might have an easier time judging/comparing.
__________________
Primary 1) Empty
Secondary 1a-f) - 2 gallons Traditional Mead, 4 Gallons Melomel, 2) Wee Heavy Widgeon Ale, 3) Pintail Pale Ale
Bottled - Amber Ale, TheJadedDog's All Amarillo IPA x2, Apfelwine, Wit Bier, Stout, Pintail Pale Ale (V1-Cascade, V2-Amarillo), Graff
... The only suggestion I would make is to leave out the irish moss. Fining agents have been suggested to help mitigate the effect of tannin extraction. The beer will not be as clear, but if tannins have been extracted, you might have an easier time judging/comparing.
Recipe updated. Thanks!
(for those new to the thread, the recipe contained 1/4 tsp rehydrated Irish moss)
A lot of the LHBS owners (ok... all 3 of them) I've met are BJCP certified judges, ask yours if he is and see if he will help you out with the blind tasting.
__________________ Elkins Creek Brewing Company
On Deck:
Primary: Air
Secondary: Bavarian Hefewizen (extract)
Bottle: Blue Moon clone, Sam Adams Boston Ale Clone, Christmas Chocolate Stout (All Grain)
Keg: AHS West Coast Pale Ale, BierMuncher's Centennial Blonde (All Grain)
I'm brewing this today. I updated the recipe to reflect what I'm actually doing based on what I have on hand.
I also added a tag to request that this thread be moved to the Science of Brewing forum. Not sure if I need to request the move, or if the tag will automatically pop up on an automated search... Anyone know?
Bag Squeeze Experiment
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