I've been somewhat tied up for most of the last couple of weeks. I see that Corkster has gone on ahead an bottled after the first week, when he had his FG.
I'm going to let mine bulk condition in the primary until week 3, Tuesday, or maybe even week 4, since I still have a lot going on now. Patience should be rewarded anyway, right!
I've just been playing around with that homebrew recipe calculator 'Beer Calculus' from a link I found in the Beginners Forum. It'll be interesting to see how well this thing works, as I begin tweeking this recipe.
I'd been thinking about adding a pound of that dreaded sugar to this recipe, to get the ABV up a point or two, but since most of the other LME kits like Alexander's, John Bull, Munton's, Cooper's, etc., contain from 6 to 9 pounds of LME in a kit that still only makes a 5-gallon batch...I'm starting to think why not just use 2, 3, or even 4 of the 2.2 pound kits of PME for a 5-gallon batch, instead?
Surely there are nuances that will differ, but I guess what I'm wanting to figure out is, "Is the SG of a pound of one LME, equal to the SG of a pound of another LME...or not?"
Surely, doing full multiples of the LME in a recipe would boost the OG, huh?
Maybe that 'Beer Calculus' site will shed a little light on how much of what to change.
BTW - Hopefully, you'll get a taste of this recipe before it's gone, or gets modified into another animal entirely.
Pogo
Hey Pogo-
If you want to get the ABV up w/o the effects of table sugar, why not try dextrose/corn sugar instead? It wont ferment cidery and it will jack your ABV w/o contributing to flavor... Maybe add a little malto-dextrin for some mouth-feel? Who knows, like you said, the sky is the limit with this stuff 'cause it's so cheap. I see no reason why a guy can't use 2 or 3 or even four in a recipe (again, keeping in mind that if you use pre-hopped, it might get pretty hoppy). I think you would defintely be rewarded with a heavier, more "ale" like beer with a much higher gravity.. Be sure to let us know if you try it!
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"No. Dude. Seriously. F*#k you."
"Ben Franklin NEVER said that beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy!"
Well I got my first batch all bottled up yesterday without a hitch.... good times..good times...
I will say however that I'm not terribly impressed with the bottle filling wand that came with my kit... it works great as far as getting beer into the bottle, but the displacement it causes means that you end up with an inch and a half to two inches of head space in the bottles. Also in order to get even that much head space you almost have to overflow the bottles while filling them.... breaks my heart to see my sweet nectar running all over the towel I put my bottle on.....
Yeah I know you need 1/2 to 1 inch head space in each bottle.... the problem is with the filling wand that you stick the wand in, fill all the way to the brim and then pull the wand out... when you pull the wand out this leaves you with about 2 inches of head space... not so much that the beer won't properly carbonate, but more empty space than I'd like to see in an unopened beer!
Yeah I know you need 1/2 to 1 inch head space in each bottle.... the problem is with the filling wand that you stick the wand in, fill all the way to the brim and then pull the wand out... when you pull the wand out this leaves you with about 2 inches of head space... not so much that the beer won't properly carbonate, but more empty space than I'd like to see in an unopened beer!
Cork,
That surprises me.. I have used two different bottle fillers (my new one exactly like yours) and a spring tip filler and both have left exactly enough headspace in the bottle.. You are using normal bottles aren't ya? When I bottle, I fill all the way to the top and inevitably a little spills over.. Casualty of war. Happens to everyone who bottles.. I doubt that you waste over 6 oz of beer this way for a 5 gallon batch... 1/2 beer.. no big deal... If you are this anal now, you are going to be in trouble and you move up to dealing with hops in the boil kettle, cause they suck up a little wort and I can see you squeezing each little individual hop flower, trying to extract every little bit of wort... Point is, there is going to be some loss along the way.. no worries about "golden nectar" being spilled So bottling went good?
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"No. Dude. Seriously. F*#k you."
"Ben Franklin NEVER said that beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy!"
Hey bro'... yeah bottling went well... Got the wife and the boy to help me..... I filled and handed em to the boy who handed them to the wife who then capped em!
but yeah, regular 12 ounce bottles. just a bit more head space than I was expecting... I could be wrong.
and yes... I will squeeze every hop in my next batch..
As you had suggested earlier, I went ahead and added a touch of dextrose, 1 pound, to my batch to boost the low ABV a little.
I'm concerned that ANY refined sugar, even dextrose, may cause off flavors. But, its been a week now, and I don't detect anything different. It tastes great...for flat, warm, wort, that is.
Maybe small amounts of sugar are more tolerable.
Since the newer kits I'm getting are all coming with Lager yeast, and I'm fermenting this batch in my shed, at near Lager temperatures, it must account for this great taste.
I can see the need to get an old fridge/freezer and rig the thermostat to do Lagers.
BTW - As I continue to research extract brewing, I've just about decided that my next batch will be using three cans of Premier extract, water and yeast. I've computed that the OG should end up at 1.046 in a 5-gallon batch. Anyone tried this before?
Any updates on these premier brews? Corkster? How did yours turn out?
Mine is only 1 week in the bottles, but I must say, it's not the best thing ever... It's not the worst thing ever either... that would be Fat Tire.... The Premier has a sort of sour fruity taste in the beginning with a mild thick caramel type taste in the background..... not undrinkable by any means... but not wonderful and amazing either. I think there is certainly potential for decent brew with the Premier... the whole flavor profile that I'm experiencing could simply be a product of the safeAle 05 yeast. I may (in the future) experiment with the same recipe using different yeasts since it is a cheap brew and would be a good way to find out the flavor profiles of different yeasts.
Mine is only 1 week in the bottles, but I must say, it's not the best thing ever... It's not the worst thing ever either... that would be Fat Tire.... The Premier has a sort of sour fruity taste in the beginning with a mild thick caramel type taste in the background..... not undrinkable by any means... but not wonderful and amazing either. I think there is certainly potential for decent brew with the Premier... the whole flavor profile that I'm experiencing could simply be a product of the safeAle 05 yeast. I may (in the future) experiment with the same recipe using different yeasts since it is a cheap brew and would be a good way to find out the flavor profiles of different yeasts.
Safeale yeast has been described by some as having a "bubble gum" or "banana/fruity" taste, so it could very well be the yeast.. Could be ferm temps too.. If it fermented at higher temps there's gonna be more of the fruity taste/smell..
On a personal note, you need to brew this Apfelwein for your wife.. She will love it.. it's awesome..... and that's just out the fermenter!
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"No. Dude. Seriously. F*#k you."
"Ben Franklin NEVER said that beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy!"
Point is, there is going to be some loss along the way.. no worries about "golden nectar" being spilled
So bottling went good?
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