Recent content by Oldsock

It's definitely not the funkiest blend out there, but that's actually something I like about it. Makes it easier to mix with hops, and a crowd pleaser. We just blended a 4 month old rye saison fermented with it and an old pale lambic-ish that had barrel-fermented for 18 months. Still...

Virginia already has plenty of breweries! Honestly location was more about walking into a pre-existing tasting room, cold box, pad etc.

Cheers, glad you enjoyed stopping in and nice to meet you!

A ~34/37 with an Ekuanot Saison is a triumph in my experience!

Glad a few breweries have scaled up successfully with these strains. Near me in DC, Hellbender uses Wickerhamomyces. Haven't gotten over there to taste them yet.

1.052 to start, haven't seen a tolerance listed.

The ones without extra hops were still at room temperature (bottle conditioned) until the day before I did the tasting. It seems like if anything most of the pH drop happens before most of the gravity drop. Once the sugars it is able to consume are gone, lactic acid production is finished...

Recently brewed my first batch of beer soured with lactic-acid-producing yeast, from Wild Pitch Yeast, instead of bacteria (batch details). While the acidity was good (pH 3.3-3.5), and fermentation finished in a reasonable amount of time (2-3 weeks) the flavor wasn’t spectacular with either. Not...

FYI the blend is available again for a limited time, pre-orders through 3/11: http://bootlegbiology.com/product/the-mad-fermentationist-saison-blend/ I haven't let the blend go quite that long between uses, but it has started up well after 3-4 months for me. Two stage starter sounds like the...

I get more banana, but it is pretty mild. With the Citra and Amarillo it is certainly citrusy, but nothing out of place for the hops. Even the first batch (which I found more expressive from a warmer ferment) I was surprised how few people mentioned the yeast character without me prodding.

Posted a write-up of my second try with this blend (11:1:1), fermented at 60F ambient. It was sort of an low-bitterness APA/session with Citra and Amarillo. I preferred the cooler fermentation and more restrained esters compared to my first batch. Also split this batch with dry hops on brew day...

Glad to hear! I had one batch that went a little sulfury with my original blend. I believe it was a similar situation, reviving it after a few months in the fridge. Eventually pressurizing the keg and venting scrubbed it out.

My standard IPA process is to add all of the salts to the mash (I have reasonably high carbonate even with a partial dilution with distilled) so the calcium is beneficial, along with a little acid, to get my mash pH to target. Then I sparge with distilled water, as it won't resist the pH drop...

I am, thanks for signing up! Cheers!

Brew Your Own magazine is running a series of homebrew Boot Camps around the country, and apparently the one in Santa Rosa was a big enough hit to bring the show back to California (specifically San Diego) February 2nd and 3rd, 2018. I've been back a few times since I lived there for two months...