Evan!
Well-Known Member
I'm brewing a clone of Avery's Mephistopheles Stout. I've brewed big beers before, barleywines over 12% ABV, etc., but nothing this big before. The closer I get to brewdown, the more little questions I have---even after 38 batches, nobody's perfect . Not yet, at least.
Thanks, all...
- With such a large grain bill, what's the best route for my mash schedule? I've had great luck with direct-heat stepped mashing a la CJOH (133f for 30 mins, 152f for 45 mins, 158f until iodine test passes), but maybe I need to adjust it for a big beer like this?
- How long does my starter need to sit in the fridge before it's adequately crash-cooled to a point where I can decant the liquid off? Usually I just add the whole thing, but this one is gonna be so huge, I don't think it's a good idea. I made a 2L starter on Tuesday night, and it's been happily fermenting since then. I stepped it up this morning with some more DME, plus some dextrose and turbinado, just to get it ready for the dextrose and turbinado in the main wort. I'm brewing on saturday morning, but I want to get as many yeast cells as possible to ensure a healthy fermentation up to 16%. So, if it's still bubbling tomorrow (Friday) night, should I just put it in the fridge so it's ready by midday Saturday, when I plan on pitching?
- Someone please explain to me the chemistry (or at least a layman's explanation) behind why sugar can lend cidery taste to a beer. Some people have mentioned invert sugar, but I'ver got no idea how to convert my turbinado/sucanat into invert. Does dextrose do the same thing? I mean, I'm looking at roughly 12% of my sugars being sucanat/turbinado and dextrose...is this going to give me cidery flavors on a brew that's got an OG of 1.146? Should try to convert my sugar to invert? Avery claims to use turbinado in theirs, but I don't know how much.
- Why exactly is so much CO2 remaining dissolved in my starter? It's bubbling slowly, like every 5 or 10 secs, but if I swirl the jug around a few times, it fizzes like Pepsi and the airlock bubbles so furiously that it actually sprays the airlock water out of the cap. I've never seen CO2 dissolve so much in wort/beer, even with starters. Is it just the WLP099?
- Is there anything else I should know going into this beast of a brew?
Thanks, all...