DFC: I aerated as normal for dry yeast. I "roused" like hell--that yeast is in a coma.
But I have a NEW THEORY.
Here it is. I've been doing quite a bit of research online and on paper regarding this late extract addition idea. (I'm no chemist or even a real technically minded brewer, at this point, so the research is pretty "light", but...) Obviously, a big contributor to the lit is the article in BYO, "Boil the hops, not the Extract". Most of us read it, and we at homebrewtalk discussed it. When I did a search online, I found out that every other homebrewer read it too, and they all talked about it on their (inferior) forums. What is also helpful is that many professionals wrote in response to it as well (
http://www.cascadiabrew.com/damn_it_jim.asp). Basically, it seems like a real good idea to add extract late in the boil (not all of it, of course). It contributes to lighter, more accurately hued brews, and eliminates much unwanted carmelization.
Here's where my THEORY comes in. I read several times in the articles of some professionals that carmelization not only makes for a burnt sugar taste and darker color, but
when sugars are carmelized they become less susceptible to breakdown by yeast. Thus, you get a
sweeter beer because the yeast was not able to attenuate as much as it would have. This leads me to think of this scenario:
I'm brewing a batch of amber ale, so I'm (mistakenly) not worried about carmelization at all. After all, it's already pretty dark. I add all the fermentables to a partial boil--7 lbs of LME to make ~3 gallons of wort. I boil the hell out of it for 70 minutes or so, probably carmelizing the pooty out of the extract. I add it to like 1 gallon of cool water. I had no chiller, so the wort is at about 85 when I pitch the poor nottingham. Nottingham goes nuckin' futs when it gets rehydrated and eats all the sugar it finds, which is not all that much, considering how most of the sugar is mega carmelized. Nottingham, as is its wont, finishes up the easy stuff and says,
"oy mates, let's flocculate! It's bloody 'ot in 'ere and those sugars are 'ard to eat! Anyway, this Yank wanted some high flocculatin' chaps--'at's why he bought us."
And so nottingham goes into a coma on the bottom of my carboy. A few days later, I add some US 56,
"whoaaaa! dudes! There's totally no sugar in here, except for this carmelized junk. And check out all the brits asleep on the floor! bummer!"
US 56, as is its wont, doesn't flocculate and just hangs out (slight suspension pun) waiting for the priming sugar.
So, what do you guys think? (Other than that I have too much time on my hands to write long, bizarre posts.)
monk
