Recipes, using D.M.E. ?

Recipes ...

I have a problem.
I am an old homebrewer and after years of trial and error have learned how to brew some good xxxx. D.M.E. and hops.
I am endeavoring to brew alcohol which doesn't taste bad and I am doing pretty good.
Working on the freezer and temp controller for lagering,
the whole grain thing too. But now, I use DME.
8 Lbs DME, and hops.

I asked old Andy, {at the homebrew headquarters on Coit in N. Dallas},
about recipes. He wisely inquired:
"Knife, what do you like to drink,
I mean what do you like, you know"?
Hmmmm, told old Andy that I am endeavoring to brew lager with ale yeast.
At yeast temperatures.
What do I like?
Alright now it gets interesting, I like:
{when I go to the beer store}
Sam Adams, Shiner, Becks, stuff like that,
if I have any money.
Double diamond, Bohemian, Grolch in the flip-tops, Maredsous,
If I am rich that day.
And Red dog and old Milwalkee if I am nearly broke.
Anything!
Alcohol!
But mostly all lagers.

Actually I like...
lager.
And I am endeavoring to brew lager with ale yeast at ale temps.
Obviously.
Because I don't have refrigeration capability yet.
I am happy to have homebrew which doesn't taste bad.

Hmmmm...

Is it possible to brew different recipes with DME?
I want to diverge to alternate tastes,
if they are as good as 'the recipe' I have developed.
ie.
Different amounts of DME,
And amount and types-combinations of hops.
6Lb Hammerbier,
8Lb Hammerbier,
If that can be called a recipe.
I am really getting into hops now after brewing for 15 years.
I could never taste the hops, the difference between them.
Cascade and its 'grapefruit' taste taught my taste buds
what to zero in on and I am learning now.
Hops are my new interest, the tastes are coming now.

But what is a recipe?
As my friend from 1959, ie. {the fourth grade,}
Randy, said once:
" Well Knife, I was in my probation meeting ...{for dwi #3}
and was supposed to get up in front of a room full of other drunks
and give a speech.
The subject was supposed to be:
"What I really love."
And Randy got up and gave a long impassioned speech about :

"What I really love in this life,
and on this earth,
is Alcohol!"

No one stopped him and they let the talk proceed.
I wish I could have heard the original speech,
but I am sure it was impassioned.
My recipe is 7-8 Lbs of DME.
And but for differing amounts and type of hops thats it.

it all tastes about the same.
About the same but not the same!
'It don't' taste bad,
and thats good.
It is preferable to 'store bought' beer and ale.
Some batches are better than others.
Its all different if just a bit so.
I am not trying to make store bought beer,
just help ease the financial strain
of getting my beer-ale at full retail,
just get drunk.


How much variety should a person expect
from a 15 gallon a week brewery?
Or should the homebrewery offer a simple 'recipe' and lots of it.
The good beer-store is still there.
I am imagining a variety will come naturally,
when I get my whole grain-lager thing going?
Variety with DME???




Mornin Yawl

'Just heard my rooster crow'

Knife

Interesting post Jack,

Is all you use DME and hops?

You ever steep grains?

You ever add adjuncts, i.e., vanilla, lemon zest, coriander, orange peel, etc.?

you ever dry hop?

just curious..........................

fretman124,

Hmmm, very interesting.
A very helpful response,
Thanks man!

I have used grain before but couldn't really tell any difference.
But that was years ago,
back when I couldn't taste the hops,
and now I can.
Good idea,
and like most good ideas, simple.
I wrote down all those 'adjuncts' and will use them all.
Grain, vanilla, lemon & orange scrappings, coriander,
dry hop...

And yes I have steeped grains in those big bags,
I still have a few in the brewery.
And I will try all the other stuff,
thanks!
{When, during the boil' is lemon and orange 'zest' added?}

I am however parinoid of putting anything in my wort which does not get boiled 15 minutes. I backed off from using honey for that reason,
and like to kill everything else in there before I add my yeast.
What about this dry hopping?
What is that?

{Coriander is cilantro isn't it?}
I have a bag of cilantro seed right here on my desk.
I'll 'grow me' a pound of the stuff this spring.


Just what I needed to know,
Thanks again.

J. Knife

To answer one question, Coriander is the seed from which cilantro grows. I love 'em both, but I'd only put the former in a beer (I'm kind of a prude).

Steeping grains are the heart of recipe variation in extract brewing. Well, that is if you use the same type of DME as a base. Some recipes will specificy all different proportions of light DME, Amber, Dark, etc. Many extract brewers will buy a bulk of extra light DME and achieve the variations in color and flavor by steeping.

Just for an example, I made an Oktoberfest a while back with light DME and a pound each of Caramunich and Caravienne steeped.

If you keep brewing beers with the same amount of DME, don't change the hops (amount or style), and use the same yeast you will/should get the same beer.

You need variety. I do mostly DME, but I rarely ever use more than 6 lbs. I've even used as little as 3.5 lbs.

The secret to beers overall flavor is the yeast you use.

And judging by your recipe you are making, change your yeast. If you use a lager yeast at ale temps that's a Steam-style brew.

Right now you are trying to brew a lager using ale yeast. It's just not the same.

Gentlemen,

I have been flooded with ideas for improving my homebrew, thanks .
A few questions,
1. Does whole grain simmered at 150-60 however long,
impart alcohol too? or mostly flavor to the brew?
2. With D.M.E. my '8Lb' hammer is 6 3/4% alcohol.
With each pound of whole grain added to a dme brew,
sparged in you know,
how much extra alcohol is added?
3. How near 'fire out' is 'lemon zest added?
4. And besides Fermintis safale 56 and 0-4 what other yeasts would ya'll recomend?


Thanks, Knife

Lets git ignert and go coon hunting

Well, I'm I can answer some of the questions:

1. The grains add color and flavor but very little, if any, fermentables. They do make a big difference in the "fullness" of the flavor, though. Definitely worth it!

2. No additional alcohol, or maybe very very little. It's more for flavor. A pound of crystal in a 5 gallon batch should raise the sg about .001.

3. I don't use lemon or anything, so I don't know.

4. Danstar Nottingham is my favorite dry yeast. It's clean and crisp, and works from 57-72 degrees. Another good dry one for more fruitiness like in British ales is Windsor yeast. Liquid yeasts are good too, and you can reuse them to help keep the costs per batch down but they are around $6-7 each to start.

Jack

i didn't understand what your first post was asking as I thought you had a lot of expirience brewing from reading your previous posts.

now, I've only been brewing a bit less than a year. I have done about 25 batches of extract brew. I pretty much use 7-8 lbs of light liquid extract for everything I brew. I use recipes I find here http://www.beertools.com. click on the recipe link in the red header bar on the web page and you can search thier database.
Or get a clone book from the LHBS
I have gotten into creating my own recipes, based on what I see on that site. I use a wide variety of grains, and have used the adjuncts I listed previously and recently did my first dry hop.

A 15 gallon a week brewery should (IMHO) have a "house brew". A beer that gets brewed the same way every time. The other two beers a week should be different. Maybe a continously changing porter and a lighter beer, a hefe or pils. Occaisionally throw in a vanilla cream ale, then an orange kolsch or a belgian wit with a lot of coriander and orange peel. Do a seach on this site for Cheesefood's Carmel Cream Ale. I think somebody came up with an extract version of it.

basically, find some recipes and give them a try. sounds like you know how to brew, just need to expand your horizons a bit

I seldom (well actually, virtually never) brew clones, but one day, after a beery night out eating Mexican (food, ya pervs), I decided I wanted to make a Dos Equis clone. I love Dos Equis with Mexican food.

Not being able to lager, I used an ale yeast, and a recipe my HBS guy had handy. It came out great, and in side by side tests at beer tastings, just about everyone says it is better than actual Dos Equis.

But I realized two things.

One, I really like Dos Equis with Mexican food. I might have mentioned that already. I don't like it as much in other settings.

And Two, Dos Equis, despite its Mexican pedigree, is really a pretty traditional central European lager. And I much prefer "American Ales" - sharp and powerfully hopped.

PS - Jack's posts are the best here!

Gentlemen,

It is true that I need to 'expand my horizons'
as far as brewing goes.
Alcohol which 'don't taste bad' is a worthy goal.
But how much more worthy,
would brewing beer-ale which tastes good, be?

Brewing season has just started it being november and I think I am really onto something.
Last year my goal was '1,000 bottles of beer on the wall', so to speak.
{All at the same place and at the same time, so I could take a picture}
I reached 517 {max} having brewed about 2,000.

This year my goal will be to 'simmer some grain' in each batch
till I have a better tasting ale.
Quality not quantity.
And even though Fermintis Safale 56 & 0-4 are the best yeasts
I have found, by far,
I will do a few others for 'variety'.
The addition of 'lime zest' is interesting as I always have lime skins lying around in the kitchen, and the horses don't like them.

Homebrewtalk forum has done it again!
Just hanging out here has inspired me to further and greater efforts.
Last year it was quantity.
This year it will be quality.
Simple.


'Then we can get ignert and go coon hunting'.


J. Winters VonKnife
and his 'sure fire' coon hound Sandymay
{asleep in their on my bed}