Yeast types and misc information

For my next batch, i PLAN on using Wyeast American Ale Yeast (1056) and was wondering what the rule is on generating a more alcoholic beer.

I know that the yeast will ferment when it has things to snack on, but i also know that you can kill yeast by making it eat and eat and eat and then the alcoholic content kills it. I want to make my pumpkin ale a bit on the stonger side ~7% v/v and was wondering how i can check the level of alcohol yeast strains can withstand.

Also, i will be doing this recipe with extract/steeping grains and i was wondering what method is for calculating the steeped grains contribution to the SG of the wort.

My plan at this point is to stick 6 lbs of LME 1 1/2lbs of DME and then 12 oz of steeped grains.

I figure this will make a pretty strong beer but not overpower the flavors.

If posting my planned recipe would help, please let me know.

Also, if there is information missing from this post, or it doesnt make sense, im still recovering from attending the sox game friday and not sleeping until sunday afternoon so im a bit out of it. I will repost in a clearer fashion if this is confusing.

Check out the WYeast website for the info you need on any of their yeast strains, this includes alcohol tolerance, temperature range, attenuation range, etc.We need to see the recipe to calculate the gravity, I can tell you this, 120z of grains won't contribute a lot of gravity points. By the looks of it you need to double up on the DME in order to hit an OG of about 1.070, which will ensure you get around 7% ALV.

Malts:

6 lbs of Breiss Amber Unhopped Liquid Malt Extract (Midwest) 60 minute boil
3.3 lbs of Breiss Light Unhopped Liquid Malt Extract (Midwest) same boil time
12 oz Caramel 60L steeped for 15 minutes (155-170 degrees)

Hops:

2 oz of Willamette leaf (boil for 50 minutes) bittering
2 oz of Hallertau leaf (end of boil) finishing

Yeast:

1056 American Ale Activator Wyeast

Extras:

2/ 20oz. Pumpkin from a can : added to boil at 30 minutes
Tbsp of vanilla: added to boil at 55 minutes
Pumpkin Pie Spice: added to boil at 5 minutes

I'm hoping that since the 2 varieties of hops i am using are not overly bitter that the aroma will be there but the flavor will not be too strong.

Suggestions VERY appreciated.

I plan on starting with 2.5 gallons of distilled water for the boil and then adding 3 gallons after the wort is cooled. The extra half gallon i am adding because of warnings i have been given that the pumpkin makes you lose some volume during the rack to secondary.

its02003 said:

wondering how i can check the level of alcohol yeast strains can withstand.

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http://www.wyeastlab.com/hb_yeaststrain.cfm


http://www.wyeastlab.com/hb_yeaststrain_detail.cfm?ID=5
Alcohol Tolerance: 10% ABV

You might look at Safale-05, it's the same yeast for less money.

I have no idea about how it reacts in beer, but in baking, vanilla is almost never added in while a product is cooking - theory is that the high heat alters flavor. ymmv

Since it has a pretty high alc content, vanilla extract would be pretty safe to just add to the wort not the boil - i doubt nasties would find it a very hospitable media.

I haven't had any problem attaining 7% to 9% ABV with the clean fermenting ale strains. PacMan, WLP002, Nottingham, S-04, and US-05 should all be capable of producing up to about 8%, and they will likely go slightly higher in a friendly environment (high pitching rate, well aerated, temperature around 68 degrees F).

So are you guys suggesting i stay away from the Wyeast?

Is it a group concensus that i put the vanilla into the wort and not the boil?

also, does the hop amount sound right for the recipe, or am i overdoing it?

Has anyone used the malt extract i am talking about before?

its02003 said:

...
Is it a group concensus that i put the vanilla into the wort and not the boil?
...

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The vanilla bean porter I made called for adding the vanilla to the secondary. But it was vanilla bean, and the insides of the bean(s) were scraped out and soaked in a few table spoons of vodka during the primary to insure sterility. I have heard that imitation vanilla extracts do not produce as good of a flavor so you may want to make sure you are using real vanilla extract or using vanilla beans.

Thanks for the tip.

its02003 said:

So are you guys suggesting i stay away from the Wyeast?

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Sup to you...US05 is an alternative choice but may people pref the liquid version be it wyeast or white labs. Prb just as many pref the dry version.

its02003 said:

So are you guys suggesting i stay away from the Wyeast?

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Nope. But, if I were planning on using that particular strain, I'd use US-05 instead. They are identical strains of yeast (as david mentioned), and the US-05 is far cheaper. Also, dry yeast tends to be far easier to use and much more consistent in the results it produces.

If you choose to use liquid yeast, be sure to make a starter. You'll want to pitch a large amount of very healthy yeast in order to attain the ABV you're after. Simply pitching the contents of the smack pack is ill-advised in any case, and especially when the OG is high.

Personally, I'd rehydrate two packets of US-05 in some boiled/cooled water, and pitch that. Sure, it's a slight overpitch, but you're asking a lot of the yeast in this case.

I had read (up until this point) that the dry yeast was not as consistent. But i will definitely give the dry pack a shot.

so as i read even more, i realize that apparently LME isn't a good ingredient to use and apparently it imparts some sort of "twang" on the beer???

My first brew was a Brewer's Best Oktoberfest kit that apparently won an award as a kit beer. This uses LME and i assumed that LME was the way to go over using DME. I guess my reasoning was that DME reminded me too much of making hot chocolate from powder rather than melted chocolate.

Anyways, as i look at the prices of the 2, i see that DME is quite a bit more expensive. Does anyone have an opinion on this? I want my next brew to taste the best it can (as an extract brew) and im getting some conflicting information on the matter.

Also, i live in New England and i was wondering if anyone other than beer-wine.com had a good selection of home brewing supplies (even though beer-wine.com is not that well stocked) that was available online?

its02003 said:

so as i read even more, i realize that apparently LME isn't a good ingredient to use and apparently it imparts some sort of "twang" on the beer???

My first brew was a Brewer's Best Oktoberfest kit that apparently won an award as a kit beer. This uses LME and i assumed that LME was the way to go over using DME. I guess my reasoning was that DME reminded me too much of making hot chocolate from powder rather than melted chocolate.

Anyways, as i look at the prices of the 2, i see that DME is quite a bit more expensive. Does anyone have an opinion on this? I want my next brew to taste the best it can (as an extract brew) and im getting some conflicting information on the matter.

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Just my 2 cents....While I know lots of folks on the board attribute twang to any LME, I can say with out a doubt that none of my beer brewed with fresh LME ever exhibited twang. Many of the batches were tasted by other brewer and beergeeks, no one ever cited twang. I would imagine that there are plenty of LHBSs with some stale LME sitting around that has created this impression.

OTOH I think that DME is a bit easier to brew with and I haven't had a "twang" issue with DME either.

In your experience, have you also noticed that DME is more expensive than LME? or is it just more concentrated?

its02003 said:

In your experience, have you also noticed that DME is more expensive than LME? or is it just more concentrated?

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From reading here, I think DME is more concentrated than LME. Someone who knows please chime in, but I think it's about a 0.8 conversion?

DME is more concentrated, the ratio is about 0.8 (you'll need to put in 20% more liquid extract). Apart from the twang issue, I prefer dry extract because I seem to get less caramelization of the extract, leaving it more true to color.

I know its more concentrated... because it is dried LME, but im wondering if its more expensive.

(meaning: LME's equivalent in DME is more)