I'm not sure if other people do this, but I thought I would share something I do all the time.
I think many of us enjoy tasting the beers we brew at all points during the process: the wort, the green beer, etc. I found a way to satisfy this curiosity in a much better way.
About 2 months ago, I bought a carbonator cap that can be used with any plastic bottles like 2L, 20oz, 1L, etc. It allows you to force carb a small amount of beer instantly. I found a ton of different uses from making seltzer, carbonated hop lemonade, etc. I literally was like Bubba Gump trying to find ways to carbonate anything I could get my hands on!
One of the best uses I have is for testing how certain beers are coming along during their lifecycle. We all know that flat beer tastes much different than carbonated. Using a carbonator cap can allow you to check the progression of your beer. Let me give you some examples of ways I have used it:
This may not be a perfect solution to predicting how your beer will taste when it is finally done, but I think it is a helluva good way to get close!
I think many of us enjoy tasting the beers we brew at all points during the process: the wort, the green beer, etc. I found a way to satisfy this curiosity in a much better way.
About 2 months ago, I bought a carbonator cap that can be used with any plastic bottles like 2L, 20oz, 1L, etc. It allows you to force carb a small amount of beer instantly. I found a ton of different uses from making seltzer, carbonated hop lemonade, etc. I literally was like Bubba Gump trying to find ways to carbonate anything I could get my hands on!
One of the best uses I have is for testing how certain beers are coming along during their lifecycle. We all know that flat beer tastes much different than carbonated. Using a carbonator cap can allow you to check the progression of your beer. Let me give you some examples of ways I have used it:
- You think your beer is done fermenting? Take a hydro reading and afterwards, pour the sample into a 20oz bottle and carbonate it. Toss it in the freezer for 15 mins then taste it.
- You are transferring your beer to secondary. While transferring, party fill a 20oz bottle, carbonate, chill, and sample it before you add other ingredients that you are planning to secondary with, such as hops, fruit, coffee. I find this very useful to determine how much I want to dry hop with.
- Similar to the previous point, you can also determine how much of an adjunct to add by using this process. Over the weekend, I had a saison that I was planning to dry hop and wasn't sure how much I wanted to dry hop with. I measured out a scaled down amount of hops, threw it into a tea bag and tossed it into the bottle, then force carbed it and let it sit for a day then I tasted it.
- Bulk aging a beer but last minute crisis and beer is needed? Siphon some out and carbonate it with the carbonator cap.
This may not be a perfect solution to predicting how your beer will taste when it is finally done, but I think it is a helluva good way to get close!
