Is 1318 the Young's strain? I had always understood it was Boddington's. Or, do they use the same yeast?
Is 1318 the Young's strain? I had always understood it was Boddington's. Or, do they use the same yeast?
One thing bothers me, though. If real English beer goes into a cask without being filtered, and if there are still unfermented sugars in there (not to mention priming sugar), and yeast which are asleep due to crashing--woudn't the yeast just wake up at some point and ferment the thing to thier limit? Is it the 55-degree cellar temp that allows priming without "cleaning up?" That makes ale a pretty parishable product, doesn't it?
4-vinyl guiaiacol the clove ester
Someone mentioned oxidation and that touched my memory of the Fullers rebrew show on The Brewing Network. They mentioned that a fresh bottle was actually hoppier than the bottles we get over here. That would suggest this "malt flavor" is subdued, more balanced or even not present in the fresh product.
When you are talking about open fermentation is the space below the lid and the top of the krausen important? It sounds like you need a good amount of space there, so would it be better to ferment a 4 gal batch in a 6 gal bucket instead of 5 gallons in the same bucket?
When you are talking about open fermentation is the space below the lid and the top of the krausen important? It sounds like you need a good amount of space there, so would it be better to ferment a 4 gal batch in a 6 gal bucket instead of 5 gallons in the same bucket?
Err, whoopsI thought that was a phenol, not an ester. Perhaps he misspoke, but he seems to think the malts affect the ester production, not phenol. Or, maybe I'm just still confused.
The whole idea of open fermentation, from a homebrewer's standpoint is a mystery to me. I didn't notice any difference from my batches using the 'rest the lid on the top' method. But I am certainly not willing to write off the practice just yet. Also, does it really relieve that much pressure by doing this? How hard is it really for the co2 to be pushed through a standard airlock anyway? I've read that it's the lack of pressure that benefits the yeasts, but if it does benefit the fermentation to some degree, could diffusion also play a part here?
Put very simply: Top pressure is not really an issue with our homebrew setups, 5 gallons of fermenting beer is not going to create enough pressure to slow ester production significantly. Ferment temps, aeration, and pitch rate is way more important. Also, the amount of pressure it takes to push c02 out of an airlock is so small it's really a non-issue. Top pressure is important with large scale brewing since dissolved co2 inhibits, or slows the development of esters and yeast character - think lagers. Open fermentation allows for a greater surface area and more effiecient c02 dispersal in those styles where esters are wanted (thus English, Belgian, German wheat yeasts). Fermenter geometry for 5 gallons isn't going to make a huge difference either.
Homebrewers get benefits from open fermenting with some increased ester production (why and how I don't know - maybe oxygen diffusion?) and the ability to closely control fermentation development. Yeast rousing, top cropping, and easy removal of dead yeast/hop debris before high krausen all lends to a fuller, cleaner, and tastier beer.
If I add beer to the first one when it still needs to attenuate a couple points, do I crash cool it along with the rest of the beer still in the bucket, or do I store it at 65-68 degrees for a week or two before cooling and serving?
KingBrianI said:That's one of the yeasts I was very disappointed with. I was expecting that Sam Smith's flavor and ended up with a very clean boring beer. Probably fermented too long and let it clean up too much.
I've been wondering about that too. Casked ale and bottle conditioned beers seem like they would be susceptible to being "cleaned up". Obviously something prevents it since the cask ales and bottle conditioned british beers I've had have been full of that british character. Something else must be going on.
In the rebrew show for Fuller's ESB and London Pride they found that fiddling with the temp was actually the key to getting the right malt expression.
KingBrianI said:SG for my beer was ~1.014 this morning. Fermentation is definitely slowing down. I gave it a bit of a stir with the wine thief to try to get it to attenuate a little more. At the current rate I'm hoping for it to hit about 1.011 tomorrow morning at which time I'll chill it down. I hope these last couple of points don't take so long that the beer cleans up while it's finishing. I may chill the beer tomorrow morning whatever the gravity may be. It should drop to at least 1.012 by then I expect.
There are several things that can be tested with these casks. Crash cool or not, effect of priming sugar, conditioning in the 60s or at serving temps, and differences between naturally carbonated and force carbonated beer. Any suggestions?
My questions is basically should I crash cool the mini keg before letting it warm up to naturally carbonate (I think this is what Fuller's does according to what I remember from the CYBI? interviews), or should I let it carbonate without a cold crash.
Well, just checked the gravity and it hasn't dropped at all from this mornings 1.014. I think chilling to 64 slowed (or stopped) fermentation like I was afraid of. I mashed for 90 minutes at 150 so it really should have a lower FG. Also, I tasted the sample and I think the diacetyl is too high. It's not overwhelming when tasting a small sample, but I think it would be if you were drinking pints of the beer. Now comes the tough decision. Do I warm the beer back to 68 and try to get it to drop some more and possibly clean up slightly, or do I go forward with a possibly undrinkable under-attenuated, overly-diacetyl-y beer in the name of science?
I thought that's what the mini kegs were for. Rack off some and drop it, rack off another and let it sit or whatever. Maybe I misunderstood what you were planning with these?
Warm it back up and agitate the yeast. May want to put a lid on at this point
Gravity is down to 1.013 tonight and diacetyl has reduced slightly. I'm going to give it another day or two at 64 and hope it drops another point or two. I'd also like the diacetyl to reduce just a bit more. I have to say however, the flavor is really close to what I'm looking for. Really nice maltiness and subtle pleasant esters. I think it's going to be very good.
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