Recent content by henchman24

I find it works really well for bigger beer, but I'm fairly lazy on actually making big starters. When I actually make starters, I do the same. I make a ~2l starter and pull off a smaller mason jar off to store for the next go round. Works like a charm and don't have to deal with washing yeast...

This doesn't apply in this case, but I would add that if you dry hop the first batch, that can carry over to the next beer as well. This can also be a really nice method to build up yeast for bigger beers without the hassle of a starter. I will make a Helles/Pils or similar and then step up to...

I agree with this. Kveik has been marketed as super clean, but it seems to have a noticeable flavor in most strains. Some are more citrusy, some are cleaner... all have a bit of an acidic twang. I rather like Voss for hoppy beers and prefer it hot to bring more citrus to the forefront. I like...

I have 5 beer taps that I rotate through. My wife will drink occasionally and I'm a ~2ish a night person mostly. If friends come over, taps can drain quickly. 2 are dedicated to sours... those tend to last a while (~3 months) as it is just hard to slam 4-5 a night, even when you want to get...

Safe is the whole amount. I'd probably pitch 1/4 cup. If you really want to stress the yeast... couple teaspoons or a tablespoon.

Kveik is about as hardy as it comes, and incredibly small pitch rates still work out well. 3/4 cup is more than enough for Hornindal to do its job.

Most breweries have to follow the trends to keep crowds coming in. Sadly that leads to some really poor examples of the current trendy beer styles out there. Outside of a few select places, the 'hazy ipas' around me are pretty much garbage. Just oxidized, old hop, sticky sweet messes of beers...

Agreed, and especially so here in the US where craft breweries running these shows don't have super old buildings filled with microbes that the brewery has decades of experience with. Yup I've never had one of my spontaneous beers ever be great on its own. Passable, and one was even good...

I personally wouldn't use citric acid, but I don't imagine it would cause a real issue. Lactic acid in the concentration to get to 4.5 pH will be small in the complexity of a spontaneous beer... and will be one of the main acids produced by the bacteria anyway. There might be a minimal flavor...

Sounds likes a similar experience to a couple of mine. Probably a different yeast/s taking off as they build up numbers. It is really the safest way to go, especially on a spontaneous attempt. If you get below 4.5, you're pretty much in the clear... 4.3 is definitely in the clear. There are...

Did you pre-acidify? What is the current pH? How are you talking the gravity readings? If you pre acidified into the mid 4s and/or it is below the 4.3ish range now, you're as safe as it basically gets in spontaneous fermentation. One of my first 'successful rounds' of spontaneous fermentation...

My favorite method is to use ~3oz of beans (each coffee is a bit different). Grind 1/3 fairly course and leave 2/3 whole. Drop into the fermenter for a minimum of 12 hours and a maximum of 24. I always go to taste and this really gives a full coffee flavor without hitting some to of those green...

Fact or Fiction – Botulism in Beer? Part V - Sui Generis Brewing That is backed with growth rates elsewhere that are more hospitable than wort that has dissolved oxygen (hopefully), alcohol being produced, and a PH that should quickly drop. https://aem.asm.org/content/aem/62/8/3069.full.pdf

Yeah most certainly hopped vs not has a part to play here. I'd be curious to know initial ph, post fermentation ph, fermentation lag/time, etc. If the Kviek took off as it normally does and there was nearly a complete fermentation in a day or so, it would be hard for most bacteria to produce a...

I totally get what you're saying and why... and nobody should be tasting that beer as it sits or if it smelled the same after more fermentation. It very likely would end up a dumper. With that, the vomit smell is likely butyric acid from some sort of bacteria and it can be converted by other...