Recent content by jrrenola

Hi all. I made a batch of EdWort's Apfelwein a few months ago and it went right accorinding to plan - was cloudy for 4 weeks and then miraculously cleared in the 5th week. I bottled it and have enjoyed it. I decided to try again, but I decided to use Safale-04 instead of the Montrachet yeast...

Bottled this tonight in 24 12oz and 8 32oz bottles. OG was 1.058, FG was 1.024, which gives me about a 4.5% ABV. The nose is nice and chocolatey. The taste was very slightly sweet, with a pleasant roastiness, and a very subtle vanilla flavor. I can hardly wait for it to carb up! :ban:

Well, I've tried rousing the little yeasties in the bottle and storing the bottles in a warmer area. When I tried one last night, it was just as apple-y/gnarly as before. It isn't all that pleasant, but it isn't undrinkable either. Guess I'll chalk this one up to a learning experience. At...

I used the Mr. Beer spigot to pour the beer into the bottling bucket. I did my best to minimize splashing by running it down the side of the bucket. I wonder if I didn't do some impromptu aeration. In the future, I guess I will use the autosiphon to rack it.

No, it hasn't been vinegary, per se. When I brought in a sample of the Sphincter Stout to the LHBS, they noted the fruity nature and some astringency. I'm at a loss to explain the taste well enough beyond apple-y/cidery. Sorry!

OK. I guess I'm just gunshy after I thought I had done well on this prior batch. So far, my only semi-clean beer has been using White Labs WLP009 in an ESB. My other attempts have either been kits (Mr. Beer and Brewers Best) where I used the supplied dry yeast or Safale-04 pitched "dry". The...

Thanks for the responses. I'm hopeful that the stout comes out well. I would rather not have another 5 gallons of gnarly beer!

Just to clarify, I'm worried that having pitched the Safale-04 dry might be creating unnecessary off-flavors. So, would it help to hydrate another package and add it to bolster the original yeast and help the acetaldehyde (and other by-product) clean-up?

I have a separate thread about how I might have brewed "apple juice" when I was trying to brew an ESB. For clarity, there was NO apple product involved. In researching, I found that I had been misusing dry yeast. Specifically, I had not rehydrated Safale-04 in the "bad" batch and added it...

Crud, in doing some quick Googling, I think I may have an answer to how I stressed out the poor yeasts. From http://www.fermentis.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/SFA_S04.pdf Rehydration instructions: Sprinkle the yeast in minimum 10 times its weight of sterile water or wort at 27°C ± 3°C...

Yooper, I added 3 lb Marris Otter LME at knockout. I had forgotten that in the original body of the post and put it at the bottom...really easy to miss. Total Volume: 2.13 gal Boil Volume: 1 gal Steeping Grains: 0.5 lb Crystal 60L @ 155*F for 30 minutes Fermentables: 1 lb Marris Otter LME...

Wow. No takers yet. I did some digging around here on the forums for "apple". I'm thinking that I need to put this beer in a slightly warmer place. I might even roll the bottles around a bit to try to "angry up" the little yeasties back into suspension. I am getting carbonation, so I know...

1/10/2014 Well, I have sampled the beer after two weeks of bottle conditioning. It's still quite apple-y and less pleasant than at the original bottling. I know that this is an early test, but not necessarily unreasonably early. The bottle conditioning has taken place in relatively cool...

I brewed a minor variation on Saturday night. Fermentables: 6 lbs dark LME (3 lbs at beginning of boil, 3 lbs at knockout) 1 lb dark DME (at knockout) 0.5 lb lactose (at knockout) Steeping Grains: (30 minutes @ 150-155*) 1 lb Chocolate Malt 0.5 lb Roasted Barley 1 lb Quick Oats Hops: 1 oz...

Thanks! In previous batches, I've had unpleasant apple flavors and aftertaste. This one tasted just like apple juice, which was surprising, to say the least! I'm hoping that the conditioning time may help. After 4 weeks, I'm surprised at the residual sweetness, but the FG was right where...