Recent content by Zwerg

Not really trying to criticize American brewers, it's not that they're lazy. But I've been led to believe (mostly from my own reading) that German brewers are obsessive and single-minded about traditional technique and hyper-precision in a way that I think most US craft brewers, who spend the...

Yes, I wonder how much the power of those ancient brands is affecting my judgment. And your point about freshness is a good one too - I haven't gone to Bavaria to drink those beers at their freshest. Still, my feeling is it's either water, malt, or even maybe even brewing technique... I know...

Well, maybe not a LOT, but it's definitely a trend I've noticed out here. IPAs still dominate but there are interesting developments in other directions. Your aldehyde idea is interesting, that could be what I'm talking about. I don't think these brewers are considering this to be an "off"...

I am a big fan of German and English beer styles. I drink a lot of imports, but I've noticed that a lot of American craft breweries are moving away from their IPA obsession and brewing more and more German-style lagers. I also make an effort to try stouts, milds, bitters, etc., when I see them...

These are all good points, can't argue with that logic. Frankly, the project was mostly conceived by my other two friends (incl. the winemaker, who makes spontaneously-fermented natural wine and has a pretty good understanding of Brett and other microbes) and I joined later, so I haven't...

Thanks! Very helpful information. Re: the barrel, I don't know yet - if you think we will need to pitch additional brett culture, I will look into that. Based on what my winemaker friend has said, there should be a lot of cultures living in a used wine barrel, but it would make sense to me to...

*Also posted this question in the wild/lambic subforum, but because the main part of the question is about mashing, I'm also posting here specifically to get answers about the mashing issue. My friend and I (homebrewers with limited-to-moderate experience, mostly extract and stove-top partial...

A large part of this question is about mashing, and is not specific to lambic/wild brewing, but this still seemed like the best forum for the question. My friend and I (homebrewers with limited-to-moderate experience, mostly extract and stove-top partial mash) are interested in brewing a very...

AFAIK bandaid flavor comes from phenols created by the yeast. Maybe caused by infections of wild yeast or bacteria too, but I hadn't heard of it in that context - but I'm new to this.

Thanks! I eventually cold crashed it and I have a nice layer of yeast sitting on the bottom now - just couldn't see it as it was happening. Good to know for the future.

Thanks! Okay, I'll give it some more time. Do you think I should keep it spinning for another day, or just let it stand? I've heard spinning for too long can stress/damage the yeast, but I've had it in a pretty slow speed, just enough to get a noticeable whirlpool/dimple.

Making a pseudo-märzen using WY1007. When I got to the store, I found only one smack pack left, and it was 4-5 months old. I never made starters before now, but I just bought a stir plate and 2L flask, so I figured I could try to revive the yeast. Pitched the yeast into a 1L starter about 18...

It's true, the hops aren't quite right (apparently they're strisselspalt) and it lacks something in the mouthfeel and esters. Just doesn't drink like a hefe.

Glad someone finally weighed in here. I stand by my opinion of Kellerweis (which claims to be a Bavarian-style hefe and falls way short of that flavor-wise) but I have to say I had an Old Chico the other day (Sierra Nevada's take on kristallweizen) and it was very pleasant. Not a style I often...

Hi all, I'm going to take a stab at my first stove-top partial mash. Inspiration here was Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale, I'm going to see if my LHBS has the Yorkshire Squares yeast but if not I will plan to use WLP002. Melanoidin may be out of place here, but I was noticing how similar the...