Search results

I would say mash pH or Calcium levels might be too low. Calcium helps yeast flocculation. As soon as I started paying attention to water treatment my beers became dramatically clearer.

That's what I used when I actually did a decoction. In case the OP is interested here was my procedure.

I usually use about 2.5%, but you could use a little more, it all kind of depends how malty you want it and the color you're going for in the end. This was the grain bill for my Helles, which had a nice malty character to it. 8.5 lb - German - Bohemian Pilsner (85%) 0.75 lb - German -...

They use Brett exclusively for their fermentation, that doesn't mean there isn't bacteria as well. I'm just going based off of the taste of Vielle, but I do know that Crooked Stave lowers their mash pH to I think about 4.5. I think Chad uses acid to do that, but the acidity in Vielle to me...

I personally would mash a little lower, but I like my beers on the drier side. Also if you want some grainy flavor I recommend Melanoidin malt. I use it because I'm too lazy to do a decoction. The biggest thing is to monitor your fermentation. Pitch cool and keep an eye on your gravity so...

Throw them right in the fermenter. If there were issues then all dry-hopped IPAs would be infected.

I treat all my 100% Brett beers like I do sacc beers, only I generally build up a larger starter, give it more time, and don't aerate the wort much. Beyond that they attenuate in a normal amount of time and I bottle condition with priming sugar like I always do.

Brix to SG is not linear so when using your refractometer don't use the SG side. As stated before refractometers are not set up to measure wort, but rather wine so they don't accurately correlate between brix and plato. In order to do that you will need to determine your corrective factor. Take...

I've used Vielle dregs before. I'm pretty sure there is lacto in there, but I do know there are multiple strains of Brett. Chad has selected different strains for their different profiles and uses them together instead of a single strain. But if you're looking for just Brett then Crooked stave...

There wouldn't have been much noticeable activity from Brett in secondary, besides the formation of a pellicle. Your beer also probably won't be all that sour since you're not using any bugs.

I've used both before. I wasn't pleased with the flavor profile from the nibs, but they do produce chocolate aroma. I really liked the cocoa powder that I used however. It gave a nice bitter dark chocolate flavor. I used it in the mash and at the end of the boil. If you choose to use cocoa...

You might also want to check your Consecration batch as well. I'm not positive but I think they switched to bottling with wine yeast.

If it's glass and you have good cleaning and sanitation practices you should be fine. I often switch between clean and wild beers reusing glass and plastic carboys without any infections (unless I'm lazy, but then I know that going into it and expect infection).

I live in Texas, it doesn't get cold, but it does get hot ;)

Mine generally produces a krausen, however, I guess it is possible for you to miss it. Are there any markings on the side of your flask from krausen? It could have to do with a longer growth phase rather then a short growth phase and going into fermentation. How long before you make a starter...

This shouldn't be an issue unless you're dumping post fermentation samples back into the carboy, but I wouldn't recommend doing that anyway.

True, they will, but if you think about it, that will happen in secondary too so racking won't eliminate that problem. I think Raj Apte (sp) actually determined that the O2 transmission through a bung was similar to a 55G barrel. I think its a slow transmission that's key because its "fuel" for...

Leave them and be patient.

I don't think racking is necessary and in fact could lead to more oxidation then the headspace issue. I've left a sour in primary for 20 months before without any signs of acetic acid. There should be a nice layer of CO2 from fermentation to protect it. I also feel that leaving the beer on the...