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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...

I know that to brew a big beer, you need a yeast that can tolerate high-gravity wort. Conversely, is there any issue with using a big yeast (i.e. WLP500) in a smaller beer (i.e. a Belgian ale somewhere in the 5-6% ABV range)? I understand that the yeast could easily ferment the wort, my...

Update: Beer has been in bottle for five days, couldn't resist cracking one to get an early sample. Actual FG was 1.010. It's fully carbed. Beautiful color, subtle orange aroma, I assume from the kveik and also the amarillo. Light body, very refreshing. Flavors are pretty understated. Some hop...

Thank you, that's a good idea. And yeah, I imagine there will be a lot of tannins, I'm definitely flying blind here but should be an interesting learning experience

I was wondering about that - might it not be good to have whatever microbes are on the pomace be introduced to the beer? I'm fine with some funky complexity, but am I just risking ruining the batch that way? Would I sterilize by boiling? I don't want to ruin whatever flavors are left in the...

Just a glass carboy. I'm not set up to use CO2, but hopefully I could just drop it in without risking too much oxidation (at least better than racking to secondary, I hope, although there will be headspace...). Thanks!