johnnychicago
Active Member
I just had a mini flash of genius that I thought I'd share:
My girlfriend and I have been talking for some time about brewing a beer that's flavored with edible flowers. We finally decided on a simple Belgian Witbier recipe and began narrowing down our list of flowers. While discussing this, I an idea came to me.
Whenever I add post-fermentation ingredients i.e. cocoa nibs, vanilla beans, etc. I try to split the batch and try part of the beer clean and part with the flavorings. With only a couple of carboys, this always slowed down my rate of brewing and held up other beers. I realized that the answer was...minikegs!
I have 4 minikegs from Bell's brews that I've used a couple of times for bottling, but I never used them for their full potential. These minikegs will collectively hold a full batch. I can brew one 5 gallon Wit and ferment in out in a primary. Then I can put 4 different flowers in each of the minikegs and fill 'em up, carb them and I have 4 variations to sample.
I'm pretty excited to think of what else I can do with this discovery:
The options are endless.
I realize that the downside is that the minikeg would have to be drunk fast, but that actually has a silver lining. I can throw a party and have all my friends try the variations side-by-side and vote for their favorite. BAM! Instant feedback; now I know what to brew a full batch of!
This may not seem like such a big deal for folks with lots of free fermenters, but for me, this is an exciting discovery.
Anyone else come to this or a similar realization? Anyone else going to try this? What other variations do you think I should try next?
My girlfriend and I have been talking for some time about brewing a beer that's flavored with edible flowers. We finally decided on a simple Belgian Witbier recipe and began narrowing down our list of flowers. While discussing this, I an idea came to me.
Whenever I add post-fermentation ingredients i.e. cocoa nibs, vanilla beans, etc. I try to split the batch and try part of the beer clean and part with the flavorings. With only a couple of carboys, this always slowed down my rate of brewing and held up other beers. I realized that the answer was...minikegs!
I have 4 minikegs from Bell's brews that I've used a couple of times for bottling, but I never used them for their full potential. These minikegs will collectively hold a full batch. I can brew one 5 gallon Wit and ferment in out in a primary. Then I can put 4 different flowers in each of the minikegs and fill 'em up, carb them and I have 4 variations to sample.
I'm pretty excited to think of what else I can do with this discovery:
- Stout base split between lactose/vanilla/cocoa/cinnamon
- Saison with four different cooking spices
- IPA with 4 different dry-hop strains
- High ABV brew with oak cubes soaked in bourbon/rum/rye whisky/scotch
- If I want to brew 4 individual 1.3g batches (from 1 mash) I could even do single malt/hop/yeast beers (as long as I ferment in the minikeg)
The options are endless.
I realize that the downside is that the minikeg would have to be drunk fast, but that actually has a silver lining. I can throw a party and have all my friends try the variations side-by-side and vote for their favorite. BAM! Instant feedback; now I know what to brew a full batch of!
This may not seem like such a big deal for folks with lots of free fermenters, but for me, this is an exciting discovery.
Anyone else come to this or a similar realization? Anyone else going to try this? What other variations do you think I should try next?