California Common California Common- HBT Comp winner 1st place

[EO74]

I always use whirlfloc,my only thought would be that it was below 30 F so maybe it was a questionable boil ? Ohhh well it still tase great im gonna def do this on again thanks for the recipe LOVE it.

 

[Yooper]

I'm brewing this today. The HLT is heating now. I'm doing the exact recipe above.

 

[bsteab0yz]

I made this recipe but I guess I got a little impatient and left it in the primary around 63 degrees for about 2 weeks then brought it up to about 70 degrees for a few days then racked it into a keg and put it back in the basement for a few more days and now it's in my kegerator in some CO2. I pulled a pint today just to see what it was like and it's very very 'sulfury'... my question is, will this go away while in the kegerator or since I have taken it away from the yeast, will it hold this flavor forever and probably need to be dumped? My kegerator is set pretty low, so the beer is probably getting around 40 degrees. Should I just let it sit in there for a few weeks before I try it again to let the sulfur taste chill out?

Thanks in advance.

 

[John000smith]

I recently brew Jamil California Common recipe. Here is my time line. I brewed about 2 weeks ago. Prior to brewing i made a yeast starter with White Labs WLP 810. OG 1.050

I have a chest freezer I use as my fermentation chamber. Fermented at 61 degrees for 11 days. I waited until I was getting about 3 bubbles every minute. I then moved the temperature up to 68 degrees for diacetyl rest for 24hrs.

Day 12 transferred to secondary and took some yeast with me from the primary. Checked gravity currently @ 1.011

Currently in the secondary at 56 degrees.

My question is where to go from here. Since Jamil did not provide any instruction on fermentation schedule I have been following Yooper’s schedule from this original post. So do I need to let my beer finish out at 56 degrees in the secondary and then lager, or just skip lager and bottle?

What temp should I lager at? Can I lager this in the secondary or do I need to bottle then lager?

Any thought or recommendation to ensure this beer comes out great would be appreciated.

 

[marx3006]

Getting ready to try this, anyone done this as a 10 gal batch? If so did you simply double everything?

 

[KingBrianI]

Hey Yoop, I'm really wanting to brew up a steam beer this weekend but I'm having a hard time deciding between a recipe like this or your other more simple steam beer. I'd really like to just do 2-row and crystal 60, but I'm worried about not getting the complexity the other grains in this version might lend. Which recipe do you prefer?

 

[Yooper]

Hey Yoop, I'm really wanting to brew up a steam beer this weekend but I'm having a hard time deciding between a recipe like this or your other more simple steam beer. I'd really like to just do 2-row and crystal 60, but I'm worried about not getting the complexity the other grains in this version might lend. Which recipe do you prefer?

I'm not sure. I just did the Jamil's steam again, and I think it needs more bittering hops with the "toasty" that recipe provides. I think the plainer one is actually the better beer since you don't have to balance the "toasty", "malty", "bitter" "hoppy" etc. It's a tough thing to balance well, in a lager-ish beer in my opinion.

 

[KingBrianI]

Cool, I wanted to go with your other recipe and now you've convinced me that I was right!

 

[midlifecrisis]

This is my favorite recipe on HBT. I've used this exact recipe twice now and both have been outstanding beers. I did increase the Victory malt to 1 lb (I like the biscuit flavor) and my last batch I included a dry hop step with 1 oz of Northern Brewer. This gives a very nice (and subtle) extra aroma to the beer. I think I might just have to brew this again soon as I don't know how long the current batch will last.

 

[Yooper]

This is my favorite recipe on HBT. I've used this exact recipe twice now and both have been outstanding beers. I did increase the Victory malt to 1 lb (I like the biscuit flavor) and my last batch I included a dry hop step with 1 oz of Northern Brewer. This gives a very nice (and subtle) extra aroma to the beer. I think I might just have to brew this again soon as I don't know how long the current batch will last.

That sounds great- I'll have to try it with more victory malt. I like the toasty/biscuit flavor, too.

 

[Dr. Francois]

I haven't tried it but I have heard S-23 dry yeast makes a decent steam beer.

I made a California Common with S-23 and it came out great. I've never used the White Labs yeast, so I can't compare.

In general, I prefer dry yeasts for simplicity. Sometimes I end up sitting on ingredients for weeks before I get a chance to brew.

Yoop, I'm going to try your recipe for my next batch!

 

[Donner]

i tasted my beer the other night and it was slightly sweet (which i assume is from not being done fermenting) but i'm approaching my two weeks at 62. i'm going to be traveling for the next week. Should i go ahead and put the temp down to 56 or leave it at the higher temp for an additional week.

I've never used a lager yeast before and i don't know when the proper time to drop the temp is, during fermentation or after it's all done. Thanks for the help

 

[Otiluke]

Props. This is a tasty beer.

 

[elproducto]

Brewed this last night Yoop, thanks for the recipe. Hit all my numbers, and it's working away thanks to my nice sized starter.

Cheers.

 

[elproducto]

Do you need to lager a Cali Common after fermentation is done?

 

[Yooper]

Do you need to lager a Cali Common after fermentation is done?

You don't "need to" but it improves the beer in my opinion.

 

[elproducto]

Thanks Yoop.. sorry I just re-read the original post.

I was kind of hoping you'd say no.. I can't wait to drink it!

 

[elproducto]

Man.. 3 weeks and it finished a 1.008!!! Hope it's not too dry.

 

[Yooper]

Man.. 3 weeks and it finished a 1.008!!! Hope it's not too dry.

How's the sample taste?

I need to make this again- it's been a while and it sounds really good to me!

 

[elproducto]

Fairly hoppy, and certainly not as malty as I thought. I'm sure it will still be a great beer. Not sure why it attenuated so much, other than a big starter.

 

[elproducto]

Man after 3 weeks in primary, and a D-rest.. I carbed up my keg, and got some butterscotch in the aftertaste.

 

[midlifecrisis]

Out of curiosity what temp did you ferment at? Was this with WLP810?

With WLP810 I usually shoot for 60-62 for the first four-five days of active fermentation and then let it rise to 68-70 for another week or two. If the weather is cool then I secondary around 60-64 for another few weeks (I often dry hop with NB during this stage as well).

 

[elproducto]

I fermented at 60 for about 10 days, and then raised the temp to 68 for 3 days, and then returned to 60. I didn't detect any diacetyl when I sampled it, but now that it's almost carbed up it has distinct butterscotch on the finish. Not entirely unpleasant, but I would like it minimized for sure. I've taken it out and left it at room temp.

 

[elproducto]

Ok.. so after some more aging I pulled a pint and the diacetyl is gone.. but this beer is awful. I'm terrible at describing it, but it's not at all what I thought. Seems like some weird esters from the yeast, and the hops don't smell good at all. It has to have something to do with finishing out so low.. I'm wondering if I didn't get an infection of some sort.

This thing is 6 weeks old, and I don't need the keg yet so I'm going to leave it be, but if it doesn't get any better I may dump it. There is no way I would get through 5 gallons of this. Would I be better to drag it out, and let the keg warm up.. or keep it in the fridge?

I'm sure the recipe is great, but I think I just screwed it up. I have never had a California Common before, but after reading descriptions I don't seem to be anywhere close.

 

[JimTheHick]

Brewed this one last weekend.

I don't keg yet. When I bottle this beer seems like I should leave it in the basement at 60F instead of putting them upstairs at closer to 70F.

Right?

 

[JimTheHick]

Here she sits at 1.011 after 2 weeks at 58, then I did (a screwed up ?)d rest at 65 for the last three days.

Clear. Taste is oooo. Nice. No butterscotch.

 

[Yooper]

Brewed this one last weekend.

I don't keg yet. When I bottle this beer seems like I should leave it in the basement at 60F instead of putting them upstairs at closer to 70F.

Right?

Not if you want them carbonated!

Put them at room temperature for several weeks until they are completely carbed up, and then you can store them wherever you wish.

 

[JimTheHick]

Not if you want them carbonated!

Put them at room temperature for several weeks until they are completely carbed up, and then you can store them wherever you wish.

You answered me on another thread for this one. Thanks for being thorough and for the recipe!!

 

[JimTheHick]

Is 1.011 pretty high att. for this beer which for me started at 1.060?

 

[ChillWill]

I've been offered some WLP830 (German Lager yeast), would this work for a recipe similar to this? The temp range is listed as 50-55f whereas the SanFran Lager is listed as 58F-65F. Realistically I can only get down to the low 60's.

Would using the WLP830 make an estery sulphur bomb? I've got no experience with lager yeasts, closest I've done is a Kolsch.