Different fermentation explanation?

[Jaredm2525]

Since I'm a big fan of IPAs, I made three 1 gal single hop brews this weekend with Cascade, Columbus, and Simcoe to compare. I used the same recipe in each, only changing the hops. After 24 hour of fermenting, the brews look completely different (photo attached). The Cascade and Columbus still have "stuff" floating while everything sank to the bottom in the Simcoe. I honestly don't know what the "stuff" is, and it was there before I pitched the yeast. Sugars? To get to the point, why do each look so different when I feel that I only made a small change between each? Is it the Simcoe hops? The wort cooling (each took around 30 min)? The extract? They're all at 66 deg 24 hours into the fermentation.

Ingredients
1 lbs, 4 oz light DME
60 min - .2 oz Cascade, .08 oz Columbus, .08 oz Simcoe
30 min - .2 oz Cascade, .08 oz Columbus, .08 oz Simcoe
0 min - .2 oz Cascade, .08 oz Columbus, .08 oz Simcoe
1/3 pack of US-05 in each.

 

[Pkrd]

Looks like cold break.

 

[Jaredm2525]

The two on the left look like cold break? They all took the same time to cool, so how could they be different?

 

[FatDragon]

I'm guessing the Cascade and Columbus brews had the extract added earlier in the boil? That could account for the difference in color, as it would darken somewhat. The floaty stuff looks like cold break material, not sure if it's normal to have it still floating around a day after pitching - I brew in buckets so I don't see stuff floating in my beer until I bottle or dry-hop. Either way, it should flocculate out before the beer's done.

You're going to want to dry-hop these, incidentally. Especially the Columbus and Simcoe brews. You adjusted your bittering additions so that all three brews will have roughly the same IBUs, but your late addition should be roughly the same in all three brews because it's not adding bitterness but rather flavor and aroma, which aren't affected by AA%. I would have suggested something more like half an ounce at the zero minute mark for those brews; .2 oz in the Cascade will give you a bit of flavor and aroma, but .08 oz in the other two will be almost unnoticeable. Try dry-hopping these for a few days after fermentation is complete with a third or half ounce of their respective hops so you can really get a feel for the hops.

 

[Jaredm2525]

Yeah, I did adjust for the IBUs, but I don't know much about how the flavoring and aroma would work. Thought I'd try it and see what happens. I am planning on dry hopping.

I added the extract right at boil for all three, so I'm not sure if that's the reason. When I shook them all up after pitching the yeast yesterday, they all looked the same color. They're all fermenting just fine right now, just look different.

 

[eadavis80]

So you did 3 different 1-gallon extract boils yesterday to conduct this experiment? How long did it take you? I did my 2nd 1-gallon batch yesterday and I think it will be my last. Even though mine was all-grain, I just don't think it's worth it to do all the steps of brewing to have to wait 1.5-2 months to get 10 beers out of it. Good luck with your IPA experiment though. You should learn a lot about those hop profiles.

 

[Jaredm2525]

It took about 4 hours since I did all extract, and I'll get around 30 beers. I live in beer hell (Korea) and can't buy single hop beers. Anyway, it's fu to brew.

 

[FatDragon]

It took about 4 hours since I did all extract, and I'll get around 30 beers. I live in beer hell (Korea) and can't buy single hop beers. Anyway, it's fu to brew.

China here, not sure what the beer scene's like in Korea, but I imagine they're pretty similar. There's a limited supply of good stuff available if you know where to look, but it's expensive, usually a bit old (not good for IPAs), and had to track down. Good that you can get extract, though - we're just starting to get it available here for reasonable prices.

Good luck on the brews. I suspect the color difference I was noticing was mainly due to the lighting. The floaties were almost certainly cold break and nothing to worry about. Brew on, fellow East Asia homebrewer!