I wonder about using this idea to concentrate your sweet wort without over cooking it and then doing standard non-vacuum boil with the hop additions afterwards.
Do you experiment?
- Thread starter joshesmusica
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I wonder about using this idea to concentrate your sweet wort without over cooking it and then doing standard non-vacuum boil with the hop additions afterwards.
MrFancyPlants
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Now that I think about it, I think that's how they make DME. Maybe we aren't thinking as far outside of the box as we thought.
madscientist451
Well-Known Member
Most of my experiments involve cider: Different apple combinations, using different yeasts, including wild yeast, freeze concentrating, blending of ciders with different cider or with fruit juice, beer, or adding fruit to cider in secondary. My beer experiments are all sour beers that mostly involve growing yeast from bottle dregs and using commercial sour yeast blends, and long term aging.
Tactical-Brewer
Well-Known Member
Experimentation is the name of the game with brewing right?!? I mean, that's why we started brewing is to be able to make the Beer "We" want.
But yes, I like to experiment even if I don't know what I'm doing at all.
I do plan on experimenting with dried, unsweetened fruit in my brews this summer. Maybe the last 5 min of the boil, put them in a hop bag and in the wort, and transfer them into the fermenter? Who knows. But I'm going to do it.
Tac
But yes, I like to experiment even if I don't know what I'm doing at all.
I do plan on experimenting with dried, unsweetened fruit in my brews this summer. Maybe the last 5 min of the boil, put them in a hop bag and in the wort, and transfer them into the fermenter? Who knows. But I'm going to do it.
Tac
Since I don't have a clue what I'm doing, every brew is an experiment. So far I have about a fifty percent success rate though all my brews have been drinkable. I'm very hopeful of the currently fermenting brews though!!!
OP
OP
I agree somewhat. Sure it's technically experimenting for that person if they have no idea what these hops taste like, or what this malt tastes like, personally. But that doesn't mean they can't get somewhat of an idea before brewing.
I suppose I mean with process, equipment, techniques, weird styles, ancient styles, etc. Although I'm constantly trying out hops, malts, and yeasts that are new to me, I don't really consider that experimenting in the same sense, unless they're very out there or experimental in the first place.
For example, trying a vienna/cascade smash might be experimenting for you. Throw in sourdough yeast, and now it's quite experimental, not many people trying that out. Split it in half and do different boil lengths, and now it's experimenting. In other words, I don't consider just brewing a beer like normal (mash at 152 for 60 minutes, 60 minute boil, with hop additions at 60, 30, 15, 5, flameout, chill as quickly as possible, get it in the fermentation chamber set to 19c, ferment in primary for three weeks, package) to be experimenting.
Tactical-Brewer
Well-Known Member
Haha, I hear ya! Two definitely different ends of the spectrum.
That's kind f what I meant, Soviet maybe not to that extent, but experiment with what you know and don't know until you get the beer you want/like and then it becomes more repetition then brewing.
But then you get to experiment with even your "known" replicatable beers and say "I want to put some chai just for the heck of it and see if it's any good".
But yeah, that would be some wild stuff. I do plan on experimenting with some different yeast, mixing different yeast I like and culturing the byproduct and seeing what happens on future brews. Stuff like that intrigues me
That's kind f what I meant, Soviet maybe not to that extent, but experiment with what you know and don't know until you get the beer you want/like and then it becomes more repetition then brewing.
But then you get to experiment with even your "known" replicatable beers and say "I want to put some chai just for the heck of it and see if it's any good".
But yeah, that would be some wild stuff. I do plan on experimenting with some different yeast, mixing different yeast I like and culturing the byproduct and seeing what happens on future brews. Stuff like that intrigues me
losMythos
Well-Known Member
That would make sense..Evaporating wort to a powder without scorching. I think the only way to do it is to mash hop and FWH then "evaporate" under vacuum to desired Gravity. One of the things I noticed Putting water in a vacuum at room temp is that when you take it out of the vacuum its ICE cold. would be good for getting wort to lager temps. I see no real benefit to doing this but it could be fun to try.
trying to talk SWMBO into letting me culture up her yeast to at least see what the starter wort tastes like. Just need to figure out what the best time in the cycle would be
edit: I lied, its the other way around
edit: I lied, its the other way around
I experiment with breaking myths that Ive heard about brewing.. I dont violate standards of sanitation, but I have:
Cold crashed from 72 to 38 overnight to get a beer lagering quickly.. Yeast didnt care
Added DME straight into primary to drive up ABV.. Fine
Did a mash as a BIAB in a soup pot on the stove for a half batch of Kolsch to keep from getting my mash tun out... No problems
Added filter water tap to primary without boiling to adjust volume.. Fine
Added sugar to primary and stirred gently, bottled right from primary.. Fine
Added just about anything in 1 lb increments to my cream ale recipe, to include grits, cornmeal, rye, wheat, minute rice... All turned out good
Let a mash sit for 5 hours.. Made an amazing Pilsner!!
Etc
Cold crashed from 72 to 38 overnight to get a beer lagering quickly.. Yeast didnt care
Added DME straight into primary to drive up ABV.. Fine
Did a mash as a BIAB in a soup pot on the stove for a half batch of Kolsch to keep from getting my mash tun out... No problems
Added filter water tap to primary without boiling to adjust volume.. Fine
Added sugar to primary and stirred gently, bottled right from primary.. Fine
Added just about anything in 1 lb increments to my cream ale recipe, to include grits, cornmeal, rye, wheat, minute rice... All turned out good
Let a mash sit for 5 hours.. Made an amazing Pilsner!!
Etc
This year I am trying to do as many single hop beers as possible. I have done Nelson, Amarillo, Columbus, and Ron Mexico so far. Azacca and Chinook are next (then a pilsner with only saaz).
I also split the Nelson IPA between WLP001 and WY3711. Once I get the lager x from white labs, I'm going to do a split batch with WLP860 to see the difference.
I also started using Belgian sugars for the first time, added tamarind to 2 beers (didn't add enough to the dubbel, still waiting on the sour rye), and added apricot puree to a saison.
Generally I want to gain a good understanding of what each thing adds and how to use them.
I also split the Nelson IPA between WLP001 and WY3711. Once I get the lager x from white labs, I'm going to do a split batch with WLP860 to see the difference.
I also started using Belgian sugars for the first time, added tamarind to 2 beers (didn't add enough to the dubbel, still waiting on the sour rye), and added apricot puree to a saison.
Generally I want to gain a good understanding of what each thing adds and how to use them.
Physics202
Active Member
I brew 11gal batches with a friend and split the wort into two 8gal buckets. We typically do something different with one half of the brew. Sometimes with use two different yeasts, sometimes we add oak/whiskey, sometimes fruit in one bucket, different dry hops. Always looking to experiment and learn what different things do to our beer.
I haven't experimented yet. I'm still brewing extract, and of my 3 brews, 2 were kits. I ordered another kit and it was the cheap chocolate stout kit from AHS. I am planning on experimenting with it and adding some chocolate, oatmeal, and lactose. I don't know if it's too much. I might just add the one or two and not all, but of which I'll add, I don't know. Btw I know I'll have to do a partial mash for the oatmeal, and I'm fine with that
Try adding one thing at a time, like the lactose this time. That should make it more like a milk stout. Then maybe keep that & add oatmeal to a small partial mash. One step at a time to see what making one change brings.
I am going to try something kind of Kombucha like this weekend. Going to use some blueberry herbal tea, about a pound and a half sugar and some saison yeast and see how that comes out. I think it could be yummy but wont know for sure until I try. Going to start small first, 1 gallon and then bottle carb.
OP
OP
My wife makes kombucha. I was just saying about an hour ago how next time I should make a few liters extra on my next batch (plan something not super hoppy, like a blonde or something), and then try fermenting it with the scoby. I know it won't be beer per se, but it could be interesting.
my wife does the Kombucha as well. I wanted to try something just a little different than kombucha. I will post how it turns out.. Hard Blue Berry Saison Tea. Your plan with wort and a SCOBY sounds like it might be yummy as well
OP
OP
You may want to think about putting some lactose in there. The yeast will eat up all those simple sugars, leaving it very dry and possibly "cidery."
Good thinking. How about some extra light DME?? Thought in using sugar I was trying avoid beer flavor.
OP
OP
Yeah I'm sure that would work. Though it won't necessarily be the flavor you're going for unless you do tea as well. The nice thing about wort is it already has non-fermentable sugars in it (at least for beer yeast).
For a Christmas party, I made a hard Christmas soda for the non-beer drinkers. It was only table sugar and different berries for the sugars, so I added some lactose. It came out quite nice actually. The lactose isn't as sweet as table sugar, so even though it was 1.011 for the FG, combining with about 2.8-3.0 volumes of co2 for carbonation, it came out dry and crisp and refreshing.
Thanks, I will go the lactose route.
