Guate Brewing

[Curtis2010]

Hey Curtis, can I please get an honest review for "Nancy Brown" once you're done with it?

Pacaya, thanks very much for sharing! I did finish both the Nancy Brown and the Sour, but unfortunaltely I was not anticipating a review so did not drink as critically as I otherwise would have. Also did not have a proper glass to use.

As I recall the brown had a noticeable sourness. At first I thought I had mixed up the sour and the brown, but then I tried the sour...wow! In genearal I liked the Brown, but I like sours. I think the sourness was a bit much and it dominated the other flavors. I would back off a bit on the sourness...maybe go for a brown ale with just a trace of sourness. This acidity is from the Nanci fruit yes?

I also found a Schwarzbier at a shop in Oakland Mall. Forget the name, but its a Wine and specialty shop.

 

[pacayaforhops]

Pacaya, thanks very much for sharing! I did finish both the Nancy Brown and the Sour, but unfortunaltely I was not anticipating a review so did not drink as critically as I otherwise would have. Also did not have a proper glass to use.

As I recall the brown had a noticeable sourness. At first I thought I had mixed up the sour and the brown, but then I tried the sour...wow! In genearal I liked the Brown, but I like sours. I think the sourness was a bit much and it dominated the other flavors. I would back off a bit on the sourness...maybe go for a brown ale with just a trace of sourness. This acidity is from the Nanci fruit yes?

I also found a Schwarzbier at a shop in Oakland Mall. Forget the name, but its a Wine and specialty shop.

Most of the acidity is from the nance fruit, and partly due to the wild yeast that came on the nance. The "super sour of throat burning death" used the same strain/s (re-used the yeast cake) but soured in a bucket for a couple of months, whereas the nancy brown soured in a keg for about a month.

Did the nance still come through or was it muted by aging (it was bottled in september)? Overall I think the märzen was the best of what I brought over.

Regarding the schwartzbier, I went to my local Paiz over the weekend and they had it in stock "Köstritzer".

 

[Curtis2010]

I did not specifically notice the nance, just the resulting acidity. Of course nance does not have a real distinct flavor.

 

[Curtis2010]

Speaking of Guate Brewing....we got into a few samples today.

Braggot. Has been conditioning in keg since January. Coming along nicely. Used an ale yeast so it finished too sweet, but very tasty when blended down a bit.

Pilsner. Stepping temp down for lagering. Went for a medium bodied pils and tastes like I hit it. Should be tasty soon. Trying out my new spunding valve on this one.

Schwarzbier. Also lagering now. Roasty with a very slight astringency....hopefully that will mellow some, but still tasty.

Some tasty things to look forward too. Will try to save some for my next trip to the City.

 

[hopbrad]

anyone have issues with using bottled water(fuente pura) in their darker beers? my stout has a sour/acidic taste on the backend. this is my 2nd stout ive made down here and they both have that twang.
the additions of coffee and chocolate hide it a bit, but its still there.
i am wondering if it is a water/ph issue and would using some well water help?

 

[Curtis2010]

anyone have issues with using bottled water(fuente pura) in their darker beers? my stout has a sour/acidic taste on the backend. this is my 2nd stout ive made down here and they both have that twang.
the additions of coffee and chocolate hide it a bit, but its still there.
i am wondering if it is a water/ph issue and would using some well water help?

I would not expect it to cause an off flavor...although some darker beers are historically brewed with water with more mineral content. I use very soft well water here. Have brewed a few stouts w out issues.

What were your ferm temps?

 

[hopbrad]

i use a cooler bag with rotating bottles. it keeps in the mid - upper 60's. s-05 yeast.

 

[Curtis2010]

i use a cooler bag with rotating bottles. it keeps in the mid - upper 60's. s-05 yeast.

Should be fine for US-05. Would not expect those temp ranges to cuase problems. Is that actual wort temp?

 

[hopbrad]

that is the air temp, i stick a thermometer in the bag. the wort is probably 5 degrees above that, especially during the first 3-4 days when fermentation is most active. so i have the ice bottles rotating 2-3 times a day to keep it as cool as possible

 

[Curtis2010]

that is the air temp, i stick a thermometer in the bag. the wort is probably 5 degrees above that, especially during the first 3-4 days when fermentation is most active. so i have the ice bottles rotating 2-3 times a day to keep it as cool as possible

Maybe a little warm for US-05, but not by much. Would not expect it to be the yeast at those temps...and I would not expect an acid/sour off flavor.

An acidic/sour taste could be bacterial contamination.

 

[Curtis2010]

Just roasted and smoked two lbs of 2 Row for the Coco Ahumado Porter recipe I'm creating.

Roasted as an Amber Malt (350F for 30 min) then smoked for 1 hour over coconut husks and nuts. Smoking temp was higher than planned (200F), but did not noticeably effect the color. Color is about right for an Amber and has a nice smoky/coco flavor.

I plan to add some shredded roasted coconut in secondary...I can almost taste it!

 

[hopbrad]

Just roasted and smoked two lbs of 2 Row for the Coco Ahumado Porter recipe I'm creating.

Roasted as an Amber Malt (350F for 30 min) then smoked for 1 hour over coconut husks and nuts. Smoking temp was higher than planned (200F), but did not noticeably effect the color. Color is about right for an Amber and has a nice smoky/coco flavor.

I plan to add some shredded roasted coconut in secondary...I can almost taste it!

Wow that sounds damn awesome! keep us posted.

I received the DME from Aseal and brewed a basic pale ale yesterday to see what were working with.
4 gallons
6 lbs DME, no steeping grains
.75 oz magnum @ 60
1 oz FF @ 15
1 oz Cascade @ 5

it looks way lighter than the DC LME. id say 5-6 SRM.
OG clocked in at 1.061

 

[Curtis2010]

Be interesting to see how that ferments. Please post the results.

 

[pacayaforhops]

anyone have issues with using bottled water(fuente pura) in their darker beers? my stout has a sour/acidic taste on the backend. this is my 2nd stout ive made down here and they both have that twang.
the additions of coffee and chocolate hide it a bit, but its still there.
i am wondering if it is a water/ph issue and would using some well water help?

No, I usually use bottled water for all my brewing needs, sour tastes could be 2 things: wild bugs or tannins, considering you used higher kilned malts; the later is more likely.

Can you please describe the mashing/sparging process for the stout? I'll see if there's any chance tannins might have come out during either one.

 

[unionrdr]

Feliz Navidad y'all! I'll be celebrating tonight with my Whiskely stout & robust vanilla porter. I hope you folks down there will have good beers & good times!

 

[Curtis2010]

Feliz Navidad a Usted también! Disfrutala!

I'm originally from Mississippi, so I liked your "Feliz Navidad ya'll". May have to use that again soon with all the Texans down here on the Rio Dulce. ;-)

 

[hopbrad]

it was an extract brew so i only steeped the specialty grains.
8 gallon batch.
I steeped the following in 5 gallons of water for 20 minutes at 160
1 lb of chocolate malt
1/2 lb black patent
1/2 lb of roasted barley

then added 3.5 gallons of water, brought up to boil. added 1/2 the extract. followed my hop schedule of a 60 min, 15 and 5 min addition. added the other half of extract and brown sugar at 15 mins.

 

[unionrdr]

Feliz Navidad a Usted también! Disfrutala!

I'm originally from Mississippi, so I liked your "Feliz Navidad ya'll". May have to use that again soon with all the Texans down here on the Rio Dulce. ;-)

My family is from Corley,WV,so it's a familiar expression to me. Def fits!

it was an extract brew so i only steeped the specialty grains.
8 gallon batch.
I steeped the following in 5 gallons of water for 20 minutes at 160
1 lb of chocolate malt
1/2 lb black patent
1/2 lb of roasted barley

then added 3.5 gallons of water, brought up to boil. added 1/2 the extract. followed my hop schedule of a 60 min, 15 and 5 min addition. added the other half of extract and brown sugar at 15 mins.

That's a lot of chocolate malt,black patent & roasted barley. I use less than 6oz of each in my porter & stout.

 

[pacayaforhops]

it was an extract brew so i only steeped the specialty grains.
8 gallon batch.
I steeped the following in 5 gallons of water for 20 minutes at 160
1 lb of chocolate malt
1/2 lb black patent
1/2 lb of roasted barley

then added 3.5 gallons of water, brought up to boil. added 1/2 the extract. followed my hop schedule of a 60 min, 15 and 5 min addition. added the other half of extract and brown sugar at 15 mins.

That's a lot of chocolate malt,black patent & roasted barley. I use less than 6oz of each in my porter & stout.

Yeah, that was a bit much on the dark malts/barley, probably extracted enough tannins to make it acidic (most tannins are precursors to gallic and caffeic acids). For future 8 gal batches, I'd recommend 1 lb darker caramel malt (80+L) for some color and less than 1 pound of dark malts/barley altogether. If you want more color, you can grind the malt/barley down to a powder or add molasses.

 

[unionrdr]

It'll likely take a while to mellow out.

 

[Curtis2010]

Yeah, that was a bit much on the dark malts/barley, probably extracted enough tannins to make it acidic (most tannins are precursors to gallic and caffeic acids). For future 8 gal batches, I'd recommend 1 lb darker caramel malt (80+L) for some color and less than 1 pound of dark malts/barley altogether. If you want more color, you can grind the malt/barley down to a powder or add molasses.

Now that I see the recipe, have to agree, lot of strong roasty stuff so maybe tannins.

What do tannins do over time? Any hope of them mellowing?

 

[pacayaforhops]

Unfortunately, they don't mellow out much, they're as oxidized as it gets. They can, however, be stripped with gelatin finings; though it takes a lot of finings to bring the taste down, or you can mask them with a bit of extract/sugar, they'll still be present though.

 

[Curtis2010]

Bummer, good to know future reference.

 

[Curtis2010]

Feliz Navidad Y'all. ;-)

Bottling some samples for Christmas Dinner. Hope to have some left on my return trip to the City.

Brew menu attached.

 

[pacayaforhops]

I also hope you have some left, I'd be looking forward to them. Let me know when you'll be back in town; I'm out of commission starting the 30th through 01/02/14, but I'll be available afterwards until the 2nd week of january. Also hope we get more people to come over this time around.

Hope you've all had a merry Christmas & will have happy new year.

 

[Curtis2010]

I think I will bottle a few samples and set them aside to make sure I have some.

My brewing season was way too short this year. Will have to work out more time on the Rio next year.

Just booked our flights today for Jan 29. Probably head to the City a day or two before. Any body up for a beer or 3 on the evening of the 28th?

 

[pacayaforhops]

I'll let you know a week or two from now, my class schedule's not showing up right now; I think I'll be done by about 7:30 PM though.

 

[Curtis2010]

OK. Just bottled 1 liter each of Pilsner, Schwarzbier, and Braggot. Tucked them away in the cooler where hopefully we will stay out of them until then.

 

[hopbrad]

Wow that sounds damn awesome! keep us posted.

I received the DME from Aseal and brewed a basic pale ale yesterday to see what were working with.
4 gallons
6 lbs DME, no steeping grains
.75 oz magnum @ 60
1 oz FF @ 15
1 oz Cascade @ 5

it looks way lighter than the DC LME. id say 5-6 SRM.
OG clocked in at 1.061

after 12 days the krausen dropped and not much airlock activity so I took a gravity reading. It came in at 1.032. so i gave it a swirl and will let the temps rise. fingers are crossed.
it tasted decent. its a bit hazy, had carbonation and a little off smell, which leads me to think fermentation is still going on.

 

[Curtis2010]

Cool. Bring a sample on the 28th if you can make it. Be interesting to see how the Aseal DME works out. Does 8PM at Cheers (Z10, Calle 13) work for you?

I just started another Braggot using home roasted/smoked grain and local honey. Will still be young by then, but probably tasty enough to sample (wort was yummy with a touch of roasty coconut taste). I think it will be sort of like a Schwarzbier Coconut Braggot (a bit roasty with coconut and honey flavors). Will leave the rest to condition while we are in Panama (till October).