I brewed an experimental recipe a few weeks ago...

[Hoochin'Fool]

@BrewnWKopperKat do you think a drop or two (per bottle) of plain old lemon juice would equal your "dash" of ascorbic acid powder?

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

@Hoochin'Fool : I don't know if lemon juice could be use in place of ascorbic acid powder.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Basic Brewing (10-19-23) is back with a Hop Sampler episode.

There is process description: heat water to 140F, add DME at 140F , heat to boil, flame-out, hop stand for 10 min , the rapid cool to pitching temperature.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Basic Brewing (10-19-23) is back with a Hop Sampler episode.

It was good to see them cycle back to these. Idaho 7 vs Vic Secret vs Nectaron.

I have been wanting to cycle back to doing these myself. It is a great way to evaluate a hop and you end up with a pretty decent Pale Ale style 6 pack of beer. The last time I made one was over a year ago. I did notice oxidation in the bottles after a few weeks that muted some of the hop flavors.

I also made a few with dry Lutra yeast. As I recall they turned out great just fermented at around 75F ambient temps. For these ones I did purge the bottle headspace with CO2, but I did not notice a difference between bottles that were purged and not purged. I have some anecdotal evident that Kveik beers are less prone to oxidation...maybe the yeast scavenges oxygen faster?

Recipe for Simcoe and Azacca Samplers.
• 1.25 gal [4.75L] Water (was a little too much, would drop to 1.15 or 1.20 gal)
• 1 lb [450g] of Golden Light Dry Malt Extract
• 0.15 lbs [2.4 oz or 68 g] Table Sugar
• 0.25 oz [7 g] Hops - boil 10 minutes
• 0.75 oz [21 g] Hops - steep 20 minute steep at 180°F [82°C]
• 2.75 g Lutra dry yeast

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

It was good to see them cycle back to these.

There was some talk at the end of the episode about brewing some two hop combinations.

Since we're on the topic of single hop beers, there a recent topic over in AHA forums (link) with links to things people did a number of years ago.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

There was some talk at the end of the episode about brewing some two hop combinations.

For the past 3 years I have had a plan to brew a series of 2 hop combo pale ales. Stuff like Citra + Amarillo, Cascade + Idaho 7, Simcoe + Centennial, Mosaic + Azacca, etc. For whatever reason, they just keep getting pushed to the side for more "exciting" beers. Most of my IPA and Pale Ale recipes feature a 2 hop combo, often with a little Columbus on the hot side.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

I have been wanting to cycle back to doing these myself. It is a great way to evaluate a hop and you end up with a pretty decent Pale Ale style 6 pack of beer. The last time I made one was over a year ago. I did notice oxidation in the bottles after a few weeks that muted some of the hop flavors.

I also made a few with dry Lutra yeast. As I recall they turned out great just fermented at around 75F ambient temps. For these ones I did purge the bottle headspace with CO2, but I did not notice a difference between bottles that were purged and not purged. I have some anecdotal evident that Kveik beers are less prone to oxidation...maybe the yeast scavenges oxygen faster?

aside: I have some "one month old" Bells Two Hearted. It's different from a 2 (or 3) month old beer.

My guess is that minimizing head space using PET bottles will be easier (and more consistent) for me. I also have some 'wine preserver' to attempt to reproduce "cap on foam". The "basement" home brew store has some styles of Muntons DME (as well as WLP001 and WLP066 dry) in stock, so I may line up couple of hop samplers and run some bottling tests on the side.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Follow-up

EC-1118 seems to work every bit as well

One of my regional online stores stocks it so I put some in the cart for the next order.

I bottled a SNPA-ish pale ale this morning; did a "split packaging" with 4 bottles of EC-1118 and 16 of CBC-1. I'll bottle condition this batch at 75F.

I will likely check the carbonation of the 'test' bottles in about a week; and then a "side-by-side" in about two weeks.

 

[Hoochin'Fool]

Never used it (EC-1118, or CBC-1 for that matter) on anything other than a big 10%+ stout. Looking forward to your side-by-side tasting notes!

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

(final) follow-up EC-1118 / CBC-1 to bottle condition a pale ale.

I didn't notice flavor or performance differences after 7 days bottle conditioning. Here's a photo from the carbonation check (note that the beer was not chilled to 40F for this photo). I'll let the remaining bottles sit at basement temperatures (58F-ish) for another week.

 

[Hoochin'Fool]

...follow-up EC-1118 / CBC-1 to bottle condition a pale ale. I didn't notice flavor or performance differences after 7 days bottle conditioning...

Being cheap pays off!
Thanks for the follow-up report!

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

let's start the new year by making a bunch of changes to a recipe & see where it goes.

Citra Blend Hop Steep
3 gal (end of boil), OG 66 FG 11 (est)
3# Muntons Amber DME; 1# Brewers Crystals; 0.5# Sugar
1 oz Citra (25 AA); 1 oz Centennial (11 AA); 20 min @ 185*
1 pkg Diamond @ 58* (room temperature)
A "healthy dose" of process changes related to oxygen (see "The Brew Files" #160).
Ferment in two Little BMBs.

Today, hydrometer sample is at FG; raised beer temperature to 70F for a couple of days.

• With a good FG measuring process, hydrometer samples never go to waste (they go to waist).
• The sample tastes like it was steeped at 185* (not 175*) and may be better with some flavor salt adjustments. I'll probably do that 'in the glass' for this batch, then revise the recipe based on what I taste.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Just putting this idea (link) ( from @Hoochin'Fool ) here so I can find it in the near future.

 

[Hoochin'Fool]

Just putting this idea (link) here so I can find it in the near future.

Wiped most of the goop/krausen from inside the test tube, and switched to a higher resolution (0.990 to 1.070) hydrometer. It's already slowed down to a crawl, but I'm hoping it'll go down at least another 10 points, 15 would be better.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

@Hoochin'Fool : I will give this a try maybe as early as the weekend (assuming the order arrives). Hydrometer samples were a 'weak spot' for a set of changes I'm making to bottle better beer. I may start posting detailed 'experimental' extract recipes late spring / early summer - as I want to brew a number of batches to make sure there's a trend.

eta: this approach also looks like an interesting way to collect SG / Brix for 'dialing in' a refractometer.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Ordered on early Monday morning, on my door step Tuesday afternoon; confirmed calibrated (1.000 in water); will likely refresh myself on techniques for calibrating refractometers. As I mentioned above, I may be back to post recipes/processes in late spring / early summer.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

coming soon? Brut IPA re-imagined

Sachet sized packages for LD-20, DA-16, DW-17, & HA-18 have been reported on the west coast.

Currently $12 for a 5 gal pitch (and it's "one and done" because "enzymes").

 

[mac_1103]

Currently $12 for a 5 gal pitch (and it's "one and done" because "enzymes").

Which is about what I paid for 5 packs of the enzyme alone. But Midwest and Northern Brewer also have them for those who want the convenience and aren't on the west coast.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

want the convenience

and we're over in one of "convenience" related forums (e.g. extract brewing).

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

@Hoochin'Fool : as I mentioned eariler, I'm "giving this a try" ..

 

[Hoochin'Fool]

This BCBS clone* is going slooooow, 3 points in 8 days, but I think it's probably just about finished. OG was 1.110, FG seems like it's going to stop at 1.035

* from Brewing Goose Island's Bourbon County Stout Clone | Secret Level Brewing

I replaced about 60% of the base malt with golden-lite-DME. Not ambitious enough to figure out how to change that recipe to no-mash, however, because of the munich. My plan is to bottle this soon (with bourbon @ 2oz per gallon of beer, and EC-1118 yeast), then hide it away until November!

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

A followup to the batch I mentioned in #170.

The color in the sample glass that I take during bottling ended up around SRM 4 (rather than the muddy amber color during active fermentation).

I'll continue to try the "fermenting hydrometer" sample over the next couple of batches.

With this bottling session, I used EC-1118 (need to finish off the open package) and will bottle condition at 75F for the first week. Typically, I bottle condition with CBC-1 and ascorbic acid. With this batch, I packaged four bottles each with the following combinations:

• sugar only
• sugar + EC-1118 (no ascorbic acid)
• sugar + ascorbic acid (no EC-1118)

It will take a couple of months to get the initial results. I'll likely repeat the experiment with a more "hop friendly" strain of yeast as well.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Recipe/process for the batch in #170/#172:

IPA (Citra Hop Steep)

Ingredients

• 3 gal (end of boil), 2.75 gal into fermenter
• 3# Muntons Extra Light DME; 1# sugar
• 0.3g Brewtan-B
• 1.5g Yeast nutrient
• 1 oz Cryo Citra (25 AA); 2 oz Citra (12.5 AA) @ 175F for 20 min
• 1 sachet Diamond Lager at ~ 58F

Brew day process

• YOS (2 g / gal at 90F for 30 min) /1/
• heat to 180F, add ingredients; 'mash cap'; hold for 20 minutes
  • ingredients dropped wort temp to 167F; accept and adjust for next recipe

Bottling process:

• Condition at 75F for around a week;
• then at room temperature (58F in winter) for a week

For this bottling experiment, I dosed individual bottles as follows:

• most bottles: sugar + EC-1118 + ascorbic acid
• 4 bottles: just sugar
• 4 bottles: just ascorbic acid
• 4 bottles: just EC-1118

Early sampling (roughly 6 days after bottling):

• As anticipated, the bottles with EC-1118 were carbonated in around 3 days /2/
• The bottles without EC-1118 required a couple of additional days.
• The "just sugar" bottles appear to be "going dark" quickly
  • Is bottle conditioning with Diamond Lager at 75F a factor?
• At the moment, the other bottles are roughly the same

---

/1/ There is also an overnight YOS option for those who want a shorter brew day session

/2/ Most styles will be better with additional conditioning

eta: updated ingredient list

 

[ncbrewer]

I tried a Schwarzbier using extract only, no steeping grains - very simple.
5 gallons to the fermenter (nothing left in the kettle)
OG: 1.0485
6.6 lbs Briess Traditional Dark LME (2 cans)
Mt. Hood hops - to get 26.5 IBU (BU:GU = 0.55)
Fermentis S-189 yeast
Used CaCl and lactic acid - dependent on your water chemistry

Boiled 2.5 gallons for 40 minutes with all the hops and half the LME
Added remaining LME and stirred
Cooled
Poured into fermenter from shoulder high to get foam on top
Added top-off water to get 5 gallons
Stirred well
Dry pitched the yeast at 65F
Dipped and poured wort back to get all the yeast into the wort - no yeast left on top of the foam
Fermented at 67F for 3 days
Raised temperature to 74F for remaining time in the fermenter

I like it a lot and plan to brew it again. (Although possibly with a different process. I'm planning to get back into all-grain brewing in a couple of months.)

Edit: Yes, this is another warm fermented lager.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Used CaCl and lactic acid - dependent on your water chemistry

Acid additions when brewing with DME/LME are rare (but I've seen them before).

What does the lactic acid addition contribute towards a better result?

 

[ncbrewer]

Acid additions when brewing with DME/LME are rare (but I've seen them before).

What does the lactic acid addition contribute towards a better result?

I got the concept from Water Knowledge. It was originally on https://sites.google.com/site/brunwater/water-knowledge, but I can't get the link to work now. Martin Brungard wrote "Water used for beers made with Malt Extract should have alkalinity under 50 ppm as CaCO3." I asked him in a HBT thread whether anything between zero and 50 is good, and he answered "Closer to zero, if you're brewing with extract."

In the Northern Brewer forum (http://forum.northernbrewer.com/t/beer-harsh-bitterness/1189/5) he wrote "Elevated alkalinity can raise the pH of the kettle wort and that can affect the extraction of tannins and silicates from any steeping grains and it makes the hop bitterness ‘rough’."

I haven't done a side by side comparison to confirm, but I'm happy with it. Now I use lactic acid in every batch.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

@ncbrewer : https://www.brunwater.com/water-knowledge is the link at the new(er) Bru'nWater site.

 

[ncbrewer]

@ncbrewer : https://www.brunwater.com/water-knowledge is the link at the new(er) Bru'nWater site.

Thanks - I'll update my file. It has some of the info that I mentioned. Under Alkalinity Adjustment: "Water used for beers made with Malt Extract should have alkalinity under 50 ppm as CaCO3."

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

I had time for a shorter brew day over the weekend, so ...

Classic Red IPA

• 2.5 gal (end of boil); OG 63 FG 13 IBU 63; SRM 15?
• Malts: 3# Muntons Amber DME; 8 oz sugar; 4 oz Simpsons DRC; 2 oz Chocolate (200L)
• Hops: 1 oz Chinook (13.7 AA) @ 30; 1 oz Centennial (10.7 AA) @ 0
• helpers: Irish Moss & Yeast Nutrient @ 5
• Yeast: Apex San Diego
• Salts: 2.0 g CaS04, 0.5 g CaCl; 0.25 g NaCl (at end of YOS)
• Oxygen Management: YOS (5 g each at 90F for 30 min) & Brewtan-B (0.3 g)

Process

• in 2.5 gal water: heat to 90F; YOS; add salts & BrewTan-B; heat to 180F
• in 0.25 gal water: Cold steep DRC & light chocolate malt while heating water to 180F
• at 180F: Add sugar/DME; sample color (SRM 8-ish?); add cold steep; sample color (SRM 15?)
• 35 min boil
• ferment @ ~ 67F

When adding the DME (@ 180F), I tried to add it slowly and uniformly across the top of the kettle. The end result was that the DME disolved before reaching the bottom of the kettle. I did give the wort a gentle stir & used my mash paddle to confirm that there was nothing stuck on the bottom of the kettle. I did not encounter clumping. Clean-up confirmed that there was no scorching. I use an 1800W inducdtion cooktop.

Observations
For future SRM estimates at this OG, I may use roughly "8 L" for Muntons Amber DME (vs "16 L" for Briess Amber DME). If the goal is "amber ale" (vs "brown ale"), there's plenty of "SRM" space for adding malt flavors.

Caution(s)
I have different "salts" additions for Briess DME and for Muntons DME. If you brew with Briess Amber DME, the above "salts" additions may result in a mineralized beer.

 

[Hoochin'Fool]

What does YOS mean?