I learned a new technique this week

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carnevoodoo

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I learned how to scrub yeast off of walls, floors, and my fermentation coolers. My blow off tube got clogged in the night and shot off like a rocket, and I ended up losing a gallon of beer to the liquid volcano that ensued. I've seriously never seen such a mess.

I learned something new! Big pile of white labs abbey IV yeast and a 1.092 wort are apparently VERY volatile!
 
Do you have a recipe for your belgian imoperial stout? I'm a planning one for Christmas consumption based on the De Dolle brothers export stout recipe in BYO earlier this year.

Belgian and Stout = heaven
 
I got yelled at this week since I missed some from my American Wheat. I am using a 1.25 inch blow-off tube in the future for any wheat beer or big beer.
 
ewwww, so did you have this mess inside your house? I'm thinking this project needs to be an outdoor one! thanks for the heads up, I'm brand new.
 
Do you have a recipe for your belgian imoperial stout? I'm a planning one for Christmas consumption based on the De Dolle brothers export stout recipe in BYO earlier this year.

Belgian and Stout = heaven

I do have a recipe. I am a fan of big, strong stouts so it is a bit more bold than the other belgian stouts I have had. I can't vouch for it, but here you go:

Note: I only got 53% efficiency with this much grain, but I also parti gyled and got another whole beer out of it.

20 lb pale 2 row
2 lb belgian chocolate
1 lb munich
1.5 lb white wheat
1.0 lb special b
1.0 lb roasted barley

1.5 columbus @60
2.00 goldings @ 10

White Labs Abbey IV yeast (cake from a previous beer)
 
ewwww, so did you have this mess inside your house? I'm thinking this project needs to be an outdoor one! thanks for the heads up, I'm brand new.

This is rare if you do it right. I've brewed 190 gallons at this point (one year in) and this is a first. My blow off tube has never been cloged before and most beers aren't this big. :)
 
ok....Big stupid question from the Big Kahuna...
You got beer #1 (belgian imperial stout) out of the grain.
Then you rinse the grain again to get another beer? Obviously with a lower gravity...Same style, just not as "BIG"? or more like a darker session?

I do intend to learn more about AG, but I reeeeelllly need to master the Extract first...and I'm about 2 active years (10 Calendar Years) into it...and I'm not even close to a master.
 
Yes with that type of brewing you get two different beers. The second is obviously, as you said, the same grain bill as the first. But, it is common to add more specialty grains as well as adjuncts, different hops, yeast and fermentation temps to create a totally different beer. So the gravity can be the only, or just one of the differences.
 
Yes with that type of brewing you get two different beers. The second is obviously, as you said, the same grain bill as the first. But, it is common to add more specialty grains as well as adjuncts, different hops, yeast and fermentation temps to create a totally different beer. So the gravity can be the only, or just one of the differences.

yeah. the first one was 1.092, the second about 1.040. The second beer came out lighter in color, I hopped far less (obviously) and I used the Dry English yeast from White Labs on it, so it will be an entirely different beer. I didn't add any different grains to it or anything.

I am also considering racking tje second one onto raspberries. But we'll see.

the first parti gyle I ever did was with a barley wine I did (came out to 11.86% alcohol!) and the second was a porter. I added a few malts to get the profile I was looking for and went for it. Turned out pretty awesome too. In fact, I think it was better than the barley wine I made.
 
You'll get there. This was a very active style of yeast and probably WAY too much of it. I've never seen a blow off tube get clogged like that before. Don't sweat it.

I 2nd the "way too much" statement. Although you're not brewing a "Belgian style", apparently you do want the character of the Belgian yeast. Some/a lot of the aromas and flavors will come from yeast growth. By pitching on a full cake, you won't get much yeast growth, so you'll end up with more of a neutral-tasting brew.

The book "Brew Like a Monk" is a great reference for fermentation with the Belgian strains. There's a section where the author discusses yeast pitch rate, specifically under-pitching, and how that affects flavor development. He doesn't advise under-pitching, but he does advise controlling your yeast and keeping them from getting out of control.
 
I 2nd the "way too much" statement. Although you're not brewing a "Belgian style", apparently you do want the character of the Belgian yeast. Some/a lot of the aromas and flavors will come from yeast growth. By pitching on a full cake, you won't get much yeast growth, so you'll end up with more of a neutral-tasting brew.

The book "Brew Like a Monk" is a great reference for fermentation with the Belgian strains. There's a section where the author discusses yeast pitch rate, specifically under-pitching, and how that affects flavor development. He doesn't advise under-pitching, but he does advise controlling your yeast and keeping them from getting out of control.

Yup. And I let the temps get higher to impart more of the character I knew I'd be losing in the development. I should have pulled some out still, but the cake wasn't as big as I had seen a lot of them before and so I went for it. I think this is a learning process for all of us.

I also think I'll read the rest of that book today. It is sitting right next to me as I type.
 
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