Just curious, which yeast is the Augustiner yeast? Augustiner Helles is about the best beer in the world imho...
Thanks for the reply. I'll be making a Festbier using augustiner yeast. I'm going to shoot for the 40-50 mg/l SMB.
I've perused through the festbier recipes on the GB forum, but one thing that has me seeking out the "it" is an imported festbier I had at a German bar last fall (it was very fresh). Had this amazing toasted grain flavor - mind blowing. Any ideas what malts would contribute that profile to a traditional festbier recipe? My past non lodo attempts have not got me even in the same universe.
Just curious, which yeast is the Augustiner yeast? Augustiner Helles is about the best beer in the world imho...
So with my house IPA that I did as much LODO process as was able to be done on my gear, I did notice a bit more maltiness in the beer and *maybe* the hoppy-ness was a bit brighter, but for the most part, it was the same beer as I remember it being.
This IPA is always a house hit, everyone loves it but the folks I gave it to this time around did not notice any difference from the numerous times they have had it before.
It also does not stay on tap long at my house before its gone so it will be hard to see if it holds up over time..lol
I have a LODO Octoberfest that I currently have spunding in the keg atm so we will see if this gets more of the LODO benefit as its probably more geared to the style needed to get the max bennies from LODO.
Its also the first LODO beer I have spunded in the keg to clean the beer up O2 wise in the keg post racking.
So far, my results have not been anything earth-shattering from what I am used to making but will continue to tighten up on my process and with going completely sealed post boil until it hits the glass I know will help with the O2 exposure.
Still traveling down the LODO road.
Ive brewed several LODO IPAs at this point and I honestly see no difference. IMO because of how heavily hopped the style is the difference is just non perceivable. On the other hand, I do notice a difference in less aggressively hopped styles. Personally its the tight cold side practices that makes great IPAs. Your trying to hold hop freshness. Lose that in an IPA and who really cares about the malt anymore?
Sounds pretty lame. Looking forward to seeing the process. From what I could tell from the video screenshot you have lots of nice equipment.
I can't really help with any specifics of German beers because I'm not smart enough in that regard, sorry. I will say that toasted malts (e.g., victory, amber, biscuit, even pale chocolates) come across very well, very powerfully in the finished beer - so a deft hand is helpful. An example of what I'm driving at is that 8-12 oz of victory in a regular, non-low oxygen recipe might be replaced with 2-4 oz of victory in a low oxygen beer to achieve the same general level of toastiness.
If you can find out the festbeer you tried last fall then someone with more recipe guidance might be able to help you out. Sometimes the easiest way is to call the bar and ask about "that awesome, toasty german festbeer" you had at their place last fall - sometimes you'll only get a brand/name but that's a starting point.
I think that the unique hop character of NEIPA is entirely due to low-oxygen hopping techniques (hop stand post boil, dry hopping during active fermentation) and minimizing O2 pickup post-fermentation to a much more obsessive degree than most.
http://www.********************/brewing-methods/a-low-oxygen-brewday/
There it is.
This is interesting because my experience has been different. I've made my house IIPA once using LODO and I could tell a vast difference in the hops. They were brighter and more pleasant somehow. And the shelf life of the wonderful hoppiness was improved.
I think that the unique hop character of NEIPA is entirely due to low-oxygen hopping techniques (hop stand post boil, dry hopping during active fermentation) and minimizing O2 pickup post-fermentation to a much more obsessive degree than most.
damn dude. that's a hell of a set up.
With all the hub bub around low oxygen brewing and how it doesn't really fit into the normal forums(or does but under tons of scrutiny). We threw up a new forum off our site. It will be dedicated to all the is low oxygen brewing. Nothing style exclusive, any and all are welcome!
http://www.********************/forum
Bryan
... If so would beer gas be a better alternative for pushing?
Thanks, its only the beer it produces that matters!
Do you guys take any measurements during the mash (for those that don't have super fancy setups)?
I'm now on my third batch of just trying to dial in a process of minimal splashing. (I've explained that I'm just hoping to see some results, even though I'm not going full-on LoDo just yet.) On two of those three batches of pouring the grain gently straight into the water and then gently stirring and checking for dough balls, I've experienced that even 30 minutes into the mash, it seems that the grain isn't quite having all of the expected chemical reactions, and is quite a bit lower than expected. Today I extended the mash to 90 minutes in order to attempt to counteract this. Numbers were a bit low, but very close. So it seemed to have worked. But I just can't seem to stir enough with this approach.
Anybody else that doesn't have any kind of recirculating mash experience this?
So I've been looking at this extensive post and while I'm skeptical I'm willing to consider implementing a test batch.
I have for the most part the set up needed.
RO water
The ability to condition the malt pre milling.
The ability to pump treated preboiled water to underlet the mash.
I can do a single no sparge mash in my 30g mash tun. I can recirc to maintain and ramp temps. I will need to ditch the blichmann auto sparge but could build a bulkhead that would allow me to recirc to the ss brewtech recirc manifold under the surface of the mash and keep splashing to a minimum. I can look into making some type of cap to limit headspace above the mash.
I can limit the level of the boil to a simmer.
I have temp controlled conical fermentors and can transfer under co2 to purged kegs as described, I do not have spunding valves as yet but I can look into this.
Do you have information regarding the use of a stainless steel counter flow chiller? I'm assuming a whirlpool is a no no but it seems that any o2 picked up post boil will be scavenged by yeast in the same manner that it is while aerating with o2 after pitching the yeast. Thats assuming the cooling is rapid and the transfer is fast.
A SS counterflow and whirlpool setup are all fine as long as you keep any oxygen incorporation to a minimum (recirc output ends should be under surface of wort to minimize aeration). Keeping O2 pickup minimized while the wort is hot is key as the oxidative reactions occur more quickly while hot. Any O2 pickup towards the end of chilling will be quickly scavenged by yeast.
It seems the dry hop is a challenge as I would be opening the fermentor to add hops. If done while still fermenting is this enough to scavenge o2 introduced during the dry-hop?
Yes, if done while fermenting then you have yeast to help scavenge any introduced O2.
Has anyone looked at the use of an ss brewtech or sabco bright tank? You could push the beer to the bright tank (purged) before FG is achieved, and have a larger surface to collect the final yeast dropping out. Then serve or push to the keg? If so would beer gas be a better alternative for pushing?
Sounds cool, but really expensive. I've never looked into this method but I'm sure someone has. Maybe they'll chime in.
Please let me know your thoughts
Cheers
Do you guys take any measurements during the mash (for those that don't have super fancy setups)?
pH and gravities are all I take. I don't have (or plan on buying) a DO meter.
I'm now on my third batch of just trying to dial in a process of minimal splashing. (I've explained that I'm just hoping to see some results, even though I'm not going full-on LoDo just yet.) On two of those three batches of pouring the grain gently straight into the water and then gently stirring and checking for dough balls, I've experienced that even 30 minutes into the mash, it seems that the grain isn't quite having all of the expected chemical reactions, and is quite a bit lower than expected. Today I extended the mash to 90 minutes in order to attempt to counteract this. Numbers were a bit low, but very close. So it seemed to have worked. But I just can't seem to stir enough with this approach.
I'm not sure what "chemical reactions" you'd expect to visually see happening, but I also don't SEE chemical reactions taking place in my MLT/BK. As BIAB brewer, I simply lower my bag with crushed grain into the strike water slowly (takes maybe 3-4 minutes) so the water can move into the grain mass using capillary action; this has resulted in minimal (usually none) doughballs. Also, as a non-recirc brewer, I have to included a couple stirs during my mashing. I stir at beginning, midpoint, end of mash steps, and during remping. This is done with minimal effort and focus is on not incorporating air/o2 into mash; so it's slow and gentle. Assuming you mean your gravities are "quite a bit lower" then expected I would say that you need to incorporate a little bit of additional stirring and you should see that issue go away. The first couple batches I did with this method didn't include any stirring and I saw a hit of 15-25% on efficiency; once I added back a minimal amount of stirring the issue went away. I've actually seen a net GAIN of 1-2% efficiency since moving from batch sparging to no-sparge BIAB.
Anybody else that doesn't have any kind of recirculating mash experience this?
Measurements of what? DO? SG? pH?
If its efficiency you are referring to, you'll need to stir (gently) a few times during your mash, just like you would for a normal HiDO mash.
I lost about 10% efficiency when i switched to LoDO but i'm still trying to determine if its LoDO, or something else. I had to change a lot all at once so the verdict is still out.
Also i think of us are doing step mashs so we're doing 90-120 minute mashes already.
^^this is how I'm approaching this methodology right now. The gist is you WILL need to do some minimal stirring, and just focus on not splashing/aerating the wort when you do so.
Ok, so it turns out that some guy here bought a 25kg (!!) sack of sodium metabisulphite. He's basically sending it around to anybody that wants some if they pay the cost of shipping. So I can get about 200g for about $6. Seems like a good-enough deal, as if my bath is right (25mg/l * 30l per batch = 750mg/batch - 200g/.75g = ~266 batches worth = ~2 cents per batch).
So in other words, I could go almost full-on LoDO, with the exception of fermenting in a keg. Would a second-best option, then, to be able to do a closed transfer post-fermentation to a starsan purged keg with priming it in the keg?
So in other words, I could go almost full-on LoDO, with the exception of fermenting in a keg. Would a second-best option, then, to be able to do a closed transfer post-fermentation to a starsan purged keg with priming it in the keg?
So in other words, I could go almost full-on LoDO, with the exception of fermenting in a keg. Would a second-best option, then, to be able to do a closed transfer post-fermentation to a starsan purged keg with priming it in the keg?
Has anyone used Vicant before? https://www.abvickers.com/vicant/
Lallemand describes it as "An antioxidant and anti browning agent designed to enhance flavor and colloidal stability in beer. Vicant supplies sources of sulfur dioxide and ascorbate. The active components function in two ways, by scavenging dissolved oxygen and blocking staling reactions. It slows down the formation of off flavors, typically described as paper or cardboard by binding causative carbonyl compounds, particularly trans-2-nonenal."
I'm interested. Is there an online retailer for this? I did a quick search but found nothing.
Do you have two kegs? You can ferment in a keg, then pressure transfer to a serving keg. I do it all the time.
I used Brewtan B for the first time on a LoDO Helles this weekend and it was interesting... still too early for a definite verdict but some notables:
1. The copper IC normally comes out of the kettle bright clean copper new. It came out dull this time. Never seen that before in my life.
2. When i added the BB to the boil with 5 minutes to go i had what appeared to be a second hot break. I was super excited it looked like it was working some magic, but a few minutes later the wort turned hazy as hell.... like NE IPA hazy. Normally after the chill down everything settles out and i have crystal clear wort. Not so this time. Even after a few hours in the cold the wort didn't clear. Hoping its not permanent as it would be a damn shame to ruin a 15G batch like that.
No whirlfloc or Irish moss? Admittedly its been a bit since I read the details on Brewtan B but I remember getting the impression it wasn't a stand alone clarifier. I thought it was more about metallic ions in the wort and something about Fenton reactions.
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