On a few other forums, several people did tests where they compared digital probe thermometers with the probes in the middle of the fermenter and the stickons and they found very little difference between the two.
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On a few other forums, several people did tests where they compared digital probe thermometers with the probes in the middle of the fermenter and the stickons and they found very little difference between the two.
I've found mine to be as accurate as I need. Mine only have the even numbers on them, so to judge say 73 degrees, I need to interpolate whether 72 and 74 are the same intensity (they show different colors)..... but it's close enough. That's what I mean by accuracy. Now I use the probe of my temp controller as the actual measure, but my kegs still have the stick on to make sure. Trust but verify.
martinfan30
Well-Known Member
So I bought a can of "whispering wheat", A can of Oregon fruit products cherries in heavy syrup. I plan on getting a vial of White Labs yeast, and 2 pounds of wheat LME today.
Questions...
1: Is the fruit product pastuerized?
2: Has anyone used this fruit that MRB sells?
3: When do I add? Do I boil the fruit with the wort, or just dump the can into the keg?
4: I am trying to ween myself off of MRB supplies, but still use the kegs. Should I
**** can the MRB whispering wheat all together? Would 3 pounds of LME or DME work out?
Thanks a bunch fellas!
Questions...
1: Is the fruit product pastuerized?
2: Has anyone used this fruit that MRB sells?
3: When do I add? Do I boil the fruit with the wort, or just dump the can into the keg?
4: I am trying to ween myself off of MRB supplies, but still use the kegs. Should I
**** can the MRB whispering wheat all together? Would 3 pounds of LME or DME work out?
Thanks a bunch fellas!
Justibone
Well-Known Member
Haven't used the MRB-fruit-stuff before, so I can't help you with that.
I will tell you this, though: fruit is most often added to the secondary. That means that you should be racking the (mostly) fermented beer onto it, out of your MRB brew barrel into another sanitized fermenter with the fruit already in there, often with the fruit tied up in a mesh bag so it can be removed easily... but with canned fruit I honestly have no idea. I've never used fruit with the MRB brew barrel, so I'm not sure how others have done it or how it should be done.
Canned fruit is sterile, unless it specifically says otherwise. If it's in a can, and shelf stable at room temperature, you can bet on it being sterile.
If you want to make the leap from using MRB supplies, check my sig for my simple wheat recipe.
I will tell you this, though: fruit is most often added to the secondary. That means that you should be racking the (mostly) fermented beer onto it, out of your MRB brew barrel into another sanitized fermenter with the fruit already in there, often with the fruit tied up in a mesh bag so it can be removed easily... but with canned fruit I honestly have no idea. I've never used fruit with the MRB brew barrel, so I'm not sure how others have done it or how it should be done.
Canned fruit is sterile, unless it specifically says otherwise. If it's in a can, and shelf stable at room temperature, you can bet on it being sterile.
If you want to make the leap from using MRB supplies, check my sig for my simple wheat recipe.
martinfan30
Well-Known Member
Haven't used the MRB-fruit-stuff before, so I can't help you with that.
I will tell you this, though: fruit is most often added to the secondary. That means that you should be racking the (mostly) fermented beer onto it, out of your MRB brew barrel into another sanitized fermenter with the fruit already in there, often with the fruit tied up in a mesh bag so it can be removed easily... but with canned fruit I honestly have no idea. I've never used fruit with the MRB brew barrel, so I'm not sure how others have done it or how it should be done.
Canned fruit is sterile, unless it specifically says otherwise. If it's in a can, and shelf stable at room temperature, you can bet on it being sterile.
If you want to make the leap from using MRB supplies, check my sig for my simple wheat recipe.
Ok, thanks man! I just looked at the simple wheat recipe and will make that my first "transitional" beer this weekend!
Thanks!:cross:
Justibone
Well-Known Member
Either use wet yeast (more expensive), or the Danstar dry. Also, ferment it *warm*, 70F or so... "wheat likes the heat".
Minnbrew wrote:"Ok so I found a beer I would love to try and clone, I figure I could also take this to my brew shop but looking for advice here on recipe creation. I have 2 MB kegs so could do almost a full 5 gallons eventhough it says only 2 gallons each, Can I go higher than 4 gallons with fresh ingredients in the two MB kegs? Any help would be greatly appreciated. If you think the beer sounds good from below it is New World Porter by Avery Brewery in CO.
Beer Style: Robust Porter, Black IPA
Hop Variety: Columbus
Malt Variety: Two-row barley, Munich 10L, chocolate, black, caramel 120L
OG: 1.065 ABV: 6.7% IBUs: 45
Color: Black"
Do you typically use extract only or extract and grain when you brew?
Scott Birdwell
DeFalco's Home Wine & Beer Supplies
www.defalcos.com
Beer Style: Robust Porter, Black IPA
Hop Variety: Columbus
Malt Variety: Two-row barley, Munich 10L, chocolate, black, caramel 120L
OG: 1.065 ABV: 6.7% IBUs: 45
Color: Black"
Do you typically use extract only or extract and grain when you brew?
Scott Birdwell
DeFalco's Home Wine & Beer Supplies
www.defalcos.com
Darklordenron
Well-Known Member
Justibone said:Haven't used the MRB-fruit-stuff before, so I can't help you with that.
I will tell you this, though: fruit is most often added to the secondary. That means that you should be racking the (mostly) fermented beer onto it, out of your MRB brew barrel into another sanitized fermenter with the fruit already in there, often with the fruit tied up in a mesh bag so it can be removed easily... but with canned fruit I honestly have no idea. I've never used fruit with the MRB brew barrel, so I'm not sure how others have done it or how it should be done.
Canned fruit is sterile, unless it specifically says otherwise. If it's in a can, and shelf stable at room temperature, you can bet on it being sterile.
If you want to make the leap from using MRB supplies, check my sig for my simple wheat recipe.
With the simplistic mr. Beer recipes, fruit is added to the primary. With mr beer, they try to keep it as simple as possible so there is no real secondary racking. So basically, liquify the fruit in a sanitized blender and add to the wort right before agitating it in your keg. THEN add yeast and agitate again.
So the recipes instruct, anyhow. I would love to rack to a secondary soon, maybe slowly ween myself off the obnoxious prices in product as well as shipping mrb commands. It really kills me.
I wish there were a thread on how to transition from mr beer to a big boy ingredients, whilst keeping the small 2.13 gallon batch size. Instructions on exactly what to do when...Something to take the guesswork out of converting the batches, whilst taking the "scary" factor out of using other ingredients other than mr. Beer offerings. I think that would be a great stepping stone up to the more intricate offerings out there. It also isnt in some peoples space requirements to have large setups, so having a cost effective and foolproof layout would be amazing. If i were any good at brewing, i'd have started that thread already
Trying my first bottle of WCPA (doubled the HME). Spent two weeks in the fermenter and 1 week in the bottle. I knew to expect a green-tasting beer, and it DOES have a definite cidery taste to it that I expect to go away in future bottles over time, but I did not expect it to be so well carbonated by now! My swing top gave a nice pop when I opened it and the beer tastes very very good! I can't wait to see what the rest turns into.
Darklordenron
Well-Known Member
suttonjs2 said:
Today marks the two month point from when i bottled. Tastes superb now. Another week or two conditioning and it will be great. Took way too long to get rid of that flavor. All because i fermented way too hot
lesson learned! Nice job on the brew! I want to try this one again with some cascade hops and see how that turns out. I havent given up on the WCPA just yet..martinfan30
Well-Known Member
With the simplistic mr. Beer recipes, fruit is added to the primary. With mr beer, they try to keep it as simple as possible so there is no real secondary racking. So basically, liquify the fruit in a sanitized blender and add to the wort right before agitating it in your keg. THEN add yeast and agitate again.
So the recipes instruct, anyhow. I would love to rack to a secondary soon, maybe slowly ween myself off the obnoxious prices in product as well as shipping mrb commands. It really kills me.
I wish there were a thread on how to transition from mr beer to a big boy ingredients, whilst keeping the small 2.13 gallon batch size. Instructions on exactly what to do when...Something to take the guesswork out of converting the batches, whilst taking the "scary" factor out of using other ingredients other than mr. Beer offerings. I think that would be a great stepping stone up to the more intricate offerings out there. It also isnt in some peoples space requirements to have large setups, so having a cost effective and foolproof layout would be amazing. If i were any good at brewing, i'd have started that thread already
Man I am with you!!!! Tomorrow I am trying Justibones "Simple Wheat". He formulated it specifically for guys like us in this stage of our brewing lives. It's in his sig line, check it out!
Thanks for the tips on the fruit. I have a can of Oregon fruit cherries. I still have a can of HME vienna lager and a can of UME mellow amber. How do you think these three ingredients would come out with an added pound of LME or DME?
Oh, and the MR B booster ruins beer I have found. It seems to absolutely kill the body and makes beer very dry. I will ONLY be using that stuff for my Apfelwine batches.
AR-Josh
Well-Known Member
rack04 said:
It's hard to over pitch yeast. So I usually just throw the whole packet in. I've thrown as much as 11g in a 2gal batch.
Minnbrew
New Member
Scott,
I have only done MB brew kits and looking to move to another extract with DME and better yeast as well as hops. I am looking for a good recipe that will start me on a learning path with extracts and some steeping of grains and/or hops.
Tips suggestions? If the one above seems a bit ambitious then I am open to other ideas on where to start.
Thanks!
martinfan30
Well-Known Member
Justibones Simple Wheat is made for you. CHeck his sig line.
If you're going to be brewing another batch fairly soon, you can use half of an 11 gram packet. Or you can use the whole thing.
Darklordenron
Well-Known Member
martinfan30 said:
I like you. We should be friends!
I'll take a look at that recipe as brew day is approaching on Saturday..
I don't know how the added pound would effect it as i haven't had any personal experience with it, though my local hombrew dude tells me it would add body and some mouthfeel. Havent had the guts to try it yet! I completely agree about the booster. Do you happen to know what to substitute for the booster if i dont have any UME cans laying around!?
Let's tell justibone to make that thread so we all can contribute to our awesome cause!
Justibone
Well-Known Member
I would gladly make such a thread, but it's better to keep this one going. The page count is intimidating, I agree, but if you read the first 20 pages and the last 10, you get what you need to know.
Basically, all you really need to know is: it's very difficult to make a beer taste *exactly* like something. Professional breweries spend millions of dollars doing so every year in this country, and they still don't always get it right. (Watch the Dogfishhead T.V. show episode on 120 minute IPA, if you don't believe me.)
So, it's hard to make it taste *exactly* like something, but the good news is that it's easy to make it taste *good*.
Beer wants sugar. There are two kinds of sugars -- simple, and complex.
Simple sugars (like sucrose, or dextrose) are very high energy, and they give the yeast a sugar high. (Not literally -- yeast lack an endocrine system, but you get my point.)
Complex sugars, present in malt, are harder for the yeast to eat all the way to nothing, therefore leaving a bit of sweetness and body for you to taste.
The more simple sugars, the closer to _water_ your beer is going to be. The more complex sugars, the closer to _sugar_ your beer is going to be (malt). That's why the alcohol boosters thin out your beer -- they are simple sugars. That's also why it helps to heat some actual grain and put that heated mash (hot water that the grain soaked in) into your wort (pre-fermented beer). More of the complex sugars and also good proteins will make it into your beer if you start with a little bit of grain and then add a bunch of sugars (extract) to it.
So, if you keep in mind that it's a battle between simple sugars (Snickers bars for yeast) and complex sugars (hard to break down)... then you will make either clean, crisp beers or mouth-filling malty beers, whichever you prefer.
Don't use the booster in your beer, unless you want thin beer with high alcohol content. That is the purpose of the booster.
Also, try to avoid hopped extract, the same way you should try to avoid pre-seasoned grilling meat at the store. Sure, it takes away a step, but it gives you less flexibility and control. Hops are just another kind of seasoning -- add early to get some bitterness, and add late to get aroma. Easy!
But hopped extract is "no mi gusta", IMO.
Also, I've found that dry extract tastes better than syrup extract, for whatever reason. To use dry extract in a syrup extract recipe, just divide by 1.1 -- so in my Simple Wheat recipe you'd just use 3 lbs. instead of 3.3 lbs.
You can convert any recipe to MrBeer dimensions by cutting the ingredients in half, and then not adding quite as much water. It will not taste *exactly* like the recipe did for the recipe inventor... but it will be pretty close. If you fill Mr.Beer up to the 'Q', then it's 2.4 gallons -- so it should be good enough for government work.
Anyways, keep posting your questions here, or over at MRB forums... just keep making beer! It does get cheaper when you get away from the proprietary stuff, and you can also take more pride in your work. After all, what's better than sitting back at the end of a hard day's work and drinking a beer you made yourself?
...Drinking it with your wife, really... if you happen to like her. I like mine, so, that's the best ending to a day I usually get.
Justibone
Well-Known Member
The number one thing you can learn how to do to help you make better beer -- if you already have good sanitization and temperature control -- is to do PARTIAL MASH. Read up on how to do that (it's almost exactly like making tea, or soup), then you will be able to make any recipe better.
Making a Pale Ale? Add 2 oz. of Crystal 10L and some extra aroma hops!
Making a Halloween Brown? Add 4 oz. of Crystal 40L for extra color and mouthfeel.
Brewing a Chocolate Stout to give out as Christmas gifts? (Pro-tip: the time to do your Christmas brewing is actually in October at the latest, ) If it's a Mr. Beer or other extract kit, just add 4 oz. of Crystal 60L and 1 oz. of melanoidin or chocolate roasted grain into your mash, and you have a very-much improved beer.
You don't have to go to 5 gallon buckets, or all grain, to be a "real brewer", the same way you don't have to have a Viking range to be a real cook. Beer is easy, and good beer is only slightly harder than that.
Making a Pale Ale? Add 2 oz. of Crystal 10L and some extra aroma hops!
Making a Halloween Brown? Add 4 oz. of Crystal 40L for extra color and mouthfeel.
Brewing a Chocolate Stout to give out as Christmas gifts? (Pro-tip: the time to do your Christmas brewing is actually in October at the latest,
) If it's a Mr. Beer or other extract kit, just add 4 oz. of Crystal 60L and 1 oz. of melanoidin or chocolate roasted grain into your mash, and you have a very-much improved beer.You don't have to go to 5 gallon buckets, or all grain, to be a "real brewer", the same way you don't have to have a Viking range to be a real cook. Beer is easy, and good beer is only slightly harder than that.
martinfan30
Well-Known Member
I like you. We should be friends!
Done!
Thanks Justin! I am getting ready to start your simple wheat recipe right now! I'm excited cuz it's my first "Real ingredient" batch, no MRB stuff.
Done!
Thanks Justin! I am getting ready to start your simple wheat recipe right now! I'm excited cuz it's my first "Real ingredient" batch, no MRB stuff.
martinfan30
Well-Known Member
Well.... A few changes to the simple wheat i'm trying. I screwed up and burned 1 lb of the wheat extract(liquid). So I restarted with fresh water, the remaining 2 lbs of LME wheat and added 1 lb. of amber DME and is now boiling away with the 1/4 oz of Hallertau hops in a muslin sack. I plan the boil for an hour, then at 15 min to go, add another 1/4 of Hallertau. Then cool the wort and dry hop a 1/2 oz of cascade hops. With the Munich yeast.
Guess it's sort of a hybrid? LOL
Guess it's sort of a hybrid? LOL
You sir are a wealth of information! I am about to start my 4th batch (and probably final Mr. Beer batch before moving on to larger pastures), and you say not to use my Booster. What then do I use? Nothing? Or something else?
My next batch is going to be the Cowboy Golden Lager. I am not opposed to trying to "spice it up" just a bit. Any suggestions to beef up the flavor just a bit, and get me maybe one or more step towards becoming more proficient and knowledgable for my next batch down the road (when I do my first 5 gal batch)?
By the way, this site ROCKS!
martinfan30
Well-Known Member
Try using a pound of any DME or 1.1 pound of LME from a LHBS in lieu of the booster.
I got tired of dry, light beers from the booster pouches.
I got tired of dry, light beers from the booster pouches.
Please excuse my ignorance... Can you please break these down into layman's terms?
martinfan30
Well-Known Member
1.0 pound of DME(dry malt extract), or 1.1 pounds of LME(liquid malt extract) equal the same for a recipe. LHBS equals local home brewing shop.
Sorry, for the abreviations. I was confused for quite a while before I found out what they meant.
Seems 1 pound of DME(comes in powder form) equals to 1.1 pound of the liquid extract.
**** can the pound of booster and use one unit of either extract. Seems to produce a better finished product.
Okay, cool. So do I just boil that into the wort with the MB extract? With water as per the MB directions in place of the booster?
Sorry for all the questions.
TwoFortySX
Well-Known Member
You need to understand what Malt Extract is first and its purpose in beer. I do not mean this to sound rude at all but instead of asking for direct answers, try asking for sources of information so you can "extract" knowledge on your own. That would my best piece of advice to offer.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Beer_Brewing_Process
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Malt_extract
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Dry_Malt_Extract
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Liquid_Malt_Extract
You need to understand what Malt Extract is first and its purpose in beer. I do not mean this to sound rude at all but instead of asking for direct answers, try asking for sources of information so you can "extract" knowledge on your own. That would my best piece of advice to offer.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Beer_Brewing_Process
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Malt_extract
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Dry_Malt_Extract
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Liquid_Malt_Extract
Thank you for your input. Though I do understand the fundamental building blocks involved in brewing, reading the links of offered up still left me wondering how I apply this to the Mr. Beer extract that I am using at the moment, and how to apply the information that has kindly been offered up by martinfan30 and Justibone. I think that is what this thread is all about, correct me if I am wrong. Believe me, I have spent a LOT of time trying to figure all this out by reading as many threads as humanly possible. Though I have learned a lot, I am still uncertain on several points.
I am also moderator on many forums myself (none beer related), and have realized long ago that in the time it takes someone to tell a new guy to use the search feature the answer could have been presented and the new guy doesn't feel like he is a fish out of water.
TwoFortySX
Well-Known Member
Alright then...... surprisingly enough, I too have been a forum moderator on a niche site as larger as this. However, I still am a strong believer in telling people to use the search button when I know the relevant information is available.
This is what Mr. Beer BOOSTER contains:
Booster™ is made from corn syrup solids, and is ideally suited for use as a brewing adjunct. It provides a full and balanced range of both fermentable and unfermentable sugars that is designed to mimic the carbohydrate profile of all-malt wort, consisting of 8% glucose, 56% maltose, 16% maltotriose, and 20% dextrins.
This is a simple explanation of Malt:
Malting is a process applied to cereal grains, in which the grains are made to germinate by soaking in water and are then quickly halted from germinating further by drying with hot air. Malting grains develops the enzymes that are required to modify the grain's starches into sugars including monosaccharides such as glucose or fructose, and disaccharides such as sucrose or maltose. It also develops other enzymes, such as proteases, which break down the proteins in the grain into forms which can be utilized by yeast.
So in short, You can basically swap them out with each other and follow the MB directions. You can use the MB brand of hopped or unhopped LME or buy plain DME to add depending on the route you want to go with your beer. Brewing in the beginning is trial and error. Do not be afraid to experiment or make mistakes! I fermented my first beer at 90+ degrees for 5 days, bottled after that and tried to drink it a few days later. Let me just say that I learned more from that attempt than any other batch yet!
gunnieyehoshua
Member
From my limited experience, the DME or LME is going to get you to a specific style of beer. Mix Wheat with Amber, go all Light, a little of each, its going to be beer no matter what. I have added orange & grapefruit rind to the boil, whole spices like corriander & allspice, mixed in with hops pellets (in a cheesecloth, or muslin sack). The most important part is to go to a local brew shop, or go online, and purchase some yeast. The stuff that comes with the Mr Beer kits (what I also started on) is pretty weak. You will notice the difference when your batch is bubbling to the top of the container.
This is the online version of the book I purchased, which is very handy... lots of little things to pick up, but very much worth it...
http://www.howtobrew.com/sitemap.html
This is the online version of the book I purchased, which is very handy... lots of little things to pick up, but very much worth it...
http://www.howtobrew.com/sitemap.html
martinfan30
Well-Known Member
Yes. Put in place one pound of DME or LME in place of the booster, boil as normal with the the MRB extract.
Same water amounts as per MRB. I think the replacement of booster with the pound of dme or lme will satisfy your taste buds in the end!
I am currently trying a batch of wheat beer using real LME and DME using a full boil method for one of my MRB kegs. Im curious as to the outcome since it's a full 60 min boil with a couple hop additions. We shall see.
Im getting into the cider side of brewing, I just started a batch of blackberry in my mr. Beer kit. I was wondering where I could find info about the different flavor profiles different types of yeast produce, and how I can raise my cider from a sissy 3.2 ABV to something like 12 to 14? Any help is greatly appreciated.
Yes. Put in place one pound of DME or LME in place of the booster, boil as normal with the the MRB extract.
Same water amounts as per MRB. I think the replacement of booster with the pound of dme or lme will satisfy your taste buds in the end!
I am currently trying a batch of wheat beer using real LME and DME using a full boil method for one of my MRB kegs. Im curious as to the outcome since it's a full 60 min boil with a couple hop additions. We shall see.
Awesome. Now you got me really itching to try it.
martinfan30
Well-Known Member
So for the more advanced guys, am I going to be good using 2.5 gallons of water, 3.3 lb of LME or 3 lb of DME as a baseline for my MRB kegs?
I would just like to try different styles of yeasts, extracts and hops. I think this is a good way to transition myself into 5 gallon "true" extract brewing.
I would just like to try different styles of yeasts, extracts and hops. I think this is a good way to transition myself into 5 gallon "true" extract brewing.
Tombstone0
Well-Known Member
I like to try out different hops in small batches in my Mr. Beer. So I usually go with 2 lbs DME (I'm going for around 4%, 3 lbs will give you around 6%) and Brew Pal (iPhone brewing software) tells me to use 2.92 gallons. So around 3 gallons should get you down to around the 2.125 gallons of Mr. Beer, depending on how vigorous your boil is.
martinfan30
Well-Known Member
Ok, thanks.
WOW! I just looked at my beer I brewed yeasterday, and I have never seen such activity from MRB stuff!!! What a difference yeast makes! I'm afraid this one may boil over!
I had been reading that alot of guys pitch high amounts of yeast in their batches. So I used 2/3 of the 11 gm pack of Danstar German Wheat....
WOW! I just looked at my beer I brewed yeasterday, and I have never seen such activity from MRB stuff!!! What a difference yeast makes! I'm afraid this one may boil over!
I had been reading that alot of guys pitch high amounts of yeast in their batches. So I used 2/3 of the 11 gm pack of Danstar German Wheat....
TwoFortySX
Well-Known Member
This is a sticky in the Cider forum
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/results-juice-yeast-sugar-experiments-83060/
The basic way to increase your ABV is increase the OG and use yeast with a higher alcohol tolerance. Look into making some of EdWort's Apfelwein.
Justibone
Well-Known Member
There is a specific cider forum back on the home page. That's where the experts hang out.
Yeah, you'd have to ask the experts about that, when it comes to cider at least.
ABV is dependant on two major factors: how much sugar is present, and how much the yeast attenuate.
If yeast turn sugar into alcohol, then it follows that more sugar should make more alcohol. If you quadruple the amount of sugar, you should get quadruple the amount of alcohol ASSUMING...
Assuming that attenuation is complete. Alcohol poisons yeast, and not all yeast can survive or function in such a sugary/alcoholic environment. So, to get up to 12-14% you are going to have to use wine or champagne yeast, and you have to take some extra steps to make sure they can survive until they finish the job.
10% is pretty easy and reasonable for any wine yeast, but most beer yeast won't make it that high (they tend to tucker out around 8%, IIRC). Champagne yeast have been known to go as high as 18%, and the distiller-oriented "Turbo-yeast" have been reputed to go as high as 24%, though I'm not sure I would want to drink that -- it's probably pretty awful. High percentage alcohol needs to age in order to smooth out. They don't call it "rocket fuel" for nothing!
So, a good cider is probably still in the 5% range, if you don't want to age it. If you want to go higher, shoot for wine and age it properly (it takes a year or two to get a proper pipeline of wine going, unless you use the kits).
By all means, do as you like, but remember that there is a reason people like their beers in the 4-6% range, with barleywines up in the 8-10%.
Justibone
Well-Known Member
There's something called "Fermcap-S", or similar boilover prevention products. It prevents boilover during the boil, and in the fermenter it prevents an overflow of kreusen.
Other than that, read up on "blow-off tubes".
Justibone
Well-Known Member
Lagers are fine with the booster -- they are supposed to have a clean flavor.
If you want to spice up a pale or a lager, you can't go wrong dry hopping. Go to your homebrew store and smell the hops they have, pick one you like the smell of, and drop the pellets directly into your fermenter a couple of days into the fermentation. (You can put them in a bit of panty hose, or a tea-ball, or a nylon sack if you want to be able to pull them out, but if you do make sure to soak the sack/sock/ball in sanitizer first.)
Avoid booster for anything darker than a pale or a lager, though. It just thins the flavor of reds, ambers, browns, stouts, porters and other ales. Instead of booster buy some extra unhopped extract, or use two cans instead of just one. It's totally up to you.
Wheat beers can go either way: you can treat them like a pale ale (Gumballhead, anyone?) or like a traditional German wheat (my favorite). As a rule of thumb, though; if you add the booster, add some hops.
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