Peanut Butter stout in to Keg...

[ShortSnoutBrewing]

So after a total of 45 days (15 primary, 30 secondary) I kegged the PB stout tonight. I've been thinking for a while that I wanted to take 1 gallon of it and put it on some blackberries I picked this summer and have been frozen since and I did. How long should I keep it on the fruit?

Anywho, here are some pictures of the adventure:

Here is everything on the kitchen counter getting ready (oh yeah, SWMBO went out for the evening...so I took advantage):

This is the Stout, the berries and the IPA I kegged last week. I have a feeling SWMBO and I will have the IPA kicked pretty quickly:

Berries in the 1 gallon jug:

1 gallon filled:

 

[ShortSnoutBrewing]

One last look before it goes into the keg:

All done:

Hydro reading...I'm calling it 1.018:

IPA next to the Stout Hydro sample:

 

[Ó Flannagáin]

How'd the hydro sample taste?

 

[PseudoChef]

I'm calling it 1.022....read at the very bottom, not very top.

 

[Joker]

I'm calling it 1.022....read at the very bottom, not very top.

I'm calling to get his address I want to try some. :rockin:

 

[ShortSnoutBrewing]

How'd the hydro sample taste?

Not as much of the PB as in previous samples, but it's still there. Kind of like a nutty stout. I know, duh...but that's where it's at. Smooth, it's a stout, but a little something extra. I think this will be one I try again with a few changes, not sure what just yet. I did add about 2oz of Lactose and 3 drops of vanilla in the keg just for kicks. Not sure they'll do all that much, but we'll see.

I'm calling it 1.022....read at the very bottom, not very top.

If that's the case, then why not 1.020? 1.022 is totally covered....

I'm calling to get his address I want to try some.

HA....You're not too far...It'll probably be two weeks before I tap the keg. I'm heading out to the winery on Tuesday for the end of next week, and SWMBO is heading back east for a week on Saturday.

 

[denimglen]

Hard to call that 1.022 with parallax error from the angle of the photo.

My guess is it's between 1.018 and 1.020

 

[Ó Flannagáin]

Looks like 1.019 to me.

 

[PseudoChef]

Yeah, second look I'd go more 1.02.

They should make a digital one of those things.

 

[Ó Flannagáin]

Refractometers are digital, aren't they?

 

[chillHayze]

Though there is a bit of parallax in that photo, but read from the meniscus I'd call that 1.020.

Question: How does one add peanut butter to the beer. Does the fat content kill the head?

 

[Flyin' Lion]

So, uh where's the recipe, it's not in your dropdown.

 

[Ó Flannagáin]

Though there is a bit of parallax in that photo, but read from the meniscus I'd call that 1.020.

Question: How does one add peanut butter to the beer. Does the fat content kill the head?

Someone's got a recipe in the database, he talks about letting the peanut butter sit out for a week and scrape the oil off the top each day, or something like that.

 

[ShortSnoutBrewing]

Refractometers are digital, aren't they?

Having never used one, I thought they could only be used for pre-fermented readings....???

So, uh where's the recipe, it's not in your dropdown.

Someone's got a recipe in the database, he talks about letting the peanut butter sit out for a week and scrape the oil off the top each day, or something like that.

I was holding off on sharing this one till I got the final results, but basically I used a simple sweet stout recipe and added the PB. Yes, you need to get as much of the oil out of the natural PB as possible. It will kill your head retention. I let mine sit for almost a month. I've tried the just let it sit and drain it technique but I found I wasn't getting much oil out. So, I cut up an old grain bag I had, secured it around the top of the PB jar with the lid off and suspended it upside down in a measuring cup. Within a few days the PB was very dry and brittle just as I wanted. I then took about 8 oz and added it to the last 15mins of the boil.

In primary I did notice a good amount of oil on the surface of the beer, but left a good chunk in there when racking to secondary. Didn't notice any oil spots in secondary.

 

[PseudoChef]

Yeah, it's still under debate whether or not conversions are accurate for refractometers once alcohol is factored into the equation.

(Alcohol and water have different densities, and thus, the sugar content reading would be different depending on the ratio of water:alcohol).

 

[RadicalEd]

I know a gent who swears by refractometers (he does mead, and is going commercial, so taking a full hydrometer sample costs him several dollars). Apparently there are very accurate conversion formulas for alcohol mixes; you just need the SG reading as well as the FG reading for the formula. Sorry, I don't know the formula off hand.

 

[Funkenjaeger]

I know a gent who swears by refractometers (he does mead, and is going commercial, so taking a full hydrometer sample costs him several dollars). Apparently there are very accurate conversion formulas for alcohol mixes; you just need the SG reading as well as the FG reading for the formula.

It might work better for mead - I don't know that much about mead but I assume that it's usually mostly just honey, meaning that there aren't too many variations to throw off a simple calculation.

In beer there are all sorts of variables - lots of different malts, varying degrees of proteins and different types of sugars and all sorts of other compounds, and I think the simple calculators that you find out there that use OG and a refractometer FG reading just can't take that much variation into account. Put quite simply, I tried to use those calculators for two batches, I tried to be as careful about it as I could, and both times the calculated FG from the refractometer reading was just plain WRONG as compared to a hydrometer reading of the same beer. I do not think I have ever heard anyone else step forward and claim that it has actually worked accurately for them either.