Random Brewing Thoughts

[smithj21541]

random dude in beer store: "my beers always finish around 5.2"
me:

ABV or Plato? I love overhearing random headscracthers that invoke that same reaction.

 

[smithj21541]

Anyone know of a link for the full wyeast private collection releases for the year? I'm striking out and trying to see if they are going to do the Danish lager again.

 

[JCastle1]

Aurora and Oslo are back up on Bootleg.

 

[ChaQuiseman]

My pitch of Oslo arrived today. Since I don't have the kegerator space for an IPL just yet, I think I'm going to use it co-pitched with lacto first in a Berliner Weiss-style beer.

Definitely going to spin it up in a starter and harvest plenty to play around with this summer. Seems like a great strain for making sure I always have a lawnmower beer tapped.

 

[TripleSixHoppia]

New mash tun, the last one was 7 years old at least. Man, it's gotten a lot easier than the days of piecing together crap from Home Depot. $20 kit from Amazon and a bazooka screen. About $45 all in.

 

[SirDickButts]

New mash tun, the last one was 7 years old at least. Man, it's gotten a lot easier than the days of piecing together crap from Home Depot. $20 kit from Amazon and a bazooka screen. About $45 all in.

Add a cpvc pipe with drilled holes inside the bazooka tube. Works flawlessly.

 

[meatst1ck]

I just did Omega Hothead plus Voss paired with their Tropical IPA (Sacch Trois) and got from 1.038 to 1.005 in about two days and down to 1.001 in under a week. It was second generation for the blend, fermented at ~68-70*F, and mashed at 154*F (90/10 mix of pils and oats).

Hothead and Tropical IPA are banging away. Fermentation is going crazy. I have 7.5 gallons fermenting so aggressively it's overflowing my grower the blow off is in.

Been thinking about trying something like this out and keeping it as my primary culture moving forward (something like hothead + sacch trois)... Just curious on both of your experiences re: pitch rates when using a blend of kveik + non-kveik yeast. I was also potentially considering just trying to store both cultures separately (dry the kveik, and just extra slurry for the sacch trois)

 

[Thorpe]

Been thinking about trying something like this out and keeping it as my primary culture moving forward (something like hothead + sacch trois)... Just curious on both of your experiences re: pitch rates when using a blend of kveik + non-kveik yeast. I was also potentially considering just trying to store both cultures separately (dry the kveik, and just extra slurry for the sacch trois)

I've done relatively-normal pitch rates but I think you'd be fine underpitching. In my experience the way it seems that fermentation is happening is the kveik domination from the start and getting it about as low as the kveik will go (around 1.008 for us in ~1.040 OG beers) then fermentation dies down a bit and then seems to restart a couple days later with more blowoff, which may be the Trois finishing the job as it then gets down to around 1.000-1.002. We then bottle condition with our house mixed culture.

 

[ChaQuiseman]

Been thinking about trying something like this out and keeping it as my primary culture moving forward (something like hothead + sacch trois)... Just curious on both of your experiences re: pitch rates when using a blend of kveik + non-kveik yeast. I was also potentially considering just trying to store both cultures separately (dry the kveik, and just extra slurry for the sacch trois)

From some small-scale experimentation, I agree that kveik strains (at least Voss) produce more character with a very low pitch rate. The risk is that the stain will stall given the stressful fermentation conditions. I've successfully gone as low as 20B cells into 5 gallons of 1.050 wort and had the beer finish at 1.012. At the same time, I've seen lots of anecdotal evidence of kveiks stalling with similar pitch rates, so YMMV.

If you wanted more kveik character in the finished beer, maybe give a staggered pitch a try. Underpitch with kveik for the first 24 hours then follow up with a normal pitch rate of trois to prevent stalling.

 

[TripleSixHoppia]

Been thinking about trying something like this out and keeping it as my primary culture moving forward (something like hothead + sacch trois)... Just curious on both of your experiences re: pitch rates when using a blend of kveik + non-kveik yeast. I was also potentially considering just trying to store both cultures separately (dry the kveik, and just extra slurry for the sacch trois)

I've done relatively-normal pitch rates but I think you'd be fine underpitching. In my experience the way it seems that fermentation is happening is the kveik domination from the start and getting it about as low as the kveik will go (around 1.008 for us in ~1.040 OG beers) then fermentation dies down a bit and then seems to restart a couple days later with more blowoff, which may be the Trois finishing the job as it then gets down to around 1.000-1.002. We then bottle condition with our house mixed culture.

Same as Thorpe. If you keep it in the 70-80s hothead is going to finish pretty high, then the sacc trois will take it the rest of the way. For Kveik I haven't really found a lower limit as far as pitch rates go as long as you have the proper yeast nutrition in additives or a higher starting gravity.

 

[rcubed1]

Add zinc (in the right dose amount) to your wort and the yeast will be much happier. I haven't had a single issue since I started doing this.

 

[ChaQuiseman]

Add zinc (in the right dose amount) to your wort and the yeast will be much happier. I haven't had a single issue since I started doing this.

That's something I'd loved to know about people who experience stalled kveik fermentations; how many of them are using yeast nutrient?

Kveik is norotiously nutrient starved, for how inexpensive it is, you'd be silly not to pitch yeast nutrient with Kveik.

 

[rcubed1]

That's something I'd loved to know about people who experience stalled kveik fermentations; how many of them are using yeast nutrient?

Kveik is norotiously nutrient starved, for how inexpensive it is, you'd be silly not to pitch yeast nutrient with Kveik.

Unfortunately I don't remember all the details but we had a club group buy of zinc that was diluted down to dosing levels of something like 0.1 mg/L per gallon. I know too much zinc can be toxic. Since malted barley has most of the nutrients yeast need, it sort of eliminates the use of other yeast nutrients.

My only experience with kveik so far is a pitch of Hornindal from Omega. I didn't make a starter but I added Wyeast nutrient and zinc. Got down to 1.011/1.012 which is fine with me.

 

[anteater1]

My pils is pretty simple/straightforward

10lbs Weyermann Barke Pils
mash at 150

1oz of a blend of Tettnang and Hallertau in the last 5-10 minutes of the boil
1oz Tettnang/Hallertau in the whirlpool
Magnum at 90 minutes to give ~40ibu

Ferment w/ 34/70, pitch at 48 with the temp control set to 50. Five days each at 50 and 55 followed by two days each at 60 and 65, then lager for at least two weeks.

I've got a few that I enjoy. Pretty different styles.

Augschburger (more classic, slightly complicated recipe, very long mash schedule although that's easily tweaked):

90% Pilsner malt
10% Munich malt

Mash (13 Plato):

35°C - 15 min
45°C - 30 min
63°C - 40 min
70°C - 15 min
75°C - 15 min
78°C - 10 min (mash out)

70 minute boil aiming for 45 IBU, charge is split 1:1:2 between 70 min, 20 min, and whirlpool.
Recipe calls for Opal (very clean bitterness) but last time I subbed a mix of Tettnang and Hersbrucker and it was great.

Fermentation with Saflager W-34/70 or yeast of your choice.



Classic (still very classic style but a simpler single-infusion recipe. Hop character is fruitier than the Opal version above).

94% Pilsner malt
3% Carapils
3% Victory malt

Mash (12.5 Plato):

65°C - 60 min
78°C - 10 min (mash out)

70 minute boil aiming for 40 IBU. Most of the bitterness comes from German Magnum at 60 min, followed by a bit of Hallertau Mittelfruh at 10 min, and another charge of Hallertau in the whirlpool.

Fermentation with Saflager W-34/70 or yeast of your choice.



Playita Pils (my house pilsner, not Reinheitsgebot-compliant but delicious. Crisp, smooth, citrus/spicy/grassy character.)

91% Pilsner malt
3% Carapils
3% Munich
3% Wheat

Mash (12 Plato):

62°C - 30 min
71°C - 30 min
78°C - 10 min (mash out)

70 minute boil aiming for 35 IBU. Large charge of German Magnum at 60 min, then Hersbrucker at 5 min, and Saphir in the whirlpool. Dry hop with more Saphir about 5-7 days before packaging.

Fermentation with Saflager W-34/70 or yeast of your choice.

I brewed axeman9182 's pilsner with Imperial Harvest and its great! I'm already excited to get onto my second pils. I'm glad I went with 100% pils malt on the first one so I can see what that gets me, but I think I will add a little munich or victory on the next batch.

JCastle any thoughts on if the complex mash schedules make a big difference? Also, I could only get tettnang and hallertau at my shop, do you think any of the hops in your recipes are worth going out my way for?

 

[JCastle1]

I brewed axeman9182 's pilsner with Imperial Harvest and its great! I'm already excited to get onto my second pils. I'm glad I went with 100% pils malt on the first one so I can see what that gets me, but I think I will add a little munich or victory on the next batch.

JCastle any thoughts on if the complex mash schedules make a big difference? Also, I could only get tettnang and hallertau at my shop, do you think any of the hops in your recipes are worth going out my way for?

Nah, as I said I think that crazy mash schedule is probably overkill. Anecdotally I can say that the hochkurz mash in my house pilsner gets you results that are just as good (in terms of body, attenuation, and head retention).

As for the hops I think you're fine. I like to juggle around any Noble-style hops, I've even subbed in Sterling a few times. Tettnang and Mittelfruh is a killer combo.

 

[SirDickButts]

Have anyone tried Omega Yeast Labs Lithuanian strain? Is it similar to kveik in regards to being nutrient hungry and works well underpitched???

 

[rcubed1]

Have anyone tried Omega Yeast Labs Lithuanian strain? Is it similar to kveik in regards to being nutrient hungry and works well underpitched???

No but I want to use it and I'll buy it if I see it at the local shop for sale.

 

[SirDickButts]

No but I want to use it and I'll buy it if I see it at the local shop for sale.

I'm gonna brew 10bbls in about 2 weeks. Wondering if a 7bbl pitch can handle 10bbls @ 85 degrees. Omega is expensive AF.

 

[TripleSixHoppia]

Have anyone tried Omega Yeast Labs Lithuanian strain? Is it similar to kveik in regards to being nutrient hungry and works well underpitched???

Gonna take a guess it's Simonitis. I've only ever used the blend from the source that has lacto in it. You can way under pitch it, but I also don't know if Omega is already adjusting cell counts in their Kveik.

 

[SirDickButts]

Gonna take a guess it's Simonitis. I've only ever used the blend from the source that has lacto in it. You can way under pitch it, but I also don't know if Omega is already adjusting cell counts in their Kveik.

Yup. They're adjusting. Just checked.