You don't even have to smack it. It's just a nutrient pack. If you're making a starter, just pitch like the rest. It's a nice indicator if the yeast are kinda viable though.
Scotch Ale Brewing Question
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premington
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Glad to read this! The last thing I want is a lap full of yeast because I burst the bag!
Will be activating it this evening in preparation for tomorrow's wort. :rockin:-Paul
Gerry_P
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Back in high school I became a beer snob because of Guinness, Bass, and McEwans, so I know where you're coming from. (I was grandfathered in DC, so when I turned 18 I could buy beer there legally. Not that I had a problem buying it in Maryland in 1986, but I digress.)
My not-the-most-scientific method: I make a 2 liter starter and pitch around 65. I pop the smack pack, let that expand, then pitch the entire contents. You probably don't need to pop the nutrient bubble, or whatever it's called, but I figure the extra nutrients couldn't hurt. I wouldn't pitch at any higher temp than 68 or maybe 70 tops for a Scotch ale.
The Mr. Malty calculator is great, but I just do 2 liter starters for 5.5 gallon batches and they've worked fine without worrying about specific cell counts. This is assuming your yeast is fairly fresh. Having said that, not too long ago I used a Wyeast pack that, due to age, was supposed to have 0 viable cells. I did a 2 step starter and it performed very well, although it was a brett blend (Wyeast Old Ale) and idk if that makes a difference in terms of viability. Maybe someone else can chime in on this....?
If you don't do a starter, you should probably pitch more than one packet. In that case I'd use Mr. Malty's recommendations to figure out how many you'll need.
Back in my noob days I'd just smack the pack and dump it in. My beer is a lot better now.
I agree. Using the one smack pack will technically work, but pitching more viable yeast cells will do nothing but help the beer along.
How's your brewday going?
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premington
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Well, we've chatted in private mail, but having received this here, I thought I'd re-report it for others to read.
It went well, I think. Kept a close eye on sanitation with only two potential flubs. This is my first beer, so I hope they're not show stoppers.
When I put the boiled wort in the SS primary, the foam (from aeration) blocked me from seeing the level indicators (gallons). Not thinking, I used my fingers to scoop the foam away, but didn't touch the primary or the wort. Realizing the danger of my actions, I used a SS spoon to scoop the surrounding foam out and toss it. The other error was pushing the airlock too hard on the stopper. The stopper dropped into the beer. (I'm SURE I'm not the first to do that! Rookie mistake.) But, it had been soaking in a StarSan solution for an hour, so I'm hoping that won't cause any problems. I fished it out with the sanitized SS spoon.
Other than that, the SG was lower than the recipe (1.068 as opposed to 1.075-1.079). Caramelization went well, but took twice as long as the recipe reported (30 minutes compared to 15 minutes). Total boil time was 1-1/2 hours, not the 1 hour reported.
Beer is in the primary in a ~50f-something environment. Internal temp (I have a thermal probe in the fermenter) is 72.5f. I'm just waiting for the yeast to kick into gear.
Flavor was nice! A strong hoppy tang with a spicy body. Carmel notes were noticeably present. It's young, so I'm curious to taste how things change post fermentation and with aging.
Thanks to everyone here who provided advice. Being my first beer, I'm eager to learn and grow through the results I get from this batch.
-Paul
Gerry_P
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Glad to read this! The last thing I want is a lap full of yeast because I burst the bag!
-Paul
I always put mine on the counter and smash it with the heel of my hand, like I'm trying to kill a gigantic bug. It's much more rewarding that way. No yeast pack explosions...yet...
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premington
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You know... I can see how someone might blow out the bottom of the pouch. I found the nutrient pack a bit difficult to burst. Giving it a hard whack left me concerned I'd burst the pack. I felt for the pouch inside and then leaned my entire body weight against it to get it to burst.
Doesn't seem like the greatest design, but I suppose they're trying to avoid the pack bursting in transit and with general handling.
I'm going to weigh in on the caramelization issue. I've done a Scotch ale twice; all grain, not extract, but the principle is the same. I took 1.5 gallons of the first runnings (1.075) and cooked it down on my induction plate. Got it to 1.2, added it with 10 minutes left in the boil. Not only did it up my SG to 1.080, it contributed a huge maltiness that was wonderfully dark and brown tasting. Tested it against a couple of commercial wee heavies and it was spot on. Should note also that it was a 90 minute boil to get the volume correct.
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premington
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You caramelized a lot more than I did. My recipe called for 24 oz., which I caramelized down to raw syrup, reconstituted with hot water back up to the original quantity, then tossed it back into the main wort.
When you caramelized, how do you treat the reduction? I tried to use a thermometer to see what the hottest temp I was able to hit was. I wanted to get upwards of 350f, having read that conversion occurs in caramelization at around 350f. I think I need a candy thermometer... mine weren't able to report that high. So I brought it to a good boil. The rich syrup developed very fine bubbles, then I took it off, fearing I'd burn it. It didn't appear or smell burned.
Just curious how you approach caramelizing and how you know when you've hit your target in terms of knowing when to pull it off the heat.
There wasn't a target temperature, the recipe I used (Boundary Bay Scotch clone) only called for boiling down at least a gallon of the first runnings then adding them back 10 minutes before end of boil. Just need to make sure it doesn't scorch. I used a relatively shallow pan so it would cook down faster. Getting it to come up at least to 1.2 seems to be about right.
If you don't have a refractometer, use your taste buds before and after; it doesn't need to be a syrup.
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premington
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Very good... I had little to go by, other than the few things I was able to pull up on the web. Always a little cautious on getting info from one source, so I spread it out, then took a guess on an approach.
I should have tasted the reconstituted wort before transferring it to the main boil. Didn't think of it at the time. The final boil tasted quite nice!
I just reread your post...I wouldn't reconstitute it. That is just taking it pretty much back to where you started and not adding a lot to the flavor/gravity. Since you are doing extract, what you might want to try is increasing your extract quantity slightly, and also your water volume. You would need to do some math, but with 24oz you would maybe lose 5-6 Oz in the boiloff. That isn't a huge loss. Reconstituting may have also contributed to the lower than expected SG. But it does sound like it will turn out great...I love me some Scotch ale!!
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premington
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I'm always interested in trying new and different methods and modifying the process. With this, I was just following the recipe to see what I get, then I'll make adjustments moving forward.
As for reconstituting, I think they're just having me add back the original water lost during caramelizing. Either way, when the caramelizing is added back to the main worth, it gets reconstituted. Also, the process of caramelizing changes the character of the reduced wort, which imparts that character on the rest of the beer.
At least that's what I've been told. I've never done this recipe, so I'll refrain from passing complete judgement until tasting day.
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