Beer Snob
Well-Known Member
Hello all. My name is Michael and I am starting to brew again after many years... think its been about 7ish actually. Found all of my equipment minus a few things and bought some supplies today. The store I went to was very helpful, which I was thankful for. I did all kinds of research and thought I would go in knowing what I wanted, but when I got there and saw everything and all of the possibilities it was pretty overwhelming
So we started with the fact that although I have made many beers it's been a while.... so if I wanted to do sometihing a bit more complex then toss some extract in a pot I should still take it slow.... so we started with what I wanted to make. I said, a better Sam Adams Cherry Wheat. I love it and know I can make it better
So here is what I got (incidently this is from memory... its in the car now)
3.2 lb can of unhopped Wheat malt extract syrup
4.0 lb bag of Wheat dry malt (never used dry malt before...)
White labs Hefenwenzen Ale liquid yeast (I wanted the traditional yeast haze in wheats... he said this one would be good)
1.5 oz Perle Hops for boiling
0.5 oz Perle Hops for finishing
49 oz Oregon Cherry fruit puree
Cane sugar for bottling
8 oz of Malto-Dextrine (I wanted some mouthfeel a bit... nothing overwhelming, but I wanted something heavier then the Sam Adams)
Procedure I am thinking would make sense here... pls commend your hearts out
---------------------------------------------
1. Add water to pot with syrup extract
2. Add Dry extract.... I am guessing here that total contents of pot should not exceed 2 gallons correct??
I am also trying to remember how I did something.... I got a 6.5 Gal glass primarry (like to see the action)... I cant remember how kept the amount of water to 5 Gal... I know you have cold water in it before you dump the wort in it... but how much do you put in it....?
3. Add 1.5 oz Perle hops
4. In 40 min add .5 oz Perle hops
Ok... so far pretty simple... questions....
When do you add the Malto-Dextrine?
He suggested not to use the entire bag, but half of it... thoughts?
I had tried something similar to this before but used the little 4 oz bottle of cherry extract... it did not come out how I had wanted so that is why I wanted to try the puree this time around. What was suggested today is that I add it to the secondary... no the primarry... reading "The Bible", Papazian says that the addition of fruit should be after the boil while still in the pot to pasturize the fruit. Was this suggested from the person today because this pureeed cherry extract is in a can and is already pasturized?
Another question about the Cherry.... ok.... I'm going to ferment it out first and rack to secondary (a 5 Gal carboy)... then add the Cherry... my question is because of the addtion of sugars will it start active fermentation again... that is .... should I rack it off the yeast and then sanitize the 6.5 Gal carboy to rack it back into the 6.5 so the beer can ferment out more.
He had said that I would not need Irish moss because I am going to want the chery puree to ferment out first which should take several weeks. He had also said that I'll have enough unfurmentable sugars in the wort and secondary to not need yeast nutrient.
I am also just thinking of sanitation. I have One Step... but not fresh... (probably 7 years old) should I wait to get fresh stuff or am I fine with it this weekend.
So we started with the fact that although I have made many beers it's been a while.... so if I wanted to do sometihing a bit more complex then toss some extract in a pot I should still take it slow.... so we started with what I wanted to make. I said, a better Sam Adams Cherry Wheat. I love it and know I can make it better
So here is what I got (incidently this is from memory... its in the car now)
3.2 lb can of unhopped Wheat malt extract syrup
4.0 lb bag of Wheat dry malt (never used dry malt before...)
White labs Hefenwenzen Ale liquid yeast (I wanted the traditional yeast haze in wheats... he said this one would be good)
1.5 oz Perle Hops for boiling
0.5 oz Perle Hops for finishing
49 oz Oregon Cherry fruit puree
Cane sugar for bottling
8 oz of Malto-Dextrine (I wanted some mouthfeel a bit... nothing overwhelming, but I wanted something heavier then the Sam Adams)
Procedure I am thinking would make sense here... pls commend your hearts out
---------------------------------------------
1. Add water to pot with syrup extract
2. Add Dry extract.... I am guessing here that total contents of pot should not exceed 2 gallons correct??
I am also trying to remember how I did something.... I got a 6.5 Gal glass primarry (like to see the action)... I cant remember how kept the amount of water to 5 Gal... I know you have cold water in it before you dump the wort in it... but how much do you put in it....?
3. Add 1.5 oz Perle hops
4. In 40 min add .5 oz Perle hops
Ok... so far pretty simple... questions....
When do you add the Malto-Dextrine?
He suggested not to use the entire bag, but half of it... thoughts?
I had tried something similar to this before but used the little 4 oz bottle of cherry extract... it did not come out how I had wanted so that is why I wanted to try the puree this time around. What was suggested today is that I add it to the secondary... no the primarry... reading "The Bible", Papazian says that the addition of fruit should be after the boil while still in the pot to pasturize the fruit. Was this suggested from the person today because this pureeed cherry extract is in a can and is already pasturized?
Another question about the Cherry.... ok.... I'm going to ferment it out first and rack to secondary (a 5 Gal carboy)... then add the Cherry... my question is because of the addtion of sugars will it start active fermentation again... that is .... should I rack it off the yeast and then sanitize the 6.5 Gal carboy to rack it back into the 6.5 so the beer can ferment out more.
He had said that I would not need Irish moss because I am going to want the chery puree to ferment out first which should take several weeks. He had also said that I'll have enough unfurmentable sugars in the wort and secondary to not need yeast nutrient.
I am also just thinking of sanitation. I have One Step... but not fresh... (probably 7 years old) should I wait to get fresh stuff or am I fine with it this weekend.