|
I should have clarified that my two previous questions were (mostly) unrelated. I asked the first so I could experiment some with a porter and stout grainbill and the second was because I wanted a slight chocolate taste in a medium-brown mild ale I'm planning, so too much chocolate malt probably isn't an option.
|
#
?
Jul 28, 2011 02:00
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 23, 2024 20:27 |
|
|
I don't think I saw this posted yet. Some guy on BA took a gravity reading of some Dark Lord that had been degassed and warmed to 60*. Seems like there could be other factors throwing off the reading to me, but nothing specific I can think of
|
|
#
?
Jul 28, 2011 03:20
|
|
|
It's not surprising really, 2011 Dark Lord is a sugar bomb right now. In another year or so it ought to be down in the 1020s.
|
|
#
?
Jul 28, 2011 03:25
|
|
|
Glad I didn't crack any of my bottles then. I'm hoping not to touch them until 2012 or later.
|
|
#
?
Jul 28, 2011 03:49
|
|
|
Tedronai66 posted:Maybe I'm a retard and don't know how to read this thread, but did you post the recipe here? I didn't post the recipe, but will do so now! 8.0 lb 2-Row Pale Malt 2.0 lb Alder Smoked Munich Malt 1.0 lb Chocolate Malt 0.5 lb Flaked Barley 0.5 lb Crystal Malt 60L 0.5 lb Crystal Malt 80L 0.5 lb Special Roast 0.75 oz Challenger Hops (60 minute) 0.30 oz Kent Golding Hops (15 minute) 1 tsp Irish Moss (15 minute) 1 vial WLP002 (English Ale) 4 oz Maltodextrin (added to bottling bucket) 1/4 cup Maple Extract (added to bottling bucket, but is probably best left out, since it became completely unrecognizable anyway) Notes: Step mashed 20 minutes each at 140, 150, 160. OG = 1.065 FG = 1.013 ABV = ~6.8% (A little less probably due to the addition of Maltodextrin?) As I said, I didn't use enough water, and ended up with only 12x750mL bottles. One we drank today, one we already gave away. We will be popping a new one every 2 weeks to see how it ages over the next few months. Making it through the first few weeks without drinking more is going to be hard, since it is the only brew ready right now.  Honey Ginger Ale is bottled and carbing:  So is the Kolsch-Style Ale:  The Ginger Ale was SUPER sharp at bottling, so I imagine it will need a month or two to chill out, but the Kolsch was was drat tasty even warm and flat.
|
|
#
?
Jul 28, 2011 04:05
|
|
|
I don't really know anything about Dark Lord, but using Beersmith's ABV calculator and BeerAdvocate's claim that it's 15%, it started at goddam 1.160. For a beer that huge, 1.050 isn't actually outrageously high. Either that or their claim of 15% is way off. Or do they use tricks like freezing the beer, eisbock style?
|
|
#
?
Jul 28, 2011 04:42
|
|
|
RiggenBlaque posted:I don't think I saw this posted yet. Some guy on BA took a gravity reading of some Dark Lord that had been degassed and warmed to 60*. Seems like there could be other factors throwing off the reading to me, but nothing specific I can think of I see bubbles so I'll bet its not outgassed. One of my friends did it once and measured 1.028. To tell if its carbonation thats holding it up put the hydro in the test tube and tap it down and let it bob a few times, if it quickly settles on something and then slowly rises then its the carbonation.
|
|
#
?
Jul 28, 2011 05:50
|
|
|
If it was really stuck at 1.05+ that is a guaranteed bottle bomb, right? That's around where most of my beers start! And they produce A Lot of co2.
|
|
#
?
Jul 28, 2011 06:03
|
|
|
Yeah, and if it did bottle condition from 1.052 to 1.020 I imagine it'd be packaged in something resembling a propane cylinder
|
|
#
?
Jul 28, 2011 06:59
|
|
|
Docjowles posted:I don't really know anything about Dark Lord, but using Beersmith's ABV calculator and BeerAdvocate's claim that it's 15%, it started at goddam 1.160. For a beer that huge, 1.050 isn't actually outrageously high. Either that or their claim of 15% is way off. Or do they use tricks like freezing the beer, eisbock style? I read somewhere that supposedly this year's batch was more like 9-10%
|
|
#
?
Jul 28, 2011 13:06
|
|
|
RiggenBlaque posted:I read somewhere that supposedly this year's batch was more like 9-10% You will get in big trouble with alcohol regulators if your listed ABV is off by more than 0.2 or 0.3%, its a requirement in the US.
|
|
#
?
Jul 28, 2011 15:35
|
|
|
RiggenBlaque posted:I read somewhere that supposedly this year's batch was more like 9-10% Yeah you get in all kinds of trouble with the ATF if your stated ABV is more than a few tenths off either way. Taxes, per state legality, etc. are all determined by alcohol content.
|
|
#
?
Jul 28, 2011 16:55
|
|
|
Doom Rooster posted:I didn't post the recipe, but will do so now! thanks! I'll either try using beersmith to convert to extract or wait until i have an AG setup. e: rage-saq posted:You will get in big trouble with alcohol regulators if your listed ABV is off by more than 0.2 or 0.3%, its a requirement in the US. Oh, America. How stupid you can be sometimes. While it should be near what you say, many liquor laws here are way too puritanical.
|
|
#
?
Jul 28, 2011 17:00
|
|
|
Tedronai66 posted:Oh, America. How stupid you can be sometimes. While it should be near what you say, many liquor laws here are way too puritanical. I don't agree that requiring the ABV labelling to be accurate is puritanical. As far as I'm concerned it's like the nutrition information label - I believe consumers have a right to know what is in the food they're buying and to have an idea of what kind of quantities they have present, especially intoxicants like alcohol. Food labelling is all kinds of screwy in this country for other reasons, but requiring ABV labelling to be accurate is a step in the right direction (even if it is for selfish tax reasons).
|
|
#
?
Jul 28, 2011 18:25
|
|
|
But wouldn't you agree that a living bottle of beer might need to get an exception? Not that I disagree with you that it should be as close as possible given the circumstances. I guess it's impossible to assume that the buyer of a beer like Dark Lord would really understand what they're getting.
|
|
#
?
Jul 28, 2011 18:41
|
|
|
crazyfish posted:I don't agree that requiring the ABV labelling to be accurate is puritanical. As far as I'm concerned it's like the nutrition information label - I believe consumers have a right to know what is in the food they're buying and to have an idea of what kind of quantities they have present, especially intoxicants like alcohol. Food labelling is all kinds of screwy in this country for other reasons, but requiring ABV labelling to be accurate is a step in the right direction (even if it is for selfish tax reasons). I'm moreso leaning toward some states not being able to sell beers over x% ABV, tax rate based on ABV (imo it should be a flat tax for different types of drinks, but that'd never work), etc. I agree we should know what we buy, but beers that get refermented in bottle, etc, are harder to get accurate numbers on.
|
|
#
?
Jul 28, 2011 18:51
|
|
|
Hoyt posted:But wouldn't you agree that a living bottle of beer might need to get an exception? No
|
|
#
?
Jul 28, 2011 18:53
|
|
|
Tedronai66 posted:I'm moreso leaning toward some states not being able to sell beers over x% ABV, tax rate based on ABV (imo it should be a flat tax for different types of drinks, but that'd never work), etc. I agree we should know what we buy, but beers that get refermented in bottle, etc, are harder to get accurate numbers on. Generally a bottle-conditioned beer that increases by more than 0.2-0.3% is going to be a bomb or at least a fountain of foam, and if you account for that much change due to carbonation it's not actually hard to be accurate.
|
|
#
?
Jul 28, 2011 19:00
|
|
|
And if it's bottle-conditioned, they know how much fermentable sugar they're adding to carbonate it. They can figure it out. It's not like the amount of alcohol in the bottle is an ever-changing, unknowable number. And they should figure it out - people ought to be able to trust that info about their food and drinks is correct.
|
|
#
?
Jul 28, 2011 19:22
|
|
|
Where do I go from here? Does anyone have experience with wild hops? Bitterness will be hard to estimate I guess so probably better of using it for flavor/aroma and use commercial hops for bittering? Are all cones female, if not how do I tell them apart? Can you use them fresh or do you have to dry them first? If you can use them fresh whats the fresh:dried conversion ratio?
|
|
#
?
Jul 28, 2011 20:05
|
|
|
You can use them wet, but you have to use a shitload more cause I think they're 80+% water. Like, two ounces of fresh hops is the equivalent to .25oz dried leaves.
|
|
#
?
Jul 28, 2011 21:42
|
|
|
indigi posted:You can use them wet, but you have to use a shitload more cause I think they're 80+% water. Like, two ounces of fresh hops is the equivalent to .25oz dried leaves. Pellitized is even less than that, since they're ground/compressed leaves.
|
|
#
?
Jul 29, 2011 00:30
|
|
|
My LHBS has fuggles so I have 60g (2.1oz) golding and same amount of fuggles. I've adjusted my kinda-sorta-english-bitter recipe: 0.5lb 45L crystal 0.5lb 77L crystal steep for 30min at ~150 7lb pale LME 1oz fuggles @ 60min 1oz golding @ 20min 1oz each fuggles and golding @ 5min Any suggestions? I'm excited to brew this
|
|
#
?
Jul 29, 2011 02:31
|
|
|
mewse posted:My LHBS has fuggles so I have 60g (2.1oz) golding and same amount of fuggles. I've adjusted my kinda-sorta-english-bitter recipe: Looks pretty good. I assume you'll use a British yeast?
|
|
#
?
Jul 29, 2011 02:41
|
|
|
If you use Wyeast's 1338 European Ale like i am now, be aware it is slowwwwww. 11 days after pitching and its only down to 1.024 from 1.053. I gave the fermenter some gentle rocking tonight to try and get it going.
|
|
#
?
Jul 29, 2011 02:45
|
|
|
WLP002/007 supremacy
|
|
#
?
Jul 29, 2011 02:52
|
|
|
j3rkstore posted:If you use Wyeast's 1338 European Ale like i am now, be aware it is slowwwwww. I'm going to use some nottingham I farmed from my last batch. My LHBS for some reason only had dried windsor and apparently it doesn't convert as well and is more temperature sensitive. Another question: One of my fav local brews uses ginger and lemongrass, does anyone have any experience with those ingredients? They say its an Asian-style lager using rice but I think I'm going to ignore that part and make a sorta-IPA but with less hops and add the ginger+lemongrass, but I have no idea about quantity. Would I just grate fresh ginger root and add it for the last 5 minutes of the boil? Or "dry hop" the ginger? Any insight appreciated
|
|
#
?
Jul 29, 2011 02:56
|
|
|
mewse posted:Another question: One of my fav local brews uses ginger and lemongrass, does anyone have any experience with those ingredients? They say its an Asian-style lager using rice but I think I'm going to ignore that part and make a sorta-IPA but with less hops and add the ginger+lemongrass, but I have no idea about quantity. Would I just grate fresh ginger root and add it for the last 5 minutes of the boil? Or "dry hop" the ginger? Any insight appreciated I do a ginger beer with 2lbs fresh grated ginger added throughout the boil, and a few ounces "dry hopped". It is VERY gingery (which is what I wanted), so that's an upper bound for you at least.
|
|
#
?
Jul 29, 2011 03:07
|
|
|
So. Graham cracker porter. code:I have no idea how to estimate the gravity contribution from the crackers, but it comes in around 1.050 without them. I'll hop to ~20-25 IBUs and ferment with Notty at around 64*. I'm looking for the flavor to be noticeable and will probably order or try to make a Graham cracker extract (vodka infusion?) for insurance at bottling. Any tips or critiques would be appreciated. I assume I'd have to drink through it relatively quickly due to the fat content, but maybe between the mash and boil it'll keep relatively well.
|
|
#
?
Jul 29, 2011 03:30
|
|
|
Docjowles posted:I do a ginger beer with 2lbs fresh grated ginger added throughout the boil, and a few ounces "dry hopped". It is VERY gingery (which is what I wanted), so that's an upper bound for you at least. I've dug up your recipe in the thread and it helps me a lot to see what's worked with someone else. Thank you
|
|
#
?
Jul 29, 2011 03:34
|
|
|
indigi posted:So. Graham cracker porter. Can't you just look at the nutritional information and see how many grams of sugar there are per serving? Assuming you're in America, that's probably all corn syrup so I would assume you could get some sort of ballpark out of that.
|
|
#
?
Jul 29, 2011 03:37
|
|
|
Sure, but there's also a bunch of starch and I've no idea how well (or if at all) the enzymes would convert that to sugar, or if they'll completely dissolve or not. I don't think I want to grind them into powder, but that might be the best way. Maybe I should pick up some rice hulls.
|
|
#
?
Jul 29, 2011 03:45
|
|
|
indigi posted:Sure, but there's also a bunch of starch and I've no idea how well (or if at all) the enzymes would convert that to sugar, or if they'll completely dissolve or not. I don't think I want to grind them into powder, but that might be the best way. If it's in your mash and is ground/crushed it will be like any other starchy adjunct, I believe. Should convert pretty well.
|
|
#
?
Jul 29, 2011 03:48
|
|
|
indigi posted:WLP002/007 supremacy I'll take WLP023 Burton Ale over any other British yeast any day. Soooo yummy.
|
|
#
?
Jul 29, 2011 05:01
|
|
|
rage-saq posted:I'll take WLP023 Burton Ale over any other British yeast any day. Soooo yummy. I'll have to give this a shot, then. Maybe in my next bitter.
|
|
#
?
Jul 29, 2011 05:57
|
|
|
Lrrr posted:Does anyone have experience with wild hops? Bitterness will be hard to estimate I guess so probably better of using it for flavor/aroma and use commercial hops for bittering? Are all cones female, if not how do I tell them apart? Can you use them fresh or do you have to dry them first? If you can use them fresh whats the fresh:dried conversion ratio? I've never used wild hops but I did recently use wet hops of undetermined origin I picked from my work. Just rip some open and make sure they smell good, I read somewhere that a lot of wild hops are Cluster and that's not the greatest hop variety. You've got the right idea to use them just for flavor/aroma since you can't know the bitterness. You can use them without drying, but you have to use a lot more than you would if they were dried. I used 4 oz of wet hops which is a pretty large mass when you look at it, and it probably gave me the equivalent of 1 oz of pellet hops at most. I did it in a 4% ABV pale ale and I definitely should have used more. If I do it again I'm probably going to use at least a pound of hops with the same recipe. Just make sure you use enough bittering hops to make the beer good even if you get no contribution from your wild hops.
|
|
#
?
Jul 29, 2011 07:08
|
|
|
On the plus side since the hops are hydrated you should have a lot less (negligible) wort loss from the hops. Edit: dammit new page!
|
|
#
?
Jul 29, 2011 16:50
|
|
|
rage-saq posted:I'll take WLP023 Burton Ale over any other British yeast any day. Soooo yummy. Agreed. My default British yeast now, and I've pretty much only been brewing British ales recently. For those that haven't used this yeast before, just know that it produces a lot of sulfur. I let my beers sit in primary an extra week and all the sulfur seems to be gone by then. The first time I used the Burton ale yeast and kegged after only a week. drat was there still a lot of sulfur left in that bitter.
|
|
#
?
Jul 29, 2011 18:51
|
|
|
mewse posted:Another question: One of my fav local brews uses ginger and lemongrass, does anyone have any experience with those ingredients? They say its an Asian-style lager using rice but I think I'm going to ignore that part and make a sorta-IPA but with less hops and add the ginger+lemongrass, but I have no idea about quantity. Would I just grate fresh ginger root and add it for the last 5 minutes of the boil? Or "dry hop" the ginger? Any insight appreciated Docjowles posted:I do a ginger beer with 2lbs fresh grated ginger added throughout the boil, and a few ounces "dry hopped". It is VERY gingery (which is what I wanted), so that's an upper bound for you at least. I imagine with a light lager, you'd want to be careful you didn't destroy the weaker malt backbone of the beer.
|
|
#
?
Jul 29, 2011 19:02
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 23, 2024 20:27 |
|
|
Killer robot posted:Generally a bottle-conditioned beer that increases by more than 0.2-0.3% is going to be a bomb or at least a fountain of foam, and if you account for that much change due to carbonation it's not actually hard to be accurate. I still remember when I finished my big barrel of lambic. I took a hydrometer reading and it dropped down to the bottom. Yes, the hydrometer floated fine in water. Speaking of which, what should I do with a barrel of lambic that's going on 4 years old now? Does the BJCP really, truthfully, rate unblended lambic well? This is some pretty powerful stuff now.
|
|
#
?
Jul 29, 2011 19:03
|
|
