Is it weird that I no longer enjoy much of the process between recipe design and drinking the beer? It’s not the worst thing in the world, but if I could design the recipe, source the ingredients, specify the process exactly, and then get a day laborer to handle it, I would.
Of course it’s not weird. We all have different motivations.
Danstar Koln. Clears very fast which is nice. Kegged 6 days ago. Noticed a dramatic difference from day 2 to day 3
That’s a nice looking beer! Assuming it is a Kolsch.
No it’s a mutt of an ale. Cream ale inspired.
60% pils
20% flaked corn
15% rye
5% sugar
7g bravo @ 60
1 oz amarillo @ 20 min
1 oz amarillo @ 2 min
1.050
17 IBU
Ran at 64F and the yeast is pretty expressive. Need to experiment with it lower to see how clean it can be.
yup. i didnt feel the need to go ahead and explain my whole “why i brew” thoughts, but youve summarized it mostly.
- its actually quite hard to get those “classic” styles like a really nailed down, well-crafted porter or stout or many other styles. its all just haze/“craft” lagers/session ipas etc.
-for the classic styles you can get the prices are insane now. i got a 500ml bottle of timothy taylor landlord the other day. $3.95. thats a lot of money for what would cost about 90 cents to a dollar to make. - i generally just make beer for personal consumption, but i do feel proud that i make my own stuff and people around here whove had it like it.
- the process is okay, the formulation is fun. i have a KISS system though don’t cut any corners except re: hot side oxidation and potential oxidation during transfer/bottling. as someone else said, if i could have some labourer do it as reliably as i do for 20 bucks per brew i would probably do that.
re: dry yeast. i had some issues come up this week and thanks to dry diamond lager yeast i can simply delay my intended brew for next weekend. i haven’t used dry in a while, we’ll see how it goes. the k-97 had a 5 inch krausen at its peak 2 days ago.
I brew because I enjoy almost getting something right. Like hanging a picture just out of level.
Just got some dried Lutra, excited to try it (In a few months). Got to try Omega Cosmic Punch with some mash hopping first. And brew a Stjordol and some lagers with Bayern Lager.
BTW, just ordered a sack of Briess maltgems from Ritebrew, some yeast-$17 2 day shipping!
I’ve had interest with malt gems for some time.
Have you used it before ?
Thanks
Just ordered 4 more packets of Diamond Lager yeast from Label Peelers. Still on sale, with free shipping.
I use this as a backup, in case my harvested slurry is slow to take off. It rarely is.
Kegged 10 gallons of German Pils yesterday, made with Avangard & Weyermann malt, and Diamond yeast. It will be entered in an upcoming competition.
I have not, seems like an interesting product. Planning on doing a few lagers and an IPL to test it out.
I have used both of those cultures and the blow-off from them does not sound like someone is kicking the side of the blow-off container at 52F. That is what S-23 sounded like to me.
I just had a 5.5 gal. batch with 1007 blow out of an 8 gal. fermenter.
That is only because 1007 produces a massive head. That is different than a culture that does not produce a large head that is blowing gas off like crazy. Wyeast 1007 ferments strongly in the high 50s, but not in the low 50s. While less affected by lower temperatures than most S. cerevisiae cultures, it lacks the cryotolerance of a true lager yeast strain because it lacks the S. eubayanus genetic admixture that lager strains enjoy. One is going to get a large head with 1007 because it is a true top-cropping yeast strain.
Mark, there was a steady stream of bubbles from the airlock. Not distinguishable as single bubbles, just a constant release of gas. Pretty much the same for 1728 in my Wee Shroomy.
Well, I kegged the beer I made with S-23. It did not taste all that different from the beers I made with W-34/70 and Diamond lager. I am curious as to if Fermentis improved their production process for this culture because I do not sense the nastiness that other people have claimed. One thing that I can say is that the beer tastes closer to Pilsner Urquell (PU) than the versions I made with W-34/70 and Diamond (the recipe for all three version was identical except the yeast culture), so there is more than genetic sequencing pointing to this culture originating from the same culture as the PU H-Strain. The beer has the mild floral and fruit signature of PU.
can’t wait till i can state this with my current k-97 batch.
Mark,
What temp did you pitch and ferment the S23 at?
When I toured the PU brewery and tasted the beer out of the wood fermenters I recall thinking it had similar esters to some of the Kolsch beer we had just been drinking in Cologne.
It really tasted more like cool fermented ale than lager.
The draft beer at PU in the beer garden and surrounding town was more “lager” like. But still very different from German lagers. Fruitier and fuller on the palate.
I fermented at 52F until fermentation slowed. I raised the temperature to 59F until I no longer sensed active fermentation at which time I raised the temperature to 64F. I achieved 82.75% AA.
The reason is that beer in the wood fermenters (open air fermentation) is the original recipe, brewed with the original method. That beer is only for guests who tour the brewery. It is not packaged, or available anywhere outside of the brewery.
So does PU use a different yeast for the wood fermented beer?
And did I hear correctly that White Labs Pils type yeast was found to be an ale strain?