Beer thread
-
@MN5 said in Beer thread:
I was told that amount of hops would be crazy in terms of bitterness……
depends when you add them.
Interestingly, this recipe (which I can't find online any more) has no hops in the boil. There's a hop stand, and then a monster charge of hops after fermentation is largely completed. My mate is a mad hop head and has reset how much hops you can put into a beer ... they're damn good, but pretty expensive to brew (for homebrew prices :D)
-
Haven't posted here for a while so I thought I'd share a few things I've been doing with recent all grain brewing. All the talk of big hop additions caught my attention so thought I'd jump in.
After a bit of a break from the mad brewing in May, in August and September I completed 4 brews:
SAC2 DDH @8.8% ABV with a total of 692g of Hops (Simcoe, Amarillo, Cascade and used in the 1st dry hop only, Citra)
Kiwi-tasm @8.0% ABV and a total of 559 g of Hops (Nelson Sauvin, Nectaron and Taiheke)
Nelson's Oats @7.5% with 450g of Nelson Sauvin (called Nelson's oats as it used only Golden Promise with three types of Oats as adjuncts - Big-O Malted Oats from Gladfield, Golden Naked Oats from Simpsons and plain old rolled Oats)
Phantas-Mc Hanlon - 8.1% with a total of 655g of Hops (Motueka, Taiheke, Moutere, Nectaron and Riwaka)A while ago I was challenged by fellow homebrewer to try using Incognito, the hop oil extract.
I took up the challenge and used it in a couple of brew days and I have to say, using the hop oil extract was quite sticky and messy but I did like the results as I didn't have to use the normal amount of pellet hops.
However, it is bloody expensive here in Aus, $60 for 100g, so I'm not sure I will use it too often.
One new method I've gotten into is Mash Hopping, that is adding some hops along with the grain to your basket/bag. There are some varietals that work better than others for this and one that is well known to work well in mash hopping is Cascade. So I've used Cascade once in a Hazy IPA along with Amarillo and Simcoe at the whirlpool and double dry hopping.
The Cascade mash hop worked really well, adding more fruit flavour and in particular, aroma to the final beer.
Another recent brew I also mash hopped but this time with Nelson Sauvin, a personal favourite hop of mine. The reason for using Nelson Sauvin was that I also used another new product for the first time, Phantasm Powder.
For those who haven't heard of this previously, Phantasm Powder is made from the skins of sauvignon blanc grapes from Marlborough. I believe that Garage Project has lead the charge in terms of commercial breweries on this revival of an old method that was primarily used to add more bitterness with less hop.
The use of Phantasm plus the mash hopping really lifted those white wine fruit flavours and aroma!
I kegged that particular beer, calling it Kiwi-tasm as it used all Kiwi Grain as well as hops, Nelson Sauvon and Nectaron and Taiheke.
Another new thing I've been using is the very recently released Non-GMO Thiol producing yeast from White Labs, WLP077 Tropical Yeast Blend.
Those who follow bring might know that thiols are sulfur based compounds that make up less than 1% of the essential oils in a hops cone but are powerful in particular smells like those that occur in fruity white wines such as Sav Blanc, Riesling, etc.
The various yeast makers have been experimenting for a while now including using genetic modifications to allow the yeast to free the thiols with are found not only in hops but also in some grains, just in smaller amounts.
Here in Aus like other jurisdictions, we do not allow genetically modified products into the country so White Labs came up with a number of strains that were found to naturally free thiols and have put them together in their new released Tropical Yeast Blend.
Having used it twice already, I have to say it is now my new favourite yeast as Kiwi-tasm, is now my favourite beer I've brewed which was also my 30th recipe to grain to glass brew.
-
-
@nzzp said in Beer thread:
@RoninWC said in Beer thread:
free the thiols
There's a T Shirt in that
sounds like you're having fun!
Brewing fucken rocks
( spoken as a complete amateur compared to youse fellas but still…..enthusiastic at least ! )
-
-
@MN5 said in Beer thread:
Brew down.
The consensus seems to be to add about a pound of chilis for 20 litres. Does this sound about right ?
sounds a lot, but I am no expert on chili
A lot depends on how hot they are. A pound of jalapeno ain't a pound of carolina reaper.
Also, you want the oil I presume; do you cut them before adding? Does it matter?Good luck - remember yo ucan add more chili to the keg, you can't take any out
-
@nzzp said in Beer thread:
@MN5 said in Beer thread:
Brew down.
The consensus seems to be to add about a pound of chilis for 20 litres. Does this sound about right ?
sounds a lot, but I am no expert on chili
A lot depends on how hot they are. A pound of jalapeno ain't a pound of carolina reaper.
Also, you want the oil I presume; do you cut them before adding? Does it matter?Good luck - remember yo ucan add more chili to the keg, you can't take any out
Yeah we got a bunch of them and will slice them up and chuck them in when we dry hop.
They seem to be on the more conservative side of hot so at worst we’ll get a nice Pilsner with a hint of chili
( he said hopefully )
-
-
@nzzp said in Beer thread:
can you test it? Take a 100ml sample and hold it with a pro-rata chilli infusion for a couple of days ... snaity check how much transfer you get?
Yeah we might give that a go. Chilies and dry hopping will get done on Sunday morning after the Scotland/Ireland game.
Will give a full report on how it tastes in a few weeks.
The other IPAs have been various degrees of brilliant though, seriously impressed.
-
@MN5 said in Beer thread:
Will probably err on the side of conservative because we don’t want it to be undrinkable but a nice Pils with a chili kick sounds delightful.
Anyone here done this ?
Popped half a crushed Scotch Bonnet chillie into 20 litres for 2-3 days of fermenting into a Belgium heavy beer kit once. Worked out well and added a bit of an edge to what was a pretty sweet brew.
-
@Victor-Meldrew said in Beer thread:
@MN5 said in Beer thread:
Will probably err on the side of conservative because we don’t want it to be undrinkable but a nice Pils with a chili kick sounds delightful.
Anyone here done this ?
Popped half a crushed Scotch Bonnet chillie into 20 litres for 2-3 days of fermenting into a Belgium heavy beer kit once. Worked out well and added a bit of an edge to what was a pretty sweet brew.
Chilis went in fine along with the dry hops and the fermenter started bubbling like a jug. Terrific stuff.
Next on the menu is another go at the Pink Grapefruit IPA ( 20 litres as opposed to 23 for more alcohol ) and some additional hops.
-
@MN5 said in Beer thread:
@Victor-Meldrew said in Beer thread:
@MN5 said in Beer thread:
Will probably err on the side of conservative because we don’t want it to be undrinkable but a nice Pils with a chili kick sounds delightful.
Anyone here done this ?
Popped half a crushed Scotch Bonnet chillie into 20 litres for 2-3 days of fermenting into a Belgium heavy beer kit once. Worked out well and added a bit of an edge to what was a pretty sweet brew.
Chilis went in fine along with the dry hops and the fermenter started bubbling like a jug. Terrific stuff.
Next on the menu is another go at the Pink Grapefruit IPA ( 20 litres as opposed to 23 for more alcohol ) and some additional hops.
Taste test ( we had a shot glass each of it while bottling ) is VERY promising. Once chilled and carbonated it will be a sure fire winner although only for those who actually like that type of beer, lots of people who loved the IPAs we’ve done have already dismissed it.
Was a bit of a pain to clean too…..
-
@MN5 good luck to ya Acquired taste I"m sure
Cracked otu the first glass of the hazy last night. IT's as smooth as a politician on the campaign trail. A dangerous 7% that tastes like hop juice. Ridiculous.
Will report back if the gluten free additive works...
-
-
@nzzp said in Beer thread:
@MN5 good luck to ya Acquired taste I"m sure
Cracked otu the first glass of the hazy last night. IT's as smooth as a politician on the campaign trail. A dangerous 7% that tastes like hop juice. Ridiculous.
Will report back if the gluten free additive works...
Yeah I’m slightly ( only slightly ) over the whole Hazy thing at the moment truth be told. So many of them on the market at the moment and I much prefer IPA/APA, Pilsner and Stout.
Come summer time I’m sure I’ll be into them again, you’re right, they are often much stronger than you’d think.
-
@nzzp said in Beer thread:
the nice thing about my current setup is pressure fermenting means the beer's almost carbed when it's done. And the floating dip tube means no hop burn, despite ridiculous amounts of hops in there 5 days ago.
I’ve put my set up in the corner of the garage and got it looking terrific if I do say so myself.
Currently six dozen big bottles aging so we’re going to drink a few before doing the next brew I think.
The carbonation drops just make things so easy.
-
@MN5 said in Beer thread:
Yeah I’m slightly ( only slightly ) over the whole Hazy thing at the moment truth be told. So many of them on the market at the moment and I much prefer IPA/APA, Pilsner and Stout.
fair
My brewing is basically PIlsners and Hazies, with the odd IPA/IIPA or Imperial Stout thrown in. I'm completely against Sour and other crazy stuff ... appreciate others love it, but just not for me
-
@nzzp said in Beer thread:
@MN5 said in Beer thread:
Yeah I’m slightly ( only slightly ) over the whole Hazy thing at the moment truth be told. So many of them on the market at the moment and I much prefer IPA/APA, Pilsner and Stout.
fair
My brewing is basically PIlsners and Hazies, with the odd IPA/IIPA or Imperial Stout thrown in. I'm completely against Sour and other crazy stuff ... appreciate others love it, but just not for me
Yeah I’m keen on a Sour at some stage. We’re not gonna bother with Saison or anything like that and obviously English Bitter etc is completely out. Might try a Wheat beer but we go to the shop with one in mind only for the guy running the place to sell us something else !
I love adding extra hops or flavour enhancers though…..aside from the first bottling generic lager that came with the kit we haven’t had a dud brew yet !
-
-
