Archive for category Home Brewing
The Great Yeast Experiment – Tasting notes from the S-33
Posted by bradinator in Beer, Beer Tasting, Experiments, Home Brewing on May 7, 2010
The final batch. I gave this one a few extra weeks in the bottles before tasting as the first one I opened was a foamer. The extra time calmed down the carbonation on this batch so I can finally taste it.
The S-33 Beer -
Appearance - Though the colour is the same as the S-23, this one is noticeably more foamy. I am going to chalk it up to the yeast being slightly more robust and re-awakening when I moved it from the fermentor to the bottles. Huge, soft and froathy head when poured.
Taste – There is hardly any aroma with this one. The taste is bitter and very citrus and grapefruit, with just a mild hint of caramel to it. The hops are noticeable as well, but not so much as the S-23. Finishes very bitter and the aftertaste lingers.
Mouth Feel - Soft and foamy, this is an easy drinking ale. Its filling due to the high volumes of carbonation.
Final – Its good, but not as nice as the S-23. Its quite a bit like the S-04 except a much higher volume and carbonation and a complete lack of aroma.
Brew Day – Molasses Porter
Posted by bradinator in Beer, Home Brewing, Recipes on May 2, 2010
It’s brew day! I have been planning another Molasses Porter for some time now. The last time I made this was way back in September 2009. From my previous tasting notes from the final bottle of the that batch I was not happy with the overall product. I found it too heavy in the molasses area. This time around I cut back on the molasses, double the batch size and pitched a much stronger yeast.
Here is the recipe -
- 7.5lbs Pilsner LME
- 0.5lbs Fancy Grade Molasses
- 0.5lbs Demerara Sugar
- 0.5lbs Chocolate Malt
- 0.5lbs Roasted Barley
- 2 oz Northern Brewer Hops @ 60 minutes (I wanted to use Chinook but they did not have any!)
- 1/2 tsp of Irish Moss @ 10 minutes
- 11g SafAle S-33 Dry Yeast (not rehydrated)
Steps -
1) Steep the grains at 75-80c for 30 minutes in 7L of water. Sparged the grains with 1L of 90c water.
2) Add the sugars/extracts to the pot and bring temperature up to a rolling boil (95c~100c). Add hops.
3) Monitor the temperature and boil for the next 60 minutes, stirring the wort every 3-5 minutes to keep the hops from sticking to the side of the pot. (Nothing beats babysitting a massive pot of boiling wort for an hour. Thank god for music).
4) At 10 minutes left add the irish moss to the wort.
5) Remove from heat, cooled with water directly added to the hot wort. Brought the volume up to 6 gallons, but was not able to achieve a low enough temperature for the yeast so I moved the wort into the freezer for 30 minutes to speed up the cooling.
6) Pitched the SafAle S-33 yeast and closed up the batch.
Original Gravity was 1.056. Hoping to achieve a 1.010 final gravity. The estimated cost of this batch is around 35 dollars and I should be able to get 35 pints out of it, so 1 dollar a pint.
The plan is to allow it 3 weeks in the primary, then move it to a secondary to separate the beer from the trub (hops and grain leftovers that settle to the bottle of the fermenter) and clean it up a bit. I will probably give it 2 more weeks in the secondary, move it into bottles and give it 7-10 days of conditioning.
Now its time to start thinking about next weeks brew…
Graff homebrew update
Posted by bradinator in Beer, Hobbies, Home Brewing on April 25, 2010
This is what a work of art in progress looks like.
The Dark Tower Graff fermentation is taking off
Ugly isn’t it?
Homebrew – Dark Tower Graff
Posted by bradinator in Beer, Experiments, Hobbies, Home Brewing on April 25, 2010
This is a hybrid of a cider and a stout. I was thinking of making both separately but stumbled onto this recipe on another forum and decided to give it a whirl.
Dark Tower Graff -
Ingredients -
- 3.75lbs of Pilsner LME
- 1lbs 120L Crystal Malt
- 0.25lbs Roasted Barely
- 0.25lbs Chocolate Malt
- 1 0z Target @ 45 minutes
- 1/2 oz Irish Moss @ 10 minutes
- 2 Gallons SunRype Pure Apple Juice
- 1 Package SafeAle US-05 (Rehydrated, pitched at 26c)
I steeped the grains for 20 minutes at around 70c. Following that I brought the grain tea to boil and added the LME and hops which were boiled for 45 minutes. When that was done it was moved to the fermenter where the cooled apple juice plus an additional 2.5 gallons of cooled water was added (bringing the temperature down rapidly). Finally I took the OG and pitched the yeast.
The Original Gravity was 1.052 which is exactly what I was aiming for. I am a little concerned about the yeast I pitched as it clumped together when I added it. I shouldn’t matter too much but I am going to keep an eye on it. The plan is 3 weeks in the primary, followed by a 7-14 days in the secondary to clean it up.
If all goes well I should have a tasty malted dark cider to enjoy by the end of May.
Oh and on a side note I finally got around to bottle my Apfelwien which finished at 0.996. I took a small sample taste and found it very tart and sharp which may require an extended bottle conditioning to mellow out.
The Great Yeast Experiment – Tasting notes from the S-23
Posted by bradinator in Beer, Beer Tasting, Home Brewing on March 27, 2010
The S-23 Beer -
Appearance - As far as colour goes, this beer looks identical to the S-04. The head is much larger and showed better retention then the others, though it still dissipates within a minute of pouring. It is noticeably more fizzy too.
Taste – The aroma has a mild note of caramel and thats about it. Very small notes of caramel in the initial taste, but this is washed out by stronger, bitter grassy hops. The S-23 yeast seems to have accentuated the tastes of the hops in this beer. Finishes slightly sweet, with a lingering caramel flavour.
Mouth Feel - Very fizzy and sharp unlike the S-04 and S-05 beers. Not overly filling. The aftertaste is long lived, changing from sweet to bitter.
Final – I loved this one. What it lacks in mouth feel it makes up for in the overall flavour profile of this beer. The stronger hops and lighter sweetness is much more to my palettes liking.
The Great Yeast Experiment – Tasting notes from the S-05
Posted by bradinator in Beer, Beer Tasting, Home Brewing on March 26, 2010
The S-05 Beer -
Appearance - This beer is more cloudy then the S-04, though the colour seems a similar copper. The head is less foamy and smaller then the S-04 as well.
Taste – The difference in odour and taste a very apparent. The aroma is much more yeasty and raw, reminding me of a wheat ale. The beers flavours reflect this, with notes of incense like flowers and banana, finishing bitter and grassy. The bitter aftertaste lingers as well.
Mouth Feel - Very soft, slightly foamy and not that filling. The aftertaste is sour and lingers for a good duration.
Final – Like night and day. Even though this is only the second beer I have sampled of the four from the Great Yeast Experiment I already have my answer: Yeast greatly affects the overall character of a beer. The smell, the taste and the feel. It contributes to it all. I cannot wait to try the others.
Tasted of bananas, flowers and incense, reminding me of a wheat ale. Much different then the S-04 ale.
The Great Yeast Experiment – Tasting notes from the S-04
Posted by bradinator in Beer, Beer Tasting, Experiments, Home Brewing on March 24, 2010
I have sampled one of each already, but I have yet to take the time to sit down and really flesh out the specifics behind each type of beer.
To start I will begin by reviewing the S-04. I drank this one side by side with an S-05 brew (which is not reviewed here) and the taste differences are noticeable enough for my palette.
The S-04 Beer -
Appearance - Slightly dull and foggy light copper-like color. Produces a nice medium and very foamy head to start, but dissipates into a ring around the rim of glass.
Taste – Smells strongly of citrus fruits and toffee. Starts off just hoppy and floral, but is quickly overwhelmed with a much stronger, grapefruit-like bitter-sweet citrus taste. Some hints of sweet caramel, but these really only become apparent in the aftertaste. Pleasant, caramel aftertaste on the tongue.
Mouth Feel - Very foamy, very filling. Not particularly sharp on the tongue. Aftertaste is sweet and pleasant. It is kind of malty and leaves a pasty feeling on the tongue.
Final – This is good, but when the S-05 seemed better. I am not sure what caused the pasty mouth feel, but it is very apparent with this home-brew. Overall I am quite happy with this beer, though I have made better in the past.
Very citrusy, strong grapefruit-esque flavours with some notes of caramel in the background.