Archive for category Experiments

Bottled Mystery Cider

Posted by bradinator in Beer, Experiments, Home Brewing on July 12, 2010

I completely forgot about this one. Its been sitting in its fermenter since the end of May and I finally got around to bottling over a month later. This is the very first (and possibly last) beverage I have created by simply dumping the mixture straight on top of the yeast cake of recently bottled beer. If this turns out to be a drinkable cider I may start doing this for all of my finished beers.

I primed it with about a 1/2 cup of demerara sugar and managed to squeeze about 20 pints and 10 bottles of this odd-ball cider out of it. The final gravity was 1.000, giving it in ABV of about 5% and a very low calorie count of about 160kcal a pint.

Next week I will pop one of this concoctions into the fridge and try it out.

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Bottling Day – Molasses Porter and English Mild

Posted by bradinator in Beer, Experiments, Hobbies, Home Brewing on May 29, 2010

Just a quick update on my last two home brews. I racked both of them today which required me to use every single bottle I own. I could not begin to tell you how many bottles I got, but its probably around 70 pints between the both of them.

Too be honest I kind of rush both of them and did not take an accurate measurement for the priming sugar. It should have worked out to about 1/2 cup of dextrose each, but I kind of eye-balled it.

Molasses Porter –

Born May 2, Secondary May 16th, Bottled May 29
Original Gravity: 1.056
Final Gravity: 1.020 (S-33 SafAle yeast sucks)
ABV: 4.7%, Calories/Pint: 250kcal
Cost per pint: ~$1.00-$1.25

English Mild –

Born May 8, Secondary May 16th, Bottled May 29
Original Gravity: 1.034
Final Gravity: 1.009 (S-04 SafAle yeast rocks)
ABV: 3.2%, Calories/Pint: 150kcal
Cost per pint: ~$0.70-$0.80

Finally I will give both 7-14 days to bottle condition. I have so much beer downstairs right now I do not even know what to do with it.

And here is the real crazy thing… I created an experimental cider today too. I used 2 gallons of cranberry cocktail, 1 can of frozen pineapple juice concentrate and topped it with water. Worst of all I just pitched this on top of the yeast cake from my molasses porter! What was I thinking!? Original gravity is 1.038 and god have mercy on my soul for this monstrosity I am creating.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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An Experiment in Brewology – Beer Yeast

Posted by bradinator in Beer, Experiments, Hobbies, Home Brewing on February 6, 2010

It’s been a long while since I have last done an experiment in home brewing and this is one I have been planning on doing for a long time. The lack of small 1 gallon fermentation units and the terrible state of the local home brew suppliers in my city have prevented me from attempting this.

Last week I found a decent online store which supplied several strains of dry beer yeast, plus a variety of well priced hops and managed to convert several 1 gallon apple juice containers into fermenters. The yeast arrived at my house last night and the rest will be history. Until now I have exculsively used Coopers beer yeast which has served me very well in producing beer. Still from my reading and research many state that the strain of yeast plays a very large role in the overall final product. I have to find out for myself…

The Question – How much does the strain of yeast affect the final flavours of a home brewed beer?

The Experiment -4 Different strains of yeast will be used for a single beer recipe which will be divided into four seperate 1 gallon fermenters.

The Recipe -Bradinator’s Red Ale

All the ingredients collected and ready to go

3.3 lbs Pilsner LME
1.0 lbs Light DME
1 and 1/2 cups (approx 0.5 lbs) Crystal Malt 60L (steeped for 30 minutes at 70-80c)
1 oz Amarillo Gold @ 60 minutes
0.5 oz Amarillo Gold @ 30 minutes
0.5 oz Amarillo Gold @ 5 minutes
1/2 tsp Irish Moss @ 10 minutes
1/2 tsp Yeast Nutrient @ Cold Break
SafeAle-04, SafeAle-05, SafeLager S-23, SafeBrew S-33

Original Gravity: 1.038 – 1.040

The Plan – 4-6 weeks in the fermenters, then an additional 2 weeks in bottles. The final products will be refridgerated for 24 hours prior to drinking and will be sampled on an individual basis (possibly 1 a night). A final gravity reading will be taken from each individual batch as I highly expect them all ferment out differently, especially the S-33.

All the beer was divided evenly and each individual yeast packet pitched.

SafeAle S-04: Described as an English Ale yeast

SafeAle S-05 - An American ale yeast, low diacetyl production

SafeLager S-23 - A german lager yeast, supposed to impart fruit like flavours

SafeBrew S-33: A robust ale yeast with high alcohol tolerance. Used in strong ales.

I am going to need to monitor this brews over the next couple days as I pitched the entire 11.5g packet of yeast into these small fermenters. To prevent the inevitable blow out that will occur in the next day or so I have all the beers pointing into a blow-off jar filled with sanitizer.