The Latest
Unfortunately because of finances, brewing will have to take a hiatus for a short while (maybe two or more weeks) until I've completely budgeted it in, but the three last batches are all turning out very well, and looking promising.
The Blackstrap Brown Ale, as I may have mentioned previously, turned out excellent. The yeast fermented the beer quite dry (meaning less residual sugar and a less malty flavor/body), leaving a good alcohol base with a bit of tartness around the finish from the unfermentables in the molasses. Probably the most successful of the all-grain batches so far.
The Amarillo IPA...well...I haven't actually tasted it yet. I suppose I haven't gotten around to it, but I recently dry hopped it with another half ounce of Amarillo hops for that extra kick of flavor/aroma, and the color is exactly as expected due to some arduous notetaking on my part of the specific colors/strengths of my ingredients. I may taste it later tonight, but I'm hoping and expecting for my exactitude to pay off in a great summer IPA.
Lastly, the Belgian Tripel is right on course. Again, I haven't tasted it, but fermentation was quick and vigorous, as typical of strong Belgian yeasts, and upon smelling it, the regional Bastogne yeast is much less estery (fruity-smelling) than the Trappist yeast used on Ella and the second run of Annabelle, allowing for a bit of a subdued Belgian character, which I have to admit I find pleasant only in nominal amounts. It has a great golden straw color that is only possible through all grain brewing, and I'm excited to bottle her up after a bit of aging in secondary and the possibility of some cold conditioning later on down the road.
Speaking of Annabelle's second run, I popped open a bottle of her today, figuring the hotter summer temperatures would lend to a fully carbonated bottle by now. In retrospect, I was foolish to have used a recycled slurry of Belgian Trappist yeast (as used before on Ella) as opposed to spending the extra $5.00 on Edinburgh's regional yeast, but I consider it a lesson learned. Since being very disappointed with the latest run of Annabelle, I've put quite a bit of time into researching yeast specifics, and found it to be far more important in the final result as I had really believed beforehand, especially when substituting the most characteristic of Belgian yeasts. But all said and done, Annabelle isn't so bad; she's kind of what I wanted Ella to taste like. By going all grain and adjusting some of the specific specialty grain ratios in the malt bill, the new Annabelle has a much more particular smoke flavor (especially as it warms in the glass) and rye character, and I will certainly preserve this malt bill upon brewing Annabelle for the third time soon to come. But this time I won't be cheap about the yeast.
As for Ella, which has proven to be almost too estery and sweet for most palates (including mine and Molly's), I'm considering doing an experiment with the remaining beer by emptying the bottles back into a carboy and trying to "cure" the cloying sweetness somehow. One idea is using Bean-O, a digestive medication; while not necessarily appetizing, Bean-O works by breaking down hard-to-convert maltodextrins in the body into smaller sugar chains. In beer, Bean-O tends to make a beer bone-dry by destroying the same naturally produced dextrins (which are the major proponent of body in a "thick" or sweet beer), which are subsequently converted to alcohol by the remaining yeast which can now handle the shorter sugar molecules. By pitching a small amount of alcohol tolerant yeast (remember Ella is currently at about 11-12 percent alcohol right now) such as Champagne yeast, the sweetness will diminish and be replaced by another good cover of alcohol. There is a good possibility that the beer will worsen, and not have enough residual sweetness now to balance out the alcohol content, but I will do some reading up to try to prevent this from happening.
Anywho, that's the scoop. Another batch of Hannah (for you) and another of Rachel (for me) are in the immediate mix, as soon as the budget allows.
Sam
The Blackstrap Brown Ale, as I may have mentioned previously, turned out excellent. The yeast fermented the beer quite dry (meaning less residual sugar and a less malty flavor/body), leaving a good alcohol base with a bit of tartness around the finish from the unfermentables in the molasses. Probably the most successful of the all-grain batches so far.
The Amarillo IPA...well...I haven't actually tasted it yet. I suppose I haven't gotten around to it, but I recently dry hopped it with another half ounce of Amarillo hops for that extra kick of flavor/aroma, and the color is exactly as expected due to some arduous notetaking on my part of the specific colors/strengths of my ingredients. I may taste it later tonight, but I'm hoping and expecting for my exactitude to pay off in a great summer IPA.
Lastly, the Belgian Tripel is right on course. Again, I haven't tasted it, but fermentation was quick and vigorous, as typical of strong Belgian yeasts, and upon smelling it, the regional Bastogne yeast is much less estery (fruity-smelling) than the Trappist yeast used on Ella and the second run of Annabelle, allowing for a bit of a subdued Belgian character, which I have to admit I find pleasant only in nominal amounts. It has a great golden straw color that is only possible through all grain brewing, and I'm excited to bottle her up after a bit of aging in secondary and the possibility of some cold conditioning later on down the road.
Speaking of Annabelle's second run, I popped open a bottle of her today, figuring the hotter summer temperatures would lend to a fully carbonated bottle by now. In retrospect, I was foolish to have used a recycled slurry of Belgian Trappist yeast (as used before on Ella) as opposed to spending the extra $5.00 on Edinburgh's regional yeast, but I consider it a lesson learned. Since being very disappointed with the latest run of Annabelle, I've put quite a bit of time into researching yeast specifics, and found it to be far more important in the final result as I had really believed beforehand, especially when substituting the most characteristic of Belgian yeasts. But all said and done, Annabelle isn't so bad; she's kind of what I wanted Ella to taste like. By going all grain and adjusting some of the specific specialty grain ratios in the malt bill, the new Annabelle has a much more particular smoke flavor (especially as it warms in the glass) and rye character, and I will certainly preserve this malt bill upon brewing Annabelle for the third time soon to come. But this time I won't be cheap about the yeast.
As for Ella, which has proven to be almost too estery and sweet for most palates (including mine and Molly's), I'm considering doing an experiment with the remaining beer by emptying the bottles back into a carboy and trying to "cure" the cloying sweetness somehow. One idea is using Bean-O, a digestive medication; while not necessarily appetizing, Bean-O works by breaking down hard-to-convert maltodextrins in the body into smaller sugar chains. In beer, Bean-O tends to make a beer bone-dry by destroying the same naturally produced dextrins (which are the major proponent of body in a "thick" or sweet beer), which are subsequently converted to alcohol by the remaining yeast which can now handle the shorter sugar molecules. By pitching a small amount of alcohol tolerant yeast (remember Ella is currently at about 11-12 percent alcohol right now) such as Champagne yeast, the sweetness will diminish and be replaced by another good cover of alcohol. There is a good possibility that the beer will worsen, and not have enough residual sweetness now to balance out the alcohol content, but I will do some reading up to try to prevent this from happening.
Anywho, that's the scoop. Another batch of Hannah (for you) and another of Rachel (for me) are in the immediate mix, as soon as the budget allows.
Sam
posted by Sam Reese at 12:31 AM
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