mistercameron
Well-Known Member
pabloj13 said:Did you do all grain?
Yes.
pabloj13 said:Did you do all grain?
Yes.
pabloj13 said:I was asking because the pH of your water is pretty meaningless. It has almost no effect on mash pH. It's the residual alkalinity that you need to figure out. Do you have the rest of your water report?
I was asking because the pH of your water is pretty meaningless. It has almost no effect on mash pH. It's the residual alkalinity that you need to figure out. Do you have the rest of your water report?
Let me start of by saying, this recipe is simple to make. I converted over to extracts to save on prep time. I wanted something simple that most can make. The Belgian is going to be a clone of a 2006 Gold Medal winner in the World Beer cup in 2006 (Dragonmead Final Absolution). I was lucky enough to get the recipe. I converted the recipe over to LME and DME. I made a few changes to it also. I changed the 60mins hops from Hallertauer Mittelfruh to German Hallertau and used DME amber instead of munich malt. I didn't use a starter either, I opted for using two vials of WLP500 instead (so i wouldn't have to wait). I regret not making a starter though, because It took 24 hours before it took off. I had to stir it up a little bit then it started fermenting instantly.
Let me know what you guys think? I'm dabating on adding another 3.3lbs of Pilsner light LME to get around 10%. But I'm not sure how the the final gravity will end up at. I heard some people with attenuation of around 85%. I figure if i get 77% then this will be 8.2%. The recipe is supposed to be 8.5%. I think I just may leave this alone and see how it comes out then go from there. I will keep everyone updated on how it comes out.
Day 5: It has a very nice smell of a light banana, fruit hints with some spice! WOW, can't wait until this is done!
Day 6: Took hydro reading of 1.020 (thats 8% after 6 days) Smells very good! Has the look and consistancy of a Belgian but it's cloudy (but that's expected), has a very nice yellow color. I'm waiting until day 10 to 14 to rack into secondary.
Day 10: 1.016 gravity, going to give it a few more days before i rack it into the secondary.
Day 16: Reracked into secondary, 1.016 gravity still.
Day 32: Kegged it!!!! same gravity and all I can say is WOWWWWW
Here is a video review of the beer i'm cloning:
Extract:
3 x 3.3lbs Pilsner Light malt extract LME
1 x 1lbs Amber DME
1 x 1.5lbs Belgian Candy
12.4 total pounds of fermentables
Hops: (IBU came out at 23 but you can range from 20 to 25)
2 oz. German Hallertau 3.8%AA 60min
1 oz. Styrian Goldings 3.4% AA 30min
1 oz. Saaz 2.8% AA 3min
Yeast:
2 x WLP500 Trappist Ale Yeast
This beer is one of my favorites and I can't wait until it is finished. I have a couple of questions:
-I know that I must have read this somewhere on this thread but I used a starter as was suggested (2 cups DME to 4 cups water). Should I have used 1 vial of yeast or 2 (I used one).
-Also, I am equipped to brew 5 gal. batches so that is what I did here. My OG was 1.14 which I know is way too high. Is there anything I can do to mitigate this at this point or is this just destined to be a really strong beer? I just brewed today.
I do, but ill have to dig it out later. I punched the numbers into the EZ water calc spreadsheet and the estimated mash pH was still pretty high - we have very alkaline water, AFAIK.
Gotcha. Yeah, punching that into Bru'N water gives you a mash pH of 5.6. Just wanted to make sure you weren't just going off of strike water pH. So what would you do next time, add some acid malt or some acids to the water?
I was going to start with the easiest route - 5.2 stabilizer from 5-star. It was several weeks ago that I looked at the spreadsheet, but I seem to remember the mash pH was well over 6. Given the mineral content of our water, I'm hesitant to try other additions because we're already "up there" on the key ones. I think my best bet would be straight acid (muratic?), but the spreadsheet doesn't have that in its calculations.
pabloj13 said:I would avoid that. It is a crappy buffer and it adds a ton of sodium. Bru'N water has a section for acid additions. Alternatively you could cut your water with some RO water. That pH5.2 stuff is junk.
I was going to add an extra 2 lbs of LME to this--I have 12 lbs on hand but I'm worried about a high final gravity. I wanted to up the ABV% to around 9.5-10% or so. 2lbs LME ups the ABV about 1% and the FG to from about (1.016 original recipe) to about 1.018 per my calcs. Anyone think it's a better idea to just add more sugar/candi and save the 2 extra lbs of LME for my next brew?
great that is what I wanted to know. Time to break in my new 10 gallon pot and sp10 burner.
Heya! I got all the ingredients, sort of I need to go back and swap some misplaced hops that I drove home with, but I digress.
Instead of the 1.5 lb of candy sugar, i remembered that I had 1lb of D-90 candy syrup in my basement I've been wanting to get rid of. I went ahead and got light DME instead of amber to compensate for the color, but it will still come out with a copper to red to brown color according to hopville.
Will the D-90 candi syrup change anything other than color?
Should I go ahead and invert a 1/2lb of sugar to add also? or will the 1lb be enough?
Thanks!
horsepackage said:Forgive me if this was answered but is two vials of yeast necessary if I'm in no hurry? ?.. couldn't I just let it sit for 3-5 weeks to completely ferment out pitching just 1 vial of the white labs.. thanks alot
I pitched my 5 gallon batch with one packet of yeast and it took off vigorously within 8 hours. Foam was just roaring out of the airlock like always. I am skeptical that the use of two packets really matters that much. I know there has been work to show that the amount of yeast matters and that too small is a problem as well as too much is a problem. What I don't understand is why a reasonable amount of yeast doesn't just grow to a population size that balances the oxygen, sugars, etc that are available for it's use. My son is a winemaker and I had posed the question to him as well. His opinion was that the yeast population will grow to a certain size with little difference between a smaller pitch and a larger pitch.
Aside from pitching so little that the batch never starts, what will be the result of using one pouch of yeast rather than two.
I just brewed this yesterday. This is one of my favorite Trippels. I was super excited. But 40 minutes into the boil my burner ran out of propane and it was my backup tank! So I dumped the Saaz and 5 lbs of extract and candi sugar in ASAP and am hoping for the best. Anyone know what I can expect? I assume a much sweeter beer since the hops utilization will be low due to the shorter boil time. My LHBS only had one pack of Wyeast 1388 (and no other good substitutes), so I grabbed that and a pack of safale T58 to pitch. Question, is it ok to pitch to different yeast types at the same time? Or will they fight it out like little yeast ninjas and destroy one another? Which would be awesome if I didn't care if the beer turned out ok.
Thanks for any insight!
At 1.082 your yeasties should be fine. When did you do the syrup addition?
Just wondering. On big beers like that I like to wait and add the syrup 48-72 hours after pitching. Usually gives the yeast a head start so their not overwhelmed.
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