Stella-esque beer

[beanbagz1]

So, it has been a while. I have been extremely busy for the last year or so and brewing had gone onto the back burner. My current gf has shown interest in brewing and i am glad she did so! today i have gotten all of my things out and given them a thorough cleaning. going to try and make a beer similar to one of her favorites, the most hated-STELLA

i found the recipe on fermentation riot.

9lbs pilsner malt
.5lbs carapils.

90 min mash @ 149f, will be using my cooler mash tun. i cannot remember the type of efficiency that i saw while using it in the past. the recipe is written up at 70% efficiency.. wouldnt 80% be more realistic?

i was going to add a cup of minute rice just to bump the AC a little, but wasnt sure if i did.. in addition to the efficiency being higher than the recipe specifies that i may end up with a much higher alcohol content than i set out for.

1.5oz saaz @60min
.5oz saaz and whilrfloc @15
1oz @ flameout

2042 danish lager that i will pitch around 60f and then throw into the garage.

do you think i will have issues with the temp fluctuating between 40-60f?

sorry for all the newbie questions, i just want to make my re-entrance to brewing a beautiful thing..... and of course make the lady happy

 

[beanbagz1]

c'mon guys and gals! i need some help!

 

[neosapien]

welcome back to the hobby I can't speak as to how close that will be to stella, but it looks like a pretty drinkable beer. As far as temperature swings, you might consider putting the carboy in a swamp cooler in the garage to try to mitigate the temperature swings as much as possible. no harm in giving your yeasties the most constant environment possible.

 

[rklinck]

If you want this beer to resemble Stella, you are going to need to keep the fermentation temps at lager fermentation levels. 60 is way too warm. Most lager yeast will want to be at right around 50 degrees. And you need to keep it as constant as possible.

 

[beanbagz1]

If you want this beer to resemble Stella, you are going to need to keep the fermentation temps at lager fermentation levels. 60 is way too warm. Most lager yeast will want to be at right around 50 degrees. And you need to keep it as constant as possible.

i guess i should have looked at the forecast. the temperature fluctuation outside for the next 10 days forecasted anywho... are between 30-52 degrees. i will be putting it into the garage which i would imagine keep a slightly more constant temp than outdoor.. as well as possibly putting a blanket around the bucket to insulate? you think something along those lines would work?

 

[beanbagz1]

oh yea, and it will be bottled in green stella bottles.

 

[BlackGoat]

consider using a kolsch ale yeast and fermenting at the very low end of ale temp range, something like 55-60 degrees. Using lager yeast properly would require more temperature control than you have available to you, I think you'd be happier with the bit more forgiveness of a "hybrid" fermentation. Also look into the swamp cooler mentioned above, just take your fermenter and put it into a tub of water, use frozen bottles of water to cool the temps down if you need to. Temperature swings aren't good for either lagers or ales.

 

[beanbagz1]

consider using a kolsch ale yeast and fermenting at the very low end of ale temp range, something like 55-60 degrees. Using lager yeast properly would require more temperature control than you have available to you, I think you'd be happier with the bit more forgiveness of a "hybrid" fermentation. Also look into the swamp cooler mentioned above, just take your fermenter and put it into a tub of water, use frozen bottles of water to cool the temps down if you need to. Temperature swings aren't good for either lagers or ales.

unfortunately you are probably right, however i brewed the batch last night
1051 og and extremely light colored beer.

pitched at around 75... it is down to 66 when i woke this morning and no sign of activity around the airlock yet.
hopefully it wasnt all for nothing.

 

[BlackGoat]

you pitched a lager yeast at 75?! eeeek. I would do whatever you can to immediately get the fermenter way lower in temperature. 75 would have been far too high for even an ale yeast.

 

[rklinck]

you pitched a lager yeast at 75?! eeeek. I would do whatever you can to immediately get the fermenter way lower in temperature. 75 would have been far too high for even an ale yeast.

This is absolutely right. You are going to have a beer that is more like a California Common (Anchor Steam) than a clean lager like Stella.

 

[beanbagz1]

Well. As long as is drinkable ill be happy

 

[BlackGoat]

that's the spirit. Either way, you're still getting beer.

 

[beanbagz1]

Steady bubblage every 5-7 seconds. At 56f now. It is wrapped up in a couple of blankets. We will see how the next couple weeks go!

 

[BlackGoat]

perfect, good job getting that temp down. Report back on the progress. I'm going to make my first venture into a hybrid style with an experimental czech amber in January using a kolsch or german ale yeast at a low temp.

 

[beanbagz1]

still at 56f, how many days should i wait to takr a hydrometer reading? the bubbling is slowing down alot. the scent from the airlock is that of a light beer. thick krausen, and about 2 inches of sediment at the bottom of the bucket.

 

[BlackGoat]

I'd wait about three weeks if it were my beer. Colder fermentations tend to take longer.

 

[beanbagz1]

just transferred to secondary. gravity is at 1.015 right now.. how long would you let it be in the secondary before bottling? i washed and saved a bit of the yeast, do you think i will need to repitch some when bottling?

 

[roastquake]

Did you do a diacetyl rest? you may want to leave it at room temp for a few days to avoid having the beer taste like buttered popcorn. I'm not sure if that's possible in a secondary, anybody know?

And for future reference, I saw a Stella clone once that called for about half the water to be distilled. I'll see if I can find it again

 

[beanbagz1]

Did you do a diacetyl rest? you may want to leave it at room temp for a few days to avoid having the beer taste like buttered popcorn. I'm not sure if that's possible in a secondary, anybody know?

And for future reference, I saw a Stella clone once that called for about half the water to be distilled. I'll see if I can find it again

i did bring it inside a couple of days ago, raised the temp to around 60.

was sitting at 46-51 for the last 10 days before that.

 

[BlackGoat]

Did you do a diacetyl rest? you may want to leave it at room temp for a few days to avoid having the beer taste like buttered popcorn. I'm not sure if that's possible in a secondary, anybody know?

And for future reference, I saw a Stella clone once that called for about half the water to be distilled. I'll see if I can find it again

It was fermented at ale temps so it probably doesn't need the diacetyl rest. I don't think this beer needed to be put into a secondary at all, so it can be bottled as soon as the gravity has stabilized as far as I'm concerned. I don't secondary my beers unless they are being aged on oak or there is some specific reason for them to be batch-aged for an extended period of time.

 

[roastquake]

i did bring it inside a couple of days ago, raised the temp to around 60.

was sitting at 46-51 for the last 10 days before that.

You're in the clear :rockin:

 

[beanbagz1]

It was fermented at ale temps so it probably doesn't need the diacetyl rest. I don't think this beer needed to be put into a secondary at all, so it can be bottled as soon as the gravity has stabilized as far as I'm concerned. I don't secondary my beers unless they are being aged on oak or there is some specific reason for them to be batch-aged for an extended period of time.

ok.. i suppose i wont let it be in the secondary for long then, i will probably bottle in the next couple of days.. do you think i will need to repitch? or should i save the yeast for another batch? what temp should i carb them in the bottles? i did drink some of it last night, and it did not have any of the buttery taste mentioned above. tasted like a flat un-carbonated bud or busch beer lol.

 

[roastquake]

You should only need to worry about adding more yeast if you lager before bottling because the low temp will make the yeast flocculate and go dormant. It sounds like you haven't lagered yet, I would just bottle it, leave it at room temp for 2 weeks then start the cold-aging

 

[beanbagz1]

i dont like how light it tastes. is there a way to impart a little residual sweetness by bottling with something other than corn sugar? like honey or something?

 

[BlackGoat]

i dont like how light it tastes. is there a way to impart a little residual sweetness by bottling with something other than corn sugar? like honey or something?

Not really, the priming sugar won't add any residual sweetness, and its probably not a good idea to try to make an adjustment at this point. Just let it ride and see how it turns out, then make your recipe adjustments for future batches. This is part of the reason that most of us who make beer won't really go anywhere neer a bottle of stella, lol. I doubt I could tell the difference between a stella, coors, or PBR if you gave me a blind taste test.

 

[beanbagz1]

Not really, the priming sugar won't add any residual sweetness, and its probably not a good idea to try to make an adjustment at this point. Just let it ride and see how it turns out, then make your recipe adjustments for future batches. This is part of the reason that most of us who make beer won't really go anywhere neer a bottle of stella, lol. I doubt I could tell the difference between a stella, coors, or PBR if you gave me a blind taste test.

i feel exactly the same way.

 

[beanbagz1]

i have been running in circles for the last few weeks. i brewed this beer over 5 weeks ago, it has been in the secondary for about a month... do i need to repitch yeast before i bottle? i am going to bottle tonight! New dawn ale? lol