Oldskewl
Well-Known Member
Good luck! I think your gonna love it. I considered doing a scaled down version of this also in the near future. Although I love the original, I thought about shooting for a 7.5 - 8.0% range next time.
I'm also planning on brewing this one.
My LHBS has a few options for the Pilsner malt. Not sure which one to choose (or if it even matters).
https://www.beermeistersupplies.com/swaen-pilsner-malt-1-lb.html
https://www.beermeistersupplies.com/weyermann-bohemian-pilsner-malt-1-lb.html
https://www.beermeistersupplies.com/weyermann-pilsner-malt-1-lb.html
https://www.beermeistersupplies.com/avangard-pilsner-malt-1-lb.html
The SRM on all are close to the same. Any opinions on which one I should use?
That looks like an awesome brew. I generally crash everything that I brew, just what I do. When I know it is finished, I crash for a day or two and package it. The bubbles are just coming out of solution. I just smacked my yeast for my Triple that I make. Recipe isn't too far from this. Once it conditions for a couple months, man nothing like Belgian beers! I've been saving all of my heavy bottles. I've been falling short on the CO2 that makes that awesome head. No more kegging Belgians, just not the same as bottle conditioned. Nice Job!Sorry for the 1-man band thing going on here.
I checked the gravity today (1 week after brewing) and it's down to 1.008. That was quick. That means ABV of 9.5% according to the BIABacus. 9.36% according to Brew Target. I took a taste and it seemed a bit too much on the sweet side.
Even though this is already ready to bottle according to the gravity reading, Should I leave this in the fermenter for another week or two? I have the capability to cold-crash also - since I have a DIY glycol chiller - so should I also do that?
One thing sort of odd that I noticed when checking the gravity today...it almost "seemed" carbonated. There were little tiny bubbles raising up in the hydrometer flask. I took a couple pictures and it had what looked like a head and lacing. I know it really can't be carbonated since I'm using a plastic fermenter with an airlock (which had no activity in it during fermentation due to the leaky nature of the plastic conical fermenters). But it sure seemed like it might have been.
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The amount of yeast shouldn't be the problem -- you'd have to filter or do a VERY good series of cold-crash/transfers to really get almost all yeast gone.I've waited 2.5 weeks after bottling and made sure the temps have been around 70-72F minimum. I still get little to no carbonation. Do I just need to wait longer?
The last beer I brewed had the same problem - and I'm wondering if cold-crashing and bottling don't mix. I've seen where people say they cold crash and have no trouble with bottle carbing, but I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong.
I've cold crashed down to about 37F is the lowest I can get. Am I not getting enough yeast to bottle carbonate? I ended up with about 10.5 gallons of beer and used 10oz of corn sugar for batch priming.
I'm hoping I just need to wait longer and will end up with carbonated beer.
when bottling with sugar (heck, even when kegging with sugar) , I always give a gentle shake a day later to ensure that no stratification is happening. It's easy, might not matter sometimes, might help sometimes.Is it better to shake up the bottles now and again? Or just leave them sit?
Kegging is the way to go for sure. It is quite an investment, but worth it. That said, my Belgian beers always are bottled. I like to transfer to a primed keg and bottle the primed beer with my bottle filler.I gotta switch over to kegging!
I use bottles from : Molson Lowenbrau, Labatt classique ( yes I'm a very old fart ) , Bass Pale Ale, Rochefort, Westvleteren , Westmalle , Orval, Hoegaarden wit . I never have any trouble using a column capper and crown caps from my local hobby store in Montreal. I use the standard caps , not the caps for the twist off bottles.
Sorry for the late response, I use champagne bottles (collect from bottle recyclers/parties etc) and "tirage" caps, you will need a tirage bell which fits the automatica bench capper (may fit others, best to get capper and bell from same supplier just to be sure), just unscrew the existing bell and screw on the new one. Champagne bottles are about as high as you can get for pressure so a reduced risk of bottle bombs when going for high carb levels, also they all seem to be manufactured with a "standard" neck, I have European and Australian and never had a leak. The only downside is their colour, being green (usually) you need to keep them somewhere dark to prevent any chance of "skunking" not really a problem for something that's going to be stored under the house or in a far corner for extended ageing. I also use them for my RIS's, minimum 12 months, and have some 6yrs old with no problems. Stick with the "normal" looking ones as the fancy shaped ones take up too much space, hope this helps. Cheers GI purchased my Belgian bottles from Northern Brewer. No idea where they may have originated. They do look like the center bottle in Dave's response. I measured 26.7mm max OD at the cap position. All I know is std caps will leak/seep on these bottles when using a rather nice bench capper.
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