What're you brewing right now?

[markaberrant]

going to buy some sour cherries next summer and do a secondary fermentation on 5 lbs of them (pitted, to eliminate a possible almondy smell and to reduce cyanide)

I specifically buy unpitted sour cherries for my sours and meads.

[markaberrant]

a debate for you....

doing straight pilsner vs adding a lb of mouthfeel grain. I'm always tempted to add in some of the latter for better head retention, etc.

Not much debate for me. If you can't get the right mouthfeel/head retention with nothing but good quality base malt then you are doing something wrong. I haven't used carapils/carafoam in about 6 years, and I only use unmalted grains if traditional for the style.

[Derek]

Mark's right, but I certainly haven't mastered head-retention.

I absolutely loved my hefeweizen last year, but there was NO head retention. I think the problem was a quick mash without a protein rest. I didn't care if it was hazy, and thought there should be lots of protein with that grist (50% wheat, 25% Bohemian Pils, 25% light munich), right? Well... I don't think the proportion of proteins was right. Plus there's very little hop oil in a hefe.

This year I did a 128F protein rest and proper decoction mash, which helped a lot. The half that I dry-hopped has a phenomenal head.

A Pils has a simple recipe, so it's the process that makes the difference. I've never brewed one, but I wouldn't dry-hop it. I would do a short protein rest (to encourage medium-length proteins) and also have a late-hop addition (so you don't boil the oils away).

Prost!

[atomeyes]

Mark's right, but I certainly haven't mastered head-retention.

I absolutely loved my hefeweizen last year, but there was NO head retention. I think the problem was a quick mash without a protein rest. I didn't care if it was hazy, and thought there should be lots of protein with that grist (50% wheat, 25% Bohemian Pils, 25% light munich), right? Well... I don't think the proportion of proteins was right. Plus there's very little hop oil in a hefe.

This year I did a 128F protein rest and proper decoction mash, which helped a lot. The half that I dry-hopped has a phenomenal head.

A Pils has a simple recipe, so it's the process that makes the difference. I've never brewed one, but I wouldn't dry-hop it. I would do a short protein rest (to encourage medium-length proteins) and also have a late-hop addition (so you don't boil the oils away).

Prost!

i thought that low temp protein rests weren't good for head retention and that head retention comes when temps are around 155-159 F.

[Derek]

i thought that low temp protein rests weren't good for head retention and that head retention comes when temps are around 155-159 F.

If you're only using highly modified pils malt, that might be true. You don't want too much peptidase activity, which will destroy the moderate length proteins that are already in solution.

When you get up around 130F, there's not a lot of proteolytic activity, but the protease can provide more useable proteins from the right grist (like my hefe). But yeah, with the pils you might get a diminishing return. Depends on the malt.

http://www.howtobrew.com/section3/chapter14-4.html

[JasonTremblay]

Woah, woah. Hold the world phone.

There's cyanide in cherries??

In the pits -- a while back, Cantillon kriek was kicked out of the LCBO for having trace amounts of cyanide. However ... you'd probably end up in the hospital from alcohol poisoning before the cyanide did you a mischief.

FWIW, a lot of fruit pits contain some cyanide.

People go back and forth on cherry pits in the beer. Some people (see above) believe they add a depth of flavour you don't get with the fruit alone. Others think it's (take your pick) lazy; a waste a fermenter space; dangerous; bogus; [edit] easier to buy the buckets of pitted sour cherries at the market [than] to keep the pits in.

IME, it's one of the issues that really isn't worth getting your knickers in a twist over -- there are many other things to fuss over that'll have a bigger impact on your beer.

[atomeyes]

Woah, woah. Hold the world phone.

There's cyanide in cherries??

In the pits -- a while back, Cantillon kriek was kicked out of the LCBO for having trace amounts of cyanide. However ... you'd probably end up in the hospital from alcohol poisoning before the cyanide did you a mischief.

FWIW, a lot of fruit pits contain some cyanide.

People go back and forth on cherry pits in the beer. Some people (see above) believe they add a depth of flavour you don't get with the fruit alone. Others think it's (take your pick) lazy; a waste a fermenter space; dangerous; bogus; [edit] easier to buy the buckets of pitted sour cherries at the market [than] to keep the pits in.

IME, it's one of the issues that really isn't worth getting your knickers in a twist over -- there are many other things to fuss over that'll have a bigger impact on your beer.

apparently the pits lend a slight almond flavour. not sure if that's someone playing up the cyanide angle, since cyanide has an almond flavour. but i guess it depends on what flavour you're going for.

when i eat a cherry, i don't eat the pit. so without experimenting, i'd logically assume that i want a cherry flesh flavoured beer.

[atomeyes]

i thought that low temp protein rests weren't good for head retention and that head retention comes when temps are around 155-159 F.

If you're only using highly modified pils malt, that might be true. You don't want too much peptidase activity, which will destroy the moderate length proteins that are already in solution.

When you get up around 130F, there's not a lot of proteolytic activity, but the protease can provide more useable proteins from the right grist (like my hefe). But yeah, with the pils you might get a diminishing return. Depends on the malt.

http://www.howtobrew.com/section3/chapter14-4.html

but mark was doing pilsner. that's highly modifiable malt. so it would be 155Fish w/o a rest, no?

[Derek]

but mark was doing pilsner. that's highly modifiable malt. so it would be 155Fish w/o a rest, no?

I believe most Pilsner malts are... but some aren't (Briess, Weyermann's Bohemian Pilsner).

http://morebeer.com/brewingtechniques/bmg/noonan.html

Grind difference (% FG/CG). The fine grind/coarse grind (FG/CG) difference indicates the modification of the malt, and maltsters often use it instead of the DBCG value; either can be readily calculated from the other if the DBFG value is listed. A "steely" or vitreous malt, one suitable only for a mash cycle that includes a protein rest, will have an FG/CG difference of 1.8-2.2%, while a mealy and well-modified malt eminently suited to infusion mashing will have an FG/CG difference of 0.5-1.0%.

[JasonTremblay]

when i eat a cherry, i don't eat the pit. so without experimenting, i'd logically assume that i want a cherry flesh flavoured beer.

Again, depth of flavour. Almond and cherry? Well, yum -- it's a classic combination.

[icemachine]

Brewing up a Mild for my first brew in the new house

3 kg British Pale
1 kg Munich Dark
1 kg Amber

18g Pride of Ringwood Hops 60 min
10 g Pride of Ringwood Hops 15 Min
28g Fuggles Flameout
28g Fuggles Dry Hop

S-04 yeast

Calculated Batch Size 25 L
Calculated IBU 19.9
Calculated SRM 9.0

A little light in colour but otherwise I figure I have it pretty much to style

[icemachine]

In honour of the new address, an IPA with a target of 69 IBU's and 6.9% abv

[J343MY]

Brewed a barleywine over the weekend that will be aged with oak and Buffalo Trace Bourbon. Tentatively it is named "I am the Liquor". A little Trailer Park Boys reference.

2 row
Munich
C77
rye
Turbinado Sugar

Lots of Columbus

US-05

Easy.

[icemachine]

In honour of the new address, an IPA with a target of 69 IBU's and 6.9% abv

Not enough head space....

[atomeyes]

I took a peek at the lambic i brewed on July 13. There's what looks like an oily-ish film on the top, or almost a clear gel-like film. i THINK that's a good thing

brewing my mango sour this weekend. my brett clauss starter will be 11 days old (I think that will suffice). giddy with mango brett excitement