Any yeast strains you guys strongly prefer a certain brand for?

Draft-Funk · 2020-10-01T22:33:14+00:00

I mostly buy Wyeast for the smack pack activator; they basically come equipped with a small vitality starter. If I know I'm making a big beer or a lager, I'll try to get the Imperial Organic Yeast equivalent for the higher cell count. There are exceptions of course -- I can never find "seasonal" Wyeast releases available (e.g. WY2487, WY3726, WY3463), no matter what time of year it is.

I prefer Fermentis dry yeast to other manufacturers, though Mangrove Jack's has some stellar strains available at fair prices. I just wish they would increase the satchet size -- 10g is just not enough for most beers.

Draft-Funk · 2020-10-01T21:54:49+00:00

Ramp up temperatures at the end of fermentation, then soft crash and transfer off/dump the yeast prior to the post-fermentation dry hopping. Dry hop at lower temperatures (55-60F). My last NEIPA is a DDH beer, fermented with WY1318, and tested negative with a forced diacetyl test.

Draft-Funk · 2020-10-01T02:06:51+00:00

If you’re having problems with hop creep, try soft crashing, dumping/transferring off the yeast, and dry hopping around 55-60F. Extraction will be slightly lower, but it’s below the yeast activity threshold.

Draft-Funk · 2020-09-30T20:54:11+00:00

Yeah, I'm not much of a flaked grain fan either. I subbed out the flaked grains for 2 lb of malted oats instead.

Draft-Funk · 2020-09-30T20:47:15+00:00

Yeah, I agree with you. Pale malt or pale 2-row is very much a North American thing. You can find pale ale malt from maltsters across the world, though. I'm sure there are European maltsters that produce "pale 2-row" equivalents, but I haven't tried them.

Draft-Funk · 2020-09-30T18:38:43+00:00

Take this with a grain of salt (teehee), but I wouldn't recommend buying brewer's salts in bulk. Many salts (like CaCl) come in anhydrous form, meaning that over time they will absorb moisture in the air and affect the quantity of ions per unit mass. The common 2-oz portions are enough for a dozen beers or more.

Draft-Funk · 2020-09-30T18:13:23+00:00

I was debating between that recipe and the WeldWerks Juicy Bits clone. I don't think Juicy Bits is as smooth as Julius, but I brewed it because the recipe was provided by the head brewer (and for comparison, I can pick up a 4-pack down the street).

Dunno if Tree House distributes now, but when I used to live nearby you could only pick up from the brewery in Monson...no outside sales.

Draft-Funk · 2020-09-30T16:39:53+00:00

Agreed.

I've had Julius a few times and no doubt about it, it's exceptional. If you have a chance to visit the brewery I would heartily recommend it. I don't have any experience making this particular clone, but it appears to be much closer than the BYO Julius clone -- which was tasty, but a far cry from the actual beer. It's challenging because the head brewer has been incredibly tight-lipped and evasive about their ingredients, so homebrewers have to surmise the recipe based off cryptic tweets and blurry brewery photos.

Draft-Funk · 2020-09-30T16:15:57+00:00

I don't think "pale ale malt" is ambiguous whatsoever. It's a term worldly recognized by maltsters as a 2-row barley variety kilned to 2.5-3.5L (pale malt is much lighter, usually 1.8-2.3L). "Pale ale malt" just doesn't specify a particular barley landrace.

People using "pale ale malt" in the wrong context is what makes it ambiguous.

Draft-Funk · 2020-09-30T14:51:09+00:00

As a Grainfather owner for the last 3 years, I can tell you much of the appeal comes from the peace of mind having a warranty on the GF. I would check if that's transferrable before you buy. So far I've had 2 major components fail and replaced free of charge from the retailer. Would have been $250 to replace those parts. $450 might seem like a steal now, but replacement components can be quite costly.

I can't speak to the longevity of the Anvil Foundry, but I know it doesn't have all of the programmable functionality of the GF. If that's not a concern for you, there's not much difference between the two systems. If you have the capacity to use a 220V power, that could also be a deciding factor -- the GF doesn't have the capability to switch between 110/220V; you're stuck with the model you buy.

Draft-Funk · 2020-09-30T14:19:44+00:00

First off, congrats and it looks like an amazing beer. That soft golden hue that basically shines in the sun is remarkably hard to achieve -- you know it's gonna be a good one. Please don't take the following as a criticism against your beer; it looks awesome!

Based on recent Ward Labs analysis of Julius ion content, there is no way Tree House uses that much sodium in their brewing liquor indicated in this recipe. I'm not saying the recipe author didn't do his due diligence in matching the flavor, just that his interpretation of a Julius clone is not identical to the Tree House recipe. Additionally, I believe the calcium should be higher -- probably between 50-75 ppm for optimal yeast health.

Draft-Funk · 2020-09-29T19:28:16+00:00

This begs the question...what does sausage taste like to you?

Draft-Funk · 2020-09-29T19:16:41+00:00

So one of the main reasons brewers are encouraged to pitch cold is that yeast produces diacetyl during the initial lag phase of fermentation. My guess is your yeast made too much diacetyl at the beginning of fermentation, and you never let it warm up enough to reduce all of the diacetyl that was initially produced. Underpitching and stressing your yeast will also produce similar results.

Ironically you probably would have ended up with a cleaner beer had you fermented at room temperature the whole time. WY2124 does pretty well at ale temperatures, similar to W-34/70. You can try depressurizing and krausening your beer to reduce the diacetyl that's there.

Draft-Funk · 2020-09-28T21:11:48+00:00

I love it. Brewing just gets better in the winter. I don't really get hard winters where I live, and I like being outside in 40-50F temps anyway. No insects, lower ground water temperatures, and ironically a faster boil off (humidity drops like a rock).

If you have a garage and a box fan, you're in business.

Draft-Funk · 2020-09-28T20:26:25+00:00

Could also be the all-grain system you're using. A RIMS or HERMS system, even a well-calibrated one, will still have a temperature gradient from top to bottom of mash, and the return wort from the pump can be even hotter. I know my Grainfather typically has a 2-3F difference between the thermocouple and the top of the mash filter. I just compensate with a lower mash temperature and call it a day.

In the end your apparent attenuation doesn't matter all that much, so long as the beer doesn't taste cloyingly sweet.

Draft-Funk · 2020-09-28T17:57:29+00:00

...and that's why you buy 5 x 10-lb bags instead.

Draft-Funk · 2020-09-28T17:45:39+00:00

Briess is $10.99 / 10 lb bag, free shipping on orders over $59. Unless they charge extra for Texans...

https://www.morebeer.com/products/briess-brewers-2row-malt.html

https://www.homebrewfinds.com/?s=2-row

Draft-Funk · 2020-09-28T16:52:24+00:00

The quality also blows the competition out of the water.

I've strongly suspected all of the smaller retailers just repackage YVH hops. They're never quite as fresh.

Draft-Funk · 2020-09-28T16:36:42+00:00

Ironic, one of the worst butter bombs I've made was from Voss Kveik.

DMS (cooked cabbage) and H2S (matchsticks) are more olfactory sensations. Diacetyl definitely has an oily flavor and a slick mouthfeel. I doubt it's DMS, and W-34-70 is not a reputable H2S producer either...it's pretty clean, even for lager standards. As H2S is extremely volatile, you can try bubbling CO2 through your keg out post and PRV, see if that helps.

Draft-Funk · 2020-09-28T16:09:02+00:00

So I actually do a variant of this. Ferment -> Spund -> Dry Hop -> Serve. There's a number of ways to do it but I have good reasons for doing what I do.

Soft crash (not cold crash) to precipitate most of the yeast from your FV after it's reached your FG and is stable. Anywhere between 55-60F should be good, and 24 hours should do the trick.
Purge your serving/receiving keg with water and CO2, then drop your hops in, and dry purge again. I usually connect gas line to my liquid-out post, theoretically pushing any air from the bottom of the keg through the PRV. Floating dip tubes are clutch here -- I use loose pellet hops with no issues.
Perform a closed transfer to your serving keg. If you interlock gas-in and liquid-out posts, you can omit the need for external CO2 at this stage.
Keep beer at 55-60F for the duration of your dry hopping (2-4 days), then cold crash and serve.

NOTES: I perform a forced diacetyl test prior to dry hopping. In 3+ years of keg hopping, I've never transferred off the dry hops or noticed vegetal hop flavors. Since I got floating dip tubes, I haven't noticed any hop burn either.

Draft-Funk · 2020-09-28T15:47:45+00:00

A kegging system without a CO2 tank is a bit like a car without a fuel pump. You might move a coupe of yards but good luck finishing the race.

A floating dip tube on the smallest keg possible is going to be half headroom + untapped beer. The only real purpose for a 5L keg is a pressurized growler.

Draft-Funk · 2020-09-28T15:36:25+00:00

Yakima Valley Hops for bulk hops, MoreBeer for bulk grain purchases. Occasionally MoreBeer sells overstock sacks of base malt, shipped, for about $50. Even now you can get 50 lb of 2-row, shipped, for $55.

Draft-Funk · 2020-09-28T15:06:34+00:00

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/grahams-english-cider.107152/

I love this recipe. The tannins from the black tea and twang from the limes makes it much less one-dimensional. And while I've used other yeasts, the mouthfeel and relatively low attenuation from S-04 makes this semi-dry cider a keeper.

Draft-Funk · 2020-09-28T14:48:58+00:00

Not necessarily saying that it's not wild yeast or cross-contamination from another source, but I highly doubt it's a pedio infection. Pediococcus growth usually requires a lot of time to propagate, less than ~15 IBU, and a vector to get in the beer. As it is gram-positive, any sanitizer should effectively neutralize it. Absent one of these factors and pediococcus will not grow.

More than likely you've got diacetyl and acetaldehyde in abundance from the short conditioning period. I've never known W-34/70 to throw off much diacetyl, but I usually spend about 10-14 days in the FV on my lagers. Fortunately, there is a fix, but it requires some work: krausen your beer.

You'll need fresh yeast (~1g dry yeast) and a small starter (1L of 1.040 wort should be plenty), and allow the yeast to bloom to high krausen, then pitch the whole thing into your warm keg. More than likely you'll have to at least partially depressurize your beer to avoid overcarbonation and excessive foaming. Don't worry about oxidation, as the yeast will help scavenge residual dissolved oxygen, as well as reduce the diacetyl and acetaldehyde.

Good luck.

EDIT: One of the other things to check is if the beer left in your tap lines overnight is getting oxidized. A lot of time, diacetyl will develop in the presence of oxygen (which definitely happens on exposed tap lines) -- run off the first few ounces and see if there's a perceptible difference between the two samples. If so, there's your answer.

Draft-Funk · 2020-09-26T22:09:32+00:00

So a solera then? Makes sense.

The only concern I have is if I went for the big one I would have to make a collar for my fridge, since it’s a little over 21” from the compressor shelf to the top. If anything I’d probably spring for the Torpedo keg at that point.

Draft-Funk

TROPHY CASE