Home Brewing

[[)roi(]]

What's this whisky stuff you mention and where do you get it?

Sorry; its in my booze cupboard; virtual sharing sadly doesn't quite provide the same enjoyment.
Alternatively; turn a single malt beer into a whisky by distilling it, then toss in some wood chips for colour and flavour.

 

[[)roi(]]

Looking for inspiration for your next brew; this guide of beer styles should help + you can download a PDF.

Beer Styles Study Guide

CraftBeer.com Beer Styles Study Guide gives beer lovers a methodology to describe, compare and contrast beer produced by small and independent U.S. brewers.

www.craftbeer.com

 

[[)roi(]]

Result of last dilution experiment.
I made two batches of weizen style beers; a Hefeweizen and a Dunkelweizen with a 7% ABV which I diluted during bottling to 6% ABV with roughly a 15% dilution. I bottle two quarts of the beers prior to dilution for comparison.

The undiluted Hefeweizen in comparison to the diluted Hefeweizen differed primary wrt the head retention but most certainly on the quaff-ability:

• The undiluted Hefeweizen of 7% ABV was typical of the style and the head retention was good; full bodied; meaning it's a beer that would make you feel full.
• The diluted Hefeweizen of 6% ABV had a similar colour profile, but did not hold the head in much the same way most lagers don't -- it was however a very quaffable beer; one that I can imagine drinking a lot of and not regretting.

The undiluted Dunkelweizen in comparison to the diluted Hefeweizen really didn't differ all that much wrt the head retention, but it did re the quaff-ability:

• The undiluted Dunkelweizen of 7% ABV was typical of the style and the head retention was good; meaning it's a beer that would make you feel full. (similar to the Hefeweizen).
• The diluted Hefeweizen of 6% ABV had a similar colour profile (a nice orange golden hue), but this one held its head just as well as the undiluted one -- and similar to the diluted Hefeweizen it was a very quaffable beer; certainly far more tasty than the Hefeweizen and one that I can imagine drinking a lot of and never regretting.

The recipes for the batches were:

• Hefeweizen:
  • Pilsner Malt, Vienna Malt in equal quantities
  • A third of that quantity of pale wheat malt
  • A single hop addition of cascade
  • WB-06 yeast
  • Rendering an undiluted ABV of 7%; IBU pre dilution of 19.97; colour of SRM 4.57
• Dunkelweizen:
  • Pilsner Malt, Carahell in equal quantities
  • A third of that quantity of pale wheat malt
  • A single hop addition of cascade
  • WB-06 yeast
  • Rendering an undiluted ABV of 7%; IBU pre dilution of 20.3; colour of SRM 8.56

The dilution worked out to be ~15%. I'm convinced this is a good result, and certainly one I'll be repeating, primarily for the improvement in the beers quaff-ability but also for the marginal increase (15%) in bottling.

 

[Papa Smurf]

WTF?
Is this farmer making cabbage beer?

 

[[)roi(]]

WTF?
Is this farmer making cabbage beer?

View attachment 5467

Refractometers can be used for many different applications, for example:

• Salinity of water
• Sweetness of beverages
• Hydrocarbon content of motor fuels
• Sugar concentration in a fermentation
• Concentration of maple syrup
• Proteins in solution

..but in this case the famer is using it to test the health of his crops,.

Using the refractometer with the plant sap or fruit or vegetable juice to take a reading of nutrient levels. A high rating is good news for your crops — they should be healthy, disease and pest resistant, high in nutritional value and you’re likely to have a good harvest.

A low rating means that your crop will not grow to its potential due to some external limiting factor, such as: a dilution of its nutrients due to high nitrate content, a mineral imbalance in the soil allowing weeds to flourish and take from your harvest, a low calcium content in the soil or a low/steady boron reading indicating an issue with the translocation of sugars within the plant.

Here's more details, including a Brix chart (the other scale on your refractometer) with values indicating whether a vegetable or fruit's quality is good, etc.
https://stillpointx.files.wordpress...y_of_fruits_and_vegetables_by_rex_harrill.pdf

 

[satanboy]

..but in this case the famer is using it to test the health of his crops,.

Incorrect.

He is a model pretending to be a farmer.

 

[Papa Smurf]

The homemade Chuckys Cookie Beer had an SG of 1.038 so i added 2 cups of diluted sugar to increase it to 1.046
Before i added the sugar i took a sample and it has rich biscuit cookie fragrances and tastes like a soggy biscuit Very subtle, but its there.

just pitched the yeast now
as well as the yeast to the previous wort i made on Wednesday, the PappaSmurf Scottish Ale

Im going to leave it at room temperature for now coverd in 2 PEP Store blankets and see how it goes

 

[Papa Smurf]

Incorrect.

He is a model pretending to be a farmer.

Imagine walking into a Fruit and Veg City with a fractometer checking out all the groceries? You will look like a complete twat

 

[biometrics]

Imagine walking into a Fruit and Veg City with a fractometer checking out all the groceries? You will look like a complete twat

Do that with a hazmat suit and respirator on.

 

[[)roi(]]

Beer costs
Buying in bulk significantly cuts costs, but there's more that can be done to reduce those costs.

Ingredients	Cost / Litre (Total = R4.74)
Malts​	R2.77 (58.4%)​
Yeast​	R1.56 (32.9%)​
Hops​	R0.41 (8.6%)​

The cost of R4.74 is an average cost per litre for a 5.5% ABV beer (for comparison to 1 litre Carling Black Label). Which compared to Mothercityliquor (less crate + deposit) means a store bought 1 litre Carling Black Label costs ~R18.33. Which is a saving of R13.59.

The above cost do not factor in the cost of equipment, bottle caps, sanitiser, electricity, water, delivery charges and your time. However buying in bulk significantly reduces the delivery charges (which more expensive cost for me). When I factor in those costs I average out to about ~R5.70; naturally your costs may vary; mine are based on a commercial agricultural customer who doesn't pay for water.

The % split is important; because it shows that we have opportunity to lower this even more with:

• More SAB malts which are quite a bit cheaper; today I use a combination of German, Finnish, Polish, and South Africa Malts.
• More SAB hops which also are quite a bit cheaper; today I use a combination of German, Belgian and South African Hops.
• Harvesting yeast... this is probably the best avenue to cut costs in the long term by reusing your yeast multiple times.

Was planning to grow my own hops; but that proves not so easy to source in South Africa; but instead I'll focus on the yeast; which also sounds like a bit of fun. Bulk buying, using more SA ingredients and harvesting yeast can roughly reduce my per litre cost from R4.74 to R2.66; which for me will mean that a litre with the other costs (delivery, electricity, etc.) is R3.62. -- I could live happy with that.

 

[GreGorGy]

 

[GreGorGy]

Foreground is a stout tapped from the nitro setup. Background is the grains for the Boddington semi-clone that I have decided to call Moddington.

 

[[)roi(]]

Vienna Pilsner

• Diluted 15%
• ABV 6%
• SRM 4.07
• IBU 20.2
• Fermented for 8 days
• Bottled primed for 3 days
• Head retention dissipates relatively quickly after pouring
• Finings: No additives; double filtration, and then I pumped the fermented wort to a separate bottling bucket to avoid any trub contamination.

Verdict: Delicious, a very quaffable beer for heavy drinking without regrets.

 

[GreGorGy]

An item of beauty

 

[[)roi(]]

An item of beauty

Thanks.
Bitterness is on par with a Carling Black Label, although a Pilsner taste, and with the double filtration and trub separation it's a beer that doesn't make you feel full, so you can drink a lot; basically a good braai beer -- thankfully I made 4 crates of it.

 

[[)roi(]]

@GreGorGy Must say I'm a bit envious of your nitro heads... I've avoided kegging, but maybe it's time to reassess that decision.

 

[Snyper564]

[/QUOTE]
Oooh enjoy! Loooks great! I believe this is what Americans refer to as lawnmower beer. That easy drinking beer, that doesn't make you feel full

 

[[)roi(]]

Oooh enjoy! Loooks great! I believe this is what Americans refer to as lawnmower beer. That easy drinking beer, that doesn't make you feel full

Love the term " lawnmower beer"; although at 6% I'd start cutting things I shouldn't cut after a few bottles.

 

[Snyper564]

Love the term " lawnmower beer"; although at 6% I'd start cutting things I shouldn't cut after a few bottles.

Haha I must say that's one thing that gets me the most about homemade beer. Just because it's homemade doesn't mean a 7.2% porter doesn't pack a punch. Quite excited for my boddingtons clone now. Will be using another kveik strain this one specifically aimed at ales so I'm super keen to see how it goes after the porters success with the Ragnarok kveik. The other strain I have is for lagers that I'll use for my Stella clone after this.

Def top cropping or harvesting from a starter never never bottom again!

 

[GreGorGy]

@GreGorGy Must say I'm a bit envious of your nitro heads... I've avoided kegging, but maybe it's time to reassess that decision.

I'm envious of my nitro head. Now, I kick the puppy - as cute as she is - out of the bed and let her sleep outside in the driving snow while I take my nitro setup to bed. I hesitated on it a bit but the results are so pleasing, I am annoyed at myself for waiting.