Brew Dudes Homebrewing Blog

Brew Dudes Hop Variety Vote Results

On August 3, 2016

Last week, we posted a video that showed off all the equipment we use to brew one gallon batches. They may be a little different from what you use so we thought it was important to present what we had in our arsenal and some information about how we use each piece.

Most noteworthy, the video had a bit of a catch at the end – we put it out to the audience to vote on a hop variety for us to use in our how-to-brew one gallon batch video. If you stay tuned long enough, you would have seen that there was a choice between three varieties.

Watch this rare solo John video and get the low down on the results.

Now for the rest of the story.

The Varieties

I have 4 one ounce patches of these varieties of hops:

Mandarina Bavaria

Jarrylo

Galaxy

Waimea

These were the next pouches to get used in my one gallon batch SMaSH project and I thought it would be interesting to get people’s input on which ones should be used first and should be profiled in the how-to video. Also, the reasons we were putting together videos that explain how we do our one gallon batches was based on user input, Separately we got a suggestion to make a SMaSH with Mandarina Bavaria hops. These two touch points led to the idea of asking for more conversation with our viewers.

The Vote

So, we compiled all the votes and people mostly posted comments on our YouTube video which was nice and easy. There were a few people who emailed us or tweeted us – again, these were all valid methods to vote. Looking at all the votes, two varieties were pretty close, one was a distant third, and one that was totally forgotten because it got no votes!

Because it got no votes at all, Waimea came in last place. I don’t think people knew how to spell the name of the hops so they didn’t vote for them.

Next, one that came in third place was Galaxy hops. They may be suffering from the familiarly effect. We are seeking some strange, amirite?

Coming in second place, Manadrina Bavaria had a strong vote but I wonder if people thought they were not exotic enough. Finally, Jarrylo seemed to have it in the bag since it sounds/appears to be the most interesting of the bunch. It got the most votes of the three varieties. People want to know what hops that taste like bananas taste like.

What’s Next?

Now that we have our winner, we will be brewing with them this weekend and making a video that documents the process. It’s going to be great.

For those who voted for the non-winners, don’t fret. I will be brewing one gallon batches with those varieties too. Your patience will be rewarded.

Brew on!

While you are at it, comment below with your hop variety thoughts.

Brewing a One Gallon Batch Preview

By Mike

On July 27, 2016

In Videos

We’ve brewed several SMASH beers to evaluate and try out many of the new hop varieties out there. This week is a Brewing a One Gallon Batch Preview video. We plan to put together the step by step process John uses to make his simple one gallon SMASH beers.

SMASH brewing is not a new technique by any means. Its a great way to test out a new hop. Its great at comparing different base malts. While there may be some great SMASH combos out there that makes a really enjoyable beer, most combos are educational but one dimensional. So brewing a 5 gallon batch of beer that teaches you something in the first pint and leaves you struggling with the rest isn’t always inspirational. That’s where the one gallon batch comes in.

John has plowed through so many hop varieties that he could have only really done it with one gallon batches. Not breaking the bank and not getting bogged down in cases of single note beer in the process has been a great ride for us. John has really dialed in his one gallon process and many people have asked for it.

So in this video we introduce the upcoming tutorial video and ask for some reader participation. John has chosen four hop varieties and asks the audience to vote on their favorite. That hop will get chosen and used for the SMASH beer we brew in the tutorial video.
So be sure to check out the video and leave your vote as a comment over on the YouTube Channel.

BREW ON!

Brew Dudes Homebrew Swap Exchange 9

By Mike

On July 21, 2016

In General, Videos

Just at the right time I got a delivery from Harold of his version of ‘Drop Kick Nate’, a well known internet IPA recipe from the ‘Homebrew Wednesday’ world on YouTube. This video we sat down and cracked it open.

This beer pours brilliantly clear and is just a hue shy of amber. The aroma is decidedly new age hoppy with undertones of fruit and resin. A subtle hint of some of the more vegetal characters that can come with aggressive dry hopping however it hadn’t reached the point of unpleasant yet. Walking a thin line I supposed.

The taste follows the hop aroma. Great late hopping flavors, a bit grassy again from aggressive hop usage. I found there to be a subtly munich/dark malt backbone supporting the cause. It certainly helps to balance the bitterness of the brew which is firm but not lingering or overpowering.

Overall a very nice beer that was beautifully fermented. Very very clean fermentation profile. No yeasty presence in the flavor, no esters or off flavors. Well executed. This beer was an extract brew. The near flawless ferment demonstrates that with a little skill and care you can certainly make great beers with extract. “Can I get a witness!”

Thanks much to Harold for sending this one in to us. We really appreciate the exchange and the interaction. If you want the recipe for his version of Drop Kick Nate you’ll have to wander over to our youtube channel and leave a plead to him (Frodo47) to do so.

Solera Project Starter Tasting

By Mike

On July 14, 2016

In Videos

Three months ago I started a Golden Sour Ale in a standard fermentation bucket. For this video, I cracked open the bucket took a look and grab a quick sample with my thief for a taste. The outcome was quite startling.

The best sour beers are normally produced by blending different vintages or barrels with different character together to achieve a certain flavor profile in an end product. In the home brewing environment this can be a bit difficult to do space limitations and patience (I think mostly patience!). One option to avoid holding batches for blending is to use a Solera.

A Solera is a series of vessels that each containing a different vintage of aging sour beer. For my project I’m going to use three vessels. When all vessels are full the magic of the Solera process begins to work. half the volume of the oldest vessel is removed for packaging (and yes this one is an unblended product at this time). To make up for that lost volume half the volume from the second oldest vintage is moved into the oldest vessel to bring the volume back to 5 gallons. Then half the volume of youngest vessel is moved into the second. Fresh wort is then added to that youngest vessel to top off and begin to ferment.

The process continues and each time half the volume is moved forward for packaging and the remaining vintages get blended along the way. I plan to use three vessels and use a 6month cycle time for moving. If you are following along it means that the my first beer will age for 18 months before it hits the bottle… it will have been in the different stages of fermentation for 2 years at that time.

The little tasting we took is incredible at this point. Noticably sour but not aggressively so. Wonderful golden in color and crystal clear. It will be hard to simply rack it over and not package some to enjoy. Guess I’ll have to start a quick fermenting Berliner Weisse to keep me from dipping into the Solera beers.

Do you have a Solera going? Ever wondered about the process? Well check back in a couple months when I move the beer along and we take another sample.

Cheers!

Kettle Dip Tube and Whirlpooling

By Mike

On July 6, 2016

In Equipment, Videos

This week its a quick video all by myself. I wanted to explore the influence of a kettle dip tube and whirlpooling. So this week I do some tests in a partially filled kettle with and without dip tube configurations to see if a dip tube will interfere with a good whirlpool and trub cone formation.

The theory goes that if you achieve a great whirlpool in your kettle all the hop debris and the break material will settle in a nice cone in the center of your kettle. Then all you have to do is siphon out clear wort from the side of the kettle. Its a great theory, but it never worked for me that way. Maybe that’s why I don’t do it anymore. I always had a big fluffy pile of stuff in the base of the kettle. I had no clear cone or edge to siphon from. I moved on to other means of keeping it all out of the fermentor (mostly hop sacks nowadays).

You’ll see in the video I try four different kettle setups. I have a clean and smooth kettle with no fittings or dip tubes in it. I then use a kettle with just he coupler in there, then a coupler plus a dip tube to the center. Then a coupler plus a dip tube to the edge of the kettle. To conduct the whirlpooling test I used 5-6 gallons of water, 2 ounces of black malt and a wine whip on a drill to speed up the stirring process.

I was quite shocked to discover that regardless of the dip tube set up, I got a good cone/collection of the grain in the center of the kettle every time. When there was some hardware in there the cone was a little mis-shapen but it still would have worked for siphoning. Now maybe grain isn’t a good substitute for true hop and cold break trub. Or maybe there just wasn’t enough. But from these little tests I don’t think the dip tube was the issue before.

Oh well. It was fun to experiment a bit and it was easy to do.

What’s your experience with whirlpooling for a trub cone? Does it work for you?

BREW ON!