Brew Dudes Homebrewing Blog

Lager Brewing Tips

On January 9, 2013

We brewed lagers last year, a good number of lagers. We learned some stuff, a good amount of stuff about brewing lagers.

We set out to become master of lagers. I am not sure if we did. We didn’t receive certificates at the end of the year.

Note to us – print out certificates, organize ceremony, wear caps and gowns, bring beer.

This video recap showcases what we brewed and our thoughts on the project.

Some Lager Brewing Tips

Do make sure to pitch a large amount of healthy yeast. Use online yeast pitching rate calculators like the one on mrmalty.com to get the amount you will need for the lager you are going to brew. Respect the amount.
We had great success racking right onto the yeast cake from a just-finished-fermenting-and-now-has-been-racked-to-a-secondary-vessel lager. Brew a few lagers right in a row that call for the same yeast strain.
Have a process to maintain fermentation temperatures for the length of primary fermentation
Lager your beer at fridge temperatures for as long as you can. Be patient. Brew an ale in the meantime.

Some things we still need to work out

Water chemistry – We need to get a better handle of the mineral concentrations in our tap water and see if any adjustments may help to get a cleaner, drier profile to our lagers.

For the full line-up of lager brews, please click on the links below:

Bohemian Pilsner
Vienna Lager
Dopplebock
SMaSh Lager
Munich Helles
Munich Dunkel
Oktoberfest

Let us know if you have any other lager tips to add or other lager questions by leaving a comment below.

Styrian Bobek Hops

By John Krochune

On January 7, 2013

In Hops

I saw Styrian Bobek hops while I was flipping through my More Beer catalog. It reminds me of the maple porter I brewed years ago.

Well, indirectly. The first specialty porter I ever brewed was a recipe I wrote up and it called for Styrian Goldings hops. I remember doing research about the variety and found out that it was derived from Fuggles and not Goldings hops.

Which reminds me, I need to write up a Styrian Goldings profile at some point.

I think there is some discussion about this variety and if it is indeed different from Styrian Goldings and it is. It was developed in the 1970s in what was then Yugoslavia and is bred from Northern Brewer and an unnamed Yugoslavian male.

Origin: Slovenia – south of Austria. I guess specifically the Duchy of Styria.

Aroma/Flavor: Lime, lime peel mixed with earthy. Stronger aroma profile than Styrian Goldings.

Alpha Acid: Typically between 3.5-7% but I have seen as high at 8.1%

Typical Usage: Aroma. If you get some with an AA% of 7 or above, I could see it being a dual purpose hop.

Beer Styles: English ales, ESB, some lagers

Brew Dudes 2012 Recap

By John Krochune

On January 2, 2013

In Videos

As a website goal for 2013, we are going to post more video content regarding our homebrewing adventures. We’re hoping to get into a rhythm of posting videos every Wednesday so you should be seeing something from us at least weekly.

With the timing of the first video, we thought we would put together a Brew Dudes 2012 recap and talk about what happened in the past year. At the beginning of every year, we make plans about what we want to accomplish with the thought of improving our beer brewing skills.

This video shows us chatting about what we did last year and talk a little bit about what we’re going to focus on in 2013.

You can see my list of 2013 Brew Year’s Resolutions on this page.

Overall it was a pretty successful year in terms of doing what we wanted to do.

Brew On!

2013 Brew Year’s Resolutions

By John Krochune

On December 30, 2012

In General

Well – I finished out 2012 making all my goals (pretty much) and we will follow up this year’s progress with a video post.

In 2013, I would like to do these things:

Brew some styles I haven’t brewed – German wheat beers come to mind.
Work on water chemistry. Learn more about our own tap water as it applies to beer brewing and experiment with additives.
Work on the actual site. I want to have a redesign in place before the end of the year.

That’s it. Happy 2013 everyone. Mike and I would like to extend a big thank you for reading this blog and following along with our brewing experience.

Please leave a comment with your homebrewing goals for the upcoming year.

New England Hard Cider Bottling Day

By John Krochune

On December 24, 2012

In Brew Log

Way ahead of schedule, I bottled the New England hard cider yesterday. I made the decision based on two reasons.

The oak flavor from the (floating) spirals was at a level that I thought was in harmony with the other flavors
The cider had dropped clear.

I did add a little sugar (100 grams boiled in a cup of water for 10 minutes) to make it sparkling. It would be nice to open on bottle for New Year’s Eve to see how it’s doing but I think the goal for the rest of the bottles is to have them age for a few months.

Tasting what went into the bottles was pleasant. The Nottingham ale yeast does a great job with the pressed apple juice.

I am not sure if I would have liked the oak taste if I had left the spirals in for six weeks. For the record, they were in contact with the cider for 3 weeks. I don’t know – I tasted it and I felt like that where it should be.

I have two other ciders that will be ready for drinking in the spring. I think around March will have a taste testing.