Brew Dudes Homebrewing Blog

Masters of Lagers

On November 10, 2011

Mike and I have started talking about our brewing plans for the upcoming year. One of these plans is to become masters of lagers.

We will complete our apprenticeship by:

Brewing at least 6 lagers during the year.
Choosing one lager yeast strain and using it for all the lagers. After starting the first brew with a mighty starter, the following lager worts will be racked on top of the yeast cake that is left over from the preceding lager.
Get a better handle on our water chemistry.

With healthy yeast and better water chemistry, we should be able to brew better lagers.

Also, we will be combining our resources. Fermentation will happen in my fridge and lagering will happen in his temperature controlled chest freezer.

I had planned to brew a batch of Oatmeal Stout two weeks ago. I crushed my grain and I made my starter (WLP005). I started a new job the first week, then the second week we had an early winter storm that knocked out power for a few days. The recovery effort and getting back on track with my new job has delayed brewing a little bit. So now I am thinking about Reviving a Yeast Starter!

On the one hand I put the 2L starter in the fridge when it was done. I let it go 3 days on the stir plate with the intention of chilling to settle the yeast, then pitch the slurry on brew day. But now its been 14+ days. I could probably still just pitch it and call it fairly fresh. However, I am really looking to nail my fermentation for this batch of O.Stout.

I think I might decant the spent wort, then resuspend the yeast in a one gallon growler with some fresh 1.040 starter wort. I’ll let it ferment out, crash chill, decant and pitch. That will increase the cell count a bit, but I am thinking it will put some fresh life back into the yeast.

Any thoughts or experience from our dedicated readers?

BREW ON!

Learn To Homebrew Day

By John Krochune

On November 5, 2011

In General

Happy Learn To Homebrew Day today as it is on every first Saturday of November.

I am usually not a fan of made up holidays but I don’t have to buy flowers or gifts for today so it’s a-ok in my book.

Plus, this is a day to support homebrewing as a hobby and culture. I can’t be against something that is intended to inform the uninitiated.

Through the years, these Brew Dudes have taught a few friends how to homebrew. Well, maybe not teach them. Many of them haven’t brewed their own yet but we’re glad they tagged along on brew day.

Also, we hope this site has helped out a homebrewer or two. We do put time into the thing and write posts that are informative, honest, and easy to understand.

Thanks for reading. I raise my pint glass to you.

Oktoberfest Duel Conclusion

By John Krochune

On November 3, 2011

In Brew Log

If you have been following this blog since the summer…and really…who hasn’t been?…you may know that these Brew Dudes have been locked in a vicious Oktoberfest duel.

It’s been tearing the blogging/homebrewing team apart. What started out as a friendly competition turned downright nasty. I haven’t spoken to Mike since Tuesday. It’s been that bad.

Anyway, here’s a recap of the Oktoberfest Duel posts:

Oktoberfest Ingredients

Oktoberfest Brewing Duel

Oktoberfest Fermentation

Oktoberfest Fermentation Temperatures

Oktoberfest Specific Gravity Reading

Oktoberfest Yeast Choices

Racking Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest Bottling Day

Gee, ya think we wrote enough stuff about it? Anyway, the NERHBC results were published earlier this week and one of us got a medal for their Oktoberfest. I won’t say who but it does bring the duel to a close.

Riwaka Hops

By John Krochune

On October 31, 2011

In Hops

Yeah! Another New Zealand hops to profile. This time around, it’s Riwaka hops.

Developed in the HortResearch Hop Research Centre in the small town of Riwaka, they were bred from Saaz hops and NZ varieties.

I have a development year of 1997. I am unsure of when they became available commercially.

Origin: New Zealand

Aroma: Grapefruit. From description, it appears to be have west coast USA hop aroma properties

Alpha Acid: 4.5% to 6.5%

Typical Usage: Aroma, but imparts bittering qualities like Saaz does when used early in the boil.

Beer Styles: Bohemian pilsner anyone? Could supplement other American hop late additions in an APA.