Brew Dudes Homebrewing Blog

Lager Yeast Sulfur Notes

On October 13, 2010

Man, the rotten egg stinky smells coming off this rauchbier in the first few days of fermentation are enough to melt your face. My wife noticed them when the starter was going. She thought the toilet had backed up.

Thankfully, the fermenter is in the fridge and the closed door is keeping the smell in.

I used this strain (WLP 830) before for my Maibock and it was a little sulfur-y but not like this… It’s really strong this time around.

This morning, it seemed to be less pungent as the day before, so I think we’re getting past the real smelly phase.

Rauchbier Brew Day

By John Krochune

On October 10, 2010

In Brew Log

Well, you couldn’t ask for a better brew day than today. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky.

There was a little chill in the air when we got started ~10AM but the sun was bright and warm still.

I bought the RV water filter this week and used it for the first time with this brew:

We got the grains together including the smoked malt and some munich malt:

I did a single infusion mash and was able to keep the temperature around 154°F for the whole hour. After the mash, we got to the boil right away.

Since Rauchbier is basically an Oktoberfest with some smoked malt in it, it had a nice amber color. We popped open a beer while the boil was going.

It was a bottle of the pomegranate red ale. Yep, still tastes experimental. After the boil was done, we had to chill it down to lager fermentation temperatures. With a wort chiller and a kiddie pool, we got close….to around 52°F.

I think I will stay with brewing lagers in the dead of winter or until I get a better wort chilling solution. It took a long time to get this beer down (close) to the temperature I wanted it to be. It’s in the fridge for the next two weeks. We shall see how things progress.

RDWHAHB

By John Krochune

On October 7, 2010

In Beginner, General

So I finally got around to making my mighty yeast starter for the Rauchbier last night.

I carefully measured out the dried malt extract, the water, and the yeast nurtient.

I washed and sanitized my fermenter to make sure there were no remnants of the Saison yeast.

I boiled the wort for 15 minutes total after placing my wort chiller in the kettle.

I chilled the wort down to 65°F before I poured it into the fermentation bucket.

Everything went as planned. Everything happened as I imagined it. No surprises.

After the wort was safely in the fermentation bucket, I brought it inside my basement to pitch the yeast.

I twisted the cap off of the vial of yeast….and…it spun right out of my hands and into my fermentation bucket.

I didn’t have anything sanitized to pluck it out. Besides, the wort’s foam obscured my view. I couldn’t see the cap and I wasn’t about to go looking for it.

I decided to let it be. I put the lid on the bucket and moved it to a nice dark corner of my basement.

Let’s hope there weren’t too many nasties on the cap.

RV Water Filter For Homebrewing

By John Krochune

On October 5, 2010

In Equipment

I have written about water filters for homebrewing before and I have thought about building one. One reader left a comment on a previous post about getting a water filter that is made for recreational vehicles or RVs.

The best part about this kind of water filter is that it has garden hose sized hookups, which is the size I have on my utility sink.

I found a good one on the Ace Hardware website, but instead of ordering it online and paying for shipping and hoping that it made it to my house in time for the brew session on Sunday, I called the store near my house to see if they had it in stock.

They didn’t…but the guy on the other end of the phone said he could order for me and have it shipped to the store by Thursday.

I said, “Awesome.”

We’ll see how much of a difference it makes.

Lager Yeast Starters

By John Krochune

On October 1, 2010

In Yeast

I was reading up on the temperature for lager yeast starters in Brewing Classic Styles. I was surprised to read that the recommended temperature range was 65°F to 75°F for both ale and lager yeast starters.

I guess lager yeast reproduces more rapidly at the warmer temperatures. Something tells me I should be very careful to siphon off as much of the starter beer as possible before I introduce the Rauchbier wort.

I was going to kick off the starter tonight but heavy rains have changed my plans.