Brew Dudes Homebrewing Blog

Muntons Brewery In A Bag Review

On April 1, 2020

Way back when we could go outside our house and congregate with people, we got a product from the Muntons booth at the NHC. It’s been sitting in Mike’s basement for a while. In these uncertain, unprecedented times, Mike decided to give us all a walkthrough and review of their Pale Ale Brewery in a Bag.

The Muntons BIAB Process

So, what’s interesting and convenient about this product is that one only has to add water to get beer. This long cylinder has all the stuff you need to make 25 pints of pale ale. All you have to do is provide the water.

Mike read the instructions carefully. He figured out how to measure the water that was needed to the kit. The big measuring cup was key. The water needed to be lukewarm and because the opening was small, the water addition was a slow process.

After the water was added, he shook up the bag to mix the extract with the water. Then, he got some scissors and opened up the yeast packet. Once that was opened, he added the yeast. The next step was to add the remaining (larger) quantity of water, which thankfully was a lot easier than the first batch.

Once the water was all in, he replaced the cap with one that would allow the CO2 to escape the bag. Now, we wait. In 30 days, the beer will be ready and just maybe we can drink it together in the same room.

BREW ON!

Check out what the bag looks like after 2 weeks.

Check out our tasting video!

Polaris Hops SMaSH Beer Review

By John Krochune

On March 25, 2020

In Hops, Videos

This week, we taste a SMaSH beer brewed with 2-row American pale malt and Polaris hops. I have been wanted to brew with this variety for a long time. In the current era of social distancing, we finally got a chance. Here’s our profile of German Polaris hops:

What Do Polaris Hops Taste Like?

Aw, man. I thought these would be more minty than they were. What we got was a lot of citrus pith and spice. I got some menthol-like flavors and aromas.

There was a part of me that thought Polaris hops would work well in chocolate stout to give a minty aftertaste. I don’t think we will be brewing something like that any time soon. These hops would work better in a lager. They had more clean bitterness qualities like other German hops.

If you have experience with these hops, let us know.

BREW ON!

Light Struck Beer is SKUNKY – Off-flavor Experiment

By John Krochune

On March 19, 2020

In Experiments, Videos

We have all had skunky beer in the past, right? What we wanted to do is really understand the effects of direct sunlight on a beer. Check out another one of Mike’s off-flavor experiments. This time, it’s light struck beer!

Light Struck Beer Experiment Details

So Mike took a liter and a half of his Pale Ale and transfer it to a plastic bottle topped with his carbonator cap. He left it in the sun for just 2 hours. When we opened it up, he didn’t think it was enough time to skunk the beer. Well, we were wrong.

Immediately after he poured the light struck beer into the glass, you could smell the skunky aroma. It followed through in the taste. There is no mistaking that flavor – it tasted as strong as it smelled.

Since the skunk aroma and flavor replaced the hops qualities in the original beer, the malty sweetness bled through underneath. It wasn’t detectable in the unaffected beer, but in the experiment better, it showed up pretty well.

Hope you like learning about these off-flavors as much we do. Mike was successful in ruining beer. I hope we will be better at detecting it in the future and know when to dump a beer.

Stay safe and brew on!

American Wheat Ale Tasting Notes

By John Krochune

On March 11, 2020

In Style Profiles, Videos

I like American Wheat ales. There, I typed it. Let’s all watch this video together and learn about my version of this classic style.

Tasting Notes

The grain bill on this beer was 5 pounds of white wheat malt along with 5 pounds of 2-row American Pale malt from Rahr. I added a pound of flaked oats to get that silky mouthfeel. With some Centennial hops and 2 packet of Wyeast 1010 yeast, this beer ingredient list was complete.

The beer has a yeast note on the nose along with a soft malt aroma. The flavor was quite soft and clean. It came off as a refreshing beer. The hop presence was low and if I were to brew it again, I would add more of a bittering charge. I should have added an ounce to an ounce and a half to the beginning of the boil rather than the small amount I did add.

Classic beer styles are worth exploring. Don’t stop experimenting. Brew ON!

Dry Hopping With Amarillo Cryo Hops

By John Krochune

On March 4, 2020

In Experiments, Hops, Videos

I brewed a NEIPA a few weeks ago using a pound of Southern Passion hops. There are on sale and I decided to use them, all of them, in a 5 gallon batch. The resulting beer was good but I thought it could be improved. Taking that thought and connecting it to an experiment with Cryo hops and you have the results discussed in this post. Learn more about my dry hopping with Amarillo Cryo Hops!

What Did I Do?

With the beer in my keg and carbonated, I emptied the contents into my fine-mesh nylon bag that I soaked in a Star-San solution. Knowing that the bag would just float on the top of the bag, I needed something to weigh it down.

I couldn’t find any marbles, my weight of choice, so I got a fork out of the drawer, sanitized it, and dropped it in the bag.

In the video, we’re tasting the newly enhanced beer compared with a bottle of the original beer that I packaged before I added the hops to the keg.

Mike seemed to like the original beer and I liked the newer version better. They both had their merits but the hop punch in the new one sold me.

Thanks for reading. Have fun with beer out there. BREW ON!