Saison fermenting
Meant to run through my Saison brewing from Sunday. It was an interesting brew day as the large burner on my stove began malfunctioning in a way that seemed dangerous and I had to brew on the little burners only. This added like 2 hours to the brew time and I started late anyway--ultimately didn't get cleaned up and off to bed until 3 a.m. The beer was fermenting vigorously by morning, which is good, but it's since died down and I'm using a space heater and some swirling around to try and kick it up a notch again. This is a spastic Saison Yeast (White Labs 565) which likes to ferment around 90 degrees and which is prone to fits and starts. I hope fervently that it'll have a quick primary so I can get it off the trub before I leave for CA.
I've got to get a firmer handle on my brewing efficiency. This was intended to be a six-gallon batch at 1054 and I got more like 6.5 at 1059. A rough Promash calculation would suggest that that's about 88% efficiency. But I'm not always -that- efficient. The annoying thing is that this results in some crazy gravity juggling and diluting and boiling and so on to try and hit a target. And in this case I'm sure the beer will turn out fine, but I really wanted it to be just a tad lighter. That discrepancy will probably only result in perhaps .4% more alcohol, but I try to be precise. Anyway, I gave it just a teeny bit more finishing hops to compensate when I saw that it was just going to be bigger no matter what I did (short of pouring out wort and adding water, or filling the carboy into the neck, which I prefer to avoid. . .).
In other random notes, we had our party which was a smashing success. Randy, the local brewing guru, was really impressed with my beers, which flattered me greatly. Before I forget to record this somewhere else, he told me not to bother with Wyeast 1214, but that I would love 1968 for my British ales. The kegged bitter (crisp, minerally, tea-ish) was a hit, as was the pale ale (the malty one with the Smuttynose grain bill). The initiates loved my super-hoppy Chinook IPA. And the new Oatmeal Stout went over well. Though it was conceded that most of the Belgians are a little young, they met with considerable praise. Randy seemed to prefer the Dubbel which he thought tasted really Belgian and not-un-Westmalley. He suggests I build a walk-in cooler (not likely at the moment) and brew more so as to prevent myself from drinking my more age-worthy beers. I may do just a little extra brewing in early July for that reason. Perhaps if I buy a couple kegs and do a couple of nice, light, quick maturing ales, I can also brew some Belgians and bigger British beers and stash them while a special bitter or a wheat beer distracts me.
I've got to get a firmer handle on my brewing efficiency. This was intended to be a six-gallon batch at 1054 and I got more like 6.5 at 1059. A rough Promash calculation would suggest that that's about 88% efficiency. But I'm not always -that- efficient. The annoying thing is that this results in some crazy gravity juggling and diluting and boiling and so on to try and hit a target. And in this case I'm sure the beer will turn out fine, but I really wanted it to be just a tad lighter. That discrepancy will probably only result in perhaps .4% more alcohol, but I try to be precise. Anyway, I gave it just a teeny bit more finishing hops to compensate when I saw that it was just going to be bigger no matter what I did (short of pouring out wort and adding water, or filling the carboy into the neck, which I prefer to avoid. . .).
In other random notes, we had our party which was a smashing success. Randy, the local brewing guru, was really impressed with my beers, which flattered me greatly. Before I forget to record this somewhere else, he told me not to bother with Wyeast 1214, but that I would love 1968 for my British ales. The kegged bitter (crisp, minerally, tea-ish) was a hit, as was the pale ale (the malty one with the Smuttynose grain bill). The initiates loved my super-hoppy Chinook IPA. And the new Oatmeal Stout went over well. Though it was conceded that most of the Belgians are a little young, they met with considerable praise. Randy seemed to prefer the Dubbel which he thought tasted really Belgian and not-un-Westmalley. He suggests I build a walk-in cooler (not likely at the moment) and brew more so as to prevent myself from drinking my more age-worthy beers. I may do just a little extra brewing in early July for that reason. Perhaps if I buy a couple kegs and do a couple of nice, light, quick maturing ales, I can also brew some Belgians and bigger British beers and stash them while a special bitter or a wheat beer distracts me.
posted by Jason | 2:35 PM
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