Archive for April, 2010
Brewers Yeast Review | Wyeast Activator
Apr 24th
With so many choices on the market for brewers yeast, we tried the new Wyeast Activator on our latest Wheat Ale creation and had good results. First, a rundown of our experience with different types of brewers yeast.
DRY YEAST
Fermentation took off like a race horse and the bucket started bubbling almost immediately — and with more intensity than we usually see. Our experience with yeast has been predominantly dry packets. We never learned about “re-hydrating” your yeast until later in our brewing maturity (we just recently emerged from the awkward home brewing puberty stage). The packet never explicitly mentioned re-hydrating and we were afraid to deviate from the instructions. We have since become much bolder brewers. The brands of yeast were never much of a concern and we usually went with whatever the guys at Listermann’s suggested (Safele and White Lab brands).
LIQUID YEAST
We have only brewed with liquid yeast on the Chocolate Irish Stout, and with mixed results at that. We have hypothesized the reasons for low ABV, but liquid yeast is a potential reason since this is the only time we have used it. The local home brew shop prefers dry yeast and agreed they have not had the best results with liquid. Of course, most of this evidence is anecdotal and many folks out there prefer liquid yeast.
WYEAST ACTIVATOR
The package contains enough live yeast for your typical 5 gallons of wort (100 billion yeast cells) and when you smack the package, as the directions instruct, a “nutrient vial” is ruptured and begins activating the yeast. The package starts to swell in room temperature and is ready to pitch within a few hours. I was a little anxious about smacking the package to break open the nutrient vial, though you can feel the vial inside and can tell once it has been ruptured. Some brewers on the Northern Brewer forum have inadvertently broken the package open when smacking too hard, though most post positive remarks on the yeast activity once pitched into the wort. When brewing up our Bell’s Oberon clone, we noticed vigorous yeast activity a few hours after pitching, much faster and stronger than is typically seen. We have not taken a final gravity reading yet but are optimistic given our active yeast in the bucket.
Overall, the Wyeast Activator performs as described and, pending a final gravity reading, seems like a handy method to activate your yeast prior to pitching. We have never had bad results with dry yeast (though we never “re-hydrated” it, either) and the one brew with liquid yeast has me skeptical. We will report back with an updated gravity reading to ensure the yeast performed as intended before passing final judgment, though the yeast activator seems useful upon first impression.
Why brew your own beer?
Apr 6th
For those who home brew the reasons to home brew are obvious. But for those not as familiar, here are 3 core reasons.
1. Fizzy yellow beer is for wussies – Stone Brewing
2. Cost of beer
3. Satisfaction of drinking your own creation
FIZZY YELLOW BEER IS FOR WUSSIES
Why is fizzy yellow beer for wussies? The reason is because the popular American Pilsners/Lagars all taste the same. There is very little flavor / recipe distinction between the different beers. Don’t believe me, check this out. Recently, 8 friends (including myself) tested this theory. We poured Miller Light, Coors, Beast Light, Bud Light, and Natural Light into clear cups – so not even a blind taste test. One of us was able to get 3 out of 5. Beyond that, no one got more than one right. A few of us could tell Miller Light as it is a little less sweet. The Strand Brewers Club in LA Country found similar results. Check out the Beer Hacker’s Results – PBR is the winner. The reason all these beers taste the same is because the hop flavor is very muted, the malt flavor is extremely light, and they use corn and rice adjuncts in place of malt to provide the alcohol to the beer. Triple hopped my ass. The folks over at Home Brew Talk have pretty good discussion going on here.
So 2 questions for you?
1. Why drink beer that mutes the flavor of the core ingredients that make up beer?
2. Why “spend up” and buy Miller Light, Coors, and Bud Light over Beast Light, Natural Light, and PBR if the taste is indistinguishable.
COST OF BEER
Considering equipment a sunk cost, it is just as cheap to brew a quality home brew as it is to buy Beast Light or Natural Light. We just spent $26 to make 48 bottles of Rye Pale Ale. Two cases of Natural Light will run you the same.
SATISFACTION OF DRINKING YOUR OWN CREATION
There is nothing more satisfying than sharing your latest home brew creation with friends. While we have not been able to create a beer as good as a Stone (our IPA and Imperial Stout were good, but still not Stone), I still enjoy drinking and sharing my own beer more than any beer I purchase – with exception to the Oktoberfest we commonly refer to as “Pear Bear“.
Bottom line, you spend a lot of time with your beer. You should know it.
Chocolate Malt Grain Not Exactly Chocolate Beer
Apr 5th
So maybe you’re like us and thought that chocolate malt grain might lend your home brew an intensely sweet chocolate taste … something you could enjoy both for the ABV’s and to calm that sweet tooth. Well, that’s not exactly the case, and too much dark roasted malt can really overpower your brew.
BURNT MALT FLAVOR
On our recent Chocolate Irish Stout, we adapted an existing recipe for traditional Irish Stout to include 1/2 lb of chocolate malt grain, in the hopes of imparting a subtle sweetness to the beer. The original recipe only called for black patent, English 2-row pale, English crystal and roasted barley. We thought we were being very clever and certainly bound for home brew greatness by crafting a perfectly blended chocolate beer. The end product wasn’t exactly what we had hoped for. The ABV was low for a number of reasons and the flavor came out burnt and a bit overpowering. Not silky sweet at all! Rather than sulk with our weak 3.12% ABV stout, we looked into the grains used in the recipe and came up with a few reasons why the final flavor came out burnt.
TOO MUCH ROASTED GRAINS
The gang at Brew-Dudes.com offer an excellent overview of the specialty chocolate malt grain, describing the flavor profile as more nutty and roasted than sweet. This could lend richness to a stout or porter, though I am not sure the effect on a pale ale or lager. Some brewers over at HomeBrewTalk.com have complained about the difficulty in using this grain, though I imagine this is more in part to my novice experience than the grain’s fault (oh, I can’t be mad at you, chocolate malt!). The related grain, Black Patent Malt, is similar but roasted longer and at higher temperatures. This can impart a smokey or even burnt flavor on your beer. I think our mistake here was adding chocolate malt grain to a recipe that already included Black Patent Malt as a dominant flavor driver. I believe this overpowering of dual dark roasted malts took over the beer — rather hijacked the beer — and gave the “burnt” taste in the final faux-Chocolate Irish Stout.
CHOCOLATE BEER ON THE FUTURE DOCKET
So, how do you brew the elusive chocolate beer? That will be an adventure for another time, friends, though I am optimistic after trying a few retail chocolate stouts. A submitted recipe for “Chocolate Ale” was well received over at HomeBrewTalk.com, which might make its way to the summer docket for home brewing. The recipe calls for adding unsweetened cocoa directly into the mash during boil, which could be interesting. If anyone has advice on a chocolate beer, be it stout or ale, please share the good word.