What's your next brew

Yes. My last brown. I didn’t use the ring wood yeast so it wasn’t as close as it could be. I used verdant and it actually tasted more like a Sammy smith brown but once again not quite. Hobgoblin is one of my faves
It is VERY malty, for sure. It's the one my son likes best of all that I make. Maybe I do that after the stout, or a lager of some sort. Still need to browse some recipes for an idea.
 
So...

I brewed a RIS two weeks ago. Partial Mash. 22lbs Grain and 10lbs DME. Projected OG was 1.264. Since nothing I own goes above 1.130, I can only tell you I hit my Mash volume and Pre-boil OG spot on. Post boil and into the fermenter. No clue. Estimated FG: 1.056

Day 1: Moved the wort onto the yeast cake of a Porter brewed the week before using London Ale OYL-003.

Day 3. Fermention slowed, began a double starter with WLP099 Super High Gravity.

Day 7: Pitched second yeast strain.

Day 11: FG (drum roll) 1.018.

Standard scale puts ABV at 32.2%. Going to take it over to a contact at a local brewer that can test for the actual ABV.

EDIT:

I will be updating y'all with the results.
 
Last edited:
Excuse my ignorance, but what's a RIS?
And that's a very high OG for sure
 
So...

I brewed a RIS two weeks ago. Partial Mash. 22lbs Grain and 10lbs DME. Projected OG was 1.264. Since nothing I own goes above 1.130, I can only tell you I hit my Mash volume and Pre-boil OG spot on. Post boil and into the fermenter. No clue. Estimated FG: 1.056

Day 1: Moved the wort onto the yeast cake of a Porter brewed the week before using London Ale OYL-003.

Day 3. Fermention slowed, began a double starter with WLP099 Super High Gravity.

Day 7: Pitched second yeast strain.

Day 11: FG (drum roll) 1.018.

Standard scale puts ABV at 32.2%. Going to take it over to a contact at a local brewer that can test for the actual ABV.
This seems impossible...I'm curious what the lab results say
 
It does, doesn't it. To be clear, this was a "can I do it" experiment. The Wyeast SHG has a tolerance of 21% and that is what I was aiming for.

But, yes. I'll update it after testing.

What did you do for bittering? That stuff may be pretty good for degreasing engines! Holy crap that's strong.
 
What did you do for bittering? That stuff may be pretty good for degreasing engines! Holy crap that's strong.


Do you want my whole secret recipe!!!!!!

LOL. Interestingly, to get a bitterness ratio in line with a proper RIS, I used 16oz. of Warrior (17.2% AA) at 60 minutes of a 180 minute boil. And it ain't THAT bitter.
 
Do you want my whole secret recipe!!!!!!

LOL. Interestingly, to get a bitterness ratio in line with a proper RIS, I used 16oz. of Warrior (17.2% AA) at 60 minutes of a 180 minute boil. And it ain't THAT bitter.
That’s a LOT of Warrior. Did it not give a grassy taste? I use Warrior(16 AA) for’clean’ bittering. Does wort with a gravity that high do the unexpected and reduce hop efficiency? What size is the batch?
 
That’s a LOT of Warrior. Did it not give a grassy taste? I use Warrior(16 AA) for’clean’ bittering. Does wort with a gravity that high do the unexpected and reduce hop efficiency? What size is the batch?

I wouldn't necessarily say it reduces it, I don't have data to prove it one way or the other. What I do know is It is all about the bitterness to grain ratio, often referenced as "BU : GU" or you may simply see "ratio" with a number that looks similar to a SG (X.XXX).

If you truly want to reproduce a beer with any accuracy, I personally would say, this ratio is even more important than temperature control. Alpha Acid varies from season to season and farm to farm. Your 16%aa Warrior would have needed 17.6 ounces to be the same IBU as my 17%aa Warriors.

Imagine if you brewed a Blond Ale with an ounce of 3%aa at 60 minutes. Mildly hoppy, right? Next year you brew the same, but the aa% has doubled! You go from a mild 20 IBU to a whopping 40! Your BU : GU goes from 0.021 to 0.040 (Those are quesses, not exact numbers. Please don't jump down my throat.)

A great example, I once bought Czech Saaz hops with a 1.9aa rating. So Low! The original recipe used 3.1aa Saaz. I had to more than double my hops addition to get the same GU : BU ratio.
 
I wouldn't necessarily say it reduces it, I don't have data to prove it one way or the other. What I do know is It is all about the bitterness to grain ratio, often referenced as "BU : GU" or you may simply see "ratio" with a number that looks similar to a SG (X.XXX).

If you truly want to reproduce a beer with any accuracy, I personally would say, this ratio is even more important than temperature control. Alpha Acid varies from season to season and farm to farm. Your 16%aa Warrior would have needed 17.6 ounces to be the same IBU as my 17%aa Warriors.

Imagine if you brewed a Blond Ale with an ounce of 3%aa at 60 minutes. Mildly hoppy, right? Next year you brew the same, but the aa% has doubled! You go from a mild 20 IBU to a whopping 40! Your BU : GU goes from 0.021 to 0.040 (Those are quesses, not exact numbers. Please don't jump down my throat.)

A great example, I once bought Czech Saaz hops with a 1.9aa rating. So Low! The original recipe used 3.1aa Saaz. I had to more than double my hops addition to get the same GU : BU ratio.


And queue the comments about IBUs not mattering, it is all about perception of hops. That is precisely where the ratio comes into play!

Say I'm making a Cascadian IPA (It isn't a Black IPA, change my mind!) and I go heavy on the Chocolate Malt. It doesn't matter that I have 65 IBUs if my ratio is too low. If I'm not mistaken, this style needs a bitterness ratio of 0.78 to 0.98 or so. Because I went heavy on the dark malts, my BR might be as low as 0.500, well below what I actually want for the style.

Above I think I said the Blond was 0.030 and 0.040, I meant 0.200 and 0.400. I have two sick kids and I'm balancing replying and caretaking. It is distracting.

Anyway, is it a sin to link to BeerSmith? Here is a great blog post:

https://beersmith.com/blog/2009/09/26/balancing-your-beer-with-the-bitterness-ratio/
 
And queue the comments about IBUs not mattering, it is all about perception of hops. That is precisely where the ratio comes into play!

Say I'm making a Cascadian IPA (It isn't a Black IPA, change my mind!) and I go heavy on the Chocolate Malt. It doesn't matter that I have 65 IBUs if my ratio is too low. If I'm not mistaken, this style needs a bitterness ratio of 0.78 to 0.98 or so. Because I went heavy on the dark malts, my BR might be as low as 0.500, well below what I actually want for the style.

Above I think I said the Blond was 0.030 and 0.040, I meant 0.200 and 0.400. I have two sick kids and I'm balancing replying and caretaking. It is distracting.

Anyway, is it a sin to link to BeerSmith? Here is a great blog post:

https://beersmith.com/blog/2009/09/26/balancing-your-beer-with-the-bitterness-ratio/
You're a lot more scientific about reproducing beer types/styles than I am. I try a style, decide whether or not I like it, then try to make something that falls within the style parameters. I don't much if I don't make it, as long as I get the taste/quality that I was looking for. Most of the style parameters are set for competition, which is not something I'm interested in, and I'm surely not going to be selling any as a particular style. I probably won't be trying to reproduce anything to the exact parameters that someone set a couple millennium ago, but I do like experimenting with the taste and adjust it to suit my own tastebuds. I ask a lot of questions simply so I can try to figure out what change affects which tastebud. Bitter and Sweet tastebuds are right next to each other on the tongue, near the molars (if I remember my 5th grade science experiment correctly. That was about 55 years ago, so I could have misremembered, but it lends to misinterpretation of the signals by the brain. Some have less problem with this, others more.

All I know is that is one seriously dry beer considering the OG, and nearly enough alcohol to burn without distilling. A 30% ABV is a 60 Proof in the spirits world. Doesn't have to get much stronger to start lining up with some of the premium liquors.

Thanks all the same for the reference. I'll give it a look-see.
 
You're a lot more scientific about reproducing beer types/styles than I am. I try a style, decide whether or not I like it, then try to make something that falls within the style parameters. I don't much if I don't make it, as long as I get the taste/quality that I was looking for. Most of the style parameters are set for competition, which is not something I'm interested in, and I'm surely not going to be selling any as a particular style. I probably won't be trying to reproduce anything to the exact parameters that someone set a couple millennium ago, but I do like experimenting with the taste and adjust it to suit my own tastebuds. I ask a lot of questions simply so I can try to figure out what change affects which tastebud. Bitter and Sweet tastebuds are right next to each other on the tongue, near the molars (if I remember my 5th grade science experiment correctly. That was about 55 years ago, so I could have misremembered, but it lends to misinterpretation of the signals by the brain. Some have less problem with this, others more.

All I know is that is one seriously dry beer considering the OG, and nearly enough alcohol to burn without distilling. A 30% ABV is a 60 Proof in the spirits world. Doesn't have to get much stronger to start lining up with some of the premium liquors.

Thanks all the same for the reference. I'll give it a look-see.


I always tell new customers, home brewing is only difficult as you want it to be. Like extract, don't care to move.to.all grain. No worries. I hate water chemistry, I put a pinch of gypsum in my IPAs and hop forward beers. I put a pinch of baking soda into stouts and dark beers to reduce acidity. In my experience, most microbreweries use a carbon filter and local water. No chemistry. Why should we? (Unless brewing a clone)
 
I always tell new customers, home brewing is only difficult as you want it to be. Like extract, don't care to move.to.all grain. No worries. I hate water chemistry, I put a pinch of gypsum in my IPAs and hop forward beers. I put a pinch of baking soda into stouts and dark beers to reduce acidity. In my experience, most microbreweries use a carbon filter and local water. No chemistry. Why should we? (Unless brewing a clone)
I'm kinda eyeballing a carbon filter for my water. My fridge has one for the ice, and I have a drinking tap on my kitchen sink that has one. They're not really that expensive, and get most of the particulates that cause off flavors out anyway. It'll be a good test to see how much difference it makes in overall quality of what I do.
 
I'm kinda eyeballing a carbon filter for my water. My fridge has one for the ice, and I have a drinking tap on my kitchen sink that has one. They're not really that expensive, and get most of the particulates that cause off flavors out anyway. It'll be a good test to see how much difference it makes in overall quality of what I do.
It certainly cannot hurt your beer. Just your wallet, but not by much...
 
It certainly cannot hurt your beer. Just your wallet, but not by much...
$50 mine set me back .2micron carbon filters inline off my water line.

We use them for drinking water to remove chlorine here so adapted them for bru liquor.

put it this way i wouldnt brew without it.
 
Good info. We can get a bit bleachy smelling at times, too, particularly around quarterly line cleanings. However, according to our city, we have the best water in the world. Yeah, right. Gonna look around today, and see what I can do for lowering pressure and cleaning up the water out here. It's a direct feed straight from the meter, so the pressure will nearly blow the bottom out of a plastic bucket. If there's anything I cannot complain about as far as our water is concerned, it's the pressure. It's 65 feet from the tap at my shed to the back door, and I can spray the window in the door with my hose. I have to buy commercial grade water hoses if I expect them to last more than a couple weeks. Gotta know what you're doing when ya do any plumbing mods around here, for sure.
 
Good info. We can get a bit bleachy smelling at times, too, particularly around quarterly line cleanings. However, according to our city, we have the best water in the world. Yeah, right. Gonna look around today, and see what I can do for lowering pressure and cleaning up the water out here. It's a direct feed straight from the meter, so the pressure will nearly blow the bottom out of a plastic bucket. If there's anything I cannot complain about as far as our water is concerned, it's the pressure. It's 65 feet from the tap at my shed to the back door, and I can spray the window in the door with my hose. I have to buy commercial grade water hoses if I expect them to last more than a couple weeks. Gotta know what you're doing when ya do any plumbing mods around here, for sure.
I got some good pressure at my place too but nothing I believe like you talk of hey the carbon filter I got (not sure if this is what your on about in regards of pressure reduction) comes with a valve so you can restrict flow if you want to.
20220929_063740.jpg
 
Gotta know what you're doing when ya do any plumbing mods around here, for sure.
You could use a water pressure regulator. At my house the water pressure just after the meter is 150 psi (about 10 bar), so the next thing in the feed is a pressure regulator.
 

Back
Top