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Dark Wheat Beer
| Brewer : |
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Alan McKay |
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| Objective : |
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Since the company's optimal usage tips
include aeration, and since I never aerate the Cooper's yeast which I am
so happy with, this test will allow me to compare the Ale yeast with and
without aeration. Also, I'll be putting cherries into the 2ndary of one
half in order to test alcohol tolerance. Note that where normally I take
the wort-out from the chiller and allow it to trickle into the fermenter
to provide aeration, with this batch I put the wort-out hose to the
bottom of the fermenter to provide no aeration at all. |
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| Method : |
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All Grain |
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| Date : |
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98.03.27 |
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This recipe is what I call a hybrid wheat beer. It is very German in spirit,
with plenty of Munich and Vienna malts in the grain bill, and 50% wheat. Even
the hops are true to a German wheat. But the yeast is not an authentic wheat
beer yeast, so it's a hybrid. It was brewed as part of some yeast
experiments I was running.
Ingredients for 42 litres :
- 4 lb 2row
- 3 lb Munich
- 2 lb Vienna
- 9 lb Wheat Malt
Procedure :
- Desired Strike 153F. 23qt @ 166F
- 11:10 Mash in 153.3F
- 11:50 Stir. 152.9F
- 12:30 begin recirc 11l, wort pH 5.3, spargewater pH 5.2
- 12:40 begin runoff
- 13:00 dump first half, start heat
- 13:20 dump in 2nd half SG 1.021 @ 147.5 is 1.038
- 14:00 boil commences
- 14:20 add 1.0oz Hallertauer, 1.0oz Perle
- 15:00 add Moss, SG 1.034 @ 85F
- 15:20 heat off, whirlpool, add 0.5oz Hallertauer, 0.5oz Perle
- 15:35 begin chill, SG 1.045 @ 55.5
- 16:10 end chill, vigorously shake carboy "A" 10 min. Very
frothy. 6t ale yeast in 600ml @ 29.5C
- 16:35 pitch 300ml into each after stirring well
Notes
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| Date/Time |
Aerated |
non-Aerated |
| 98.03.29 22:00 |
Yeast obviously in top
2". Movement every 3 to 4 minutes, but could be thermal expansion
since wort was chilled well below ambient. |
Yeast obviously in top
2". Movement even slighter than aerated. Thermal expansion? |
| 98.03.30 07:00 |
Bubbling every 30 seconds,
small amount of foam on top. |
Bubbling every 2 minutes, no
foam. |
| 98.3.30 19:08 |
Fermenting vigorously with
1" kraeusen. Bubble every second. |
Fermenting vigorously with
1" kraeusen. Bubble every 2 seconds. |
| 98.3.30 21:19 |
foam 2/3 to neck. Lighter in
colour, indicating higher yeast count |
Only 1" foam, bubbling
half as frequent as aerated |
| 98.03.31 07:00 |
Several hundred ml spewed out
the airlock overnight, still very active. |
Several tens of ml came out
the airlock overnight, still very active. |
| 98.03.31 |
Airlock virtually stopped,
krauesen down |
Airlock still bubbling every 1
second |
| 98.04.01 |
Airlock dead |
Airlock dead |
| 98.04.01 19:00 |
Airlock dead. SG 1.014 |
Airlock dead. SG 1.014 |
| 98.04.12 12:00 |
Airlock dead. SG 1.011. Bottom
1/3 still very cloudy. Rack to bucket with 3 x 540ml (710g) sour
cherries. |
Airlock dead. SG 1.011. Bottom
1/3 still very cloudy. Rack to secondary. |
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Comments :
- 98.03.30 09:00 - Even this early in the experiment it seems quite
obviously that the aerated yeast is performing much better. It's bubbling
faster, and has foam much earlier.
- 98.03.21 07:00 - Although the aerated one did start out a bit better, the
other seems to have caught up quickly enough. It will be interesting to see
if they both finish similarly.
- 98.04.01 07:00 - Last night the aerated airlock was dead, but the
non-aerated was still going strong. This morning both were dead. Thus far in
the experiment it seems that aeration simply gave the yeast an 8 to 12 hour
headstart, which certainly makes it worthwhile.
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