Wen's Lunch (Patersbier) AG BIAB #8

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wolfenrook
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Re: Wen's Lunch (Patersbier) AG BIAB #8

Post by wolfenrook » Sat Feb 24, 2018 7:38 pm

Yeah, our dog isn't allowed in the kitchen when I am doing anything brewing related. She's a nightmare for getting underfoot as she's a Jack Russell sized JRT/Staffie cross, so thinks she's an ankle snake... lol

My wife sadly has "I can do it better"-itis, which usually leads to me trying it her way, it going wrong and taking way longer. :D I let her stir the grist whilst doughing in once (she usually pours), she took mashing literally and pounded the grain to flour. That was one messy brew. ;) I haven't offered to let her to stir since. lol She is excellent at pouring the grist though, and I get the best efficiency when I get her to pour in the sparge water. She has more patience, and no tremor (I end up tipping too much in when my hand twitches unctrollably) :lol: . So I still let her be my co-brewer. :wink:

I also always discuss what I am going to brew with her, sadly she's just as indecisive as I am.... :lol:

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Laripu
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Re: Wen's Lunch (Patersbier) AG BIAB #8

Post by Laripu » Sat Feb 24, 2018 8:21 pm

I've found that whenever my wife comments (oh so authoritatively) on something which I understand well, she's dead wrong. It's always "you don't need to do that it, and it won't make any difference", and then it does.

For brewing, I keep her away as much as I can. I ignore everything she says to do with cooking, except that she properly restrains me from overspicing with hot peppers.

Our dogs are not small. Toby is an 85 lb mix with Chow, German Shepherd, and Corgi, and Artie is a 65 lb Am-Staff, Viszla, Malamute, Chow, Collie, Husky mix who thinks he's a lapdog.

Nevertheless, last summer, two days before the hurricane passed by, she tripped over Toby and broke her arm. Luckily we had very little cleanup to do after the hurricane, and my employer lost power, so I had days off. :D
Secondary FV: As yet unnamed Weizenbock ~7%
Bulk aging: Soodo: Grocery store grape juice wine experiment.
Drinking: Mostly Canadian whisky until I start brewing again.

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Re: Wen's Lunch (Patersbier) AG BIAB #8

Post by wolfenrook » Sun Feb 25, 2018 12:31 pm

I keep trying to get my wife to read some of my brewing books to be honest. If she understands the actual process she may better understand why I do things the way I do them, and not try to get me to "do it this way, it'll be better!". lol

Between us though, we did come up with a hybrid sparge method that's improved my sparging. A sort of mix of almost fly sparge (I think) and dunk sparge. Basically done in the bag inside the drained boiler, SS colander on the top. Sparge water poured very slowly by my wife through the colander so that it sprinkles onto the grain bed. Once that's done, I give the bag a swish and dunk. Then I recirculate the liquor repeatedly using a big jug and the colander, out through the tap in the boiler then back in at the top, until it's running nice and clear. Dunk only I was maxing at an SG of 1.020 for my sparge liquor, and getting really cloudy liquor. With the hybrid I've gotten it up to 1.025-1.026 crystal clear runnings in less time than the dunk took.

It drives my wife nuts watching me cook. She's a trained chef and it irritates the heck out of her how I use a carving knife to chop onions and peppers... lmao

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Re: Wen's Lunch (Patersbier) AG BIAB #8

Post by Laripu » Sun Feb 25, 2018 2:13 pm

I like the idea of the colander. I might use that.

I do a hybrid sparge too. My mash is in a 27L SS pot, insulated with the same stuff you put around a water heater. Like bubble wrap but with aluminum foil around. I fasten it on with Velcro. The pot sits on a hot plate, which is plugged into a temperature controller, whose probe in a close copper tube sitting in the mash.

At sparge time, I use a small pot with a handle to transfer sparge water from a 20L pot on the stove to the mashtun, while it slowly drains into the pot that I use as the boiler. I keep the water level in the mashtun over the grain until I've collected enough.

The boiling pot sits on another hot plate so that when it's ready to go, it's already nearly boiling, which saves time. The hot plate and pot are on a lift table so it's easy to get up to stove height, just using my foot. Once it's at the right height, I just moved it over into the stove. It's boiling in under 5 minutes.

Here's what the lift table looks like, only mine is in a garish yellow. (But it was on sale.:)) This thing saves my back every mash, and has proved useful in other contexts too.



In the interests of international relations, I should have written 'aluminium' for aluminum and 'on offer' for on sale and 'hob' for stove, but I feel somewhat lazy today. :) Plus, if you guys are eating KFC to the point of FCK, you're Yanks for all intents and purposes now. ;)
Secondary FV: As yet unnamed Weizenbock ~7%
Bulk aging: Soodo: Grocery store grape juice wine experiment.
Drinking: Mostly Canadian whisky until I start brewing again.

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Re: Wen's Lunch (Patersbier) AG BIAB #8

Post by wolfenrook » Wed Mar 21, 2018 2:23 pm

So, this one came out very very clear, no visible haze at all. Nice and fizzy, pouring with a big white head, that vanishes in seconds flat.... Given there's only Pilsen malt in there, probably not a surprise that.

Flavour, well it's surprisingly clean given I used CML Belgian Ale yeast, maybe a tiny hint of something other than the hops there. Mostly though a nice, clean, floral flavour. Very crisp, even though served at room temperature, almost lager like. Would be nice colder.
IMG_20180321_131047.jpg
A good one to drink on hot summer days.

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Laripu
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Re: Wen's Lunch (Patersbier) AG BIAB #8

Post by Laripu » Thu Mar 22, 2018 12:44 am

wolfenrook wrote:
Wed Mar 21, 2018 2:23 pm
So, this one came out very very clear, no visible haze at all. Nice and fizzy, pouring with a big white head, that vanishes in seconds flat.... Given there's only Pilsen malt in there, probably not a surprise that.
I get a nice head with pilsner malt. You might have degraded protein if you did a protein rest. Or if you heated your mash up with the grain already in, the moral equivalent if a protein rest (around 130°F, about 54, 55°C).

European or UK pilsner malt really doesn't need a protein rest. Even American pilsner malt (slightly more protein, slightly more enzymes, slightly less starch) doesn't really need a protein rest.

I've done a protein rest with a mash that had all high protein grain: 6-row malt, wheat malt, rye malt, kamut, and spelt, and the head is minimal as a result. I'm not a fan of protein rests except short ones in the most extreme protein circumstances.

Looks like a nice beer, though. :) Enjoy it.
Secondary FV: As yet unnamed Weizenbock ~7%
Bulk aging: Soodo: Grocery store grape juice wine experiment.
Drinking: Mostly Canadian whisky until I start brewing again.

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Re: Wen's Lunch (Patersbier) AG BIAB #8

Post by wolfenrook » Thu Mar 22, 2018 9:48 am

It's Dingemans Pilsen malt, and the only time I get a decent head with it is when I use wheat malt or torrefied wheat with it.

No protein rest, and the water is heated to strike temp before doughing in. The only time it's heated with the grain present is going from 65°C to 76°C for the mash-out.

I get a nice head when I pour, to the point I have to pour carefully or I get 1/2 a pint of head and 1/2 a pint of beer... The retention is shocking though, it just vanishes in seconds.

Basically though, I finally got good clarity, but now I need to work on head retention. As mentioned, the best head retention I get is when I used up to 6% wheat malt in the grist (my Saisons), even the torrefied wheat isn't as effective. I'm not going to do this to a Patersbier though, it kind of defeats the point.

I am however going to use a better yeast next time! The CML stuff added literally nothing to the flavour, I could have used Nottingham and got more flavour from it. It's surprising, as whilst it was still conditioning it was VERY yeast flavour driven with tons of spice. One to add to the list of "in future use liquid yeast" I reckon.

Oh and I rinse glasses with copious quantities of cold water, and drain well, before I serve beer. That way I've found I avoid bubbles from the sides AND any traces of dishwasher detergent been left on the glass. I do the same for most of my beers, and get mixed results with head retention. In this case, reading around, it may be that I just need to leave the bottles in the fridge for longer before serving to cold condition (the one in the pic has never been in the fridge... lol).

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Re: Wen's Lunch (Patersbier) AG BIAB #8

Post by Manngold » Thu Mar 22, 2018 2:47 pm

I think the yeast is the most important part of this style beer. When I brewed it, it was the only time I have ever used a liquid Yeast (cost about £7), but really made the beer stand out. I had lots of bubble gum, banana, and such like flavours from the Yeast. I really should have tried to harvest some of the Yeast for a future brew but was still a bit of a nervous brewer.

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Re: Wen's Lunch (Patersbier) AG BIAB #8

Post by dbambrick996 » Sun Apr 15, 2018 6:38 pm

Just tasted a Belgian single I brewed a while back using lellemand Abbey. I have to say that I am very impressed with this dried yeast and it reminds me of wy3787. It is a beast, fermented very quickly and flows out very clear. Plenty of Belgian taste and aroma. I previously used t-58 and was very disappointed.

After using a few liquid yeast such as 1214, 3787, Belgian Ardennes the lellemand is up there for me, I will definitely be using it again.

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Re: Wen's Lunch (Patersbier) AG BIAB #8

Post by wolfenrook » Sun Apr 15, 2018 8:50 pm

I'd say I'll give it a go, but there's no point my using anything that gives even a hint of banana. One whiff of it and my wife won't drink it.

The CML is OK at best, somewhere between neutral and generic fruity. To be honest though, it's hard to tell where the hops end and the yeast starts (or vice versa). Either way, it's delicious and refreshing, a good alternative to a wheat beer.

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