Post
by Barley Water » Thu May 08, 2008 7:04 pm
First of all, let me state that my only motivation for this post is to help the original poster make a sucessful batch of beer. Please do not get the idea that I am talking down to him or putting him down. If you have never done something before, many times you don't even know which questions to ask. Also, I agree with Daab but bear in mind that he was answering specific questions the O.P. was asking.
The biggest problem I see here though is that the style selected for what sounds like a first time brewing attempt is just asking for problems. If I read the threat correctly, the O.P. is trying to make a German lager that would finish out at 8.5%. First of all, lagers are much more difficult to make well than ales. Generally, getting proper attenuation is an issue since typically brewers underpitch (I know, I used the be the poster boy for that problem). Additionally, temperature control is absolutely crucial to making a decent lager. Secondly, a high gravity wort has it's own set of challenges. Higher gravity affects yeast performance such that the problems mentioned above will be magnified. Specifically, even if you control temperature correctly, the yeast will start spitting out all kinds of nasty by-products which will mess up the taste of the beer if you underpitch.
Here is my humble suggestion for having sucess quickly in your brewing career. Select a style which has a high probability of sucess. I think that British or American pale ale, American or British Brown ale (I guess you guys would call it mild over there) and moderate strenght Porter or Stout are all good choices. Note that all these brews are ales, all are moderate strenght (about 1.050 O.G) and all have either enough malt or hop flavor (or both) to cover up small flaws. I am not saying that it is easy to make a great example of any of these styles but it is relatively easy to make a passable example of any of them.
In regards to the current batch you are dealing with, I agree with Daab, taste it. If it tastes ok, go ahead and bottle it and see what happens. If nothing else, you will get some experience bottling which should hold you in good stead for later batches. I would however caution you that if the beer tastes really sweet (and it might just because of the high O.G.) you could be making little bombs since you may have alot of unfermented sugars which could lead to very high carbonation levels in the bottles.
Finally, you wrote that you have some Diablo kits waiting to be brewed. If I am not mistaken, that is essentially a Duvel clone. I don't think that Belgian beers make good beginner styles either because most are higher gravity beers and Belgian yeasts, although ales, can be a little tricky to handle when compared to most American or British ale yeasts. The good news in all this though is that once you learn to make the basic British or American ales, all the skills acquired will serve you very well once you decide to move on to the more advances styles. Oh yeah, all those beers I mentioned all taste great as well.
Drinking:Saison (in bottles), Belgian Dubbel (in bottles), Oud Bruin (in bottles), Olde Ale (in bottles),
Abbey Triple (in bottles), Munich Helles, Best Bitter (TT Landlord clone), English IPA
Conditioning: Traditional bock bier, CAP
Fermenting: Munich Dunkel
Next up: Bitter (London Pride like), ESB
So many beers to make, so little time (and cold storage space)
) From what I've read you'll always have sediment in the final bottling process which I understand to be like 'White Label or White Shield'? If anyone has ever poured it?
