236 replies to this topic

[Mya]

 

my 5L flask and stir plate disagree

I can overpitch too, I am pretty careful about pitch rates these days, the online calculators are a very good thing

 

speaking of that I need to get my WL830 started tonight 

 

the only beer I can recall making that took longer than 6 days to reach terminal was a Pale Barleywine I made back in 2007 before I heard about SNA

[Clintama]

Good things come to those that wait.

[SchwanzBrewer]

 

my 5L flask and stir plate disagree

 

This. I've been getting acetaldehyde (fresh cut pumpkin) from over pitching for the last 6 months. (just recently figured out what the problem was)

Edited by SchwanzBrewer, 19 June 2013 - 08:28 AM.

[davelew]

 It is almost impossible for a homebrewer to overpitch. 

 

I think that's true for most beers, but there are exceptions.  Hefeweizens, especially, don't get the hefe flavors I like if I make a starter, I get much better flavor from pitching a smackpack into 5 gallons of 1.040 than pitching a starter.  The same goes for most Belgians, and for low gravity English milds.

 

It's difficult for most homewbrewers to pitch so much yeast that it stresses the yeast.  However, there are beers where you WANT to stress the yeast, and it's easy to pitch too much yeast to get the optimum stress level for the yeast in certain situations.

[denny]

There is no reason that a fermentation schedule that a commercial brewer uses should necessarily be the same as the schedule a homebrewer uses.  Different practices, equipment, and goals.  That's not to say it can't be applicable, but also not that it has to be applicable.  Pay attention to your beer and do what it needs.  That's the one goal homebrewers and commercial brewers should share.

[Clintama]

There is no reason that a fermentation schedule that a commercial brewer uses should necessarily be the same as the schedule a homebrewer uses.  Different practices, equipment, and goals.  That's not to say it can't be applicable, but also not that it has to be applicable.  Pay attention to your beer and do what it needs.  That's the one goal homebrewers and commercial brewers should share.

This ^^^^

[MolBasser]

There is no reason that a fermentation schedule that a commercial brewer uses should necessarily be the same as the schedule a homebrewer uses.  Different practices, equipment, and goals.  That's not to say it can't be applicable, but also not that it has to be applicable.  Pay attention to your beer and do what it needs.  That's the one goal homebrewers and commercial brewers should share.

 

I disagree Denny.  Commercial breweries have spent a lot of time figuring out what works.  It isn't all about efficiency, it is about making the best beer possible.  That is the overriding concern at my brewery at least, make the best beer possible.

 

And interesting that people get acetaldehyde as pumpkin, I get it as green apples.  I know that I rant about pitch rates all the time here, and yes you can overpitch also, but it is my experience that most homebrewers underpitch.

 

MolBasser

[SchwanzBrewer]

 

I disagree Denny.  Commercial breweries have spent a lot of time figuring out what works.  It isn't all about efficiency, it is about making the best beer possible.  That is the overriding concern at my brewery at least, make the best beer possible.

 

And interesting that people get acetaldehyde as pumpkin, I get it as green apples.  I know that I rant about pitch rates all the time here, and yes you can overpitch also, but it is my experience that most homebrewers underpitch.

 

MolBasser

 

I've underpitched and got green apples a long time ago. This is most definitely fresh cut pumpkin. Also the flavor is in the taste of the beerholder.

[MolBasser]

For sure.  Everyone interprets molecules in their own way.  I've just never heard of acetaldehyde described as pumpkin.  I found it interesting, no criticism.

 

We recently had some beer come through the sensory lab that smelled very strongly of "pumpkin guts".  It was one of the more interesting beers I have ever smelled.

 

MolBasser

[Mya]

 

I disagree Denny.  Commercial breweries have spent a lot of time figuring out what works.  It isn't all about efficiency, it is about making the best beer possible.  That is the overriding concern at my brewery at least, make the best beer possible.

 

And interesting that people get acetaldehyde as pumpkin, I get it as green apples.  I know that I rant about pitch rates all the time here, and yes you can overpitch also, but it is my experience that most homebrewers underpitch.

 

MolBasser

we homebrewers don't have access to the labs you guys do to really know our pitch rates either

[Mya]

For sure.  Everyone interprets molecules in their own way.  I've just never heard of acetaldehyde described as pumpkin.  I found it interesting, no criticism.

 

We recently had some beer come through the sensory lab that smelled very strongly of "pumpkin guts".  It was one of the more interesting beers I have ever smelled.

 

MolBasser

what was it attributed to? DMS from bacterial contamination?

[SchwanzBrewer]

For sure.  Everyone interprets molecules in their own way.  I've just never heard of acetaldehyde described as pumpkin.  I found it interesting, no criticism.

 

We recently had some beer come through the sensory lab that smelled very strongly of "pumpkin guts".  It was one of the more interesting beers I have ever smelled.

 

MolBasser

 

I was kind of alluding to different stresses might contribute different off flavors somehow. Chemically I believe acetaldehyde is acetaldehyde, but something else might be in there from that different type of stress that combines (maybe not chemically, but for taste purposes when flavors meld together sometimes) that creates a different sensation. 

 

Edit: this is purely conjecture on my part, I have no physical evidence other than a flavor in my beer which I have not actually even analyzed to be acetaldehyde for certain. I don't have any fancy chemical equipment other than sensory receptors in my mouth and nose.

Edited by SchwanzBrewer, 19 June 2013 - 02:05 PM.

[djinkc]

 

I disagree Denny.  Commercial breweries have spent a lot of time figuring out what works.  It isn't all about efficiency, it is about making the best beer possible.  That is the overriding concern at my brewery at least, make the best beer possible.

 

And interesting that people get acetaldehyde as pumpkin, I get it as green apples.  I know that I rant about pitch rates all the time here, and yes you can overpitch also, but it is my experience that most homebrewers underpitch.

 

MolBasser

 

 

Eh, it's not always scalable from out tiny little systems to a huge fermenter from what I have gotten talking to brewers.  I'll bet that nanobrewery will act differently too.  But I haven't been on both sides.

[Mya]

 

 

Eh, it's not always scalable from out tiny little systems to a huge fermenter from what I have gotten talking to brewers.  I'll bet that nanobrewery will act differently too.  But I haven't been on both sides.

I am interested to see how well those Peltiers work

[MolBasser]

I am interested to see how well those Peltiers work

Yep, me too.

 

This week has been a wash with being sick.  I hope to fill the fermenters with slip streamed wort (from the main brewhouse) and get the fermenters pickled.

 

I've been frustrated this week with puking.

 

MolBasser

[MolBasser]

what was it attributed to? DMS from bacterial contamination?

 

No, the beer was clean, it was a hop aroma from a new variety.

 

It was trippy though, you read through the tasting sheet and across the board it was: Pumpkin guts, pumpkin, kitchen on holloween, pumkin, pumpkin guts.

 

Every taster had the same reaction.  It was quite striking, actually.

 

I didn't like the beer.

 

MolBasser

Edited by MolBasser, 19 June 2013 - 05:00 PM.

[denny]

 

I disagree Denny.  Commercial breweries have spent a lot of time figuring out what works.  It isn't all about efficiency, it is about making the best beer possible.  That is the overriding concern at my brewery at least, make the best beer possible.

 

MolBasser

 

They spent a lot of time figuring out what works for them, no doubt about it.  Just like I've spent a lot of time figuring out what works for me.    Like we both said, though, the goal is the same...the best beer possible.  There's just more than one way to get there, depending on what you have and what you want to do.

[denny]

I am interested to see how well those Peltiers work

 

Based on the Morebeer fermenters I've used, kinda iffy.

[Clintama]

I played with peltier devices a few years ago. They're a very inefficient way to cool something and the best they'll ever do is about a 60F differential between the hot side and the cold side. They'll tell you 75F is possible, but good luck with that.

[MolBasser]

The company told me 30f lower than ambient, and that is what I got about 31F lower than ambient.

 

In the 10g fermentor, filled with water, it took just over 30 hours to chill from 68 to 45.  Not so bad.

 

I haven't tested the 20g yet.

 

MolBasser