Sunday, July 26, 2009

Homebrew Digest #5583 (July 26, 2009)

HOMEBREW Digest #5583 Sun 26 July 2009


FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Digest Janitor: pbabcock at hbd.org


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Contents:
more weizens (stevea)
Doluble Wit ("Darrell G. Leavitt")
gruit in hefeweizens (stencil)


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Date: Sat, 25 Jul 2009 04:40:39 -0400
From: stevea <steve-alexander at roadrunner.com>
Subject: more weizens

Wow- Dave Houseman and Kai Troester posting - just like old times. I
think they've put their fingers on the primary weizen issues, 4VG and
esters.

In theory the low ferulic acid rest Dave mentions should (and in some
measured cases does) increase the final 4VG level, however George de
Piro, with superior experience, reports that it makes no discernible
difference. Perhaps because the wheat releases enough ferulic that the
delta doesn't make the taste threshold. BTW the clove-y 4VG flavor
dissipates over months of storage, particularly at higher temps.

Esters - anyone interested can search the archives for long
dissertations on ester formation. The point is you need to torture your
yeast in some way to increase ester levels. Low pitching, just like
low oxygen leaves less total UFA and sterol in the fermenter which
means growth (cell reproduction, not fermentation) stops before all the
carbs are used up. It is exactly at this growth to no-growth transition
where most esters are created. One must be aware of possibility of a
stuck fermentation by this method. Modestly increased temperature at
this transition (as fermentation slows) enhances the enzyme activity
needed to form esters - which seems safer to me.

I have tasted quite estery weizens in southern Germany, and certainly
some, but not all of the export weizens have high levels. Great beer
for a hot summer day.

-S

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Date: Sat, 25 Jul 2009 07:57:18 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Darrell G. Leavitt" <leavitdg at plattsburgh.edu>
Subject: Doluble Wit

I have made Wits and Hefes that exceed the normal gravity. Not sure if I
have made them as high as 10%, but more like 7 or 8%. I could just use
more base malt to drive the gravity up.

When we use a yeast here, we typically re-use it up to 6 times or so, by
just re-pitching on the previous yeast cake. And, as I have learned here
one can go from lower to higher gravity, as well as from lighter to darker
(if you wish), so that reaching 7, or 8% will then depend upon the alcohol
tolerance of the yeast, and without my morning coffee, I am not clear on
this quite yet.

On a related note, I was told by a long time brewer that the Weihestephan
yeast should not be re-pitched much in that for this strain, it is likely
to mutate faster. Has anyone heard this? I may not be as sensitive as
others, ie in recognizing the results of mutations, but I have re-used
several hefe yeasts (including wlp300) up to 5 or 6 times, and have not
noticed anything strange. But, as I know, I may not recognize the by
products/ results of this. Any thoughts on repitching Weihestephan?
Darrell

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Date: Sat, 25 Jul 2009 12:00:26 -0400
From: stencil <etcs.ret at verizon.net>
Subject: gruit in hefeweizens

On Fri, 24 Jul 2009 23:57:43 -0400,
in Homebrew Digest #5582 (July 24, 2009)
Darrell G. Leavitt wrote:

> [ ... ]
>
>I love the Hefes, and recently made one with Heather Tips (1 oz) in at
>knock out. This created a very interesting flavor. For the next batch I
>used wormwood (1 oz also) and this proved to be too much, ie the barky
>flavor of the wormwood (artemesia absenthium) is rather strong. Next time
>I will use just 1/2 oz.
>
>[ ... ]

Please, could you expand on "interesting?" Was it as in
"interesting times?" Or like an "interesting proposition?"

I've never been an enthusiast for bitterness, and got
started in homebrewing after being exposed to hefeweizens (I
worked for a while in an establishment a few hundred yards
down the road from the Maxlrain schloss and its brewery.)
The main thing that has prevented me from going gruit big
time is that I haven't worked out a way to mechanize tiny -
say, one gallon - multibatch brews for the development
phase. The more data I can get on what *doesn't* work, the
better.

> It is hard for me to stick to the recipe.
>

The folks who stick to the recipe are still back in the old
country, licking sticks and poking them into anthills to get
their supper.

gds, stencil
<h.stencil at verizon.net>

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End of HOMEBREW Digest #5583, 07/26/09
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