The Brew Times Homebrewing Blog
Yeast Flavor Profiles
{{widget type="Solvature\VideoSlider\Block\Widget\VideoSliderWidget" video_embed1="UbmpnsRxrnA" video_title1="Yeast Flavor Profiles" video_cta_color1="white" video_cta_color2="white" video_cta_color3="white" video_cta_color4="white" video_cta_color5="white"}} We did our basic topic a few weeks ago to just cover the different styles, etc. Now we wanted to look at how different yeasts can add certain flavors to your beer. So we are going to go through the styles of yeast that we sell on the website and I’ll let Zach explain the type of flavor you can get out of the yeast so you can start to experiment with different yeasts if you want to. So we will start with the go to yeast which seems to be US-05, tell us a little about that one. US-05 is a staple because of how “clean” it is. By that, I mean the lack of flavor it contributes, the high flocculation, its high attenuation, and all-around solid performer. It’s especially good for IPAs because it allows the hop flavors to really come through. What about US-04? That seems to be similar to the US-05. US-04 is actually better suited for malty, UK-style beers. This yeast leaves behind some of the complex sugars that are created during the mash, making beers with more malt -forward qualities. A great choice for English Pales & Bitters, Porters & Stouts, Irish Reds, or anything else where the malt is the major player. WB-06 seems to be an awesome yeast to use with wheat beers, tell us a little about that one. This yeast is great for wheat beers because it adds slight fruitiness, but more importantly, a clove-like spiciness. The hotter you ferment it, within reason, the more of that citrus and clove you’ll get out of it. You’ll even get banana if you get close to 78-degrees, for those of you who enjoy that sort of thing. I don’t know much about this one, what about S-33 yeast? S-33 is supposed to be a Belgian-style yeast, great for wheat and Trappist ales. It’s marketed as a low attenuating yeast that leaves behind big malt flavors, but it doesn’t have a big following. It ferments well but takes a long time to clear and won’t bring big ABV to the table. Great for historic style beers that were low in alcohol and big on malt. Let’s get into some funky yeasts T-58 seems to have unique characteristics to it. T-58 is a more traditional Belgian-style yeast, it brings a lot of peppery, spicy flavors. Great for Wit beers and other things you want more spicy notes in. Lets get into Lager Yeast, S-23 seems to be a popular one for lager styles, tells us a little about that. This lager yeast is actually used by a lot of Western European breweries. It will provide you with a clean, dry lager taste when used at 48F-59F. This yeast will perform alright at ale temps, but will produce more fruity esters. Okay and the last yeast we will talk about W-34/70, how is that different from the S-23? The W-34/70 is derived from the Weihenstephan strain, it ferments cleanly (meaning lower esters) and noticeably malt forward. A great yeast for Bohemian lagers that value bready, biscuit like malt flavors and spicy hop aromas.
Read moreThe Brew Times Homebrewing Blog
Oktoberfest
{{widget type="Solvature\VideoSlider\Block\Widget\VideoSliderWidget" video_embed1="wlKVjWqC2K8" video_title1="Oktoberfest" video_cta_color1="white" video_cta_color2="white" video_cta_color3="white" video_cta_color4="white" video_cta_color5="white"}} We wanted to keep it simple this week so we thought, why not talk about Oktoberfest!! It starts this Sunday and there is no better way to celebrate than with a nice cold homebrew, Cheers! For those of you who do not know Oktoberfest starts this Sunday the 21st. It’s an awesome time of the year for anyone who loves beer. It seems that in most cities there is some type of Oktoberfest event going on, which is awesome because you can go try all kinds of good beers and food. What I wanted to do with this episode was just explain what Oktoberfest is really quick to get everyone ready to celebrate. So this will be a nice short episode. Also keep an eye on your inbox this week for possibly some new recipes. Every year Oktoberfest is held in Munich, Germany and it is the worlds largest beer festival usual puling in around 6 million people over the deration of the event. It is estimated that over 1.9 million gallons of beer are consumed during the event, that is about 950,000 LBKs!!!!! The event has been going since 1819. The only beer that is served at Oktoberfest has to conform to the German purity law which states that beer can only be brewed with water, barley and hops. The main style of beer that is served is what is considered a Marzen style of beer. These are kind of full body beers which a dark brown color to them. Okay so if you are wanting to brew some Mr. Beer Refills or Recipes to celebrate here are few that you can brew. Our Oktoberfest Lager Standard Refill is a sure choice to brew. Also if you wanted to get a little higher ABV and get a more malty full bodied flavor brew the deluxe refill. Zombie Fest Lager is also a good beer to brew. That beer is a true lager, so if you can brew at the colder temperature then you should brew this. Our Oktoberfestivus German Amber would also be a good beer to brew. This one brews as an ale so if you cant brew the lager then you should brew this guy. I am also going to put our Munich Malt Monster Dopplebock in this list. It would not really confirm to the traditional style served at Oktoberfest, but its just a darn good beer and perfect for this time of year. Really though if you are just brewing your favorite beer and enjoying the process and the beer and sharing your beer with friends and family then your celebrating cuz that is what I think it is all about.
Read moreDual Purpose Hops
{{widget type="Solvature\VideoSlider\Block\Widget\VideoSliderWidget" video_embed1="Q59e4fmkeGI" video_title1="Dial Purpose Hops" video_cta_color1="white" video_cta_color2="white" video_cta_color3="white" video_cta_color4="white" video_cta_color5="white"}} Love Hops? We do too! In this episode of Brew Talk with Mr. Beer we discuss Dual Purpose Hops and what they are and what they do! I think this topic can be a little confusing for people so we thought it would be great to have our hop expert, Ashley, to discuss this topic and maybe make it a little easier to understand. What are Dual Purpose Hops? The simplest way to describe Dual purpose hops is that they are usually hops that can be used for both their bittering and their aroma characteristics. We have this categorized on our site, but how would someone know what is a Dual-Purpose Hop or is there really no way to know without just knowing? Generally speaking, dual-purpose hops are going to have a moderate to higher Alpha acid range as well as a lot aroma and flavor throw in its non-isomerized sate. One of the first things I do when I am trying to decide how to purpose a hop, is I smell it. And not just one sniff, I really smell it several times to get a good idea of what kind of flavors it might carry as a flameout or dry hop addition. Between this and knowing the AA content of that particular hop, You can pretty safely determine whether that variety will express well both ways. A lot of that comes down to your preferences too. What are some of the most popular hops that are used? I would say more hops can be used in a dual purpose way, than not. They may not be categorized that way, but it does not mean they can’t be used in that manner. But some varieties that you’ll often see used both ways are Galaxy, El dorado, Simcoe , Azacca, Mosaic, Citra And many more. Out of the Dual Purpose category of hops are there some that are just better for bittering and some that are better for just aroma or does that just depend on a person’s individual taste? You know, I think the answer to that question can really depend on who you ask. Me personally, I think it depends on what you are making and the expectation you have for your final product. Say you wanted to create a beer that was single hopped but you wanted it to have a lot of bitterness as well as aroma, you would be better off selecting a dual purpose hop on the higher end of the AA spectrum rather than using a whole bunch of a lower AA variety. If someone was brewing with a dual purpose hop for bittering would they be better off just selecting a bittering hop since that is what they are made for, or no? Not necessarily. At the end of the day, all hops are bitter to some degree when boiled. That’s what hops in general do for beer. There’s certain occasions when a brewer will want to showcase all the finer points of one particular hop. This is where it makes sense to select a dual-purpose hop that will really shine on both levels. What are some of your favorite dual purpose hops that you like to brew with? OOhh I love any thing super citrus or super dank. It’s hard for me to ever pick favorites because I love them all! Citra and simcoe are the two I probably use the most both ways. But I am also a big fan of really experimenting with all kinds of different hops in different ways and often outside of their mainstream recognized purpose. Brewing beer is all about the finished product and half the fun is experimenting and learning new things about what you enjoy drinking.
Read moreBrewing with Specialty Grains
If you want to take your brew to the next level specialty grains are a great addition to add something extra to your brew. We use these in all our partial mash recipes. In our 20th episode of Brew Talk with Mr. Beer we discuss some of the basics around using specialty grains on your brew day. We use these in what we call our Partial Mash recipes and Zach has been an all grain brewer for a long time we thought it was best to get him to talk specialty grains and just grains in general. The first question I have for you is brewing with Specialty Grains has to vastly differ from brewing with all grain. Could you elaborate on some of the differences between the two methods? The differences might be less than you think. When brewing all grain recipes, you still need specialty grains for the roasty, sweet, or biscuity flavors. The major difference comes from the base malt, since we use extract, we don’t need to make a sugar rich wort from grains, Cooper’s has already done that for us. How can the volume of grains that you are using for steeping affect the beer? Is there such a thing as too many grains or too little for steeping? Yes, since we’re using the grains for color and flavor it is possible to add too many making your amber into a brown or your brown into a porter or adding too much crystal and having too much sweetness (among other problems). What would say is the most common type of grain that could be used with a lager, a porter, etc.? The most common types in lagers would be the biscuity malts. Since most lagers are light in color, the ones you find most often are Pilsen, Vienna, Biscuit, and the like. Things that may add a small amount of color, but mostly add flavor. For a porter you’re looking not only for roasty or burnt toast flavors, but also that classic dark color. These are your Chocolate, dark Crystal, and Black malts. What would be the base grain for someone to use if they wanted to like experiment with different hops in a boil? In an all-grain “SMaSH” beer, Single Malt and Single Hop, you’d use any of the base malts grains; 2-row, 6-row, Pilsen, Maris Otter, and the like. To try that with Mr. Beer, you’d have to try something more along the lines of starting with the unhoped BrewMax DME or LME’s to get to that pure starting point. After that, you can play with steeping different grains to see what interesting combinations you can create. Is there a certain type of grain that you prefer to use when you are brewing certain styles? Like, Lager, IPA’s, Stouts Again, it all comes down the style. Malty English styles love Maris Otter, Biscuit, and even Rye. With lagers I start with Vienna, Pilsen, 6-Row, light malts that have biscuit or toast flavors. With IPA’s I dig the clean 2-row, palest malts because it’s all about the hops. Things like crystal malt can mess with that and even lead to some oxidation-like flavors.
Read moreBottling With Different Adjuncts
Want to add different adjuncts during bottling? Check Out Our 19th Episode of Brew Talk With Mr. Beer where we talk about a few of our favorite and how to best use them. This is a question we get asked often and it is something that we included in some of our recipes. Adding different things during bottling time to impact the flavor of your beer. Some of these can be used in place of carbonation drops others can be used in conjunction with them to add flavor to your beer. If you have questions, contact our customer service team. Zach and Ashley have a ton of knowledge and can help you with any question you may have. Dextrose The first thing I wanted to talk about was dextrose. This would be used instead of carbonation drops or table sugar. The dextrose is an extremely fermentable sugar so it will help boost carbonation in your beer and get that crisp taste. If you are brewing a lager this would be something that could add a different dynamic to it. You will want to use the same amount as you would sugar when bottling. Honey or Maple Syrup Honey and Maple are something that you can use to replace the sugar when bottling. It will add some sweetness and some unique flavor to your beer. Honey tends to pair best with the lighter style beers and maple syrup with the darker ones, but you can mix and match how you like. When using honey or maple syrup when bottling you will want to make sure that you are using a freshly open bottle, you don’t want something that has been sitting around for a while. The ratio for honey or maple syrup to sugar is 1 to 1. So in our 740 bottles we use 2 teaspoons of sugar you would use 2 teaspoons of honey or maple syrup. You just add it right into the bottle then fill it up with beer. Vanilla Extract Most vanilla extract does contain alcohol so there is no need to pasteurize or sanitize it. During bottling time, you will want to add 1-2 teaspoons depending on how much flavor you want from the vanilla. Always make sure to use a sanitized measuring spoon and for this one you will still need to add your priming sugar or carbonation drops. Coffee We have a few recipes that call for adding coffee or expresso when bottling. For this mixture I would do it the same as you would the vanilla, 1-2 teaspoons depending on how strong you want the flavor. If you are using expresso you will want to make sure that it is at least room temperature when adding to your bottles. You can also use cold brew coffee concentrate as well to get those coffee notes out of your beer. This is great for stouts, porters just dark beers in general. We do recommend using the cold brew method as it just has a smoother taste and will pair better with your beer. Whiskey If you want to get really wild with it you can bottle your beer with some whiskey. You will want to add a shot or less to each bottle depending how strong you want the flavors. You do want to be carful though, adding too much booze to your bottle and the yeast will not be able to carbonate, so nothing more than a shot per bottle at most. Monin Flavor Syrup Comes in a ton of different flavors and they can all be found on Amazon. They have sugar-free and sugar sweetened ones. If you are using the sugar-free styles you will need to add your priming sugar just like you normally would. If you are using the ones that are sweetened with sugar, then the ratio would be 1 to 1 just like with the honey and syrup. Just add it to the bottle and then fill it with beer and your good to go. Those are just some of the adjuncts that you can add during bottling to get some unique flavors out of your beer. Depending on how much you add that will alter the impact of that particular flavor and always make sure everything is sanitized. If you have any questions about this topic just comment on the post or you can get it touch with Zach or Ashley by emailing us, giving us a call or using the live chat on our website.
Read moreGluten Free Brewing Tips
In out 18th Episode of Brew Talk With Mr. Beer we talk about Gluten Free Brewing tips! Since we launched out Gluten Free Recipes a few weeks ago we thought it would be great to share some tips to make sure you get the most out of your brew day. As you may or may not know we launched 4 new Gluten Free Recipes about 4 weeks ago. The first, of many to come, gluten recipes on our site. This are all just amazing beers. Even if you can have regular beer I would recommend brewing these. One thing about brewing Gluten Free is that the experience can be a little different that what you would normally have when brewing a regular beer. So we wanted to give some times on brewing gluten free. The first part we have to cover real quick as it relates to everything brewing, Sanitation! Sanitation is always priority #1 when it comes to brewing of ANY KIND. Sanitation is that much more important when you are brewing GF beer for 2 primary reasons. The first is to limit the potential for cross contamination so that you are not making yourself or someone sick but exposing them to passive forms of gluten. The second reason has to do with your yeast health. Gluten free wort can sometimes lack the nutrients that yeast requires to thrive and this can sometimes make it more vulnerable. There are easy ways to bolster your yeast, that we will talk about in a minute. Okay now that we got that out of the way lets talk about hops and some ways to help heavily hopped gluten free beers not get funky flavors. Off flavors from heavy hopping can occur in any beer BUT I have found that certain yeasts can bring out Diacytal (Butter or butterscotch flavor) in your beer in conjunction with sorghum. There’s two primary ways to avoid this. The first is making sure your yeast is in good health (fresh, right temp pitch and nutrients especially in high gravity worts), Healthy happy yeast cleans up after itself and produces fewer off flavors. Using fresh hops is also very important. You always want to avoid Dry hopping with hops that you have had sitting open, exposed to oxygen. The 3rd preventative measure is patience. This means not rushing your beer out of the fermenter before it’s had a chance to fully complete. I like to wait at least 4 days more after dry hopping whenever possible. It’s also important to let your bottles condition for at least 3 weeks. If you are worried about hop creep in your beer, you can pull a sample from your fermenter and place it into a sanitized mason jar, close the jar and refrigerate overnight. Taste the next day, if you get butter flavors. let your beer hang out longer in the fermenter and test again in 2-4 days. If someone wanted to increase the mouthfeel or body in their Gluten Free Beer how would they do that? You’ll notice that some of our recipes contain maltodextrin. This is a 100% corn derived maltodextrin called “Clintose 10”. We have you adding Malto at 4 ounces but more or less can be used to increase this. The oats in our Stout recipe also help to increase body and mouthfeel. In one of our recipes we have something called amalayse enzyme included, what is that and how does it help your Gluten Free Beer? For the most part gluten free Grains and extracts are what we call “non-diastatic” This means they don’t produce any Enzyme activity. That means if you steep grains, there are no enzymes present to help convert starch to sugar that your yeast has the ability to ferment. Enter amalayse enzyme. Fun fact this same enzyme is also found in human spit! By adding this non spit form, you can improve the efficiency of the oats you are using, You also help to protect the shelf life of your beer by using them when you steep GF grains. Let’s talk about yeast, when brewing using Gluten Free ingredients how can that affect the yeast and what are some ways to help it out? As we mentioned earlier, sometimes in GF wort your yeast can benefit from a little extra nutrients just like we benefit from taking a multi vitamin. I always advise that every gluten free brewer Keep a few key things on hand Yeast nutrient or energizer and or old yeast packets that you don’t mind boiling. If you don’t have access to yeast nutrients then you can easily feed your yeast by boiling a half a packet of old yeast in your wort so that it dies off and provides B vitamins and food for you viable yeast. I HIGHLY recommend doing this, especially for the higher gravity beers like our stout. When it comes time to bottling what can you tell us about residual sweetness you can get when brewing Gluten Free? It has been my experience when brewing GF beers with larger amounts of Candy sugar being used, sometimes you can get residual sweetness that does not seem to ferment out. This can be confusing. This is why I recommend checking with your hydrometer and making sure are waiting at least the full 14 days if your gravity is continuing to fall. If you are brewing up a recipe for a friend that is gluten free are there any precautions that you need to take with your equipment, bottles, etc. If you are brewing this beer for someone who has celiac or needs to avoid gluten for some other reason, you need to think about what you have brewed with your equipment in the past. I would not recommend using an LBK that has previously been used to brew a gluten containing beer. You also need to consider your environment… Do you have sources of gluten on or directly around your preparation area? Have you touched gluten with your hands? Has there been gluten in your plastic bottles? These are all things you need to consider. Trust me when I say you do not want to be responsible for making a friend or even yourself sick. I cannot stress enough when it comes to steeping oats you need to purchase certified gluten free oats.
Read moreYeast- The Basics
{{widget type="Magento\Cms\Block\Widget\Block" template="widget/static_block/default.phtml" block_id="149" type_name="CMS Static Block"}} In this 17th episode of Brew Talk with Mr. Beer we kick a new video series, Yeast! We discuss the basics around the different options and styles to choose from. So, we thought it would be good to start a new series about yeast. They are a ton of different styles and varieties out there and we wanted to start diving into them a little bit. So, we are starting our Yeast series. Today will be a brief overview then in future episodes we will get into some deep content. What are the different types of yeast? Well, from a top level, most homebrewers will see either dry packets or liquid packets. What are some of the benefits and downsides to liquid yeast? Liquid yeast are a great option for high gravity worts, since they have more active living cells than the dry packets. On the downside, they don’t store very long and need to be kept at optimal temperatures our they can die out. What are some of the benefits and downsides to dry yeast? The benefits to dry yeast are their shelf-life longevity and the cost, both in price and for shipping. They are also “typically” gluten-free. Downsides are they are limited in varieties and they aren’t as powerful when sprinkled into the wort. You can make a yeast starter to make it equivalent to the liquid yeast, but it does take a day for it to be ready. Is there one that you prefer to use over the other when doing your brews? Liquid yeasts are great when you are looking for a very specific type of yeast strain or if you have a high gravity wort that needs something with an extra kick. A little shopping around will most likely find a dry equivalent though and with the ease of making a starter, I prefer the dry in most situations now. What are some of the different characteristics or flavors you can you can get from yeasts? That will depend on the strain of yeast. You got your two primary styles; ale and lager. Lager yeasts are great for clean, crisp flavors but require cooler fermentation temperatures. Ales will give you fuller body and “fruitier” esters, but there’s a lot of styles that ferment cleaner than others. Then there are styles like saison that will give you those funky, farmhouse styles. There a whole host more, but more than we can cover today. When you are brewing up a new creation how do you decide what yeast to use? When I’m brewing for Mr. Beer, I will pick yeast by it’s characteristics which are all listed by the various manufacturers. I always pick dry yeast for the convenience of shipping and storage, but I’ll see what flavor characteristics that yeast might be known for and decide whether I want those flavors or if I want to shake things up a little bit. After all, the experimentation is part of why I love to brew, so nothing is really off limits until I try it in a brew.
Read moreNew Gluten Free Recipes
{{widget type="Magento\Cms\Block\Widget\Block" template="widget/static_block/default.phtml" block_id="148" type_name="CMS Static Block"}} New to Mr. Beer, 4 Gluten Free Recipes! We have been making brewing easy for years and we decided to add gluten free recipes to the mix. Check out this episode where we break down the new recipes and discuss gluten free beer in general. This episode pertains to our 4 new Gluten Free recipes that we are releasing this week. Ashley has been the leader for us in this move design all these recipes for us. So, I thought it would be great to have her on the show to take about the Gluten Free brewing and then at the end we will get into the recipes we have. Why gluten free? Well Robert, Believe it or not an estimated 31-40% of the world population carries the HLA-DQ genes associated with the predisposition for Celiac disease, Celiac is an autoimmune disease in which the sufferers immune system attacks the body as a result of gluten exposure, the results can range from minor discomfort and pain to being down right life threatening. Now of course, not everyone with the gene will develop Celiac disease but many people with this disposition will develop a genuine intolerance. That being said, approximately half of the world population, consumes alcohol … so given those statistics, you can bet more than a few celiac and intolerant people, miss beer terribly. Up until fairly recently your choices for Celiac friendly beer have been pretty limited. As someone with a deep love for beer and also the owner of some active HLA-DQ genes, I relate to this plight very personally and so do many of my fellow no- gluten people. Quite simply, we want to drink good beer despite our disease. Aside from celiac and gluten intolerance, there are also cases where people have other diseases primarily auto immune in where the consumption of gluten containing food and drink causes additional complications/ and or inflammation. The trend in gluten free beer seems to be getting more popular, how long have you been brewing and drinking gluten free beer? I have been brewing in total for nearly 9 years. I have been brewing gluten free beer for almost 5 years. I’ve been drinking it for the better part of a decade, whenever I could find it. The problem is finding it, which is why I started brewing it. How has gluten free brewing changed over the last few years? Or has it not changed? The brewing process hasn’t changed too much, at the end of the day we are still producing a “beer product” through means of fermentation. What HAS changed is the accessibility of gluten free brewing ingredients as well as more of an access to commercial knowledge from dedicated gluten free breweries such as Ground Breaker, Ghost Fish and Glutenberg. This has greatly widened the possibilities for producing GF beer at home. What are some of the ingredients that are used in gluten free brewing? Some of the most common fermentables and adjuncts used in gluten free brewing are, Sorghum, Rice, Millet Rice, Buckwheat, Belgian candy sugar, Corn syrup, And quite a few more. What are some of the benefits to using Sorghum? Sorghum is awesome for making gluten free beer and it’s one of only 2 commercially produced gluten free extracts, making it very easy to work with. Sorghum ferments well and is generally enjoyed by most yeast strains. If handled properly, sorghum can lend a very familiar “beer” flavor. So, lets dive into the 4 new recipes we have. I am going to let Ashley take over here to talk about these recipes. Vacation IPA This is one of my favorites. If you have been watching or have any familiarity with me, you know I LOVE HOPS and I really enjoy beer with a bitter backbone. This beer delivers. With a combination of azaaca and simcoe hops, this one had a lot of ripe stone fruit aroma and juicy haziness, rounding out with a strong and delicious bitter note. Grapefruit Crush Pale Ale OK so maybe I like bitter AND citrus in my beer. That sounds a lot like grapefruit doesn’t it… well out of that, Grapefruit Crush was born. This was a beer we could not keep in the keg, from all corners of the building, the masses arrived to drink it until it was empty. If you don’t like grapefruit as much as I do or you have a particularly large one, you can adjust the amount of zest as per your preferences. Acushla Red Ale This is one of the very first recipes that I created specifically for Mr. Beer. You see, I like my reds a little hoppy and VERY Crushable. I want to be able to drink a lot of it, easily. This red does that. Acushla means “darling” or more literally “my pulse”. This beauty is sure to get you wrapped around it’s finger. Mocha-Choca Oatmeal Stout This was a “challenge accepted” moment. The wonderful people at Mr. Beer asked “hey Ash, can you make us a stout? “ say no more fam… I am so proud of this beer. Stout kits are UNHEARD of in the realm of GF beer when it comes to extract based kits. I used coffee bean and cacoa nibs to create that dynamic and layered stout flavor without a whole bunch of specialty malts. This beer took quite a few renditions to get it to be what I was looking for and I hope you enjoy drinking it as much as I did creating the formula.
Read moreBittering Hops
{{widget type="Magento\Cms\Block\Widget\Block" template="widget/static_block/default.phtml" block_id="147" type_name="CMS Static Block"}} Want to learn how to get more bitterness out of your beer and what hops are best to use. Check out this episode where we break it all down for you and best practices for to brew more bitter beers. When talking about the concept of bittering hops what are we referring to? More than a specific type of hops, “bittering” hops refers more to the stage that the hops are added, during the boil, during the hottest stages of your process, this causes the hops to release bitter tasting Isohumulone, hence the term “bittering hops” What is it? Basically, any hop added during the boil process, will release some bitterness. But there are hop varieties that are more known and favored for their bittering qualities. Usually brewers will opt to use higher alpha hops for their bitter hop additions. What are some types of bittering hops that are commonly used? Well there are tons of them but some that come to mind first are: Chinook at 12%-14%, magnum 10-14%, Galena hops 13-15%, warrior hops 15-17%, but also lower alpha acid Noble hop varieties are also used for bittering depending on the beer style. What are some new styles of bittering hops that have become popular lately? New hop varieties pop up on the scene everyday and what I keep seeing more and more is a diversion from using typical bittering hops. Brewers are reaching for these new hops that may have previously been seen as exclusively for aroma or flavor and they are using them in all purposes including bittering. How can you decide what hops are for bittering? Usually when you purchase hops, they will be categorized as either bittering, aroma or dual purpose. Bittering hops are usually characterized by high alpha acid contents and lower aroma throw/flavor though that is not always exclusively the case. What is the proper way to use hops for bittering when brewing? If your desire is to draw bitterness from your hops then you have to use them in the boil. If you add a hop variety with the purpose of adding bitterness but not flavor too late in the process, you probably won’t achieve the level of IBU’s that you are looking for. The rule of thumb with any hop is the more heat, for a longer period of time, the more bitterness you will achieve. Can you use non-bittering hops in your long 60-minute boils? Can you use non-bittering hops in your long 60-minute boils? So that’s a little bit of a trick question. Technically any hop that you boil at high isomerization temperatures for long periods of time will become bitter, the question is how bitter so to answer simply, yes you can. But, boiling low alpha hops when you want a high IBU beer can be inefficient and wasteful. If you find yourself having to use huge amounts of hops to achieve the bitterness you’re looking for, you may want to opt for a higher alpha, boil appropriate hop variety. What are tips you would recommend people do and or use when wanting to add bitterness to their beer? Well first You need to think about what level of bitterness that is going to be appropriate for the beer you are making. If a bitter bomb is what you are after, reach for those higher alpha acid hops because they will give you the biggest bang for your buck. You also need to consider boil time. The longer the boil, the more pronounced the bitterness is a good rule to remember. Also consider the size and gravity of your boil. Remember less gravity, more bitterness.
Read moreWhat to Do When You Run Out of Sanitizer?
{{widget type="Magento\Cms\Block\Widget\Block" template="widget/static_block/default.phtml" block_id="145" type_name="CMS Static Block"}} Let me paint a picture for you. The weekend comes and you got a few hours to brew and drink some beer. Sounds great right? You get everything organized and get all setup to start to brew. Then you realize you have No-Sanitizer! Nooooo! This can ruin many brew days, but you don’t have to worry, we wanted to talk about some alternatives you can use when don’t have any Mr. Beer No-Rinse Cleanser on hand. Most of these are items that you may already have in your house or something that you can pick up really quick at any store. Bleach You can use bleach to sanitize your brewing equipment. The rule of thumb is to use 1 cap full of bleach for every 1 gallon of water. You will want to make sure the bleach is non-scented. A scented bleach can lead to odd smells and flavors in your brew. When using the bleach, you will want to mix up the solution of 1 cap to 1 gallon of water and then sanitize like you normally would. The only difference being that you will want to rinse your fermenter, bottles and utensils afterward until the smell of bleach is gone. This will help to prevent you getting some odd smells or flavors in your beer. Oxy Clean Free You will want to mix 1 tablespoon of this to a gallon of water. Again, once you mix this up you will use it the same way that you would normally sanitize. With this one we would also recommend giving everything a light rinse once you have covered them in the solution. The Oxy Clean Free has a similar chemical breakdown as our Mr. Beer No-Rinse Cleanser but since it is not Food Grade, we would suggest rinsing it to be safe. Hydrogen Peroxide Another great substitute is Hydrogen Peroxide. This works like our No-Rinse Cleanser. You will want to make sure that the grade of peroxide is at a 3% of higher. This can be found at most drug stores. You don’t need to mix this with water or anything. Get enough so you can sanitize all your equipment. You will use this the same exact way that you use our No-rinse cleanser. That covers all the replacement cleaners you can use just in case you don’t have any Mr. Beer No-Rinse Cleanser. If you brew a lot, I would suggest stocking up on some of the cleansers, it never hurts to have a few extra. I would also look at getting a small bottle of Startsan. This works great and something that I have used many times before. It’s a great alternative to use instead of the No-Rinse. I think the easiest thing to do is stock up on No-Rinse, they are only .95 cents!
Read moreThe Best Type of Water to Use for Your Homebrew
{{widget type="Magento\Cms\Block\Widget\Block" template="widget/static_block/default.phtml" block_id="144" type_name="CMS Static Block"}} This is a question we get asked quite often. Water is a big part of the homebrewing process, so you want to make sure you are using the right water to get the best beer. The types of water I am going to discuss are tap water, distilled water, RO Water, filtered water, well water and rainwater. Tap Water A lot of people drink tap water and it’s the easiest source of water to get when you are brewing. Our general rule of thumb is that if you drink your tap water then it should be okay to brew with. The main issues with tap water are that it can have a lot of chemicals in it and if your tap water has a lot of chlorine in it then I would advise against using it. That at some of the other disinfectants that are used to make it portable can impact your beer. If tap water is your only option, then use it but if you can use filtered or spring water I would recommend that. Distilled Water It is not recommended when you are brewing. To make distilled water is usually boiled and then condensed back down to its liquid form. If you are brewing all-grain don’t use distilled water. Now when brewing with malt extract it is a little different. Malt extract has minerals in it that will help promote yeast growth. However, we recommend to just not use it. Keep it simple just use filtered water. RO Water or Reverse Osmosis Water I look at Ro water as just a fancy setup for using a water filter. Basically, the RO system will just remove solid and sediment from the water by ruining it through a filter and a semipermeable membrane. We use RO water in the office as it is hooked right up and just makes it easy when brewing. Also like I mentioned earlier you are getting all those minerals you will need from the malt extract. So, RO water is good to use. Filtered Water I would consider this to be basically any water that is run through a single filter, like a Brita or a PUR Filtration system that you hook up to the tap on your sync. These will work perfectly for brewing as it filters your tap water and you don’t have to go out and buy spring water. When I am brewing at my house I just my Brita filter and I make sure to plan ahead so I have enough water already filtered before I start brewing. Bottled Water It is perfectly fine to use it will just cost you a little extra buying 2 gallons of water each time you brew. Well Water The general rule of thumb is that you can use well water to brew with, especially if that is how your drinking water to your hose is supplied. I still think the best way to brew it is with RO or filtered water but if your option is well water than you should be fine as long as it is safe for drinking. Rain Water While brewing super eco-friendly and brewing with rainwater it is not what is best for your beer. There can be certain chemicals found in rainwater that are absorbed from pollutions in the air. I would suggest not using rainwater. To recap the best water to use and what we recommend is Filtered water, RO Water and bottled water. You can use tap and distilled water as well but if you have the option to use any of the other ones, that would be ideal. A key point to make about brewing with Malt Extract. It is much more forgiving than brewing from all-grain. The malt extract contains a lot of the minerals that are needed to promote yeast growth. There is no need to have to get your water tested or buy specials chemicals to add to your water to change the profile. Just another reason why brewing with Mr. Beer is great.
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33 Brewing Terms Every Homebrewer Should Know
You may hear a lot of brewing terms thrown around all over the place but not quite sure what they mean or what they are. Well we decided we would break it down for, enjoy! Alpha Acid The bittering acid that is in hops which is measured as a percentage of weight. The low range for very little bitterness can be from 2%-7% while the high range can be from 13% and up. Attenuation Is a measurement of the fermentable sugars in your wort that is converted to alcohol during the fermentation process. The higher the attenuation the higher the ABV will be. Carboy Jug with a narrow opening at the top used in primary and secondary fermentation. Ranging in size from 5 to 6-1/2 Gallons and made from glass or plastic. Cellaring Method of storing or aging beer at a cooler temperature usually between 50-55 degrees. Chill Haze Caused by protein-tannin compounds when a beer is at a cold temperature. The beer appears to have a “haze” when you look through it. Will not affect the taste in your beer. Color (SRM) Color is measured in SRM’s or Standard Reference Method units. The measurements are expressed in degrees. The higher the SRM the darker the beer. Conditioning Processes of letting your beer sit out at fermentation temperature for an extended period in either bottles or a keg to let the residual yeast continue to clean up any off flavor that may be present. Bringing a beer into condition also includes carbonation. Diacetyl A chemical that can be produced during fermentation and is perceived as an off flavor in your beer. It will impart a butterscotch or butter popcorn flavor in the beer. Esters Term to describe fruity flavors and aromatics in your beer. For example, in Hefeweizen’s you will get banana aroma, which would be considered an ester. Fermentation Process of converting sugar to alcohol and carbon dioxide by adding yeast. Finishing Hops Often called aromatic hops, these are added during the final minute of the boil to create hop flavor in your beer. Can also be achieved through dry-hopping by adding hops during or after fermentation. Flocculation When yeas clumps together during the fermentation process and moves to either the top or bottom of the fermenter. Hop Aroma Something that you can smell when drinking beer. Usually more present in IPA styles, different hops can provide unique aromatic features to your beer. Hot Break When proteins and polyphenols clump together during a wort boil and fall to the bottom of the kettle. IBU’s International Bitterness Units or IBU’s are a way to measure the bitterness in beer. The higher the bitterness the more bitter flavor in the beer. IPA’s tend to have high IBU’s while Lager’s are usually very low. Kraeusen The foamy head that develops on the top of your wort at the beginning of fermentation. The peak of this process called High Kraeusen. Lager A style of brewing that is done at a temperature between 40 to 50 degrees uses Lager yeast for a traditional bottom fermenting yeast. Lagering Processes of aging a lager beer at a cooler temperature usually between 40 to 50 degrees. Lautering Process of removing the grain after the mash. This is can be done with a strainer and may include a hot water rinse of the collected grains which is called sparging. Lauter-tun Brewing vessel that is used during the lautering processes to collect the grain. Malted Barley Barley that has started to germinate or sprout and then has been dried out through heat to stop the process. During this process sugars and starches are created that will be extracted during the brewing process. Malt Extract Comes in liquid or a dried form and can be hopped or un-hopped. During the brewing process when the wort is created it is run through an evaporator to extract water from the solution and condense it down to a syrup or powder. Mashing Grain starches are converted into fermentable sugars. This is done by submerging the grain in water at a temperature between 140-160 degrees up to several hours. Phenolic An off flavor that can be in your beer. It is often described as medicinal, or Band-Aid like. It can be caused by wild strains of yeast or bacteria. Pitching The process of adding yeast to the wort. Primary Fermentation The initial stage of fermentation which can make up to 75% of the total fermentation process. Priming Adds sugar to either your bottles or into a bucket to batch prime during the bottling process. This is how beer can be naturally carbonated. Racking The process of taking your beer from the primary fermenter into a secondary fermenter to continue fermentation or to add special additives. This is often done using an auto-syphon. Secondary Fermentation Stage after the beer has been transferred to the secondary fermenter and is the finish stage of fermentation. It is often a less active fermentation and can appear dormant at times. Specific Gravity Measurement of liquid as it compares to water using a hydrometer. When brewing, an Original Gravity is taken and at the end, a Final Gravity is taken. This calculates the ABV of your beer and to know when your beer is finished fermenting. Trub The substance at the bottom of your fermenter, it is pronounced “troob”. This is a byproduct of the fermentation process. Can also occur in naturally carbonated bottles or kegs. Wort The liquid right before you pitch your yeast and pronounced “wert”. Yeast Microorganisms that convert fermentable sugars to alcohol and Co2. Different types of yeast create different flavors in your beer.
Read moreHow to Keep Your Fermenter Cool During Summer
{{widget type="Magento\Cms\Block\Widget\Block" template="widget/static_block/default.phtml" block_id="142"}} It’s officially summer! With that comes the heat and unfortunately it might make it difficult to brew with that heat. We have firsthand experience with this being in Tucson, Arizona. We have a few months with temperatures over 100 degrees! That’s why we wanted to share our best ideas at keeping your fermenter cool for summer. So first let’s set the ideal temperature range you want to be at. For all our refills and most of our recipes you will want to be brewing at a temperature range of 68-78 degrees. This is where we have found the best results for brewing with Mr. Beer and what we recommend. If you are unsure of the proper range always check the website for the latest instructions for what you are brewing, and you can always reach out to us whenever you have questions. That temperature range we specify is for the fermenter, so you will want the ambient air temperature to be about 1-2 degrees cooler than that. Our brew room is set to be at 70 so all our brews no matter what the yeast, except for lagers of course, are brewed at a fermenter temperature of 71-72 degrees depending on how vigorous the fermentation is. We always hold a constant air temperature of 70 degrees in our brew room for all brews. So, depending on how your house is set up and what you feel comfortable doing there are a few different ways to keep your fermenter in the proper range when brewing in the summer. The first way would be like what we do in the office. If you have a dedicated room or space for fermenting with its own thermostat or window ac unit that you can maintain a constant temperature. You can set the thermostat to always be at 70. Then you just put your fermenters in there and let them do there thing. This is exactly how we do it in our brew room. The second would be to use a chest cooler like an Igloo cooler. Put your fermenter in that and freeze some 1-liter soda bottles and put them in there with the fermenter or you can also use ice packs. I would suggest putting a stick-on thermometer on the fermenter and one on the side of the cooler, so you can track the temperatures to make sure you are always in the right range and holding a constant temperature. Doing it this way will require a little extra effort on your part. First will be figuring out how many frozen bottles or ice packs you need to put into the cooler. This depends on the size of the cooler and where you have it stored at. Once you get that right you will also need to change out the bottles or ice packs as they start to melt and replace them with new frozen ones. Usually this is done every 2 or 3 days, but again it depends on your cooler and its location. The next way would be to use a spare refrigerator or even a mini fridge. As long as your fermenter or fermenters can fit you are good. With this you will want to get a temperature control unit. On our site we sell the Inkbird digital temperature controller outlet thermostat. We use this in the office for our lager fridge and it works great! Basically, you just plug your fridge into the thermostat and put the temperature sensor in your fridge and it will maintain your fridge temperature to what you set it to. This is a method where you can also just set it and not have to worry about it. These were some of our favorite tips and ways to keep your fermenter cool for summer brewing. Now there really is no excuse to keep the beer flowing all year long, Cheers!
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