Odd Bin Brew

[Hot P!$$]

So with the long weekend coming up (UK) in lockdown, I'm keen to do a brew. However, my ingredients order isn't going to arrive in time, so I'm looking at the odds and sods I have knocking around and thinking I might as well throw something together. I have the following:

3kg Pale Malt
400g Carapils
WB-06
120g's of Citra
100gs of Northern Brewer

Not an ideal mix but what would you do if that's all you had to make a beer with?

 

[Megary]

I think the WB-06 is the real kick in the pants. Have you used it before? It's considered a Wheat yeast, but everything I've read on it says its more closely related to a Belgian yeast or a second cousin to a Saison yeast. I've never used it so I can't really suggest the best approach, but most definitely there will be members here who will give you some great ideas.

Good luck. Keep us posted!

 

[Hot P!$$]

Cheers Megary - yeah I was thinking the same. I was hoping I had a pack of US-05 knocking around but alas no.

I have brewed wheat beers with it before but not sure how it fares without wheat. I have nothing to lose through really so if nothing else it will be an interesting experiment.

I read somewhere that it can work ok with a hoppy beer but you need to keep the fermentation temp down but unfortunately my brew fridge is occupied and the room is a bit on the warm side.

 

[Mark Farrall]

Don't know the yeast, but the word Belgian was mentioned, so maybe something like a Patersbier and leave the Citra for another batch?

 

[GFHomebrew]

I've used that fermentis WB-06 It has a characteristic big fluffy krausen t. I pitched this as slurry after a failed first batch attempt (scorched wort).
Just checked stats
Og 1.046 - FG 1.005 88.6% attenuation that log was day 4! Oh ferm temp was 20c this would of been under a bit of preassure. I didn't record this.
Notes on beer bannana pear cloves.
Good Luck

 

[Blackmuse]

Notes on beer bannana pear cloves.

This is typically what I get from this yeast - more pear and clove and not a ton of banana... I have been working a lot with this yeast on weizens. I can't say I am a huge fan but I have some grain changes to make for the next attempt with it.

It looks like your recipe is built! NB early addition and citra at flameout. I don't like hoppy beers so I would recommend a light hand on the hops and heep it below 30 for sure... You might like what this yeast brings to the fruity hop line-up you have.

The only questions left are:
1.water profile - balanced, hoppy or malty (unless you ignore water adjustments)
2.Mash temp and thickness. I like beers with a bit of body and touch of sweetness so I know where I stand. You could make it a bit dry though and see what happens!
3. Hop schedule: Easy bittering and lots of aroma or vice-versa... Or both I suppose.

Be sure to left us know what you decide!
oh - and will the amount of grain get you over 4% abv? It doesn't look like it to me...

 

[Hot P!$$]

Thanks for the feedback guys! You’ve settled the big debate in my mind, which was whether to go hop forward or keep them in the background. I’m going keep the hops back with low bitterness and for better or worse let the yeast do the talking. A few other points, questions, responses:

• Hops - I had another look at the NB hops... they have a use by date in 2018! I told you I was scratching around for this. They are vacuum packed so I wonder how much of a problem it will be. I’m thinking I might save the citra, Do an easy bittering with the NB then dump the rest in with a big whirlpool addition.
• Water profile - I haven’t got my head around this part of brewing yet. I think it’s the next step on the journey but I will leave it for now.
• Mash temp - this is a really good point and I’m going to focus on this. It might be a way to enhance such a plain grain bill. I tend towards something with body and sweetness too. So high temp right? I’m going to do some reading around this.
  
• Amount - yes I’m not going to do a full batch. Tbf I can’t really be bothered to bottle 5 gallons of a beer that is a bit hit and miss. An 18 litre batch will give me an OG of 1043. I’m happy to go smaller to increase the OG but I’m thinking this is going to be a sessionable filler beer so was going to keep it low.

 

[Over The Cliff Brewing]

Beer brewing is an experiment. You have yeast and malt....you are ready to go.

 

[Blackmuse]

Thanks for the feedback guys! You’ve settled the big debate in my mind, which was whether to go hop forward or keep them in the background. I’m going keep the hops back with low bitterness and for better or worse let the yeast do the talking. A few other points, questions, responses:

• Hops - I had another look at the NB hops... they have a use by date in 2018! I told you I was scratching around for this. They are vacuum packed so I wonder how much of a problem it will be. I’m thinking I might save the citra, Do an easy bittering with the NB then dump the rest in with a big whirlpool addition.
• Water profile - I haven’t got my head around this part of brewing yet. I think it’s the next step on the journey but I will leave it for now.
• Mash temp - this is a really good point and I’m going to focus on this. It might be a way to enhance such a plain grain bill. I tend towards something with body and sweetness too. So high temp right? I’m going to do some reading around this.
  
• Amount - yes I’m not going to do a full batch. Tbf I can’t really be bothered to bottle 5 gallons of a beer that is a bit hit and miss. An 18 litre batch will give me an OG of 1043. I’m happy to go smaller to increase the OG but I’m thinking this is going to be a sessionable filler beer so was going to keep it low.

I love your approach here!
A higher mash temp and a thicker mash will lead to less attenuation and bit more body. I did this recently with a bock and my typical attentuation of 82% ended up being 73%... It was fitting for the bock! Turned out nice and surprisingly not sweet.

Don't worry about water if you haven't before.

18 litre sounds like a good plan for 1.043!

 

[Hot P!$$]

Brewing at the moment...
Grain bill
3kg pale malt
300g carapils
Hop schedule
25g northern brewer (6%) @ boil 60mins
Yeast
Wb-06

Mashing 12.5l for 60mins @ 68celsius
Sparge 13.5l

hopefully should get 18litres at 1043 with an ibu of 24.5

 

[Nosybear]

Doing one of those soon - calling it a Mutt Beer:

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/990031/mutt-beer-1-english-ipa

Guy at the LHBS misheard me when I gave him my order so my Kentucky Common recipe came back with no Munich Light and 5 pounds of very light crystal malt. I split that in half and added six pounds of Root Shoot Pale Ale. Brewing soon.... May Ninkasi be with me on this one.

 

[Hot P!$$]

Brew is in the fermenter. I’m a bit puzzled cos I have an OG of 1062. Volume in the fermenter is approximately 17litres but that would still mean an efficiency of 95% unless I’m totally misunderstanding that side of the recipe builder. Could it be the high mash temp? Debating whether to top up or just leave it be...

 

[Hot P!$$]

Doing one of those soon - calling it a Mutt Beer:

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/990031/mutt-beer-1-english-ipa

Guy at the LHBS misheard me when I gave him my order so my Kentucky Common recipe came back with no Munich Light and 5 pounds of very light crystal malt. I split that in half and added six pounds of Root Shoot Pale Ale. Brewing soon.... May Ninkasi be with me on this one.

I probably shouldn’t say this as an English man but I’m not a huge fan of English IPA. There I said it!

 

[Nosybear]

I probably shouldn’t say this as an English man but I’m not a huge fan of English IPA. There I said it!

I speak heresy as an American brewer who isn't an IPA fan... Real reason I'm brewing this is the homebrew shop's error and my attempt to salvage the malt. Sunk cost, I know, but it's a challenge to see if I can get something drinkable out of this.

 

[Blackmuse]

Brew is in the fermenter. I’m a bit puzzled cos I have an OG of 1062. Volume in the fermenter is approximately 17litres but that would still mean an efficiency of 95% unless I’m totally misunderstanding that side of the recipe builder. Could it be the high mash temp? Debating whether to top up or just leave it be...

Were you shooting for 17 Litre? Or should you have had 19? It could be a combination of several things - like less volume than expected and better extraction than expected. What should the OG have been? If you already pitched yeast then let it roll. (If you are way high then you may need to pitch another pack of yeast)

 

[Hot P!$$]

Were you shooting for 17 Litre? Or should you have had 19? It could be a combination of several things - like less volume than expected and better extraction than expected. What should the OG have been? If you already pitched yeast then let it roll. (If you are way high then you may need to pitch another pack of yeast)

I was shooting for 18 so I think a combination of low volume and good extraction. I have a new Grainfather and it’s only my second brew with it but the efficiency is fantastic.

I didn’t top up in the end so it went in the fermenter at 1062 and has been bubbling away for a week now. I’ll let you know how it tastes when it’s done.

 

[Blackmuse]

I was shooting for 18 so I think a combination of low volume and good extraction. I have a new Grainfather and it’s only my second brew with it but the efficiency is fantastic.

I didn’t top up in the end so it went in the fermenter at 1062 and has been bubbling away for a week now. I’ll let you know how it tastes when it’s done.

Sweet! My efficiency went way up when I started using a robobrew too! Can't wait to see and hear about the results!

 

[Hot P!$$]

Finally got around to bottling this today. Not looking or tasting good at the moment. Hopefully a bit of carbonation will make it more palatable. Weirdly despite mashing at 68c it has hit an FG of 1011. It’s kind of dry and thin, which is the opposite of what I expected lol. The yeast is coming through strong but without the sweetness and body of wheat it just tastes a bit wrong. Should be just about drinkable when cold and fizzy though.

Anyway, it’s good practice and I’ve ironed out some mistakes with my process... and it’s beer!

 

[GFHomebrew]

Finally got around to bottling this today. Not looking or tasting good at the moment. Hopefully a bit of carbonation will make it more palatable. Weirdly despite mashing at 68c it has hit an FG of 1011. It’s kind of dry and thin, which is the opposite of what I expected lol. The yeast is coming through strong but without the sweetness and body of wheat it just tastes a bit wrong. Should be just about drinkable when cold and fizzy though.

Anyway, it’s good practice and I’ve ironed out some mistakes with my process... and it’s beer!

Carbonation will bring some more body to the beer. It's always a bit lifeless straight out the fermentor the major players are there but it maybe a bit sharp or in your case a bit flabby and hard to really recognise any flavours. Give it a week or two of carbonation and I'm sure it'll be more pleasing to the palate.

 

[GFHomebrew]

Carbonation will bring some more body to the beer. It's always a bit lifeless straight out the fermentor the major players are there but it maybe a bit sharp or in your case a bit flabby and hard to really recognise any flavours. Give it a week or two of carbonation and I'm sure it'll be more pleasing to the palate.

Quoting myself it seems ah he's just full of hot air