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Hello, Mr or Mrs Guru, Firstly thank you for creating this forum and indulging this amature brewers ramblings. I have been brewing for about three years now, and have a little recipe thats been a real hit with myself and my friends, except in the respect of head quality. It is simply a Morgans Royal Oak Amber Ale 1.7 kg kit with a Morgans Caramalt Master Malt 1.5kg and nothing more. I ferment at 24 degrees (very stable control using a submersible fish tank heater in the carboy) then bottle and secondary ferment in styrofoam boxes on top of a water bed heating pad (also thermostatically controlled at 24 degrees) then condition for 3 months in a cuboard which usually sits at about 5 to 10 degrees. The resulting brew is as i said always a hit and reminicent of a Chimay Rouge, but to finally get to my problem, for a darker thicker beer, it holds only a very thin head where as i belive it would benifit from a thicker creamier head. Do you think the problem is the higher ferment temperature (which i find adds a nice sharpness to to the beer without the need for excessive hops) or a water quality problem (generally just being tap water, boiled to try to remove chlorine) or will this style of beer just not accept a finer gassing? I have also considered a slightly larger than normal amount of priming sugar, but using glass bottles i am wary of this (currently i prime with dextrose as i have found it gives a slightly finer gas). I have also ruled out my cleaning/sterilizing procedures by many experiments. Thank you again for taking the time to ponder my dilema, any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated and i look forward to your reply. Also feel free to pinch this recipe or give it a go, for such a simple idea results are fantastic, and can be made in a more hopped version by using a Morgans Blue Mountains Lager with a safale lager yeast and low temp ferment. Anyway, A final thanks and goodbye.
G’day Russell, it’s great to hear that you are enjoying your brewing!
Your submission raises a number of points, which I shall attempt to address in order. Finally, I shall answer your question, “How to improve head retention”.
We do not recommend immersing anything into the brew, including fish tank heaters, as this increases the risk of spoilage. If you must heat the brew, use an external heating source such as a heat-belt or heat-pad (placed beside the fermenter not directly under it). In most cases, a brew only needs to be insulated to keep the temperature at or above 18C.
You don’t mention how long the bottles sit during secondary fermentation. It’s a good idea to leave them for at least 14 days.
The conditioning temperature is a bit low for secondary fermented ale. Look to get the temperature up to at least 16C.
If your brew reminds you of a Chimay (you also mention a “sharpness”), you may be detecting flavours/aromas caused by organisms other than the ale yeast supplied.
We recommend using PET or sturdy glass bottles designed specifically for re-use
Dextrose (or Dextrose Monohydrate) has some of its weight made up with water molecules and will not produce as much CO2 gas as the equivalent weight of white sugar. Prime with white sugar at the rate of 8g per litre or 9 to10 g per litre if using dextrose.
You may see an improvement in head retention by doing the following:
Make sure to rinse all residual detergents out of the fermenter.
Increase the amount of hop bitterness in the brew.
Make sure to prime at the recommended rate.
Extend the conditioning period of the beer (a brew at 12mths shows better head retention that at 3 mths).
Serve the beer in clean glassware at 4C or less.
Brew Guru
right once and for all!!! what is the best temperature to lager at? same as fermentation? (i.e 12 degrees) or below 4 degrees?
Hello bre guru, i would love some advice on how to brew genuine quality lagers. I have been brewing for about two years and i find that while my pale and amber ales are fantastic, my lagers are a bit hit and miss. I have a temperature controlled fridge which i set at 12 degrees to ferment my lagers, and of late i have been turning it up to 20 degrees when fermentation is close to finished in order to give my lagers a diacetyl rest. But where i get confused is in relation to what temperature to mature or “lager” my beers at. My understanding is that commercial breweries chill the beer to at or below 4 degrees after fermentation is complete, and in fact this is where the term “lager” comes from as the germans would leave the beer to mature in very cold caves during winter and lager literally translates as cold storage. One of my local home brew shops recommends this method, after the diacetyl rest syphon into an intermediate vessell and chill below 4 degrees for about 4 weeks before kegging or bottling. But another home brew shop i like to visit is totally adamant that you must mature your beer at the same temperature that you ferment at, so for lagers that is 12 degrees, and that by chilling the beer below the range that the yeast will remain active you are preventing maturation from taking place at all. This advice has certainly worked for my ales, if i ferment and mature at about 20 degrees i almost always end up with a nice ale, but all the research i have done on lager brewing suggests that maturation of lagers occurs at near freezing temperatures. And i have recently purchased a beer filter system, and i am curious as to whether this will improve my kegged lagers or not. Could you please tell me what is true and what is false and give me any other advice you think might help. Thanking you in advance!!!
G’day Darren, thanks for your questions (I assume the previous question, regarding best temperature to lager, is yours as well). Firstly, well done! Setting yourself up with temperature controlled fermentation is a big step toward consistent high quality brews. You say that your “lagers are a bit hit and miss”. Perhaps you can describe the “misses” in more detail – appearance, aroma and taste? The beer should be of reasonable quality prior to lagering. Have a smell and a taste. The cause may not be due to your lagering technique and using a filter, while reducing the yeast in suspension, may not necessarily improve the beer. Commercial Breweries generally lager around the -1C to 0C mark, but for us homebrewers, getting the brew down to 4C or less should suffice. Some other points to think about:
1. be meticulous with cleaning and sanitising,
2. use the freshest ingredients possible,
3. ensure an adequate yeast pitching rate for low temp ferments,
4. minimise aeration of the brew when transferring.
How much water to add to the Brew Cellar recipes?
I am unsure on how much water to add to the Little Creatures Pale Ale Recipe kit that I bought yesterday.
Thanks Guru
Mick
G’day Mick, All recipes in the “BREW Cellar Recipes Series One” brochure are formulated as 23 litre brews.
thankyou for your response to my previous post, it confirmed many of my assumptions. I think perhaps the points you made about yeast pitching rates and minimising aeration during transfer were the most significant from my point of view, i realised that most of the lagers i have made using the brew cellar’s 15g european lager yeast (how’s this for a free plug!) and starting it in a 1 litre bottle with a tablespoon of of light dry malt and a little bit of yeast nutrient with some chilled boiled water, allowing it to come up to 12 degrees for about 2 hours and then making up my wort have worked better than those 7g lager yeast packs or the liquid yeast vials and i suppose that comes down to having a larger yeast population when you pitch into a wort at 12 degrees. And i have re thought the process of transfering from my intermediate vessel into my kegs in order to ensure minimal aeration of the brew and i am quite sure the method i am using now is better. On the weekend my housemate and i threw a little shindig and i had on tap a Morgan’s Chairman’s Selection Scharls European lager, made with 1 kg Morgan’s liquid lager malt, 250g’s Carapils grain, dry hopped with 12g of hersbrucker hops and the white labs chech pilsner liquid yeast. I fermented at 12 degrees, gave a diacetyl rest at 20 degrees just before fermentation reached f.g, allowed it to come up to 20 degrees which took about 5 days, then syphoned into an intermediate vessel and chilled below 4 degrees for 4 weeks before transfering into a keg, then filtered and carbonated the next day. One of the guests we had was a beer distributor who was quite keen to sample my work, and both myself and my distinguisted guest thought that while the beer wasn’t bad, it tasted a little bit immature. So i wonder if there is any merit to giving the intermediate vessel a week or 2 at 12 degrees after syphoning out of the fermenter before chilling below 4 degrees? Before i bought the keg system i would always keep my bottles at 12 degrees for as long as possible in order to allow secondary fermentation to occur while at the same time trying to minimise diacetyl production. Can you tell me if i’m on the right track or have i missed the point completely!!! Thanking you again
G’day Darren,
I have two points in response to your most recent post.
1. I think your re-hydration temp of 12C is too low. From the Fermentis site – Fermentis recommends that top fermenting/ale yeasts are rehydrated at a temperature between 25-29°C (77-84°F) and that bottom fermenting/lager yeasts are rehydrated at a temperature range between 21-25°C (69-77°F).
2. You are not pitching massive amounts of yeast so I would like to see you start the brew at 22C-24C then drop it to his preferred ferment temp after 12hrs have elapsed. This technique will, hopefully, increase the amount of healthy yeast cells available to ferment the brew. In turn giving cleaner flavour and aroma.
Cheers
The Brew Guru
Hi Brew Guru,
I am interested in moving onto a keg system and the 12 litre would fit nicley in the fridge i have.
Can the keg charger with the co2 bulb be enough to carbonate the beer or do i need the regulator and co2 gas bottle to achieve this.
Thanks
G’day Peter,
If force carbonating, you will go through a number of CO2 bulbs in order to put enough fizz into the beer. This could become an expensive exercise and a regulator plus gas bottle would be a better option. However, you may want to look at secondary fermentation in the keg (adding a little priming sugar). Secondary fermentation should take about 2 weeks. You can then stick the keg in the fridge. After 24 hrs release the head pressure through the pressure relief valve, attach the beer out line and pour beers, then give a squirt of the CO2 bulb from time to time to keep sufficient gas on the headspace and push the beer out of the tap. Using this method, the first 2 or 3 glasses will be a bit cloudy but it will pour bright soon enough.
Cheers, The Brew Guru
Hello to the Guru
I have purchased the ingredients to the Medieval Honey Chamomile Amber you mentioned in Vol. 4 of the Brew Cellar News – 3.0kg Amber Malt Extract, 150 gms Light Crystal Malt, 0.6 kg Yellow box honey, 30 gms Fuggles Hop pellets, 30 gms Fuggles Hop pellets 125 gms French Oak Chips, 9 x Chamomile Tea bags 2 x Morgan’s Premium Ale Yeast. The one thing I am missing is the detail around the method – you mention the boiling in 20lt and adding certain ingredients at certain times but this will mean that there will be quite a bit of material in the beer – do I need to strain it or when boiling have the Oak Chips etc.. in some sort of wire “tea bag”? Also can I boil all of in a say 10lt than add it to the remaining 10lt?
Just need some more detail around the method please – hope you can help?
Cheers Adam
gday guru,
you seem to know more about DRY ENZYMES than anyone in my brew world.
so , how much of the sugars do they break down?
do they break down maltodextrin?
do they break all of the carbs in light dry malt?
if i made an average kit with 500grams of LDM and a dry enzyme could you give me an idea of how many carbs per 100ml?
rough guess?
cheers mate
matt
G’day Adam,
“I have to admit, although it’s a very interesting recipe, I have not made this brew.
However, this doesn’t stop me from making some comments…
As the recipe stands, not only will there be quite a lot of material but there will be a very large volume of wort that requires cooling quickly to yeast pitching temperature.
At the risk of making a whatsit out of U and ME, I will assume that you, like most home brewers, do not have the equipment to cope with cooling a large volume of wort quickly.
Assumption made, try using this method:
1. Bring 2 litres of water and the honey to the boil then add the first 30g of fuggles and continue the boil for 30mins,
2. Add the cracked crystal malt (if not already cracked use a rolling pin and grease proof paper) and the remaining 30g of fuggles and boil for 15mins,
3. Add the tea bags then remove from the heat and leave to steep with the lid on for about an hour.
4. Meantime, pour 1 litre of boiling water over the oak chips, stir for a bit then cover and leave to steep.
5. Strain the (honey/fuggles/crystal malt/chamomile) stew into the fermenting tub, add the amber malt and stir to dissolve.
6. Add the oak chip tea, oak chips and all. Top up with cool water (might be a good idea to have 5 litres fridge cold) to the 20 litre mark.
7. Stir vigorously then sprinkle on the yeast and ferment as normal.
The oak chips should remain afloat, so when you are ready to bottle they won’t foul the flow through the tap.”
Cheers
The Brew Guru
G’day Matt,
Enzyme (in dry or liquid form) will continue to work on all carbohydrate material within the brew, breaking it down into simple sugars for the yeast to metabolise.
The more complex the carbohydrates, the longer the process takes.
We homebrewers do not have the ability to stop enzymatic activity – this requires pasteurising the finished beer, which also kills the yeast and prevents secondary fermentation.
For this reason, when using enzyme in the brew, I urge you to use PET bottles or kegs (with a pressure relief valve) rather than glass.
The use of maltodextrin and enzyme in the same brew is contradictory – maltodextrin gives more body to the brew while enzyme is used to reduce the body.
Enzyme should break down the complex sugars in the Beer Kit and the Light Dry Malt, leaving as little as 1g of carbohydrate per 100ml, rough guess!
Make sure to allow a few days longer for fermentation to finish, stable SG readings over 3 days (I normally say 2), to be sure.
Cheers
The Brew Guru
Thanks heaps mate!
i dont use them anymore, but friends n relo’s do!
ill let them know, it was frustrating me that question!
cheers
matt
G’day guru i was wondering what would happen if i put 250g more Dextros that was needed in the
wort. Would it effect my brew?
G’day Mark,
Assuming 250g of Dextrose is added to a 23ltr brew, it will increase the alcohol by about 0.5% and thin the brew a smidge.
Cheers
The Brew Guru
G’Day Guru Can you tell me what is the lowest temp Brew Cellar European Lager Yeast will work at.
Will it perform at 7 c or is that too cold?
Cheers mate.
Now I know it will not effect my brew, I’ll give it a go next brew and see how it goes.
Thanks again.
hi , I am looking at converting to a keg system instead of bottling stubbies. Can you store a co2 bottle with regulater in the refrigerater with the kegs? Is this safe? Does it affect the process at all? Cheers Sean
G’day John,
RE: Yeast temp…I recommend European Lager yeast to ferment in the range of 12C – 15C. It will ferment at a lower temperature but no lower than 9C. At 7C, there is a good chance that it will fall out of suspension.
Cheers
The Brew Guru
G’day Guru,
I have tried and enjoyed some of your recipes, but what I’d really like to get close to is a Hofbrau Original. Any Pointers?
Thanks and Cheers
Maca
G’Day Guru,
I recently started brewing my 3rd home brew, this time I used the Coopers European Lager. It was only once I had a proper look at the can/brew kit that I noticed it recommended to keep the brew in the bottles for 12 weeks. That means I won’t be drinking my brew til late July/early August! Is this right or is that a really cautious recommendation by Coopers?
They also say to not use white sugar with European Lager, right/wrong?
G’day Maca,
I haven’t analysed or tasted this beer. There is a good chance that it’s of similar style to most “green bottle lagers”. So, the Becks recipe (BREW Cellar Beer Recipes – Series One) might be a good start.
Cheers
The Brew Guru
G’day John,
It’s a good idea to follow the manufacturer’s instructions/recommendations when making up a beer kit for the first time. Once made and evaluated, decide for yourself whether to modify the recipe for next time. Any deviation from the instructions – including sugar additions, ferment temperature and conditioning time – is likely to move the final beer away from the intended style.
Cheers
The Brew Guru
G’day guru,
I have just started brewing with the recipes and my beer comes out with a greenish colour and it has a strong hops tast.
How can I make a beutiful bronze looking beer with the tast to match?
G’day Mark,
Perhaps you could try reducing the amount of hops added. What is the recipe, exactly?
Do you have a particular commercial beer in mind?
Cheers
The Brew Guru
I’ve been trying Toohey Extra dry with the seperate ingredients.
The hops I have been using is the Brew Cellar 12g cluster infused bag, and I put that in a mug of boiled water for about 10 minuts. It will look bronze for 20-24 hours then it goes greenish untill I bottle it.
G’day Guru,
Just wondering on some tips on gassing a 50l cub keg. Have been having trouble in the past. What pressures and for how long while gassing? . What pressure do i need for pouring?. Do i leave gas on a certain pressure while not in use. Does anything change as the keg gets emptier? I use 2m of 5mm beer line and run fridge at about 3 degrees. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
Dan.
G’day guru,
I have one of your standard 23 litre home brew kits and in these colder months i am wondering about keep the brews warm [cheaply].
G’day Matt,
You can’t go past the BREW Cellar heat pad or heat belt. I use them myself and they are brilliant.
Your local BREW Cellar stockist has them.
Cheers
The Brew Guru
Hello guru
I would like to step up from my 25 litre fermenter to the 60 litre fermenter,how do I do the math for the sugar/water and concentrate.I usually make a lager.Darren
G’day Darren,
It’s simply a matter of doubling the recipe.
Make 46 litre brews in a 60 litre fermenting vessel.
cheers
The Brew Guru
Hi Brew Guru,
I have been given some native bee honey and i would like to make a honey beer with it.
The honey is a darkish amber colour and has mango aroma and slight mango taste.
Can you please give me some direction as to how i can go about using it in my brew as i have never done this before.
Thanks
Nick
g’day guru i am a first time homebrewer and i am attempting to make my favourite beer tooheys
extra dry i have been able to get all the ingreedients from my local homebrew supplier bar one and
my local home brew guy cant get it either it is amalyese enzyme do you have any idea where i could
find some and how much it will cost and also your preffered method of getting that “clean crisp taste”
cheers josh
also after fermenting in the fermenting tub thing when you go to put the brew into bottles
do you put sugar or carbination drops in the bottle first or what goes on i am getting very confused
with all the different info and the vague instructions that come with the kits dont help much
so if possible could you maybe give me a step by step guide to brew so i dont bugger it up
cheers josh
Hi Josh,
Which starter kit did you get?
The BREW Cellar starter kit has excellent instructions.
I would be happy to help you however so send an email to the BREW Cellar team and we will send you some further instructions.
info@brewcellar.com.au
Cheers
The Brew Guru
g’day guru josh here again tried to email you but my computer wont allow it atm i will try again later
however i did go out and buy a BREWcellar homebrew kit just yesterday and found the instructions to be very good and have made the brew that came with the kit morgans lager firstly fermentation is progessing well exactly as the instructions say it should the (sg) is exactly what the instructions say it should be allowing for the miniscus of course and it all seems to be going well i have a heat pad for reptiles witch is now sitting under my 23 litre (keg?) that you get with the kit for these colder months to keep it above 20c it is sitting between 22c and 26c cepending on how warm the day is the changes in temp wont effect my brew will they? how do you think everything is proceeding for my irst try? also on this website the recipie for tooheys extra dry does not mention amalyese enzyme where as the brew cellar recipies 1 that i got with my kit says that you do need it so whats the final verdict and where can i get some? also if you could send me some further instructions on the finer points of making a brew to be proud of could you just email them to me at (EMAIL ADDRESS WITHHELD) thanking you josh
Re: Honey Beer
G’day Nick,
Try using about 350g in a brew. This equates to about 250g of sugar – it should ferment in a similar way to malt extract.
To be safe, mix with 1 litre of water and heat it up just short of boiling. This will sterilise the honey. Then add it to the FV.
Cheers
The Brew Guru
G’day Josh,
If you are able to control temperature, go for the lower end of the recommended fermenting range.
Large changes in temperature can adversely affect your brew but don’t be too concerned with a 4 degree swing.
Enzyme breaks down more complex carbohydrate into simple sugars, allowing the yeast to fermenting the brew more thoroughly, FG of 1002 or less. We have a BREW Cellar brand enzyme. However, Tooheys Extra Dry is not a low carbohydrate beer.
Cheers
The Brew Guru
Gday Guru
i live in Bali and am over Bintang. For argument sake i think it would be a similar climate to CAirns or Broome. What would be some good home brews to get going up here and any other pointers to make a good brew? i currently ferment in an aircon’ed room at about 24 degrees. I could do it outside but that would be at about 29 degrees. thanks any advice is appreciated.
G’day Sammy in Bali,
At 24C any brew with ale yeast will be fine. Tell me what style off beer would you like to make and I will suggest some recipes.
Cheers
The Brew Guru
My next batch i am trying is coopers but a carona recipe would be great. i did my first batch last week and it was one of the tooheys new kits – now realise lager probably not the best choice for hot environment. ready for bottling on saturday so fingers crossed.
thansk guru
G’day Sammy,
Follow this link to our recipe page – there is a Corona recipe listed here.
http://brewcellar.com.au/content/index.php/brew-guru/recipes
Also if you like a Mexican Cerveza style, try the Morgan’s Chairman’s Mex Cerv – with a hint of lime already in the can it is a really great brew.
More details here:
http://brewcellar.com.au/beerrange/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=17
Cheers
The Brew Guru
Brew cellar premium yeasts use by dates.
I cannot find / decode the use by on these yeasts,
e.g. a stamp on the back on an american ale yeast
reads :
003
5213
? should there be a seperate use by sticker on these yeasts ?
have used the American and English ale yeasts before,
with great success, however have a 12+ hour apparent lag phase with this one.
Any info greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Sol
hi just wondering when i should add the packet of body blend #10 to my brew mix
G’day Terry,
Follow the instructions on your can and add the Body Blend #10 instead of your normal dextrose or sugar. So if you would normally put 1kg of dextrose in, put the Body Blend instead.
Cheers
The Brew Guru
I have two brews on at the moment (now for 16days) and they have both started well with good bubble for four days and stopped at about 1018. One is a Morgans Blue Mountain with Liquid Lite Malt and the other your Golden Ale recipe. I have them in the garage and at the moment the temp is between 9-16 degrees. I have considered heating, bottleing, and add a new yeast?
Hi Guru when sterilising the stubbies prior to bottling can you do it the day before or should it be done just before you bottle and allow them to drain slightly and pour immediately.
Russ
G’day Russ,
RE: Bottle Cleaning
If you use a product such as ‘Morgan’s Sanitize’…all you need to do is use the 30ml/1ltr mix and you are good to go…you don’t even need to rinse!
Cheers
The Brew Guru
I have a coopers dark ale kit and wondering which coopers malt extract to team it with (ie amber or dark) and also wonder if it would benefit from a brew enhancer suger blend or just dextrose?
Cheers
G’day Mark,
Try using the BREW Cellar # 15 Ultra Blend with that Coopers dark ale. It will give you a nice creamy head.
Cheers
The Brew Guru
I had forgotten that i had put a batch down 5 months ago & have just realised it was still in the fermenter. Q Will the brew be affected in any way because of the length of the fermentation, the reading was 1000. It taste a little thin but I havent carbonated it yet.
Hello Beer Guru,
I have just read your article in Beer & Brewer Issue 14, and you mentioned a Chimay Blue recipe which was converted from a full mash, and said it was really good. Could you give me the recipe? Because my wife loves Chimay Blue.
G’day Mash,
If you are happy with the taste and smell, that is all that matters. There may be very little yeast in suspension for a secondary fermentation to take place but if you plan to force carbonate in a keg it should be fine.
Cheers
The Brew Guru
RE: Chimay Blue Recipe:
Hi,
We are unsure of what article you are referring to?
Can you give us a page number in Beer & Brewer 14?
Cheers
The Brew Cellar Team