Kit O' Beer #8 - Cascading Canadian Blonde

[Libertytree]

Welcome back BT, I was worried about ya bro.

[Glass]

Just drop them in. They don't need to go to the bottom.

I had a thought. Slow moving one. When I used them before they swelled huge, maybe 10 times size.

2 things. They get heavy on their own. and I'm wondering how much beer juice they will suck up. Time will tell.

The fermentation is still going strong. I'm impressed. It's still about 1/2" thick. Does it matter for dry hopping if the fermentation is still going strong? I thought I read somewhere to wait a bit.

[BrewTech]

I had a thought. Slow moving one. When I used them before they swelled huge, maybe 10 times size.

2 things. They get heavy on their own. and I'm wondering how much beer juice they will suck up. Time will tell.

The fermentation is still going strong. I'm impressed. It's still about 1/2" thick. Does it matter for dry hopping if the fermentation is still going strong? I thought I read somewhere to wait a bit.

Ideally you would wait until terminal gravity, cool the beer enough to get the yeast to go dormant and sink, then dry hop. Pro brewers usually remove as much of the yeast as possible (homebrewers would rack to secondary, but I doubt you want to do that... I rarely do), prior to dry hopping. Due to my fermenter design, I can't do that, so just dry hop in the primary with the yeast settled out. You will lose some beer volume to the dry hops... everyone does, it's just calculated into the final yield. Done correctly, you will be amazed at the results, and the improved long-term stability of the beer. Just make it a point to keep O2 off the beer as much as possible, as oxidized hops taste like shyte.

In this video, my buddy Shawn McIlhenny describes his dry-hopping technique on Nelson.

[Glass]

Thanks BT. Ok looks like we have some time on our hands. Looking into the beer foam last night it looks like we have 3 or 4 days to go at least. I'm still amazed at the amount still going on in there. Danstar yeast. Might have to try it again soon and see if its the yeast or the temp. Strong yeast or cool temps making progress slow is the question.

Upside is.... at least something is happening. I was planning on bottling this on the weekend and going straight into another 2 brews. Those plans might be delayed a bit. I have a 3rd fermenter but I'm suspect about the inside surface. It's a bit scratched. I would not use it to ferment. I'm figuring it should be ok as a bottling bucket as I can heap in the sanitizer and the beer is only in there monetarily so short time to pick up any infections. On the other hand I'm tempted to get something else. A water jerry can maybe.

[Glass]

Day 14. Yesterday. This could be the longest brew.

1st reading was 1.020 (@19C Day 7).
2nd reading was 1.010 (@17C Day 14).

There is still a sizable krausen floating on this beer. Shows no signs of settling down but I think we are done with the ferment. I still have the krausen collar in the fermenter. Supposed to take it out about day 4 OR when the ferment looks like it's done.

OG was 1.051

I am going to rack this to secondary so I can get on with the dry hop and free up this fermenter for another brew. I'll rack it tonight. That should get me on schedule to bottle Friday. Should be good nights entertainment.

[Glass]

Day 15. Racked and hopped.

Amazing yeast cake floating in there. Just not giving up. I was torn about letting it run it's course. It would be a dry one below 1.010 but there's room there to lose some sweetness. Next time. This yeast is different. You can certainly see traits in these yeast. This one is buttery smooth. It's like butterscotch smooth.

This brew has more malt fermentables than the standard recipe. It brewed up a bit darker from the malts. Now it is a very light colour. It has a smoothness to the taste that mirrors the colour. I think that is interesting. Worth trying if you are doing a cream ale type brew. Need to see how it goes over time but I think it adds a richness.

I used one of these stockings for a hop sock. I boiled it about 10 minutes. Mainly because it was water repellant. It leached some colour during the boil. Not a lot. I have no idea what these things are made of or coloured with. I think it was acceptable. Better come out and be left behind than in the beer.

Hops smell great. Cascade is nice hop. I'd like to know the smell of hops without having to buy them first.

Anyway into the bottom of the fermenter and we racked on to the hops. Some yeast came through. Because most of it was still floating. We need some anyway. Bottling in ~4 days.

[BrewTech]

Day 15. Racked and hopped.

Amazing yeast cake floating in there. Just not giving up. I was torn about letting it run it's course. It would be a dry one below 1.010 but there's room there to lose some sweetness. Next time. This yeast is different. You can certainly see traits in these yeast. This one is buttery smooth. It's like butterscotch smooth.

This brew has more malt fermentables than the standard recipe. It brewed up a bit darker from the malts. Now it is a very light colour. It has a smoothness to the taste that mirrors the colour. I think that is interesting. Worth trying if you are doing a cream ale type brew. Need to see how it goes over time but I think it adds a richness.

I used one of these stockings for a hop sock. I boiled it about 10 minutes. Mainly because it was water repellant. It leached some colour during the boil. Not a lot. I have no idea what these things are made of or coloured with. I think it was acceptable. Better come out and be left behind than in the beer.

Hops smell great. Cascade is nice hop. I'd like to know the smell of hops without having to buy them first.

Anyway into the bottom of the fermenter and we racked on to the hops. Some yeast came through. Because most of it was still floating. We need some anyway. Bottling in ~4 days.

The reason why it tastes like butterscotch is because you didn't allow the yeast to finish fermenting and reduce the diacetyl.

Here is an explanation from one of the most knowledgeable people in the world on the subject. I would highly recommend reading this document all the way through, as it will answer many questions about fermentation in general.

http://www.whitelabs.com/files/Diacetyl_Time_Line.pdf

Hope this helps.

[Libertytree]

My question would be, if he chose to, could he add yeast at this point and continue the ferment until it's really ready?

[Glass]

yea ok that sounds about right. Matches the profile. I've hopped it so I don't think you can add yeast now. I guess we suck it and see.

[BrewTech]

yea ok that sounds about right. Matches the profile. I've hopped it so I don't think you can add yeast now. I guess we suck it and see.

I made a similar mistake on a beer once. I was dumping yeast prior to terminal gravity so I could get clean samples to test (OOPS). The thing was a diacetyl bomb. Entered it into a rather large competition and took a bronze. If I told you which beer took silver you would shit.