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White Labs Yeast Ale Info

What is one of the most influential pieces of a recipe for beer?  If you’re thinking yeast you are correct.   Here is a quick reference for the white labs ale yeast and what they can bring to your beer.

Now you know what the attenuation is as well as the flocculation.  This should make a bit more sense.

Also all of this can be found on white labs website.

ALE YEAST

WLP001 California Ale Yeast 

This yeast is famous for its clean flavors, balance and ability to be used in almost any style ale. It accentuates the hop flavors and is extremely versatile. 
Attenuation: 73-80%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 68-73°F
(20-23°C)
Alcohol Tolerance: High

WLP002 English Ale Yeast 
A classic ESB strain from one of England’s largest independent breweries. This yeast is best suited for English style ales including milds, bitters, porters, and English style stouts. This yeast will leave a beer very clear, and will leave some residual sweetness.
Attenuation: 63-70%
Flocculation: Very High
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 65-68°F
(18-20°C)
Alcohol Tolerance:  Medium

WLP004 Irish Ale Yeast 
This is the yeast from one of the oldest stout producing breweries in the world. It produces a slight hint of diacetyl, balanced by a light fruitiness and slight dry crispness. Great for Irish ales, stouts, porters, browns, reds and a very interesting pale ale.
Attenuation: 69-74%
Flocculation: Medium to High
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 65-68°F
(18-20°C)
Alcohol Tolerance:  Medium-High

WLP005 British Ale Yeast 
This yeast is a little more attenuative than WLP002. Like most English strains, this yeast produces malty beers. Excellent for all English style ales including bitter, pale ale, porter, and brown ale.
Attenuation: 67-74%
Flocculation: High
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 65-70°F
(18-21°C)
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium

* WLP006 Bedford British
Ferments dry and flocculates very well. Produces a distinctive ester profile. Good choice for most English style ales including bitter, pale ale, porter, and brown ale.
Attenuation: 72-80%
Flocculation: High
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 65-70°F
(18-21°C)
Alcohol Tolerance:  Medium

WLP007 Dry English Ale Yeast
Clean, highly flocculent, and highly attenuative yeast. This yeast is similar to WLP002 in flavor profile, but is 10% more attenuative. This eliminates the residual sweetness, and makes the yeast well suited for high gravity ales. It is also reaches terminal gravity quickly. 80% attenuation will be reached even with 10% ABV beers.
Attenuation: 70-80%
Flocculation: Medium to High
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 65-70°F
(18-21°C)
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium-High

WLP008 East Coast Ale Yeast
Our “Brewer Patriot” strain can be used to reproduce many of the American versions of classic beer styles. Similar neutral character of WLP001, but less attenuation, less accentuation of hop bitterness, slightly less flocculation, and a little tartness. Very clean and low esters. Great yeast for golden, blonde, honey, pales and German alt style ales.
Attenuation: 70-75%
Flocculation: Medium to Low
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 68-73°F
(20-23°C)
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium

* WLP009 Australian Ale Yeast
Produces a clean, malty beer. Pleasant ester character, can be described as “bready.” Can ferment successfully, and clean, at higher temperatures. This yeast combines good flocculation with good attenuation.
Attenuation: 70-75%
Flocculation: High
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 65-70°F
(18-21°C)
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium

WLP011 European Ale Yeast
Malty, Northern European-origin ale yeast. Low ester production, giving a clean profile. Little to no sulfur production. Low attenuation helps to contribute to the malty character. Good for Alt, Kolsch, malty English ales, and fruit beers.
Attenuation: 65-70%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 65-70°F
(18-21°C)

WLP013 London Ale Yeast
Dry, malty ale yeast. Provides a complex, oakey ester character to your beer. Hop bitterness comes through well. This yeast is well suited for classic British pale ales, bitters, and stouts. Does not flocculate as much as WLP002 and WLP005.
Attenuation: 67-75%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 66-71°F
(19-22°C)
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium

* WLP022 Essex Ale Yeast
Flavorful British style yeast. Drier finish than many British ale yeast. Produces slightly fruity and bready character.   Good top fermenting yeast strain, is well suited for top cropping (collecting). This yeast is well suited for classic British milds, pale ales, bitters, and stouts. Does not flocculate as much as WLP002 and WLP005.Attenuation: 71-76%
Flocculation: Medium to High
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 66-70°F
(19-21°C)
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium

WLP023 Burton Ale Yeast
From the famous brewing town of Burton upon Trent, England, this yeast is packed with character. It provides delicious subtle fruity flavors like apple, clover honey and pear. Great for all English styles, IPA’s, bitters, and pales. Excellent in porters and stouts.
Attenuation: 69-75%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 68-73°F
(20-23°C)
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium

WLP028 Edinburgh Scottish Ale Yeast
Scotland is famous for its malty, strong ales. This yeast can reproduce complex, flavorful Scottish style ales. This yeast can be an everyday strain, similar to WLP001. Hop character is not muted with this strain, as it is with WLP002.
Attenuation: 70-75%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 65-70°F
(18-21°C)
Does not ferment well less than 62°F (17°C)
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium-High

WLP029 German Ale/ Kölsch Yeast
From a small brewpub in Cologne, Germany, this yeast works great in Kölsch and Alt style beers. Good for light beers like blond and honey. Accentuates hop flavors, similar to WLP001. The slight sulfur produced during fermentation will disappear with age and leave a super clean, lager like ale.
Attenuation: 72-78%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 65-69°F
(18-21°C)
Does not ferment well less than 62°F(17°C), unless during active fermentation.
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium

WLP036 Dusseldorf Alt Yeast
Traditional Alt yeast from Dusseldorf, Germany. Produces clean, slightly sweet alt beers. Does not accentuate hop flavor as WLP029 does.
Attenuation: 65-72%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 65-69°F
(18-21°C)
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium

* WLP037 Yorkshire Square Ale Yeast
This yeast produces a beer that is malty, but well-balanced. Expect flavors that are toasty with malt-driven esters. Highly flocculent and good choice for English pale ales, English brown ales, and mild ales.
Attenuation: 68-72%
Flocculation: High
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 65-69°F
(18-21°C) 
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium-High

* WLP038 Manchester Ale Yeast
Top-fermenting strain that is traditionally good for top-cropping. Moderately flocculent with a clean, dry finish. Low ester profile, producing a highly balanced English-style beer.
Attenuation: 70-74%
Flocculation: Medium-High
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 65-70°F
(18-21°C)
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium-High

* WLP039 Nottingham Ale Yeast
British style ale yeast with a very dry finish. Medium to low fruit and fusel alcohol production. Good top fermenting yeast strain, is well suited for top cropping (collecting). This yeast is well suited for pale ales, ambers, porters, and stouts.
Attenuation: 73-82%
Flocculation: Medium to High
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 66-70°F
(19-21°C)
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium

WLP041 Pacific Ale Yeast
A popular ale yeast from the Pacific Northwest. The yeast will clear from the beer well, and leave a malty profile. More fruity than WLP002, English Ale Yeast. Good yeast for English style ales including milds, bitters, IPA, porters, and English style stouts.
Attenuation: 65-70%
Flocculation: High
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 65-68°F
(18-20°C)
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium

WLP051 California Ale V Yeast
From Northern California. This strain is more fruity than WLP001, and slightly more flocculent. Attenuation is lower, resulting in a fuller bodied beer than with WLP001.
Attenuation: 70-75%
Flocculation: Medium to High
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 66-70°F
(19-21°C)
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium-High

WLP060 American Ale Yeast Blend
Our most popular yeast strain is WLP001, California Ale Yeast. This blend celebrates the strengths of California- clean, neutral fermentation, versatile usage, and adds two other strains that belong to the same ‘clean/neutral’ flavor category. The additional strains create complexity to the finished beer. This blend tastes more lager like than WLP001. Hop flavors and bitterness are accentuated, but not to the extreme of California. Slight sulfur will be produced during fermentation.
Attenuation: 72-80%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 68-72°F
(20-22°C)
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium High

WLP080 Cream Ale Yeast Blend
This is a blend of ale and lager yeast strains.  The strains work together to create a clean, crisp, light American lager style ale. A pleasing estery aroma may be perceived from the ale yeast contribution. Hop flavors and bitterness are slightly subdued. Slight sulfur will be produced during fermentation, from the lager yeast.
Attenuation: 75-80%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 65-70°F
(18-21°C)
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium High

WLP090 San Diego Super Yeast 
A super clean, super-fast fermenting strain. A low ester-producing strain that results in a balanced, neutral flavor and aroma profile. Alcohol-tolerant and very versatile for a wide variety of styles. Similar to California Ale Yeast WLP001 but it generally ferments faster.
Optimal Fermentation Temperature: 65-68F
Attenuation: 76-83% +
Flocculation: Medium-High
Alcohol Tolerance: High

WLP099 Super High Gravity Ale Yeast
Can ferment up to 25% alcohol. From England. Produces ester character that increases with increasing gravity. Malt character dominates at lower gravities.
Attenuation: >80%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 65-69°F
(18-21°C)
Alcohol Tolerance: Very High

SPECIALTY/BELGIAN YEAST

WLP300 Hefeweizen Ale Yeast
This famous German yeast is a strain used in the production of traditional, authentic wheat beers. It produces the banana and clove nose traditionally associated with German wheat beers and leaves the desired cloudy look of traditional German wheat beers.
Attenuation: 72-76%
Flocculation: Low
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 68-72°F
(20-22°C)
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium

WLP320 American Hefeweizen Ale Yeast
This yeast is used to produce the Oregon style American Hefeweizen. Unlike WLP300, this yeast produces a very slight amount of the banana and clove notes. It produces some sulfur, but is otherwise a clean fermenting yeast, which does not flocculate well, producing a cloudy beer.
Attenuation: 70-75%
Flocculation: Low
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 65-69°F
(18-21°C)
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium

* WLP351 Bavarian Weizen Yeast
Former Yeast Lab W51 yeast strain, acquired from Dan McConnell. The description originally used by Yeast Lab still fits: “This strain produces a classic German-style wheat beer, with moderately high, spicy, phenolic overtones reminiscent of cloves.”
Attenuation: 73-77%
Flocculation: Low
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 66-70°F
(19-21°C)
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium

WLP380 Hefeweizen IV Ale Yeast 
Large clove and phenolic aroma and flavor, with minimal banana. Refreshing citrus and apricot notes. Crisp, drinkable hefeweizen. Less flocculent than WLP300, and sulfur production is higher.
Attenuation: 73-80%
Flocculation: Low
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 66-70°F
(19-21°C)
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium

WLP400 Belgian Wit Ale Yeast
Slightly phenolic and tart, this is the original yeast used to produce Wit in Belgium.
Attenuation: 74-78%
Flocculation: Low to Medium
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 67-74°F
(19-23°C)
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium

* WLP410 Belgian Wit II Ale Yeast
Less phenolic than WLP400, and more spicy. Will leave a bit more sweetness, and flocculation is higher than WLP400. Use to produce Belgian Wit, spiced Ales, wheat Ales, and specialty Beers.
Attenuation: 70-75%
Flocculation: Low to Medium
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 67-74°F
(19-23°C)
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium

WLP500 Trappist Ale Yeast
From one of the few remaining Trappist breweries remaining in the world, this yeast produces the distinctive fruitiness and plum characteristics. Excellent yeast for high gravity beers, Belgian ales, dubbels and trippels.
Attenuation: 75-80%
Flocculation: Medium to low
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 65-72°F
(18-22°C)
Lower temperatures (under 65°F(18°C) will result in less fruity and more earthy beers.
Alcohol Tolerance: High

* WLP510 Belgian Bastogne Ale Yeast
A high gravity, Trappist style ale yeast. Produces dry beer with slight acidic finish. More ‘clean’ fermentation character than WLP500 or WLP530. Not as spicy as WLP530 or WLP550. Excellent yeast for high gravity beers, Belgian ales, dubbels and trippels.
Attenuation: 74-80%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 66-72°F
(19-22°C)
Alcohol Tolerance: High

* WLP515 Antwerp Ale Yeast
Clean, almost lager like Belgian type ale yeast. Good for Belgian type pales ales and amber ales, or with blends to combine with other Belgian type yeast strains. Biscuity, ale like aroma present. Hop flavors and bitterness are accentuated. Slight sulfur will be produced during fermentation, which can give the yeast a lager like flavor profile.
Attenuation: 73-80%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 67-70°F
(19-21°C)
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium

WLP530 Abbey Ale Yeast
Used to produce Trappist style beers. Similar to WLP500, but is less fruity and more alcohol tolerant (up to 15% ABV). Excellent yeast for high gravity beers, Belgian ales, dubbels and trippels.
Attenuation: 75-80%
Flocculation: Medium to high
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 66-72°F
(19-22°C)
Alcohol Tolerance: High

* WLP540 Abbey IV Ale Yeast
An authentic Trappist style yeast. Use for Belgian style ales, dubbels, trippels, and specialty beers. Fruit character is medium, in between WLP500 (high) and WLP530 (low).
Attenuation: 74-82%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 66-72°F
(19-22°C)
Alcohol Tolerance: High

* WLP545 Belgian Strong Ale Yeast
From the Ardennes region of Belgium, this classic yeast strain produces moderate levels of ester and spicy phenolic character. Typically results in a dry, but balanced finish. This yeast is well suited for Belgian dark strongs, Abbey Ales, and Christmas beers.
Attenuation: 78-85%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 66-72°F
(19-22°C) 
Alcohol Tolerance: High

WLP550 Belgian Ale Yeast
Saisons, Belgian Ales, Belgian Reds, Belgian Browns, and White beers are just a few of the classic Belgian beer styles that can be created with this yeast strain. Phenolic and spicy flavors dominate the profile, with less fruitiness then WLP500.
Attenuation: 78-85%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 68-78°F
(20-26°C)
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium-High

WLP565 Belgian Saison I Yeast
Classic Saison yeast from Wallonia. It produces earthy, peppery, and spicy notes. Slightly sweet. With high gravity Saisons, brewers may wish to dry the beer with an alternate yeast added after 75% fermentation.
Attenuation: 65-75%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 68-75°F
(20-24°C)
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium

* WLP566 Belgian Saison II Yeast
Saison strain with more fruity ester production than with WLP565. Moderately phenolic, with a clove-like characteristic in finished beer flavor and aroma. Ferments faster than WLP565.
Attenuation: 78-85%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 68-78°F
(20-26°C)
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium

WLP568 Belgian Style Saison Ale Yeast Blend
This blend melds Belgian style ale and Saison strains. The strains work in harmony to create complex, fruity aromas and flavors. The blend of yeast strains encourages complete fermentation in a timely manner. Phenolic, spicy, earthy, and clove like flavors are also created.
Attenuation: 70-80%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 70-80°F
(21-27°C)
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium

WLP570 Belgian Golden Ale Yeast
From East Flanders, versatile yeast that can produce light Belgian ales to high gravity Belgian beers (12% ABV). A combination of fruitiness and phenolic characteristics dominate the flavor profile. Some sulfur is produced during fermentation, which will dissipate following the end of fermentation.
Attenuation: 73-78%
Flocculation: Low
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 68-75°F
(20-24°C)
Alcohol Tolerance: High

WLP575 Belgian Style Ale Yeast Blend
A blend of Trappist type yeast (2) and one Belgian ale type yeast. This creates a versatile blend that can be used for Trappist type beer, or a myriad of beers that can be described as ‘Belgian type’.
Attenuation: 74-80%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 68-75°F
(20-24°C)
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium-High

 

 

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5th Essential Step Into All-Grain – All-Grain Series

If you made it to this point in the series you have the knowledge to start brewing all-grain.

You need:

Recipe 

Mash Tun

Extra Cooler

Turkey Burner

Big Pot (7 gallons +)

I brewed this batch of beer with one of my buddies and took pictures of it so we’ll go with this recipe.  It kinda falls under a mixer of ingredients that we had lying around but it is what I would refer to as an easy drinking beer.  You could give this to about anyone and they would enjoy it.

8 lbs – 2-row

1 lb – biscuit malt

8 oz – crystal 20l 

1 oz  Fuggle (60min)

1 oz Fuggle (15min)

So you need to either mill up those grains  or when you go to you order the grains ask for them to be milled.

AND NOW WE ARE READY!

You’ll see that in the pictures I was using one of the mash tuns that is a pot, but it’s the same process if you made your own.

You want to go to this link and type in the amount of grains you have, what temp they are at, and what temp you are going to be mashing at.   When it comes to the part that says “Constants” just leave them unless you know what you’re talking about.

What I put in was

Grains: 9.5 lbs

Grain Temp: 68 F

Target Mash: 152 F

What I got Was

Total Water Needed: 8.6 gallons (we’ll just use 9 gallons)

Mash Water Needed: 3.16 gallons (I will use 3.5 gallons)

Sparge Water Needed: 5.44 gallon (I will use 5.5 gallons)

Strike Water Temp: 164.63 F ( I am doing 165F)

And that should get you about 6.37 gallons of pre boil…

I start off by heating up the sparge water. This is the water that is going to be used to rinse the grains.  I put this in an extra cooler.  The sparge water I heat up to 175F, and it is 5.5 gallons that I need.  After I put that in the extra cooler, I close the top and forget about it for a bit.

After that, I end up heating up the mash water which is 3.5 gallons to 165F.  Put that in your mash tun, then add your grains.

Once you have added your grains stir them around and make sure that it doesn’t have any clumps in them.  Check the temp.

For your first batch I wouldn’t worry too much about hitting 152 exactly.  You should be in the ballpark though, 149-154.

If you are low, take some water (1 qt)  throw that on your stove bring that up to a near boil and slowly add that to your mash.  Stop when you get in the ballpark of 149-154.

If you are high on temp, start stirring and that usually cools it off.  If you are really high add some cool water (1 qt) and stir.

What’s nice about these pots which are mash tuns are, if you are low in the temp you just turn on the heat, and the solution is solved.

Considering that you haven’t blown a socket yet and you’re still in the game, we let the mash sit for 1 hour.  At this point I would play your favorite pump up mix because it’s going to be a little bit.

An hour has passed and it’s time for the next step, VORLAUFING.  Take a pitcher of some sort, put it under your spigot and open it very slowly.  Collect it  and pour it back on top of your mash.  When you pour it back over your mash do it slowly over a spoon.

The idea behind this is that you are essentially creating a filter with your grain bed.  Each time you do this you will see less, “floaties” in the mixture.  The objective is to have the clarity similar to that of freshly pressed apple cider.   It normally takes about 12 times of doing it with taking about a liter or two of the mash each time.

Once the clarity is that which you want, open the spigot slowly and start collecting the wort in your brewing pot.  This is referred to as your first running.

Once there is a trickle of water coming out the spigot on to the next step.  Now remember that water we set aside in the beginning?  Close your spigot and then pour that water on top of the grain bed.  Stir around breaking up the clumps and let it sit for about 10 min.

Do the VORLAUFING process once again and then collect it in your pot.
What you collected is your second running.  You should have about 6.5 gallons of wort now in your pot.  At this point, you are at the same point that you would have been at if you just added malt extract.

So bring the pot to a boil, and just add the hops when needed.

Pretty easy right?

The grains which you have you can just throw those away or I’ve heard of people making dog biscuits out of them if you didn’t want to throw them away.  I would not put them in the garden however.  I heard this couple doing that up in Alexandria, next morning they had 15 rats the size of cats eating away at the grains, so I would not advise.

But that really is all-grain brewing.  Not to hard.  I hope that this series added some clarification to it.   Another piece of advice, start off with forgiving recipes not delicate ones.  Milds, browns, darker pale ales – those  are pretty forgiving.

Good luck!

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Craft Brewing Video

So I stumbled across this video on web.  It’s all about craft brewing.  I enjoyed, hopefully you do as well.

 

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Priming With Corn Sugar vs. DME

When it comes to priming bottles with natural carbonation there are 2 techniques that are among the favorites for homebrewers. 1 is the classic corn sugar and the the other is dry malt extract.  Do they give different results? Yes they do.

The most common one is corn sugar.  It may very from recipe to recipe but commonly it can be seen as 3/4 of a cup of corn sugar is used for a recipe.  I typically use a bit more (closer to a cup) when I do IPA’s.  The reason is that hops are a natural preservative which makes it harder for the yeast to produce more carbonation in the bottles.

The reason why corn sugar is a favorite with homebrewers is that it does not have any flavor that comes with it and also will carbonate faster then using DME.  The downside to using corn sugar is sometimes your bubbles in the bottle can be bigger resembling that of soda.  Which leads to the next way, DME.

You can use DME (dry malt extract) to prime your bottles with as well.  The standard amount is 1 1/4 cups.  The thing about DME in bottles is, that you will get smaller bubbles in your beer.  The down side to it is that it does take a bit longer, I typically wait about 5 weeks until I drink them out of the bottle when I use DME.

I honestly can’t sit here and tell you one is better then the other.  For one, I mostly keg now.  Also really I think it comes down to product of habit at the end.  Most likely if you have used corn sugar and haven’t minded the results then corn sugar is good for you.  Likewise for people in the DME situation.  If you want to try something new though maybe do one batch with DME and one with corn sugar and see the results for yourself.  Until then good luck!

To Recap

Standard Priming for 5 gallon batches

Corn Sugar = 3/4 cup

DME = 1 1/4 cup

 

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Homebrewing Women, No Men Allowed…?

So I was reading over a post on the internet about how up in Portland they had a women only beer tasting.  Read the full one here, otherwise here’s an excerpt:

On November 29th of 2011, a women-only beer tasting event was held at the Supreme Bean in Eugene, Oregon. This event was promoted on the Brewpublic blog as a “Beer Tasting and Discussion,” and featured special guests Alison Grayson (Producer/Director of the femme-centric ‘The Love of Beer’ documentary), Erin Kemplin (Stone Brewing rep), and Em Sauter (founder of Pints and Panels). According to the event listing, minors were welcome. Why not men? I have always most enjoyed inclusive beer events where women, men, and all those in between are enjoying beer together. To be told there is a public beer event that I am not allowed to attend based on my gender identity or physical structure was maddening. For a community that impressed me most by its inclusionary, laid-back, and overall friendly nature, this seemed like the antithesis of Portland beer culture. 

I thought it was kinda interesting especially because of this video about homebrewing women:

 

My opinion:

Let’s state the facts first: 1) I’m a guy 2) I’m a guy who doesn’t know what women think nor can I speak for women.

With that said, I can only go off of experience I know.  In a way I thought it was kinda cool that there are these “Women Only” tastings.

I’m a shooter, and I know that there are gun classes that are based only for women.  The reason being is that talking guns with guys, well, it can be intimating sometimes.  Sometimes, guys can come off as a jerk when talking about things they really know (or at least pretend knowing about).  For beer I would assume the same applies.

The author of this article left me with the impression that they do not approve, and that this will further segregate the brewing world with guys and girls.  I would beg the differ, I think that it’s a cool thing that people are conscious enough to have a place, time and date to allow women to express there love for beer with other women.

I would say, “I don’t know” to end it normally but I kinda feel strongly on this opinion oddly enough.

If women want to talk beer with guys and come out to meetings then have at it! But if women would prefer other women to go to bar crawls with and talk about beer with, then at least there is that option.  I am curious on what yours is if you have one.  Leave it in the comment section below!

 

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Jay’s Brewing Got A Video!

A few weekends ago grad students came into Jay’s Brewing and wanted to ask some questions about home brewing.  They came up with this video but also check out their website that they put up.  Pretty legit.

Since then we have moved.  Here are some pictures from our new shop!

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What Attenuation Is In Brewing

When you’re looking at yeast when it comes to home brewing, normally you see a few things about the yeast: 1) Attenuation 2) Flocculation 3) Alcohol Tolerance 4) Flavor Profile.

Alcohol tolerance and flavor profile are easily understood.  We have a post all about flocculation as well.  But what is Attenuation?

Attenuation is normally expressed as a percentage.  It refers to is the amount of fermentable sugars which are converted into alcohol as well as carbon dioxide from yeast.

You can normally make a few assumptions off of the attenuation %.  As a homebrewer you can make a basic assumption, the higher the attenuation the higher the potential alcohol percentage will be, the less sweet the beer will be.

There are more interesting facts about attenuation (that was sarcasm) which you can read but honestly, they are just formulas.  I did however feel the need to put up this post about attenuation because many home brewers are curious about what the word implies.   I hope it clarifies!

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Craft Brew Is Dominating

Nielsen: Mainstream Domestic, Imported Beer Sales Remain Sluggish While Crafts Soar

December 8, 2011

The U.S. beer market continues to struggle, according to the latest numbers from Nielsen. Off-premise volumes declined 1.9% in the most recent 52-week period (ending November 12) to 1.38 billion cases. The outlook appeared brighter on a value basis, as dollar sales inched up 0.6% to $28.6 billion during the same time period. The average price of beer in the off-premise increased 2.4% to $19.82 a case.

Craft and specialty brews continue to be the most vibrant segment in the beer category, surging 16.6% by volume in the 52-week period, with even stronger value growth (+17.8%) on an average price of $31.80 a case. The craft/microbrew segment is priced higher, on average, than imported brands ($27.59), yet imports fell 0.6% by volume during the same time span. Mexico continues to be the largest-selling origin for imported brews off-premise, at 78.7 million cases (+0.4%), but the fastest-growing source was Belgium (+28.9%).

Domestic beer sales posted a 2.1% decline in the 52-week period, with the super-premium ($24.12 a case) and below-premium ($14.71) segments falling 4.5% and 4.2% by volume, respectively. Even domestic light beers fared worse than the industry average, down 2.9% during the same period.

Nielsen tracks beer sales in food/drug/liquor/convenience stores and other channels, with volumes accounting for just over half the size of the total U.S. beer market, as measured by Impact Databank.

 

http://www.shankennewsdaily.com/index.php/2011/12/08/2062/nielsen-mainstream-domestic-imported-beer-sales-remain-sluggish-while-crafts-soar/#.TuQzOixOioc.twitter

 

 

My Ten Cents

I’ve come up with a ton of theories in the past on why I believe that craft beer is heating up now more then ever.  I still go with people really want to have a beer that describes them.  Budweiser, Coors, Miller just doesn’t cut it anymore.  When it’s hot out you want a nice pale ale or a wit.  If it’s cold then you want a stout.  My generation, “In  there 20s and 30s” can and will customize everything about everything.  We have phones with personalized ring tones,  we have our computer desktop of with a one of a kind picture, being different is a pretty big thing to us (generally speaking of course). Why would it stop at our beer?

To me craft beer and home brewing are pretty much rolled into one.  Maybe that is just me but craft and homebrew it’s high quality ingredients, a wide range of them as well as the love and care that that went into the recipe which is what makes a craft/homebrew so good.   Thought it was an interesting article, hope you feel the same.

Leave your comments or thoughts in space below!

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Mastering SRM

SRM? It stands for Standard Research Method.  Now that we have that cleared up and that means nothing to most people, what is it?

It’s a scale for color.   Europe has one that is called EBC but we’re not even getting into that.  It’s so rare to see recipes with an EBC but if you do the way you convert it is, multiply the EBC number by 0.375 and then add 0.46.

Back to the SRM.  If you are making a beer or see a recipe and the SRM is given, it’s to help you visualize the color.  If you don’t know what the SRM means to color below is the scale.

0 = Clear

1 – 2.5 = Light Straw

2.5 – 3.5 = Pale Straw

3.5 – 5.5 = Dark  Straw

5.5 – 10 = Light Amber

10 – 18 =  Pale Amber

18 -26 = Dark Amber or Copper

26 -40 = Very Dark AMber

40+ = Black

Hope this helps out a bit.

 

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