Sugar Carbonation Trials 1

I bottled some beer for trials with different carbonating sugar in 330ml bottles.  I wanted to see how it would affect flavour and if it would be good or bad.  These are the results.  Please keep in mind this is carbonating my All Amarillo IPA with a Sorghum base, so some of the off flavours might not be apparent in barley beer.  Feel free to share any other carbonating sugars you have tried and recommend.

T1 – Plain Sugar – This was the control beer.

T2 – Demerara Sugar – In America this is called Brown Sugar, looks a lot like raw sugar and is used in candy production.  This added a great depth of flavour, not apparent in the plain sugar.  It also took away the sweetness/sourness of the sorghum.  Not great head retention or effervescent like the plain sugar.

T3 – Dark Brown Sugar – Refined sugar with molasses added back in.  This gave off a metallic aroma, however it wasn’t apparent or noticeable in the taste of the beer.

T4 – Maple Syrup (Queen Brand) – This didn’t add a maple flavour to the beer, but it was quite pleasant like the Demerara sugar.  Also the same carbonation properties of the Demerara sugar.  Due to its cost in Australia, it would not be suitable for carbonating beer.

T5 – CSR Golden Syrup – This had an overwhelming metallic flavour which was horrible.  Definitely not using that again.

What I’ve learnt from these trials is that I should experiment more with Demerara sugar.  I’m planning to try a future brew with five different sugar combos.

100% Plain Sugar
100% Demerara sugar
25% Plain Sugar, 75% Demerara Sugar
50% Plain Sugar, 50% Demerara Sugar
75% Plain,  25% Demerara Sugar

Sierra Nevada Inspired Pale Ale

I used the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale for the skeleton for this recipe.  I've added more Cascade hops, and thrown in some Citra Hops at 15 minutes.  I was hoping to use Amber Candy Syrup but the delivery didn't arrive in time.

Code name:  Sierra Nevada Twist

OG:  1049

Recipe:

2.8Kg Sorghum Syrup @ 60 minutes

4.5 oz Maltodextrine @ 60 minutes

375g Demerara Sugar @ 60 minutes

5g Magnum Hops 13% AA @ 60 minutes

20g Perle Hops ?AA @ 60 minutes

28g Cascade Hops 5.5% AA @ 15 minutes

8g Citra Hops 13.4% AA @ 15 minutes

28g Cascade Hops 5.5% AA @ 10 minutes

1tsp Yeast Nutrient @ 10 minutes

28g Cascade Hops 5.5% AA @ 0 minutes

*** Cold Crash ***

1 x US-05 American Ale Yeast

Update:
I have tried a sample from the fermenter.  Damn it tastes good.  Hoping to have this in bottles within a week or so.  This could become a regular house brew.

Tangelo Orange and Coriander Hefeweizen - Update

This has been a big success.  Still room for improvement but the yeast delivers some great flavour.  The feedback from the local brew club, is that the flavour is great, however it was lacking on the malt flavour.  Which is understandable because I'm not using any type of malt yet.

I'd really like to use this as a basis for a blueberry wheat style beer.

All Amarillo IPA

I've been meaning to do an all Amarillo Beer for a while, I think the aroma is great.  So following the hopping schedule for my Centennial IPA I decided to brew this.  I would like to try making a 10 minute IPA in the future, but for now I'll stick with the basic IPA recipe.

Amarillo IPA

2.8Kg Sorghum Syrup @ 60 minutes
400g Raw Sugar @ 60 minutes
4oz Tapioca Based Maltodextrine @ 60 minutes
15g Amarillo Hops @ 60 minutes
15g Amarillo Hops @ 45 minutes
15g Amarillo Hops @ 30 minutes
15g Amarillo Hops @ 15 minutes
1 x whirlfloc tablet @ 15 minutes
30g Amarillo Hops @ 0 minutes (I wanted heaps of aroma)
1 teaspoon of yeast nutrient @ 0 minutes
*** Cold crash ***
2 packets of Fermentis US-05 American Ale Yeast
Filled the fermenter to 21.5L

Original Gravity was 1047

Edit:  After talking with Doc from Doctors Orders Brewing, I doubt I'd do a hop burst / 10 minute IPA in the future.  As he said it really misses that bittering component.  Which I really think makes an IPA.  Might be good for a Pale Ale though.

Update:

Had a preview sample of this beer from the fermenter.  This is looking like one of my best so far, it tastes fantastic.  I'm getting orange and stonefruit flavours through.  Can't wait till it's ready to drink.

Tangelo Orange and Coriander Hefeweizen

With two days off from work, what better to do than brew some gluten free beer.

I missed the supply of Blood Oranges in Brisbane (I saw them for one weekend at the markets).  So with Tangelo Oranges well in season and their skins smelling fantastic when pierced, I decided to re-do my orange and coriander beer.  If using normal oranges in place of Tangelos, peel an extra two Orange skins.

Tangelo Orange and Coriander Hefeweizen (without wheat)

2.8Kg Sorghum Syrup @ 60 minutes
112g Tapioca based maltodextrine @ 60 minutes
400g Cane sugar (invert syrup would be better) at 60 minutes
15g Hallertaur Hops @ 60 minutes
15g Tettanager Hops @ 20 minutes
20g cracked coriander seeds @ 20 minutes
6 Tangelo peels @ 20 minutes
15g Tettanager Hops @ 0 minutes
1 teaspoon of yeast nutrient @ 0 minutes
*** Cold crash for 30 minutes ***
2 packets of Fermentis WB-06 wheat beer yeast
Filled the fermenter to 21.5L

Original Gravity for this was 1049

Centennial IPA Bottling

My Centennial Hopped IPA is now in bottles carbonating.  I tried clearing up the suspended yeast and hops with gelatine without success.  Sadly some bottles were contaminated with floaties, which sucks but oh well.  It was very tasty the first time around so hopefully it is again.

Centennial IPA - Belgian Triple

Just over a week ago I bottled my third attempt at the Belgian Triple.  Just waiting now for it to bottle carbonate.  The sample tastings all the way through have been fantastic, so I'm hoping this really delivers.

I also re-brewed the Centennial IPA which I really enjoyed last time.  The original recipe can be found here Centennial IPA .  I did make some changes with the re-brew, 3oz of Tapioca Maltodextrine @ 60 minutes, 250g Demerara sugar @ 60 minutes  and few extra grams of hops at flame out.  I think it was a mistake filling the fermenter to 22L, should have stopped at around 21L total volume.  I dry hopped twice with 10g instead of once with 10g so this should have more aroma than the last batch.  If this beer is successful, I'm hoping to follow the lead of the great brewers (brewdog and mikkeller) and produce some more single hop IPA's.

Upcoming brews:
LCasanova's Blood Orange Hefeweizen (might have to sub for Cara-Cara or Rosy Red oranges)
All Amarillo IPA