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Aaron – I used to make this thing I called a Frambozen where I would add 3 or 4 pounds of either fresh raspberries or a raspberry puree to the secondary. I’d just use a huge nylon mesh bag with a bit of stainless steel wire and these huge stainless steel washers in the bag, to make sure it remained submerged in the bier. It usually turned out ok, however I’ve noticed (at least with raspberries), the final product seemed to end up drier than I preferrred. I think that was due to the fruit sugars fermenting out fairly completely and the fact that raspberries aren’t all that “sweet” to begin with.
Looking forward to reading it! As a traditional lager brewer, I was more than just a little skeptical of the claims that Kviek yeasts could produce “lager like” characteristics with warm fermentation. But a Northern euro-style pils designed by Ryan and Aaron piqued my interest. It was very good indeed! That particular bier passed my ‘nuther sip’ criteria (if a sip makes me want another sip, it’s a GOOD BIER!). So I’m planning my first Kviek bier either late this brew season or first thing next fall. Can’t wait to read the article. Of course, I’ve kicked my AHA membership to the curb in favor of a digital BYO subscription, so I may need to sneak a peek at someone’s latest addition of Zymurgy.
Thanks for bringing this subject up Chuck. I’ve heard a lot about this type of yeast and the brews it makes lately but my earliest knowledge of it came from reading a chapter on Norwegian brewing in Michael Jackson’s book, many years ago. Believe it or not, I’d actually be interested in engaging in a Kviek experiment as well. I’m a traditional lager brewer and have no plans to abandon that element of my home brewing efforts, however after this weekend I’ll be at full capacity for my 2020/2021 lagering season and I have no room for eight 10 gallon batch of lager. That said, I’d be interested in making something like a traditional bock and would love to have it available to serve at my Winterfest party in December of this year (I fully expect we’ll all be vaccinated by then!). There was once a bier available in the Denver market called Aass Bock (pronounced “Oh-ss” I think). It was a dark and delicious bier brewed in Drammen Norway and made in the style of a traditional bock. Like many
European treats like this, the booming craft market and competition for shelf space has made it no longer available. While I doubt that Aass was a kveik bier, I think this would be an interesting style to make with a kveik yeast, so long as you can indeed make something full-bodied, round and malty with this type of yeast. My thinking is that I may be able to brew it as the first bier of my fall brewing season, rather than making it now…. which would be my normal lager-making schedule for something that strong, to be served in December of this year.Hey Aaron – Looks like Ryan got you pretty well situated on the details so I’ll just say “welcome to the club!”. Hopefully we will be up and running again with in-person meetings, but I suspect that will take some time. Until then, you would be more than welcome to come sit down in my biergartens and sip a cold lager some nice afternoon (socially-distanced of course). Not sure what part of town you live in, but I’m located about 1 mile N.E. of Olde Town as the crow flies. Keep in touch or zip me an email at kupferschmidtbier@gmail.com and we’ll watch the weather forecast and get it set-up. I’d love to talk bier and brewing with you and try to see where we might have mutual interests regarding the craft!
I’m keeping it close to home. Happy Holidays everyone, cheers!
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Ha ha…I love projects like that. Pic A with the “free” sign made me laugh. Easy to tell how this project got going!
OK, I can see what you and Chuck are essentially saying then is to slow the flow to avoid cavitation (hense Chuck’s suggestion to increase the head height to which the pump needs to lift the wort. But I think slowing the flow defeats my efforts to maximize the strength of the whirlpool….which was the whole reason for bumping up to the larger pump. Some of the so called whirlpools I’ve seen on YouTube with the smaller pumps don’t really look like they would pile trub anywhere, but instead would do exactly what you suggest and simply stir up the wort. I’ve gotten almost to where I want to be by limiting in-line restrictions (particularly on the inlet side, which is where Chugger warns is the biggest issue with the Chugger Max). Appreciate the feedback and suggestiobns though since I clearly still have work to do to get this situation dialed in properly.
BTW….I like your brewery cart! “a place for everything, and everything in it’s is place”, including the heat exchanger and pump. Is that a repurposed gas barbque?
Ok, like maybe moving the pump down to the floor Chuck?….instead of having it on the bracket just below the kettle spigot?
Thanks for the feedback guys. Chuck – the cavitating information is helpful and it all makes sense that it’s the formation of a vacuum that’s causing the cavitation. I’m hoping to be able to allow the kettle to cool with the lid on just enough to get past that issue before beginning whirlpooling for about 15 or 20 minutes. I have no way to throttle the pump; it has a simple on/off switch. I saw the drill-powered paddle on YouTube but I decided to go with the pump/whirlpool approach. I’m fully invested in that now! LOL Aaron – I also saw the silicone dam approach from Ss and thought it looked like it might “slow” the uptake of trub to some degree. I have an extra large side-pickup tube arriving from Brewer Hardware on Friday, so by this weekend’s brewing I hope to have a something in place similar to Chuck, regarding exactly WHERE in the kettle the wort is drawn from. I’m inclined to agree with your “resuspension” concern and that issue will certainly be realized if I fail at creating the kind of trub collection I’m seeking. My hope is that the overall width of my kettle might will help to provide sufficient space for the trub to settle down in the middle of the kettle….but time will tell. I had a “sort of” whirlpool with last Saturdays Maibock brewing and I was encouraged by how well that rather anemic flow started to form a collecton of debris in the center of my kettle. As a result, the exiting wort was more clear than I expected. I did a tablet of Whirlfloc 5M before flame out, then let the kettle sit for a spell. Hopefully the improved flow will be the answer but the jury is still out on this project; experimentation continues.
The Barmen you gave me at Nathan’s house was surprisingly good. Like I said, perhaps needs just a touch more bitterness, but it seemed very well made and had a great euro-lager-type quality to it.
Funny to see that “Batch 19” as part of that selection. I was at a buddy’s house last month and he was sipping on a can of Batch 19. As is often the case with this guy, he’s very brand conscious while at the same time being sort of “tight” when it comes to sharing beers from his fridge. As he waxed poetic while studying the can of Batch 19 in his hand, he predictably failed to offer me one! LOL So I guess I can’t speak from experience. But in talking to another mutual friend about this same brew a couple of days later, he said it was just another crappy Coors product…so I guess I’ll have to actually buy one to know for sure. Perhaps this promotional 12 pack is the answer.
Hey Ryan, normally this would be right up my alley since I love period stuff and of course anything to do with German bier! My only issue is the subtitles/overdubs.
I did watch the trailer though and it piqued my interest for sure. I may actually end up watching it at some point, but I will need to hit one of those dry spells on Netflix where I’ve burned through anything else worth watching. Right now I’m glued to “The Queen’s Gambit” and I’m finding ‘The Good Place’ pretty hilarious.Ha ha, that’s funny Chuck. I totally forgot about Simpatico. Talk about a blast from the past. ….and by ‘other things’ I assume you mean STDs??
Wow…very cool Aaron. I love that Ss Kettle! Tend to love their stuff anyway. While I know Colter has plenty of his own gadgetry set-up and currently engaged in making bier, I’m also sure his mouth is agape in wordless pleasure (possibly with a slowly descending sting saliva as well?) as he lives vicariously through you. Not unlike Frankenstein’s assistant. Can’t wait to sample all the wonderful brews you are producing with your incredible system!
Hey Aaron – most German lager producers don’t do warm diacetyl rests. The belief is that it makes the yeast ‘lazy’ since it ramps up to consume all of the residual sugars, then simply goes to sleep after the feeding frenzy (kind of like me after a trip to the buffet). The thinking is that the yeast then doesn’t function well during the long cold lagering phase. I realize that you might not be doing a long lagering phase though, and so if that is the case then a warmer (60F or so) diacetyl rest is what many home brewers will do. If you ARE planning a longer lagering period, this is what I have read is recommended for that approach:
After primary fermentation (usually about 3 weeks for the 34/70 yeast), slowly lower the temperature (no more than 2 degrees per 24 hours) to 40F. Leave the bier at this temp for 7 days, then do a quick diacetyl test by filling a plastic PET bottle about half full (something like a 12oz. plastic bottled water container). Allow it to come up to room temp, then give it a good shake for a half minute or so, open it and smell for the tell tale buttery aroma of diacetyl. If none, you’re good to go and can then continue lower the bier to something like 33F (slowly). The thinking is that if diacetyl precursors are present, then this will activate them. The long rest at 40F is believed to give the bier enough time to chew through any remaining diacetyl, so if you do detect it in your test, you can simply give it another week or so before continuing your slow dive to 33F. By doing this, your yeast will remain super-healthy and will continue to function well at super low temperatures. Again, warming the bier to achieve a fast diacetyl rest is believed by traditional lager producers to ruin the yeast for this long haul.
Either way, Good luck…can’t wait to taste your Helles Exportbier!
