I was preparing for a trip to my local home brew supply store not too long ago, and I ran across an Omega Labs yeast called OYL-033 Jovaru Lithuanian Farmhouse. This sounded very interesting, in no small part due to the fact that a friend of mine spent a great deal of time in Lithuania. When I got to the store, I asked about the yeast and they said that they'd order some for me. A couple of days later, I got an email saying that yeast was in. Fortunately, Omega Labs also has a recipe for a Jovaru Wit beer, and it sounded too good to pass up.
Brew Day: 7 Nov 2019
Partial Mash:
8 oz 2-row malt
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
7 g Hallertau Blanc (@ 20 min)
7 g Hallertau Blanc (@ 5 min)
2 g dried sweet orange peel (@ 5 min)
2 g crushed coriander seeds (@ 5 min)
Yeast: Jovaru Lithuanian Farmhouse
I followed all of my usual procedures for cooling the wort and pitching the yeast, and placed the fermenter on a warming plate, wrapped in a towel.
Addendum, 19 Nov: Transferred to secondary.
Addendum, 24 Nov: Bottled tonight; got 8 good bottles and 1 re-purposed soda bottle. Used just shy of 2 T sugar, rather than a full ounce (~ 2 1/2 T), as the beers have been a little over-carbonated of late.
Addendum, 10 Dec: Tried one of the bottles tonight. After the initial pour, I got a note of citrus in the nose, and the beer poured with a big, pillowy head that dissipated quickly. The beer is medium body, with a hint of citrus and pepper. Very nice flavor, very drinkable beer, and definitely one I'll do again.
Thursday, November 7, 2019
Saturday, November 2, 2019
Using Chocolate Malt
I have some chocolate malt sitting around from when I tried to make a red ale, and I wanted to use it up. I'm not a fan of stouts and porters, but I have had a brown ale or two that was pretty good. This being the fall season, going into the winter, I thought it would be a good time to use the malt up, and so I went looking for a recipe. I ended up finding a Hobgoblin dark ale clone (scroll down) recipe, and went about collecting the ingredients.
Brew Day: 2 Nov 2019
Partial Mash:
4 oz Caramel malt
4 oz Crystal rye malt
1.5 oz chocolate malt
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb golden light DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
7 g Fuggle hops (FWH)
7 g Fuggle hops (@ 10 min)
Yeast: WLP-005 (recipe calls for Wyeast 1187, but this chart let me see an equivalent from White Labs)
Addendum, 3 Nov: It's always interesting to try a new yeast, because you never quite know how it's going to go. I've used US-05 where it's started active fermentation within 2 hrs of pitching the yeast. I've also used White Labs yeasts before (WLP-300, -380, etc.), but British ale yeast is new to me. I had followed the instructions on the packet, and when I went to pitch the yeast, it came out as a sludge. I hadn't seen that before and was a little concerned, and when I checked on the fermenter last night about 10 hrs after pitching, there was no visible activity. This morning, however, there is clearly active fermentation.
Addendum, 16 Nov: Transferred to secondary.
Addendum, 24 Nov: Bottled tonight; got 8 good bottles and 1 re-purposed soda bottle. Used just shy of 2 T sugar, rather than a full ounce (~ 2 1/2 T), as the beers have been a little over-carbonated of late.
Addendum, 16 Dec: I'd opened a bottle last week, and found it to be flat. I opened a second bottle tonight, and it was similarly flat. I then opened the re-purposed soda bottle, and it was only very mildly carbonated. So, it seems that the issue wasn't the bottle caps, or the bottling process, as much as it was a result of this is the first time I've worked with this yeast, and I'd likely left it sitting too long.
Overall, the flavor is pretty good, a bit of chocolate and toasted toffee. The body is good, and with the exception of the dearth of carbonation, the beer is actually pretty drinkable and enjoyable, and I'm not a huge fan of brown ales.
Brew Day: 2 Nov 2019
Partial Mash:
4 oz Caramel malt
4 oz Crystal rye malt
1.5 oz chocolate malt
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb golden light DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
7 g Fuggle hops (FWH)
7 g Fuggle hops (@ 10 min)
Yeast: WLP-005 (recipe calls for Wyeast 1187, but this chart let me see an equivalent from White Labs)
Addendum, 3 Nov: It's always interesting to try a new yeast, because you never quite know how it's going to go. I've used US-05 where it's started active fermentation within 2 hrs of pitching the yeast. I've also used White Labs yeasts before (WLP-300, -380, etc.), but British ale yeast is new to me. I had followed the instructions on the packet, and when I went to pitch the yeast, it came out as a sludge. I hadn't seen that before and was a little concerned, and when I checked on the fermenter last night about 10 hrs after pitching, there was no visible activity. This morning, however, there is clearly active fermentation.
Addendum, 16 Nov: Transferred to secondary.
Addendum, 24 Nov: Bottled tonight; got 8 good bottles and 1 re-purposed soda bottle. Used just shy of 2 T sugar, rather than a full ounce (~ 2 1/2 T), as the beers have been a little over-carbonated of late.
Addendum, 16 Dec: I'd opened a bottle last week, and found it to be flat. I opened a second bottle tonight, and it was similarly flat. I then opened the re-purposed soda bottle, and it was only very mildly carbonated. So, it seems that the issue wasn't the bottle caps, or the bottling process, as much as it was a result of this is the first time I've worked with this yeast, and I'd likely left it sitting too long.
Overall, the flavor is pretty good, a bit of chocolate and toasted toffee. The body is good, and with the exception of the dearth of carbonation, the beer is actually pretty drinkable and enjoyable, and I'm not a huge fan of brown ales.
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