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Lactobacillus Starter Guide

April 19, 2015 by Derek Springer 99 Comments

Brewers make wort, yeast make beer.

Year of the Sour Mash

Part of the Year of the Sour Mash series.

If you have been homebrewing for even a short amount of time you have probably heard that statement. As much as we would like to think that we are in control, it is our microscopic little friends that determine the quality of our batch; brewers are little more than glorified yeast wranglers. Thus, when fellow homebrewers ask me what they can do to improve the quality of their beer the first thing I always tell them is: “make a yeast starter.” Proper amounts of healthy, happy yeast make delicious beer free from off-flavors; simple as that.

Time to let you in on a little secret: yeast are not the only things that make beer! Myriad organisms such as Brettanomyces, wild Saccharomyces, Pediococcus, and Lactobacillus will happily feast upon the wort you just created and leave you with beer (and those are just the organisms that produce favorable characteristics). Indeed, it is these organisms that folks interested in making sour or funky beers will harness to produce the character they are looking for. However, whether you are making a clean beer with “regular” yeast or a sour/funky beer with these other organisms, one thing remains the same: proper amounts of healthy, happy <insert organism(s) of choice> make delicious beer free from off-flavors. When folks tell me their sour mashes go bad I liken it to folks saying their regular beers went bad, only to find out they pitched a single vial of old yeast into 1.090 OG wort at 95ºF. A little bit of preparation practically guarantees a successful souring; whatever your organism of choice is, make a starter!

lactobacillus photo

lactobacillus – isis325

If you have been following along with Year of the Sour Mash you will know we are primarily interested in the fast, clean souring of Lactobacillus to sour our mash/wort. Whether you are pitching a pure culture of Lactobacillus or growing a wild culture from grains, I have created this Lactobacillus starter guide to help you propagate the quantities needed to ensure your beer sours cleanly.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Techniques Tagged With: guide, lactobacillus, starter, year of the sour mash

Toasting Oats Guide

February 17, 2015 by Derek Springer 8 Comments

Flaked OatsI am a big fan of using small amounts of flaked adjuncts like flaked wheat and flaked barley in my recipes to add some extra mouthfeel and boost head retention. Since St. Patrick’s Day is approaching I have been thinking about stouts and I have been itching to try my hand at making an oatmeal stout, which makes ample use of flaked oats for its signature creamy texture.

If you have never used oats in a recipe before, they lend a smooth, silky mouthfeel and a luscious creaminess that is hard to beat. Oats are relatively neutral in flavor (slightly oaty, naturally), but it is possible to bump the character up a notch by toasting them in the oven; toasting the oats will add a nice amount of nutty/biscuity character reminiscent of an oatmeal cookie. Oat toasting is a great technique for any style that you want a full, creamy mouthfeel and nutty/biscuity character, stouts and nut brown ales come to mind.

The challenge I discovered, however, was that when I was researching oat toasting technique there was sparse advice for the process beyond “cook in oven at 300ºF until toasted.” Thus, I decided to create this guide to toasting oats in hopes others would not share the same frustration I had as I worked out the proper technique.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Techniques Tagged With: guide, oats, toasting

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Derek Springer

Derek Springer

I write code & brew beer--if you ask nice I'll share some with you :)

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