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the official brewtan-b thread


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#41 denny

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Posted 22 June 2016 - 10:42 AM

Has anyone ever defined "IT"?  How do you know when you've got "IT"?  What if you don't want "IT"?  ;)



#42 Big Nake

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Posted 22 June 2016 - 11:03 AM

Has anyone ever defined "IT"?  How do you know when you've got "IT"?  What if you don't want "IT"?  ;)

My guess is that everyone has their own definition of "IT". I have been to Austria, Munich and Prague and I tasted some very good, very fresh beer, no question. The guys trying to duplicate "it" are people who are brewers who go to Europe on a relatively regular basis and taste something in the beers there that they do not get here whether it be commercial or homebrewed beer. I sometimes think that you get it "IT" with a certain yeast strain or just the right addition of fresh hops but I don't think that the "IT" experts are talking about that. I was never really interested in "IT". I'm interested in making consistently great beer that I enjoy drinking and sharing and that goes for all styles.

#43 denny

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Posted 22 June 2016 - 11:21 AM

I was never really interested in "IT". I'm interested in making consistently great beer that I enjoy drinking and sharing and that goes for all styles.

 

THIS^^^^^



#44 cavman

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Posted 22 June 2016 - 11:38 AM

I'm trusting Formanak. 1/4 TSP in the mash, 1/2 TSP rehydrated in the boil at 15.

 
 

This is what I've done now four times.

I just take a little bottled water in a small bowl with a lid, add the ½ tsp of Brewtan, put the lid on, shake it and add it between 10 and 15 minutes before the end of the boil.

Didn't Denny say to add some slurry as well?

#45 Big Nake

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Posted 22 June 2016 - 11:45 AM

Didn't Denny say to add some slurry as well?

Water + Brewtan = slurry? I think it's just the idea of adding the brewtan to water first and adding it to the boil. Someone will come along any moment to explain why it's important for the brewtan to be mixed with water before being added to the kettle. I don't necessarily need to know why it should be done as long as I know that it should be done. :P

#46 cavman

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Posted 22 June 2016 - 11:49 AM

Water + Brewtan = slurry? I think it's just the idea of adding the brewtan to water first and adding it to the boil. Someone will come along any moment to explain why it's important for the brewtan to be mixed with water before being added to the kettle. I don't necessarily need to know why it should be done as long as I know that it should be done. :P

It's also possible I was drunk.

#47 Big Nake

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Posted 22 June 2016 - 12:04 PM

It's also possible I was drunk.

Entirely possible. :D

#48 denny

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Posted 22 June 2016 - 12:46 PM

Water + Brewtan = slurry? I think it's just the idea of adding the brewtan to water first and adding it to the boil. Someone will come along any moment to explain why it's important for the brewtan to be mixed with water before being added to the kettle. I don't necessarily need to know why it should be done as long as I know that it should be done. :P

 

Yep.  I pull some wort from the kettle and use that but I don't think it matters.  It just needs to be dissolved before the final addition.  Why?  Because Joe said so!



#49 cavman

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Posted 22 June 2016 - 02:18 PM

Ok so was drunk thanks Denny!

#50 shaggaroo

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Posted 22 June 2016 - 02:29 PM

Yep.  I pull some wort from the kettle and use that but I don't think it matters.  It just needs to be dissolved before the final addition.  Why?  Because Joe said so!


Maybe so it disperses better?

#51 denny

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Posted 22 June 2016 - 02:35 PM

Maybe so it disperses better?

 

I think that might have something to do with.  My impression (NOT a fact!) is that the 15 min. addition is more for clarity than anything else.  SWAG....



#52 Big Nake

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Posted 22 June 2016 - 03:32 PM

Okay so I am drinking my first brewtan beer. An Amarillo-Citra pale ale. This is probably not *THE* best beer I could test drive because I generally make these for my wife and I taste it to make sure it's good and then I let her drink it. But I've tasted and drank many glasses of this beer. What I notice is that the beer seems smoother and "less coarse" to me. It's really, really smooth and the malt & hop character are fantastic. I don't want to say that something magical has happened because I don't know that. I feel like if my past beers were oxidized, the flavor may have "staled" a little bit and there was more "static" in the flavor as opposed to just pure, smooth, unadulterated beer. This seems much cleaner and smoother to me. It will be a better test when I check out the first helles I made with brewtan but for now... this is very, very interesting and very encouraging to me.

#53 Steve Urquell

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Posted 22 June 2016 - 03:47 PM

Thats great news Ken. Looking to brew my Hoppy german pils this friday using it.

#54 Big Nake

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Posted 22 June 2016 - 04:11 PM

Thats great news Ken. Looking to brew my Hoppy german pils this friday using it.

I know that I have described this before but it's like the difference between driving with a crystal-clear windshield and a dirty one covered with bugs. The beer flavor comes through better and the malt and hops shine right through with crystal clear clarity. Again, I'm taking the Denny road and just saying that I'm drinking one of my beers and it's good... no magic. I don't pretend to know what has changed or if anything has changed. But for a long time I have been looking for "smoothness" in various beers because I always felt I got some amount of an "unclean" character in the finish of some of my beers and I do wonder if they were over-oxidized. I'll be interested to hear everyone else's impression.

#55 MyaCullen

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Posted 22 June 2016 - 04:18 PM

No way. My initial testing so far shows that there is no downside to Brewtan use in terms of beer quality.


Don't you have measuring spoons? ;)

I dont trust them, I prefer to wiegh anything that small.

I think that might have something to do with. My impression (NOT a fact!) is that the 15 min. addition is more for clarity than anything else. SWAG....

now I'm curious if it can replace Whirlfloc.

#56 ChicagoWaterGuy

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Posted 22 June 2016 - 04:23 PM

now I'm curious if it can replace Whirlfloc.

Joe said to still use Whirlfloc but that would be a good side by side comparison.

#57 denny

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Posted 23 June 2016 - 08:17 AM

Okay so I am drinking my first brewtan beer. An Amarillo-Citra pale ale. This is probably not *THE* best beer I could test drive because I generally make these for my wife and I taste it to make sure it's good and then I let her drink it. But I've tasted and drank many glasses of this beer. What I notice is that the beer seems smoother and "less coarse" to me. It's really, really smooth and the malt & hop character are fantastic. I don't want to say that something magical has happened because I don't know that. I feel like if my past beers were oxidized, the flavor may have "staled" a little bit and there was more "static" in the flavor as opposed to just pure, smooth, unadulterated beer. This seems much cleaner and smoother to me. It will be a better test when I check out the first helles I made with brewtan but for now... this is very, very interesting and very encouraging to me.

 

Ken, that's a good way to describe what I think are the differences in my Rye IPA, too.


Joe said to still use Whirlfloc but that would be a good side by side comparison.

 

Yep, I do both.  I don't consider Brewtan to be a replacement for Whirlfloc.



#58 denny

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Posted 23 June 2016 - 08:19 AM

I dont trust them, I prefer to wiegh anything that small.
 

 

Understandable, but since that's the way I was given directions, that's what I'm doing.  I'm not gonna convince myself I know better than a multi award winning brewer who works with the stuff all the time.



#59 HVB

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Posted 23 June 2016 - 08:21 AM

I did my first Brewtan beer yesterday.  Nothing out of the ordinary really. No off color foam like ER had and my wort was not any different than before.  I do recirculate for entire mash and since I had a # of flaked wheat I did not expect it to be crystal clear.  I did notice though when I made the slurry to add to the boil it was very slimy and "sticky." I am not sure if that is touched on in here or not.  Right now that beer is sitting at 64* with some 1450, since it the OG was just 10P I expect to be drinking it in about 2 weeks.



#60 Big Nake

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Posted 23 June 2016 - 08:54 AM

I did my first Brewtan beer yesterday.  Nothing out of the ordinary really. No off color foam like ER had and my wort was not any different than before.  I do recirculate for entire mash and since I had a # of flaked wheat I did not expect it to be crystal clear.  I did notice though when I made the slurry to add to the boil it was very slimy and "sticky." I am not sure if that is touched on in here or not.  Right now that beer is sitting at 64* with some 1450, since it the OG was just 10P I expect to be drinking it in about 2 weeks.

I can't say that I have touched the brewtan or the slurry so I can't compare. What I did notice was that the brewtan dissolved completely in the water and created a clear, tan water. The other thing that occurs to me is that all of us probably have/had varying degrees of O2 pickup from our various processes and systems. Some of us may have been more mindful of O2 pickup and tried to keep it as low as possible. As a result some of us may see a big change in how the finished beer tastes while others will see less difference or maybe none at all. I'm pretty sure that I was not paying attention to O2 pickup until after fermentation which is how I learned. It will be very fun to compare notes when a good number of us have tried this. I have 2 pale ales, a helles and a pils made with brewtan and I may try to pull off a double-brewday weekend with my dark lager recipe on Saturday and another pale ale on Sunday. When changes in process take place like this, I feel like almost every recipe a brewer makes could be "brewed for the first time" all over again. Cheers.


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