Ways to make an Amber less boring

Apparently 90% isn’t really unusual for 3711: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=475129

My saisons ferment that low with 3711. I mash around 148 for them

If it still cloudy when yer close to bottling, do take time to chill and use gelatin as a clarifier… works quite well. Brulosophy has Xbeerment which describes how they use it. What I use now too! Sneezles61

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Awesome, thanks. I’ll look into it.

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So re: gelatin/cold crashing:

I should…

  1. Take fermenter out to the garage a ~three days before I plan to bottle, let drop to a very cold temp.
  2. Once cold, add ~1tsp gelatin to 1/2c water, get hot to dissolve/pasteurize, then dump into cold beer.
  3. Stir to disperse gelatin in beer.
  4. Let sit a couple days, see if it clears up.
  5. ???
  6. Profit!

Right?

Very close, I only use 1/2 teaspoon, and 3/4 cup water and I will heat in micro wave in 15 second bursts and take out to stir and check temp. I will git it to 150-ish… Then its ready to add. I will only chill over night before preforming this! Sneezles61

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Thanks much!

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Whoa… I thought it was:

  1. Steal underpants.

  2. ???

  3. Profit.

:grinning:

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FG dropped to maaaaybe 1.003 after another 5 days, so I’m calling it. Cold crashing tonight, will bottle on Saturday.

Tasted it and it’s good (more body than before) but the Chinook added more bitterness than I wanted. I expect that’ll mellow over time, though. Pretty pleased in general!

Sounds about right, my saisons usually end up from 0.998-1.004. That would be a great beer to carb high, if you have the bottles for it.

Can you elaborate on that a little? What do you mean by “have the bottles for it”? Like, a specific kind of bottle (thicker, I assume?) that’s more suitable to added carbonation?

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Yeah, a lot of the time saison is bottled in champagne bottles and carbonated at 3.5+ volumes. With that low of a finishing gravity, the added carbonation helps add more fullness to the body and increases the aromatics. EZ-cap bottles can take a bit more carbonation than your standard 12-oz pry-off bottle as well, and they don’t require a corker. A standard beer bottle would shatter under that level of carbonation.

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Gotcha. I have a bunch of swing-tops, but not enough to do the entire batch. Not sure I want to mess with individually carbing bottles at this point, so I’ll probably just stick to the recipe as written on this one.

When it comes to bottle conditioning, stick with what you’re comfortable. It’ll still be great carbed to 2.5-2.7 volumes.

Its a reason I save Duvel bottles, they are quite thick, and ,well proven to hold a higher carbed brew, not to mention, very tasty brew too! Sneezles61

I’ve blown two or three ez caps. I would recommend Belgian style bottles.

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Agreed, they’re better than standard crown cap bottles, but they’re nothing compared to Belgian or champagne bottles. There’s a reason that cantillon and fantome come in champagne bottles…

Be careful with those duvel bottles - the crown itself isn’t good for much beyond a standard bottle. Need cork/cage or cork/crown for high pressure.

2.5-2.7 is standard, or is that still a bit above what the kit recommends?

It’s a little higher, but traditionally Americans like more carbonated vs. less carbonated. Since we’re on topic, you may want to check this out.

Edited: it’s the NB priming calc.

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2.7 volumes is what you would get for 5 gallons if you used a whole 5-oz pack that NB provides in a kit, assuming you had a 68°F max fermentation temp. High, but appropriate for a beer with a low terminal gravity.

For reference, IPA usually is more like 2.2-2.4.