Brewing after a long time

newtothebrew69 · November 14, 2011, 3:24pm

I haven’t brewed for over a year. Last time I brewed I made like 25 gallons of beer for my wedding. 10 gallons in kegs and 15 as favors in bottles.

Anyway I’m trying to decide if I should use what I have laying around or just start fresh.

I have:

Wyeast 3068 Weihenstephan Wheat - Probably a bit over a year old. Should I try to make a starter and get it going?

I also have probably a half pound each of columbus pellets and fuggle.

Should I try to combine these into a brew? Anyone ever try making a hoppy beer with 3068? I would ferment as low as I could to control the banana. I have to admit, I’m leaning towards making something with these ingredients. It gives me an excuse to brew something I wouldn’t usually brew.

dobe12 · November 14, 2011, 4:04pm

A few things… that yeast is old, but I would still give it a shot. Make a small starter, then step up to a bigger one to build up the yeast. If you get no signs of fermentation from the first smaller starter, I would just dump it and buy another pack. For $6-$7, it’s not worth risking a whole batch of beer.

As for the hops, you may want to just up the amounts you put in the recipe to account for the AA loss. Hopefully they’ve been in the freezer in which case you should be fine. If they’ve been at room temp, then you’ve lost a lot with those hops and will need to up the recipe a good bit.

And that yeast 3068, I believe the banana flavors come from fermenting with lower temps. So you may actually want to ferment higher in the upper 60’s or even lower 70’s if you want to keep the banana flavor out. Fermenting in higher temps will give a more clove or spicy character. I actually just brewed a Festweise yesterday and used this yeast. I split the batch into 2 - 3 gallon carboys. One is fermenting in a fridge at 60F ambient temp and the other is in a closet which is right about 68F ambient. I’m excited to taste the difference between the two batches.

Hope I could help.

dobe12 · November 14, 2011, 4:57pm

On second thought, I may have completely reversed what I said about that yeast. I think it’s just the opposite.

http://www.wyeastlab.com/rw_yeaststrain ... cfm?ID=135

Sorry, my bad

newtothebrew69 · November 14, 2011, 5:17pm

Yeah I’ve had the hops in the freezer and the yeast in the fridge. Maybe I’ll get a packet of dry yeast as cheap insurance in case the old one never gets moving, worst case scenario I’ll end up with pale ale.

Anyone ever make a hoppy beer with this yeast or a similar German wheat yeast?

I’ve always wanted to make a clovey/hoppy (i’d be using Columbus) beer.

a10t2 · November 14, 2011, 6:33pm

A hoppy hefeweizen could be interesting. I’d want to try something fruitier than Columbus though.

If you have a local source of yeast, I probably wouldn’t even bother with the year-old smack pack. To get it up to a pitchable quantity you’d probably have to do a three-stage starter. 6-10 days of propagation and several hours of work versus $7 for new yeast and a single-stage starter.

newtothebrew69 · November 14, 2011, 7:02pm

No LHBS in my area.

I have to make an order for the grain anyway. Maybe I’ll give it a try with T-58. Columbus is what I have so whatever I end up brewing, it will be with columbus.

I’ll probably do:
9 lbs Pale Ale Malt
3 lbs Rye Malt
.5 lbs crystal 40

And a couple ounces columbus at 5 mins.

tom_sawyer · November 14, 2011, 7:27pm

You’ll want a bittering additoin too. The recipe looks fine though. T58 gives a spicy flavor, might just go well with the rye.

newtothebrew69 · November 14, 2011, 7:49pm

Yeah I’ll do a bittering addition too. Just gotta figure what I want my IBUs to be. Undecided haha

dobe12 · November 14, 2011, 8:05pm

Sounds like you have the makings of a Rye IPA. Be careful with that much rye though. Mine was about 18% rye and it’s VERY bitter. Yours is about 24% Rye. That’s a lot. But maybe you really like rye’s in which case… I say go for it.

tom_sawyer · November 14, 2011, 8:10pm

Whats bitter about rye? I get a little spicy note from it, but mostly it lends a full mouthfeel.

I like an IBU/OG of about 0.6. Thats around 30IBU for a 1.050 brew.

dobe12 · November 14, 2011, 8:16pm

I get a bitter and yes spicy flavor… but rye is a VERY noticeable flavor. There’s more than just mouthfeel with rye. Especially at those percentages (24%). Just a warning to be careful using that much.

pb905 · November 14, 2011, 9:06pm

“I get a bitter and yes spicy flavor… but rye is a VERY noticeable flavor. There’s more than just mouthfeel with rye. Especially at those percentages (24%). Just a warning to be careful using that much”

-Gotta disagree. Maybe I’ve just got a dead palate, but under 15%, I dont even find rye to be perceptible at all, flavor wise. I can only notice a textural/mouthfeel difference. I only start to really taste it when you start getting up around 20-25%, so I don’t think 24% is crazy.

glug_master · November 14, 2011, 10:13pm

[quote=“NewToTheBrew69”]I’ll probably do:
9 lbs Pale Ale Malt
3 lbs Rye Malt
.5 lbs crystal 40[/quote]
Just my opinion, but if it were me I’d bump the C40 up to a full pound. I think it would help round out the spicey and citrusy notes from the rye malt and hops.

newtothebrew69 · November 14, 2011, 10:21pm

I’ve used 3 lbs before and liked it a lot. Pretty similar grain bill here. I even made a beer with no crystal malt and a similar ratio with chinook and something else and found it lovely.

I’ll try to think about the flavor a bit more this time around to see what flavors your talking about. I’ll see if I can pick up on it.

newtothebrew69 · November 15, 2011, 5:27am

I think your right. A pound of crystal may be more appropriate in this situation.

But I’m kinda weird. I don’t like a lot of crystal usually. I really liked the texture of three pounds of rye and no crystal. Great mouth feel. Thick and dry at the same time.

But with the flavor profile of this brew I’m thinking I’ll go 1 pound crystal.