I’m a bit confused this morning. I have been attempting to decide what to brew next and had a couple styles in mind. A Saison or a California Common.
Neither of which I have even tasted. So, I went to a local store that carries a bunch on imported and local craft/home brews.
I picked out a Victory brewery Saison du Buff and a White Birch Brewing California Common.
Now the Saison tasted exactly as described in reading, earthy, peppery etc.
The Common tasted like a Barleywine to me. It was heavy, sweet with a very hard bite. I expected a light drinkable vs sipping brew. I am wondering if that was a miss labeled brew. The label stated this should be a “sessionable” beer. It is batch one of the breweries “Apprentice program”
granted I am very new to brewing but I thought the term sessionable was generally used for lighter smooth beers. Is what I’m describing what a California Common should be?
Go buy an Anchor steam, you can get one pretty much anywhere. It is the california common/steam beer that most people think of when you say california common.
I believe anchor steam will not disappoint. Had it for the first time a few weeks ago and it was an easy drinking beer but had a great flavor. Plus the bottle is, imo, unique looking so I keep them to use for my brews.
+1 on the Anchor Steam. It was the first craft beer I experieneced way back in the day…Oh, about…forget about it. it was a long, long time ago. But yes, it’s a very drinkable beer.
just to add to the great replies above, sounds like you might have had a bad example.
Anchor is great, but I’ve found that most homebrewed versions come out with a lot more maltiness (though still balanced toward the hops). If you can get Flying Dog by you, Old Scratch Amber lager is a little closer to a lot of the popular HB recipes.
Either way, its a great style that most enjoy quite a bit. I personally love it, and made a keg of it for my bro-in-law’s 30th (Jamil’s recipe) , and it was well-received by the masses as well.
I’m guessing I got a bad pint. I RARELY send one down the drain, but that one I could not continue drinking.
In reviewing posts in the receipe board, it seems what I have on hand and my consisitant 55 degree basement is begging for a Cali Common so that will be my next batch.
I have an insulated “box” I built to house my air compressor for my workshop, but that compressor died and the new one is too large to fit so I’ll be using that as a fermentaion chamber. I did some experimentation and with a simple 40 watt bulb I get a consistant 63 degress inside the box, a 100 Watt gives me 67 degrees.
wow that sounds awesome. Keep in mind that fermentation will generate exothermic heat, and the beer temperature on a 5g batch could be 5-7 degrees higher than ambient, so your 55 degree basement might be perfect as is for the growth and active phases of fermentation. However, as the ‘bubbles start to slow’, the lamp and chamber will be great as it can ensure full attenuation. You might even consider raising to 65-68 after 3 days or so. I’ve had great success with my steams (and other styles) with that schedule.
Understood! I’ve begun to “borrow” the outside temp monitor unit and tape it to my fermentation bucket so I can see whats going on inside but failed to inform the wife! She was quite confused when the outside temp showed 67 degrees during February in Maine!
I may have to get a separate unit for this purpose!
[quote=“Pietro”]
Either way, its a great style that most enjoy quite a bit. I personally love it, and made a keg of it for my bro-in-law’s 30th (Jamil’s recipe) , and it was well-received by the masses as well.[/quote]
I have Jamil’s Cali-Common fermenting away right now. I am super excited to try it. Question, How long did it take for fermentation to complete? I haven’t taken a SG reading yet (and I KNOW it is the only real way to know if fermentation is finished) but mine has been bubbling away pretty steady for two weeks now. I am still getting probably 5-8 bubbles a minute. It has been pretty consistent at around 60F the entire time (63F during the initial fermentation blast, including the blow off that happened).
This is my first Steam Beer and I guess I just figured that a Lager yeast at Ale temps would ferment quicker than most Ales at Ale temps.
Also, +1 to Anchor Steam Beer. That was my motivation for brewing up Jamil’s recipe.
[quote=“GeerBoggles”][quote=“Pietro”]
Either way, its a great style that most enjoy quite a bit. I personally love it, and made a keg of it for my bro-in-law’s 30th (Jamil’s recipe) , and it was well-received by the masses as well.[/quote]
I have Jamil’s Cali-Common fermenting away right now. I am super excited to try it. Question, How long did it take for fermentation to complete? I haven’t taken a SG reading yet (and I KNOW it is the only real way to know if fermentation is finished) but mine has been bubbling away pretty steady for two weeks now. I am still getting probably 5-8 bubbles a minute. It has been pretty consistent at around 60F the entire time (63F during the initial fermentation blast, including the blow off that happened).
This is my first Steam Beer and I guess I just figured that a Lager yeast at Ale temps would ferment quicker than most Ales at Ale temps.
Also, +1 to Anchor Steam Beer. That was my motivation for brewing up Jamil’s recipe.[/quote]
you could just be getting CO2 dissolving out of the solution, especially if its @ room temp. I’ve turned this beer around really quickly. 4 days @ 60 degrees, 4 days @ 70/room temp, crash, keg, carb, drink.
Found astore that sells Anchor Steam at lunch. Grabbed a 6 pack. Cant wait to try it when I get home!
Actually same place I got the seemingly bad White Birch. I spoke to the management there and they offered to refund the purchase if I have the reciept and bottle. Was very impressed with that! :cheers:
To everyone for the info! Tried Anchor Steam friday night. Very nice tasting beer. Even the wife liked it and she hardly ever has a beer!
My next brew will be a California Common for sure!
Now in the reading, N Brewer hops seems to be the standard, but I’m thinking of not doing ALL N Brewer for my brew. Since I’m new to this obsession, I’ve not brewed with a lot of different hops so I’m really not sure what might meld well with NB.
I have a little inventory which is some Cascade, some Hallertau and I think I have some Fuggles.
I’m thinking of using the Hallertau in this one. Any suggestions would be much appreciated!
NB is already earthy so Fuggles would be somewhat redundant. I’d go with a little Cascade to add a citrus note. Or the hallertau, it’d lend a litle floral and spice. All NB is fine though.
My friend and I just brewed a 15gal batch based mostly on the BCS recipe, used about 40 IBU of NB. Always a popular beer.
I’ve used Cascade in a Common/steam beer. My first go used Papazian’s recipe in Joy of Homebrewing way back in the day. Haven’t done that in quite awhile, but it was excellant if memory serves.
