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My non award winning Big spruce comp beer

American Wheat or Rye Beer (6 D)

5.25gal batch
60min boil
IBU 26ish
Colour 5.somethingish

Mash Ingredients
4 g Calcium Carbonate
4 g Gypsum
5 lbs White Wheat Malt
3 lbs 2 Row
1 lbs 12oz Vienna
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 30L
4.0 oz Munich

Mash @ 152f for 90min

hops
0.25 oz Simcoe 60.0 min
1 Whirlfloc Tablet mins
0.33 oz Simcoe 15min
0.33 oz Simcoe 10min
0.33 oz Simcoe 5min
1.00 oz Simcoe 0min

Yeast
US05 (16C for 5 days- 18C for 10 days)

Carb to 2.7vol

Big Spruce scores....help

Judge 1
Aroma 7
Appearance 2
Flavor 13
Mouthfeel 4
Overall 6
Total 32

Notes
off flavors (phenol) as it warmed, slightly oxidized

Judge 2
Aroma 7
Appearance 3
Flavor 14
Mouthfeel 3
Overall 6
Total 31

Notes
decent recipe, needs work on the brewing side, low carbed, slightly oxidized, light vegetal flavor, low hop flavor

Judge 3
Aroma 7
Appearance 3
Flavor 12
Mouthfeel 5
Overall 6
Total 33

Notes
very good beer when cold, phenols are prob from infection or yeast femented at higher temp, med high carb

Judge 4
Aroma 7
Appearance 2
Flavor 12
Mouthfeel 3
Overall 7
Total 31

Notes
Tasty and hoppy, increased carb will help as would pulling the balance back towards the wheat.

Judge 5 indepently judged at a different table

Aroma 9
Appearance 3
Flavor 15
Mouthfeel 3
Overall 7
Total 37

Notes
Spicey, fruity, grain aroma, clean, balanced, easy to drink, nice delishious hop level, watch pitch size and ferm temp (some phenol at finish).

Judge 6 indepently judged

Aroma 7
Appearance 2.5
Flavor 12.5
Mouthfeel 3
Overall 6
Total 31

Notes
Nice subtle hops, some spice, fruity, good carb (very solid), nice balance, some flavor that might be due to ferm temp, good entry, more late hop additions and care on ferm temp

Tell us your process?

Oxidized:
How are you doing your transfers? Do you transfer to a secondary? How did you bottle (from a keg, or did you bottle condition)?

Phenols:
Did you primary ferment at the 16* you show above? What temp did you pitch at? How much yeast did you pitch?

I see hop flavor is one thing a few judges had mentioned also, just give it a good hit of late hops. My submission had 2.2oz of EKG @ 60 min, 1oz of centennial & .5oz of EKG at flameout. Personally, I still found it lacking in hops, but I really just think it's this style of beer.

Tell us your process?

Oxidized:
How are you doing your transfers? Do you transfer to a secondary? How did you bottle (from a keg, or did you bottle condition)?

tranfered from bucket to carboy (purged the carboy with co2 before transfer). comp beer was bottle conditioned (bulk primed with corn sugar), the rest was kegged

Phenols:
Did you primary ferment at the 16* you show above? What temp did you pitch at? How much yeast did you pitch?

primary ferment was at 16c (temp controlled), transfered to carboy, bumped the temp up to 18c for 10 days (temp controlled)...I rehydrated the yeast with 250ml of boiled and cooled water (103f)...then cooled it down to 16c before pitching...I used 1 package of us05.

I see hop flavor is one thing a few judges had mentioned also, just give it a good hit of late hops. My submission had 2.2oz of EKG @ 60 min, 1oz of centennial & .5oz of EKG at flameout. Personally, I still found it lacking in hops, but I really just think it's this style of beer.[/quote]

Great thanks for the help...american wheat was really hard for me not to hop like an apa...which is my fav style to brew and drink.

jacinthebox wrote:comp beer was bottle conditioned (bulk primed with corn sugar), the rest was kegged

What temp were your bottles stored at after?

jacinthebox wrote:I rehydrated the yeast with 250ml of boiled and cooled water (103f)...then cooled it down to 16c before pitching...I used 1 package of us05.

Everything seemed fine to me, other than this. You rehydrated at 103°F? Fermentis calls for 80°F ± 6°F. I'm not sure at what point the upper temp would cause problems, but I'm thinking that could have really stressed the yeast.

Keith wrote:

jacinthebox wrote:comp beer was bottle conditioned (bulk primed with corn sugar), the rest was kegged

What temp were your bottles stored at after?

20C

Jimmy wrote:

jacinthebox wrote:I rehydrated the yeast with 250ml of boiled and cooled water (103f)...then cooled it down to 16c before pitching...I used 1 package of us05.

Everything seemed fine to me, other than this. You rehydrated at 103°F? Fermentis calls for 80°F ± 6°F. I'm not sure at what point the upper temp would cause problems, but I'm thinking that could have really stressed the yeast.

I got the info from here...perhaps I should have just sprinkled lol

http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter6-5.html

jacinthebox wrote:

Jimmy wrote:

jacinthebox wrote:I rehydrated the yeast with 250ml of boiled and cooled water (103f)...then cooled it down to 16c before pitching...I used 1 package of us05.

Everything seemed fine to me, other than this. You rehydrated at 103°F? Fermentis calls for 80°F ± 6°F. I'm not sure at what point the upper temp would cause problems, but I'm thinking that could have really stressed the yeast.

I got the info from here...perhaps I should have just sprinkled lol

http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter6-5.html

I pitch dry yeast into the beer @ 24 then continue to drop the temp to 20. By the time it drops to 20, the yeast is happily hydrated.

I pitch dry yeast into the beer @ 24 then continue to drop the temp to 20. By the time it drops to 20, the yeast is happily hydrated.[/quote]


when I dry pitch I just sprinkle when the wort is in the bucket (It's my last step)...so the wort is already at the desired ferm temp...this goes for lagers and ales

I will get a bottling gun...I hate bottle carbing for comps...extra step....extra chance of exposure to o2, wilds, and molds....

jacinthebox wrote:

Jimmy wrote:

jacinthebox wrote:I rehydrated the yeast with 250ml of boiled and cooled water (103f)...then cooled it down to 16c before pitching...I used 1 package of us05.

Everything seemed fine to me, other than this. You rehydrated at 103°F? Fermentis calls for 80°F ± 6°F. I'm not sure at what point the upper temp would cause problems, but I'm thinking that could have really stressed the yeast.

I got the info from here...perhaps I should have just sprinkled lol

http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter6-5.html

103F may be fine, I'm honestly not sure..it was just something that caught my eye and I knew it was out of spec from what the manufacturer recommends. I just know that I either rehydrate at 30*C in boiled/chilled water, or pitch at that temp and continue to chill from there to fermentation temp.

I would like to get my process correct. ..I always pitch my yeast at the same temp as the wort...for rehydrated yeast as well as starters...
ive been trying to focus on proper pitch rates and ferm temps...I fermented at 16c to get peach from the us05.

This seems like a big set back

Honestly everything in the process sounds good (except maybe the yeast rehydration temp). Did you get any of the off flavours the judges described? Do you have some in a keg and some in bottles that you could compare?

CorneliusAlphonse wrote:Honestly everything in the process sounds good (except maybe the yeast rehydration temp). Did you get any of the off flavours the judges described? Do you have some in a keg and some in bottles that you could compare?

I bottled a few extras to sample before I sent the beer in...its all gone now. I still have some in the keg tho.

I'm not tasting off flavors...but that's not saying they are not there. Eric and I sampled it the other night, and Keith and I sampled it when I dropped off my advent beer a few weeks back.

Maybe they could chime in?

I don't recall tasting any off flavors, but my palate isn't trained to know what to look for at this point, I actually really liked your beer.

U sir have earned a free beer lol

I'll bottle some from the keg and get my life coach to try...maybe Dave can help me out

jacinthebox wrote:U sir have earned a free beer lol

Gimme some more of that Amarillo Pale ale, none of that American wheat beer with off flavors I never noticed. Mind you I think we tasted hoppily ever after first, so my tongue would have been destroyed.

Keith wrote:

jacinthebox wrote:U sir have earned a free beer lol

Gimme some more of that Amarillo Pale ale, none of that American wheat beer with off flavors I never noticed. Mind you I think we tasted hoppily ever after first, so my tongue would have been destroyed.

we had the wheat first for that very reason lol

jacinthebox wrote:

Keith wrote:

jacinthebox wrote:U sir have earned a free beer lol

Gimme some more of that Amarillo Pale ale, none of that American wheat beer with off flavors I never noticed. Mind you I think we tasted hoppily ever after first, so my tongue would have been destroyed.

we had the wheat first for that very reason lol

It's all a blur.

I still have some amarillo pale...and my Mandarina Bravaira Pale gets kegged tonight...cant wait to try that

jacinthebox wrote:I still have some amarillo pale...and my Mandarina Bravaira Pale gets kegged tonight...cant wait to try that

Yea the Mandarina Bravaira hop excites me. I need to brew with it soon. I'm off the end of Dec, so am planning on knocking out a few brews.
Will be brewing 2 batches of porter (v1 which was tasty) and v2 which will have slightly more black patent.

I want to figure out what went wrong with this brew...so I can correct it...damnit it's bugging me lol