TTL: Caramelize or not?

[monk]

Since when do you live in Cypress by the way??

Cypress, California, actually. Moved back to my hometown. Just south of LA, next to Long Beach. I know, not as exciting as the Mediterranean one.

[drsmurto]

Hoping to brew one this weekend should my styrian plugs arrive in time. I have a fresh pack of 1469 waiting for me at the HBS

Havent yet got my hands on floor malted GP (very soon i hope) so i generally add 300g or so of Munich to Bairds MO to up the maltiness. Was going to add a touch of choc malt for colour but really should try caramelising the first runnings as it seems to be favoured by people on a few continents....

FWIW, my hop schedule has always been Fuggles at 60, EKG at 20 and a metric shedload of Styrians at flameout.

[iowalad]

Will there be any styrians left after this weekend?

[Barley Water]

Ok guys, I'll play also. I am going by the homebrew shop this evening to pick up supplies for the planned Belgian Pale ale this weekend (I already have a vial of the DeKonick yeast so I am committed).While I am there, I will see if they have any Wyeast 1469 in stock. I know that I have a bunch of Styrian Goldings at home which I am sure are screaming to go into a worthy brew. Since I have never had the honor of tasting the commerical version, how strong is the caramel/toffee taste? I also am using a propane fired boiler so I am sure I get some carmelization every time I brew but I know I will need to boil down some of the first runnings to get any toffee out of a grist of straight pale ale malt.

[mysterio]

It is quite toffee-ish, not overwhelming but in balance with the rest of the beer. It's a pale copper beer but supposedly all pale malt grist. I think there's a hint of butteryness, which adds to the toffee effect, i'm not sure if that's a hint of diacetyl or the effect of kettle caramalisation. It's also got quite a firm bitterness, between 0.75 - 1 BU:GU i'd say, and a crapload of Styrian aroma.

[iowalad]

Barley Water,

That is the same thing I struggle with. I am coming around to more severely reducing (to the point of toffee)at the encouragement of Rab and Mysti amongst others but I still can't decide how much volume. I am thinking 3 liters/quarts but will likely change my mind 100 times between now and Saturday. Mysti has never led me wrong yet.

I look forward to regular Saturday day brew posts from all the TTL brewers although the British will probably be done beforer I even start!

[Grot]

I'm just coming up to the boil on mine. I'll post a brewday thread when things calm down. (Still trying to work out the conversion of a metric shedload to Imperial units )

[drsmurto]

I'm just coming up to the boil on mine. I'll post a brewday thread when things calm down. (Still trying to work out the conversion of a metric shedload to Imperial units )

Not sure how to do that conversion....

I ordered 1 kg of styrians. Last one was 1.5g/L at flameout. It depends on how the styrians smells when i open the pack. Last time it took me 5 mins to get my nose out. mmmmmmmmm

[flything]

Can I play too?

Got my 1469 yeast in a starter (so I can make at least another beer, possibly a Sam Smiths Old Brewery Bitter) and I'll be brewing my TTL clone on Saturday night if all goes well.

I had 3 pints of the real stuff up in Newcastle the other night and have just had a bottle, mmmmm mmmmmm. The draft definately had a caramel taste but not sweet, bottle was less pronounced I think.

[Barley Water]

Life is good, I got a package of yeast last night so I will be ready to give it a try next weekend (Belgian Pale ale this weekend). I don't see a whole lot of information about this strain on the Wyeast site and since I have never used it before, I am not sure what to expect. The site does suggest that it is very floculant which leads me to think that it is probably a poor attenuator (maybe something like the Fuller's strain which is one of my favorites). Anyhow, my plan is to ferment at about 68F and see what happens (unless somebody here has a some experience and a better suggestion). Does this stuff produce diacetyl (which I like in moderation and would taste great with a little carmalization) or any sulphur notes (which I hate)? Since it is floculant, should the beer be roused to make sure it finishes out? Any tips from the pros whould be greatly appreciated.

[Grot]

I brewed three batches with this last year. I don't remember it flocc'ing like the Fuller's strain but it did drop crystal clear in the secondary. I checked my notes and here are my numbers:

1042 1010
1044 1011
1034 1008

So around 75% attenuation each time and I didn't rouse it. I got no diacetyl or sulphur notes and that was at around 68F. I'd love for them to make this a regular offering but I guess I can handle once a year.

[monk]

So how did the caramelizing go, guys? How much did you decide to reduce, and how long did it take? My grain and yeast come in the mail tomorrow, I believe, but I won't be able to brew until the 8th. Hope everyone's brew turned out well!

[Grot]

I did a small batch and reduced about a liter by 2/3. I started boiling it before finishing my first runnings and I guess it took 20-30 minutes. You have to watch it, though. I've had a boil over when doing this for a wee heavy. Pics in this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=17137

Here's flything's brewday thread. He reduced 2 liters to 1.
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=17195

Iowalad said in that thread that he reduced 3 liters to 1.

The guy who came up with the kit recipe for Northern Brewer (that's posted above) claims TT uses invert sugar and caramel color in Landlord, which is why he used sugar in his recipe. They also got his hop schedule wrong

[mysterio]

Invert sugar and caramel colour, that's interesting.

I wonder if it's worth shooting off an email to TT, has anyone tried?

Edit: Strike that, they don't appear to have an e-mail address, or at least not on their website...

[Barley Water]

I made my version this weekend as per Mr. Wheeler's book except for the carmelization and 1 ounce of Styrian Goldings at flameout. I pulled off 3 quarts of first runnings and boiled like hell on the stove. I would say I got down to around 1 quart once I was done and of course it was a lot darker than when I started. I also started my boiler about 1/2 way through the sparge just to get a little more kettle carmelization. All in all, I think it worked out pretty well as the beer looks to be about the right color judging the the pictures posted. I notice that the yeast was going like gangbusters this morning and I hit my original gravity (1.042) so everything looks like it's going well. By the way, the beer has a pretty big Styrian aroma, I hope I didn't mess up by adding the aroma hops at the end.