Thanks I'll try those next.
Brew Day V2.0
- Thread starter Gameface
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Thanks I'll try those next.
Blue Moon is a Belgian Wit. They use coriander and orange peel in it. Maybe see if there are some other Belgian Wits available in your area. I'm not really familiar with any "craft" or "micro" varieties here, although there may be some. I'd say Belgian styles of beer are my least favorite. It's just the sort of funky taste their yeast produces. That's just me, though. Many people really love belgian yeasts and the resulting beer styles. From what I have read, though, Blue Moon does not actually use Belgian yeast. I've read that what's referred to as the "chico" strain works well for a Blue Moon clone, and that's basically the yeast used in Corona.
I like Corona so that makes sense.
Sorry, this is completely wrong. Not sure what I was thinking. Corona uses lager yeast and the "chico" strain is an ale yeast. It's available for homebrewers as 1056 from Wyeast.
No.
I don't really drink a lot of hard liquor. I do know someone who does it. I don't think it's too complicated to get into. Obviously there are some safety issues since you're producing something that is extremely flammable, especially in vapor form.
Body is usually determined by how much residual sugar the beer has compared to alcohol.
Quick lesson. On the standard gravity scale distilled water = 1.000. Water with sugar in it weighs more than 1.000, for instance if I was going to brew a 6% ABV beer my starting gravity would probably be around 1.060. That extra weight is the sugar before it has been fermented into alcohol. Alcohol, on the other hand, weighs less than water. Wine, which is pretty dry and usually around 13% ABV has a finishing gravity of around 0.990. So in beer you have the heavier than water sugar and the lighter than water alcohol in something that is usually over 90% actual water. Lesson over.
So if a beer has very little sugar and high alcohol it will seem "thin" and watery. If it has more residual sugar and lower alcohol it will seem heavy and sweet.
That's what body generally refers to.
But there are a few ingredients that leave starches in the beer which makes the beer a little heavier without making it sweeter, such as wheat and oats. Now malted wheat ferments much like barley, but torrified and flaked wheat either need to be processed in a specific way to convert the starch to sugar or they can be used specifically to add body and head retention.
So, in short, body is a description related to the "mouth-feel" of the beer. Heavy/light, dry/sweet.
Okay thanks.
I have been meaning to make a gluten free batch for a friend. I was gonna do oatmeal stout but apparently the manufacturing process of oats lends to contamination. So now I am looking in to amaranth. It is a pseudocerial, meaning not in the grass family. It was a Southern Americas staple starch worshipped by the Azteks for its mythical powers. They would eat it before there War raids.
There are not a lot of Amaranth brands out ther but some Belgiums. I doubt I could come in to any. Apparently it brews well with all sorts of additional flavourings. I have read mixtures with all sorts of the sweeter spices, chocolate, citrus an other fruits. Nutty flavour. Tart cherries added during second fermentation, that sorta thing.
I have been meaning to make a gluten free batch for a friend. I was gonna do oatmeal stout but apparently the manufacturing process of oats lends to contamination. So now I am looking in to amaranth. It is a pseudocerial, meaning not in the grass family. It was a Southern Americas staple starch worshipped by the Azteks for its mythical powers. They would eat it before there War raids.
There are not a lot of Amaranth brands out ther but some Belgiums. I doubt I could come in to any. Apparently it brews well with all sorts of additional flavourings. I have read mixtures with all sorts of the sweeter spices, chocolate, citrus an other fruits. Nutty flavour. Tart cherries added during second fermentation, that sorta thing.
Oats do not lead to "contamination" in beer. Oats are used frequently in beer, especially porters and stouts. They create a distinctive mouth-feel that some people describe as being slick on the tongue. I'm not sure what it is about the manufacturing process that would cause perfectly harmless oats to contaminate a beer, but if that's a concern, buy your oats from a brew supply store. I'm sure their supply will be beer friendly.