Good Bye To Bad Rubbish

[base2aau]

Well i never thought I would live to see this, but I have just thrown out 23 liters of beer. It was so painful watching beer pouring into my garden unfiltered through my kidneys. But simply cascade chocolate Mahogany porter did not earn its place in my keg.

1. The beer was very light in colour for a porter. it looked like it was going to come out to be around 11 but I would have expected a ported to come out to around 17?

2. The brew stalled at with a sg if 1012 after 15 days in the fermenter.

3. the bohemian yeast gave the beer a lovely sewer sulphur smell. I could have put up with the smell if not for the other problems.

I think two thirds of these problems are related to the yeast, so I am trying again with his troubled cousin "Spicy ghost" this time I am using S04 to see if this makes a difference.

 

[j1gsaw]

Mate, I did the Spicy Ghost a while back myself, and half of it went to the garden too, I wouldnt brew the stuff again if someone paid me too, even with a good yeast.

 

[Neill]

Spicy Ghost has a horrible reputation. Make something else and save yourself the heartache!

 

[Adamt]

You haven't mentioned anything that warrants chucking the batch, you may have poured out perfectly good beer.

What else did you put in with the can? "Mahogany" is dark red-brown colour so it will probably be lighter than what most consider a "porter" should look like.

I'm guessing the "Bohemian yeast" is a lager yeast of some sort... have you actually brewed a lager before? Did you make a starter? What was your fermentation temperature? Lagers often take 2-3 weeks to ferment at proper lager fermenting temperatures (~10C) and often need the temperature bumped up to finish off. Lager yeasts notoriously throw eggy sulphur smells which will dissipate with time, this is perfectly normal.

 

[base2aau]

You haven't mentioned anything that warrants chucking the batch, you may have poured out perfectly good beer.

What else did you put in with the can? "Mahogany" is dark red-brown colour so it will probably be lighter than what most consider a "porter" should look like.

I'm guessing the "Bohemian yeast" is a lager yeast of some sort... have you actually brewed a lager before? Did you make a starter? What was your fermentation temperature? Lagers often take 2-3 weeks to ferment at proper lager fermenting temperatures (~10C) and often need the temperature bumped up to finish off. Lager yeasts notoriously throw eggy sulphur smells which will dissipate with time, this is perfectly normal.

It is true I have to admit that a lot of the problem I could have fixed, I have done lagers before, but I bottled them for a couple of months before drinking to clean up the odour, but this time I am kegging and I do not have enough kegs to let this age, So I guess this is more my fault than the beers.

And I guess the reason the SG did not drop that far was because I am brewing at ambient temperature in Brisbane and I do not have a cooler or a heater. But I really think that if a kit is sold in Brisbane (at Coles) it should brew in Brisbane conditions.

Well maybe this is why Coles is discontinuing Cascade kits here in Brisbane?

 

[bum]

Because they adhere to the laws of physics? :blink:

 

[Adamt]

With very few exceptions, no beer should be fermented at temperatures above 25C. You'll need to find some way of maintaining lower temperatures if you wish to brew in warm weather.

 

[mfdu]

kind'a sad way to water the garden, dude.


i got two cans of this at $3 each (carlisle st coles selling off all HB stock)

got one on the go at the mo, using S04 yeast, 1kg DDME, .5kg LDME, some fuggles, some galaxy hops and a hope and a prayer.

only done one other cascade kit (imperial pale ale) and it was dodgy as. definately did not use the kit yeast this time.

but with the next can maybe i'll try using the kit "bohemian" yeast as a lager yeast at 10degrees and see if it is ok.

 

[chappo1970]

I'm a Brisbane based brewer and the fact of the matter is our average ambient temps are just to high here to knock out any decent brews. It's a must to have some sort of temperature control if you want to brew year round. Even ATM though it's cool at night say 15C or so the days are still around the 25C mark. Probably this time of year is your best bet but come September your stuffed again.

Chappo

 

[RobboMC]

If you want a good porter pay for a Muntons Nut Brown, well worth the extra $.

Or at the cheap end a can of Coopers Dark Ale and a dose of Chocolate Master Blend ( maybe 1/2 kg or touch less )
along with the kilo of fermentables you choose.

I've brewed Dark Ale cans at 13 deg c with saflager in the winter and it works a treat into a decent porter.

 

[.DJ.]

90% of the problem is poor brewing practices so I cant see how it is the kits problem...

Hell, even an AG pilsner will taste crap if not fermented at the correct temperature...

 

[brettprevans]

correct me if ive misread the thread but....

- you used a boh pils yeast on a porter? porter is an ale. why use a pils yeast? the fact that the boh yeast never used to come with the porter can should be a hint.
- yes temp too high but it still should have been ok. although using a lager yeast @ 25C? wtf?
- no you didnt say why you chucked it out. b/c the colour was wrong. if thats the only reason, you have issues.
- ive made great beers with the spicey ghost and porter.
- FG of 1012 is perfectly fine.
- use the proper yeast for the job next time and read up on brewing practices.


edit: just re-read my post. i cam across as a cranky old ******* didnt i. sorry.

 

[glennheinzel]

I'm a Brisbane based brewer and the fact of the matter is our average ambient temps are just to high here to knock out any decent brews. It's a must to have some sort of temperature control if you want to brew year round. Even ATM though it's cool at night say 15C or so the days are still around the 25C mark. Probably this time of year is your best bet but come September your stuffed again.

Chappo

Sounds like great weather for brewing (and drinking) saisons. I'm not sure what kit+k might make a good base, but the saison yeasts generally work best at 25 deg C+ temps (even up to 40 deg C). Make the weather work for you!

Overview of style-
http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style16.php#1c

Link to yeast strain information-
http://www.wyeastlab.com/rw_yeaststrain_detail.cfm?ID=60

 

[Stewie78]

Well i never thought I would live to see this, but I have just thrown out 23 liters of beer. It was so painful watching beer pouring into my garden unfiltered through my kidneys. But simply cascade chocolate Mahogany porter did not earn its place in my keg.

1. The beer was very light in colour for a porter. it looked like it was going to come out to be around 11 but I would have expected a ported to come out to around 17?

2. The brew stalled at with a sg if 1012 after 15 days in the fermenter.

3. the bohemian yeast gave the beer a lovely sewer sulphur smell. I could have put up with the smell if not for the other problems.

I think two thirds of these problems are related to the yeast, so I am trying again with his troubled cousin "Spicy ghost" this time I am using S04 to see if this makes a difference.

I feel a bit sucked in also, although mine didn't turn out bad, I bought the Spicy Ghost and the Mahogany Porter. I actually drank the Spicy Ghost (drinkable at best)and yesterday came close to pouring the Porter out to make room for a Kilkenny that's almost fermented. It wasn't bad enough to feed the turf with but I won't be buying it again. I sort of got suckered in by the fancy tin and the little story that comes with it.

 

[chadjaja]

Its not the cans fault. It needs help.

Warra posted a great beer with this can and DDME/honey etc and I've made great brews with his recipe and my own adding amber malt, honey, chocolate and black grain and as always it needs a yeast such as s04. They have all turned out SUPER brews and loved by all that have had them.

I actually keg a new batch using this can on Monday as its been sitting for over two weeks in pimary. I also picked up a few cans for $6 so I have stock to make future batches.

Its the only cascade can worth trying imo.

 

[brettprevans]

Its not the cans fault. It needs help.

h34r: tins of goo are like disabled kids. its not the tins fault it is the way it is. yes it may be an inferiour product but it can produce wonderful results if some TLC is given. so be caritable and help it out by throwing some grain, hops and malt its way.


edit: im so gonna get flammed for this analogy.

 

[ryanator]

I made one of these a long time ago and added chocolate and honey to it. It turned out okay, not great. It had a massively high alcohol content!