Podcasts and Lager Yeast
Yesterday Experimental Brewing released the latest episode of their podcast (Episode 59). In the podcast Drew interviews yours truly on some of the complexities of lager yeasts. We touch on topics ranging from their evolutionary history, to major differences within the lager yeast “family”, to just what scientific name they should have (Saccharomyces pastorianus, for the record). We also delve into what got me into homebrewing, fermenting with wild yeast, that odd-ball yeast Lachancia, and a few other topics.
I’d like to thank Drew for interviewing me, and for Denny’s stellar editing. Somehow, between the two of them, they turned an exhausted, sick and somewhat bumbling interviewee into a coherent and semi-intelligible guy!
I hope you find the interview interesting, and if you have any questions or want some clarifications, please leave a comment below and I’ll do my best to answer it for you.
Finally, keep an eye on my blog for an upcoming post where I’ll re- cover the lagering stuff discussed on the podcast and (hopefully) clarify a few points.
Hey Bryan just heard the podcast. Love all the info you contributed. I have a question regarding the addition of ethanol to your wort in collecting leaf litter. I know you mentioned you want about a 5% abv sample. Do you have a recommendation on what volume to add? Or how to calculate the abv? I currently use a refractometer to measure my wort after fermentation then calculate. Not sure how to approach it when adding vodka to it.
Jason,
No need to use a refractometer. All you need is a bottle of cheap vodka at 40% ABV. Prepare 1.040 wort (boiled and chilled and ready-to-use) as per normal. Just before use, add 15 ml (1 tablespoon) of vodka per 100 ml (0.42 cups) of wort; that’s 2.5 tbsp of vodka per cup of wort. This will give you a wort around 1.036 with roughly 6% alcohol in it.
If you want to be super-exact, you add exactly 7.3 ml of 40% vodka to every 92.7 ml of wort, using a wort of 1.043 gravity. That will give you exactly a 5% ABV wort at 1.040 gravity…but is also far more work than it is worth.