Beancounter Citrus Pale Ale

[Croesius]

So I was looking through the hops I had on hand, and decided to make something focused on the citrus aspects of the said hops.

Beancounter CPA:
6 lbs Briess Golden Light DME
.5 lb Cara-Pils
.5 lb Caravienne
.25 lb Special B
1 oz Chinook (60)
1 oz Magnum (60)
1 oz No. Brewer (10)
1 oz Simcoe (5)
1 oz Citra (Dry Hop)
1 lb Belgian Clear Candy Sugar (why the hell not)
WLP 575 Belgian Blend

I expect it to not really follow any style guidelines, any thoughts on the general composition?

[vance71975]

So I was looking through the hops I had on hand, and decided to make something focused on the citrus aspects of the said hops.

Beancounter CPA:
6 lbs Briess Golden Light DME
.5 lb Cara-Pils
.5 lb Caravienne
.25 lb Special B
1 oz Chinook (60)
1 oz Magnum (60)
1 oz No. Brewer (10)
1 oz Simcoe (5)
1 oz Citra (Dry Hop)
1 lb Belgian Clear Candy Sugar (why the hell not)
WLP 575 Belgian Blend

I expect it to not really follow any style guidelines, any thoughts on the general composition?

Looks Solid to me! :cool:

[Croesius]

So the beer has been brewed, and I was very concerned about the yeast I used; I had acquired it for less than a dollar due to the age...It was best used by January 15th 2010, and it's now a considerable bit later. Took about 48 hours, but it began foaming up, and is now going strong! My concern with the age of the yeast was if it would work at all. Now that I see it just had a long lag time, are there any other effects the old yeast might contribute that afresh one wouldn't?

[vance71975]

So the beer has been brewed, and I was very concerned about the yeast I used; I had acquired it for less than a dollar due to the age...It was best used by January 15th 2010, and it's now a considerable bit later. Took about 48 hours, but it began foaming up, and is now going strong! My concern with the age of the yeast was if it would work at all. Now that I see it just had a long lag time, are there any other effects the old yeast might contribute that afresh one wouldn't?

Its possible to get some off flavors, you said it was 48 hours and it was foaming, but was it throwing bubbles in the air lock before that? My personal concern with that kind of a lag would be the possibility of some wild yeast or bacteria causing contamination. But if you were throwing air bubbles and kicking air out through the air lock it shouldn't be a big issue if your sanitation was up to par.

Aside from that i don't personally know of any ill effects of using old yeast, i have personally bought past expiration date yeast But i could have just got lucky and never had a problem. Hopefully Brewdog or Beerking or one of our many veteran home-brewers will step in and add to this and correct anything i may be wrong about.

[sully626]

I had picked up some yeast for my second or third batch at the closest LHBS(though I try not to use them unless I absolutely have to) and realized as I was going to pitch it that it was 5 months overdue. From what I could tell everything worked out fine, beer tasted fine and I hit FG without an issue.

[BrewDog]

Stressed yeast generally give off more byproducts, such as esters or phenolics. They can (not WILL, but CAN) lag long enough that bacteria/wild yeast that flew into the kettle between chilling and sealing can take hold and propagate. Normally, the race is won by the good yeast, which starts to produce alcohol in enough quantity to kill anything that shouldn't be there.
They also tend to attenuate less, leaving a sweeter beer.

[Mill Rat]

Yeast past the expiration date respond well to a large starter. Using one will help minimize any impact to your brew.