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I've experimented with a few different apfelwein yeasts and my favorite so far is hefeweizen. Gets you a nice banana flavor and mellows considerably more quickly than montrachet, from what I've found.
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# ? Oct 2, 2011 23:58 |
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# ? May 15, 2024 03:28 |
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I believe it. I love Montrachet, but it sure as poo poo takes a long time to ferment out and get some actual pleasant flavor development.
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# ? Oct 3, 2011 00:00 |
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Kegging question. My co2 tank is in the fridge with the beer. With the low temperature, the tank says it's pretty close to being empty after one carb. When I pulled it out of the fridge between brews it was still really full. Should I be leaving my tank outside the fridge to keep it 'full'? Or is it just as 'full' when it's inside the fridge when it's cold?
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# ? Oct 3, 2011 02:17 |
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Keeping it cold doesn't change the quantity, the high pressure gauge is just designed to work at a certain temperature. Keep it wherever it's most convenient. I've got mine inside the fridge just because I don't need the room yet
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# ? Oct 3, 2011 02:32 |
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Yep, the gauge just reads low because it really can't deal with CO2 very well. At room temperature, CO2 liquifies at about 800PSI; when you chill the bottle (mine lives in the fridge also), the pressure at which the gas condenses drops even lower. On my gauge, it's well into the 'order gas' range. So get used to where the needle is, because it will be there until there's no more liquid CO2 in the bottle. Once it starts to drop, though, you're drat close to out, so be sure to keep an eye on it, and know the business hours of the gas supplier near you.
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# ? Oct 3, 2011 03:07 |
Hypnolobster posted:
What I found neat about cider is that it makes a very distinct hissing sound while fermenting due to all the very tiny bubbles bursting on the surface. It seems every time I rack my cider a 1" cake just appears out of nowhere within an hour. I'm not sure if that is stuff from the apples falling out or if it is yeast. I just added a malolactic culture to mine and it will soon get moved into long term sitting. What is the best way to set up the gas supply for a beer gun? Should I bite the bullet and go with a dual regulator setup, or is it perfectly ok to just add in a valve manifold and use that?
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# ? Oct 3, 2011 03:25 |
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I imagine that everyone is already aware of this but hopsdirect is going to have their 2011 crop for sale on 10/5. Those of you that buy hops by the LB - how do you usually store it?
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# ? Oct 3, 2011 04:09 |
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I'm watching the first episode of "Prohibition", while drinking a homebrew. It's heartbreaking to see all that beer being spilled into the street.
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# ? Oct 3, 2011 04:15 |
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what kind of ABV can Montrachet yeast handle as opposed to danstar's pasteur champagne? I'd like to try it in my pseudo-cyser recipe but I don't know what Montrachet can handle here is my recipe i used for the first batch: 5 gallons local orchard cider 4# local wildflower honey 1# un-local as hell brown sugar champagne yeast if i replaced the pound of brown sugar with two pounds more of honey, how much more fermentable sugars can i reasonably expect? would montrachet still get me pretty dry?
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# ? Oct 3, 2011 04:22 |
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ifuckedjesus posted:I imagine that everyone is already aware of this but hopsdirect is going to have their 2011 crop for sale on 10/5. Those of you that buy hops by the LB - how do you usually store it? Every so often a deal pops up in the thread for a vacuum food sealer. Something like this came up a couple months ago for $35 or so, and everyone jumped on it instantly. A great purchase
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# ? Oct 3, 2011 04:22 |
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tesilential posted:It takes a long time for the wort temp to change and the ambient temp will be MUCH lower in the freezer so when the compressor turns off at 63* the wort continues to cool via the ice cold freezer. I've never had this problem once my wort was where I wanted it, and didn't know it was something others had to deal with. Seems like a super powerful freezer to continue cooling 5 gallons of liquid in the fridge once the compressor is off. The only time I've had wort cooler than I wanted was when I was cooling it from 80* to 60*, and when I checked it was at 55*.
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# ? Oct 3, 2011 04:57 |
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Darth Goku Jr posted:what kind of ABV can Montrachet yeast handle as opposed to danstar's pasteur champagne? I'd like to try it in my pseudo-cyser recipe but I don't know what Montrachet can handle I think pasteur champagne can do somewhere up to 15% abv. I've personally had montrachet ferment down to 11% and it seemed like it struggled a little bit but apparently it can hit 13% according to redstar. Honey and brown sugar should be pretty much the same in terms of fermentable sugar, I believe. With my stronger ciders, montrachet will still dry out extremely well (like 1.001 or lower), but my 11abv experiment only went down to 1.04. Still super dry on the palate though. e: indigi posted:I've never had this problem once my wort was where I wanted it, and didn't know it was something others had to deal with. Seems like a super powerful freezer to continue cooling 5 gallons of liquid in the fridge once the compressor is off. The only time I've had wort cooler than I wanted was when I was cooling it from 80* to 60*, and when I checked it was at 55*. If I had trouble hitting pitching temp within a couple degrees and my yeast is low 70 degrees off the stirplate, I'll delay pitching for an hour or two and leave the yeast and the carboy together in controlled ambient to equalize. Hypnolobster fucked around with this message at 05:17 on Oct 3, 2011 |
# ? Oct 3, 2011 05:13 |
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RiggenBlaque posted:Every so often a deal pops up in the thread for a vacuum food sealer. Something like this came up a couple months ago for $35 or so, and everyone jumped on it instantly. A great purchase I jumped on that, for one. I tend to buy pellets as opposed to whole leaf. Once I open the pound bag, I put them in a Foodsaver bag and vacuum pack them. I store them in the freezer. Before I had the vacuum sealer, I had reasonable success with putting the pellets in plastic jars, also stored in the freezer.
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# ? Oct 3, 2011 05:19 |
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Ugh, I didn't brew again. It's been two months. I'm sitting on materials for a dry Amarillo-based IPA, an extract honey Belgian thing, and I have some fresh drinking cider incoming that I'm going to pitch WLP002 into and see what happens.disco_stu posted:I'm watching the first episode of "Prohibition", while drinking a homebrew. It's heartbreaking to see all that beer being spilled into the street. Sorry in advance, this is a favorite topic of mine: My favorite examples include: being able to buy hopped extract at the grocery store. For "ginger cookies." If you sent away for the Blue Ribbon Extract Cookbook advertised on the package, you got the cookbook, but then two weeks later you got brewing instructions mailed to you with no return address. You could also buy bricks of compressed grapes to make "grape juice." Also you couldn't buy wine, but grape buying flourished. Napa Valley kept up production and fruit stands in a lot of cities were choked with grapes of all kinds. They even had professionals who would come to your basement and bottle your wine for you. I kind of wish that was still around sometimes. Also the entire time, farmers were allowed to make and sell hard cider. Because it was a tradition for the rural, white, protestant voting block behind the Prohibition movement. It makes me wonder why this didn't really survive Prohibition. Anyways, I'm looking forward to that documentary.
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# ? Oct 3, 2011 16:02 |
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What kind of yeast did they have access to back then? Also the fact that there was hopped extract in the 1920s seems crazy to me. It's been around longer than sliced bread. We should be saying "the greatest thing since hopped malt extract"
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# ? Oct 3, 2011 17:32 |
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TenjouUtena posted:So, I just opened the second batch of mine, an Kit Irish Red and it's.... Disappointing. It tastes watery, and doesn't have much body or much aroma. It's this kit: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/irish-red-ale.html I used the White Labs yeast this time. I know that I used too much fill(ice) when I went into the fermentor, so that explains some of it. There's a few things you can do to boost body in extract beers. First, you can steep a pound or so of CaraPils malt. It contributes little to no flavor or color, but is supposed to add body and improve head formation/retention. You could also look into stepping up to mini mashing (it's hardly more work or investment than what you're doing already). Mashing a pound or two of flaked wheat or oats will give you a solid boost in body. Finally, you could add more crystal malt or select a less attenuative yeast strain, but that will do more to boost sweetness than body. Hypnolobster posted:It's pretty simple, and basically just the one that keeps floating around the internet (namely HBT). I know autolysis is basically a bogeyman these days, but you don't have any problems with the cider sitting in primary more than half a year? Is that something specific to wine yeast like Montrachet? I have no experience at all with wine yeasts. I'm hoping to make a batch or two of cider this fall. BerkerkLurk posted:My favorite examples include: being able to buy hopped extract at the grocery store. For "ginger cookies." If you sent away for the Blue Ribbon Extract Cookbook advertised on the package, you got the cookbook, but then two weeks later you got brewing instructions mailed to you with no return address. Ahahaha that is awesome.
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# ? Oct 3, 2011 17:39 |
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BerkerkLurk posted:
You left out the best part of this story! The outside packaging of these bricks actually had instructions written on them: Time Magazine in 1931 posted:Instructions came in the form of warnings against dissolving the brick in a gallon of water, adding sugar, shaking daily and decanting after three weeks. Unless the buyer eschewed these processes, 13%, wine would be produced. Vino Sano's "Don'ts" were designed to prove that the intent of each sale was not to violate the law. edit: Found the actual text: quote:The grape concentrate was sold with a warning: "After dissolving the brick in a gallon of water, do not place the liquid in a jug away in the cupboard for twenty days, because then it would turn into wine."
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# ? Oct 3, 2011 18:45 |
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indigi posted:What kind of yeast did they have access to back then?
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# ? Oct 3, 2011 18:57 |
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Docjowles posted:I know autolysis is basically a bogeyman these days, but you don't have any problems with the cider sitting in primary more than half a year? Is that something specific to wine yeast like Montrachet? I have no experience at all with wine yeasts. I'm hoping to make a batch or two of cider this fall. Well, apparently autolysis in wine isn't a bad thing (although cider isn't wine, I suppose it could be an effect of the specific yeast rather than the fermentables), but it's a pretty good pitch of yeast, they start quickly and ferment pretty strong. I've left beer on yeast for 6 months and never gotten any kind of autolysis that I could detect, either in the beer or in the yeast cake after I eventually racked it off. The apfelwein and cider I've been making and actually liking has all been the same stuff and same process, 6 months conditioning in the carboy and then a month or so in a keg before I remember to try it. It's pretty damned delicate and crisp and any of the autolysis flavors would really REALLY come through.
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# ? Oct 3, 2011 18:57 |
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That's another thing that irks me about the Yeast book. They talk about never leaving your beer on the cake for 2-3 weeks after fermentation is complete because autolysis flavors will begin to develop. I've left 8% barleywine and an 8-9% triple on the cake for one to two months after reaching terminal gravity and there's not a hint of autolysis in either, and in the case of my triple, not even a year out in bottles. I really think you have to treat your yeast like poo poo, almost deliberately, to get them to start dying off and contributing those off-flavors. Maybe underpitching a batch with a vial that's been in your warm cupboard for a few weeks with no nutrients or aeration and fermenting mid-70s could get you autolysis flavors after half a month, but under normal circumstances, not a chance.
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# ? Oct 3, 2011 22:34 |
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indigi posted:Maybe underpitching a batch with a vial that's been in your warm cupboard for a few weeks with no nutrients or aeration and fermenting mid-70s could get you autolysis flavors after half a month, but under normal circumstances, not a chance. I think that's what irritates me about the whole yeast discussion in homebrewing circles - it's all based (it seems to me) on really pessimistic assumptions, and then the pessimistic results are used as the basis of the One True Way to Brew. Today's brew was a Dusseldorf Alt (sort of - I am pretty sure Citra is not to style for that beer). I was one point over my predicted gravity, which seems pretty good to me. Jo3sh fucked around with this message at 23:35 on Oct 3, 2011 |
# ? Oct 3, 2011 23:23 |
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Did my second ever all-grain brew this weekend, and my first ever high-gravity brew. Both my mash temp and my sparge temp were low, and I ended up adding a half-gallon of boiling water to each to bring it up. Then I boiled the wort for an extra hour before adding any hops to boil off that extra gallon. In the end, I got pretty close to my target OG. (Was supposed to be 1.083, I got 1.080.) Hopefully this will all work out OK. I don't know why the temps were low this time. I nailed them with my first all-grain batch. I preheated the cooler both times. The only thing I can think of is that the large grain-bill threw off the online calculator I was using.
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# ? Oct 3, 2011 23:33 |
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So, I'm doing a stout this weekend with a friend who's also brewing a yeti sort of stout (coffee, oak, big and american hopped). I'm working on my recipe still, and I'm sort of conflicted. I want to play with some cold-steeped (in the beer) coffee, and cocoa nibs. What I'm looking for from it is to be quite dry but avoid being astringent and overly roasty which dryness can accentuate to some extent. I'm also considering a pound or so of oats to try and promote some silkiness in the face of a pretty dry, big beer. I don't know about adding any crystal, either. I don't really use much crystal in the first place, but particularly in a beer with over 19lbs of grain it doesn't seem wise. code:
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# ? Oct 4, 2011 00:00 |
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I'm working on NB's bourbon barrel porter kit and I'm ready to get the oak cubes prepped for bourbon-ing. Should I be concerned about making them sterile? Should I boil them first before soaking them in bourbon?
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# ? Oct 4, 2011 00:08 |
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two_beer_bishes posted:I'm working on NB's bourbon barrel porter kit and I'm ready to get the oak cubes prepped for bourbon-ing. Should I be concerned about making them sterile? Should I boil them first before soaking them in bourbon? Are you going to soak them in burbon, discard the burbon and then throw them in the beer I assume? Personally I'd want to get them hot for a while. Oak cubes are Strong As gently caress when you use them the first time. If you want to let them sit longer and get an arguably more developed oakyness, you can throw them in a pyrex cup with enough water to cover them and microwave until the water turns brown. It's the rough equivalent of using them in a couple batches and you can let them age with the beer for quite a while without the oak becoming overwhelming. It has the added effect of sanitizing them quite well. I've done a week with fresh unused oak cubes and it drat near ruined the beer with oakyness.
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# ? Oct 4, 2011 00:12 |
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I've had one batch become infected, and it was a stout with cold-brewed coffee. I don't know for sure, but I think it was the unsanitized coffee that did it. I would definitely soak the coffee in vodka for a day or two first.
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# ? Oct 4, 2011 00:16 |
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How much oak are you going to use? I used one ounce of medium+ toast cubes and four ounces of Jack Daniels in each five-gallon keg of an Imperial Stout and I did not think it was too much oak, even after months on the wood. I did not heat-treat my cubes - I just soaked them in the booze for a couple of weeks.
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# ? Oct 4, 2011 00:22 |
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The recipes says the following: "Soak 2oz of US Medium Plus Oak Cubes in 16oz of bourbon for 24-48 hours. Then add the oak cubes and bourbon to the secondary fermenter and wait an additional 2 1-2 weeks..." This is for a 5gal batch.
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# ? Oct 4, 2011 00:25 |
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That's a shitload of whiskey and oak, IMO. I'm pretty sure the guys at NB have tested it as written, but I used a lot less of both and had great results.
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# ? Oct 4, 2011 00:28 |
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wafflesnsegways posted:I've had one batch become infected, and it was a stout with cold-brewed coffee. I don't know for sure, but I think it was the unsanitized coffee that did it. I would definitely soak the coffee in vodka for a day or two first. Well, I'm planning on throwing ~2oz of freshly coarse ground coffee in, and my dad works for the roaster so I know where it's coming from and what equipment they use, and it'll be fresh out of the roaster into a new bag, etc. I'm also just throwing the grounds directly into the beer, and a fermented out 9-10% beer shouldn't be overwhelmed too easily by anything that might be on the beans, particularly considering that they'll have hit very high roasting temps the day before. I do plan on sanitizing the grinder, though.
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# ? Oct 4, 2011 00:31 |
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Jo3sh posted:That's a shitload of whiskey and oak, IMO. I'm pretty sure the guys at NB have tested it as written, but I used a lot less of both and had great results. The reviews for the kit have some people saying it actually needs more bourbon, and at least one guy put in 20oz instead. I love bourbon, so I don't see a problem with adding that much, but I certainly don't want to ruin the beer.
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# ? Oct 4, 2011 00:40 |
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BerkerkLurk posted:Also the entire time, farmers were allowed to make and sell hard cider. Because it was a tradition for the rural, white, protestant voting block behind the Prohibition movement. It makes me wonder why this didn't really survive Prohibition. It never came back partly because it was already on its way out before Prohibition. Because the demographics most into making and drinking it were heavily involved in the temperance movement, and with progress in bottling and refrigeration techniques, sweet cider had mostly already displaced hard by the time Prohibition started, and by the time it ended it had become "that stuff grandpa used to drink." It being made and sold with little successful legal challenge also had a lot to do with even the genuinely non-alcoholic product being juice with active yeast, made in very laid-back fashion. In contrast to the hopped extract kits or compressed grape bricks, it was something that you might buy perfectly innocently just for a product to use as-is. Further, no instructions needed past "let it sit a while and don't seal it up too tight", and if you were selling some cider that was partly fermented(which was as far as was typically openly tolerated) you could just say "oops, guess it had gone over" with more plausibility than if you'd somehow diluted the hopped malt extract and added yeast. It was really a perfect case for sneaking around the law, so really as I type I more wonder why it didn't have a bigger upsurge during Prohibition than why it didn't recover after. two_beer_bishes posted:The reviews for the kit have some people saying it actually needs more bourbon, and at least one guy put in 20oz instead. I love bourbon, so I don't see a problem with adding that much, but I certainly don't want to ruin the beer. Hey, I figure worst case is that it tastes like a boilermaker?
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# ? Oct 4, 2011 01:31 |
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Hypnolobster posted:Well, I'm planning on throwing ~2oz of freshly coarse ground coffee in, and my dad works for the roaster so I know where it's coming from and what equipment they use, and it'll be fresh out of the roaster into a new bag, etc. I racked a moderate gravity oatmeal stout onto about 2.5 oz of coarse ground coffee, let sit cold for 2 days then kegged. No infection issues and it tasted great. Only suggestion would be to look at using a light roast. I used the same motor oil french roast I drink for breakfast and it was a little overpowering.
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# ? Oct 4, 2011 05:49 |
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Docjowles posted:I racked a moderate gravity oatmeal stout onto about 2.5 oz of coarse ground coffee, let sit cold for 2 days then kegged. No infection issues and it tasted great. Only suggestion would be to look at using a light roast. I used the same motor oil french roast I drink for breakfast and it was a little overpowering. I'm going to use a full city roast kenyan that I really like. It's full out specialty coffee too. Should avoid the gross burnt roasts and the acidity of light coffees.
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# ? Oct 4, 2011 06:16 |
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Ok, one thing that has bothered me that I know is probably RDWHAHB is the process of transferring from brew kettle to fermenter. Mainly, all of my concerns are cold break. Once the proteins have precipitated, does it matter if they stay in the fermenter, as they inevitably do if you just use a strainer and funnel like I do? Basically I'm asking is once the proteins coagulate can they find their way into the beer again. Would it be best to whirlpool and siphon, like you would find in a commercial setting? It just seems like one of those steps and concepts most books don't really seem to cover or explain and I figure maybe I'm missing something. Hell even Palmer doesn't really overthink it like you'd expect a tried and true engineer like Palmer would. Darth Goku Jr fucked around with this message at 18:56 on Oct 4, 2011 |
# ? Oct 4, 2011 18:54 |
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Darth Goku Jr posted:Basically I'm asking is once the proteins coagulate can they find their way into the beer again. No, you're fine leaving the protein gunk in there. Once the proteins drop out, they're stuck that way. It's like they're scrambled egg; you can't really unscramble an egg.
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# ? Oct 4, 2011 19:50 |
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I assume the answer is yes, but can I rack a beer from the primary into a keg for the secondary to just sit around and wait for room in the kegerator to open up? I can't see why this is an issue but something in the back of my mind is nagging me to ask. The beer is an IPA if it matters. Also, for those of you discussing cider and yeast, I used Forbidden Fruit for a 5gal batch last year and it was the tastiest cider I ever had. Just 5g of cider and an extra 5lbs of sugar to boost the ABV.
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# ? Oct 4, 2011 22:12 |
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Last summer I made some cider by throwing some S-04 into jugs of apple juice. (No dextrose or anything else.) Tried it occasionally for a few months after, and it was intense. Tart and harsh. Not terrible, but not really that enjoyable either. Just opened up a bottle this weekend, after a year and change. It's a whole different experience now. Smooth, appley, mildly sour. Pretty good.
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# ? Oct 4, 2011 22:16 |
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Ok, so I'm not exactly the biggest hop head, but my friend wants to... basically overpay for supplies and let me keep the difference if i decided to make an DIPA. Specifically if i made one with a lot of intense citrusy flavor and aroma. So far I know potential hops to use would include amarillo, galaxy, centennial, Nelson Sauvin, citra etc. Does anyone have a go to citrus bomb recipe? I do BIAB partial mashes. He only wants to give me money for the supplies, I said nothing about him BUYING the beer. That's illegal fellas.
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# ? Oct 5, 2011 01:43 |
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# ? May 15, 2024 03:28 |
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Darth Goku Jr posted:Ok, so I'm not exactly the biggest hop head, but my friend wants to... basically overpay for supplies and let me keep the difference if i decided to make an DIPA. Specifically if i made one with a lot of intense citrusy flavor and aroma. So far I know potential hops to use would include amarillo, galaxy, centennial, Nelson Sauvin, citra etc. Does anyone have a go to citrus bomb recipe? I do BIAB partial mashes. http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/3-floyds-zombie-dust-attempt-help-info-requested-245456/ I am going to use this recipe per page 7 : 10.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 80.8 % 1.00 lb Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 7.7 % 0.50 lb Carafoam (2.0 SRM) Grain 3.8 % 0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 3.8 % 0.50 lb Melanoiden Malt (20.0 SRM) Grain 3.8 % 1.25 oz Citra [12.40%] (15 min) Hops 24.0 IBU 0.75 oz Citra [12.40%] (20 min) (First Wort Hop) Hops 19.3 IBU 1.25 oz Citra [12.40%] (10 min) Hops 17.5 IBU 0.67 oz Citra [12.40%] (5 min) Hops 5.2 IBU 0.67 oz Citra [12.40%] (1 min) Hops 1.1 IBU 3.00 oz Citra [12.40%] (Dry Hop 10 days) Hops - 1 Pkgs California Ale (DCL Yeast #S-05) Yeast-Ale Original Gravity: 1.064 SG Final Gravity: 1.017 SG Estimated Color: 8.7 SRM Bitterness: 67.2 IBU I will be mashing 155-156 I have not made this yet but this is my next planned brew. Going to make this when bulk Citra is available... debating on whether I should buy as dried hops or wait until they are pelletized so they will keep longer. Here is your partial mash recipe: 6.00 lb Extra Light Dry Extract (3.0 SRM) Dry Extract 70.6 % 1.00 lb Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 11.8 % 0.50 lb Carafoam (2.0 SRM) Grain 5.9 % 0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 5.9 % 0.50 lb Melanoiden Malt (20.0 SRM) Grain 5.9 % 1.00 oz Citra [12.40%] (60 min) Hops 25.1 IBU 0.75 oz Citra [12.40%] (20 min) (First Wort Hop) Hops 12.5 IBU 1.00 oz Citra [12.40%] (15 min) Hops 12.4 IBU 1.00 oz Citra [12.40%] (10 min) Hops 9.1 IBU 1.00 oz Citra [12.40%] (5 min) Hops 5.0 IBU 1.00 oz Citra [12.40%] (1 min) Hops 1.1 IBU 3.00 oz Citra [12.40%] (Dry Hop 10 days) Hops - 1 Pkgs California Ale (DCL Yeast #S-05) Yeast-Ale 1 Pkgs SafAle English Ale (DCL Yeast #S-04) Yeast-Ale Beer Profile Estimated Original Gravity: 1.066 SG Estimated Final Gravity: 1.018 SG Estimated Color: 9.0 SRM Bitterness: 65.2 IBU Steep the grains at in the mid 150s for 45-60 minutes. It is assuming a 5 gallon batch, 3 gallon - 60 minute boil, and adding the extract at the beginning. If you can do a full boil you probably wouldn't need the extra oz at 60minutes.
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# ? Oct 5, 2011 01:49 |