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crazyfish posted:What kind of yeast did you use? Or did you just use the wild yeast already in the cider? It was cold pasteurized, so I had to add yeast. Apparently it's nearly impossible without knowing someone to acquire unpasteurized cider at any of the local mills, and understandably so. By the recommendation of one of the guys at the local homebrew store, I used this stuff:  I saw Nottingham Ale and Lalvin 1118 highly recommended in various recipes but was leery about how ridiculously hungry people were claiming it was; I was told by the guy that recommended me this yeast strain that super hungry yeasts can blow the natural fruit flavors right out the airlock. Is there any truth to this? Regardless, my end product has a ton of apple flavor and aroma. So much so that I'm not adding any natural flavor back in (as was recommended on a couple sites' recipes). Cpt.Wacky posted:I've read that with modern yeasts it's not as much of an issue to leave it on the lees. Any harsh flavors should mellow out over time. Did you add anything besides cider and yeast, like sugar? Is it completely dry? code:Last week I added Xylosweet to taste, and enough granulated sugar as a simple syrup to get the SG to 1.005, which is what I was told was the recommended SG to get some fizz without blowing up your bottles. After that I bottled it all up. The bottles have been in a dark cupboard at (I'm guessing) anywhere from 64F during the day to 72 when I'm home. I couldn't help myself and had to open one this weekend, and was disappointed to find that I don't have any carbonation whatsoever. Is this indicative of anything wrong (lazy yeast?), or am I being too impatient and should wait another week? Big Nubbins fucked around with this message at 21:44 on Dec 12, 2011 |
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Dec 12, 2011 21:25
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greasy digits posted:Last week I added Xylosweet to taste, and enough granulated sugar as a simple syrup to get the SG to 1.005, which is what I was told was the recommended SG to get some fizz without blowing up your bottles. This concerns me a bit. The thing is that carbonation is not really dependent on a fixed gravity at bottling - it's dependent on the amount of sugar you add, or put another way, the delta between your FG and your bottling gravity. I think you said that your FG was around 0.995, which means you added 10 points worth of sugar. In five gallons, that would be kind of a shitload - about a pound, or more than a pint of 1:1 simple syrup. If I am doing arithmetic correctly (always a gamble), I think you have bottle bombs brewing. EDIT: I guess it's likely that the Xylosweet added gravity as well - even though it (I am guessing) is not fermentable, it would dissolve and therefore would affect the density of the liquid. It's still important to know just how much fermentable sugar you added, though. Jo3sh fucked around with this message at 22:40 on Dec 12, 2011 |
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Dec 12, 2011 22:33
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TenjouUtena posted:Your beer will be fine. My first batch I didn't use a strainer or hop bag or anything, and so all the hops from the batch all ended up in primary. It'll add hoppy flavor from being in there with it, but overall it should be fine. Thanks. I picked up a bucket kit at lunch for the next batch. 6 gal bucket, with spigot, lid with hole, stopper and 3-piece airlock for $19. I wish we had a LHBS but the local independent general/hardware store has pretty good prices on the things they do stock. I've been asking around about homebrew clubs and heard rumors of them, but no one knows for sure. It's weird because I know tons of people around here are homebrewing. Is it weird that I want to set up a webcam to watch my stuff ferment while I'm at work?
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Dec 12, 2011 22:55
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Cpt.Wacky posted:Is it weird that I want to set up a webcam to watch my stuff ferment while I'm at work? I work from home and my beer ferments in my office. Hearing it bubble away behind me is oddly reassuring and gives me a sense of satisfaction. But yah, a webcam would make it weird.
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Dec 13, 2011 02:21
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Cpt.Wacky posted:Are these big enough for primary fermentation of 5 gallon batches? I did my first brew over the weekend and my 5 gallon carboy didn't have enough head room, resulting in a foam volcano over night. LeeMajors posted:I think it was probably the over length of dry-hopping in buckets, but I can't seem to put my finger on it. Maybe it's just the flavor of loading up on all centennial. Thoughts? Dry-hopping for too long doesn't contribute any bitterness or hop flavor (although the intensified hop aroma can lead to a greater perception of flavor), but it can add some grassy or vegetal flavors and aromas, which it doesn't sound like you got here. It could very well be high amounts of Centennial, it's a very potent hop with lots of citrus (and potentially cat piss) aromatics.
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Dec 13, 2011 03:29
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indigi posted:Dry-hopping for too long doesn't contribute any bitterness or hop flavor (although the intensified hop aroma can lead to a greater perception of flavor), but it can add some grassy or vegetal flavors and aromas, which it doesn't sound like you got here. It could very well be high amounts of Centennial, it's a very potent hop with lots of citrus (and potentially cat piss) aromatics. I've had all-centennials before from my local microbrew that I really enjoyed. I just figured a lot of those oils that contribute the aromatics might've dissipated only leaving the bitter compounds. I dunno, maybe my amounts were out of whack and I got the negative out of it. 
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Dec 13, 2011 03:33
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Founders' all-Centennial IPA is very good, so it's not impossible to make a good beer with just those hops. Maybe something screwed with how much bitterness you got out of the hops or something like that, or perhaps it was just a sneaky infection.
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Dec 13, 2011 03:34
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Anyone familiar with this kit? It's $120 in my store and I'm considering picking it up as my first homebrew set-up.
Midorka fucked around with this message at 05:07 on Dec 13, 2011 |
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Dec 13, 2011 05:01
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Midorka posted:Anyone familiar with this kit? It's $120 in my store and I'm considering picking it up as my first homebrew set-up. Link's broken.
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Dec 13, 2011 05:05
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Sorry, fixed it.
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Dec 13, 2011 05:07
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Midorka posted:Anyone familiar with this kit? It's $120 in my store and I'm considering picking it up as my first homebrew set-up. That's Only other thing you'll need is ingredients, bottles and a pot.
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Dec 13, 2011 05:18
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TenjouUtena posted:That's Thanks, we have the pot/bottles and we're going to upgrade to the glass carboy. This includes everything we need then to make beer?
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Dec 13, 2011 05:27
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Seems a bit overpriced (and what the hell is a "brew paddle" ) but it does look like an ok kit. I'm partial to Morebeer's deluxe kit as it's a little cheaper and they explicitly say what everything is ("star san" vs "no rinse cleaning product" or whatever). But if you want to buy local I'm sure it's totally fine.
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Dec 13, 2011 05:32
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I also got that exact same kit, but the glass carboy version. I have yet to have a reason to replace anything other then the thermometer and hydrometer from it...but those are cause I broke them, not any fault of the kit. Also, I fully second the 'get star-san' advice. :edit: also, just in case that isn't sarcasm, the "Brew paddle" is just a big plastic slotted spoon. Daedalus Esquire fucked around with this message at 05:38 on Dec 13, 2011 |
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Dec 13, 2011 05:34
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The paddle and the glass thermometer are pretty unnecessary if you are making beer from extract.
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Dec 13, 2011 05:34
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Well I plan to start with extract, but since it's such a small production I don't see why I can't buy some "raw" barley and so forth and do it myself. I'll probably start with extracts, but I want to do everything myself eventually to understand as much as I can. My friend has the Brewmaster's Bible, thoughts on that? Edit: Yeah, I prefer to spend a little extra and go local to support a local home brew shop, they're really cool guys that love beer and I hope they stay open.
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Dec 13, 2011 05:47
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That looks like a pretty great kit, to be honest. It makes me happy to start seeing kits without secondary fermenters. e: and for regular usage, gently caress glass carboys, one of those fuckers almost killed me.
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Dec 13, 2011 05:48
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What's wrong with a secondary fermenter? Here's the brochure of the kit. I'm going to be splitting this 50/50 in price with my friend and it seems like I won't need anything else. Question though, we have a bunch of bottles we're going to clean/sanitize and such. Will it be fine to use the bottling spigot included to fill then quickly cap the bottles? Is there anything I should watch out for to avoid messing up the carbonation/etc? Sorry for the dumb questions, I know they're probably been asked every 2 pages for the past 30+ but I want to be thorough.
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Dec 13, 2011 05:53
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Daedalus Esquire posted:I also got that exact same kit, but the glass carboy version. I have yet to have a reason to replace anything other then the thermometer and hydrometer from it...but those are cause I broke them, not any fault of the kit. The hydrometer isn't your fault, those things have floor magnets in them. Am I really the only one who uses Iodophor instead of Star San?
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Dec 13, 2011 05:56
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Midorka posted:What's wrong with a secondary fermenter? Here's the brochure of the kit. I'm going to be splitting this 50/50 in price with my friend and it seems like I won't need anything else. Secondary fermenters are pretty much irrelevant for normal fermentation. They were sort of important when yeast available to homebrewers really sucked. Nowadays, for anything other than some weird situations (sours, fruit beers, insanely long conditioning periods, people who dry hop backwards) it's better to just leave the beer on the yeast in the primary. Lots of people know this, but lots of homebrewing books are stuck in 1985, as well as lots of beer kits. As far as bottle filling, it's probably fine to fill straight from the spigot instead of through some hose and into a bottling wand. It might be a little splashier (which is bad, you want to avoid oxygenating as much as possible) but if you're careful, I wouldn't worry. As for messing up, stir the priming solution in gently but very thoroughly, and measure carefully. Also, iodophor is a great sanitizer, it's just that Star San is better. Foam is wonderful. Hypnolobster fucked around with this message at 06:02 on Dec 13, 2011 |
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Dec 13, 2011 06:00
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So basically when I'm filling the bottles I want to go slow and avoid it splashing or coming out fast so I prevent it from oxidizing as much as possible? Thanks a lot for the noob help. My friend was considering bottle conditioning, but we didn't know much about it, now I see it's going to be "easy" to bottle as long as we're careful.
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Dec 13, 2011 06:31
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Midorka posted:So basically when I'm filling the bottles I want to go slow and avoid it splashing or coming out fast so I prevent it from oxidizing as much as possible? Thanks a lot for the noob help. My friend was considering bottle conditioning, but we didn't know much about it, now I see it's going to be "easy" to bottle as long as we're careful. Yep, that's exactly it. Bottling really is a piece of cake, it's just bad to rush.
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Dec 13, 2011 06:35
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Hypnolobster posted:Also, iodophor is a great sanitizer, it's just that Star San is better. Foam is wonderful. lol Which reminds me, yesterday I went back to read Joy of Homebrewing to make sure it was all solid and whatnot so I could give it to a friend, and in the section where he talks about sanitizers, he mentions he likes star san, but he warns about the foam and how you want to avoid it. Oh, Steve... Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying, Have a Homebrew, and Love the Foam. Our precious alcoholic fluids.... well I think this is what I get for having my first two dopplebocks in well over a year.
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Dec 13, 2011 06:37
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Hypnolobster posted:gently caress glass carboys, one of those fuckers almost killed me. Yup. It made me kind of edgy when all that broken glass was bouncing around by my feet. No blood was lost, but I did lose five gallons of beautiful porter wort, and the garage was a stone bitch to clean up afterward.
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Dec 13, 2011 06:46
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If I had to do it all over again, I would never have bought a glass carboy. shits the devil, and so ridiculously unnecessary...
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Dec 13, 2011 07:42
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okay, so no glass carboy!
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Dec 13, 2011 07:46
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I got that brewhauler thing for my carboy and it's been fine, but I really can't imagine using glass without one of those. I love being able to see right in and they're super convenient to clean and sanitize. Plus the 3 carboys I just bought were cheaper than 6 gallon Better Bottles.
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Dec 13, 2011 07:48
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I love watching my beer ferment in a carboy  I ended up tying together a sort of rope net/lattice carrier, sort of like those old fashioned net floats, around my carboy to make it easier to lug around.
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Dec 13, 2011 07:54
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I bought a brew hauler thing, but then I realized that carboys are just about the perfect size to fit in a milk crate.
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Dec 13, 2011 08:08
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Daedalus Esquire posted:I love watching my beer ferment in a carboy I love watching beer ferment too... and not having to lug around 15 extra lbs of easily breakable glass. http://www.better-bottle.com/index1.html I've never broken my carboy, and I don't find it unusable, it's just a much better, lighter weight, cheaper solution exists. and why not use it? mindphlux fucked around with this message at 08:22 on Dec 13, 2011 |
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Dec 13, 2011 08:19
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For those interested: I am revving up my studies and am looking into BJCP cert - so I made a couple of public lists of the books they recommend and their advanced reading.
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Dec 13, 2011 14:44
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Speaking of books, what's the verdict on the Oxford Companion to Beer? Worth buying?
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Dec 13, 2011 16:21
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I don't get all the hate for glass carboys. Ease of cleaning, no oxygen permeability, and ability to examine the beer is worth the extra weight IMO. You just need to be careful and not have piss poor upper body strength and you are golden. Also, plastic milk crates fit 5, 6, and 6.5 gallon carboys like a glove. Best way ever to lift and move them, and provides some decent impact protection.
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Dec 13, 2011 16:40
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Midorka posted:okay, so no glass carboy! For most brewers and certainly all new brewers, it's my opinion that the plastic brew buckets are a very good choice. They are cheap, lightweight (== cheap to ship), and durable. Yes, they have some disadvantages in that they are not transparent, can get scratched, have some degree of oxygen permeability, and so on, but these are really pretty minimal and easy to manage. If you are really wedded to the idea of transparency and O2 barrier capability, the Better Bottle is also a very good choice. You do have to be careful about scratching them just like buckets, so you'll want to use PBW or similar to clean them rather than a brush - but that's what they're designed for, so it's no big deal. For real Cadillac budgets, the stainless conical is the way to go. Here are a couple of tips to make buckets a little less limiting: 1) Get translucent buckets rather than opaque ones. Morebeer sells the translucent type, while my local shop sells the opaque ones. It's not transparent, but you can see a little bit of what is going on inside right through the wall. 2) gently caress the half-inch (?) hole and grommet in the lid. The hole is too small to be useful and the grommet always falls in. Get a 1.25" hole saw and use that to make your hole, then use a #7 stopper for your airlock. It will never fall in, and the hole is large enough to get your racking cane, siphon starter, or thief into. Checking the ferment no longer requires pulling the whole lid - you can just pull the stopper and get enough of a window to look in and see how things are going. Huge_Midget posted:I don't get all the hate for glass carboys. Ease of cleaning, no oxygen permeability, and ability to examine the beer is worth the extra weight IMO. I don't mind the weight especially. It's the combination of slipperiness, expense, and fragility. Slipperiness and fragility can be ameliorated somewhat by using milk crates or brew haulers, but the milk crates don't fit in my ferment fridge and brew haulers add to the expense. There may be some benefit to glass in lack of O2 permeability, but I have not found any negative change in my beer since I switched back to buckets 100%. Jo3sh fucked around with this message at 17:30 on Dec 13, 2011 |
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Dec 13, 2011 16:46
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Huge_Midget posted:I don't get all the hate for glass carboys. Ease of cleaning, no oxygen permeability, and ability to examine the beer is worth the extra weight IMO. You just need to be careful and not have piss poor upper body strength and you are golden. Also, plastic milk crates fit 5, 6, and 6.5 gallon carboys like a glove. Best way ever to lift and move them, and provides some decent impact protection. Basically it's that plastic carboys have all the same advantages and none of the disadvantages. I think they are a different type of plastic and therefore have much less O2 permeability but I could be misremembering. And it's not so much that the extra 5lbs is a horrible burden, as wet, star-san or PBW coated glass is slippery as hell and I am a klutzy goon. I'd rather buy something that has no risk of shattering and slashing my leg open than a small risk. Like the milk crate idea, though. I'll start doing that even for my better bottles.
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Dec 13, 2011 16:59
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Alright, so I'm done with brewing beer in the winter until I can get a dual-stage set up. It's too cold in the garage so I put the pale ale I brewed in the coldest spot in the house (which we keep at 68F in the winter), our master closet, and it's bubbling away at loving 76F. The other closets are too small and both bathrooms have windows where direct sunlight would hit the beer. I'm going to end up with another estery mess of a beer that I was really excited about making. So a fermwrap and ranco are the next two things I buy period.
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Dec 13, 2011 17:03
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This seems like the place to ask this question: Does anyone have a good source for cheap, non-obnoxious bottle bags? Most of my gifts these days seem to be bottled, and I'm thinking I should just order a bunch of gift bags. But a cursory google search turns up a bunch of things that are more expensive and more frilly than I want.
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Dec 13, 2011 17:16
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RiggenBlaque posted:Speaking of books, what's the verdict on the Oxford Companion to Beer? Worth buying? I just got it last week and I think it's awesome. It is just a list of entries though. Were you the kid that liked reading encyclopedias? Then you'll love it.
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Dec 13, 2011 17:17
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Jacobey000 posted:For those interested: I am revving up my studies and am looking into BJCP cert - so I made a couple of public lists of the books they recommend and their advanced reading. Does the BJCP hate Mosher?
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Dec 13, 2011 17:26
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LeeMajors posted:I've had all-centennials before from my local microbrew that I really enjoyed. I just figured a lot of those oils that contribute the aromatics might've dissipated only leaving the bitter compounds. I dunno, maybe my amounts were out of whack and I got the negative out of it. How old is your beer? Are you carbing in bottles? I've noticed a lot of the greener flavors as well as some of the bitterness will start to subside once your beer has been carbonated and then chilled for a few weeks - if you've been letting them self carb and then cooling them on demand that may explain why those green grassy flavors aren't going away - refrigerate them longer.
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Dec 13, 2011 17:29
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