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Zakath posted:I made a starter on Friday night for the porter I brewed today, but it seems to be starting slower than I thought it would -- 6 hours later, there is some small sign of fermenting going on, where I expected at least this much maybe an hour after pitching. Were my expectations way off? It's gonna be fine. The goal (IMO) of a starter is to have "enough" yeast, not necessarily to get it fermenting 10 minutes after you pitch. 6 hours is still really fast.
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Dec 19, 2011 04:27
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Zakath posted:I made a starter on Friday night for the porter I brewed today, but it seems to be starting slower than I thought it would -- 6 hours later, there is some small sign of fermenting going on, where I expected at least this much maybe an hour after pitching. Were my expectations way off? 'Fraid so. A 1L starter, no matter how healthy, is going to reproduce for a while when pitched into 5 gallons of beer. 6 hours is a really short lag time, so you have nothing to worry about.
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Dec 19, 2011 06:00
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You want a decent amount of lag time. If you don't have any that means you overpitched or (I believe) there wasn't enough oxygen for the yeast to properly reproduce so they went to anaerobic fermentation right away. Either way it means negative impact on your beer's flavor. People who talk about getting fermentation less than 1 hour after pitching are dumping in WAY too much yeast which suppresses a lot of ester formation that you want even in light lagers to make it taste like beer (or they're dumping in an active starter that is just offgassing).
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Dec 19, 2011 06:46
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Docjowles posted:I did a search, apparently the HBT thread titled "Brewing with Human Remains" was (mercifully) deleted. It was linked in the old homebrewing thread by BerkerLerk. http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=2984156&pagenumber=434&perpage=40#post392671478 If only he referred to his late wife as "SWMBO." Then it would have been the ultimate homebrewtalk thread.
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Dec 19, 2011 07:01
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After brewing some beer in my kitchen a few times, I'm really interested in creating a setup in my garage consisting of a fairly large brew pot with a propane burner, a cooling tank with a wort chiller, and some type of fermentor vessel all linked together with hoses. What's the best and cheapest way to go about this? I've looked at other home brewing forums and there seems to be a ton of different options and I really don't know where to start.
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Dec 19, 2011 07:02
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Corbet posted:After brewing some beer in my kitchen a few times, I'm really interested in creating a setup in my garage consisting of a fairly large brew pot with a propane burner, a cooling tank with a wort chiller, and some type of fermentor vessel all linked together with hoses. Probably the best cheap way is to define exactly what you want to do in terms of function and space, and then accumulate pieces gradually. I have found that visiting garage sales, scrap yards, etc., one can cobble together something pretty inexpensively. I can virtually guarantee that it won't look like you imagine it to now, though. For brew pots, look at restaurant supply places, estate sales, restaurant liquidations, etc. One effective strategy is to convert a beer keg into a pot - I got all three of my base pots for $25 each this way (not bad for 60 quart pots), then added weldless fittings for valves (and later upgraded to welded couplers). I have heard of large rigs being made from scavenged stainless pool filter housings. I'm not sure what you mean by a "cooling tank," but some copper or stainless tubing can be made into an effective immersion chiller with minimal difficulty - a laundry sink can act as a water source and a drain for this. Keep your eyes open for things that can be acquired inexpensively and then repurposed.
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Dec 19, 2011 15:44
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My Christmas beer this year is a juniper roggenbock, if you will. I've heard rye in a beer can make it a little oily and that is definitely the case right here. I don't hate it, but I wonder if there is anything you can do about it or is it just something you always get with a ton of rye? The basic recipe was 50/50 munich and rye malt, tett for bittering, then 1 oz. each at 3 min. of tett, saaz and juniper. I did a double decoction from protein rest, to 148, to 158 or so. It was a real mess with a couple extra decoctions for when I was under temperature. Pitched a 1200 mL starter of WLP380. Anyways, it's very tasty and the juniper is pretty subtle.
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Dec 19, 2011 17:08
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BerkerkLurk posted:The basic recipe was 50/50 munich and rye malt isn't 50% rye malt a hell of a lot or is that what the roggenbock style entails? e: VVVVVVVVV ah, ok mewse fucked around with this message at 19:18 on Dec 19, 2011 |
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Dec 19, 2011 18:27
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It's typical for Roggenbier, sure. Roggenbock is just a turn of phrase, I don't think it's an actual style. Just as a Weizenbock is a big Hef/Dunkelweizen, this is a big Roggenbier.
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Dec 19, 2011 19:10
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O-o-o-o-out of style? You monster.
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Dec 19, 2011 20:52
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Docjowles posted:My Goonbrew Secret Santa package came too! I'm glad my beers got to you unscathed! It was my first time shipping beer, so I was totally paranoid that you'd get a dripping box full of broken glass. Lemme know what you think when you get around to trying them - the Shawk and Awe was pretty well liked by a lot of my friends, and the None More Black stout has been getting some praise from those who I've shared it with lately too. Happy Goonsmas.
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Dec 19, 2011 21:07
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Thanks, poster Johnnysmitch! Nothing broke or even got scratched. I got 2 each of an amarillo-hopped wheat, Irish Red and Black Cherry Stout. I haven't had time to crack any yet, but I had to post photos of his labels because they are baller as hell. Look at this right here.
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JohnnySmitch posted:I'm glad my beers got to you unscathed! It was my first time shipping beer, so I was totally paranoid that you'd get a dripping box full of broken glass. If you don't mind me asking, how did you make those labels? Were they expensive?
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Dec 19, 2011 21:08
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^ We've got laser printers at work, so I just printed them on that, and used spray mount to stick 'em on the bottles. I think I had almost as much fun drawing + designing the labels as I did brewing the beers. Drinking the beers is still the most fun though. EDIT: Actually, I'll share the labels I've done so far:      The "Pumpkinhead" label was both the longest to draw/design and my favorite so far. JohnnySmitch fucked around with this message at 21:24 on Dec 19, 2011 |
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Dec 19, 2011 21:11
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Nice! Question, I want to possibly create a maple oak oatmeal stout for my first beer. I plan on soaking oak chips in pure maple syrup and then putting them in the mix. I assume I would add these during fermentation, or would there be a better time?
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Dec 19, 2011 21:27
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JohnnySmitch posted:We've got laser printers at work, so I just printed them on that, and used spray mount to stick 'em on the bottles. so they're just office/laser printer paper with spray-on adhesive?
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Dec 19, 2011 21:28
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mewse posted:so they're just office/laser printer paper with spray-on adhesive? Yepper. It seems to hold up great unless you throw them in a cooler with ice, in which case the label gets soaked and ruined.
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Dec 19, 2011 21:29
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Midorka posted:Nice! You can add after a few days of primary. Some rack into the oak chips in secondary but that's only necessary if you are harvesting the yeast. That said I wouldn't recommend oaking your first beer. You aren't yet familiar with the process and won't really have a way of judging how much to use or how long to let it sit. Also the maple syrup will be consumed by the yeast and not lend noticeable flavor. If you to insist on jumping in head first, split the wort into two vessels and only oak half the beer. You'll then have a way to compare the effects of oaking on the base beer. Edit: I'm also pretty sure you must mash oats, meaning it will have to be all grain or partial mash.
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Dec 19, 2011 22:05
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Ah thanks for the advice!
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Dec 19, 2011 22:22
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I finally got my Secret Santa package shipped out this afternoon, sorry for the delay! UPS estimates delivery Thursday but said it may be delayed slightly due to Christmas volume.
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Dec 19, 2011 22:47
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Midorka posted:Nice! Maple syrup will just get eaten up by the yeast, look into using fenugreek seeds. They're used to flavor imitation maple syrup and such and work great in beer.
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Dec 20, 2011 00:26
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Docjowles posted:It's gonna be fine. The goal (IMO) of a starter is to have "enough" yeast, not necessarily to get it fermenting 10 minutes after you pitch. 6 hours is still really fast. Speaking of equipment, my turkey fryer is on the way out -- the "safety button" that you need to press down to light the thing has a gas leak, so if I have the gas turned up to high the button ignites and shoots out flames. Looks kind of cool, but it's probably not too safe. I made due this weekend with a makeshift heat shield, but I need something better. What brands of burners should I look at?
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Dec 20, 2011 00:28
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Somehow, only today did I realize that there should be a goon beer/brewing related channel, so I created one. #beer on irc.synirc.org
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Dec 20, 2011 00:45
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Whatever happened to our goon Homebrew competition? I've got a couple ideas that I think would help get over the hurdles of having such a widespread group of individuals. 1) everyone posts what style beer they want to make. Whichever is most common shall be the chosen beer. 2) everyone brews their beer. 3) we assembly in regional goon meets, and ship as a group. Ex: us Tampa goons come together and mail a package of our beers to each other participating group. 4) have regional goon meets for tasting/judging Ideally the judging would be done blindly, allowing for less favoritism or whatever. I think my suggestions help get over the hurdle of shipping a bottle or two to 50 different goons. We could greatly reduce shipping costs by combing orders and reducing the number of packages sent. Sorry for any grammar stuff, sent from my iphone. So whose down for the comp?
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Dec 20, 2011 01:46
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People are too spread out for that, I think you'd just want to pick a couple qualified judges. I'm sure there's two qualified people that live near enough to each other to do this. If you could get two of those groups that's 4 judges and they'd only need a single bottle to judge. Shipping two seperate 12 oz bottles is cheap enough.
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Dec 20, 2011 02:16
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You could also have people judge certain styles, for instance I feel I have a good palate for tasting stouts.
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Dec 20, 2011 02:19
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There's no way to do a 'best of show' with that. Plus people that judge this should be qualified, so their palate will be fine for any style. I'm sure we have people that would be great judges. I know we have several people that are professionals in some way in the beer industry and people that have done well in big competitions, etc.
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Dec 20, 2011 03:14
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 Got my SS package today, thanks drewhead! German Altbier, Steam Beer, Cider, Braggot, Belgian Triple, Holiday Spice, and Witbier. Also pictured, honey bear filled with the take from his beehives  They're all chilling in the fridge now and start in on them tomorrow!
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Dec 20, 2011 04:24
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I would be interested in a goonbrew comp.
Imasalmon fucked around with this message at 04:34 on Dec 20, 2011 |
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Dec 20, 2011 04:31
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Interested? yes. think it's even sort of feasible without a significant investment by everyone? noooooope.
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Dec 20, 2011 04:46
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Pretty sure I'll be getting a wort chiller soon. I've been looking around and found pretty decently priced Stainless Steel wort chillers. Is there a performance difference between copper and stainless steel? Am lessening my impact of the chiller with stainless steel?
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Dec 20, 2011 13:46
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i thought I was going to end up early, likr 1.015 or oe so, so i could pasturize while should still sweet.Then it was down to 1.000 all of a sudden. so i bottled and it was super dry and tart.Is the a way to sweeten this without concentrated juice. We do have some "apple pie" Which is really sweet.
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Dec 20, 2011 14:08
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Jacobey000 posted:Pretty sure I'll be getting a wort chiller soon. I've been looking around and found pretty decently priced Stainless Steel wort chillers. Is there a performance difference between copper and stainless steel? Am lessening my impact of the chiller with stainless steel? I would think copper is a better idea since it's a better thermal conductor. You could buy one, but I'm absolutely awful at DIY stuff and even I could make a chiller for about 1/3rd the cost of buying one by just following instructions online.
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Dec 20, 2011 14:55
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stizu posted:i thought I was going to end up early, likr 1.015 or oe so, so Come again?
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Dec 20, 2011 15:42
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digitalhifi posted:Come again? Looks to me like perhaps he has been tasting the hydrometer samples, and has been for a while. The best way I have seen to sweeten cider that is too dry is to use an unfermentable sweetener. Pretty much anything else you can add will just ferment out. Another poster here recently used xylitol (Xylosweet) to backsweeten his cider, and got a flavor he liked. I have heard of others using sucralose (Splenda) with good success also. Pasteurization is something people talk about, but I have never personally seen it done by the home user. If you have a proven process, you might be able to backsweeten with regular sugar, honey, etc., and have it stay sweet, but it seems like a crapshoot to me.
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Dec 20, 2011 15:54
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I bottled an imperial stout after adding rehydrated yeast and priming sugar to the bucket. I was concerned about bottle bombs because I had never done such a thing before and wasn't sure whether the increased yeast might cause trouble. It's been three weeks and I decided to check on the progress. I opened a 12 oz bottle that I filled near the end of the bucket and poured half a glass of foam. I also opened a 22oz bottle and it seemed a little under-carbonated. I would like to dip the bottles in wax and give them away as gifts, but I don't give to give bottle bombs. I'm thinking about checking a few more to get a wider sample. If I think that they've carbonated too much, is there anything I can do other then perpetually storing them at 54 degrees? Other thread I've looked at say I need to delicately open and drain pour them all.
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Dec 20, 2011 20:32
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Cointelprofessional posted:I bottled an imperial stout after adding rehydrated yeast and priming sugar to the bucket. I was concerned about bottle bombs because I had never done such a thing before and wasn't sure whether the increased yeast might cause trouble. It's been three weeks and I decided to check on the progress. I opened a 12 oz bottle that I filled near the end of the bucket and poured half a glass of foam. I also opened a 22oz bottle and it seemed a little under-carbonated. How much sugar did you use for how big a batch? I have always been under the impression that if bottles were going to bomb, they would do it in weeks 2 and 3 of bottle conditioning. Edit: vvv 2/3rds of a cup for a 5 gallon batch of beer is fine. SoftNum fucked around with this message at 22:57 on Dec 20, 2011 |
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Dec 20, 2011 20:38
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uhhh so, I left a killawatt hooked up to my kegerator for a while, and took a reading 139 hours 2.66kwh used. I think that translates to like 15 cents? that can't be right...
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Dec 20, 2011 21:42
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TenjouUtena posted:How much sugar did you use for how big a batch? I have always been under the impression that if bottles were going to bomb, they would do it in weeks 2 and 3 of bottle conditioning. I used John Palmer's ratio and did 2/3 cup of white sugar with 2 cups of water. Doing a google search of "when bottle bombs happen" mentions that they can go off months afterwards. I've kept them in a 70+ degree environment so I feel like they would have gone off by now.
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Dec 20, 2011 22:29
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So it looks like most of the people in this thread do a fair amount of beer shipping- I've got the packaging/leak prevention stuff down, but I'm just wondering if there are any other pitfalls I need to watch out for shipping inside the US with UPS or FedEx. If someone here could shed a bit of light on this for me or is willing to share a bit of advice it would be much appreciated!
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Dec 20, 2011 23:14
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mindphlux posted:uhhh If you've got it stuffed to the brim with stuff and away from heat sources it might not need to switch on all that often. When I'm doing lagers in my fridge over the winter I can set the fridge to 49* and if there are two batches in there (plus a bunch of bottles and assorted other junk) it kicks on a few times per day, and hardly ever after active fermentation subsides - although that's in my basement which is constantly around 60* anyway.
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Dec 21, 2011 00:04
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