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drewhead posted:A thread or two ago someone recommended these: http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3437187&lmdn=Category These don't have wheels, but I have a bunch of http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=24749 in the 40 pound model, which are quite nice.
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Feb 22, 2012 14:37
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Does anyone have a tried and true extract or partial mash dry stout recipe? I want to bang out a batch tonight but I'll be damned if I want to clean a mash tun at midnight. I know it makes me the minority as a home brewer, but I just don't make many stouts.
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Feb 22, 2012 17:15
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I can't speak to these recipes, but NB has rarely let me down before. The All Grain recipes are listed, but so are the extract and partial mash versions. http://www.northernbrewer.com/connect/2012/02/all-about-stout-the-beers-of-brewing-tv-55/
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Feb 22, 2012 18:23
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i think the basic recipe for a minimash would be your extract, some base malt + roasted barley + flaked barley, and then goldings as a bittering hop. i tried to make a recipe when i didn't know how to do a minimash and i subbed 120L crystal malt for the flaked barley, it didn't turn out very well. it didn't have any body and the roasted barley flavour was overpowering.
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Feb 22, 2012 18:40
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The northern brewer stout kit was my first beer. It took a little while to really develop, but it was totally drinkable after two weeks in the bottle.
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Feb 22, 2012 19:07
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I just got an old RO filter I had laying around up and running. The goal is to stop paying $2.50 to the water machine down the street each time I brew (can't use the straight tap water here as it is disgusting). Now this RO filter should be brinigng the water awful close to 0ppm - what, if anything should I be adding to my water to get it into a normal hardness? I'm not necessarily trying to emulate any specific water source, I just remember reading that water that is too soft poses some issues.
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Feb 22, 2012 19:25
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Super Rad posted:I just got an old RO filter I had laying around up and running. The goal is to stop paying $2.50 to the water machine down the street each time I brew (can't use the straight tap water here as it is disgusting). The Mad Fermentationist has a pretty good guide for what sort of minerals you'll want depending on what type of beer you're making. http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2008/09/i-think-that-water-treatment-has-made.html You'll want to use some sort of water calculator. I like using BeerSmith's but I'm sure there are ones online. edit: This one looks pretty good.
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Feb 22, 2012 19:28
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mewse posted:i think the basic recipe for a minimash would be your extract, some base malt + roasted barley + flaked barley, and then goldings as a bittering hop. I'm planning on doing this: 3 pounds Pilsen DME 3 pounds wheat DME 1 pound roasted barley 2 oz fuggles @ 60 1.5 oz fugues @ 20 .5 oz fuggles @ flameout British Ale yeast. I like throwing wheat DME in my lazy mans extract beers since it seems to add some body and a slightly more complex flavor. If anyone has a recommendation for a yeast strain that gives extra good body and mouthfeel i'm all ears.
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Feb 22, 2012 19:40
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Shbobdb posted:So I've moved to NYC and my old propane system is waaay too bulky. So, I'm going to make a brewing wand from a water heater. I've found some specs online but I was hoping someone had already tried it and had some suggestions. I'll just be doing basic 5 gallon AG batches. I built one of those a few weeks ago to assist my stovetop for indoor brews. 1500w element, right angle drain pipe, cap, JB Waterweld, and a cord (heavy gauge, this is a fair bit of power). Just make sure it seals well, it took me three no-power tests before I got it to not leak (the ground screw was a particular bitch), then I did a two hour test run just boiling plain water.  So far I've done three brews with it, the first two went perfectly, the third was a particularly thick boil and I got scorching in the last 20 minutes. Based on this I'd recommend limiting its use to 3+ gallon boils, anything less can be handled by the stovetop alone in my case.
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Feb 22, 2012 23:34
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Who's bought kegs from Keg Connection? Can I trust the gaskets/cleaning of the valves and just give the kegs a bit of an insurance wash with PBW, or should I disassemble the whole shebang and give it all a good once over?
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Feb 22, 2012 23:58
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zedprime posted:Who's bought kegs from Keg Connection? Can I trust the gaskets/cleaning of the valves and just give the kegs a bit of an insurance wash with PBW, or should I disassemble the whole shebang and give it all a good once over? A new set of o-rings is like $3. I highly suggest changing them out. The ones that come on it will probably work, but will also probably smell heavily of whatever soda was in the keg. For $3, is it worth the risk of a batch of beer or a co2 refill?
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Feb 23, 2012 01:12
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Imasalmon posted:A new set of o-rings is like $3. I highly suggest changing them out. The ones that come on it will probably work, but will also probably smell heavily of whatever soda was in the keg. For $3, is it worth the risk of a batch of beer or a co2 refill? I'm really just trying to get out of rigging a pin lock wrench the first time around even though I'll need to do something eventually.
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Feb 23, 2012 01:24
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zedprime posted:Keg Connection says they are new and they sent an extra set. They came with pressure on a soapy cleaning solution inside. I was just wondering if anyone had any personal experience on the thoroughness of their pre sell regimen. Do they smell like soda? The rings themselves, not the keg. For clarity, using the rings that are currently on it, will not cause it to explode. It may have an incredibly small chance of causing infection, but that is really, really miniscule. It is a non-zero chance, but not one that I would care about. Especially if Keg Connection says they are new rings. Imasalmon fucked around with this message at 01:29 on Feb 23, 2012 |
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Feb 23, 2012 01:27
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So, I've thought about starting to homebrew for years, never actually did anything except read How To Brew a couple times, but last weekend I bought and brewed a brown ale from a 1-gallon all-grain kit (by Brooklyn Brew Shop, it seems to be fermenting fine by the way, I'm looking forward to bottling in a week!), and now I'm kind of obsessed. I enjoyed doing all-grain because it felt like I was in control, so I figured why not go nuts and brew my own (easy) recipe for batch 2? I put together a super simple pale ale that looks like this (I'm sure it looks absolutely tiny to all you guys but it *is* just a 1 gallon recipe): 1 3/4 lbs 2-row 1/4 lb Crystal 40 1/5 oz Summit hops (pellets) Safale US-05 Process: Mash grain in 3 qts (at 1.5 qts/lb) for an hour at 154, sparge enough to get up to 1.5 gal total volume. Then boil for an hour with half the hops added at 60 minutes and the other half at 5 minutes. Cool to 70, pitch yeast, ferment in a 1 gallon glass jug at 68 (or whatever my cabinet is) for two weeks. I don't think I've ever had a beer with Summit hops and I'm excited about the supposed orange/tangerine flavors, assuming this recipe works. Is anything obviously wrong here? In particular, this is based on getting 75% efficiency, which I bet isn't happening with my current setup. I don't have a hydrometer (will be getting one before this batch), so I have no idea how my efficiency was last time, but I'll describe my process: The kit's instructions had me mash from 144 to 152 (which I am now reading is low) in a pot on the stove, but it was impossible to keep a consistent temperature in a pot with such a small mash (due to low thermal mass). So this time I was thinking I'd mash in a cooler. Then (because I don't have a manifold or anything) I'd still lauter/sparge through a colander into my brew pot, like I did last time. My smallest cooler is 5 gal, so there will be lots of empty space, but it's tall and narrow (it fits wine bottles) so the mash will be compact, and I have a digital thermometer with a probe so I can monitor the mash temp even with the cooler totally closed. I also lost a lot of volume in my boil, but I wasn't measuring it, so this time I'm going to ensure I get to 1.5 gal, sparging a whole gallon if I need to (and I marked my kettle so I can measure). Is 75% reasonable or should I plan on more grain? Should I not bother with this and do something like BIAB (which for some reason doesn't seem as fun, but what do I know)? Looking toward the future, I can tell that doing the 1 gallon thing isn't going to work for long. I absolutely want to keep doing all-grain, but I live in a small apartment with almost no space for gear and no convenient outside space, so I'm thinking about doing a 2.5 gal "half-batch" setup. I'd still mash in the 5 gal cooler, but I'd build a manifold to lauter so I could also sparge in it (for better efficiency? or at least ease and less hot wort aeration. using the colander totally sucks). I'd get a 5 gallon brew pot (and use the 2 gallon pot I have now as a hot water source), build a small (25'?) immersion chiller to run from and drain into my kitchen sink (which I could keep inside the brew pot when not in use), and then ferment in 3 gallon carboys, which with airlocks would fit just perfectly into one of my cabinets. Anyone doing anything like this or see a reason it wouldn't work? Seems like everyone doing all-grain (other than BIAB) is running massive outdoor setups, not trying to build a "real" one that will still stow away inside a cabinet--and at least I'd get a whole case out of a batch on this setup, instead of the not-quite-two-six-packs that 1 gal gets you! Thanks for any help, I'm really looking forward to hanging around this thread and learning and brewing more. Scythe fucked around with this message at 06:56 on Feb 23, 2012 |
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Feb 23, 2012 06:51
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Scythe posted:So, I've thought about starting to homebrew for years, never actually did anything except read How To Brew a couple times, but last weekend I bought and brewed a brown ale from a 1-gallon all-grain kit (by Brooklyn Brew Shop, it seems to be fermenting fine by the way, I'm looking forward to bottling in a week!), and now I'm kind of obsessed. Angry Grimace fucked around with this message at 10:42 on Feb 23, 2012 |
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Feb 23, 2012 08:18
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Angry Grimace posted:Those .1 ounce hops additions must be like 5 pellets or something. Yeah, the perils of using a high AA hop in a tiny batch, I guess. I could switch them out for something else.
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Feb 23, 2012 15:36
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zedprime posted:
You're going to have to do this eventually - may as well familiarize yourself with how your kegs are assembled/disassembled before you rack your first beer in - this makes life much easier when a keg isn't holding pressure. Also, you have keg lube right? That'll get you out of some jams.
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Feb 23, 2012 17:53
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Super Rad posted:Also, you have keg lube right? That'll get you out of some jams. Protip: Do not use jam in place of keg lube.
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Feb 23, 2012 17:58
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Was thinking about recipes and flavor combinations... At my last job whenever we'd do a potluck I'd usually make a 5-gallon batch of Thai iced tea. Real sugary, great milky consistency, etc. Everyone loved it. I'd brew the tea in the break room though, and after a while people started saying "oh, brewing the weed tea again?" because there was this unmistakable skunky smell to it every time I'd make a batch. I got to wondering about figuring out a concentration of tea in a hoppy, fresh IPA that would lend itself well to the typical 'dank' IPA profile. I know some people use tea in their beers, but I haven't heard of anyone trying to use Thai tea, which has a fairly unique scent, in a big west coast style IPA. Would this be awful? Should I go for a frankenstein milk stout with Thai tea instead? Thoughts on using tea at all that might pique my interest or crush my dreams?
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Feb 23, 2012 21:55
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wattershed posted:Was thinking about recipes and flavor combinations... The San Diego homebrewing club (QUAFF) just made a Black Tea spiced IPA that Widmer produced in bottles/draft as a contest winner. It might give you a couple of ideas; they had it on draft at O'Briens last weekend. You might even ask the people in that group about it since they're the local homebrew club.
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Feb 23, 2012 22:28
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I believe the other major ingredient in Thai tea (apart from tea and sugar) is star anise. I think that would go well in a mildly hopped beer - I'm not sure it would fare well in a hoppy one. I'd consider some some lactose to retain some sweetness, but a pale grist overall to let the red color come through. So not a milk stout, but a milk pale ale, if that makes any sense.
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Feb 23, 2012 22:42
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Super Rad posted:You're going to have to do this eventually - may as well familiarize yourself with how your kegs are assembled/disassembled before you rack your first beer in - this makes life much easier when a keg isn't holding pressure.
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Feb 24, 2012 00:00
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Question, dry hopping adds no bitterness, only aroma correct? I know the nose accounts for a lot of taste so dry hopping with a more bitter smelling hop could add perceived bitterness, but it won't effect flavor yes?
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Feb 24, 2012 05:53
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The worst part of homebrewing so far: fielding dumb questions from your friends, relatives and coworkers who don't actually care, but persist in asking how you make beer. The problem isn't the actual act of explaining how to make beer, but rather that people always ask for detail despite the fact that they will immediately tune you out if you provide the level of detail they ask for.
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Feb 24, 2012 06:06
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Angry Grimace posted:The worst part of homebrewing so far: fielding dumb questions from your friends, relatives and coworkers who don't actually care, but persist in asking how you make beer. So you like, make it in a bathtub right? Will it make me go blind? its probably some super high proof huh I dunno man this crazy prison wine of yours sounds pretty sketchy WHY WON'T YOU LAUGH AT MY JOKES
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Feb 24, 2012 14:06
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Angry Grimace posted:The worst part of homebrewing so far: fielding dumb questions from your friends, relatives and coworkers who don't actually care, but persist in asking how you make beer. Yeah I've caught myself explaining homebrewing a couple times where I realize the person I'm talking to has glazed over their eyes and can't absorb anymore. It took you and me a while to learn how it works, we can't expect someone else to really understand after a 5 minute talk
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Feb 24, 2012 16:24
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mewse posted:Yeah I've caught myself explaining homebrewing a couple times where I realize the person I'm talking to has glazed over their eyes and can't absorb anymore. It took you and me a while to learn how it works, we can't expect someone else to really understand after a 5 minute talk Yeah, but it's pretty bad for them to ask specific questions, then tune you out when you start talking.
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Feb 24, 2012 16:32
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Midorka posted:Question, dry hopping adds no bitterness, only aroma correct? I know the nose accounts for a lot of taste so dry hopping with a more bitter smelling hop could add perceived bitterness, but it won't effect flavor yes? Dry hopping does not add bitterness in the sense of IBUs but the flavors can be powerful nonetheless. Hop oils are pretty intense and if you eat a hop pellet you might feel like it tastes bitter but it does not, its just a massive hop acid attack that just obliterates your palette. Hop acids/oils need to be boiled in order for them to convert into IBUs, since you are not boiling in fermenter you don't end up with any bitterness compounds. Dry hopping does add a more pronounced hop flavor as well as aroma. The best example of this is New Belgium Le Terroir, which is a sour blonde beer with almost no hops in it until it is nice and sour and then they dryhop the poo poo out of it with Amarillo hops. It shows up not only in the aroma but also big time in the flavor as well.
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Feb 24, 2012 17:48
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I'm not sure how many of you use an electric stove, but I just replaced my normal (mostly destroyed at this point) 8" burner with a canning element. It is so much better. My old burner's supports had twisted under the weight of my kettle, but canning elements are designed to support more weight. http://www.ebay.com/itm/MP26KA-Elec...d#ht_601wt_1163 This is the one that I bought. My old element could barely keep a boil going, but this one had no problem keeping a rolling boil of 5 gallons going. I was going to try to get a heat stick, but this ended up being cheaper and much easier.
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Feb 24, 2012 20:46
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RiggenBlaque posted:
Thank you, I actually had no idea BeerSmith had this built in - kinda skimpy on the default profiles but's that's the easy part to fill out!
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Feb 24, 2012 20:55
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Magua posted:I'm not sure how many of you use an electric stove, but I just replaced my normal (mostly destroyed at this point) 8" burner with a canning element. It is so much better. My old burner's supports had twisted under the weight of my kettle, but canning elements are designed to support more weight. I used to use my electric stove but it just took way to long to get 5g to a boil. After a few batches I had completely ruined the drip pan under the element and in general the stove would be a complete mess. I've now upgraded to a outdoor burner and it was the best 50 bucks I've spent. How long does it take to get your 5g's to a boil with that canning element?
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Feb 24, 2012 21:07
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Kelley Geuscaulk posted:I used to use my electric stove but it just took way to long to get 5g to a boil. After a few batches I had completely ruined the drip pan under the element and in general the stove would be a complete mess. I've now upgraded to a outdoor burner and it was the best 50 bucks I've spent. How long does it take to get your 5g's to a boil with that canning element? I have a poor sense of time, but it was much, much faster than the stock element. It took maybe 20-30 minutes to get to my strike temp and maybe 15-20 to get to boiling?
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Feb 24, 2012 21:22
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Ok, well now that I know how to calculate mineral additions to water - I have another question: Do I want to make additions to both the mash and the sparge water? If so, do I add at the same rate, or is there some difference between ideal mash and sparge water profiles?
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Feb 25, 2012 00:57
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I finally learned how to wax and label bottles!   I used the glue-stick and crayon recipe for the wax, and skim milk for the labels. I took more pictures of the process here.
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Feb 25, 2012 02:39
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Scottw330 posted:Welp, there's my next fancy party idea. Brilliant.
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Feb 25, 2012 03:13
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Scottw330 posted:I finally learned how to wax and label bottles! The wax + charms is seriously slick. Wanna drink that beer.
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Feb 25, 2012 04:26
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How do the labels hold up against condensation?
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Feb 25, 2012 06:42
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Bad Munki posted:How do the labels hold up against condensation? So far they seem to be sticking pretty well, even with a little condensation. This is my first time using skim milk for the labels though, so maybe someone who is more experienced with the method could comment.
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Feb 25, 2012 07:43
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I'm a little late but here's my setup: Last weekend's kolsch brewday, crammed in the garage.  In the summer I like to brew outside to impress the neighbors and lower property values.  work table.  Kolsch fermenting at 60 degrees in garage fridge. Note the state of the art heatpad and computer fan hanging by tie-wraps. My next upgrade is going to be a kegging setup. Sooo tired of bottling. The party pig makes it a little easier, though, when I remember to order pressure pouches:  More Kolsch brewday pics. Minus the leaking brewpot, I'm pretty exited over how well kolsch brewday went down.
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Feb 25, 2012 15:15
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WarrenH posted:
What kind of heat pad is this?
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Feb 25, 2012 15:41
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