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Butt Soup Barnes posted:
Getting beer off the trub for long ageing, or for aging on fruits, etc. A secondary is kind of unnecessary these days since yeast are a lot more viable and healthy, I've left beer on a yeast cake for months with no adverse effects. Yes, pretty much. Not really anything significant. You can get a visual on what is happening in the beer which is nice, and glass is totally inert so it won't pick up hard to get rid of flavors that may be hard to get out of a bucket. Plus, scratches in plastic buckets can harbor bacteria if they aren't cleaned well, so it's a plus that glass won't really scratch. A lot of people do sours in glass so they don't risk permanently inoculating the fermenter with non-yeast bugs. :edit: Oh, and for your second question, yea it varies by beer and abv is a pretty big factor. I'd let a 9% stout sit for a few months probably. Bigger beers tend to have more off flavors and sharper alcohol taste until it's aged for a while. I don't know that there is any sort of equation or anything to figure out how long to age things, it just kinda comes with experience. I'd say with the exceptions of styles that are generally drank fresh (IPA, Heffes, etc) you can't really err on the side of too long in the secondary, but I've never really done any big beers, so you'll have to wait for one of the more experienced guys to give you a guess on how long to let it sit. I'd probably give it 2 months bare minimum personally, but that's really just kind of a guess. Daedalus Esquire fucked around with this message at 15:43 on May 31, 2012 |
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May 31, 2012 15:38
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Jo3sh posted:Don't use dish soap to clean it, use OxiClean or PBW. Sanitize with Star-San or iodophor. If neither OxiClean or PBW are available, could I use any oxygenated cleaner to clean equipment?
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May 31, 2012 16:18
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krushgroove posted:If neither OxiClean or PBW are available, could I use any oxygenated cleaner to clean equipment? I'm not sure what exactly is included in 'any oxygenated cleaner,' so I am going to hedge a bit on that one. You definitely don't want anything that is going to leave a film or a residual fragrance. Dishwasher detergent, for example, can contain a rinse agent to help water shed off your dishes and minimize water spotting - that's undesirable for brewing equipment. But if you are asking about other brands of sodium percarbonate-based products, then by all means, use whatever you can get your hands on. I know the grocery store near me carries a store brand of the stuff. If you just can't get anything locally, you should be able to get PBW at a good online brew shop.
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May 31, 2012 16:27
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OK, yeah, I'm asking about the generic 'oxy' type clothes detergents or 'laundry boosters' you can get. This is one, for example: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hg-Oxi-Stain-Wonder-500G/dp/B001OMMJ70/ref=sr_1_19?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1338478444&sr=1-19 I could probably fine PBW or OxiClean at a UK online shop but the laundry boosters are pretty cheap in discount supermarkets.
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May 31, 2012 16:39
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krushgroove posted:I could probably fine PBW or OxiClean at a UK online shop but the laundry boosters are pretty cheap in discount supermarkets. Make sure to get the unscented kind.
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May 31, 2012 16:53
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OK, good stuff - I usually only get unscented laundry stuff anyway so that's not a problem.
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May 31, 2012 18:16
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Jo3sh posted:I'm not sure what exactly is included in 'any oxygenated cleaner,' so I am going to hedge a bit on that one. You definitely don't want anything that is going to leave a film or a residual fragrance. Dishwasher detergent, for example, can contain a rinse agent to help water shed off your dishes and minimize water spotting - that's undesirable for brewing equipment. I think he means generic OxiClean, i.e. products just labeled "oxygen cleaner" which have Sodium Percarbonate in it. I got the regular Oxyclean once instead of the the "free" but I never noticed any difference.
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May 31, 2012 18:32
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I'm pretty sure you're right, but my hair-splitting tendency shows itself when people use words like 'any' and 'always.'
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May 31, 2012 18:36
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Sorry about the confusion  Anyway, here's my future brew kettle and mash tun:  All the videos I've seen on YouTube of people making keggles show a lip from 1-3 inches, I guess this is alright? The guy who's cutting the kegs open for me is planning to make the lip as small as possible.
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May 31, 2012 20:11
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Nothing to apologize for, it's my peculiarity, not yours. One thing to think about when cutting those kegs is whether you will want to use a lid at any point. A narrow lip (that is, cutting as much away inside the upper skirt) sounds like a good idea, but it might be worth having a hole that is sized to a standard pot lid - say, a 12" lid from a restaurant supply. All of my kettles have inexact cutouts, but they are all smaller than 12", so I am eventually going to go through with a grinder and open them up a bit.
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May 31, 2012 20:15
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also make sure you cut vent holes in the ring around the bottom of the keg, they've been known to explode when heated if they arn't vented. while i see notches on both kegs in the pictures you provided you want to make sure there's no place for air/gas to get trapped and seek to expand.
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May 31, 2012 20:45
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Thanks, I'll make sure the top holes are small enough for a large pot lid and drill a few extra holes in the bottom ring. I've been watching a bunch of videos and am wondering if I should insulate the mash tun at all? Most folks seem to use the big coolers (which are impossible to find in the UK, unless you want to pay a stupidly high £125+ ($195) for one). Should I just wrap a blanket around it? Might I need another keggle, also? One to boil the hot liquor and sparge water, one to mash and one to drain the wort into?
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May 31, 2012 21:11
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I bought a cheap blanket and cut it up and sewed it into a triple-layer bag that I use to insulate my keg-based tun. Once I am all doughed in, I put a lid on it and put the bag over it. Works great.
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May 31, 2012 21:15
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Suddenly I seem very popular and everyone wants kegs of beer for every random event. Yay?
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May 31, 2012 21:18
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It's a great way to make friends Jo3sh posted:I bought a cheap blanket and cut it up and sewed it into a triple-layer bag that I use to insulate my keg-based tun. Once I am all doughed in, I put a lid on it and put the bag over it. Works great. Works for me! Will I be alright with just the 2 keggles?
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May 31, 2012 21:28
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My dad wants beer for Father's day, my friend from LA wants to do a brew session in a few weeks to see what goes on (despite the fact I warned him it's mostly standing around waiting for Beer Magic to occur), and now my wife insists I'm making up a keg of Pale Ale for some school party. I think I'm gonna need more kegs at this rate unless I plan to down the 5 gallons I'm kegging this weekend in the next 10 days by myself.
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May 31, 2012 21:31
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krushgroove posted:Will I be alright with just the 2 keggles? I use three - hot liquor tank, mash tun, and boiler. If you have another pot you can heat sparge water in, you'll be fine with the two. Or you can heat sparge water and transfer to a cooler for later use. Angry Grimace posted:Suddenly I seem very popular and everyone wants kegs of beer for every random event. Yay? Wants kegs of beer and is willing to pay for ingredients, or just thinks beer is free since you make it? I love sharing beer, and I give it away when I want to, but I rarely brew to fulfill specific requests. I'm fine giving, in other words, but I get annoyed when people expect to be able to take.
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May 31, 2012 21:33
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Jo3sh posted:I use three - hot liquor tank, mash tun, and boiler. If you have another pot you can heat sparge water in, you'll be fine with the two. Or you can heat sparge water and transfer to a cooler for later use.
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May 31, 2012 21:54
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Jo3sh posted:I use three - hot liquor tank, mash tun, and boiler. If you have another pot you can heat sparge water in, you'll be fine with the two. Or you can heat sparge water and transfer to a cooler for later use. OK cool - I ask because of all the kitchen setups I've seen online, as well as this video and the related videos I've been watching for the last couple of hours. I'm sure I can get another keg, it's just convincing the guy doing the cutting to do it. I've got plenty of time to wait because my current extract batch has just started, plus I'm going to have to source a big burner, propane tank, valve stuff and mash tun stuff.
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May 31, 2012 21:58
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There's a shot in that video (at about 0:23) that illustrates pretty clearly why three vessels are needed. On the counter is the hot liquor tank, which is draining into the mash/lauter tun on the chair, which in turn is draining to the boiler on the floor. In most processes, there is a phase when all three vessels have stuff in them - but there are processes that don't (BIAB or brew in a bag), and even if you use three they don't all have to be keggles. The advantage of an insulated cooler is that you lose less heat from your mash. In keggles, with the blanket-bag, I have not found this to be a giant issue in my process, as I find a 20- to 30-pound grist plus hot water holds heat pretty well. There have been times on cold, windy days when I have had temperature issues, but they are rare around here.
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May 31, 2012 22:07
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Yeah I'm just starting to get my head around how the all-grain method works (in the UK I believe it's called 'full grain mash') so although I've seen pictures of people's setups on this and other forums it's never hit home really. In the winter I might have trouble with not having an insulated keggle if I do everything outside but I'll worry about that when I'm there.
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May 31, 2012 22:49
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I had a hard time understanding all-grain til I actually did it for the first time. I think I'm one of those learn-by-doing people. There's a lot of stuff you CAN do but at the core you're just soaking crushed malt in hot water for an hour then rinsing it all out into the kettle. It's not as complicated as it sounds
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Jun 1, 2012 02:24
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Yeah, after you do it (or just witness it in person) once, it's comically simple. I'm one of those learn by reading and researching and being hugely obsessed and then suddenly totally understanding after I've actually done something.
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Jun 1, 2012 02:27
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Its all simple until you pour your grain in your tun and then strike and you have the sudden realization that you didn't put any internals in. Who can guess what I did on Memorial Day now? I transferred it into my boil kettle while I stuck a manifold in but it still got stuck cause of grain already in the drain valve and I needed to backflow some water. First runnings taste like diabetes fyi.
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Jun 1, 2012 02:34
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Eh, do I have to keep freezing my rear end off in my house to keep this beer cold if it's kicking about 72-73? I am FREEZING.
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Jun 1, 2012 04:03
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AlternateAccount posted:Eh, do I have to keep freezing my rear end off in my house to keep this beer cold if it's kicking about 72-73? I am FREEZING. Find some sort of plastic tub big enough to mostly contain your fermenter. Slap one of those stick-on thermometers onto the fermenter near the top. Fill tub with water and put some frozen 2-liter bottles in there, adding or removing as necessary to hold the beer at your desired temp. Remove 3 sweaters and winter jacket. Also temp control is (broadly speaking) only super crucial the first ~3 days of your typical ale ferment. After that you can let it get up higher and if anything it will just help the yeast finish off those last few gravity points and clean up.
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Jun 1, 2012 04:09
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AlternateAccount posted:Eh, do I have to keep freezing my rear end off in my house to keep this beer cold if it's kicking about 72-73? I am FREEZING. Freezing? I must be built for the cold then. My whole place (a basement suite) is constantly 60-65. I can leave my carb in the middle of the kitchen floor and not have it climb above 77. The only problems I have is I have little extra space, my carb is sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor... and I had a blowout.
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Jun 1, 2012 04:33
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OK, I am probably going to make some upgrades to my rig fairly soon - this will involve replacing all my hoses with the heavy-wall silicone stuff (1/2" ID, 3/4" OD) and using Oetiker clamps instead of the worm type for all permanent connections. So what size Oetiker clamps should I buy? If I buy 3/4" clamps, will they actually be slightly smaller when closed to hold the tubing on the barbs? Or do I step down to (say) 5/8" to get some compression? EDIT: HBT says I need the 21 mm size. Jo3sh fucked around with this message at 05:46 on Jun 1, 2012 |
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Jun 1, 2012 05:35
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Well, the max fermenting temp is listed as 75F, and its probably sitting right about there at the moment. It's been 70-72 since tuesday. I can put up with this for another day if I have to. I had the thermostat down to about 68, it just makes it too drat cold in here. Next time I might take the bath option, I hate running the AC all day when there's no one in the house.
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Jun 1, 2012 05:41
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Angry Grimace posted:Suddenly I seem very popular and everyone wants kegs of beer for every random event. Yay? If women don't find you hansom, they should at least find you handy. I find that the demand for kegs leads to a paradox. If I make something that turns out really good I don't want to go give it away to a bunch of random people. If I make something that's so-so or not very good I don't want to that to represent my brewing ability. :/
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Jun 1, 2012 13:44
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Be strong: assume everything you make will turn out well and behave accordingly. Don't hoard the good stuff, that just reduces your incentive to make more good stuff.
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Jun 1, 2012 13:54
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Brewed up 5 gallons of IPA, and it's my last brew in Arizona...I'm moving to NYC, anyone have any good tips for brewing?
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Jun 1, 2012 14:51
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Splizwarf posted:Don't hoard the good stuff, that just reduces your incentive to make more good stuff. I do not agree with this statement at all. I was more thinking about those folks that don't enough notice so that one has to simply take what they have on hand as opposed to being able to plan and brew something specifically for the event. I think I'm up to 9 standing events I'll be taking a keg to this year, but I knew about all of them on Jan 1. I used to try and explain the brewing process when someone asked my "how long does it take to make beer". But I realized what they are asking is how long it would take me to brew a beer for them, so now I just stock answer "two months".
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Jun 1, 2012 15:18
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Went to get my CO2 tank filled and they gave me the old, "how about we take your aluminum tank and give you a 10# steel tank," routine. I figured it was fine since I don't really care what the tank is made out of and not going to get it swapped out so often is better than not, except that on further examination, it totally totally doesn't fit in the keg fridge with all the other stuff.  Now I have to drive all the way back to the gas place in the middle of a work day to get the first tank back. 
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Jun 1, 2012 18:01
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Jo3sh posted:OK, I am probably going to make some upgrades to my rig fairly soon - this will involve replacing all my hoses with the heavy-wall silicone stuff (1/2" ID, 3/4" OD) and using Oetiker clamps instead of the worm type for all permanent connections. Yep, I had 21mm oetikers on my old click style quick disconnects. The tubing will bulge a little on the barb and the .8something inches works perfectly. I changed tubing and QD's though, and now I don't even need clamps at all 
Hypnolobster fucked around with this message at 19:24 on Jun 1, 2012 |
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Jun 1, 2012 19:21
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Please explain that setup with links to parts. Looks rad (and simple as gently caress).
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Jun 1, 2012 20:17
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Those are the exact QDs I am looking at. http://store.proflowdynamics.com/modules/store/-Couplings-for-Homebrewers-_C12074.cfm Hypnolobster, do you have any of those snaplock QDs with barbs on them, of do you just use street elbows? If you do have barbs, does the 1/2" ID silicone tubing stay on without clamps? Jo3sh fucked around with this message at 21:56 on Jun 1, 2012 |
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Jun 1, 2012 21:34
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Took the 10# tank back and got my original sized 5# back. It's not the same one, but who cares? Now I have to take it home and realize that I have no loving clue what to do when it comes to kegging and start from scratch. The only thing I don't think I understand right now is when am I supposed to purge the headspace of CO2 in the keg?
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Jun 1, 2012 23:40
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Splizwarf posted:Please explain that setup with links to parts. Looks rad (and simple as gently caress). They're as linked below your post. I'm using type F males on all my kettles/pumps/filters/chillers (well, type A on the pumps and chiller) and on my hoses are type B female snaplocks and stainless street 90 elbows with the threads ground off for a sort of full flow hose barb. The couplers on the kegs are all dimpled in and then soldered. I'm very very happy with how simple soldering them in is compared with having to essentially get my whole body into the keg to TIG them in.  Jo3sh posted:Those are the exact QDs I am looking at. Just street elbows. I wanted absolutely full port everything, and ground down street elbows work really, really well. A friend uses the barbed version and they need clamps. They'll stay on without issue until you start pumping around 180 degree liquid and they get pretty easy to pull off. Hypnolobster fucked around with this message at 00:39 on Jun 2, 2012 |
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Jun 2, 2012 00:32
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That's very similar to what I am going to do. Each kettle port will go: -- welded coupler -- hex nipple -- ball valve -- street elbow -- male QD Hoses will get female QDs.
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Jun 2, 2012 00:56
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