|
Jo3sh posted:So what you have there is the perfect storm of homebrewing. Canned LME of God knows what age, yeast ditto, and a large fraction of the fermentables as simple sugar. Making all-malt beer with fresh extract and yeast will make a huge difference in your product. Thanks for the reply. It'd be great to order stuff from NB but the problem is I'm in Canada so once I throw in shipping, and whatever canpost decides to charge me for miscellaneous, I'm really not saving myself any money. Do any other canucks have experience ordering from them? edit: maybe I should just talk to the people at my LHBS and see if maybe they know a good newb recipe to start me off. Les Oeufs fucked around with this message at 19:51 on Jun 15, 2012 |
#
?
Jun 15, 2012 19:49
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 15, 2024 15:29 |
|
|
Les Oeufs posted:edit: maybe I should just talk to the people at my LHBS and see if maybe they know a good newb recipe to start me off. I bet they'd be happy to hook you up. Or you could take them a shopping list derived from the NB kit pack list and see what they suggest from that.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2012 20:09
|
|
|
Somebody was asking about 1-gallon brewing just recently, and I mentioned that there was a goon who sold kits for just that. I just saw the banner ad, so here is that goon's thread: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3354526
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2012 20:13
|
|
|
Those kits look awesome and they're how I got into this mess in the first place. They look totally awesome. Unfortunately the cost of shipping one up north is the cost of the kit itself. Still mean to buy a grain bag and do small batch all-grain.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2012 20:39
|
|
|
There is a good somewhere who had a little one gallon brewing blog, and I think he had a post about setting up a one gallon brew system.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2012 21:09
|
|
|
Dude, just take a recipe list to your LHBS. They'll hook you up or substitute something that will give you a similar, if not the same, experience. You're lucky to have one nearby (I assume) which means you can talk to people who are into this thing and can show you things. -- What can you guys tell me about Cara amber and Caramunich? I am just polishing off the last of this recipe* and I just came to realize that with some age it tastes more and more like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Which I like, and which I am surprised about, considering that the contents are nothing alike. But since the recipe calls for it, I'm tempted to order bags of either and mess around with them. From what I undestand Caraamber is quite like crystal malts in that they add color/sweetness and some body, but in a slightly different way. Umm. Yeah. *There is evidently truth to the truism of "the last bottle of the batch is the best"
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2012 21:10
|
|
|
Kaiho posted:What can you guys tell me about Cara amber and Caramunich? They are both, as you said, crystal style malts which boost color and FG slightly. I'm not sure about cara amber, but Caramunich seems to be a blend of several different malts some of which are very highly kilned (looks like a range of 30-300SRM). It lends a toffee-like sweetness rather than raisin-like (Special B being the epitome of raisin). I find that Caramunich and Special B satisfy almost all of my needs for crystal malts, and that FG is best modulated with mashing temp rather than specialty malt.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2012 22:55
|
|
|
I'm (currently) still an extract brewer so can't control mash temps as yet but thanks for your post, I am tempted to start using these guys in addition to the standard crystal.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2012 23:19
|
|
|
Quoting as a reminder to Chicagoons that this is happening tomorrow:Sirotan posted:This Saturday in Chicago I hope a few of you (and I'll probably bug the few of you I've met fyi) will come to a bottle share. We are going to start here: http://www.yelp.com/biz/barbari-cafe-chicago at 4:30pm. I imagine we'll be there for a couple of hours, after which we will be hitting some bars in the area like Happy Village, Small Bar, and where ever else we want to go. If you're gonna go, send me a PM and I can give you my phone # in case you are wanting to hit us up later in the evening. I'll probably be bringing some Jolly Pumpkin and Founders stuff though so you better come and help me drink it. Bring your homebrew!
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2012 23:38
|
|
|
Docjowles posted:For instructions, take a look at howtobrew.com or buy the print edition of the book which is a bit more up to date. For recipes, Brewing Classic Styles is an awesome resource. It has an extract and all-grain recipe for every single BJCP style. Kaiho posted:Dude, just take a recipe list to your LHBS. They'll hook you up or substitute something that will give you a similar, if not the same, experience. You're lucky to have one nearby (I assume) which means you can talk to people who are into this thing and can show you things. Les Oeufs, follow both of these pieces of advise. Extract brewing is easy, and has evolved so much that you can essentially make an extract recipe from an all-grain one by simply swapping LME with the grains by a percentage (I need to look it up, but it's found in Docjowles link). Just go into your LHBS and get a simple brown, ESB, wheat or your favorite style ale recipe and try it. Once you've done a couple extract batches you'll have that down and switching to all-grain will be much easier.
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2012 00:48
|
|
|
Les Oeufs posted:I want to get into extract brewing without a kit. I've done 2 of the kits and I dont really care for the apple-y flavour thats imparted by the dextrose and the yeast. People say to swap out the sugar with DME, and use another sort of yeast. But the problem is that when you consider the cost of the kit extract cans, and the cost of the DME needed to get it to a decent ABV, and then the few bucks for yeast, I'm spending way too much money. I can get 3 kg of LME for the cost of the 1.8 that come in the can. Radical Brewing is a fantastic resource for beginners and experts alike. What temperature are you fermenting at? Too warm can give the apple-y flavor or the beer is young and needs to condition more. Extract plus specialty grains is a very simple switch. All you are doing is getting rid of the tin of liquid malt extract, adding fresh malt extract, hops, some specialty grains, and yeast of your choosing. This process will be a bit more expensive but will taste way better and you will enjoy what you make more. After some quick searching this Youtube Video does a pretty good job of explaining what is involved. As far as a recipe that is easy I would ask at your home brewing store. Check out http://www.midwestsupplies.com/. Not only are they a great home brew store, but they sell recipe kits and list all the ingredients so you can get a good idea on what to expect in extract plus specialty grain brewing. Mr. Glass posted:2 weeks of fermentation should be plenty for a basic IPA, right? Fermentation is pretty much completely done as of last Saturday (no airlock activity since then), and I was planning on bottling tomorrow. I don't know if this has been stated as I am still reading through the thread, but lack of activity in the airlock does not equal a finished fermentation. I would suggest getting in the habit of always checking the gravity with a hydrometer. Last week I brewed a Kolsch beer and he helped. For some reason this cat gets so excited when I bring the Mash Tun out and start brewing.  I don't know why I haven't gone out of my way to find this thread earlier. Either today or tomorrow I will be making 2 pounds of Belgian Candi Sugar. If anybody was interested I could make a post about my process/how to make it.
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2012 01:07
|
|
|
Zymurgy posted:Radical Brewing is a fantastic resource for beginners and experts alike. What temperature are you fermenting at? Too warm can give the apple-y flavor or the beer is young and needs to condition more. Extract plus specialty grains is a very simple switch. All you are doing is getting rid of the tin of liquid malt extract, adding fresh malt extract, hops, some specialty grains, and yeast of your choosing. This process will be a bit more expensive but will taste way better and you will enjoy what you make more. After some quick searching this Youtube Video does a pretty good job of explaining what is involved. As far as a recipe that is easy I would ask at your home brewing store. Check out http://www.midwestsupplies.com/. Not only are they a great home brew store, but they sell recipe kits and list all the ingredients so you can get a good idea on what to expect in extract plus specialty grain brewing. I am interested. Have your cat take notes.
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2012 02:29
|
|
|
Wanted some roasted rye malt from my LHBS, but they just had regular rye. Guy said "you can just roast it in the oven." Any tips on going about doing that? Heat, duration, whether I should spritz it with water beforehand, or if I need to spread it completely flat on a tray and go through 1.25 lbs tray by tray or if I can just spread the whole 1.25 lbs out over the tray and let it layer up a bit? Wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if it remained unroasted but I'd like to try. Also, I know dick about cooking non-beer things so treat me like a moron in any responses. Thanks.
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2012 03:42
|
|
|
Is it likely to be the case that Northern Brewer is super cheap or my local brewer supply is super expensive??
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2012 06:15
|
|
|
I find NB to be around a similar price to my local place, so possibly the 2nd one.
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2012 06:40
|
|
|
PokeJoe posted:I find NB to be around a similar price to my local place, so possibly the 2nd one. A lot of local places end up a victim of scaling economies. If you are looking for absolute cheapest it can pay to check shipping on some of the big mail orders. It can still be interesting to check out a local shop just for the social aspect though, depending on your local club scene.
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2012 07:13
|
|
|
Anybody ever have a temperature controller break? My analog Johnson controller suddenly will only cool down to about 58*, even though it's supposed to go to 20*. Luckily right now I'm fermenting a saison and a biere de garde which are at a perfect temp in my basement, and I figured out by trial and error where to set it to get to 68* so my english and belgian pale ales will be fine. I need to do some lagers soon though so I need to get it fixed.
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2012 13:16
|
|
|
Zymurgy posted:For some reason this cat gets so excited when I bring the Mash Tun out and start brewing. Of course *I* recognized that item in the foreground as the intake hopper of your mill, but my wife, glancing over my shoulder, thought that it was odd there was a picture of a cat and its litter box in a brewing thread. So I am going to go with the cat thinks you are making cat litter. Also, please do post your candi-making process.
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2012 14:58
|
|
|
zedprime posted:A lot of local places end up a victim of scaling economies. If you are looking for absolute cheapest it can pay to check shipping on some of the big mail orders. It can still be interesting to check out a local shop just for the social aspect though, depending on your local club scene. Eh afaik there's a few shops locally, wanted to get a 6-gallon carboy without paying gross shipping charges and there's a place here that wants something like $57 for it. WTF? That's almost 50% more than NB(shipping notwithstanding.) Makes me sad. AlternateAccount fucked around with this message at 19:23 on Jun 16, 2012 |
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2012 19:18
|
|
|
Just picked up the extract petite saison kit from Northern brewer. They were out of 3711 yeast but had the T-58 dry Belgian yeast. Would it be ok to let his yeast ferment in the 70s? Also I like my saisons on the drier side, the recipe is for 1.041 OG, would adding some table sugar help push the FG down without too much residual extract sweetness?
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2012 19:48
|
|
|
AlternateAccount posted:Eh afaik there's a few shops locally, wanted to get a 6-gallon carboy without paying gross shipping charges and there's a place here that wants something like $57 for it. WTF? That's almost 50% more than NB(shipping notwithstanding.) Makes me sad. NB tends to be a bit cheaper just because they are HUGE by homebrew shop standards. But $57 is totally outrageous for a carboy. I'm all for supporting the little local guy, but not when they're just gouging. Docjowles fucked around with this message at 19:57 on Jun 16, 2012 |
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2012 19:54
|
|
|
I was just at my FLHBS to pick up some Victory malt (which, by the way, is loving delicious) and my wife tossed a couple of packets of Galaxy hops into my basket. Apparently this is a high-alpha hop from Australia that has big tropical fruit aroma and flavor to it. Has anyone here used this hop or have any good suggestions about how I might use it? I have some Pilsner left, I think, and it seems like the clear sweet malt flavor from that might play well with Galaxy. I only have two ounces of it, so I am thinking a knockout or even a dry addition. I'm completely open to suggestions, though.
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2012 21:18
|
|
|
I want to try my hand at doing BIAB sometime in the next week. I am thinking of doing a 3 gallon batch, anybody have a recipe for a saison, or another beer that I can ferment from edit: temp range bengy81 fucked around with this message at 23:07 on Jun 16, 2012 |
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2012 21:23
|
|
|
bengy81 posted:I want to try my hand at doing BIAB sometime in the next week. I am thinking of doing a 3 gallon batch, anybody have a recipe for a saison, or another beer that I can ferment from 60 - 70 degrees? 5.5 lbs belgian pils 1.5 lbs german munich mashed at 150-152 .5 lbs light candi syrup If you want it more gold rather than goldy orange, just use more pils and less munich, big deal. I thought mine had a real pretty color though. Hops of your choice, bitter appropriately. I did about 40 IBU's with 10.1% AA Amarillo so it took something like .3 oz. And then I added a lot more amarillo for post boil/ dry hopping (1 oz post boil, another 2 dryhop). Although more traditionally you'd use noble hops, tettnanger or saaz or whatever. Homebrew shop dude's recipe uses hallertau but I personally don't care for that hop. The yeast I used was white labs saison II, WLP566. Really happy with the way it came out, and was probably the quickest ferment I've had. Kept it about 70 until I thought it had a healthy ferment going, then I let it free rise as high as it wanted. And it didn't even blow up! Low krausen, high attenuation, it was surprising. Definitely plan on brewing another saison soon using it. James Bont fucked around with this message at 22:32 on Jun 16, 2012 |
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2012 22:29
|
|
|
Went ahead and bottled my IPA today. FG ended up being 1.012 (OG 1.0631, so ~6.7% ABV) which was a little less than what was predicted (1.016), so even though I didn't have a chance to take readings 2 days in a row I was pretty confident fermentation was done (also there was no airlock activity for over a week). It tastes friggin delicious already, I can't wait for it to condition.
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2012 23:13
|
|
|
Found a nice NuCool 2.8 CF fridge on CL today. After I bought it I cut off the shelving and the foam on the door itself. Then I put some some sealant and placed a sheet of blacked out plexiglass on top. Now I can fit pretty much anything in there to keep it cool. My local homebrew place is out of temperature controllers, so I have to wait to see how it actually works.  My Turkish Coffee Stout should be ready in a month or so! Can't wait.
|
|
#
?
Jun 17, 2012 01:52
|
|
|
Jo3sh posted:Has anyone here used this hop or have any good suggestions about how I might use it? I have some Pilsner left, I think, and it seems like the clear sweet malt flavor from that might play well with Galaxy. I only have two ounces of it, so I am thinking a knockout or even a dry addition. I'm completely open to suggestions, though. I agree with using it as dryhop or knockout aroma hop - if you've ever used Centennial hops you should know what to expect from Galaxy hops.
|
|
#
?
Jun 17, 2012 06:03
|
|
|
Two weeks in primary, steady temperature and the krausen just isn't dropping. Is this what a stuck fermentation looks like or am I just being impatient? It started out as a 1.058 with hydrated s05 yeast and fermentation was vigorous and good-seeming from the start.
|
|
#
?
Jun 17, 2012 16:29
|
|
|
Kaiho posted:Two weeks in primary, steady temperature and the krausen just isn't dropping. Is this what a stuck fermentation looks like or am I just being impatient? It started out as a 1.058 with hydrated s05 yeast and fermentation was vigorous and good-seeming from the start. Sometimes you just have really good head retention and your krausen never really goes away.
|
|
#
?
Jun 17, 2012 16:41
|
|
|
So would I just dump my dry hops onto the mess it currently is if I can tease out a non-foamy gravity sample? Assuming it's done, that is.
|
|
#
?
Jun 17, 2012 16:57
|
|
|
I know it's been said many times in this thread, but PBW is awesome. Makes it so much easier to clean krausen reside out of my carboys. Also makes removing labels from bottles super easy.
|
|
#
?
Jun 17, 2012 16:59
|
|
|
Bottling day tomorrow! Anyone have any good tips/priming sugar recipes? Also, is it OK to bottle into a glass growler or is that a bad thing?
|
|
#
?
Jun 17, 2012 18:07
|
|
|
Mr. Glass posted:I know it's been said many times in this thread, but PBW is awesome. Makes it so much easier to clean krausen reside out of my carboys. Also makes removing labels from bottles super easy. The only bad news is when used with hard water, Oxyclean (similar), leaves an impossible-to-remove white layer inside the bottles after an oxy bath.
|
|
#
?
Jun 17, 2012 18:08
|
|
|
tesilential posted:The only bad news is when used with hard water, Oxyclean (similar), leaves an impossible-to-remove white layer inside the bottles after an oxy bath. You can get rid of it with a mild acid wash, i.e. diluted vinegar or starsan.
|
|
#
?
Jun 17, 2012 18:24
|
|
|
Just brewed a bastard beer yesterday (not a Stone clone, just a stylistic bastard), and I have never been so impatient for it to be 3 weeks from now. - The grain bill was very similar to an alt (5# Maris Otter, 3# Munich, .5# CaraMunich, and a pinch of Carafa II) - No hop additions until 15 minutes from flameout using 4oz. of only the most delicious of hops (Amarillo, Simcoe, and Falconer's Flight). Hopped to ~45 IBUs with a target ABV of 6%, FG of 1.010 - Will do 2 dryhops with another 2oz for 12 and 5 days - German Ale yeast because in all honesty I like it better than S-05 or WLP001 when absolute dryness is not wanted. The hydrometer sample was pure heaven, and that's prior to being dryhopped with 2oz of my favorite aroma hops (going 2:1:1 Simcoe:Amarillo:Falconer's). With the complex grain bill, the hop-bursted flavor is pronounced but not out of balance. The manager of my LHBS said that whatever the hell I want to call this bastard, I had better bring in a few bottles when it's done - as an ode to Jackie Chan I'm thinking "Superhop Copper".
|
|
#
?
Jun 17, 2012 18:55
|
|
|
tesilential posted:The only bad news is when used with hard water, Oxyclean (similar), leaves an impossible-to-remove white layer inside the bottles after an oxy bath. I have horrifically hard water and after soaking 50 bottles in a very strong oxybath, they came out fine?
|
|
#
?
Jun 17, 2012 19:41
|
|
|
^ I think the white spots from oxyclean/ hard water only happens when you don't have things completely submerged, or there's a little dry spot. I bought some glassware from a thrift store a while back and it was in kinda bad shape, so I gave it a good soak in oxy/ hot water. Most of it turned out fine. One of them was a brandy snifter and ended up with a little bubble of air in the glass while it soaked since it was on it's side. It had a little white spot for a while after that, in fact it's still there a little bit but I drink from the glass anyways. I figure if all that star san and poo poo won't take it off then it probably won't get in to my beer.Kaiho posted:So would I just dump my dry hops onto the mess it currently is if I can tease out a non-foamy gravity sample? Assuming it's done, that is. Yeah, definitely take a gravity reading but so long as your yeast was healthy you're probably fine. Similar thing happened to me once on a porter I brewed using Thames Valley yeast. The krausen just never really completely died. After like 2 weeks I got concerned so I took a gravity reading and it had attenuated down over 80%. When it comes to bottling either siphon out from beneath that top layer, or cold crash it a few days and that stuff should fall out of suspension. You're probably fine to throw in your hops now though.
|
|
#
?
Jun 17, 2012 20:03
|
|
|
I think white residue from oxyclean or PBW is more of a solution-management thing. Don't let the stuff dry or cool too much on the surface, and make sure to rinse with water at least as hot as the soak water and you should be fine.
|
|
#
?
Jun 17, 2012 20:39
|
|
|
YASD posted:Bottling day tomorrow! Anyone have any good tips/priming sugar recipes? Also, is it OK to bottle into a glass growler or is that a bad thing? I've used swing-top growlers successfully. I wouldn't trust the seal on a screw-on cap.
|
|
#
?
Jun 17, 2012 21:10
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 15, 2024 15:29 |
|
|
withak posted:I think white residue from oxyclean or PBW is more of a solution-management thing. Don't let the stuff dry or cool too much on the surface, and make sure to rinse with water at least as hot as the soak water and you should be fine. This. My problems with the white coating were when I filled the tub with oxyclean bath and soaked ~50 bottles overnight.
|
|
#
?
Jun 17, 2012 21:59
|
|