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nominal posted:So, I'm trying to think of alternatives here. I am thinking of possibly just filling the warm wort into my (HOLY CRAP, SANITIZED LIKE CRAZY) carboy, putting it into my fridge, and pitching the next day once it's cooled down. I would just attempt bend the chiller a bit better, but unfortunately the part that's causing the most trouble already has a pretty nice kink in it and I'm not sure I want to aggravate it. If you put really hot wort into a glass carboy you can straight up shatter it. Also, unless you have a "Carboy Hauler" or similar picker-upper you will probably burn the poo poo out of your hands trying to pick it up. Be very careful if doing this. Also if you put something that hot into your fridge, it's going to run like crazy and possibly condensate all over the inside which can cause mold growth. I've been in this predicament and it sucks cause the ice bath takes like 3 hours with a full volume pot (and we ruined part of a bathtub). Maybe split your big pot (post-boil) into a few smaller ones as long as you have something that isn't teflon or aluminum, and ice bath them individually? This would obviously take longer, so just try to keep the pots covered with something sanitary because once the wort temp drops below 180 your risk of infection goes up significantly.
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Jun 20, 2012 14:56
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nominal posted:Tomorrow, I'm about to do my first all-grain, in addition to a first real run on a bunch of new equipment (keggles, mash tun, burner). My test runs (just boiling water and transferring around from container to container a few times) have gone well, but last week I noticed that my wort chiller will not work very well at all in my keggle. The bends I have on it are not quite right and in addition to not submerging very far into the keggle, it would also place some leaky hose junctions INSIDE the keggle, which I do not want. This was not a problem earlier since when I was using it in my trusty little brewpot, the leaky junctions were safely outside the pot and would just drip into my sink. There are no chill methods where homebrewers do exactly as you describe and wait until the wort reaches equilibrium with its surrounds (i.e. your fridge in this case) and then pitch the yeast. However, I think you have to scale back on your hop additions because the hot wort will continue to extract the acids from the hops. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_ImGab5qC8 This is where I saw a no chill brew day the first time for your reference
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Jun 20, 2012 15:02
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I boiled in a converted keg, and I don't own a wort chiller. I bought a party keg tub, filled it with ice and water, and plopped the hot keg in there. With a bit of spinning and stirring my wort was below 70 in about 15-20 minutes. Granted, I had a lot less wort than I originally thought, but with enough ice I imagine you can still keep the chill time within an hour.
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Jun 20, 2012 15:06
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nominal posted:Is the fridge method a bad idea? Anything to consider if I go ahead and try this? As has been previously stated if you put near-boiling wort into a carboy it'll probably shatter. Your best bet is probably to transfer your wort from your keg to your old (sanitized) brewpot and chill it in there.
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Jun 20, 2012 16:15
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Alright guys, I need a real kettle. Ideally ~9 gallons with a lid and ports for a thermometer and ball valve. I keep seeing this one pop up on homebrewfinds. Does anyone have this kettle? Is it cheap junk that is going to leak and fall apart or am I pretty safe with a cheap pot?
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Jun 20, 2012 16:19
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Mud Shark posted:US-05 won't necessarily crash your FG. I've had it as low as 1.009 and as high as 1.025 in mid-SG beers. Just depends on your dextrin content. Keep an eye on your fermentation temps and don't aerate when using dry. Oh man, talk about a thorough reply. Trust the pro to come up with one  Thing is I was already steeping my grains at above 70 celsius (160ish fahrenheit) which means I may have denatured something. I guess I can do the next batch with a bit of carawhatever and see how the difference turns out. I guess what I'm worried about is having 5 gallons of alcohol-heavy pale with the consistency of a lager. Well, we'll see once it's conditioned and carbonated. However, a question about carapils - this site says that it needs to be mashed. That would mean I can't just steep it with the other grains at 160, meaning I'd have to find something to activate it with. Correct? Because my brain would think that the stewing process would act like a mini-mash within the drat grains themselves. I hadn't thought about the size of the grain bag and will definitely keep it in mind. May have to try two separate ones - already did that with my porter where I had a bag of chocolate and a bag of crystal steeping at the same time. Kaiho fucked around with this message at 16:52 on Jun 20, 2012 |
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Jun 20, 2012 16:49
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internet celebrity posted:Alright guys, I need a real kettle. Ideally ~9 gallons with a lid and ports for a thermometer and ball valve. I keep seeing this one pop up on homebrewfinds. Does anyone have this kettle? Is it cheap junk that is going to leak and fall apart or am I pretty safe with a cheap pot? I posted a recommendation for someone earlier. I have this with the one-weld. I've only used it once but it seems like a really solid pot, especially for the price. The lid is quite cheap though.
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Jun 20, 2012 17:28
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Kaiho posted:However, a question about carapils - this site says that it needs to be mashed. That would mean I can't just steep it with the other grains at 160, meaning I'd have to find something to activate it with. Correct? Because my brain would think that the stewing process would act like a mini-mash within the drat grains themselves. Pretty sure that's incorrect. CaraPils/CaraFoam are toally fine to be steeped.
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Jun 20, 2012 18:55
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Whats your pre/post wash ritual? I've been wondering if I've actually been doing enough to clean my stuff (no contamination yet). Before I use anything I do a rinse-down in hot water, scrub with a clean wet rag to get any invisible debris off, and then starsan. Then when I'm done is another rinse down, rag scrub, star san. Am I living on the edge? What do you guys do?
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Jun 20, 2012 19:27
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Les Oeufs posted:Whats your pre/post wash ritual? I've been wondering if I've actually been doing enough to clean my stuff (no contamination yet). After a brew day, the second I've taken care of the yeast and have a tube on the carboy/bucket, I run water into everything (just normal hose water) to get whatever residual liquid/trub is in my vessels. Scrub down everything with a non-scratch brillo-style pad, then usually that day or the next give everything an oxiclean bath for 30 minutes. That includes sticking all the tubing/tools in the pot or cooler. For the carboy, I've found that very hot tap water plus oxiclean requires only a marginally aggressive scrubbing with the carboy brush...if that. I do it as a precaution, but after seeing how well the oxiclean works I'm not entirely sure I need to even use the brush. Rinse completely (oxiclean is prone to creating a film that needs fairly hot water to remove all the way), and air dry for a day. Put the stuff away in a clean area. Next brew day, start your process like usual, and get a concentrate of Star-San in a spray bottle. Anything that touches the wort post-boil, or anything having to do with your yeast starter (if you've made one), gets a healthy squirt of Star-San. I do it in this order to prevent myself from getting lazy with dirty equipment. If there's a month between brewing dates, you want that month to go by, obviously, with your equipment in a clean state, not stained and full of dirty water and hops. wattershed fucked around with this message at 19:43 on Jun 20, 2012 |
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Jun 20, 2012 19:41
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First, have a beer. Afterwards, have a beer.
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Jun 20, 2012 19:50
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I do what wattershed does (unless I am finishing up REALLY late). Sanitation is king, but don't take an extra hour doing stuff that gives literally no benefit. If you wash everything before putting it away, and store it someplace reasonably clean, you don't need to aggressively clean it again before using it. Just rinse off dust and hit it with star san. It also strikes me as pointless to star san anything AFTER using it. As soon as it dries it's no longer effective so you are not gaining anything by doing that.
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Jun 20, 2012 19:53
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What about cleaning and drying tubing?
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Jun 20, 2012 20:02
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If I boiled them, should I have any problems with adding neodymium magnets to my dry hop bag? I used marbles and while they did well to keep the bag submerged, I didn't have anything on hand to get the loving bag out of the carboy and since I wanted the bag out now and will be moving to the keg in a week (not to mention that my abv is about where I want it now) I just transferred the beer to another carboy. So lazy. I figure that if I add some magnets to the bag, when I want to get the bag out of the carboy, all I have to do is stick a shitload of magnets to the outside of the carboy which should attract the magnets in the bag. Then, I'd drag the magnets up the side of the carboy to where the bag was suspended above the water, preventing me from even having to unplug the stopper if I just wanted them out of the liquid. Additionally, I could suspend them in the middle of the liquid for their duration, instead of hoping they'll neither sit on the yeast bed nor float at the top. Is this completely retarded? I don't know about the physical properties of magnets or if neodymium magnets give off super-cancer when touched by yeast or what.
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Jun 20, 2012 20:05
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wattershed posted:magnetic hop bag idea Hahh this is a really cool idea. I don't know if the magnets will affect the beer in any way but it should be fine. I've used those magnetic aquarium scrubbers in my fishtanks for years so I think magnets should be okay in beer.
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Jun 20, 2012 20:12
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Cpt.Wacky posted:What about cleaning and drying tubing? When you're soaking your carboy/pot/igloo cooler/etc, put the tubing in there with it. I let it naturally coil up when drying, and in a few days the water will probably be completely dry in the tube. If you want to get crazy about it, use some chip clips or clothespins or something like that, and pin the tubing vertically somewhere. Let gravity clean the water out.
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Jun 20, 2012 20:17
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From the little I remember of AP physics and magnets, the strength of a magnet drops off extremely rapidly as distance increases, and I don't think adding more magnets increases attraction at anywhere near the rate that distance kills it. I know neodymium magnets are really strong, but they still fall prey to this. While I don't see anything wrong with putting a sterile magnet in wort, your best bet would probably be to swirl the Carboy when you are ready to remove it so the bag moves to an outer edge, from there the magnet will probably be close enough that you can use another to do exactly as you said and lift it out. It's possible I didn't understand you though, I've got the impression that you want to strategically place magnets to hold the bag in the center or something? That's probably not possible, but you could pin the bag to the side so it's submerged but not to the bottom.
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Jun 20, 2012 20:21
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Cpt.Wacky posted:What about cleaning and drying tubing? Compressed Air is wonderful for blowing moisture out of vinyl/silicon tubing.
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Jun 20, 2012 20:40
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Daedalus Esquire posted:While I don't see anything wrong with putting a sterile magnet in wort, your best bet would probably be to swirl the Carboy when you are ready to remove it so the bag moves to an outer edge, from there the magnet will probably be close enough that you can use another to do exactly as you said and lift it out. The sterility is my #1 concern, and I know I have myriad objects I can stick into the carboy if needed to push the bag to the edge, more in the range of the out-of-carboy magnets. Daedalus Esquire posted:you could pin the bag to the side so it's submerged but not to the bottom. That's what I was trying to say, yeah. I'm not looking to have it maglev'd in the middle of the carboy, cool as that would be.
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Jun 20, 2012 20:46
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Haven't been able to unpack my camera yet, so bear with me and on iPad shots. Mold or buoyant yeast?  Closer and a view of something sticking to the insides:  This one was much lighter and had none of that white on the sides after a week, and looked like this upon my return:  The first one is a bohemian pilsner, second is bier de table kit from NB.
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Jun 21, 2012 00:21
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Oh my god this Wyeast 3711 saison is going to kill me. Drinks like a session beer, is actually 6%.
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Jun 21, 2012 01:03
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Doing a crazy experiment. Letting a APA ferment with no temperature control at all (approx. 73-75?) and then doing the same recipe with a water bath plus rotated ice packs to see the taste difference.
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Jun 21, 2012 01:05
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zerox147o posted:Haven't been able to unpack my camera yet, so bear with me and on iPad shots. The looks to me more like yeast and hop gunk than mold.
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Jun 21, 2012 02:07
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Jo3sh posted:The looks to me more like yeast and hop gunk than mold. Thanks. Never had seen yeast float and was more hop gunk than I'm used to. First thing I did when returning from a 30 hour trip (seriously, gently caress multiple layovers) was look and I maaaay have worried over nothing. Got my ingredients for the next brew day + another keg in the mail today, will give these both a taste before moving to secondary/keg to be safe.
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Jun 21, 2012 02:14
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zerox147o posted:Haven't been able to unpack my camera yet, so bear with me and on iPad shots. Yep, thats krausen and hops and looks pretty normal. Also, making up something I'm calling 'why not' ale. Maximum investment on my part will be no more than 10-15 bucks? A lot of leftover/found ingredients. I have no expectation of it being necessarily good. So if it's going to taste like poo poo, I think I'm going to aim for high gravity just because. This is an experimental batch for sure. It'll either be drinkable or a learning experience, which is all I'm hoping for. Current recipe: 1.0 lbs candi sugar .5 caramel 60L .5 carapils 6.5 lbs Gold LME (found this abandoned in my apartment's basement. ya, it's not exactly fresh, but whatever) 1 oz centennial (60 min) 1 oz centennial (30 min) .5 oz cascade (15 min) .5 oz cascade (5 min) 1 oz amarillo (dry hop) racking onto re-pitched 3787 (high gravity trappist, first time I'll be re-using yeast, figured i'd make a throwaway batch in case I mess it up). ferment at ~68, letting rise to mid 70s. This is like a... West Coast Belgian Double IPA? I was thinking about making like a Belgian Strong with what I have but the last two I've done have been really authentically Belgian-y so for variety I'm hoping to get a little extra American kick into it. Also have an extra coriander packet, I may involve some of that in there somewhere... thoughts on this? Or just some other gimmick aspects I may incorporate into this random amalgamation in the hopes that it becomes some kind of fluke that just works? How do I make this the least worst? I know old LME is probably a death knell, but like I said, for the spirit of experimentation...
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Jun 21, 2012 02:26
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Kaiho - think of your steep as a mash. I never understood why extract kits called to steep above 160. General rule of thumb - 145-149 for dry (you probably don't want this), 150-155 for medium body and 155-160 for a fuller and possibly sweet beer. Since straight extract is pretty dry, maybe go on the higher end. Above 162 and you start to denature alpha-amylase enzymes that'll give you the lovely dextrins. Carapils in these ranges will work just fine, especially considering that conversion is typically finished in the first 30 minutes anyway. Just make sure that your water is at the correct temp before adding the grain bag, or you'll just get bad conversion at a lower temperature. Don't worry if you vary a few degrees during this step as long as you are still in range. It still might not be a complete solution, but it should help. If you make your next batch like this and still end up thin, then probably use maltodextrin. I just think that the less extra crap you have to add, the better.
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Jun 21, 2012 04:28
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global tetrahedron posted:Also have an extra coriander packet, I may involve some of that in there somewhere... thoughts on this? Or just some other gimmick aspects I may incorporate into this random amalgamation in the hopes that it becomes some kind of fluke that just works? How do I make this the least worst? I know old LME is probably a death knell, but like I said, for the spirit of experimentation... I love making random remnant beers. If you use coriander, do it the awesome way - put about 1/4 oz on a paper plate. Put another paper plate on top of that. Take a small hammer and hammer on the top plate a bit. You now have super powered crushed coriander. Makes it way easier to overdo it though. You might already know this but I see a lot of people who don't, so when they crush it and still use a full ounce they just make coriander soup. Orange peel might hide the ancient extract in combination with the coriander. Also, light brown sugar can hide a lot of stuff. I've also seen people use organic agave syrup like this with decent results. If you have any smoked malt lying around, about 2% can add that Scottish peat sort of numbing feeling that can mellow out weird ingredients. Only downside is that you have to age it a week or two before the smokiness fades and you get to that point.
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Jun 21, 2012 04:44
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Last Sunday I went over to the LHBS with my buddy, since he wanted to try making beer with me (I have 5 batches under my belt, and he's a chef at 5-star restaurant) So, what started as an Amber Ale, quickly started evolving, and by the end of our planning phase my chef friend talked me into flavoring our Amber Ale with maybe 10g of Pink Peppercorn, 1/2# honey, and approximately 1.5# of Rhubarb of all things.(this mixture was added with 15 min left in the boil) The basic recipe used pretty much standard malts/hops for an Amber (though a little on the dark/bitter side) so what I want to know is has anyone here done an Ale with Rhubarb as an ingredient? And if so what were your impressions of it, did the sweetness ferment out completely? I'm not particularly worried about how it comes out as it was kind of an experiment, I just want to know what I'm getting myself into lol.
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Jun 21, 2012 05:11
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Personally, I like pepper in beer. Then again, I like pepper of all descriptions in almost anything. Pepper in small amounts will add a kind of mystery spice to your batch. I used a full ounce of cracked black pepper in ten gallons and it was just the faintest hint of spice in the finished glass. Honey will ferment out, and all be the very strongest-flavored honies ill be unnoticeable at 8 oz./5 gallons. Rhubarb is not sweet at all, it's bitter and sour. I like it in pie and jam, well-tempered with strawberries and sugar. It will be fine in beer, too, as long as there's some malt sweetness to balance it. 24 ounces of it might be kind of a lot though. EDIT: I have just realized that in the past, I have opined against chile in beer. I hold fast to this opinion, and still advise using your chiles to make spicy foods, and to serve beer without chile alongside to calm the fire. Peppercorns, black, pink, Szechuan, and otherwise, used in moderation in your batch, are wonderful, though. Jo3sh fucked around with this message at 05:32 on Jun 21, 2012 |
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Jun 21, 2012 05:21
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Is rhubarb really that sweet? I guess I've always attributed its taste to tartness more than sweetness. We've tried to use tart flavors in beer before and they usually aren't very detectable unless you use an absolutely massive amount of whatever ingredient. Here's a thought - do you know anyone with a hopback/randallizer/hop rocket? I'd be curious to see what one of those packed with rhubarb would be like. Please let us know how it turns out. This is pretty interesting.
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Jun 21, 2012 05:31
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Jo3sh posted:Personally, I like pepper in beer. Then again, I like pepper of all descriptions in almost anything. That pink peppercorn was something else though (I'd never tasted it before Sunday)and I can easily imagine it causing the effect your describing, the Rhubarb we used tasted exceptionally sweet when we added it to the boiling wort, but I'm guessing that'll ferment away to the bitterness your describing?. The actual amount of Rhubarb you get is funny because it does have a lot of water in it (and we didnt actually measure it) so I guesstimated a total weight of about 1.5lbs but basically it was approximately the length and girth of a donkey wang. Hence why we're naming it the "Tortured Donkey"
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Jun 21, 2012 05:32
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Hm, I have never tasted the sweetness of rhubarb; maybe this is because I have only attributed its sweetness to the strawberries and sugar I mentioned. Still, if there is sugar in it, it will almost certainly ferment out, yeast being the hungry buggers that they are. Not that bitter and/or sour are bad flavors in beer, I am just saying that thing change when you ferment them.
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Jun 21, 2012 05:42
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Mud Shark posted:It still might not be a complete solution, but it should help. If you make your next batch like this and still end up thin, then probably use maltodextrin. I just think that the less extra crap you have to add, the better. Oh, absolutely. I'm bottling this thing very soon and then going away for a few weeks which means I'll taste it when I come back to get a final verdict. Then I'll make adjustments to the recipe and brew the drat thing again. -- I'm probably going to a music festival in August. Thought it might be fun to pack that pressure barrel I mentioned a few pages back (the one where I got too much pressure in and leaked wheat beer all over the room) into the car we're taking up and setting it in the middle bit of our two-compartment tent. The only things I'm worried about are as follows: The beer would have to be not massively carbonated and tasty at non-fridge temperatures. Sure, on previous years we've just stuck to drinking ambient-temperature lager from cans in the camp but bleeeeeeurgh. On a related note, it would have to tolerate temperature swings in the barrel. Sure, I could cover it up with things to prevent the midday sun from cooking it, but it would likely still swing by a number of degrees between 4am and 3pm. Suggestions for styles? Is this a terrible idea? I know there was talk of kegs dragged behind rafts earlier in the thread. I assume once I plonk the barrel down it'll be semi-settled the following day.
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Jun 21, 2012 09:49
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Mud Shark posted:stuff about coriander, orange peels and smoked malt I've got extra orange peels too. I was disappointed in the minimal coriander in my last so I want to up its presence this time around... I've got 1oz, so I might grind it fairly fine to make it stand out in this since it's all-around 'bigger'. Ever had any success with a 'random remnant recipe?'
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Jun 21, 2012 12:22
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Mud Shark posted:Kaiho - think of your steep as a mash. I never understood why extract kits called to steep above 160. General rule of thumb - 145-149 for dry (you probably don't want this), 150-155 for medium body and 155-160 for a fuller and possibly sweet beer. Since straight extract is pretty dry, maybe go on the higher end. Above 162 and you start to denature alpha-amylase enzymes that'll give you the lovely dextrins. Carapils in these ranges will work just fine, especially considering that conversion is typically finished in the first 30 minutes anyway. Just make sure that your water is at the correct temp before adding the grain bag, or you'll just get bad conversion at a lower temperature. Don't worry if you vary a few degrees during this step as long as you are still in range. Extract kits generally stick to steeping caramelized grains instead of mini mashes. The best mass transfer happens between 160 and 170 where the sugar being disolved is maximized and any bugbears aren't being dissolved at an appreciable rate. I thought carapils whole gimmick is that it already was "converted" in the kiln and you can get all the body and head boosting compounds from a steep.
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Jun 21, 2012 12:57
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Ok Brewgoons, help me out. I've got 5 gallons of a generic all grain wheat we made for giggles and about half of it is going to be thrown into growlers and the other half we'll probably bottle instead of using keg space. My question is how hard is it and or practical is it to add cherry to the bottled beer to make a cherry wheat? I've never done a flavored beer so this is all new to me. I'm wondering if I need to prime it if I'm using a cherry filling or such (I'm thinking not) and how much to put into each bottle. Anyone have any suggestions?
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Jun 21, 2012 15:47
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Nateron posted:Ok Brewgoons, help me out. I've got 5 gallons of a generic all grain wheat we made for giggles and about half of it is going to be thrown into growlers and the other half we'll probably bottle instead of using keg space. I think the problem you're going to have is you need to use more than you think you do, such that you can't reasonably bottle with that amount without risking bombs. I'd say if you're intent on making it cherry, rack it to secondary or dump some cherry puree in your primary, then bottle as normal.
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Jun 21, 2012 15:51
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crazyfish posted:I think the problem you're going to have is you need to use more than you think you do, such that you can't reasonably bottle with that amount without risking bombs. I'd say if you're intent on making it cherry, rack it to secondary or dump some cherry puree in your primary, then bottle as normal. This. I made a cherry ale a couple of months back and used 15 pounds of cherries in the secondary for a month for a 5 gallon batch. Even if it doesn't explode I don't think you are going to get the results you are thinking you will with just adding cherries/filling/flavor to bottles and growlers.
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Jun 21, 2012 15:57
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Mud Shark posted:Kaiho - think of your steep as a mash. I never understood why extract kits called to steep above 160. General rule of thumb - 145-149 for dry (you probably don't want this), 150-155 for medium body and 155-160 for a fuller and possibly sweet beer. Since straight extract is pretty dry, maybe go on the higher end. Above 162 and you start to denature alpha-amylase enzymes that'll give you the lovely dextrins. Carapils in these ranges will work just fine, especially considering that conversion is typically finished in the first 30 minutes anyway. Just make sure that your water is at the correct temp before adding the grain bag, or you'll just get bad conversion at a lower temperature. Don't worry if you vary a few degrees during this step as long as you are still in range. http://www.brewingwithbriess.com/Assets/PDFs/Briess_PISB_CarapilsMalt.pdf
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Jun 21, 2012 16:41
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I decided to try my hand at yeast rinsing this week. I gave it two rinses and decants letting it settle for at least 12 hours for each rinse. After the final rinse it sat in my fridge overnight and this is what I ended up with. I'm kind of confused as to where the yeast is in these layers. Layer 4 is definitely trub, layers 1 and 3 look like yeast. I can't really tell what layer 2 is though. It kind of looks like a mix between yeast and trub. What do you guys think?
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Jun 21, 2012 16:55
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