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Ginger isn't really the greatest environment for sugar eating bacteria. I'd go about skinning it carefully (clean knife, not letting the outsides of the peels touch the inside, generally being spergy) and just toss it right in. If you're worried I'd do a few hour soak just to kill anything on the outside and then toss it in. If you're even more worried, chop it finer and soak it in the smallest possible amount of vodka and toss it all in. This is assuming you're putting it into beer, and not into unfermented wort
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Aug 9, 2012 00:51
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If you're sanitizing in vodka and chopping thinly, it's really almost instantaneous. I'd let it soak for an hour for good measure, but it's really about booze penetration.
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Aug 9, 2012 01:30
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Hypnolobster posted:This is assuming you're putting it into beer, and not into unfermented wort Yeah it's fermented, been in primary about 10 days. Thanks guys!
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Aug 9, 2012 01:46
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Jo3sh posted:Yes, you could do either of those. 5 gallons is simply enough, half that. 45 lbs ice topped off with water. Looking at volumes, it doesn't actually affect it that much because in the end all the cooling ends up from the ice. Whatever you can fit that much ice in will work as well as anything bigger, plus or minus practical funny business from the actual heat transfer time and approach. I wish everything could be approximated as a closed system.
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Aug 9, 2012 04:47
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rage-saq, I have to thank you, because I brewed your new world westy 12 clone in May and it's amazing. I had to change it up a little bit (I did the 'tertiary' conditioning at room temperature rather than cold) but this is almost definitely the best thing I've ever brewed. So goddamn delicious. I'm looking forward to seeing how it evolves over the next year, and I'm super glad to have a stock of delicious quads for the long haul.
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Aug 9, 2012 22:09
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Does anyone own a thermapen and use it for brewing? I tried to deep fry tonight with the probe thermometer I used for brewing last weekend and found that I had indeed destroyed it, and now I'm browsing Amazon and am lost in a sea of mediocre thermometers. The probe thermometers have horrible reviews, it doesn't look like I can just buy one that goes up to 500F for general use as all the candy thermometers are also crap and probably couldn't clip onto the side of my massive brew pot anyway. I might have to buy two separate thermometers, or break down and get a thermapen which I've only ever heard glowing reviews of. I'd like to find out what everyone else uses. A related question, how does everyone monitor the temp of their mash tun? Do you just toss in your water and grain, get an initial temp reading, then close it up and hope for the best?
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Aug 10, 2012 01:20
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The Thermapen is amazing. Its a great feeling when it takes three seconds for the thing to measure the temperature and it doesn't fluctuate.
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Aug 10, 2012 01:29
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Sirotan posted:Does anyone own a thermapen and use it for brewing? I tried to deep fry tonight with the probe thermometer I used for brewing last weekend and found that I had indeed destroyed it, and now I'm browsing Amazon and am lost in a sea of mediocre thermometers. The probe thermometers have horrible reviews, it doesn't look like I can just buy one that goes up to 500F for general use as all the candy thermometers are also crap and probably couldn't clip onto the side of my massive brew pot anyway. I might have to buy two separate thermometers, or break down and get a thermapen which I've only ever heard glowing reviews of. I'd like to find out what everyone else uses. I've used thermopens and they're loving great. You can't go wrong. The alternatives are equally intriguing too, though. I have one of these http://www.thermoworks.com/products/handheld/therma_k.html and I absolutely love the thing. I've got the mini meedle probe for it as well which rules and is submersible in liquid. It's expensive, but I use for cooking daily as well. The needle probe is super handy when you don't want to poke big ugly holes in things, too. A cheaper option is something like this if you like the idea of swappable thermocouple probes http://www.thermoworks.com/products/handheld/mtc.html e: If you're cooler mashing, I preheat, dump and then dough in, stir it up and immediately check the temperature to get a general idea. If the early reading is way, way off then I might do something. Usually I just close it up and let it sit for 4-5 minutes and recheck. Cold water or boiling water to correct, check again in 5-10 minutes and then leave it alone. Nowadays I mash in a converted keg on a brewstand, and I just leave my thermometer probe in the mash and check it every once in a while. Hypnolobster fucked around with this message at 01:35 on Aug 10, 2012 |
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Aug 10, 2012 01:33
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I have a Thermapen and I love it for brewing and cooking both. I do wish it had a longer probe sometimes for brewing so I could really get temps at the heart of the mash.
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Aug 10, 2012 01:44
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Sirotan posted:Does anyone own a thermapen? I don't think you need another "yeah me too" but yeah, it's awesome and has a ton of uses. My wife uses it for cooking and baking, me for beer, and when we go in our jacuzzi at night her pregnant rear end can't be in water above 100 degrees, so we take it out to the spa and kill the heat when it gets to about 98. It's somehow a "fun" thing to use. crazyfish posted:rage-saq, I have to thank you, because I brewed your new world westy 12 clone in May and it's amazing. I had to change it up a little bit (I did the 'tertiary' conditioning at room temperature rather than cold) but this is almost definitely the best thing I've ever brewed. So goddamn delicious. I'm looking forward to seeing how it evolves over the next year, and I'm super glad to have a stock of delicious quads for the long haul. Link to this recipe? I'm pretty sure a quad will be my next beer and I'm compiling recipes and ideas.
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Aug 10, 2012 01:47
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I happen to have rage-saq's recipe page bookmarked, because they all own.
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Aug 10, 2012 01:50
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wattershed posted:I don't think you need another "yeah me too" but yeah, it's awesome and has a ton of uses. My wife uses it for cooking and baking, me for beer, and when we go in our jacuzzi at night her pregnant rear end can't be in water above 100 degrees, so we take it out to the spa and kill the heat when it gets to about 98. It's somehow a "fun" thing to use. I based it on this: http://www.thesaq.net/beer/recipes/The%20Pious%20New%20World%20v1.html Docjowles posted:I happen to have rage-saq's recipe page bookmarked, because they all own. You and me both.
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Aug 10, 2012 01:52
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I've made a couple porters based off of his The Profound porters, and I've made a saison or two from his recipes. I keep meaning to get around to making his belgian dark strong.
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Aug 10, 2012 01:55
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Hypnolobster posted:A cheaper option is something like this if you like the idea of swappable thermocouple probes quote:Range -83 to 1999°F (-64 to 1400°C)  Ok, that's awesome and maybe exactly what I'm looking for. Though if I got the two types of probes I want it will end up being more than a Thermapen hmmm But then I can also get a Thermapen in pink hmmmmmmmmmm
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Aug 10, 2012 01:56
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crazyfish posted:I based it on this: http://www.thesaq.net/beer/recipes/The%20Pious%20New%20World%20v1.html Docjowles/crazyfish, thank you! And you too Mr. -saq!
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Aug 10, 2012 02:33
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Thermoworks is the way to go for anything thermometer related. I love my thermapen and am totally going to get one of these or maybe this when I can afford to do so. Also one of those PH units. Oh, and an infared thermometer. One of these days I'll stop being underemployed. I hope.
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Aug 10, 2012 02:36
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Jo3sh posted:Midwest has a deal on for this 10-gallon AG setup: I'm definitely gonna make the jump from extract to all grain when I get back from a really long work trip in October, and I'm kind of interested in this even though I won't be buying it before the discount expires. I'm just trying to justify the price and having an extra cooler lying around taking up space that I'd really only be using to hold water, although I guess that's what most coolers are for anyway  How many people just use their brew pot as a hot liquor tank and heat water up to whatever temperature it needs to be before sparging? I need to upgrade my pot and was thinking of getting a 10 gallon Polar Ware with a faucet no matter what I end up doing, so between that and nearly $300 for the stuff in the link above (after shipping costs) I'd be looking at $500. Add a turkey fryer and whatever else and I'm getting close to $600 unless I find some guy on Craiglist selling all of his poo poo for cheap. Has anyone taken a look at that link and thought, "Man, I wish I would've seen that before I bought my all grain equipment," or is it all kind of just nice stuff to have but probably overkill?
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Aug 10, 2012 06:02
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Whodat Smith-Jones posted:I'm definitely gonna make the jump from extract to all grain when I get back from a really long work trip in October, and I'm kind of interested in this even though I won't be buying it before the discount expires. I'm just trying to justify the price and having an extra cooler lying around taking up space that I'd really only be using to hold water, although I guess that's what most coolers are for anyway
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Aug 10, 2012 06:12
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That cooler kit is really expensive, and I've never seen anyone using a cooler to hold their sparge water. If you batch sparge like most homebrewers do you can definitely get by with 1 pot and 1 cooler mash tun. The only time you'll need another vessel is right after you've drained your mash and you're pouring in your sparge water, which takes two minutes. I just drain my mash into a bucket and then dump it in my kettle once I've added the sparge water to my cooler.
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Aug 10, 2012 11:55
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Even the conversion cooler kits are ridiculously expensive for $8 of valving from Home Depot and a false bottom you don't strictly need and can replace with a $10 drain pipe mesh. Ones former extract beer pot is a perfect size to heat sparge water.
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Aug 10, 2012 15:44
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Whodat Smith-Jones posted:How many people just use their brew pot as a hot liquor tank and heat water up to whatever temperature it needs to be before sparging? There is a point in my process when I have liquid in all three vessels, so I could not get away with a 2-vessel system, if that is what you are asking. On the other hand, I do use a kettle, not a cooler, as a hot liquor tank, so I heat water in it directly. But you don't need a HLT if you have a dependable source of hot water at a known and useful temperature. At The Bruery in Placentia, CA, Patrick Rue uses inline tankless water heaters that he has rigged with thermostatic controls, so he just punches in the temperature he wants and opens the valve. It's unlikely that you have that capability at home, but you never know.
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Aug 10, 2012 15:55
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zedprime posted:Even the conversion cooler kits are ridiculously expensive for $8 of valving from Home Depot and a false bottom you don't strictly need and can replace with a $10 drain pipe mesh. Trying to buy the conversion kits as parts is an exercise in frustration and wandering around Home Depot looking for random tiny parts for an hour that I wouldn't wish on anyone. Moreover, it seems like every time I hear about people trying, I seem to also get a story about leaky valves and being forced to head back to Home Depot to wander around for more tiny little parts. It's sort of like washing my own car; it might be cheaper, but it's not worth spending 90 minutes on when the car wash will do it for 8 bucks.
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Aug 10, 2012 17:04
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Angry Grimace posted:Trying to buy the conversion kits as parts is an exercise in frustration and wandering around Home Depot looking for random tiny parts for an hour that I wouldn't wish on anyone. Moreover, it seems like every time I hear about people trying, I seem to also get a story about leaky valves and being forced to head back to Home Depot to wander around for more tiny little parts. Totally agree on this. I think the best route is to buy the 10 gallon home depot cooler for 40 bucks and buy a conversion kit from some brewing site so that you don't have to hunt down a million parts. I learned this the hard way.
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Aug 10, 2012 17:08
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crazyfish posted:Totally agree on this. I think the best route is to buy the 10 gallon home depot cooler for 40 bucks and buy a conversion kit from some brewing site so that you don't have to hunt down a million parts. I learned this the hard way. Same. I spent a couple hours wandering around various hardware stores going "uh... huh huh huh...uh...  " then gave up and bought the valve kit from Northern Brewer. I just couldn't find all the exact right pieces in the exact right sizes. Maybe go for it if you have some plumbing expertise already or just love having a project. But I hit the point where I felt my time plus the peace of mind of knowing that the drat thing would even work when I was done was worth more than saving the $10.I should add that I am retarded at DIY stuff, someone with two brain cells to rub together might have less difficulty. Docjowles fucked around with this message at 18:24 on Aug 10, 2012 |
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Aug 10, 2012 17:45
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My buddy and I want to brew a tripel, found a couple kits from NB but they all come with liquid yeasts. I've only ever used dry yeast in the past so handling liquid yeast is a bit new for me. Which such a high gravity beer (1.076) I'm thinking we would need to invest in some starter making equipment for this beer right? Is there any reason we shouldn't buy the 2000 ml flask kit? EDIT: Yes its mL, sorry for the confusion! I just wanted enough yeast to ferment everything everywhere! lazerwolf fucked around with this message at 18:16 on Aug 10, 2012 |
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Aug 10, 2012 17:46
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Those pre-made mashtuns have a huge markup on them and are easy to DIY if you have functioning hands. If you don't like making things then there's nothing wrong with the pre-made ones. Cooler: 10 gallon cooler or a 5 gallon which is often less than $20 locally (at least for me). Bulkhead fitting (this could be done a bit cheaper with brass if you don't mind drinking small amounts of lead): .5" SS Ballvalve .5" SS Nipple* .5" SS barb w/ 5/8" barb Internal bits: In the plumbing area of your local home improvement store 2x2' .5" copper pipe 4x.5" elbows 5x.5" tees 1x.5" threaded female to male piece 1 Stainless flat washer big enough to go over the threads of the .5" nipple and another flat washer + another washer about the same size that can be made of whatever. Extra stuff: Tubing Hack saw, a pipe cutter, and teflon tape if you don't already have those. You don't actually need the pipe cutter I guess but it's cheap and will last forever. Pipe cutter, hacksaw, and 15 minutes should produce this  Assemble the bulkhead fitting  Use the oring that came with the cooler  Use some left over bits of copper pipe and a few inches of the tubing to connect the copper manifold to the bulkhead. *This depends on your cooler design. The Igloo I linked has less than a .25" between the inside and outside so the fitting I linked works fine.
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Aug 10, 2012 17:52
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lazerwolf posted:My buddy and I want to brew a tripel, found a couple kits from NB but they all come with liquid yeasts. I've only ever used dry yeast in the past so handling liquid yeast is a bit new for me. Which such a high gravity beer (1.076) I'm thinking we would need to invest in some starter making equipment for this beer right? Is there any reason we shouldn't buy the 2000 liter flask kit? 2000 litres? Bit heavy batch there. Just make a starter out of a bottle filled with wort and cap it with aluminium foil. Shake intermittently to oxygenate. Mrmalty has a great calc for this,
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Aug 10, 2012 17:53
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2000 L is a drat big starter. </pedant> The 2L flask kit is a very good way to make starters. I use a 2L flask for the starters I make, and it's always worked well. But you don't HAVE to use a flask to make good starters - you can make perfectly good starters in a 1/2 gallon growler, or a gallon jug, or any of a number of bottles or jars of similar size. You might be able to scrounge something up and save a few bucks, if you want. Or go for the kit if you just want to be sure you have everything you need in a format that works well together and avoid the improvisation.
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Aug 10, 2012 17:55
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Pretty sure that's supposed to be 2000ml NB and probably all of the other homebrew supply places are going to sell student grade glassware which isn't the highest quality but should work fine.
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Aug 10, 2012 18:02
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I just want to say I was able to get all the parts for a cooler conversion from the local Lowes, and it was probably half the price of a kit. That said I DID have to wander the aisles for twenty minutes and then eventually compromise on a few parts here and there although that wasn't entirely bad - I ended up simplifying the whole design while I was there. Seems like Lowes/Home Depot has absolutely ZERO selection for washers though, I had to do without but fortunately there was just a minor leak the first brew and then everything sealed up. I say the decision is up to how much you like to DIY and save money, there is indeed a considerable headache involved in shopping it out on location, but I enjoyed the process and didn't have to wait for shipping, etc.
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Aug 10, 2012 18:12
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Galler posted:Pretty sure that's supposed to be 2000ml You don't start your yeast in a jacuzzi?
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Aug 10, 2012 18:41
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Super Rad posted:I just want to say I was able to get all the parts for a cooler conversion from the local Lowes, and it was probably half the price of a kit. Got any pictures?
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Aug 10, 2012 18:42
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Paladine_PSoT posted:You don't start your yeast in a jacuzzi?  The yeast vats of major brewers must be amazing.
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Aug 10, 2012 18:55
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Docjowles posted:Same. I spent a couple hours wandering around various hardware stores going "uh... huh huh huh...uh... How'd the NB kit work out? Is stainless steel worth the extra $10? And what are people's preferences between mash/boil screens and false bottoms for their mash tuns and brew pots? Is it worth having both to minimize the amount of crap and hop parts that end up in your fermenter? If I bought a conversion kit would I easily be able to attach a mash/boil screen to it, or do they come in different sizes? I'm guessing if I got both from NB they'd probably play together nicely.
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Aug 10, 2012 18:58
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Galler posted:What I do with my yeast in the privacy of my own home is none of your business I've been meaning to go down to White Labs and see what is actually in there. I doubt there are "vats." I know that when the local breweries get yeast, Chris White himself occasionally goes down there with a container roughly the size of a milk jug filled with yeast.
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Aug 10, 2012 19:07
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Paladine_PSoT posted:Got any pictures? I'll take some pictures next time I brew this sunday, we actually do something a little weird to save time lautering/vorlaufing. I used a long length of steel braid and a brass tee to make a large loop - but then we discovered that this made lautering a pain (since the braid ran the circumference of the cooler there was no way to avoid disturbing the grain bed), now we use a string to tie back the braid so that all the surface area of the braid is concentrated entirely on the half near the valve. This allows us to go crazy on the non-braided half for stirring and vorlaufing while still providing a ton of surface area to prevent stuck mashes.
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Aug 10, 2012 19:58
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Whodat Smith-Jones posted:How'd the NB kit work out? Is stainless steel worth the extra $10? And what are people's preferences between mash/boil screens and false bottoms for their mash tuns and brew pots? Is it worth having both to minimize the amount of crap and hop parts that end up in your fermenter? If I bought a conversion kit would I easily be able to attach a mash/boil screen to it, or do they come in different sizes? I'm guessing if I got both from NB they'd probably play together nicely. The valve kit itself works perfectly, I have no problems with leaks at all. I opted for the false bottom as opposed to a braid and I've had it clog up twice over the course of maybe 20 batches. Like, somehow grain gets underneath the false bottom and inside the little tube that connects to the ball valve; I'm honestly not sure how. If I were building from scratch I might look into a braided hose or manifold rather than the perforated false bottom because of that.
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Aug 10, 2012 20:33
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Someone pulled a beer kit out of their basement tonight and gave it to me. I'm assuming it had been down there for 6 months at least. Is it still good? I gotta imagine the hops/yeast are suspect. Everything in the box is sealed.
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Aug 11, 2012 04:29
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Is it liquid malt extract? If so that's probably not good for use now.
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Aug 11, 2012 07:11
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Whodat Smith-Jones posted:How'd the NB kit work out? Is stainless steel worth the extra $10? And what are people's preferences between mash/boil screens and false bottoms for their mash tuns and brew pots? Is it worth having both to minimize the amount of crap and hop parts that end up in your fermenter? If I bought a conversion kit would I easily be able to attach a mash/boil screen to it, or do they come in different sizes? I'm guessing if I got both from NB they'd probably play together nicely. I've never understood what's so beneficial about stainless steel valves on a mash tun vs. brass.
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Aug 11, 2012 07:51
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