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Midorka posted:Seems the thermopen is highly recommended, but $90 is a bit to throw down on it for now. Would the Brewmometer be sufficient for mashing temps though? I want something sturdy and good quality and I've heard good things about Blichmann. Would the stem be long enough? I mean, if you're just going to stick it in the top, it's definetely not going to be long enough and the response time isn't too hot. I would just recommend a well regarded meat thermometer from Amazon or whatever. They tend to be more accurate in mash ranges anyways.
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Sep 7, 2012 19:35
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Midorka posted:Seems the thermopen is highly recommended, but $90 is a bit to throw down on it for now. Would the Brewmometer be sufficient for mashing temps though? I want something sturdy and good quality and I've heard good things about Blichmann. Would the stem be long enough?
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Sep 7, 2012 19:39
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nmfree posted:Thermoworks also makes a cheaper version of the Thermapen that gets a lot of good reviews; I haven't used mine for brewing yet but the 5-6 second measuring time shouldn't be a problem. Whoa, nice heads-up there. Thanks!
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Sep 7, 2012 19:42
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Midorka posted:Seems the thermopen is highly recommended, but $90 is a bit to throw down on it for now. Would the Brewmometer be sufficient for mashing temps though? I want something sturdy and good quality and I've heard good things about Blichmann. Would the stem be long enough? You'll want one with a stem that would reach halfway into your mash tun. Blichmann is good quality for this kind of thermometer - but these thermometers are meant to be screwed into your mash tun, just in case you didn't know. These work just fine but getting them installed into a cooler is generally a pain - I get the impression that most of the all-grain people here use coolers which is why the thermapen is highly recommended - no need for installation plus it allows you to very quickly take multiple sample points. I've frequently been surprised by how much stirring it takes to get the entire mash to a homogeneous temperature.
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Sep 7, 2012 19:46
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Killer robot posted:The stories about off flavors or Alzheimer's or what have you aren't true, but as I understand there are a couple extra concerns with aluminum. First, you need to pre-cook the pot to form an oxide layer when you first get it and if anything cleans the layer off (for example if you scour it out after scorching the bottom.) Second, you can't use more caustic or oxygen-based cleaners on it, so no oxi-clean soaks or anything. Other than that it's light, cheap, and conducts heat well. So even if aluminum isn't bad, it's still good to know exactly what material you're using since it does affect your procedure. You don't have to pre-cook aluminum. OTOH I can't find an official recommendation about Oxi-Clean. BKF is not recommended as it explicitely says not to use it on aluminum on their website. I suppose I'll just stick with vinegar and water.
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Sep 7, 2012 19:49
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Super Rad posted:You'll want one with a stem that would reach halfway into your mash tun. Blichmann is good quality for this kind of thermometer - but these thermometers are meant to be screwed into your mash tun, just in case you didn't know. It seems like a Thermapen would work really well if you were using a shallow rectangular mash-tun since the probe could reach farther into the heart of the mash. But yeah, the only way I can see getting to the middle of the mash in a cylindrical and just installing a thermowell or weldless bulkhead for a tri-metal thermometer.
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Sep 7, 2012 20:01
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Tomorrow I'm driving to Bell's for their 27th anniversary and (hopefully) getting 5gal of wort to enter their homebrew contest. I have no idea what I'm going to do with it. I've yet to even brew anything all grain, so help me out a bit here guys. Details on the wort:quote:The wort will be made with 100-percent Michigan Pale Ale malt. The initial OE of the base wort will be roughly 12 Plato (about 1.048 gravity), which will yield a knock-out gravity of 13+ Plato (about 1.052 gravity) after the final boil. Left unchanged, the fermentability will result in a beer with approximately 6% ABV. Heh so the gravity info is essentially gibberish to me and what I take away from this is I should try to think of something that would work well in a Pale Ale recipe? I've got a small bag of Cascade hops my mom just gave me from her garden, I'd like to try to incorporate that if I can though I assume I'll need to do some calculations to figure out what I'll get out of whole cone hops. Should I just try to go straight IPA? Anyone have any recipe suggestions? On another note, if I don't end up using these hops, whats the best way I should store them. Freezer/fridge/just put them in a bag at room temp?
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Sep 7, 2012 20:24
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Sirotan posted:Tomorrow I'm driving to Bell's for their 27th anniversary and (hopefully) getting 5gal of wort to enter their homebrew contest. I have no idea what I'm going to do with it. I've yet to even brew anything all grain, so help me out a bit here guys. Details on the wort:
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Sep 7, 2012 20:33
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Sirotan posted:Heh so the gravity info is essentially gibberish to me You're getting unboiled wort, and they're telling you how thick it'll be to start, and then how thick it's likely to be after you've boiled it (I guess they're assuming a 60-minute boil?). e: so I've been trying to call NB all day since their chat is down and all I'm getting is (without ringing even once) "Bob is not available. Thank you for calling. Goodbye!" *click* I'm trying to stick with these guys but I'm looking at ~$24 shipping for the same kit order I made three weeks ago at $7.99 (this is without the burner and the pot added yet) and now this? 
Splizwarf fucked around with this message at 21:35 on Sep 7, 2012 |
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Sep 7, 2012 21:23
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Angry Grimace posted:It seems like a Thermapen would work really well if you were using a shallow rectangular mash-tun since the probe could reach farther into the heart of the mash. How deep does the mash get in cylindrical coolers? My thermapen can usually easily reach the bottom of the tun with .5" to spare. Then again I'm only doing 5 gallon batches so I can see how no matter your configuration a thermapen may not be the answer to everything.
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Sep 7, 2012 22:14
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I would love to meet the person who can stick their arm into a mash tun, holding a dial thermometer long enough to get an accurate reading above 150+ degree steam. That poo poo is hot.
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Sep 7, 2012 22:24
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Hypnolobster posted:I would love to meet the person who can stick their arm into a mash tun, holding a dial thermometer long enough to get an accurate reading above 150+ degree steam. http://www.amazon.com/Steiner-21923-Welding-Y-Series-Shoulder/dp/B00209QLM0/ref=pd_sxp_grid_pt_0_2
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Sep 7, 2012 22:39
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Does anyone have any advice on pH testing equipment? Between Morebeer, Northern Brewer, and Amazon, there are about a thousand products across a wide price range. I'd like to start refining my mead brewing process and if I'm going to invest in a device I'd like to know what I'm getting into as far as quality, accuracy, and ease of use.
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Sep 7, 2012 22:57
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Paladine_PSoT posted:http://www.amazon.com/Steiner-21923-Welding-Y-Series-Shoulder/dp/B00209QLM0/ref=pd_sxp_grid_pt_0_2 Combine those with some of those shoulder length rubber gloves and you could finger your mash all day.
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Sep 7, 2012 23:01
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cobalt impurity posted:Does anyone have any advice on pH testing equipment? Between Morebeer, Northern Brewer, and Amazon, there are about a thousand products across a wide price range. I'd like to start refining my mead brewing process and if I'm going to invest in a device I'd like to know what I'm getting into as far as quality, accuracy, and ease of use. I've been using one of these for a while now: http://www.amazon.com/Neewer-Digital-PH-009-Multimeter-Tester/dp/B005DWGR20/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1347055579&sr=8-4&keywords=ph+meter Can't really beat the price. I've had one for about a year and it still reads accurately when checked with pH calibration solution, though a buddy who has one as well says that it consistently reads .2 too low for him, YMMV. I've heard that they sort of poo poo a brick if you accidentally completely submerge it, so uh, don't do that.
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Sep 7, 2012 23:11
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cobalt impurity posted:Does anyone have any advice on pH testing equipment? Between Morebeer, Northern Brewer, and Amazon, there are about a thousand products across a wide price range. I'd like to start refining my mead brewing process and if I'm going to invest in a device I'd like to know what I'm getting into as far as quality, accuracy, and ease of use. I recently got the $140 Milwaukee unit? from MB and I'm pretty happy with it so far. PS post more about your mead in here.
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Sep 7, 2012 23:27
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I've only used it once, but I have this fairly cheap meter from Milwaukee Instruments. No complaints so far.
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Sep 7, 2012 23:32
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Super Rad posted:How deep does the mash get in cylindrical coolers? My thermapen can usually easily reach the bottom of the tun with .5" to spare. Then again I'm only doing 5 gallon batches so I can see how no matter your configuration a thermapen may not be the answer to everything. The mash depth on a typical mash of mine is probably between 2 and 3 feet...how long is the probe on a thermapen? Galler posted:Combine those with some of those shoulder length rubber gloves and you could finger your mash all day. 
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Sep 7, 2012 23:33
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I just said you could finger your mash. I didn't say anything about checking its temp I just stir everything really well and then check it with my thermapen.
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Sep 8, 2012 00:40
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Galler posted:I just said you could finger your mash. I didn't say anything about checking its temp Yeah, I don't understand any of this "but I can't reach the center!" talk. There's no reason for a depth gradient. Once you're mixed it should be uniform +- an amount that is probably lost in the accuracy of any thermometer you could like to use.
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Sep 8, 2012 01:09
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In an attempt to burn through 4lbs of hops I bought on whim, I thought I'd brew a Styrian IPA. Lemme know if this is dumb or w/e. Also malts the way they are b/c I've got a handful of randoms there too.code:
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Sep 8, 2012 02:10
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Wow, thanks for all the responses! I'm planning on making some citrus-themed meads soon (with homegrown lemons and limes) and don't want to pitch yeast into an acidic nightmare. I'll report on my projects so far as well as my future ones when I have something more than "I threw honey into a Carlo Rossi jug and let it sit there for a few months" to say.
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Sep 8, 2012 02:38
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nmfree posted:Thermoworks also makes a cheaper version of the Thermapen that gets a lot of good reviews; I haven't used mine for brewing yet but the 5-6 second measuring time shouldn't be a problem. Thanks, that looks great and is cheaper than the Blichmann!
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Sep 8, 2012 03:08
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zedprime posted:Yeah, I don't understand any of this "but I can't reach the center!" talk. There's no reason for a depth gradient. Once you're mixed it should be uniform +- an amount that is probably lost in the accuracy of any thermometer you could like to use. Because the mash loses heat near the top to the deadspace in the tun. If you're trying to hold the temperature over time, it probably won't work very well, particularly given that heat rises and the lids aren't insulated. If you just want to know if you hit your mash temps to begin with, it's probably fine.
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Sep 8, 2012 06:57
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Jacobey000 posted:In an attempt to burn through 4lbs of hops I bought on whim, I thought I'd brew a Styrian IPA. Lemme know if this is dumb or w/e. Also malts the way they are b/c I've got a handful of randoms there too. See no issues with the grain bill. Let us know how this turns out! I've never even heard of most of those hops, and I've not used any of them personally. If you've used any of them before I'd be interested to hear what you got from them.
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Sep 8, 2012 07:05
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Angry Grimace posted:Because the mash loses heat near the top to the deadspace in the tun. If you're trying to hold the temperature over time, it probably won't work very well, particularly given that heat rises and the lids aren't insulated. If you just want to know if you hit your mash temps to begin with, it's probably fine. Huh, if only there was a way to redistribute the grain in such a way to even out the temperature before taking a temperature reading. Too bad we've never come up with such a technology. 
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Sep 8, 2012 16:01
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Galler posted:Huh, if only there was a way to redistribute the grain in such a way to even out the temperature before taking a temperature reading. Too bad we've never come up with such a technology.
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Sep 8, 2012 17:08
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I'm planning on back-sweetening the cider I started back in December today. I added campden and K-sulfite a week ago and racked it to a keg, so it's all ready to be sweetened. It's about 12% abv and the final gravity ended up at 0.992. I'd like to keep it kind of dry, but I think that's too much. Any suggestions on around where I should bring it up to? I was thinking 1.008 or so.
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Sep 8, 2012 19:53
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Cleaning the house this weekend, I found a few bottles of an ESB I brewed forever ago. At least 2 years. Cracked one open and... it's surprisingly OK. I mean, it's definitely a little papery and oxidized, and either underattenuated or I used a poo poo-ton of crystal malt, but totally drinkable. Makes me feel good about my sanitation practices 
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Sep 8, 2012 19:59
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Daedalus Esquire posted:I'm planning on back-sweetening the cider I started back in December today. I added campden and K-sulfite a week ago and racked it to a keg, so it's all ready to be sweetened. I just watched this video posted by Northern Brewer today, and the guy on that (who is hard to watch on camera) sweetens his up to about 1.002. He seems to know what he's doing, so that's probably what I'll wind up doing when apple season comes around.
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Sep 8, 2012 20:24
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So my roommates and I decided to try our hand at homebrewing for the first time last night. Everything went smoothly and we put the 2 gallons of wort + 3 gallons of water into our 6 gallon carboy with the yeast to let it ferment. It was fine until about an hour or 2 ago, where we came back and the stopper had blown off while we were all out for lunch. Is this normal and can we still save the batch?
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Sep 8, 2012 21:01
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I assume by "stopper" you mean "bored stopper with airlock?"  Was the beer blasted out everywhere? If not, your airlock was probably plugged somehow I guess. Fix the plug, replace the airlock, put it all back together, and don't sweat it. If there was beer blasted out, clean it up, refill the airlock, put it all back together, and don't sweat it.
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Sep 8, 2012 21:04
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enthe0s posted:So my roommates and I decided to try our hand at homebrewing for the first time last night. Everything went smoothly and we put the 2 gallons of wort + 3 gallons of water into our 6 gallon carboy with the yeast to let it ferment. It was fine until about an hour or 2 ago, where we came back and the stopper had blown off while we were all out for lunch. Is this normal and can we still save the batch? It depends what you mean by "stopper had blown off." Did you attempt to just take a regular airtight stopper and put it on the carboy? Because that's not what you want to do - you want there to be a way for air to escape but not to get in, generally using either an airlock or a piece of tubing that fits into the opening with the other end in some sanitizer. Don't just plug up the carboy - you're risking the bottle exploding due to pressure. If the stopper just came out and/or the foam pushed it out of the opening, then its fine, you just need to clean and sanitize the stopper and put it back in; generally speaking, there's not going to be air or contaminant pickup because fermenting wort is off-gassing a ton of CO2.
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Sep 8, 2012 21:08
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Yeah sorry, I'm still learning the proper terminology. It had an airlock on it so it didn't pop off from the CO2 not having anywhere to go. I think we had too much water in it. We basically did what you guys said and just cleaned it up and put it back together. Good to know our beer isn't ruined!
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Sep 8, 2012 21:20
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Angry Grimace posted:Because the mash loses heat near the top to the deadspace in the tun. If you're trying to hold the temperature over time, it probably won't work very well, particularly given that heat rises and the lids aren't insulated. If you just want to know if you hit your mash temps to begin with, it's probably fine. I think my major issue is if you have a gradient at the top its going to continue throughout and you should really rethink your mash scheme to eliminate it if you want some sort of accuracy and repeatability.
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Sep 8, 2012 21:30
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Oh, make no mistake: the beer is definitely irrevocably ruined. The only solution, of course, is to ferment it out, bottle (or keg) it, carb it up, drink it all down, learn from your horrible, horrible mistake, and then try again.
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Sep 8, 2012 21:30
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Bad Munki posted:Oh, make no mistake: the beer is definitely irrevocably ruined. Wait I can't tell if this is sarcasm or not  Either way, we had already planned on implementing your solution.
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Sep 8, 2012 21:43
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enthe0s posted:Wait I can't tell if this is sarcasm or not Yeah, there's a pretty good chance it has a saccharomyces infection, sorry dude
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Sep 8, 2012 22:08
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internet celebrity posted:Yeah, there's a pretty good chance it has a saccharomyces infection, sorry dude Not that he can do anything about it now, but he'll know if it happens since he'll see bubbles in the airlock.
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Sep 8, 2012 22:10
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enthe0s posted:Is this normal and can we still save the batch? It's normal in that it's probably happened to everyone who's ever brewed once
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Sep 8, 2012 22:12
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