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RiggenBlaque posted: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. His general method is pretty good. I would rehydrate the dry yeast and mix the nutrients with a little water before dumping them in. The gravity reading can be a little misleading because the acidity and tannin level are going to affect how you perceive the sweetness. He isn't sweetening to a specific gravity, instead he sweetens the sample until it tastes "right" and then measures the gravity to know how much to add to the whole batch for the same taste. Doing it this way is easier than trying to precisely measure the volume of the sample and the amount of sweetener you add to it and trying to scale it up. You may also want to adjust the acidity and tannin along with the sweetness. Depending on the apples used to make the cider you could end up with wildly varying amounts of each.
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Sep 8, 2012 22:37
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At the request of a friend who was upset to find that they don't sell Pliny the Elder at the grocery store, I'm going to make up a batch using the Zymurgy recipe that's widely available. The only real twist is that I'm going to use all whole leaf hops for the entire batch including dry hopping - I haven't really bothered with whole hops since they seem to cost more most of the time. Any tips? My plan was to just use a bazooka style screen in the boil kettle to strain out the flowers - will this work or is it going to get plugged up?
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Sep 8, 2012 23:04
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Angry Grimace posted:Oh yeah, I forgot about that Yeah this has happened at least 3 times now so I guess it's infected. Is it still worth it to go through with the rest of the process? And how can we prevent this in the future? Just clean our equipment more thoroughly?
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Sep 8, 2012 23:08
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I think it's worth waiting at least until the end of primary fermentation to see if or how bad it's infected. Next time rig up a blow-off hose instead of the standard bubbling airlock.
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Sep 8, 2012 23:43
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enthe0s posted:Yeah this has happened at least 3 times now so I guess it's infected. Ok I'm going to ruin the joke because I don't want you to throw it out. Saccharomyces is yeast (brewing yeast in this case). The bubbles are fermentation. It's almost certainly still fine. It's entirely possible to ferment without even having a lid on the bucket so a couple hours or whatever without a stopper after fermentation has begun probably didn't do any damage. Relax, have a homebrew or a good commercial beer since you probably don't have any homebrew yet. Galler fucked around with this message at 00:47 on Sep 9, 2012 |
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Sep 8, 2012 23:55
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Galler posted:Ok I'm going to ruin the joke because I don't want you to throw it out. Saccharomyces yeast (brewing yeast in this case). The bubbles are fermentation. It's almost certainly still fine. Welp, we already threw it out. Whatever, it was going to be more trouble than it was worth if we were going to have to keep cleaning it up every 30 min anyways, so I'm glad we dumped it. There were a lot of things we felt like we didn't do properly the first time anyways (hell we even forgot to take the original gravity to make sure we had the right amount of water in the thing) so we can do it even better next time.
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Sep 9, 2012 00:36
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enthe0s posted:Welp, we already threw it out. Whatever, it was going to be more trouble than it was worth if we were going to have to keep cleaning it up every 30 min anyways, so I'm glad we dumped it. There were a lot of things we felt like we didn't do properly the first time anyways (hell we even forgot to take the original gravity to make sure we had the right amount of water in the thing) so we can do it even better next time. Could I interest you in a bridge by any chance?
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Sep 9, 2012 00:54
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You don't need to worry about the original gravity. If you put the right amount of malt extract in the boil and ended up with five gallons in the fermenter then the OG should be right where it is supposed to be. Freaking out about OG is for all-grain brewing. For future reference there are a million mistakes you can make that will still leave you with perfectly fine beer.
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Sep 9, 2012 01:20
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enthe0s posted:Welp, we already threw it out. Whatever, it was going to be more trouble than it was worth if we were going to have to keep cleaning it up every 30 min anyways, so I'm glad we dumped it. There were a lot of things we felt like we didn't do properly the first time anyways (hell we even forgot to take the original gravity to make sure we had the right amount of water in the thing) so we can do it even better next time. For the love of God please tell me you didn't actually throw it out.
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Sep 9, 2012 03:00
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My kingdom for a blowoff hose
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Sep 9, 2012 04:07
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enthe0s posted:Welp, we already threw it out.  enthe0s posted:Whatever, it was going to be more trouble than it was worth if we were going to have to keep cleaning it up every 30 min anyways, so I'm glad we dumped it.  Also, you wouldn't have been doing that every 30 minutes. If you've got a really active ferment, look into a blowoff hose, as advised. enthe0s posted:There were a lot of things we felt like we didn't do properly the first time anyways (hell we even forgot to take the original gravity to make sure we had the right amount of water in the thing) enthe0s posted:so we can do it even better next time.
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Sep 9, 2012 04:38
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I really hope you didn't throw out your beer.  My first ever homebrew exploded all over my kitchen walls, ceiling, floor and table, and 5 batches later is still (somehow) the best beer I've produced yet.
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Sep 9, 2012 04:42
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You haven't truly brewed beer until you've cleaned it off the ceiling.
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Sep 9, 2012 04:55
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Ubik posted:You haven't truly brewed beer until you've cleaned it off the ceiling. This actually happened with my first brew ever, does that mean I was born to brew? e: Or should I have just thrown it out? 
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Sep 9, 2012 04:58
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Oh, gently caress, guys, don't torment the new brewers. That way lies the cliquishness of HBT. eneth0s, I'm sorry you threw away your first batch. Reading the things you and everyone else posted, I'm sure it was fine and would have been beer when it was all said and done. I do admire your persistence and determination to try again, though.
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Sep 9, 2012 05:04
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Ubik posted:You haven't truly brewed beer until you've cleaned it off the ceiling. Or a closet full of winter clothes. Or every crevice and cranny of a refrigerator.
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Sep 9, 2012 05:05
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Yeah, I'm bummed it went down that way. I hope I didn't contribute to the dump too much, I thought the sarcasm was pretty blatant. I think the best real advice I would give is, "don't discount your beer until you've tasted it And maybe not even then. Unless it smells like rotted meat. And maybe not even then."
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Sep 9, 2012 05:16
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The story that always comes to mind for me is of someone who said one of their batches of beer tasted very strongly of bubble gum. They let it sit for a week and tried it again and it still tasted like bubble gum. A month later the same thing. A couple months later still bad. Then a year later they found a bottle in the back of a fridge at it was delicious. Sometimes it just needs more time.
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Sep 9, 2012 05:58
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I went ahead and posted that Ask/Tell thread I mentioned earlier.  Feel free to pop in with any questions or comments you have!Quick question: My brother-in-law gave me a bunch of unused malt from when he had my homebrewing equipment last year, and I'd like to use it but I'd like to avoid getting any stale flavors. All the grain is whole and unground, and has been kept sealed in plastic bags inside a plastic tub. I don't smell or taste anything off about the grain, from a few bags I've opened up and tried. Should I go ahead and use this stuff? If so, should I save it for more yeast/hop prominent beers?
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Sep 9, 2012 06:06
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Ubik posted:Quick question: My brother-in-law gave me a bunch of unused malt from when he had my homebrewing equipment last year, and I'd like to use it but I'd like to avoid getting any stale flavors. All the grain is whole and unground, and has been kept sealed in plastic bags inside a plastic tub. I don't smell or taste anything off about the grain, from a few bags I've opened up and tried. Should I go ahead and use this stuff? If so, should I save it for more yeast/hop prominent beers? It's fine. I store my malt in a manner not to different from that - grain sacks, paper bags, or plastic garbage bags inside plastic shipping drums - with no noticeable change in flavor or aroma. Since I only really buy base malt once a year or so, and since it sits in sacks on some warehouse rack for god knows how long before I get it, I can't imagine your malt is any worse off than mine.
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Sep 9, 2012 06:34
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Yes, we really did throw it out. We're in a college dorm so we thought it best to not take any chances, especially when the empty wardrobe we're using to house the carboy in had yeasty wort all up the sides and ceiling. It's really alright goons, all of us went in with the mentality of "this first batch is going to go wrong in some way, so let's just try and learn as much as possible and get a proper 2nd batch going." We'll probably run out and get more ingredients and try again tomorrow in all honesty  Now for some questions: 1. When boiling for the hour after steeping the grains, there was a lot of "gunk" left on the sides of the pot after we added the hops and malt. Do we want to scrape that back into the water? 2. How long does it usually take to cool the wort? We set up our sink with cold water + ice to place the boiling pot into, but it still ended up taking a good bit of time (I want to say close to an hour, but it could have ranged from 30 min-1 hour). 3. Looking back, we didn't rehydrate the yeast before adding it. Is this really all that important? 4. Is there a better way to get the siphoning tube to start without having to suck on it? We had the carboy on the floor and the boiling pot in the sink so that's a good 3-4 foot height difference which is all that I thought would be necessary, but I guess not.
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Sep 9, 2012 06:38
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1. Leave it on the sides 2. That's a reasonable amount of time when using an ice bath 3. It's a good idea but the majority of home brewers don't do it because the packet says you don't have to 4. Fill the tube 2/3rds full of water (sanitized preferably) and stick your finger (sanitized preferably) over the lower end of the tube. Put the upper end of the tube in the wort and release water into a glass or something. Plug it again when the tube is full of wort and stick the tube in the carboy. This might take a couple attempts to get the hang of but once you do it's pretty quick and easy. Alternatively get an auto-siphon. Galler fucked around with this message at 07:15 on Sep 9, 2012 |
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Sep 9, 2012 07:11
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enthe0s posted:Yes, we really did throw it out. We're in a college dorm so we thought it best to not take any chances, especially when the empty wardrobe we're using to house the carboy in had yeasty wort all up the sides and ceiling. That really sucks man. Your brew was almost certainly still fine, and with that vigorous of a fermentation it would certainly have been beer at the end. Ah well, don't give up - keep on going! as for (4), an auto-siphon is cheap and effective (like, under 15 bucks); that said, I just sucked on the hose the first couple brews I made and didn't get any bad results, but I'm sure they could happen. Cleanliness is key, and a person's mouth is anything but.
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Sep 9, 2012 07:47
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Galler posted:The story that always comes to mind for me is of someone who said one of their batches of beer tasted very strongly of bubble gum. They let it sit for a week and tried it again and it still tasted like bubble gum. A month later the same thing. A couple months later still bad. Then a year later they found a bottle in the back of a fridge at it was delicious. Oxidation fixes all flaws (except oxidation). I wonder if anyone's tried to make their beer taste like bubble gum on purpose. Like an IrnBru wine cooler.
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Sep 9, 2012 13:36
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Bubble gum is a feature of brettanomyces.
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Sep 9, 2012 13:43
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To me, wheat beers almost always have a bubble-gummy tinge.
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Sep 9, 2012 14:39
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A lot of traditional wheat yeasts produce bubblegum and banana flavors when you ferment on the hotter side.
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Sep 9, 2012 15:28
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BlueGrot posted:Bubble gum is a feature of brettanomyces. Incorrect. Isoamyl acetate is primarily a product of weizen yeast, which gives it the banana/bubble gum flavor you so often find in wheat beers. Brettanomyces is responsible for more of the spicy, earthy and funky flavors you find in certain Belgian ales; it'll also put off some fruitiness, but definitely not in the "bubble gum" range.
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Sep 9, 2012 16:16
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I stand corrected, I just remembered a Mikkeller Brett beer that tasted like sour candy, horse blanket and bubblegum. Maybe a yeast blend then?
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Sep 9, 2012 16:37
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enthe0s posted:Now for some questions: You can cool the wort faster by gently stirring it without splashing. Also consider using drinking water bottles as make-shift ice packs. Freeze a bunch of them the night before brew day and swap them in as they thaw in the sink. Adding a good amount of salt to the water will also help it chill a little faster. Just don't add ice or frozen water bottles TO the wort. Rehydrating is an easy enough thing to do but pitching at the right temp and temperature control during fermentation are more important. And get a auto-siphon. I infected some of my early batches of cider with mouth bacteria back when I didn't know any better. The cost of the siphon is trivial compared to the cost of ingredients you could waste due to infection, not to mention the time spent making a batch and the peace of mind not worrying about it.
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Sep 9, 2012 16:38
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I had a quick question that might be related to the wheat beer question. I brewed a Brewer's Best Brown Ale kit...and it tastes awfully banana-y. I kept the fermentation temp below 70, so I don't understand why I have these weird fruity flavors. Any ideas? P.S. you guys were right about my last beer--bottle conditioning made it awesome (as long as you don't pour any of the sediment in the glass!)
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Sep 9, 2012 16:42
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Cpt.Wacky posted:You can cool the wort faster by gently stirring it without splashing. Splash the poo poo out of your wortwhile cooling, it doesn't matter since you haven't added the yeast yet. In fact it helps since you're aerating it.
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Sep 9, 2012 17:31
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Xiuhteuctli posted:I brewed a Brewer's Best Brown Ale kit...and it tastes awfully banana-y. I kept the fermentation temp below 70, so I don't understand why I have these weird fruity flavors. How are you monitoring the fermentation temperature? You might be getting off readings. I know when using hefeweizen yeast you want to keep the fermentation no higher than 62-64 as they produce TONS of banana, but any American/English yeast that would have come with a Brown Ale kit should ferment reasonably clean all the way up to 68. Basically my guess is that the actual fermenting beer wasn't quite as cold as you thought - learn to compensate for whatever errors are in your measurement and try to keep the beer a few degrees cooler next time.
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Sep 9, 2012 17:34
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I think this might be the best thread to ask this question: There is a six pack of cider I brewed years ago that I found among my stuff that I took from storage. They were bottled on January 26th, 2005 and I can't remember if I pasteurized them or not. What would I be tasting if I opened one up? ie, would it have turned into vinegar by now or not. Should I even bother cracking one open?
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Sep 9, 2012 17:38
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Only one way to find out.
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Sep 9, 2012 19:02
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bobthedinosaur posted:Should I even bother cracking one open? Yes of course you should.
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Sep 9, 2012 19:05
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Yea, count me as another for the taste and see crowd. Nothing should be growing in it that will make you sick/dead, it's one of the awesome features of fermented drinks.
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Sep 9, 2012 19:24
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Can't have turned to vinegar unless some souring bacteria got in there. And hey, if it has turned to vinegar, that won't hurt you any, and now you are a maker of artisanal aged cider vinegar. It may be (and likely is) past its peak, oxidized, stale, etc., but it certainly won't kill you.
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Sep 9, 2012 19:56
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What does it mean when my og reading is supposed to be 1.052 and I'm getting around 1.035'ish? I haven't pitched yet, in case that matters.
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Sep 9, 2012 20:45
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LaserWash posted:What does it mean when my og reading is supposed to be 1.052 and I'm getting around 1.035'ish? I haven't pitched yet, in case that matters. If you used extract, it probably means it wasn't mixed up enough with the top off water.
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Sep 9, 2012 20:52
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