|
OK, so apparently I did well for my first couple batches because 10 gallons of beer came and went way, way faster than I thought. My buddies hit my kegs pretty hard this weekend so far. Anyone have a relatively cheap "house beer" they like to serve to avoid having all your good poo poo drank in one night?
|
#
?
Oct 21, 2012 13:08
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 21, 2024 06:00 |
|
|
hellfaucet posted:How much additional gravity should I expect from adding a single pound of honey at flameout on a 5 gallon batch? 1lb of honey ads .007 points to a recipe. I'd add it to secondary if you wanted to keep any flavor at all. Or just use Honey malt and save yourself the money. LaserWash posted:Is there any reason that I can't use this to filter gunk/hops/etc out of my wort after brewing to help it thin out? I was planning on having someone hold all three together while I pour into the bucket after sanitizing. I like this because it appears to be a lot finer than what a normal strainer is. I used one of those for a while. It's make a loving mess as soon as you try to filter hops though it. Just a fair warning. Bobsledboy posted:What does really underpitched yeast taste like? My last 2 batches (the first 2 i've ever used liquid yeast) have the most horrific sulfur/dirty sock flavour, even after 2 months. None of my dry yeast batches have ever had this problem. One batch was Wyeast 3333 german wheat and the other was wyeast 1762 belgian abbey. Might be too cold of a ferment? Or it could be DMS. Cool your wort faster (if possible). almost posted:What would happen if I tried to ferment cider at more like 60F? Not much of a difference at all, may ferment slower. Mine fermented about 63 or so. It's not going to stop the wine yeast from doing their thing. hellfaucet posted:OK, so apparently I did well for my first couple batches because 10 gallons of beer came and went way, way faster than I thought. My buddies hit my kegs pretty hard this weekend so far. I'd say go between a pale ale in the fall/winter and cream ale in the spring/summer. Both are super f'n easy, tasty for sure, and quick to brew. Jacobey000 fucked around with this message at 15:30 on Oct 21, 2012 |
|
#
?
Oct 21, 2012 15:27
|
|
|
Sorry to repost this, but I am pretty worried:krushgroove posted:I've got a bit of a crisis - apparently I can't read a calendar, my Halloween party is next Friday and I should have done my cider extract brew a week earlier but I started fermentation yesterday. The instructions say it needs to ferment for 6 to 7 days, then you bottle or barrel it for about 5 days while it settles.
|
|
#
?
Oct 21, 2012 15:37
|
|
|
hellfaucet posted:Anyone have a relatively cheap "house beer" they like to serve to avoid having all your good poo poo drank in one night? Northern Brewer's Cream Ale kit.
|
|
#
?
Oct 21, 2012 15:46
|
|
|
hellfaucet posted:Anyone have a relatively cheap "house beer" they like to serve to avoid having all your good poo poo drank in one night? Most of what I brew is 3-5% moderately hopped beers, so I have a ton of recipes like this. When all your beers are cheap house beers you don't mind your friends coming over a lot to drink. I just use 8-10 lbs of grain to get me in the 1.035-1.050 range, balance it out with the hops according to style and use an appropriate yeast strain. I generally stick to more traditional hop varieties and they usually run me about $0.70 an oz when I buy by the pound from hopsdirect because everybody wants simcoe and citra so who cares about challenger and hallertauer? I also reuse my yeast to keep costs down which helps a lot. A $7 pack of yeast only costs $2.33 a brew if you reuse it 2 times. Here's two recipes, one for when it's warmer and one for when it's colder. Both cheap and delicious, they only take about two weeks to be ready to drink. Biere de Garde 6 lbs vienna 3 lbs munich II .5 lb biscuit malt .5 lb honey malt 1 oz sterling at 60 min, 1 oz sterling at 30 min, .5 oz sterling at flameout Wyeast Biere de Garde yeast Mash at 150*, ferment at 68-72*. OG 1.048, FG 1.008 roughly 5.25% ABV Brown Porter 5 lbs maris otter 2 lbs crisp brown malt .5 lb caramunich II .5 lb crisp pale chocolate malt 1.5 oz east kent goldings at 60 min Wyeast British Ale II Mash at 154*, ferment at 66-68*. OG 1.042, FG 1.016 roughly 3.5% ABV
|
|
#
?
Oct 21, 2012 15:52
|
|
|
Josh Wow posted:Most of what I brew is 3-5% moderately hopped beers, so I have a ton of recipes like this. When all your beers are cheap house beers you don't mind your friends coming over a lot to drink. I just use 8-10 lbs of grain to get me in the 1.035-1.050 range, balance it out with the hops according to style and use an appropriate yeast strain. I generally stick to more traditional hop varieties and they usually run me about $0.70 an oz when I buy by the pound from hopsdirect because everybody wants simcoe and citra so who cares about challenger and hallertauer? I also reuse my yeast to keep costs down which helps a lot. A $7 pack of yeast only costs $2.33 a brew if you reuse it 2 times. 5 or 10 gallon batch size?
|
|
#
?
Oct 21, 2012 16:09
|
|
|
krushgroove posted:I've got a bit of a crisis - apparently I can't read a calendar, my Halloween party is next Friday and I should have done my cider extract brew a week earlier but I started fermentation yesterday. The instructions say it needs to ferment for 6 to 7 days, then you bottle or barrel it for about 5 days while it settles. 23C ~= 73F. Fermenting warm will speed things up, but may contribute to off-flavors depending on the yeast you are using. Remember that the actual liquid will be warmer than ambient because of the heat generated by the yeast's metabolism, so could be as high as say 25C / 77F which is pretty drat warm for anything other than Saisons. I think you are going to have a product that is not as good as it could be. I don't have any experience with the bags you are using, so I can't comment on that aspect of your question.
|
|
#
?
Oct 21, 2012 16:23
|
|
|
So our ESB hasn't started showing signs of fermentation in our bucket yet. We screwed up and made the starter roughly a week before we pitched it, which I've since learned that you want to pitch it while it's krausening, but we pitched it at 70 into, should be, well aerated wort. We chilled the wort in the kettle and poured it hard into the bucket and then pitched. That should be enough oxygen right? We bleached both fermentation buckets after our infection, but we then rinsed out very good, could not smell any bleach after rinsing for 5 minutes, then we sanitized with star san and let it soak for an hour each. I'm guessing the fermentation is sluggish because of how we handled the yeast before pitching it?
|
|
#
?
Oct 21, 2012 16:28
|
|
|
You might just have a leak somewhere. Have you checked the gravity?
|
|
#
?
Oct 21, 2012 16:57
|
|
|
Jo3sh posted:23C ~= 73F. Fermenting warm will speed things up, but may contribute to off-flavors depending on the yeast you are using. Remember that the actual liquid will be warmer than ambient because of the heat generated by the yeast's metabolism, so could be as high as say 25C / 77F which is pretty drat warm for anything other than Saisons. I think you are going to have a product that is not as good as it could be.  The last couple of cider extract brews I made did get better the longer I left them, though. quote:I don't have any experience with the bags you are using, so I can't comment on that aspect of your question.
|
|
#
?
Oct 21, 2012 17:34
|
|
|
Huge_Midget posted:5 or 10 gallon batch size? I actually do 6 gallon batches. 6 gallons of wort at the end of the boil lets me get 5.25-5.5 gallons into my bucket after leaving behind the trub, and I end up with a full 5 gallons when I go to keg it.
|
|
#
?
Oct 21, 2012 18:06
|
|
|
Am I the only one who goes from 8 gallons to 5.5-5 gallons during a boil?
|
|
#
?
Oct 21, 2012 18:08
|
|
|
Had an non-intentional home brewing experience today. I had left a liter of freshly squeezed apple juice in the fridge about a week and a half ago, and promptly forgot about it. Today I discovered that it had carbonated itself. To my surprise it tasted really nice, crisp and sparkly. Accidental cider, yay!
|
|
#
?
Oct 21, 2012 18:22
|
|
|
All this talk of cider has made me want to make some pear cider. Anyone know where you can buy a lot of pear juice for not too much money?
|
|
#
?
Oct 21, 2012 19:00
|
|
|
Imasalmon posted:You might just have a leak somewhere. Have you checked the gravity? Just checked the gravity and it went from 1.058 to 1.038 since, it's fermenting just slow. I think it was because of the cold night that came through last night and the room we ferment in not being temperature controlled. We've insulated it better today and it's sitting at 68-70 right now with a steady fermentation going on. The next beer we're brewing is a Mint Chocolate Imperial Stout and I came up with this recipe if anyone wants to look it over. I'm not sure on some things, but I think this is what we're going to try. One thing I was thinking though, is do we need the roasted barley or will the chocolate malt add enough roasted characters itself? Also how should I go about fermenting this? Should I re-pitch after a week or will the original yeast be enough? For context I'm going for a sweet chocolate stout and will be adding mint extract the day before bottling. Midorka fucked around with this message at 19:17 on Oct 21, 2012 |
|
#
?
Oct 21, 2012 19:08
|
|
|
I am hoping Ubik will give me a few suggestions on my Nightstalker clone. I spoke with some Goose Island reps at GABF, and they told me that more Nightstalker is coming this year as part of their Legacy Series, but considering how poorly distributed Goose Island is here in Texas, I would love to create my own. 2-Row Pale 52% Munich 28% Chocolate 8% Crystal 150 4% Roasted Barley 4% 60 minutes of enough Simcoe to give 60 IBU 10 minutes of Mt. Hood to give 4-5 IBU Wyeast Irish Ale (1084) Mash for an hour at 154. What do you think, Ubik? Am I pretty close?
|
|
#
?
Oct 21, 2012 19:23
|
|
|
RiggenBlaque posted:Am I the only one who goes from 8 gallons to 5.5-5 gallons during a boil? If I just go full tilt the whole time I would go from 8 to 5.5, but I usually adjust the flame downwards to get less or more boiloff every 15 minutes or so.
|
|
#
?
Oct 21, 2012 19:26
|
|
|
RiggenBlaque posted:Am I the only one who goes from 8 gallons to 5.5-5 gallons during a boil? I usually start with 7.5-8 gallons pre-boil and finish with 6 gallons. Midorka posted:The next beer we're brewing is a Mint Chocolate Imperial Stout and I came up with this recipe if anyone wants to look it over. I'm not sure on some things, but I think this is what we're going to try. One thing I was thinking though, is do we need the roasted barley or will the chocolate malt add enough roasted characters itself? Also how should I go about fermenting this? Should I re-pitch after a week or will the original yeast be enough? If you want it to be a stout you need roasted barley, otherwise it's a porter. That being said I think it'd be fine either way. The only change I recommend is dropping the wheat malt. It won't contribute anything substantial (I know, head retention; it's totally unnecessary here) and just needlessly complicates and muddles the recipe. You won't need to repitch yeast after a week, just make an appropriately sized starter or use two packs of US-05 and you'll be fine.
|
|
#
?
Oct 21, 2012 19:42
|
|
|
My last batch I started with just short of 7 gallons and ended up with just over 4 gallons in the bucket. It was boiling just enough for some good turnover but it wasn't a very vigorous boil. My boil pot is pretty wide and it was a bit cool out so there was a ton of evaporation. I usually partially cover the kettle with the lid and then I only lose about half as much water but I was brewing a kolsch and wanted to do everything 'correctly' since the flavor is so mild.
|
|
#
?
Oct 21, 2012 19:46
|
|
|
Josh Wow posted:If you want it to be a stout you need roasted barley, otherwise it's a porter. That being said I think it'd be fine either way. The only change I recommend is dropping the wheat malt. It won't contribute anything substantial (I know, head retention; it's totally unnecessary here) and just needlessly complicates and muddles the recipe. You won't need to repitch yeast after a week, just make an appropriately sized starter or use two packs of US-05 and you'll be fine. Thanks a lot for the advice, I'm glad I managed to design a non-mess of a recipe first try.
|
|
#
?
Oct 21, 2012 19:59
|
|
|
Galler posted:My last batch I started with just short of 7 gallons and ended up with just over 4 gallons in the bucket. It was boiling just enough for some good turnover but it wasn't a very vigorous boil. My boil pot is pretty wide and it was a bit cool out so there was a ton of evaporation. I wouldn't put a lid on while boiling. All of that condensation dripping back into the pot, vaguely remember someone in this thread stating that contributed to a corn flavor developing in the beer.
|
|
#
?
Oct 21, 2012 21:01
|
|
|
zerox147o posted:I wouldn't put a lid on while boiling. All of that condensation dripping back into the pot, vaguely remember someone in this thread stating that contributed to a corn flavor developing in the beer. Yup, lid-on boiling does not allow the evaporation of Di-Methyl Sulfide (DMS) which tastes like canned corn. vvv If it's working for you, you're right, no need to change. Jo3sh fucked around with this message at 21:40 on Oct 21, 2012 |
|
#
?
Oct 21, 2012 21:28
|
|
|
I've never tasted anything like that. I still lose about 1.5 gallons even with the lid partially on so until it becomes a problem I don't see any reason to change it. e: not because I don't want to be proactive but because it introduces other problems with no benefit to me currently. Galler fucked around with this message at 21:46 on Oct 21, 2012 |
|
#
?
Oct 21, 2012 21:35
|
|
|
Midorka posted:We screwed up and made the starter roughly a week before we pitched it, which I've since learned that you want to pitch it while it's krausening This is debateable, we even had a nerd fight about it a few weeks ago in this thread  Personally I prefer to do my starter about 5 days before I brew so I have time to crash it and decant off most of the gross starter wort. Pitching the starter at high kreusen will get your fermentation started in no time flat, but I'm ok with waiting 12 hours in return for not dumping a liter or two of nasty unhopped starter wort that fermented at like 85 degrees into my beer.
|
|
#
?
Oct 21, 2012 21:48
|
|
|
Imasalmon posted:I am hoping Ubik will give me a few suggestions on my Nightstalker clone. I spoke with some Goose Island reps at GABF, and they told me that more Nightstalker is coming this year as part of their Legacy Series, but considering how poorly distributed Goose Island is here in Texas, I would love to create my own. That's actually pretty close! The main changes I'd make would be to change from C150 to C60, and to consider another ale strain as your yeast. I'd be wary of the diacetyl that 1084 tends to leave behind. I'd suggest 1272 (American Ale II), 1028 (London Ale) or 1450 (Denny's Favorite) instead. What OG are you planning on hitting? Nightstalker is super-high gravity - around 30 Plato, or 1.131 OG - which can be problematic on homebrew systems and hell on the yeast. A lower-gravity version at 8-10% should taste just as good and be less problematic. Also, be sure to dry-hop the hell out of it! I believe we used Simcoe in the past, but I did a version with all-Columbus a few years back that also turned out spectacularly. Any high-alpha US hop should work, but something with some resinous/pine characters like Simcoe or Columbus fits best. hellfaucet posted:Anyone have a relatively cheap "house beer" they like to serve to avoid having all your good poo poo drank in one night? I never keep a single "house beer" in stock, but I have a few low-gravity beers that I keep going back to, which have become some of my "signature" beers. All recipes are calculated for 1 hour mashes, 90 minute boils and 5.25 gallon yields: Patersbier 10# Belgian pils 25 IBU worth of bittering hops 1 oz. Hallertauer @10 min Wyeast 3787/White Labs WLP530 (Westmalle yeast) Mash temp: 150-152F 1.050-1.054 OG, 25-28 IBU, 5-5.5% ABV Table Beer 4# 2-row 1# C20 0.5# Wheat 0.25# Victory 15 IBU worth of bittering hops 1 oz. Willamette @5 minutes Wyeast 1272/White Labs WLP051 (Anchor Liberty yeast) Mash temp: 152-154F 1.030-1.034 OG, 15-18 IBU, 2.9-3.2% ABV Golden Naked Mild 5# Mild malt 1# Flaked oats 1# Golden Naked Oats (from Simpson Malting) 0.5# C20 0.25# Biscuit/Victory malt 18 IBUs worth of bittering hops 1 oz. Willamette @flameout English ale yeast of some sort (I used Goose Island's house yeast, for obvious reasons.  )Mash temp: 154-156F 1.038-1.042 OG, 18 IBU, 3.8-4.2% ABV The Patersbier is my favorite summer beer, while the Golden Mild is an excellent fall beer - I brewed it for the first time recently and it's really been a hit. The Table Beer has gotten nothing but rave reviews and is the one that people ask me for the most. Future plans and questions: I'm planning on brewing a "Malort-barrel" beer by steeping oak chips in the infamous Malort, and pitching the whole mess into a beer after primary has been completed. I was thinking of a stout at first (what could be more Chicagoan than Malort-barrel BCS?), but decided to take an entirely different path and brew a black saison for it: ~1.070 OG, with citrusy US hops and a tiny bit of star anise to accent the Malort characteristics. Interestingly enough, I found wormwood at my local Mexican supermarket and decided to pick up a bit. I'm considering putting a tiny amount into the Malort/oak chip mixture so that I sanitize it, extract some of the flavors and don't completely gently caress up the bitterness. Any experience/advice on using wormwood in beer (other than "don't"? It's a Malort beer, so bad ideas are de rigueur.  )?I'm also planning on starting a new sour beer soon. I don't want to take the time and effort to do a turbid mash, so I'm planning on putting a tablespoon or two of wheat flour into the boil to put in the proper measure of starch and turbidity. Any experience or advice on this? It's really mostly to give the bugs some extra food to chew on.
|
|
#
?
Oct 21, 2012 22:52
|
|
|
Zakath posted:All this talk of cider has made me want to make some pear cider. Anyone know where you can buy a lot of pear juice for not too much money? Pear cider is usually called perry and just like cider the best pears for it are not the best for eating. Perry is usually a milder more delicate flavor than cider and even more so with eating pears that are mainly sweet and juicy. Try to find a local orchard that grows pears and get their seconds if they won't press it for you. Otherwise ask your neighbors and co-workers. Pear trees require very little care, are vigorous and live for a long time so someone is bound to have one in their backyard that they don't want to pick. Making a press is a good little project for fall/winter too.
|
|
#
?
Oct 22, 2012 02:41
|
|
|
Ubik posted:That's actually pretty close! The main changes I'd make would be to change from C150 to C60, and to consider another ale strain as your yeast. I'd be wary of the diacetyl that 1084 tends to leave behind. I'd suggest 1272 (American Ale II), 1028 (London Ale) or 1450 (Denny's Favorite) instead. Glad to see I am close! I was targeting 1.108 with it, but I can push it a bit. I have pulled off some really big stuff with my setup, so I think I can push to 1.131. Big rear end starters are something I have setup around, so I intend to aim as accurate as I can get. I have no idea why I never thought to dry hop it, especially since I love the hoppiness on fresh Nightstalker. Thanks for the yeast advice as well! Oh my goodness, I want to brew tomorrow!
|
|
#
?
Oct 22, 2012 02:54
|
|
|
Docjowles posted:This is debateable, we even had a nerd fight about it a few weeks ago in this thread Yeah I was reading and it seemed to come to conclusion that making a starter 12-18 hours before brewing was optimal. I've also read that decanting doesn't matter if you wait you can just pour the gross starter off. I guess there is just so many ways that work, but then there's the optimal "scientific" way about it, but really it depends on the amount of investment the brewer wants to invest. I think next time I'll make the starter 12 hours before brewing then pitch at the end, it couldn't hurt to pitch at the highest activity right?
|
|
#
?
Oct 22, 2012 04:20
|
|
|
.
almost fucked around with this message at 11:03 on Dec 15, 2013 |
|
#
?
Oct 22, 2012 14:02
|
|
|
almost posted:How risky is it to use an old grimy 5 gallon bucket for fermentation, if I clean it? Has anyone done that? It's had metal stuff in it so I assume there are scratches.. Probably not a good idea, fermentors are made with food grade plastic.
|
|
#
?
Oct 22, 2012 14:04
|
|
|
.
almost fucked around with this message at 11:03 on Dec 15, 2013 |
|
#
?
Oct 22, 2012 14:10
|
|
|
I've actually been wondering if there is any difference in food grade vs non. I guess I could Google, but it seems there are at least two of us wondering. Does food grade actually mean anything or is it just one of those marketing things? Because those plastic water jugs would make excellent carboys and are cheap as heck.
|
|
#
?
Oct 22, 2012 14:15
|
|
|
Midorka posted:I've actually been wondering if there is any difference in food grade vs non. I guess I could Google, but it seems there are at least two of us wondering. Does food grade actually mean anything or is it just one of those marketing things? Because those plastic water jugs would make excellent carboys and are cheap as heck. It's not marketing; there are specific plastics that are permissable for use with food due to their chemical composition. These plastics will neither absorb the contents of what's inside nor will they leech chemicals into them. If you're talking about plastic water bottle jugs like the kind you use for an office cooler then they probably would make acceptable carboys as I'm pretty sure they have to be food grade plastic to hold potable water. That said I would personally just stick to using a bucket. Far easier to clean.
|
|
#
?
Oct 22, 2012 14:25
|
|
|
Midorka posted:I've actually been wondering if there is any difference in food grade vs non. I guess I could Google, but it seems there are at least two of us wondering. Does food grade actually mean anything or is it just one of those marketing things? Because those plastic water jugs would make excellent carboys and are cheap as heck. Food Grade does mean something, but non-food grade containers may meet all food-grade requirements, without meeting traceability and paperwork requirements. Unfortunately, there's no good way to tell. You can find FDA requirements for food-grade containers by googling around. Unfortunately, they aren't all in one spot. Here's a powerpoint that contains some summary: http://sustainablepackaging.org/uploads/Documents/Open%20Forum%20-%20201003%20Navigating%20FDA%20Regulations.pdf
|
|
#
?
Oct 22, 2012 14:26
|
|
|
Thanks for the two informative posts!
|
|
#
?
Oct 22, 2012 14:44
|
|
|
almost posted:How risky is it to use an old grimy 5 gallon bucket for fermentation, if I clean it? Has anyone done that? It's had metal stuff in it so I assume there are scratches.. I see three issues here: 1) grimy - if it's got gunk on it, it will be harder to clean and sanitize, and might have something on/in it that would give an odd flavor to the beer. 2) old - as you point out, probably scratched. 3) 5-gallon - you really do want some headspace. In addition to being clean, new, and made of food-grade plastic, fermenter buckets are 6.5 gallon, giving room for the kraeusen.
|
|
#
?
Oct 22, 2012 15:01
|
|
|
So I finally got to test out my thrown together mash tun yesterday and it worked splendidly. Will probably stick to extracts for my burner keg just to have something disposable for guests, but will be sticking entirely to all grain now that I don't have to deal with the logistics/limitations of BIAB. My basement sounds like there is a fish tank with the Tripel bubbling away happily. Anyway, what do people do with their spent grain? I feel like its such a waste tossing 10-20 pounds of grain. Bread? Dog food? What?
|
|
#
?
Oct 22, 2012 15:08
|
|
|
So I had my first experience with aggressive fermentation last night. After only 3 hours my scottish ale wort was already pumping krausen pretty steadily through my blow off tube. I've never had it actually pump through the blow-off tube and into the bucket of sanitizer before. Checked this morning and it looks like high krausen ended and no more krausen actively going through the tube, though I lost about .25 gallons through the transfer. Bucket of sanitizer is pretty funky now as well. 2 questions: a) Should I change out the blow-off tube since it's now full of nasty poo poo? b) Should I change out the bucket of sanitizer? Not looking to risk any sort of infection.
|
|
#
?
Oct 22, 2012 15:30
|
|
|
I saw this in the Political Cartoons thread and thought it was funny enough to repost. Pretty sure this will be the label of every bottle of cider I ever make.
|
|
#
?
Oct 22, 2012 15:45
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 21, 2024 06:00 |
|
|
hellfaucet posted:So I had my first experience with aggressive fermentation last night. After only 3 hours my scottish ale wort was already pumping krausen pretty steadily through my blow off tube. I've never had it actually pump through the blow-off tube and into the bucket of sanitizer before. Checked this morning and it looks like high krausen ended and no more krausen actively going through the tube, though I lost about .25 gallons through the transfer. Bucket of sanitizer is pretty funky now as well. Have had krausen go through the blowoff tube multiple times and haven't noticed any adverse effects to the final beer. Just make sure you dump out sanitizer before it gets too funky- I once went away on vacation for 2 weeks after leaving something fermenting and came back to some awful smells once the surface of the water broke.
|
|
#
?
Oct 22, 2012 15:50
|
|