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I just did a fly by the seat of your pants brew day in which I didn't take any measurements of anything and just added semi-random amounts of strike water until I got to the right temp. Went better than most of my other brew days where I forgot some old thing. If anything the only thing I messed up was that I kept the heat so low that I got very little boiloff. I would have ended up with a 1.064 or so beer, but I ended up with like 6 gallons instead of 5 and a quarter, so it ended up around 1.060 (which is perfectly fine.) I have to say, if you ever do a pumpkin beer, don't bother even calculating it in your gravity readings because it adds basically nothing in terms of fermentables. Midorka posted:I have an imperial stout that finished fermenting, I know it needs to store for a while. Will it matter if it's sitting in a 71 degree room, or should it be a bit colder? I know temperatures are hugely important while fermenting, but how important are they when not fermenting? We have a dubbel fermenting now and that's why the room is 71, I'd honestly like it a bit higher actually but I don't think we can yet. Angry Grimace fucked around with this message at 06:28 on Nov 11, 2012 |
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Nov 11, 2012 06:25
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I'd argue that storing vs conditioning might want different temps anyway. With 99% of commercial beers, when you buy it it's in the condition the brewer intends it to be consumed. You might age it for kicks to see what happens but it's not mandatory. With homebrew, it hasn't reached that "ready" stage yet and warmer temps will help it get there faster. Obviously you don't want it at like 100F since it will oxidize like a motherfucker, but 70's would probably be fine for at least the first couple months.
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Nov 11, 2012 06:46
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Waiting on the Final Fantasy 14 servers to come down with the end of the world and whatnot, figured I'd take and share a few pics of my basement workspace: The corner  e; there are a few gallons of mead, a few bottles of lemoncello, and a few mason jars of infused vodka floating around that table too. And that drip tray still hasn't been installed for some reason. A little more focus on the keezer  And just to the left of the first picture under a pile of boardgames, amazon boxes, and a blanket covered tv-- fermentation at its finest. Really shouldn't have that thermometer like that... 
Nephzinho fucked around with this message at 09:00 on Nov 11, 2012 |
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Nov 11, 2012 08:57
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Making the White House Honey Ale today, but I couldn't figure out whether to use U.S. 2-row or Maris Otter (other than the honey, its basically a ESB-ish beer). I went with 1/2 MO, 1/2 US2R  Given that there aren't any US sourced ingredients in it if you don't use US sourced base malt, I figured I had to have at least some.
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Nov 11, 2012 23:12
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Haha, I hadn't actually bothered to look up the recipes before. Not to drag this into D&D chat but it's kind of refreshing that it wasn't AMERICAN BARLEY AMERICAN HOPS AMERICAN YEAST GEORGE WASHINGTON'S SEMEN
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Nov 12, 2012 05:42
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Killer robot posted:If you want to strengthen up apple cider, an alternative to sugar is to just add several cans of apple juice concentrate. A 12 ounce can has about half a pound (1 cup) of sugar and costs under $2 last I checked, though the apple harvest this year might have pushed it up. While this costs more than the cheap apple juice + white sugar rocket fuel, four gallons of juice plus ten cans of concentrate will have double the apple flavor. Though also will be more tart, so keep that in mind too. I just put a batch of cider together tonight using this idea. I used eleven 12-ounce cans for just over a gallon of concentrate, and added four gallons of Costco juice. Sweet Mead yeast should leave a little residual sugar, so hopefully it will not be unmanageably tart.
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Nov 12, 2012 07:52
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Docjowles posted:Haha, I hadn't actually bothered to look up the recipes before. Not to drag this into D&D chat but it's kind of refreshing that it wasn't The real secret is that the water used is really tears of a bald eagle.
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Nov 12, 2012 14:46
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I'm going to be getting that pound of simcoe today, so I decided to pick up some ingredients at my local LHBS to make an IIPA with it. I've never used simcoe before, so I'm not 100% sure what to expect, though I have had beers I have absolutely loved that used it. I have a bunch of cascade sitting around as well, and 2 oz of citra, and made this recipe: 2 lbs - Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L 12 lbs - Pale Liquid Extract 2.0 oz Cascade - Boil 60 min 1.5 oz Simcoe - Boil 25 min 0.5 oz Citra - Boil 15 min 0.5 oz Simcoe - Boil 15 min 0.5 oz Citra - Boil 10 min 0.5 oz Simcoe - Boil 10 min 0.5 oz Citra - Boil 5 min 0.5 oz Simcoe - Boil 5 min 0.5 oz Citra - Boil 0 min 0.5 oz Simcoe - Boil 0 min 1.5 lbs Corn Sugar - Boil 0 min 1.0 pkg American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) - 2L Starter BeerSmith is estimating this at 1.085 OG, 1.015 FG, 98.9 IBUs, 9.3% ABV. It might be a little darker than the style since I'm using extract, but I doubt I'll be entering this into any competitions. Kinda hoping this will wind up being a very citrusy, tart IIPA. Should I change anything?
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Nov 12, 2012 16:18
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hellfaucet posted:I'm going to be getting that pound of simcoe today, so I decided to pick up some ingredients at my local LHBS to make an IIPA with it. I've never used simcoe before, so I'm not 100% sure what to expect, though I have had beers I have absolutely loved that used it. I have a bunch of cascade sitting around as well, and 2 oz of citra, and made this recipe: You're using 14% crystal malt which is a ton, especially for a IIPA. I'd cut that back to 5-10%. Maybe add some table sugar to dry it out as well.
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Nov 12, 2012 16:32
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Josh Wow posted:You're using 14% crystal malt which is a ton, especially for a IIPA. I'd cut that back to 5-10%. Maybe add some table sugar to dry it out as well. Right on. I haven't used table sugar before, about how much should I be using on a 5 gallon batch? e: Do corn sugar and table sugar do different things? hellfaucet fucked around with this message at 17:06 on Nov 12, 2012 |
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Nov 12, 2012 16:42
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I thought I had solved my kegerator's foam issue by increasing the length of the serving line, but now that the kegs are light, it seems like its back. My setup has a gas line splitter which feeds my two kegs. The splitter is attached to the regulator, which I have set at 12 psi. I run the kegerator at about 37-39F. The serving line for both kegs is 12 foot, which is probably longer than it needs to be but was working fine for awhile. This was working pretty well, but now that both kegs are approaching empty, they are gushing foam out. I look at one of the serving lines, and there are air gaps in it. What could be happening? The kegs are low enough that they feel light when I pick them up, but there's enough in both that the dip tube is definitely submerged.
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Nov 12, 2012 16:45
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Josh Wow posted:You're using 14% crystal malt which is a ton, especially for a IIPA. I'd cut that back to 5-10%. Maybe add some table sugar to dry it out as well. He's adding 1.5lbs of corn sugar at flameout so I think that's covered. Definitely agree on the crystal. I'd recommend a big rear end charge of dry hops too for the true IIPA effect. 2oz+.
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Nov 12, 2012 17:00
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hellfaucet posted:Right on. I haven't used table sugar before, about how much should I be using on a 5 gallon batch? I didn't see you had corn sugar in there, that looks like it'll be fine then. Corn sugar and table sugar are basically the same when using them in the bool or to prime something. The only thing to note is there's a volume difference so always measure by weight, but really you should be measuring everything dry by weight anyway.
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Nov 12, 2012 17:25
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I've been brewing 5 gallon steep + extract batches using the concentrated boil then add water to fermenter method. I want to make less beer more often, and I was wondering what you guys thought of this: Make 2-3 gal batches directly, without adding water. Still do the primary in my 6 gal fermenter. Buy 3 smaller secondary fermenters to cut down on oxidation potential. After ramp up time, I'll have 2-3 gallons every weekish. Is there anything I need to know about not using the water added method? I'm only using it because of stove limitations and living in the city prevents easy outside boils. I figure it's the same as long as the ingredients work out.
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Nov 12, 2012 18:07
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baquerd posted:I've been brewing 5 gallon steep + extract batches using the concentrated boil then add water to fermenter method. I want to make less beer more often, and I was wondering what you guys thought of this: I'd look into brew in a bag- you can get into the fundamentals of all-grain, the ingredients are cheaper (not having to buy extract), and you can easily get 2-3 gallons worth of beer with the exact same equipment that you use to make 5 gallon extract batches. All you need to get started is a 2 dollar nylon paint strainer bag from a paint supply shop. I got into it for the same reason as you, to brew less more often. Been pretty pleased so far, and most of what I've made has been fairly tasty. I mash right in my brew pot, can fit about 8 pounds of grains in there. global tetrahedron fucked around with this message at 18:34 on Nov 12, 2012 |
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Nov 12, 2012 18:26
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Yeast starter question- Wanting to make approximately a 4L starter using a 2L flask. So does this methodology make sense: Make 2L starter, pitch yeast. Let sit 1-2 days, chill overnight, pour off gross starter beer. Make new wort, rack on top of yeast cake. Let sit 1-2 days, chill overnight, pour off gross starter beer. Pitch 4L starter into DIPA! I get the principle of making multiple worts to increase yeast population but I guess logistically don't know how best to rack off the nasty starter beer. Would cold crashing multiple times affect the yeast negatively?
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Nov 12, 2012 18:31
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global tetrahedron posted:Yeast starter question- It may not necessarily be 1-2 days, but whenever you see the krausen fall back into the wort is when I pour out the poo poo wort and repitch on top. But no, I don't believe doing this has any negative effect on the yeast.
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Nov 12, 2012 19:06
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global tetrahedron posted:Yeast starter question- That's exactly how I do it and I've never had any problems. Pouring off the starter wort from the yeast cake is really easy after letting it sit in the fridge for a day or two. Just try not to do any swirling and pour it all off in one continuous pour (as opposed to stopping and letting it slosh back in and mix with the yeast) and you'll be fine. Question of my own: I just came back from vacation and one of my plastic carboys somehow came down with a nasty case of negative pressure. It was like when you suck the air out of a soda bottle and then put the cap back on before it can re-inflate. I was terrified because I thought I warped it somehow (even the the beer has been in there for about a month) but after I took the airlock off the pressure equalized and now it's fine ... Any idea what could have caused this? The beer was fully fermented before I left on vacation and the only variable was probably that the house was slightly cooler than usual since I turned the heat off ... but not by much.
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Nov 12, 2012 19:13
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zerox147o posted:It may not necessarily be 1-2 days, but whenever you see the krausen fall back into the wort is when I pour out the poo poo wort and repitch on top. But no, I don't believe doing this has any negative effect on the yeast. Yeah, 12 to 24 hours usually seems to be the range for the full fermentation cycle in my starters, but given my work schedule I can't do all the necessary steps at the exact time they could be done, hence giving myself 1-2 days to work with. Wanting to brew this Sunday, can't make it to the brew shop until tomorrow or Wednesday. Just making sure I'll have enough time to do this right. fullroundaction posted:Negative pressure in carboy I'd guess the temp change would be it. I know when cold crashing you have to be careful to not let the airlock water get sucked in. So given the flexibility of a better bottle, I don't see why the same notion wouldn't apply. I'm no physicist so I wouldn't venture a guess any more detailed than this. global tetrahedron fucked around with this message at 19:20 on Nov 12, 2012 |
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Nov 12, 2012 19:16
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Brewed sober for the first time ever last night (a huge 1.1 OG RIS that I'll probably have to lay down for a year before drinking) and nothing went wrong. At all. I even got an extra 8% efficiency and hit all my temperatures and volumes on the nose. Maybe there's something to be said for sober brewing.
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Nov 12, 2012 19:30
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internet celebrity posted:Brewed sober for the first time ever last night (a huge 1.1 OG RIS that I'll probably have to lay down for a year before drinking) and nothing went wrong. At all. I even got an extra 8% efficiency and hit all my temperatures and volumes on the nose. Maybe there's something to be said for sober brewing. Probably a fluke. You have your control, now more testing whilst imbibing various quantities. I expect a full report on my desk by next week.
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Nov 13, 2012 03:20
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I brewed sober tonight for the first time and somehow overshot my OG by about .004. With extract. Never making that mistake again. NB must factor in loss from inebriation when they put together their kits.
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Nov 13, 2012 03:26
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I hit 1.070 on a recipe I was supposed to hit 1.065 on Friday. Brewed a very similar recipe with an expected gravity of 1.068 and hit 1.060. No idea why, we did everything the same so I'm not sure. The only differences was the first brew day we never got a fully clean run-off despite vorlaufing a lot, but when we batch sparged it was near running off water, the second had a lot more color. I don't know any ideas?
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Nov 13, 2012 03:38
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Bottled our first batch tonight, an American Cream Ale Kit with WLP080. Kept it in the primary for four months in our guest bathroom that never goes above 70. Went from an OG of 1.039 to 1.008. End result looks really promising; it's definitely going to be on the lighter side but it has some great notes to it. My wife and I agree there's an unexpected hint of citrus, and it's very drinkable. Hopefully it'll be fully carb'd in time for Thanksgiving, but I'm feeling pretty optimistic. Next we're thinking about tackling that Saison de Noel, probably using a WL yeast from our local homebrew store. Anybody know a good clone recipe for Troeg's Mad Elf Ale?
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Nov 13, 2012 03:49
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I've been avoiding this thread for a while; I brewed my first batch mid-October, and it's now finishing out 2 weeks in the bottle. I decided I would set it aside and do my best to ignore it until then. I was fine until this past weekend when my best friend texted me, telling me to crack one open and taste it. I'd tasted it when I checked the final gravity, and told him what it tasted like at that point, but he wants a play by play now. Now I can't ignore the beer. It's like somebody took a huge neon side with an arrow pointing to the boxes that screams "BEER HERE!" every time I walk into the den where it sits. I'm assuming this little neurotic fit of mine will only get worse until I actually chill a bottle and open it up, won't it 
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Nov 13, 2012 04:27
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Nostratic posted:I've been avoiding this thread for a while; I brewed my first batch mid-October, and it's now finishing out 2 weeks in the bottle. I decided I would set it aside and do my best to ignore it until then. I was fine until this past weekend when my best friend texted me, telling me to crack one open and taste it. I'd tasted it when I checked the final gravity, and told him what it tasted like at that point, but he wants a play by play now. Now I can't ignore the beer. It's like somebody took a huge neon side with an arrow pointing to the boxes that screams "BEER HERE!" every time I walk into the den where it sits. Keep brewing. If you brew more beer than you can drink, you'll forget about things that aren't ready yet!
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Nov 13, 2012 05:12
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I'm getting close to that stage and I haven't even bottled yet! I have 15 gallons of various things going right now, and after not brewing for a decade it's like all of a sudden NOW I can't wait any more to taste the fruits of my labor. With only 15 gallons capacity though (20 if I really push it and use my 4th, old, doesn't really seal right fermenter) I'll probably never really have enough on hand to cover me completely and avoid dry spells.
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Nov 13, 2012 05:24
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Midorka posted:I hit 1.070 on a recipe I was supposed to hit 1.065 on Friday. Brewed a very similar recipe with an expected gravity of 1.068 and hit 1.060. No idea why, we did everything the same so I'm not sure. The only differences was the first brew day we never got a fully clean run-off despite vorlaufing a lot, but when we batch sparged it was near running off water, the second had a lot more color. I don't know any ideas? There's a million reasons you could have variable efficiency, i.e. longer/shorter mash time, doing a mashout, insufficient stirring of the mash so the malt stayed clumped up, etc. That's not really enough information to say.
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Nov 13, 2012 07:05
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Would this beer be too 'hot' on the hop end? I was making a DIPA with different kinds of hops but given that I was purchasing 1oz containers the price for the hop bill jumped through the roof. I thought given that I'm actually trying to learn what different ingredients taste like I'd make a single hop DIPA. I love beers that use Chinook so thought I'd buy a pound worth to save a bit of dough, and likely make myself sick of Chinook flavor. I think this hop schedule sounds good but since its a fairly high alpha hop I'm wary of making it unpleasantly bitter: quote:
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Nov 13, 2012 16:21
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Holidays are coming up and I've gotten the go ahead to start kegging. I've ordered a keg/cylinder/regulator and assorted hardware. Once that gets in and I can make some templates it will be time to go freezer shopping. I'm excited as gently caress to not have to deal with bottles and wait for yeast to carb them. 
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Nov 13, 2012 16:43
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global tetrahedron posted:Would this beer be too 'hot' on the hop end? I was making a DIPA with different kinds of hops but given that I was purchasing 1oz containers the price for the hop bill jumped through the roof. I thought given that I'm actually trying to learn what different ingredients taste like I'd make a single hop DIPA. Chinook is an intense bastard of a hop so if you like throat-fuckingly hoppy beers then that should be right up your alley. Personally I'd move the 15 minute addition to flameout or post-boil.
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Nov 13, 2012 16:48
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internet celebrity posted:Chinook is an intense bastard of a hop so if you like throat-fuckingly hoppy beers then that should be right up your alley. Personally I'd move the 15 minute addition to flameout or post-boil. I do like that, however, I may take your recommendation. Is first wort hopping mimickable with extract? Just put it in as I'm heating up the wort? Would that have any effect? global tetrahedron fucked around with this message at 17:07 on Nov 13, 2012 |
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Nov 13, 2012 17:04
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zerox147o posted:Keep brewing. If you brew more beer than you can drink, you'll forget about things that aren't ready yet! I do have a good sized wish list of beers I'd like to try... If I land a new job by next week I'll go crazy!
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Nov 13, 2012 18:05
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global tetrahedron posted:I do like that, however, I may take your recommendation. Is first wort hopping mimickable with extract? Just put it in as I'm heating up the wort? Would that have any effect? You'll probably have to decide between adding extract late or doing first wort hopping. I'm not sure I buy FWH as a real thing; much better brewers than I think it's BS (like Jamil) while others swear by it in hoppy beers (like Gordon Strong) so whatever. Supporters claim it adds hop flavor and mellows out the bitterness despite contributing the same lab-measured amount of IBU's as a plain 60 minute addition. If you want to try it, I'd add your 60 minute charge right when you pull your steeping grains to ramp up to a boil, and also add a most of your extract at that time. That should mimic adding hops to the first runnings of the mash as it's heating to a boil.
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Nov 13, 2012 19:04
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Assuming I'm almost always going to be doing 60 minute boils, how often should I expect to have to get a new propane tank to use with my banjo burner?
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Nov 13, 2012 19:05
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I keg my beer currently and have no plans to deviate from this in the future. However, I want to make maybe 5-6 bottles for competitions from certain batches I make. Is there any kind of short-cut I can take without having to buy all the bottling equipment if I want to do just a few irregular bottled beers? Do Grolsch-style bottles work? e: Whodat Smith-Jones posted:Assuming I'm almost always going to be doing 60 minute boils, how often should I expect to have to get a new propane tank to use with my banjo burner? I rip through them about every 2-3 batches. Considering getting a spare tank. hellfaucet fucked around with this message at 19:11 on Nov 13, 2012 |
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Nov 13, 2012 19:07
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hellfaucet posted:I keg my beer currently and have no plans to deviate from this in the future. However, I want to make maybe 5-6 bottles for competitions from certain batches I make. Is there any kind of short-cut I can take without having to buy all the bottling equipment if I want to do just a few irregular bottled beers? Do Grolsch-style bottles work? I usually just stick a bottle-sized length of tube in my faucet, turn down the pressure, fill, and cap. I skip the hose if I'm feeling lazy. The only equipment you need besides caps and bottles would be a capper. You could also fill the bottles with flat beer right after kegging and use those carb tabs to carbonate & bottle condition. I've never tried them though.
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Nov 13, 2012 19:12
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hellfaucet posted:I keg my beer currently and have no plans to deviate from this in the future. However, I want to make maybe 5-6 bottles for competitions from certain batches I make. Is there any kind of short-cut I can take without having to buy all the bottling equipment if I want to do just a few irregular bottled beers? Do Grolsch-style bottles work? Picnic tap with a bottling wand crammed in.
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Nov 13, 2012 19:17
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hellfaucet posted:I keg my beer currently and have no plans to deviate from this in the future. However, I want to make maybe 5-6 bottles for competitions from certain batches I make. Is there any kind of short-cut I can take without having to buy all the bottling equipment if I want to do just a few irregular bottled beers? I use a setup like this image. The process goes like this: 1: Chill bottles and bottling equipment in freezer, this reduces foaming 2: Release pressure from keg, set it to just a couple PSI so it pours reaaaal slow, again to reduce foam 3. Sanitize bottle. Purge with CO2 if you have the capability. 4: Put bottling assembly into bottle and start pouring. You want to be pressing down on the stopper to create a seal over the top of the bottle. This increases the pressure inside so the CO2 doesn't all rush out of solution. If the pour stops completely, briefly release the seal to bleed a little pressure. 5. Ideally you'll have a little foaming out the top; cap it right away so there's no air in the headspace. Edit: attachment isn't loading for some reason, let's try imgur...  That's the full competition sperg process. If I'm just giving some beer to a buddy I get lazier.
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Nov 13, 2012 19:18
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Whodat Smith-Jones posted:Assuming I'm almost always going to be doing 60 minute boils, how often should I expect to have to get a new propane tank to use with my banjo burner? hellfaucet posted:I rip through them about every 2-3 batches. Considering getting a spare tank. As I was just reading about these things yesterday, a tiny bit of info for anyone interested. The following is for the blue rhino 20-lb tanks you can buy/exchange practically everywhere, and may not quite be the same if you're getting a tank continually refilled by a guy at a place (aka not just a tank swap): A full tank will theoretically hold 4 gallons of propane, which in liquid form weighs ~5 lbs a gallon. That's how we get the "20 lb propane tank" thing, however federal law states that the tanks aren't to be filled to more than 80% capacity, so you're really getting only 16 lbs (3.2 gallons) in a tank unless you have it manually filled beyond that 80% or do it yourself. For the typical 20 lb propane tank (again, the blue rhino style), the tare weight of it is 18 lbs, so 18 + 16 = 34 lbs. If you weigh your tank after you exchange/fill it and it's more than that, congrats on getting above 4 gallons of propane. After the tank's first brew, weigh the tank again and see how far along on that scale from 34 -> 18 you are. If you're below 26 lbs, you're using more than 50% of the tank per brew and should pick up an auxiliary tank to assist in finishing off your boils. If you're only down to around 29 lbs or so after the first brew, you have a good shot at squeezing 3 cooks into one tank. Knowing your burnoff rate is also great for testing out your kettle, burner, and regulator. Tinker with wind screens, how much O2 you're letting in via the reg, etc.
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Nov 13, 2012 19:34
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