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Yeah, you want to stir gently to make sure it's mixed in. Just be sure not to splash it around (which would introduce oxygen = baaaaad.) Check out http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter11-4.html for more details, including a calculator for how much sugar you should be adding at what temperatures.
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Jan 30, 2013 22:48
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When I rack on top of the priming sugar I coil the tubing on the bottom a little so that it makes a gentle natural whirlpool while filling the bottling bucket. I've never had any great variation of carbonation in my bottles.
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Jan 30, 2013 23:47
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It's going to depend greatly on the density of your sugar solution relative to the wort, if we follow the same logic on why extract batches often can't get a good measured OG.
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Jan 31, 2013 00:26
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I think the density is a consideration as well as the volumes at a given density relative to the whole mass. Which is to say that if you do the traditional 'How to Brew' method it should be fine.
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Jan 31, 2013 01:40
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Also be absolutely certain that your beer is done fermenting (with gravity readings) before you bottle it. Most kit instructions tell you to wait x number of days instead of telling you to take gravity readings.
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Jan 31, 2013 04:04
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zedprime posted:Regulators are backwards, are you sure you don't have it all the way open? Yep, I had it all the way down. Just leaked air through the relief valve the way I had it, turned it back up made it a whole hell of a lot worse. So there's a new, more expensive (assumedly more solid) regulator on the way, now. Bright side: I found a couple new online supply places - one in Toronto (torontobrewing.ca) with the best selection I've seen on a Canadian site - so there's a pound each of Bramling Cross (I remember rather liking this hop when I've used it before) and this new HopUnion Zythos blend and some of the new Danstar dried saison yeast inbound. Microbrewing and homebrewing in Ontario have just exploded in the last couple of years. It wasn't that long ago that I ordered a lot of my ingredients from Saskatoon (before they cut out internet sales)...
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Jan 31, 2013 05:11
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Could anyone talk about what type of beers to brew throughout the year? I just finished my first brew and I'm eager to try a lot of things but ideally I would like to keep the style appropriate for the season.
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Jan 31, 2013 16:43
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ZIGfried posted:Could anyone talk about what type of beers to brew throughout the year? I just finished my first brew and I'm eager to try a lot of things but ideally I would like to keep the style appropriate for the season. I like to refer to Northern Brewer's brewing calendar when I don't know what I want to make.
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Jan 31, 2013 16:45
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ZIGfried posted:Could anyone talk about what type of beers to brew throughout the year? I just finished my first brew and I'm eager to try a lot of things but ideally I would like to keep the style appropriate for the season. My recommendation is to drink saisons every day. I'm sure I'm the last person in the world on this, but we just finished up with our Pliny clone and even at room temp and uncorbonated it's one of the best IPAs I've ever had (professional or otherwise). I'm not a huge hophead anymore, but this beer has no chance of surviving long past bottling day in my house. Link to recipe: https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/attachments/0000/6351/doubleIPA.pdf
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Jan 31, 2013 17:11
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ZIGfried posted:Could anyone talk about what type of beers to brew throughout the year? I like to have something comparatively mild for everyday drinking and also something heavier for keeping longer-term. It doesn't always work out that way, but it's a good goal.
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Jan 31, 2013 17:16
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fullroundaction posted:My recommendation is to drink saisons every day. Funkwerks (brews exclusively saisons, just won Small Brewery of the Year at GABF) is like 1 mile from my house, got it covered brah  But seriously I love to drink a saison on the "imperial" end of the style in the spring, it's the perfect mix of refreshing and boozy for those days you want to work out in the yard in a t-shirt even though it's only 50 degrees. Brew it now and it'll be drinking great by late March.
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Jan 31, 2013 17:40
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fullroundaction posted:My recommendation is to drink saisons every day. Someone mentioned a saison yeast, possibly a recipe too, like 20 something pages ago. Mentioned it would be a good thing to make now and let it sit for a few months before Spring. After my next brew day I am all caught up with my calendar, and am way behind drinking my kegs, and would love to get something going that will take a few months. Is it bad that a cold basement is making its way towards the top of my house shopping list requirements? The idea of filling walls with bottle racks, mmmmmm.
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Jan 31, 2013 18:35
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global tetrahedron posted:Making a straightforward Saison partial mash. Trying to decide between Wyeast 3724 and 3711. 3724 sounds like more what I'm aiming for, a Belgian thing, but its recommended temperature is a bit higher than my drafty house can handle at the moment. I could probably up it by putting a towel around the bucket and putting the bucket over the heating vent? Thread is moving fast, but here is an answer. I know a couple dudes who used to use 3724 and 3711 for many brews, and only use 3711 now. I know 3724 can be finicky. The one that I brewed with it was pretty good, and mildly spicy. Now, the handful of 3711 beers I've made are god drat amazing after a couple months in the bottle. I suggest ageing if at all possible. Also you can just check out Saq's Yeast database: http://bit.ly/WBj9Hy
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Jan 31, 2013 23:49
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fullroundaction posted:My recommendation is to drink saisons every day. Couldn't agree more. My Petit Saison d'Ete just kicked, sadly.
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Feb 1, 2013 00:18
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Just a heads up Wyeast 3463 takes a long time to clean up. It's been a month today since brew day and there's still a lingering sulfur aroma. Ambient temps never went over 65 in the room and fermentation was mild, just a few inch krausen. I've heard good things about this strain so we'll see, it's just a pain in the rear end to still be waiting for this to clear up.
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Feb 1, 2013 01:35
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Between friends in the brew club, here, and , my mead forum. It seems wyeast stuff has been really finicky... I'm sure it's just a freak coincidence, but I'd be lying if I told you I haven't developed a healthy bias about these yeasts.
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Feb 1, 2013 04:16
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What's the most economical way of bottling, and also the best place to shop? Since I'm doing mead I'd love to keep it in clear wine bottles but I'm thinking the expense will add up due to high shipping, plus corks and the corker. Flip top bottles might be nice, idk. I'm trying not to be too extravagant since this will in all likelihood be a personal stash and occasional gift kind of thing.
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Feb 1, 2013 04:43
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Who Dat posted:What's the most economical way of bottling, and also the best place to shop? Since I'm doing mead I'd love to keep it in clear wine bottles but I'm thinking the expense will add up due to high shipping, plus corks and the corker. Flip top bottles might be nice, idk. I'm trying not to be too extravagant since this will in all likelihood be a personal stash and occasional gift kind of thing.
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Feb 1, 2013 05:04
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Could someone please sanity check my OG/FG measurements? I added used 2.5kg of Briess Golden Light DME, filling the fermenter to 20L, and my (cheap, plastic, slightly wonky) hydrometer measured an OG of 1.050, FG 1.008 using T-58 yeast, while Hopville estimated 1.045/1.012. Note: I'm assuming the Australian version is just an import of the American/basically the same. Basically, which is more likely to be right?
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Feb 1, 2013 08:00
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Who Dat posted:I'd love to keep it in clear wine bottles Be careful about light sensitivity. I've never had any around long enough for it to matter, but it might if you're looking at storing it for a while.
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Feb 1, 2013 08:01
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Jacobey000 posted:Thread is moving fast, but here is an answer. Yep, I went with 3711, more straightforward/easier. 3724 sounded like it needed a lot of extra babying that I don't feel like undergoing, and also read it won't attenuate unless it gets to 80, and considering it is -13 where I live at the moment, there is no way that would have been feasible. Maybe I'll make a 'summer' saison in August or something and use 3724.
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Feb 1, 2013 14:10
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Who Dat posted:What's the most economical way of bottling, and also the best place to shop? Since I'm doing mead I'd love to keep it in clear wine bottles but I'm thinking the expense will add up due to high shipping, plus corks and the corker. Flip top bottles might be nice, idk. I'm trying not to be too extravagant since this will in all likelihood be a personal stash and occasional gift kind of thing. Warning: I live in the South now where these things are acceptable and my girlfriend thinks she's Martha Stewart: * Mason jars from Walmart, toss in some chunks of whole honeycomb, maybe add a ribbon or some flair or whatever * Expensive soda usually comes in nice bottles. Cap them as usual and then do a wax dip to cover the top (like Maker's Mark) * Take a trip to a convenience store and see what kind of beverages come in cool shaped glass. We've used those big Starbux carafe-like bottles and just painted the lids
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Feb 1, 2013 15:55
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Nanpa posted:Could someone please sanity check my OG/FG measurements? I added used 2.5kg of Briess Golden Light DME, filling the fermenter to 20L, and my (cheap, plastic, slightly wonky) hydrometer measured an OG of 1.050, FG 1.008 using T-58 yeast, while Hopville estimated 1.045/1.012. Note: I'm assuming the Australian version is just an import of the American/basically the same. Assuming you got your water volumes exactly right, the recipe should be correct. It's not like there's mash efficiency to worry about with extract. Have you tried calibrating your hydrometer in room temperature distilled water to make sure it reads 1.000?
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Feb 1, 2013 16:33
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Who Dat posted:What's the most economical way of bottling, and also the best place to shop? Since I'm doing mead I'd love to keep it in clear wine bottles but I'm thinking the expense will add up due to high shipping, plus corks and the corker. Flip top bottles might be nice, idk. I'm trying not to be too extravagant since this will in all likelihood be a personal stash and occasional gift kind of thing. My town has several large containers for glass recycling if you want to go for extreme thrift. Next most thrifty is asking restaurants to set aside their empty wine bottles, or your alcoholic friends. Personally, I don't like spending my time trying to remove labels from wine bottles, some of which can be nearly impossible, so I buy cases of clear bottles at my local homebrew store for about $15+tax and don't have to pay the ridiculous shipping. You can also get some 750 mL bottles that accept standard crown caps. Clear bottles that take crown caps are probably rare but I'd go this route if they were easily available. There is a somewhat local cidery that uses the flip-top bottles. If you have one nearby they might be willing to sell you some bottles. A hand corker and a bag of corks isn't too expensive though and works well enough. I wouldn't buy more than 100 corks per bag though because they can dry out once opened.
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Feb 1, 2013 17:20
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fullroundaction posted:Warning: I live in the South now where these things are acceptable and my girlfriend thinks she's Martha Stewart: I use beer bottles, because of the small 1 gallon batches, Then I can put the bottles back in the box it came in which is a great shape for long term storage. And you wont have to drink a whole 750ml Bottle when you want to see how its doing. If you go the mason jar route, Be sure that your fermentation is DONE and you add campden tabs and sorbate. If any yeast have something to say about honey you add, you might as well be keeping glass grenades in your basement. Be careful of screw caps, I learned the hard way they don't respond well to bottle cappers. I didn't even start to apply good pressure before a crack was running down the entire length of the bottle.
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Feb 1, 2013 18:15
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Marshmallow Blue posted:I use beer bottles, because of the small 1 gallon batches, Then I can put the bottles back in the box it came in which is a great shape for long term storage. And you wont have to drink a whole 750ml Bottle when you want to see how its doing. Yeah definitely don't use screw caps. I learned my lesson when I accidentally capped a beer in a screw cap bottle. A couple months later when I opened it, it was totally flat and tasted like a super oxidized, damp basement.
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Feb 1, 2013 18:47
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If you don't drink enough to generate your own bottle supply then you need to work harder at it. 
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Feb 1, 2013 20:23
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withak posted:If you don't drink enough to generate your own bottle supply then you need to work harder at it. Quoting this. I have 4-5 cases of bottles I still haven't de-labeled. I'm starting to recycle a bunch because I have no uses for them. Question though, my witbier still smells a bit of sulfur. Should I leave it on the yeast or is it better for me to rack to secondary? I'm not sure if this is a case of something the yeast has to eat back up, or if it's a case of taking it off the yeast to help it. Midorka fucked around with this message at 20:37 on Feb 1, 2013 |
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Feb 1, 2013 20:27
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withak posted:If you don't drink enough to generate your own bottle supply then you need to work harder at it. Nowadays we actually plan our brewing schedule around how fast we can generate bottles. I've got 5 carboys and 6 one-gallons always running at capacity so the more tight/stressful the schedule gets the more we have to drink 
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Feb 1, 2013 21:02
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THISwithak posted:If you don't drink enough to generate your own bottle supply then you need to work harder at it. and this fullroundaction posted:Nowadays we actually plan our brewing schedule around how fast we can generate bottles. I've got 5 carboys and 6 one-gallons always running at capacity so the more tight/stressful the schedule gets the more we have to drink With my screw cap miss hap, I had to go out and buy another 12 pack of beer with good bottles. This is on top of my own homebrew finishing at the same time that I want to drink (But these are bottled in 32oz PET bottles and I want to bottle my mead in 12oz bottles because of its small batch size).
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Feb 1, 2013 22:05
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Well, I'm having a bit of scrambling brewday... I had a 7lb wheat, 2 lb pilsner Hefeweizen I was planning on brewing a few weeks ago, but life happened, and I couldn't really get around to it. Since it's still going to be cold as gently caress in Upstate NY for the next 3 months, I figured I'd switch over to a Dunkelweizen for a more malty/wintery treat. Of course, I forgot that when I went to the homebrew store for the hefeweizen, I had them just grind the wheat and pilsner into the same bag.  So there I am, on the phone at work trying to talk my roommate through Brewsmith to take the Munich malt out of the dunkel recipe I planned, and try to figure out a way to save the operation. Ended up with: 7 lbs Wheat 2 lbs Pilsner 4 oz Carafa 8 oz Special B I'm hopping with Tettnag, using Weihenstephan Weizen yeast and crossing my fingers that it comes out OK. Oh, and now I have to adapt my brown ale that I was going to brew to use 2 extra pounds of Munich and 2 fewer pounds of Pilsner. Worst case scenario, I still get beer, even if it's not quite what I was going for.
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Feb 1, 2013 22:41
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Brewday tomorrow for me, during the last one I finally tried out my propane burner for the first time on what happened to be the coldest day of winter yet, but had fun none-the-less. However I'm not certain I was using my burner correctly; I closed off the oxygen intake completely which got the flames up nice and high, but (due to the cold weather I suppose) had to crank the regulator almost up to full to get 7 gallons of warm tap-water to a boil. This resulted in a lot of flame licking around and up the sides of my pot, and the whole outside of the pot being covered in very fine ash at the end of the boil. Is this normal? Additionally I had a neighbor tell me that I can tell how much propane is left in my tank by where the frost level is up to on the tank - is this bullshit?
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Feb 1, 2013 22:49
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I think I really like the idea of getting screw top wine bottles and dipping them in wax. That'd be cool for gifts.
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Feb 1, 2013 23:03
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JawKnee posted:Brewday tomorrow for me, during the last one I finally tried out my propane burner for the first time on what happened to be the coldest day of winter yet, but had fun none-the-less. Your neighbors right that you can tell a liquid level by frost or just feeling for where it feels more or less cold. Those sticker level things are just like aquarium thermometers.
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Feb 2, 2013 00:05
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JawKnee posted:However I'm not certain I was using my burner correctly; I closed off the oxygen intake completely which got the flames up nice and high, but (due to the cold weather I suppose) had to crank the regulator almost up to full to get 7 gallons of warm tap-water to a boil. This resulted in a lot of flame licking around and up the sides of my pot, and the whole outside of the pot being covered in very fine ash at the end of the boil. Is this normal? No, that's not normal. That air shutter should probably be all the way open so you can get a good clean burn (and more heat!). The ash or soot means it's running way too rich, and if it's well set up, it should not make any at all - or nearly none, anyway. Yes, the frost line is at least a rough indicator of how much liquid propane is in the tank. In warm weather, it might only be condensation.
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Feb 2, 2013 00:06
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Hmm, alright, thanks for the advice. I closed the oxygen shutter when lighting it because it just wasn't lighting otherwise. Lesson learned.
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Feb 2, 2013 00:10
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So I finally dragged out my Beer Gun to try and bottle up a few bottles and I have to say, this thing is a real pain in the rear end. I couldn't tell you if it works or not because it needs not one, but two separate accessory packs to even work with a typical kegging setup and even assuming you have all of the necessary parts, it takes a good 20 minutes or assembly and loving around with parts and kegs to get it to work. A plastic racking cane with a stopper seems like a better solution merely because it takes 3 minutes to pull the cane out, sanitize it and then stick it in the tap. So far it seems like a huge pain; maybe I'm just doing it wrong or it will go faster once I know what I'm doing? Edit: I just put it away and stopped trying. Attaching and sanitizing two different hoses while simultaneously dissembling and cleaning the whole thing just to fill a couple of bottles simply wasn't worth it. Angry Grimace fucked around with this message at 00:36 on Feb 2, 2013 |
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Feb 2, 2013 00:15
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Angry Grimace posted:So I finally dragged out my Beer Gun to try and bottle up a few bottles and I have to say, this thing is a real pain in the rear end. I couldn't tell you if it works or not because it needs not one, but two separate accessory packs to even work with a typical kegging setup and even assuming you have all of the necessary parts, it takes a good 20 minutes or assembly and loving around with parts and kegs to get it to work. A plastic racking cane with a stopper seems like a better solution merely because it takes 3 minutes to pull the cane out, sanitize it and then stick it in the tap. It just kind of depends on how you have your system setup. I have an extra C02 line on the outside of my kegerator that I hook up to. Besides that one C02 line, the connections are the same as with a racking cane bottler. My problem with racking cane bottlers was I could never get it to shut off. I don't have that problem with the Blichmann. Bottling from a keg will never be as easy as priming sugar and bottling bucket mind you, because you're dealing with carbonated liquids.
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Feb 2, 2013 00:37
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I just entered my first contest with a Russian Imperial Stout. My recipe has a small amount of lactose in it, just a half pound in 6 gallons. It's anything but a sweet stout but should I have made some kind of note that the beer has lactose in it? Am I going to be docked for using an ingredient that's not true to style?
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Feb 2, 2013 01:57
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You won't get docked for ingredient use per se, but if the judge thinks it does not match the style, you'll lose points. So if the body might otherwise have been too thin and the lactose gives it the right mouthfeel, no harm done. If, on the other hand, it is so sweet that it tastes like stout candy, that's probably not a good thing. That said, I think it's probably easiest to match style by using the canonical ingredients.
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Feb 2, 2013 03:13
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