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Jo3sh posted:*Real* cider is much, much more work and requires blending of apples and all that good stuff. Apples for apple juice make a pretty bland hard cider by comparison, but it actually is pretty pleasant. My friend says if you get real cider yeast, and a gallon of cider, the usual "yeast in the drink balloon on the top" works really well. edit: On that topic since I couldn't find any on my last trip to the HBS (will be going soon to replace my shattered hydrometer), http://www.amazon.com/packs-KIV-1116-Lalvin-Yeast-Winemaking/dp/B004348K2Y/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1364518035&sr=8-5&keywords=cider+yeast ? I have a 2 week camping trip coming up in August and I'd like to have at least 4 cases of beer and 10 jugs of cider ready for then (that's not too crazy for 10 people). I know anything I make now probably won't be the best by then but I'd like to get the technique down. Adult Sword Owner fucked around with this message at 01:49 on Mar 29, 2013 |
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Mar 29, 2013 01:47
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ScaerCroe posted:I can never decide how long to dry hop beers. I have done 2 weeks, 1 week, and even gone as low as 4 days one time. There has got to be diminishing returns on flavors extracted versus hop freshness at some point. What are your guys thoughts on length of dry hopping? Has anyone done a side by side test of different time frames of dry hop and noticed a difference? 5-7 days tops I say.
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Mar 29, 2013 01:53
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ScaerCroe posted:I can never decide how long to dry hop beers. I have done 2 weeks, 1 week, and even gone as low as 4 days one time. There has got to be diminishing returns on flavors extracted versus hop freshness at some point. What are your guys thoughts on length of dry hopping? Has anyone done a side by side test of different time frames of dry hop and noticed a difference? I've linked it before, but this is my 'go-to' for sperging over hops: http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2011/09/galaxy-hopped-double-ipa.html These days with my IPAs, I dry hop right around or after fermentation completes, use more than I think I should, and sit it for two weeks at 68-70 before cold crashing for a few days. No finings/whirfloc/etc., although I don't think they really strip much in the way of hop compounds. My last Galaxy IPA was the hoppiest yet - 2oz galaxy+ 1oz zythos+ whatever amarillo whole leaf i had in the freezer and it was a punch in the face, first with fruit (mango), then with generic "DIPA"-like hoppiness (ala Super IPA, Alpine, and so on)
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Mar 29, 2013 01:59
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Josh Wow posted:Drop the carapils and replace it with a pound of light DME and take your 30 minute additions and move them to flameout. Quoting for truth because it's pretty straight forward 'fix' to that recipe. Also: Berliner Weisse trip report  Really, really great. Just about everything I wanted it to be, maybe wanted it a bit more dry/tart, but for my first try at sour mashing, it was a huge success. If your afraid of sour mashing, you don't know what you are missing; I mashed/brewed on a weekday, no problems. e: I should also say this was the Champagne yeast version that landed at 1.008, where the conditioning Cal Common version ended at 1.006. Not sure what to make of that. Jacobey000 fucked around with this message at 02:29 on Mar 29, 2013 |
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Mar 29, 2013 02:17
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Saint Darwin posted:My friend says if you get real cider yeast, and a gallon of cider, the usual "yeast in the drink balloon on the top" works really well. I have not tried that particular strain, but this poo poo is so easy to make, why not try a bunch of things and see what works for you? White labs makes an English Cider strain (WLP775) and I imagine Wyeast does also. Champagne yeast finishes very dry. I found Lalvin D47 to finish quite sweet in cider. S-04 takes forever to settle but eventually makes a tasty batch. There's a guy on HBT who has tried many many strains and has a good writeup of all of them - check it out.
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Mar 29, 2013 02:37
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So I bought a 10-gallon Rubbermaid cooler from Home Depot, and a bazooka screen from Brew & Grow, and with the parts I got from my old HLT I built a new MLT.  The only issue is that the shank on the original was apparently really short, as I couldn't put it back together in the same way and still be able to fit on the retaining screw piece. I ended up leaving off the washer on the outside of the cooler, so the faucet/valve assembly presses directly on the outer washer. But I've had it holding liquid for 45 minutes now without a drop leaking out, so it seems to be pretty stable.  I may try to fit it on another time, or possibly find a bigger shank.What experiences do you guys have with bazooka screen versus false bottom? I'm obviously keeping my 7-gallon false-bottom MLT, but I'm curious as to whether I'll see any major performance differences between the two.
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Mar 29, 2013 03:05
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I've only used a bazooka tube and a braided dishwasher hose and I've never had a stuck mash, nor any problems getting clear run off.
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Mar 29, 2013 03:09
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Jo3sh posted:I have not tried that particular strain, but this poo poo is so easy to make, why not try a bunch of things and see what works for you? White labs makes an English Cider strain (WLP775) and I imagine Wyeast does also. Champagne yeast finishes very dry. I found Lalvin D47 to finish quite sweet in cider. S-04 takes forever to settle but eventually makes a tasty batch. There's a guy on HBT who has tried many many strains and has a good writeup of all of them - check it out. Amazon has 775 for sale but I am reeaaally wary about ordering a yeast that as far as I know needs to be refrigerated until a few hours before use. That's actually what I was looking for at my store but they only had beer yeasts. But I will get a few and do a comparison!
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Mar 29, 2013 03:19
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Saint Darwin posted:Amazon has 775 for sale but I am reeaaally wary about ordering a yeast that as far as I know needs to be refrigerated until a few hours before. Northern Brewer offers the option to ship with an ice pack.
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Mar 29, 2013 03:24
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Ubik posted:What experiences do you guys have with bazooka screen versus false bottom? I'm obviously keeping my 7-gallon false-bottom MLT, but I'm curious as to whether I'll see any major performance differences between the two. I've used both and have had far fewer problems with the Bazooka screen. Performance in terms of extraction has been about the same.
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Mar 29, 2013 04:23
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So, I have a "first", and would love some input. I have maybe another gallon or so in a keg of an IPA I brewed in February. Haven't taken a draw from it in maybe 10 days or so. In the last few pints I'd noticed a smell that I hadn't gotten from a beer ever since my first extract beer, an English IPA, and it was there from the start with that one. I just assumed that since the only common denominator with the two was a half gallon of DME wort, that's what it was...but in a 5 gallon keg I thought it wouldn't have an effect. That first extract brew was only a 1-gallon thing. All that said, I took a draw of a pint of this IPA tonight and I'm about to pitch it down the drain, holy crap it's lovely all of a sudden. That extract-y smell has increased (if it's even that), but it's now brought along a buddy, this rotten/fake sugary smell AND taste that's bordering on vanilla. Could this be what happens when an IPA's hops begin to turn? Can that even happen? All my other IPAs have kicked quickly and I've never had this issue. Nothing has been touched within the kegerator and the pressure/co2 is all good on the keg. I'm abysmal with categorizing off flavors; have no problem picking them up but I don't know, even when looking at a flavor wheel, what I'm tasting or smelling. I just know I'm about to have an available keg quicker than I expected.
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Mar 29, 2013 05:29
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Jo3sh posted:Yup, it's like comparing a growler of beer to a handle of bourbon - even though they are close to the same volume, drinking one in an evening would get you pretty buzzed and you would not want to drive for a few hours, but drinking the other in the same timeframe would be extremely unwise. Nevemind, that was gauche. Mr. Wiggles fucked around with this message at 07:09 on Mar 29, 2013 |
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Mar 29, 2013 05:41
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wattershed posted:Could this be what happens when an IPA's hops begin to turn? Can that even happen? All my other IPAs have kicked quickly and I've never had this issue. Nothing has been touched within the kegerator and the pressure/co2 is all good on the keg. Your beer should not be going bad that fast so something likely got into it somehow. Hops are a natural preservative so it's unlikely that that is what is causing the issue.
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Mar 29, 2013 20:05
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Hey so I'm brewing 10gallons of cream ale tomorrow that I will then bottle and give out as favors for my wedding. This will be my last extract brew ever. I've never made a cream ale before and this one seems pretty standard: Steep: 1.5lbs Honey Malt 0.5lbs Belgian Biscuit Extract: 12lbs Pilsen malt syrup Hops: 2oz Cluster @ 60 Yeast: WY1056 - American Ale You think I should add anything to spice it up? I was thinking maybe half a pound of sugar to at least boost it from 4.1%abv to around 4.5%abv. Also have considered putting a single vanilla bean in the secondary, but maybe that's just too weird? I want people to like the beer as universally as possible.
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Mar 29, 2013 20:09
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I don't know much about cream ales (I haven't made one yet, but it's near the top of the list to get to style-wise), so I'm interested in finding out how those cream ale flavors come about. My understanding is that it frequently comes from corn adjuncts, but there's also http://www.whitelabs.com/yeast/wlp080-cream-ale-yeast-blend So...please to educate me on cream ales.
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Mar 29, 2013 20:33
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hellfaucet posted:I want people to like the beer as universally as possible. I don't think spicing it up or boosting the ABV is really needed for a cream ale. It exactly fulfills your desire for a beer to be loved universally - it's not a beer that beer nerds would sperge out on or stand in line in the cold to get, but when done well, it's really a perfect American session beer. The clear, clean grain flavors shine through, and you can have a few over an afternoon without getting wrecked.
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Mar 29, 2013 20:54
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withak posted:Northern Brewer offers the option to ship with an ice pack.
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Mar 29, 2013 21:05
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Jo3sh posted:I don't think spicing it up or boosting the ABV is really needed for a cream ale. It exactly fulfills your desire for a beer to be loved universally - it's not a beer that beer nerds would sperge out on or stand in line in the cold to get, but when done well, it's really a perfect American session beer. The clear, clean grain flavors shine through, and you can have a few over an afternoon without getting wrecked. Yeah, good call. This isn't one that should be experimented with.
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Mar 29, 2013 21:17
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Saint Darwin posted:edit: On that topic since I couldn't find any on my last trip to the HBS (will be going soon to replace my shattered hydrometer), http://www.amazon.com/packs-KIV-1116-Lalvin-Yeast-Winemaking/dp/B004348K2Y/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1364518035&sr=8-5&keywords=cider+yeast ? Both 1116 and 1118 are extremely aggressive and will give you very dry finishes. If you are ordering online then there's much more variety available. It won't hurt to try as an experiment but you might also want to try D47, DV10, RC212 and R2. You can get all of those and more at MoreBeer's wine making site. It's worth trying to get some Wyeast Sweet Mead at some point too.
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Mar 29, 2013 21:53
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Any suggestions on a good beer to brew for use in a shandy? My wife wants a batch ready for the summer. I've heard hefeweizens are good; any other recommendations?
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Mar 29, 2013 21:55
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Beer4TheBeerGod posted:Any suggestions on a good beer to brew for use in a shandy? My wife wants a batch ready for the summer. I've heard hefeweizens are good; any other recommendations? I'd do a witbier over a hefe for a shandy, but you're right on in doing something with plenty of wheat.
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Mar 29, 2013 21:58
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Greetings, The AHA governing committee elections are going to end on March 31st and I’m looking for every vote I can get. If you are an AHA member please visit the following site and vote in the election http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/pages/membership/aha-governing-committee/election I’ve attached my bio and the reason why I’m running to the bottom of this message. I was (and I’m sure you are) upset with the way the NHC competition was handled this year. My single focus for next year if I’m elected to the Governing Committee is to actually listen to membership feedback about the event and implement the changes necessary to avoid the embarrassment of what happened this year. The current Governing Committee should feel ashamed of what happened and should be working their every free moment to avoid having it happen again. Sadly based upon feedback on the AHA forum I don’t believe this is happening. Please, I’m asking you to give me your vote so I can be in a position to help improve the NHC competition and the AHA. Please goons, help me out!!!!! Thanks -Chris Hummert My name is Chris Hummert and I’ve been a homebrewer for approximately 8 years. I’ve served in various positions for the Oregon Brew Crew which is one of the oldest and largest homebrewing clubs in the United States. I will be serving as their President in 2013. I’ve also served as the Vice President in 2012 and 2011 and as the Competition Chair in 2010, 07 and 06. I was also part of the group that formed the Oregon Homebrewers Alliance and helped pass SB 444 which allowed Oregon Homebrewers the right to transport their homebrew outside of their homes. (For more information visit: http://oregonhomebrewersalliance.org ). I’m also the organizer of an event called Hop Madness. In addition to this, I’ve ran the NHC competition in the Oregon/Northwest area for 2 years. I’m running for the AHA Governing Board because I’ve been unhappy with the way things have been run. In 2012 there were lots of things that caught my attention and fixing them is the reason why I’m running. NHC competition – The NHC competition in the northwest has become a joke. For the 2013 competition three clubs in the northwest have been asked to host the event and all three have said they are not interested. This comes down to a few reasons. First is that the northwest region is overcrowded. We have one of the highest concentrations of homebrewers which causes our region to sell out faster than any other. There have been calls to split the region up and all we’ve heard is nothing from the AHA. Second number of entries and the entry fees have increased, yet the money we’ve received to put on these competitions has decreased. Local clubs have had to take money out of their own budgets to cover the extra cost of the competition and not getting reimbursed for it. Finally, the support and direction we’ve received from putting on this competition has been lacking and there needs to be a better guide to help clubs put this event on. If I’m elected to the AHA governing committee I will work on implementing the following measures 1. This was a new piece of software and the AHA should have stressed tested it ahead of time to figure out if it was going to be able to handle the load. It’s obvious that this wasn’t done. I will push for this to be done 3 months ahead of time so that those types of issues can be identified ahead of time. 2. We will have a meeting with all of the organizers of the regional competitions to find out what worked, what didn’t work and what the AHA needs to change to improve the experience 3. Work on finding a better time to start registration. There have been a lot of complaints about registration happening in the middle of the traditional workday. I will work on finding out if moving it to a different time would work better 4. I will push for mailing a survey out to all AHA members to find out what they thought of the NHC competition and find out from them what we should do to improve it. This survey will be public and I will push to have the results tabulated and published at the AHA website for discussion 5. Explore the option of having a “member’s only day” for the NHC competition where only AHA members have the opportunity to enter their beer, then the next day registration opens up to everyone who is not an AHA member Once we have the data from the membership back I’ll push to make sure that these changes are made. Many suggestions have been made on the AHA forums and other related forums and the current Governing Committee has not listened to membership input. It’s time to get people in there who can act on membership suggestions and get changes implemented before next year’s competition faster than the current snail’s pace that the current Governing Committee is moving at. AHA national convention – While the number of attendees for this event has increased, the organizational level needed to handle that growth has not. Combine that with some archaic rules on hosting the event, the potential to change this event for the better become apparent. I look at the current board and I see a lot of faces that have been on there for years. The AHA has grown in size and most of the local members I’ve talked to are just as unhappy about the way things are going as I am. It’s time for new blood on the board and some fresh ideas. If you vote for me, I promise to work on the things listed above and make this a better organization. Thanks Chris Hummert President Oregon Brew Crew
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Mar 29, 2013 22:01
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hellfaucet posted:Cream ale recipe The only thing very minor thing I can see with this recipe is that some people think cluster tastes like cat pee. I don't know if that would come through in a 60 minute addition but something like Liberty or Palisade might be a safer bet.
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Mar 29, 2013 22:05
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crazyfish posted:I'd do a witbier over a hefe for a shandy, but you're right on in doing something with plenty of wheat. What's the difference between a witbier over an American Wheat Beer? I was thinking that this looked really appealing. I'm not sure what the end result would be, but I was thinking about adding a bit of honey to go with the lemonade. Thoughts? Beer4TheBeerGod fucked around with this message at 22:24 on Mar 29, 2013 |
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Mar 29, 2013 22:13
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Noghri_ViR posted:Greetings, The AHA governing committee elections are going to end on March 31st and I’m looking for every vote I can get. If you are an AHA member please visit the following site and vote in the election Haha I voted a week or two ago and, in all seriousness, voted for you. I need to go back and re-listen to your Brewing Network interview now that I know you're a goon.
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Mar 29, 2013 22:48
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I'm going to use all RO/DI water for a 5 gallon batch tomorrow. I'm going to add some Burton salts to the water, but I'm unsure of how much I should add. The package says 1/3 oz. per 5 gallons, but I don't know if that's for tap water or what. It's a blonde ale if that matters.
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Mar 30, 2013 03:03
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A while back I mentioned that my 5th generation pale/ipa cake took a SMaSH I mashed @151F down to 1.002 and someone suggested that as the generations increase so (might) the attenuation. Well I just bottled a similar IPA that I mashed @156F in an attempt to reserve some maltiness and it finished at 1.010 (what I wanted in the first place). So it looks like there may be some truth to the theory, at least anecdotally.
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Mar 30, 2013 03:18
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U.S. Barryl posted:I'm going to use all RO/DI water for a 5 gallon batch tomorrow. I'm going to add some Burton salts to the water, but I'm unsure of how much I should add. The package says 1/3 oz. per 5 gallons, but I don't know if that's for tap water or what. It's a blonde ale if that matters. From what I can see looking around on the Internet, 1/3 ounce (about 9.5 grams) is something close to right to treat RO water for 5 gallons - if you're going for Burton water, which is exceptionally hard. Unless you're specifically setting out to create a Burton Blonde, though, it might be a bit much. I'd try a couple of grams, maybe three, in your brewing water and see if that gets what you want.
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Mar 30, 2013 05:34
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Ugh, my starter of WLP500 straight from the White Labs tube didn't take off and has a funky almost phenolic smell after a day on the stirplate. It still has the clear wort-y color not the creamy healthy starter color. The tube had a best by date of 3/23/13 so it's not the oldest tube I've ever used. It had gone kind of browninsh just sitting in the fridge in its tube. The tube of London Ale yeast I got at the same time still looks creamy and good. I've never used WLP500 before and maybe this isn't abnormal but I've had enough Chimay to know that something's off. Regarding process I used some pressure canned wort from a batch I've had good results with and a well sanitized stirbar/flask. Nothing but RO and DME in the wort. As always I tasted the wort dregs after decanting into the flask and everything seemed OK. I guess it's off to Eagle Rock tomorrow to pick up a new tube since I'm not going to risk 10 gallons of Tripel on a wonky starter.
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Mar 30, 2013 05:40
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hellfaucet posted:Hey so I'm brewing 10gallons of cream ale tomorrow that I will then bottle and give out as favors for my wedding. This will be my last extract brew ever. I've never made a cream ale before and this one seems pretty standard: I think the sugar would be a good idea given that Cream Ale is supposed to be quite crisp and dry. I've seen a lot of Cream Ale recipes that sugar or corn as an adjunct to keep the body light.
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Mar 30, 2013 09:42
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Jo3sh posted:From what I can see looking around on the Internet, 1/3 ounce (about 9.5 grams) is something close to right to treat RO water for 5 gallons - if you're going for Burton water, which is exceptionally hard. Unless you're specifically setting out to create a Burton Blonde, though, it might be a bit much. I'd try a couple of grams, maybe three, in your brewing water and see if that gets what you want. Thank you. Yes, I think I'll back off just a little bit, since I'm not trying for Burton water. I just know I need to add a bit of salt back to my water. My next supply order is going to be individual salts, but my local place just had these Burton salts.
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Mar 30, 2013 14:00
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Beer4TheBeerGod posted:What's the difference between a witbier over an American Wheat Beer? I was thinking that this looked really appealing. I'm not sure what the end result would be, but I was thinking about adding a bit of honey to go with the lemonade. Thoughts? A witbier will use a Belgian wit yeast (WY3944 as an example) and it's gonna have more yeast character than an American. Belgian versions are also generally spiced (coriander and orange peel) so you'll add a bit of complexity to it as well. An American wheat would be good in a shandy too, and I think either will be a crowd pleaser.
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Mar 30, 2013 15:09
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crazyfish posted:A witbier will use a Belgian wit yeast (WY3944 as an example) and it's gonna have more yeast character than an American. Belgian versions are also generally spiced (coriander and orange peel) so you'll add a bit of complexity to it as well. An American wheat would be good in a shandy too, and I think either will be a crowd pleaser. I made a wheat pale ale hopped with amarillo, citra, and sorachi ace that was pretty awesome when mixed with lemonade (and by itself, obviously). It's a good style for that type of product.
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Mar 30, 2013 20:24
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I took my non-spicy jalapeno vodka and put four roasted Serrano peppers and one roasted habenero pepper in it for two days. I ended up putting about 2 tsp of vodka per beer and it is pleasantly spicy. It doesn't melt your face, but the fruity pepper flavor is strong and there is some heat.
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Mar 30, 2013 20:27
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PBCrunch posted:I took my non-spicy jalapeno vodka and put four roasted Serrano peppers and one roasted habenero pepper in it for two days. I ended up putting about 2 tsp of vodka per beer and it is pleasantly spicy. It doesn't melt your face, but the fruity pepper flavor is strong and there is some heat. Interesting, when I get mine going I will totally do that. So I just replaced my hydrometer and checked my beer and it says (temp corrected) 1.012 FG. According to Hopville that is basically correct (it estimated 1.009 to 1.011). I don't have the OG reading so I can't make sure it's not being crazy. I tested it in the thief after my reading and it tasted kind of weird. I assume that's just because it was a pretty yeasty sample of flat beer from a warm bucket. So of course being an idiot I forgot to get the bottle sterilization pump thing at the store, but I did get caps and I do have bottles, so I'll next day ship something from Amazon and bottle it Monday if I remain convinced it's done. The guy at the HBS said that primaries usually don't actually take more than 2 or 3 days, but it's easier time-wise to just do it on weekends. I didn't know this? edit: I grabbed a few more vials of yeast and stuff to do the first batch that I know is good. I also got champagne yeast to make ginger beer and cider yeast to see how it differs from baking yeast in my TURBO JUICE recipe. Ferment ALL THE THINGS Adult Sword Owner fucked around with this message at 22:40 on Mar 30, 2013 |
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Mar 30, 2013 21:47
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Saint Darwin posted:So I just replaced my hydrometer and checked my bear
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Mar 30, 2013 21:59
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nmfree posted:Orally or anally? I heard he was a real growler 
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Mar 30, 2013 22:00
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fullroundaction posted:I heard he was a real growler It's got a real grizzly aftertaste.
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Mar 30, 2013 22:41
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fullroundaction posted:I heard he was a real growler
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Mar 30, 2013 23:03
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ScaerCroe posted:I can never decide how long to dry hop beers. I have done 2 weeks, 1 week, and even gone as low as 4 days one time. There has got to be diminishing returns on flavors extracted versus hop freshness at some point. What are your guys thoughts on length of dry hopping? Has anyone done a side by side test of different time frames of dry hop and noticed a difference? I've gotten grassy vegetal tastes from longer than ten. I try to keep between 5 and 7. I don't think you are providing much outside of that range. Also, I've taken to whirl-pooling aroma hops from flameout to transfer. You don't lose much in the way of oils/aromas and you can go to bottle sooner in my opinion.
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Mar 31, 2013 00:23
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