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My lemongrass kölsch turned out great! Very light and refreshing with just a hint of lemon on the back end. In less good news my girlfriend and I broke up, so my next bottling is going to be a one-man operation which I am not looking forward to at all.
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Aug 4, 2014 16:58
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ChiTownEddie posted:Man. I know that airlock activity is not a great indication of what is going on in your fermenter, but this beer is insane. It is only like 1.070OG and it EXPLODED in the first 6 hours, and basically, now a week later is still bubbling about once every 30s or so. 3711 is a goddamn monster when it gets going. Dried the Saison I made out to 1.002  .
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Aug 4, 2014 16:59
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Tedronai66 posted:3711 is a goddamn monster when it gets going. Dried the Saison I made out to 1.002 I love it. This was probably my first time pitching directly onto a just finished fermenting yeast strain too. Normally I do a yeast-wash or just kinda scoop some up and put in the fridge for a couple days. Can't wait to see how it turns out 
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Aug 4, 2014 17:08
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JawKnee posted:kegging is so loving cool and way better than bottling It is, but drat I've tried to save twice for it, third times the charm but drat it almost get the cash together then have to put it into something important which just broke.  This week I got to bottle my raspberry IPA, in 2-3 weeks time I got to bottle one of my small beers, one of my rye saisons. Got to bottle my summer fruit wine this month aswell as my sour cherry rye saison. Start of september one of my double IPAs. Then I have just left all my brett beers bulk aging for awhile. Kegging would be a life saver at the moment haha.
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Aug 4, 2014 17:10
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LaserWash posted:Decided to do both. 5 gallons each. :-D six months to one year from now I'm going to be a very happy man. Use the sour mash or sour malt method and you can only wait a month. It worked great when I tried it (first all grain, as well). All you need to do is take your mash tun with grains, mash at your desired temp for an hour, let it get down to 110 or so, throw some acid malt in it and wrap a sleeping bag around it for 24-48 hours. If the temperature drops below 100, add more boiling water. This will create a ton of lactic acid and give your beer that tartness you're looking for. Once it reaches your desired tartness, boil and then add US-05 (and brett, it you'd like). Let it ferment for another week or two and you'll have a similar flavor profile as a traditional berliner without having to wait 6+ months. The other way you can do it is by adding a hop bag full of acid malt to your wort after you've boiled it, keep it at 110 with a heating pad, firm wrap, or sleeping bag and remove the acid malt and drop the temperature when it gets tart enough. This method allows the acidity to intensify the longer you let it ferment or bottle.
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Aug 4, 2014 17:17
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Tedronai66 posted:I bought a Beer Gun over a year ago. So much nicer than CP, just for the one-hand operation. I've been thinking about getting my hands on one of these. Is it really worth the price? Counter pressure is absolutely a pain in the rear end trying to manage the valves and stuff so an easier way would definitely be a bonus.
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Aug 4, 2014 17:24
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Zaepho posted:I've been thinking about getting my hands on one of these. Is it really worth the price? Counter pressure is absolutely a pain in the rear end trying to manage the valves and stuff so an easier way would definitely be a bonus. I'd would say yes. You need either a wye for the co2 or a second regulator, but it's really as easy as pull the co2 trigger, pull the beer trigger, rinse/repeat. Best $100 addition to my kegging setup since I like to share my beer with friends a lot. I'll do a couple gallons from multiple kegs. Just saw these things on hbf. I want one (or two, or four  ).
Tedronai66 fucked around with this message at 18:26 on Aug 4, 2014 |
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Aug 4, 2014 18:24
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Question. I just moved some beer, and have a yeast cake I want to keep. Do I just toss it in a growler with a bit of the original beer?
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Aug 4, 2014 18:33
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I bought a beer gun about 2 years ago and plugged it in once, because despite the effort involved in homebrewing, I am loving lazy.
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Aug 4, 2014 20:31
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Angry Grimace posted:I bought a beer gun about 2 years ago and plugged it in once, because despite the effort involved in homebrewing, I am loving lazy. I borrowed one from someone who wasn't using it. I bottled like 3 beers and then decided that growlers took less time/sanitation.
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Aug 4, 2014 20:47
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After about a year and a half and roughly $800 later, my kegerator is finally finished. Setup is as follows: 20 lb CO2 tank on 3 Micromatic regulators. Each regulator feeds a 2 way gas distribution block that way I can run 3 separate serving pressures per pair of kegs. 4.25" stainless shanks hooked up to the new Perlick 630SS stainless taps. Custom drip tray and tap handles courtesy of my dad. Ranco temperature controller runs the whole show. Front view  Closeup of the taps and drip tray  CO2 cylinder and regulators  Gas lines going into the fridge  Gas distribution blocks (Note the 3 gang block in front for hooking up my Beer Gun)  Six ball lock kegs fit just fine in a standard refrigerator  Older picture but you can see the false bottom in this picture that allows me to fit six kegs.  Backside of the shanks running through the door  Better view of the shanks 
Huge_Midget fucked around with this message at 20:51 on Aug 4, 2014 |
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Aug 4, 2014 20:49
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Anyone have a good witbier recipe? I've been looking at a bunch on brewtoad and random recipes on the Internet but I'm not sure what I want to go for. Probably something like blue moon but umm better I guess?
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Aug 4, 2014 21:14
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adebisi lives posted:Anyone have a good witbier recipe? I've been looking at a bunch on brewtoad and random recipes on the Internet but I'm not sure what I want to go for. Probably something like blue moon but umm better I guess? There was a great one a while back in the thread. Look for a Blanche Du Bruxelles clone maybe? It's my favorite wit. Basically they're equal parts pale malt and flaked wheat, with hops that stay out of the way and quality yeast. Go easy on the bitter orange and coriander.
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Aug 4, 2014 21:32
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pugnax posted:Question. I just moved some beer, and have a yeast cake I want to keep. Do I just toss it in a growler with a bit of the original beer? I either drop new wort directly on top of the cake, or keep the slurry in a sanitized mason jar in the fridge and do another starter when it's time.
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Aug 4, 2014 21:44
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Huge_Midget posted:Sweet kegerator setup This may be a dumb question, but if you're using an external temperature controller on a regular full-size fridge, does the freezer part still function correctly?
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Aug 4, 2014 22:10
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Anyone have a good shandy recipe? I'm looking for a quick turn around summer beer I can keg and have ready for a camping trip at the end of August. I can currently handle full volume 6 gallon batches, partial mash or BIAB (no mash tun). Thanks,
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Aug 4, 2014 22:11
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Thufir posted:This may be a dumb question, but if you're using an external temperature controller on a regular full-size fridge, does the freezer part still function correctly? Unless you wire directly in to replace the existing thermostat and are really clever.... No. Honestly I would probably prefer to just accept normal fridge temps for my kegs if i were using a fridge. I got lucky and my wife picked up a 21 Cubic Foot upright freezer for me to build my kegerator out of. Still amassing parts but i should be able to get something like 11 ball locks in it when I'm done. Although I'm only planing to do 6 taps. I'll probably fix it up so that I have shelves on the top half for bottles and stick with 6 kegs on the bottom. I also plan to do multiple serving pressures but will run secondary regulators inside so I still have just the 1 gas line punching through the enclosure. When you screwed your manifolds to the side, how did you know where to do so without puncturing any of the lines? That's probably the part that worries me the most in building the whole setup.
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Aug 4, 2014 22:25
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Finally took the advice from earlier and set up a bottling line, went much quicker than before. And a siphon with a stopper on the end makes the process soooo much better. It's called Basil's Best Bitter, being looked after by Basil. 
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Aug 4, 2014 23:39
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Thufir posted:This may be a dumb question, but if you're using an external temperature controller on a regular full-size fridge, does the freezer part still function correctly? Yes and no. I have both the fridge and freezer set to the coldest settings. What that exact temperature is, I don't really know. But the temperature probe is in the fridge, and the controller is set for 4 degrees Celsius, with a 1.5 degree temperature delta before it kicks on. I also have it programmed for a 15 minute compressor cooldown cycle so it doesn't keep turning on and off constantly. So the fridge fluctuates between 4 and 5.5 degrees Celsius when it runs. Because the fridge and freezer are both set to the coldest settings the freezer part stays pretty cold. Cold enough to keep ice cubes and popsicles in and they don't melt. So the refrigerator's internal thermostat still works, but it only runs when the temp controller gives it power. Also, the freezer's built in defrost cycle still works as it must run on some kind of mechanical timer. When it runs the defrost cycle the temp reaches around 8 degrees C in the fridge part, but I've not noticed anything abnormal with the freezer.
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Aug 4, 2014 23:54
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Zaepho posted:When you screwed your manifolds to the side, how did you know where to do so without puncturing any of the lines? That's probably the part that worries me the most in building the whole setup. I looked up the schematics for that model online. It's a model that was sold under Amana/Sears/Kenmore so there were a few million of them sold. There were lots of people that have used this model for kegerators and they verified that the cooling coils are only in the back and not the sides.
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Aug 5, 2014 00:00
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pugnax posted:Man, the Belgian Amber batch turned out awesome! Neat dark orange/red color, really fruity and peppery, light body, big fluffy head. Got a recipe?
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Aug 5, 2014 07:38
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Using up grains we ground for a pale ale and wanted a session but even at 30L it's too strong. Hoping the trappist-ish yeast will go well with Belma/Galaxy/Citra going for super juicy fruity easy drinker. Worried the other ones will overpower belma and the dry hop will kill the yeast aroma. Suggestions? Also all of the white labs yeast say the max temp is way lower than people usually do. Our ambient is 27-28C https://www.brewtoad.com/recipes/belgian-pale-ale-138
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Aug 5, 2014 10:51
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DontAskKant posted:Got a recipe? Tossed it in the SA group. https://www.brewtoad.com/recipes/racing-snail Should add that I did some minor water additions to try and match the Antwerp profile (our water here is drat close already).
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Aug 5, 2014 13:13
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Huge_Midget posted:KEGERATOR STUFF What fitting did you use to go between each of the regulators? I've got 2 i'd like to combine, but I know they have some wonky left hand threads and such - so I've never been sure what to use. Looks like you might be from Indiana.. Indy goon brewers woop woop.
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Aug 5, 2014 14:15
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pugnax posted:Tossed it in the SA group. https://www.brewtoad.com/recipes/racing-snail How hot have you been fermenting with that 575?
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Aug 5, 2014 14:53
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DontAskKant posted:How hot have you been fermenting with that 575? I tried to cool it down as low as possible before pitching, but let it sit in primary for a good month. Was never terribly active and had a layer of thin foam on top all the way to about 28 days. I think I pitched at 72F and it eventually stabilized right around 68F. Previously with belgian strains I've found that the hotter the more banana/fruit and the cooler the more pepper/spice, but that might not actually be true.
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Aug 5, 2014 15:00
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Red Oktober posted:Finally took the advice from earlier and set up a bottling line, went much quicker than before. And a siphon with a stopper on the end makes the process soooo much better. Basil of Baker St?
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Aug 5, 2014 15:01
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extravadanza posted:What fitting did you use to go between each of the regulators? I've got 2 i'd like to combine, but I know they have some wonky left hand threads and such - so I've never been sure what to use. I used these two parts. Theoretically you could chain as many as you want together. http://www.beveragefactory.com/draftbeer/regulator/twoproduct/premium_two_product_co2_regulator_battery.shtml http://www.beveragefactory.com/draftbeer/regulator/single/641-ADDON.shtml And yes, I live in Fort Wayne. We have a couple of Fort Wayne homebrew goons that post in this thread.
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Aug 5, 2014 16:13
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pugnax posted:I tried to cool it down as low as possible before pitching, but let it sit in primary for a good month. Was never terribly active and had a layer of thin foam on top all the way to about 28 days. I think I pitched at 72F and it eventually stabilized right around 68F. Previously with belgian strains I've found that the hotter the more banana/fruit and the cooler the more pepper/spice, but that might not actually be true. I was struggling to find yeasts that are heat friendly. 27 c is the lowest we can get sometimes ambient of 31.
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Aug 5, 2014 16:30
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DontAskKant posted:I was struggling to find yeasts that are heat friendly. 27 c is the lowest we can get sometimes ambient of 31. It's supposed to be pretty heat tolerant - might just get really fruity esters. Maybe do a Tripel or something that could benefit from the bananarama.
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Aug 5, 2014 16:35
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I just pulled my all zythos pale ale out for bottling and my god does it smell amazing. It's all honey and tropical fruit. If it tastes half as good as it smells I'll be incredibly happy.
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Aug 5, 2014 16:50
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Marshmallow Blue posted:Basil of Baker St? The very same. Top marks. And a couple of choices for labels.  Or 
Red Oktober fucked around with this message at 21:32 on Aug 5, 2014 |
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Aug 5, 2014 20:44
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My brother-in-law and I bought a very basic brew setup a few weeks ago, and are looking at doing our first brew this weekend. I'm fairly confident about everything except the temperature. We want to keep the fermenter in the garage, and it's winter here in New Zealand and has been dropping below 0 Celsius on quite a few nights. We have a couple of options for heating we're looking at. One is a heating pad such as this: http://www.brewshop.co.nz/heat-pad.html However this only gives us one level of heating, and I have no idea whether it would be appropriate for the garage. Our other option is to buy or borrow an aquarium heater, and sit the fermenter in a water bath. Does this seem like a reasonable option? Here's my current recipe in case anyone would like to have a look. http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/153151/brew-1-amarillo-apa I just wanted to keep it really simple, to get an idea of the flavour a single hop can produce. Very open to suggestions though.
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Aug 6, 2014 01:47
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I have a question - a friend of mine developed a hop allergy (talk about the worst luck) and he hasn't been able to enjoy a normal beer in 6+ months. He picked up New Belgium's Gruit recently and he didn't have any issues when he drank it. If I want to go ahead and modify a recipe and brew something like a high ABV stout, but leave out the hops, what kind of issues could I potentially run into? He misses being able to crack a beer after work and I think it would be really cool to brew a high ABV stout for him.
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Aug 6, 2014 02:28
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newtestleper posted:Our other option is to buy or borrow an aquarium heater, and sit the fermenter in a water bath. Does this seem like a reasonable option? This would probably work just fine. It's sort of the reverse of what I (and a few other folks) do, where we sit the fermenter in a water bath with ice in it. Alternatively, you could do a bunch of lagers over the winter 
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Aug 6, 2014 04:46
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ieatsoap6 posted:Alternatively, you could do a bunch of lagers over the winter Yeah I'm pretty keen to try a lager next brew.
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Aug 6, 2014 04:47
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newtestleper posted:Yeah I'm pretty keen to try a lager next brew. the best bit of advice I ever got RE a lager is to keep those temps loowwww, and don't forget your diacetyl rest. I use WY2011? (Urquell lager) quite a lot, and it takes a good 4-5 weeks to fully attenuate and clear. 3 weeks at 12C, then 2 at 16, then cold crash to 4 for a week. Rack into keg, or bottle. Also just for a point of reference, I'm doing a couple basic beers to throw into a keg for a friend's 25th. Rye/Ella Lager: 3.5kg Dingemans Pils 1kg flaked rye 500g carapils US05 (I know, it's not a lager yeast, but I will have 2 fermenters running with the other one on US05 as well so it makes life easier) Ella @ 30, 20 and a 10 minute whirlpool addition to go to a total of 25 IBU. Galaxy APA 4kg Barrett Burston Pale 1kg Wheat 20 min Galaxy 10 min whirlpool up to 30 IBU 4 day Dry Hop after attenuated US05. I've done stuff similar to the Rye Lager before, but it was more an APA with a big hit of Citra and Mosaic as well as the Ella on the whirlpool addition. Came out very drinkable.
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Aug 6, 2014 05:49
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Also just as an experimental recipe, I took a clone recipe of Raging Bitch, tweaked the poo poo out of it and made it into a session belgian IPA. Literally everything that could go wrong did on brew day, but i still hit close-ish to target. My grain mill decided to break pretty bad (corona type) so I only properly milled maybe 1/2-3/4 the grain. 93% Pale Malt (I only really use Barrett Burston pale unless a recipe calls for GP/MO/Pearl) 7% Caramalt 57.9 IBU total 17.6 IBU Warrior @ 60 14.1 IBU Columbus/4 IBU Amarillo @ 30 4.9 IBU Amarillo, 8.6 IBU Columbus @15 3.2/5.5 IBU Amarillo/Columbus 20 min post-boil steep 30g Amarillo dry hop 4 days. WY3522 Belgian Ardennes doing its' thing to a target FG of 1.010-ish OG 1.046, Preboil 1.035. On a side note, that Belgian Ardennes is a monster. Pitched a 3 litre starter into the beer, within a day the cling wrap lid (I have had way too many infections with bugs getting into airlocks!) was stretched tight and domed up massive, with some fermentation gunk down the side of the fermenter! Sprayed it down with some starsan to be safe.
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Aug 6, 2014 05:57
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JawKnee posted:kegging is so loving cool and way better than bottling Except for things like belgian strongs, imperial stouts and stuff that needs that time to really  and lose all those hot fusels and stuff. Like I made a 9.3% ABV belgian strong and at 6 weeks it is hot as anything still. Also sorry in advance for message spams, I am catching up hard on this thread lol
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Aug 6, 2014 06:01
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Bag of Sun Chips posted:I have a question - a friend of mine developed a hop allergy (talk about the worst luck) and he hasn't been able to enjoy a normal beer in 6+ months. He picked up New Belgium's Gruit recently and he didn't have any issues when he drank it. You need to replace the hops with something else or else the beer will be too sweet. I think stinging nettles are used as an alternative bittering agent, and probably other herbs too. High ABV stuff without hops is going to be pretty bad. Something with a lower FG would probably be easier to do with some other bittering herbs. Also no one really wants to come home from work and crack open a high ABV stout. withak fucked around with this message at 06:18 on Aug 6, 2014 |
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Aug 6, 2014 06:14
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