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Yeah, the sweetness was surprising and actually pretty well appreciated. It's been awhile since I checked out this thread; what do you mean by staggered sugar additions? Did you try a yeast starter? Also don't you have to add stuff to take out the preservatives in the apple juice?
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Dec 22, 2014 04:45
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Beer4TheBeerGod posted:Yeah, the sweetness was surprising and actually pretty well appreciated. It's been awhile since I checked out this thread; what do you mean by staggered sugar additions? Did you try a yeast starter? I would say the sweetness definitely helped with the 18% abv or whatever it ended up at. I'm sure somebody else can dig up the specific post detailing it; but the gyst was to let it ferment down to a certain point, add a bit more sugar to it, rinse and repeat until you got where you wanted or the yeast quit. You just have to make sure the apple juice doesn't have certain preservatives, which motts does not. Also, motts is what costco carries, so yeah.
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Dec 22, 2014 04:51
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Beer4TheBeerGod posted:Yeah, the sweetness was surprising and actually pretty well appreciated. It's been awhile since I checked out this thread; what do you mean by staggered sugar additions? Did you try a yeast starter? That reminds me, they haven't had gallon jugs of GV apple juice for $3 this year that I've seen.
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Dec 22, 2014 05:20
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Jacobey000 posted:Love watching the little thing spin around. :3 Do you have it set up to a motor or something? I've got my eye on a better malt miller (the one I use at the moment, the hopper only holds 1kg at a time and has to be hand cranked, so when I do 16kg mashes I have to grind it all by hand, 1kg at a time :|) Going to get http://www.brewbuilder.co.uk/index.php?_a=product&product_id=41 I think. But want it to be motored. Will save a good 30minutes or so off my start up time. Do you just stick a drill on or?
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Dec 22, 2014 09:16
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Are there any online retailers that let you buy grain in quarter pound increments, and has a good shipping deal like Northern Brewer does?
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Dec 22, 2014 14:54
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Brewmasters warehouse has a recipe builder thing and you can buy grain in any increment you want. They take forever to ship though.
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Dec 22, 2014 15:45
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Fluo posted:Do you have it set up to a motor or something? I have the same mill and I that end is the roller adjuster for the crush size. The other end is essentially a solid rod which cranks the crusher, I just tighten my drill over it like its a drill bit and crank the batch through. 2 kg approx in the hopper but it's much faster. Just get a decent drill 
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Dec 22, 2014 16:48
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Ok this was kind of answered before, but not really. So the weather for Friday/Saturday is looking up for brewing. This will be my first outdoor brew. It will be 37F / 36F respectively. Should my propane tank have any trouble in that temp? Should I just get a refill so I have max Propane in the tank? I'd rather not go buy a second tank as was previously suggested. Thanks!
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Dec 22, 2014 18:38
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I've never had a problem brewing in weather that cold with any amount of propane - however you should strive to always have a full backup tank
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Dec 22, 2014 18:45
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I've been putting off my next batch, which will be BIAB and thus need a massive amount of water. Heating it will suck but the vast amount means it'll hold a stable temperature better. Cooling is going to be a nightmare and that's why I'm happy it's winter, so I can put the entire thing outside in 20 degree weather to cool it faster. It still takes overnight.
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Dec 22, 2014 18:50
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dude just buy an immersion chiller
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Dec 22, 2014 18:59
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Those are gigantic wastes of water, I can't consciously do it because I'm a filthy hippie. I lose nothing except 12 hours of fermentation time.
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Dec 22, 2014 19:05
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Adult Sword Owner posted:Those are gigantic wastes of water, I can't consciously do it because I'm a filthy hippie. I lose nothing except 12 hours of fermentation time. yeah, although you could hook one end up to a submersible pump, put that in a big tub of water and ice-blocks, and put the outflow tube so it pours back into the tub - closed system for your water, which you can then use later for gardening or w/e
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Dec 22, 2014 19:12
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Adult Sword Owner posted:Those are gigantic wastes of water, I can't consciously do it because I'm a filthy hippie. I lose nothing except 12 hours of fermentation time. I run my chiller output into a pair of rolling garbage bins, then use the water in the garden.
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Dec 22, 2014 19:26
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I live in a condo so any extra water would be waste. But yeh if I had a garden I'd totally do that I just don't see the current need to buy extra equipment and such when I can just wait a little longer.
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Dec 22, 2014 19:44
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They are significantly smaller wastes of water if you drop the pressure as the outflow gets colder and agitate.
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Dec 22, 2014 19:48
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I got a Chugger pump a few brew days ago, and while it seems generally unnecessary for 5-gallon batches when I could easily gravity feed, using it to whirlpool while chilling is amazing.
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Dec 22, 2014 20:02
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McSpergin posted:I have the same mill and I that end is the roller adjuster for the crush size. The other end is essentially a solid rod which cranks the crusher, I just tighten my drill over it like its a drill bit and crank the batch through. 2 kg approx in the hopper but it's much faster. Just get a decent drill Awesome, the one I have at the moment was abit more expensive than that one but the drill seems to screw it up so always used handcrank. One last miller question: The drill you use I was wondering does it have speed settings or anything that makes it work well on millers (the only drill i really have doesnt have speed settings so it just goes turbo and i think that might be the reason but want to check before spending money on a new drill). Thanks for answering these questions by the way 
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Dec 22, 2014 22:21
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Adult Sword Owner posted:I live in a condo so any extra water would be waste. But yeh if I had a garden I'd totally do that I've been doing no chill brewing, I installed a valve in my brew pot and use high temp silicone tubing. I go direct from boil into a 5.5 gal HDPE plastic carboy and wait 24 hours. Then into the fermenter with my yeast starter. Works great, saves 30-40 mins of "active" cooling time, saves a ton of water, and spreads some of the tasks into a second day which makes my life a lot easier.
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Dec 22, 2014 22:26
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Quote is not edit. To add content, the idea with no chill is that the wort is pasteurized, and rapidly pasteurizes the clean HDPE container it is poured into. HDPE is important to stand up to the 212 degree temp. You could, if you wanted to, let it sit for a long while, sealed in the carboy, before you moved it into the fermenter. Leopold Stotch fucked around with this message at 23:31 on Dec 22, 2014 |
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Dec 22, 2014 22:26
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JawKnee posted:yeah, although you could hook one end up to a submersible pump, put that in a big tub of water and ice-blocks, and put the outflow tube so it pours back into the tub - closed system for your water, which you can then use later for gardening or w/e I have a ridiculous amount of equipment so I went with 5-10 gallons of tap water mixed with ice and a pump approach. I tried using re-freezable 1/2 gallon juice containers filled with salt water but those sucked because once the outer layer of ice melted inside them they didn't chill very well any more. To get the best chilling you either need to dump actual ice in there or use something with a high surface to mass ratio like 2oz freezer packs. Even then you need a large volume of water to float them in. If they all are clumped together you're back to square one. To chill 5.5g of 1.050SG wort from 100C to 20C you need to take out 7M Joules of energy (21 * 80 * 4180). You need 16.8kg of ice to melt and rise from 0C to 20C. You also need to add more ice to offset the difference in your tap water to get down to 20C or less ice if your tap water is below 20C. For me that's about 40-50lbs of ice mixed with 5 gallons of tap water. I couldn't get good flow around 50lbs of ice so I ended up doing 3 shifts of ~15lbs each which still wasn't all that great and took 30+ minutes. What I ended up doing was running 10 gallons of tap water through the immersion chiller which dropped the wort from 210F to 130F then using ~15lbs of reusable ice+5 gallons tap water to go 130F to below 80F. Still, I feel it is a waste of water and am constantly looking to upgrade the process. I'm just not comfortable with the "let it sit" method.
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Dec 22, 2014 23:04
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CapnBry posted:Still, I feel it is a waste of water and am constantly looking to upgrade the process. I'm just not comfortable with the "let it sit" method. I agree with being uncomfortable with the let it sit method. At temps > 140F DMS is still being formed and not being evaporated off. This is the reason that rapid chilling is the goal. So long as you're not getting a noticeable DMS character in your beers, no chill away! Otherwise, this (and boil time) would be the first place to look for DMS issues.
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Dec 22, 2014 23:57
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I just use a counterflow chiller and it's done in 5 minutes.
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Dec 23, 2014 00:01
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I don't worry about water usage, we have a lot in the Northwest. But what about dropping a big chunk of dry ice right into the wort? How much water does it really take to chill a 5 gallon batch though?
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Dec 23, 2014 00:06
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I want to rig a hydraulic motor to the outflow of my immersion chiller and mount it in the center of the coil with a big stir paddle on it so I can use the water flow to power the whirlpooling. Also because seattle hippy I'll aim the outflow at a rain barrel for gardening. I now want to rig up some actual rain barrels for brewing with PNW rainwater. If the seahawks win the superbowl again I'll make a midnight black RIS and call it yeastmode.
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Dec 23, 2014 01:25
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Paladine_PSoT posted:I want to rig a hydraulic motor to the outflow of my immersion chiller and mount it in the center of the coil with a big stir paddle on it so I can use the water flow to power the whirlpooling. Also because seattle hippy I'll aim the outflow at a rain barrel for gardening. What will you brew of the Lions win the superbowl?! 
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Dec 23, 2014 01:31
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Fluo posted:What will you brew of the Lions win the superbowl?! As a Seattle based Lions fan, I'll be consuming in celebration instead of creating.
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Dec 23, 2014 01:34
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Beer4TheBeerGod posted:
Apple juice and cider usually have K-Sorbate as their preservative. Unlike some preservatives, it really only prevents yeast from reproducing by loving up their budding process, it doesn't kill what is present. That's why even ciders that have it in it eventually swell up in their containers in the fridge if you leave the last little bit too long. I've successfully brewed two ciders with store bought cider that had it and I just pitched an extra pack or two of red star champagne yeast...which I honestly don't think I needed to do since I ended up with a pretty vigorous fermentation and thick trub on the bottom. At a certain yeast population, I think it's probably all absorbed and any healthy yeast remaining can probably still bud off.
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Dec 23, 2014 04:24
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Regarding spent chiller water, the other suggestion I usually see is to run the output into a washing machine to do a load of laundry. I'll usually let the first ~2.5-3 gallons pump right onto the grass, then I refill with more cold water and ice packs (it helps to have a case of them) and let it recirculate while swapping out ice packs periodically. I'm not really in a hurry to cool, as long as it gets done eventually. I only use ~10 gallons of water total to cool, and when I'm finished I just dump the pail into the flower bed.
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Dec 23, 2014 07:49
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I have a year old sample of WLP820 Märzen/Oktoberfest that I'm think of reviving for an American/Texas Bock in the style of Shiner Bock. What are the chances, that with a few steps up could still be alive and work? It's been in a sanitized jar in the fridge since January 2013.
LaserWash fucked around with this message at 12:08 on Dec 23, 2014 |
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Dec 23, 2014 12:05
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Fluo posted:Awesome, the one I have at the moment was abit more expensive than that one but the drill seems to screw it up so always used handcrank. One last miller question: The drill you use I was wondering does it have speed settings or anything that makes it work well on millers (the only drill i really have doesnt have speed settings so it just goes turbo and i think that might be the reason but want to check before spending money on a new drill). I use my normal drill, an 18V Ryobi One+ (I got it on a loving sweet deal on Boxing Day a few years ago with a battery powered impact driver/rattle gun when I was tearing down my old Skyline for parts, made short work of a lot). It has two torque settings and then adjustable 24 speed levels. I put it on high torque low to medium speed (about an 8-10) and it has no issues. I've run 10kg RIS grain bills through it no dramas. Also on the no chill thing, it's p good if you want to oak a beer with chips that have been soaked in something. My next smoked stout is going straight on hot onto 100g of bourbon soaked oak chips straight from the kettle. I have chilled like 3 of my last 15 batches and I know at least one got infected. I am lazy after boil so I no longer chill. Just dump it straight into the fermenter, throw cling film over and use the seal from the lid as a big rubber band. Then once it's down to about 60 or so, I put my oven gloves and a dressing gown on to shield myself and walk it out to the fermenting fridge if that's empty, if not I let it hit mid 30s before I do. No noticeable DMS in all ~25-30 batches I've done! Plus no chill is great if you're adding oak chips bc it murders the gently caress out of bugs in the chips
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Dec 23, 2014 15:51
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Also curious if anyone has had the chance to test run a Grainfather? Our local shop was the first in Aus to run one and they all spoke very highly of it. They ran a 30% rye mash through it to really test it and apparently it had no issues whatsoever. The guy I mainly deal with wants one bc if he sets up for a Brew day on his 60 litre system he will usually run 2-3 batches through otherwise it isn't worth the hassle for him
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Dec 23, 2014 15:53
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Daedalus Esquire posted:Apple juice and cider usually have K-Sorbate as their preservative. Unlike some preservatives, it really only prevents yeast from reproducing by loving up their budding process, it doesn't kill what is present. That's why even ciders that have it in it eventually swell up in their containers in the fridge if you leave the last little bit too long. I've successfully brewed two ciders with store bought cider that had it and I just pitched an extra pack or two of red star champagne yeast...which I honestly don't think I needed to do since I ended up with a pretty vigorous fermentation and thick trub on the bottom. At a certain yeast population, I think it's probably all absorbed and any healthy yeast remaining can probably still bud off. Awesome. Totally making cider next week.
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Dec 23, 2014 16:00
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nmfree posted:Regarding spent chiller water, the other suggestion I usually see is to run the output into a washing machine to do a load of laundry. I'll usually let the first ~2.5-3 gallons pump right onto the grass, then I refill with more cold water and ice packs (it helps to have a case of them) and let it recirculate while swapping out ice packs periodically. I'm not really in a hurry to cool, as long as it gets done eventually. I only use ~10 gallons of water total to cool, and when I'm finished I just dump the pail into the flower bed. I use mine to water plants too. I have a 5 gallon bucket that I let it flow into and pour out into our fruit tree beds. I do need to start using to cool the incoming water first. I say this every time and then forget until I'm already part way into cooling.
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Dec 23, 2014 16:08
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Paladine_PSoT posted:I want to rig a hydraulic motor to the outflow of my immersion chiller and mount it in the center of the coil with a big stir paddle on it so I can use the water flow to power the whirlpooling. Also because seattle hippy I'll aim the outflow at a rain barrel for gardening. I know it's all going to get boiled, but do consider what the rainwater comes into contact with if you're actually going to do this. Asphalt in composition shingles, possible e coli from bird poop on the roof, etc.
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Dec 23, 2014 16:59
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BLARGHLE posted:5 gallons motts apple juice This sounds dangerous and delicious. Keeping this for later use - cheers. Fluo posted:Do you have it set up to a motor or something? Something like that...  I use a spring clamp to keep the drill from spinning around and a c-clamp on the trigger. All I've got to do is pour in the grain. Make sure the drill you use either has a low RPM/High torque setting or is just that kind of drill. I had a 'household 12v' wimp that couldn't cut through more than 4oz in the hopper. The 18v Dewalt seems to do the trick, but I just about use up an entire battery grinding bigger batches. Also: the mill you linked is basically the exact same one I (and many many others) use, I've never met anyone who had anything bad to say. The only reason to usually get something heavier duty for larger batches. The only thing I've heard complaints about is the mill getting 'stuck' but those are likely the people who don't use a paint brush to 'clean' (ie dust) off the mill after each use. Jacobey000 fucked around with this message at 17:17 on Dec 23, 2014 |
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Dec 23, 2014 17:13
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My all grain SMaSH Maris Otter/Simcoe came in way under gravity. I totally screwed the pooch on this. I'm working on 1.045 OG when I wanted 1.06'ish with an IBU of about 60-70. Should I just let it ride or should I add a little light DME?
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Dec 23, 2014 19:27
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I'd add some DME if you have it handy.
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Dec 23, 2014 19:51
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conversely, I just brewed a beer with OG of 1.039 and ~80 IBUs on purpose!. Gonna push this "session beer" thing and see how it turns out.
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Dec 23, 2014 20:31
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Jo3sh posted:I'd add some DME if you have it handy. Never done this before. Can I just drop 1.7 lbs of dme in there or should I boil it in some water first?
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Dec 23, 2014 20:41
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