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bengy81 posted:Oh man, I forgot about nectarines and they are in season and cheap! Personally I've only blended them, but if I had to guess I'd put them somewhere in between. I just pitted mine roughly, but my base was incredibly sour and 8-9 lb of nectarines in 3 gal (+a pound of peaches and a couple pounds of blackberries) only kinda comes through the tartness with any clarity. It's the least sour of my currently-bottled sours, so the acidity has kind of been a problem with my culture. I actually really need to blend my 3yr sour and then hit the farmers market for a fruit to age the rest of this year's on. So far it holds a lot of promise for complexity. ChickenArise fucked around with this message at 03:06 on Aug 4, 2015 |
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Aug 4, 2015 03:03
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Much to my relief my baltic porter is showing signs of life after 48hrs. I've been spoiled with the ales I've done; the airlock is usually close to erupting after 12hrs. Lagers are scary 
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Aug 4, 2015 14:47
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HatfulOfHollow posted:Tell me about fresh hops. Thou art boned. I plant both of those varities (and a few others, but those 2 grow the best in my area) and there's pretty much no way to discern the varieties. If you had some known examples of each one, you MIGHT be able to tell by the leaf, but it'd be a long shot. We went overboard making sure our varieties are labelled, and it's still kind of a pain due to the way that the bine can fly up from just about anywhere. 1) Make BEER! Do a wet hop day with them straight off the bine. 2) Dry them. Make a little rack with some scrap wood and screen material and sit them on/near a fan for a while, then bag and freezer them. robotsinmyhead fucked around with this message at 17:47 on Aug 4, 2015 |
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Aug 4, 2015 17:04
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I'm thinking of doing a wet hop IPA with them but I've never done that before so I'm not sure how much to use. I read that wet hops are 4-5 times heavier than dried hops so if my recipe calls for 2oz then I should use 8-10. Does that sound right? Would it be better to just use them for dry hopping or will they work in the boil?
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Aug 4, 2015 17:41
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You have to use pretty crazy amounts. I would bitter with some store-bought dried hops that you know the AA% of and then load up crazy amounts of wet hops for late hopping. I would not save the wet hops for dry hopping, they should be used straight away.
thotsky fucked around with this message at 18:05 on Aug 4, 2015 |
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Aug 4, 2015 17:49
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HatfulOfHollow posted:I'm thinking of doing a wet hop IPA with them but I've never done that before so I'm not sure how much to use. I read that wet hops are 4-5 times heavier than dried hops so if my recipe calls for 2oz then I should use 8-10. Does that sound right? Would it be better to just use them for dry hopping or will they work in the boil? My brewing timing is hosed up this year, so I doubt I'll be a doing a wet hop. I'd just Google it and find some consensus on how much, but wet hops are considerably heavier for obvious reasons. Also, don't use wet hops post-boil for also-obvious reasons.
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Aug 4, 2015 17:51
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They'll work in the boil, but they are going to be a bit (okay a lot) of an unknown quantity. You don't know what variety you get for any given flower or handful. You have no idea what the AA% might be for any of it. And you don't really know how much wet hop equals how much dried hop. Best bet is just to use a jesus-load* and see what happens. ------ * A jesus-load is an amount sufficient that when you stand back and look at it, you just mumble, "... Jesus." See Time Pressure, by Spider Robinson.
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Aug 4, 2015 17:51
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Speaking of hop growing, how is everyone's crop doing? I've got first year Centennial, Chinook, and CTZ. I've had the most come from my Chinook but had a few pulled and dried of the other two. I take it first year is a pretty much a bust for me. I'm in Texas and the flowers are still coming up, so I'm still holding out hope that I have enough to dry hop something from the combined harvest.
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Aug 4, 2015 17:54
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LaserWash posted:Speaking of hop growing, how is everyone's crop doing? My second year Cascade is insane, starting to cone up now after growing about 1000 flowers. It outgrew its 8ft lattice in about a week, we eventually had to string a line another 8-10 feet horizontally to keep it on. The two second year Goldings plants are doing OK, not great.
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Aug 4, 2015 17:59
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LaserWash posted:Speaking of hop growing, how is everyone's crop doing? Before they sprouted this year (year 3) we did a propagation party with my homebrew club, essentially setting the rhizomes back a year. We got a crop the first year off of a few, 2nd year was BIG for a couple of cascades, fuggles, and newport - but we put in some Columbus and a few other varieties and they crapped out. We ended up naming 2 big rhizomes that are going apeshit this year Hitler, a Cascade (Hitler has annexed a large portion of the garden) and Goliath, a Fuggles. The rest are essentially 1st year rhizomes and they're a mixed bag. We got about 2.5lbs dried last year and I'd expect the same this year. Next year will likely be a bit out of hand if this trend continues.
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Aug 4, 2015 18:04
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Really wish I had planted cascade this year. I can't believe I don't have that in my yard.  :We should do a rhizome trading in the spring. 
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Aug 4, 2015 18:52
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Scarf posted:Lagers are scary Wait until you smell S-23 going to town on 10 gallons! 
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Aug 4, 2015 22:21
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more falafel please posted:My second year Cascade is insane, starting to cone up now after growing about 1000 flowers. It outgrew its 8ft lattice in about a week, we eventually had to string a line another 8-10 feet horizontally to keep it on. The two second year Goldings plants are doing OK, not great. Cascades real strength, while pretty tasty, are that they grow fast, resist disease, and give great yields in pretty much any climate. High AA% hops are making that more irrelevant, but it is still an impressive piece of breeding.
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Aug 5, 2015 03:20
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Biomute posted:Cascades real strength, while pretty tasty, are that they grow fast, resist disease, and give great yields in pretty much any climate. High AA% hops are making that more irrelevant, but it is still an impressive piece of breeding. That's exactly why I picked it for my location (Orlando). First year and I should have some usable cones. Not a ton, but they'll be fun to do some late boil wet hopping.
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Aug 5, 2015 04:47
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Syrinxx posted:Wait until you smell S-23 going to town on 10 gallons! Rotten eggs? Also hot drat do I love the sound of constant bubbling coming from my blowoff 
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Aug 5, 2015 12:57
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Scarf posted:Much to my relief my baltic porter is showing signs of life after 48hrs. I've been spoiled with the ales I've done; the airlock is usually close to erupting after 12hrs. I did a beer with Franco dark lager and it barely showed any signs for the better part of a week. All of a sudden it's cranking out hard
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Aug 5, 2015 13:59
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McSpergin posted:I did a beer with Franco dark lager and it barely showed any signs for the better part of a week. All of a sudden it's cranking out hard Ugh, a week would stress me the gently caress out... I was planning on doing a hydrometer reading at 72hrs, but then it started up at about 48hrs. Now with the lid to the chamber closed, it sounds like a bilge pump is running inside.
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Aug 5, 2015 14:07
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Scarf posted:
24 hours since I pitched to a healthy dose of lager yeast on my Munich Helles. I know the yeast is healthy because I used a pitch of it two weeks ago on my grapefruit lager. Nothing bubbling yet. I ain't skeered.... Okay maybe a little. That smell of lager yeast burping sulphur... It will burn the hair in your nose. I had a really good Berliner from Destihl Brewing in Illinois last night. Super sour and so refreshing. I really need to get a good sour program running. Is the American Sours book the one and only place to start if I'm starting to get serious about doing sours? LaserWash fucked around with this message at 16:21 on Aug 5, 2015 |
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Aug 5, 2015 16:18
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I looked through as much of the thread as I could, but didn't find an answer. I want to get a kegerator for my apartment. I'm just a single dude with a bachelor pad. I don't need anything crazy. I basically just want cold beer to come out of a tap. Any recommendations? I can spend if necessary, but was hoping there would be something under $500.
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Aug 5, 2015 16:26
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Craigslist/yard sale/inherited fridge or freezer of some kind. ($free - $50) Temperature controller like an STC/ITC-1000 ($40-50, only needed for freezer builds) Keg coupler, lines, shank, faucet, etc (I suggest all-stainless parts and forward-seal design for home use - $100-200, depending on what you choose and what kind of keg you're hooking up.) Miscellaneous parts - paint, lumber, clamps, stickers, mascots ($50-150) I think you can do it for under $500 if you don't mind moderate ugliness. If you want something really slick-looking, it would probably cost more. Look around for sites about keezer or homebrew keg fridge builds. It sounds like you're talking about a build for a commercial keg, but the details will mostly be the same. Be mindful of the size of the keg(s) you're talking about, as half-barrels and short quarters don't always fit in fridges. EDIT: poo poo, I forgot to mention CO2 and regulator. $100 - 150? Been a long time since I looked. Jo3sh fucked around with this message at 18:04 on Aug 5, 2015 |
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Aug 5, 2015 16:43
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Speaking of keggerator/keezer decorative hardware... I have a part-time job as a pin mechanic at a bowling center. Bowling pins only have a certain lifetime and wear out, and I usually take the old ones and use them for targets at the shooting range. But I'm also planning on cutting the heads off of some of them and use them as tap handles for my future keezer collar... If anyone would like some to make tap-handles out of as well, let me know and we can work something out. I could probably even cut the heads off for you.
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Aug 5, 2015 16:53
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RCarr posted:I looked through as much of the thread as I could, but didn't find an answer. You can definitely cobble together pieces for way under $500. You could also get a Nostalgia Keggerator of some variety on Amazon for <$400 and spend another $50 or so modifying it to take corny kegs. Price history for the model I think that I have: http://camelcamelcamel.com/Nostalgia-Electrics-KRS2100-Kegorator-Commercial/product/B000HJVYDQ It's got an odd tower size, so you'd need to use a drilled block of wood or something if you wanted to install a new tower. Personally I had to have a strong friend twist my tower on th first time so I'm not looking to mess with it. It holds 2 kegs and 2x 5lb CO2 containers, so I just use a cobra tap n the 2nd keg if both are full. I might mod the tower eventually as a fun project, but then I'd start thinking about cooling the lines so ugh. ChickenArise fucked around with this message at 16:57 on Aug 5, 2015 |
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Aug 5, 2015 16:53
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Took advantage of this deal here to finally upgrade my kettle: http://www.homebrewfinds.com/2015/08/15-off-brewbuilt-brewing-kettles-free-shipping-packed-with-features.html 15 gallon BrewBuilt kettle, total was about $250. I was considering DIY-ing a similar setup when it saved me 50%, but at that discounted price, plus the fact that I could never do something like the silicone lid, I just bought it. It'll be nice to stop caring about boilovers / be able to do really long boils and end up with reasonable volume!
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Aug 5, 2015 17:10
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LaserWash posted:I had a really good Berliner from Destihl Brewing in Illinois last night. Super sour and so refreshing. I really need to get a good sour program running. Is the American Sours book the one and only place to start if I'm starting to get serious about doing sours? Their Wild Sour line is awesome. I bought a few of the Lynnbrook version, Raspberry Berliner Weisse. Super good, sour, and reminded me of crunch berries.
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Aug 5, 2015 17:22
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ChickenArise posted:You can definitely cobble together pieces for way under $500. You could also get a Nostalgia Keggerator of some variety on Amazon for <$400 and spend another $50 or so modifying it to take corny kegs. Price history for the model I think that I have: http://camelcamelcamel.com/Nostalgia-Electrics-KRS2100-Kegorator-Commercial/product/B000HJVYDQ Why do they call these "commercial" kegerators? It looks exactly like the type of thing someone would keep in their home. What business is using these?
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Aug 5, 2015 17:36
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Most likey referring to the fact that it has a coupler for hooking up to commercial sanke connector kegs.
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Aug 5, 2015 17:43
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Yeah, the kegs it uses are commercial. Not the keggerator itself.
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Aug 5, 2015 17:57
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RCarr posted:Why do they call these "commercial" kegerators? It looks exactly like the type of thing someone would keep in their home. What business is using these? The answers above me have it, but fwiw I've seen basically this unit at bars where they wanted to add on 1-2 taps to an existing setup. Then there's also Hugh Sisson's (Heavy Seas) caskerator that I've seen around town: 
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Aug 5, 2015 18:07
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Speaking of cask beer, is there a better/more reasonable place to get a beer engine, new or used, than eBay?
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Aug 5, 2015 18:39
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LaserWash posted:
The Milk the Funk wiki is a great resource http://www.milkthefunk.com/wiki/Main_Page as well as the Milk the Funk Facebook group, lots of pro and am brewers there talking about sour brewing technique, lots of tips on pure lacto fermentation/sour worting and mashing for quick turnaround sours
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Aug 5, 2015 20:00
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Can I get a recipe check for the hybrid California Common/Kolsch that I'm going to toss some of my meyer lemons in? 7 lbs pale malt 2 lbs munich 1 lb white wheat .5 lb victory .5 lb crystal 40 1oz Cascade at 60 min 1oz Cascade at 5 min 1oz Amarillo at 5 min WL 810 San Francisco Lager I might toss in a handful of the fresh cascade hops I have going on right now at flamout just to add to the citrus feel of the beer. I think I'm calling this one Triple H (Homegrown Hybrid Hybrid)
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Aug 5, 2015 20:51
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What do people do to keep these party/picnic taps sanitary between uses? After drawing a pint or so a day for a while, it started to look really grody inside. Simply wiping it off won't help, as the grody bits are deep inside. I suppose one could remove/disassemble/clean after each use if you take the thing to a party and empty the keg, but this seems a lot of effort for a pint a day. Are there alternative taps that don't have this problem?
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Aug 5, 2015 22:14
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It's easy enough to tear down a serving line between kegs, soak in PBW or similar, then rinse, reassemble, and sanitize. Between uses, both for this and for metal faucets, I keep a lab wash bottle full of clean water on top of my serving fridge; it's easy to stick the spout into the faucet and rinse out the exposed bits. It doesn't clean the internals, but it does help keep beer from drying up and/or getting moldy in the parts open to air. Something like this: http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/it...yqaxxoCY-zw_wcB The spray bottle full of Star-San works pretty well, too, although it can be a little challenging to spray up into the draft faucets. Jo3sh fucked around with this message at 22:28 on Aug 5, 2015 |
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Aug 5, 2015 22:24
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rockcity posted:Can I get a recipe check for the hybrid California Common/Kolsch that I'm going to toss some of my meyer lemons in? Looks like a solid hybrid, but it's not really much like a Kolsch or a Cal Common, except the yeast (and the grain bill for the Cal Common). A Kolsch is going to be pretty much all base malt and not very hoppy, and a Cal Common (at least to me) needs to be heavy on Northern Brewer. (if I'm being pointlessly pedantic about the naming you can just ignore this)
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Aug 5, 2015 22:47
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Jo3sh posted:It's easy enough to tear down a serving line between kegs, soak in PBW or similar, then rinse, reassemble, and sanitize. Between uses, both for this and for metal faucets, I keep a lab wash bottle full of clean water on top of my serving fridge; it's easy to stick the spout into the faucet and rinse out the exposed bits. It doesn't clean the internals, but it does help keep beer from drying up and/or getting moldy in the parts open to air. Wash bottle, there's an idea idea. Thanks, I'll give that a try.
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Aug 6, 2015 01:26
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more falafel please posted:Looks like a solid hybrid, but it's not really much like a Kolsch or a Cal Common, except the yeast (and the grain bill for the Cal Common). A Kolsch is going to be pretty much all base malt and not very hoppy, and a Cal Common (at least to me) needs to be heavy on Northern Brewer. Yeah, the grain bill is closer to a California common, but it's way light in color for the style and the wheat is more common in the Kolsch which was why I was saying it was a hybrid of the two. I'm totally open to hop suggestions, but I figured with the meyer lemon I might want to stay citrusy.
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Aug 6, 2015 01:44
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Brewgoons, talk to me about adding onto my CO2 manifold. I have a 4 tap manifold that looks like this:   I'd like to add one more tap (since I have capacity to chill 5 kegs in my keezer) with the possibility of running two different pressures. a.) Is it possible for me to take the copper nut off the end in the second pic and add this to gain my extra tap?: http://www.ritebrew.com/product-p/843684.htm Or am I looking at the wrong part? b.) What's the purpose of a secondary regulator. Could I do something like this: Primary regulator---->Higher Pressure (20'ish PSI) to a 2 or 3 way manifold----> one or two kegs (for force carbing and high carbed beers) and a split to a secondary regulator--->secondary regulator--->Secondary regulator at lower pressure (10'ish PSI)--->4 way manifold and 4 kegs at regular pressure
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Aug 6, 2015 01:45
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Jo3sh posted:Speaking of cask beer, is there a better/more reasonable place to get a beer engine, new or used, than eBay? I don't know for the US. Was looking around for you but ebay or homebrew stores in US seem a total ripoff. :| Like I got mine for £40, a lot of these sites are trying to sell them for like $300-700  Most you'd ever pay for a beer engine is £120 (unless you get a new custom made one from angramltd or whatever etc) What I'd recommend is ordering from .co.uk ebay ( http://www.ebay.co.uk/bhp/beer-engine ) and having it shipped over, but look around so they don't charge stupid amount on postage. US friend was able to get a beer engine sent over for £18 postage which is still a massive saving compared to $500ish that you see on US sites. I recommend getting a 1/2 over 1/4th pulls and as a southern Brit I recommend not using sparklers [they cause a condensed head but they dull and numb the flavour of the beer to a bland banal taste] Fluo fucked around with this message at 07:26 on Aug 6, 2015 |
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Aug 6, 2015 07:15
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Gonna try and brew a festbier here in the next few weeks and see if I can't get it in glass by Oct. 1. A Festbierus for the Restbierus: OG: 1.056 FG: 1.011 SRM: 6.7 IBU: 23.2 ABV: 5.9% 9lbs. German Pilsner Malt 3lbs. Munich Malt (10L) 1oz Tradition (AA 6%) @ 60min 1 Whirlfloc Tablet @ 15min 1oz Hallertauer Mittlefrueh @ 0min Mash for 60min @ 155ºF Still determining my yeast, but it'll be either a Munich Helles type lager yeast or just something good and clean like WLP830... So any recommendations there would be much appreciated.
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Aug 6, 2015 12:42
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Scarf posted:Gonna try and brew a festbier here in the next few weeks and see if I can't get it in glass by Oct. 1. For a Märzen/Oktoberfest I've done WLP 820 which I liked. WLP 833, which I've never tried, has the reputation of being the "go to" for Southern German lagers. The naming on a lot of those lager strains is deceiving, because my understanding is that lager strains vary a lot less in characteristics than ale strains do. In some sense, continental lager strains are fairly interchangeable.
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Aug 6, 2015 13:31
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