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Scratch that Batch - hop burst pale ale named due to low expectations since I brewed outside and it was pouring the entire time. I kept the lid halfway on to strike a balance between not letting in TOO much rain and not trapping in too much DMS (or whatever it is we boil out). Ironically it was one of my tastiest batches ever.
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Sep 4, 2015 22:20
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Broken Bag - the guy at my LHBS tried to spin a plastic bag of freshly milled grain to tie it off for me but he ended up putting his finger through it in the process. The bag did spin but the hole shot grain all over the place. He gave me that grain for free and refilled my order. The saison I brewed with it ended up just being a lighter version of the saison I was intending to brew.
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Sep 4, 2015 23:02
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Off for my first non-taught brewing session at a ubrew brewery tomorrow. Been home brewing for a couple of years but looking forward to having a go somewhere with a little more space and my 2 bed flat. Has anyone else tried these co-op style breweries?
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Sep 4, 2015 23:34
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Holy poo poo. 24 hours into kettle souring with the Omega Lacto blend my dark berliner-esque beer tastes loving AWESOME. Its lightly bready, lightly tart, and a hint of dark caramel-y malts. I'm definitely thinking tomorrow morning will be the perfect time to boil and start the clean ferment.
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Sep 5, 2015 21:20
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So I got to the end of a keg just now, and I have another beer that's been in primary for about a month ready to go and be force carbed. Do I have to take apart my keg and sanitize everything? Or can I just put the beer ready to go in it (after rinsing at least), force carb, and be A-OK?
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Sep 7, 2015 00:53
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yamdankee posted:So I got to the end of a keg just now, and I have another beer that's been in primary for about a month ready to go and be force carbed. Do I have to take apart my keg and sanitize everything? Or can I just put the beer ready to go in it (after rinsing at least), force carb, and be A-OK? Always sanitise everything.
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Sep 7, 2015 01:20
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yamdankee posted:So I got to the end of a keg just now, and I have another beer that's been in primary for about a month ready to go and be force carbed. Do I have to take apart my keg and sanitize everything? Or can I just put the beer ready to go in it (after rinsing at least), force carb, and be A-OK? Depends on how anal you are. I break mine down, clean with oxi, and sanitize after every kick.
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Sep 7, 2015 01:21
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Yup, clean up the keg and then sanitize and refill. I generally tear down the Out post and dip tube at minimum, get a brush through those parts, and clean the inside of the keg with Oxiclean or PBW. Once it's all clean to my satisfaction (usually next day after an overnight soak, then dumped, rinsed, and reassembled), I can sanitize and refill. Fortunately, I have enough kegs that the cleaning process has not caused a delay in kegging the next beer.
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Sep 7, 2015 01:27
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Where would one go to have a co2 tank recertified? Also, where our how would one go about fixing a burst rupture disk? I just picked up some second hand keg equipment yesterday and think a tank may have vented after being in my trunk in 90° weather.
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Sep 7, 2015 01:27
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Your local welding supply place or fire extinguiser servicer should be able to answer those questions for you, if not just perform the service.
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Sep 7, 2015 01:36
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Jo3sh posted:Your local welding supply place or fire extinguiser servicer should be able to answer those questions for you, if not just perform the service. Great, thanks!
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Sep 7, 2015 01:50
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yamdankee posted:So I got to the end of a keg just now, and I have another beer that's been in primary for about a month ready to go and be force carbed. Do I have to take apart my keg and sanitize everything? Or can I just put the beer ready to go in it (after rinsing at least), force carb, and be A-OK? I don't break mine down, but I do throw about a gallon of warm water and oxiclean in the keg after and let it soak for 30 minutes or so and then I hook the keg back up and pump in some of the warm cleaning solution into the lines and let it sit for a bit then pump it out. Repeat letting cleaning solution sit and pumping it through a few times and then drain it all out. Then repeat that process but with starsan. Then you've got a sanitized keg and lines ready for your incoming beer. If I do have a spare one waiting, I will break it down though. Lately I've been using a keg for lagering though so my three kegs have always had something in them.
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Sep 7, 2015 03:37
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I brewed my first Grainfather(US model) batch yesterday and here are my first impressions. 1. It took a very long time to get to mash temp, almost an hour. I think this might have been due to my keeping the power supply set to the mash as opposed to normal during that process. 2. The boil wasn't too vigorous, but it was definitely happening. The lack of heavy foaming was a first, but I'm thinking that because of the fermcap that I added for this boil. 3. The ability to set the temp controller and walk away was nice, no babysitting the temperature, waiting for it to hit a specific temp on the burner to do an infusion mash like I'm used to doing. 4. The counter flow wort chiller is way better than the infusion chillers that I've used in the past, much faster to just output that into the primary SS fermenter than stick copper into the kettle and run water through it, then dump the 5+ gallons of wort into a fermenter. 5. I'm not sure on the efficiency of the sparging the way they do it there, as the sparge water wasn't in contact with the grains as long as the batch sparges I've done in the past. 6. Definitely need a hop spider or hop bag for my next brew to keep the filter from being clogged. Overall I think the GF added about 2 hours to my total brew time waiting for the boil and mash temps to rise. Apache fucked around with this message at 14:19 on Sep 7, 2015 |
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Sep 7, 2015 14:16
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FG reached on the festbier, right at the 2 week mark. Stopped at 1.016 rather than 1.014 but I'll take it. I thought it would finish a bit sooner considering the 10º bump for the d-rest, but still took a week to finish off the last 20%.
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Sep 7, 2015 16:44
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I'm looking to get some help on water adjustments for my Imperial Stout that I'm doing tomorrow. I just had a water test done and these were the results. Calcium 42 ppm Sodium 15 ppm Magnesium 11 ppm Chlorides 13 ppm Sulfates 9 ppm Bicarbonate 173 ppm pH 7.7 My recipe has an SRM of 37 and IBUs at 72. The generic regional profiles in Beersmith don't seem to be suited toward something that high and I'm having trouble finding a good way to understand how to adjust things. I've listed to a few podcasts on water lately and understand some of the ranges, but not how to balance it all out. The beersmith calculator is great at figuring out how much of what to add if you know what you want your targets to be, but that's what I don't understand. Anyone have any suggestions on how to balance this out for a high gravity imperial stout? All I really know is that I should probably up the calcium and that I need a higher residual alkalinity for the high SRM, but I have no idea what that equates to for a target for those inputs. Planning to hit my LHBS in the morning to grab some of the usual water adjustment additions so I have what I need to balance my water for tomorrow and the future.
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Sep 7, 2015 20:21
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rockcity posted:I'm looking to get some help on water adjustments for my Imperial Stout that I'm doing tomorrow. I just had a water test done and these were the results. For a strong dark ale? 50-75 ppm Calcium. You can go somewhat higher, but your mash pH will likely end up too low. 50-150 ppm Chloride, 50-150 ppm Sulfate, preferably near a 1:1 ratio. Forget about residual alkalinity, it is rather useless. Hitting the correct mash pH is the most important thing when it comes to water treatment. Just try to hit the minimum of 50 ppm in all three and then use the calculator to see what the pH will end up at. As long as you're between 5.2 and 5.6 you're good, but 5.4 would be ideal for this style. If your pH is too low add baking soda until you hit your number, but keep the Sodium level under 100 ppm. Don't try to use chalk, it really does nothing. I find the mash calculator at Brewersfriend to be easier to use then the Beersmith one. If you're unable to hit your targets by just adding stuff someone else needs to pitch in as I'm blessed with very soft water and never really bothered to learn all the other techniques. I am guessing you could dilute with RO water. thotsky fucked around with this message at 22:55 on Sep 7, 2015 |
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Sep 7, 2015 22:19
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yamdankee posted:So I got to the end of a keg just now, and I have another beer that's been in primary for about a month ready to go and be force carbed. Do I have to take apart my keg and sanitize everything? Or can I just put the beer ready to go in it (after rinsing at least), force carb, and be A-OK? I rinse until it looks clean, then run some sanitizer through it. On occasion I have done nothing and just put fresh beer in there without issues.
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Sep 7, 2015 23:28
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Glottis posted:I rinse until it looks clean, then run some sanitizer through it. On occasion I have done nothing and just put fresh beer in there without issues. Yeah I would have no problem racking an IPA into a freshly kicked APA or blonde ale keg. I've done it with porters after an ESB as well.
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Sep 8, 2015 02:46
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What do you guys keep as "house/regular" taps? The reason I ask is that I've probably done a little too much experimenting lately and I'm starting to realize that I need to start putting a few "house" beers on tap, and only dedicate one or two taps to "experimenting," otherwise you end up with this kind of mess (as is my current situation): Tap 1: Berliner (lacto/sacch blend) that's been on tap for 4 months, not all that flavorful and just not something that I tap very often. Tap 2: Really, really, REALLY boozy Columbus/MO IIPA - good, but holy smokes is this thing boozy. 9% - IIPA's with an rear end-ton of hops give me headaches. Not a good beer for regular evenings Tap 3: Czech Pils: Good, but not the first thing I think of when I want to come home and have an easy drinker Tap 4: Grapefruit/Ginger lager - Good, but again not the first thing I think of coming home to Tap 5 (coming up): Munich Helles, a recipe from Brülosopher - tasted it last weekend when transferring to secondary - will be really loving good Also transferred an all lacto Berliner that will go in Tap 1 when I finally exhaust that one. I need some every day beers, maybe with one experimental tap. I have 6 kegs and 5 taps I can run at a time. So I'm thinking something like: Tap 1: German lager - depending on time of year - Spring as a Maibock/Helles, Summer as a Kölsch, Fall as an Octoberfest/Märzen, Winter as a Bock/Doppelbock Tap 2: Single IPA - Just to scratch the IPA itch I have once or twice a week - really like the citrus in a Two-Hearted clone, but also thinking of doing a Lone Pint Yellow Rose SMaSH (Mosaic/2 Row) clone, perhaps something in the spirit of Karbach Hopadillo (which is one of my favorite IPAs-English-like) to rotate it out with and maybe something else based upon whatever hop I want to try out Tap 3: Seasonal - Autumn for spice beer or hefeweizen, Winter for RIS/Stout/Winter Warmer, Spring wheat/Pale Ale (???), and Summer blonde or Saison Tap 4: Experimental - trying new hops, beer styles, etc. Trying to keep it somewhat seasonal, but not totally necessary Tap 5: ???? - Perhaps getting serious about my sours - more lacto/pedio than brett, which I don't care too much for AND/OR Fruit beers This doesn't require a response, but if you have something that keeps you grounded and works for you without getting too crazy about the wacky experimenting everywhere that you want to do all the time  then I'd be interested to hear how you decide to keep yourself from going over the deep end.
LaserWash fucked around with this message at 03:08 on Sep 8, 2015 |
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Sep 8, 2015 02:54
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Biomute posted:For a strong dark ale? Thanks, I'm still trying to figure out water chemisty, but I figured a big imperial stout might be a good place to start learning since there is a lot of dark grains that can play a factor in the mash. Up until now I've adjusted nothing outside of campden tablets. I did hear that about chalk and that baking soda is a better option, as long as you don't need a ton of it. I downloaded the Bru'n Water one as well, but it's a bit confusing at first glance. The Beersmith ones and Brewersfriend ones seem a lot easier to use. The one area I'm a bit confused on right now is that apparently there are a few ways that sulfates are reported and that the numbers need to be factored depending on how it's reported. My sulfates are listed as SO4-S which is one that I think needs to be adjusted. I want to make sure i'm not factoring things incorrectly.
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Sep 8, 2015 06:12
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rockcity posted:Thanks, I'm still trying to figure out water chemisty, but I figured a big imperial stout might be a good place to start learning since there is a lot of dark grains that can play a factor in the mash. Up until now I've adjusted nothing outside of campden tablets. I did hear that about chalk and that baking soda is a better option, as long as you don't need a ton of it. I downloaded the Bru'n Water one as well, but it's a bit confusing at first glance. The Beersmith ones and Brewersfriend ones seem a lot easier to use. The Brewersfriend calculator allows you to specify that you're using ppm of SO4-S, but for other calculators just multiply it by 3. LaserWash posted:This doesn't require a response, but if you have something that keeps you grounded and works for you without getting too crazy about the wacky experimenting everywhere that you want to do all the time Stop making stuff you don't like? thotsky fucked around with this message at 15:37 on Sep 8, 2015 |
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Sep 8, 2015 15:34
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LaserWash posted:This doesn't require a response, but if you have something that keeps you grounded and works for you without getting too crazy about the wacky experimenting everywhere that you want to do all the time I've been there brother, lol. For the IPA, brew a clone of Pliny the Elder, but cut the bittering hops by 60% so you end up around 50 IBUs. Also try a clone of London Porter by Fullers. Simple 4 malt grain bill and tastes better than ANY other porter on earth. Guaranteed. This is the beer you can drink when you have heartburn. Maybe do a brown ale like CCB's Maduro. Those are three super drinkable beers that I'm planning to keep on tap year round.
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Sep 8, 2015 19:32
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tesilential posted:Also try a clone of London Porter by Fullers. Simple 4 malt grain bill and tastes better than ANY other porter on earth. Guaranteed. This is the beer you can drink when you have heartburn. An excellent suggestion. Here's the recipe from BYO: byo posted:Fuller’s London Porter clone
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Sep 8, 2015 22:58
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I have a few very simple, cheap, but good beers that I have been trying to keep on tap/bottled. Currently my staples are a Czech pils, saison, and a hoppy wheat. I'd also like a pale ale but haven't made one I really like. Current crazy beers are a 10% abv falconers flight iipa and 13% abv oatmeal stout with date syrup, coffee, cacao, vanilla and oak. The less ingredients, cheaper, and the faster the turn around, the better. That way you can afford to make the experimental stuff. 1-3 malts, single hop and some yeast. Crazy stuff is fine, but you get sick of slogging through an entire keg it if you have nothing else.
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Sep 8, 2015 23:17
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Perfectly Cromulent posted:An excellent suggestion. Here's the recipe from BYO: Stellar. OP, I prefer EKG over Fuggles, but both make a phenomal example of a porter. Best in class IMO.
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Sep 8, 2015 23:54
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I did a small stovetop extract batch today, mostly to try a Maris Otter / Cascade SMaSH, partially using the hops I grew this year. This was just a 2 gallon run, and I split the output into 2 carboys and I am trying two yeast strains, as a comparison. One of the yeasts is just Wyeast 1056, which I harvested by washing a previous yeast cake this morning. Today's lessons: 1) Yeast washing is really easy (assuming I didn't screw up) and I just saved myself $28, even if I never take any of this to third generation. I will however probably just save some off of a over size starter next time. 2) Whole cone hops are a gigantic mess, and I only had 1.4 oz (wet weight) in the kettle. Growing the plant is fun though, I just need a better way to deal with it. 3) Doing a micro batch, or at least something really simple, when trying a whole new process is a good idea and I wish I had done it long before. I wasn't worried about screwing up my favorite beer recipe or wasting much in ingredients. If I ruined this, who cares, it's 2 gallons and something like $18 in ingredients, most of which was the LME. I've also realized I managed to loose my stir bar after the first freaking time using it. I was paranoid about not getting it into the fermeter so I'm pretty sure i just put it somewhere clever. I need to get organized. I ordered a new one, to help ensure I find the old one. On the subject of keeping non-crazy stuff on tap - and with the understanding that I'm a lot less experienced at this than most of you - I gave up. I made multiple attempts this spring and summer to make a good "house ale" just to have handy. None of the results were bad, but they weren't great either and at the end of it I realized I was spending 6 + hours of hobby time screwing around with something I just wasn't interested in. I can buy good generic beer, but the black ale the wife and I both love? If anyone makes something similar commercially, they don't sell it around here. I'll spend my time perfecting that, instead.
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Sep 9, 2015 00:11
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Perfectly Cromulent posted:An excellent suggestion. Here's the recipe from BYO: I've been looking for a porter recipe to use for an event coming up next month. Does this one have a dominant chocolate flavor? I'm looking for something with less chocolate and more coffee, maybe even to the point of adding some cold brewed coffee.
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Sep 9, 2015 00:30
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Raised by Hamsters posted:
How are you saving $28 on one extra use of yeast? Especially for a 1 gallon batch.
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Sep 9, 2015 00:41
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Cpt.Wacky posted:I've been looking for a porter recipe to use for an event coming up next month. Does this one have a dominant chocolate flavor? I'm looking for something with less chocolate and more coffee, maybe even to the point of adding some cold brewed coffee. It's extremely well balanced and has crazy nice mouthfeel. Ironically if you want a more roasty flavor, use a little more chocolate malt and a little less brown malt. I live 5 minutes from Cigar City where they experiment with all sorts of porters and haven't found one that bests Fuller's LP.
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Sep 9, 2015 00:48
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tesilential posted:It's extremely well balanced and has crazy nice mouthfeel. Ironically if you want a more roasty flavor, use a little more chocolate malt and a little less brown malt. I live 5 minutes from Cigar City where they experiment with all sorts of porters and haven't found one that bests Fuller's LP. Thanks. I'm going to see if I can find a bottle on the way home tonight.
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Sep 9, 2015 00:56
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rockcity posted:How are you saving $28 on one extra use of yeast? Especially for a 1 gallon batch. No no, sorry - I washed the cake from a 5 gallon batch, saved 4 mason jars in the end. If each of those successfully kick off a starter instead of a new $6.99 smack pack, I get my savings.
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Sep 9, 2015 00:59
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Raised by Hamsters posted:No no, sorry - I washed the cake from a 5 gallon batch, saved 4 mason jars in the end. If each of those successfully kick off a starter instead of a new $6.99 smack pack, I get my savings. That makes much more sense. It sounded like you just harvested enough for the batch you made.
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Sep 9, 2015 02:25
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ChiTownEddie posted:Holy poo poo. 24 hours into kettle souring with the Omega Lacto blend my dark berliner-esque beer tastes loving AWESOME. Its lightly bready, lightly tart, and a hint of dark caramel-y malts. I'm definitely thinking tomorrow morning will be the perfect time to boil and start the clean ferment. I have heard good things about that blend. What was the malt bill like?
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Sep 9, 2015 02:29
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ScaerCroe posted:I have heard good things about that blend. What was the malt bill like? If I remember correctly it was something like: 6LB Maris Otter 1LB White Wheat Malt 0.25LB Caramel 120 0.4LB Chocolate Malt I mashed at 153 (missed on 152 and just didn't bother adjusting lol) Pitched Omega blend out of a starter Friday afternoon and then boiled/added hops/etc on Sunday morning. I'm probably going to try the beer tonight when checking the gravity so I'll update again with how its tasting 
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Sep 9, 2015 15:24
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So, I haven't brewed in about six months and I'm feeling the need to pick up the hobby again. However, I went to organize my brewing gear and realized that I never cleaned my mash tun after my last brew! So there is a seriously disgusting rotten grain and maggot patty in there. Can I just clean it with bleach/PBW? Or do I need a new mash/lauter tun?
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Sep 9, 2015 17:24
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I feel like a couple soaks in PBW will kill just about anything. But if it's really loving gross and there are bugs in it i'd probably just trash it.
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Sep 9, 2015 17:42
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What is it? A cooler? Then yes, disassemble everything you can get apart, soak with PBW for cleaning, and then soak with bleach solution until it doesn't smell bad anymore. If, like me, you use a stainless kettle, keep chlorine away from it - use a sanitizer like star-san instead.
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Sep 9, 2015 18:13
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Thanks all. It's a big cooler. Gonna soak it tonight and hope for the best.
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Sep 9, 2015 18:22
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pugnax posted:So, I haven't brewed in about six months and I'm feeling the need to pick up the hobby again. However, I went to organize my brewing gear and realized that I never cleaned my mash tun after my last brew! So there is a seriously disgusting rotten grain and maggot patty in there. I had a really neat interlocking tupperware set that I left under my bed in high school for maybe a year. I could have thrown it away but it was neat and expensive. I washed it good and well, and I still use it to this day. That said, brewing contamination is more likely to persist than food leftovers contamination, so small scratches in the plastic could harbor bugs (bacteria and yeast, not the literal maggots you've got) for a long time. Taste your mash results to see if you're getting any mash souring. Here's what I'd do: First, Oxiclean "Free" or PBW. Next, set out in the sun for a couple of days for the UV light to break down some odor-causing organic molecules. If that fails, bleach. Start with sanitizing strength, then move up to 2 oz per gallon, then 4 oz per gallon if the previous levels were not successful. Wear gloves. Be sure to scrub only with things that won't scratch it, to prevent the aforementioned bug hideouts. Old t-shirts are easily accessible, as are soft sponges. Also, anything that you'd buy to wash a car would work.
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Sep 9, 2015 18:26
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BrianBoitano posted:I had a really neat interlocking tupperware set that I left under my bed in high school for maybe a year. I could have thrown it away but it was neat and expensive. I washed it good and well, and I still use it to this day. That said, brewing contamination is more likely to persist than food leftovers contamination, so small scratches in the plastic could harbor bugs (bacteria and yeast, not the literal maggots you've got) for a long time. Taste your mash results to see if you're getting any mash souring. I wouldn't be worried about scratches in a mash tun. You're boiling anything that comes out of it for an hour+ within minutes of it coming out. The grain going into the mash tun is also full of bugs.
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Sep 9, 2015 18:53
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