|
SCA Enthusiast posted:Omega is not a house brand. They're based out of Chicago and have been around since 2003. NB is an exclusive retailer of several strains that omega has formerly only had in pro-sized pitches. The reason they are priced higher is because they package them with 150 billion cells instead of white lab's or wyeast's 100. And speaking of yeast, there's a new London ESB dry yeast from Danstar. Has anyone used it yet?
|
#
?
Nov 1, 2016 16:51
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 19, 2024 16:28 |
|
|
Syrinxx posted:Ah ok, I guess maybe NB is their exclusive retailer? Either way, 150bn is still 25% too low if you follow most pitching calcs so it didn't make sense to me. Does anyone use Omega and like it better than the standard WL / WY? Omega is cheaper to buy from ritebrew.com and unless you're buying one of those 'exclusive' yeasts, it'll save you $2. You can also take your pick of retailers from the list they have on their website. It's good yeast, and there will be differences in strains between Omega, White Labs, and Wyeast. Omega has some nice wild bugs that people seem to really like that the others don't, and while I've always used Wyeast, I'm going to be trying out as much of the Omega stuff because I'm now closest to them.
|
|
#
?
Nov 1, 2016 17:38
|
|
|
Syrinxx posted:Ah ok, I guess maybe NB is their exclusive retailer? Either way, 150bn is still 25% too low if you follow most pitching calcs so it didn't make sense to me. Does anyone use Omega and like it better than the standard WL / WY? So, full disclosure, I actually work for the aforementioned recently acquired large Midwestern home brewing supplier on the retail end (pls don't doxx) Yeah, its a little gimmicky but they have to do something to stand out in the market. Besides, a huge amount of home brewers (people who are generally satisfied brewing kits because its a fun casual hobby) just use one pack of the recommended yeast anyway, because they aren't super interested in pitch rates, but they know more yeast is better. $18 for two omegas is a few bucks less than $21 for three wyeast. Besides, if I'm not mistaken, doing a starter with an initial pitch of 150bn is a net higher cell count than 100bn. I think Omega has some cool specialty strains, like saisonstein's monster and their Brett blends, but most of their strains have direct comparisons with WL or WY. (West Coast 1 is 001/1056, for instance). Granted, culturing in different labs is bound to produce different results. In the store we just started brewing with Omega recently so we haven't had any finished beer. Soon though!
|
|
#
?
Nov 1, 2016 17:40
|
|
|
BrianBoitano posted:Thanks all. I have some frozen cranberries, so that might be just the thing. http://www.milkthefunk.com/wiki/Gose This gose recipe is super popular. I would think you could rack it onto the cranberries at the tail end of fermentation and still have it ready to keg in two weeks.
|
|
#
?
Nov 1, 2016 18:16
|
|
|
Toebone posted:Yeah, before I had a mini fridge to ferment in I put my bucket in a Rubbermaid tub full of water, and switched out a frozen soda bottle once a day or so. Water has a lot of thermal mass, so it holds the temperature pretty steady as long as you get it in the ballpark. Keep in mind that the temperature stability will be proportional to the ratio of beer:water in the swamp cooler. Throw a t-shirt over your carboy to block light and add some evaporative cooling. I target 63-65 for my water temp depending on how long I'll be away from checkin on it.
|
|
#
?
Nov 1, 2016 21:49
|
|
|
Alright, I've got everything set up and I'm mostly ready for brew day tomorrow. The only thing I didn't really consider is how to pull samples for gravity measurements. I have a hydrometer but no beer thief. Is there another way to do it that doesn't risk introducing bad stuff to the beer?
|
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2016 18:59
|
|
|
If you're making 5 gallons in a bucket, you can sanitize the hydromter and just stick it in the bucket of beer/ wort. With a carboy you'll need to siphon 8 oz or so off into a sanitized tube (I just use what my hydrometer comes in. Then I broke my hydrometer so I now have a measuring tube and a storing tube). No siphon? pour carefully into a sanitized glass measuring cup. Depending on your confidence in your sanitation you can then add it back in or drink / dump the sample.
|
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2016 19:19
|
|
|
A thief is really the answer to this, and it's well worth having at least one on hand (I have two at the moment for some reason). If your fermenter has a valve on it, of course, you can just pour straight from the fermenter into the sample jar - that's what I have been doing lately. You could in theory use a siphon to draw only a small amount of beer, but that seems like a real pain in the arse. If you're fermenting in a bucket, you could sanitize a measuring cup or something and use that to dip out a small sample. I think it takes about six ounces to float my hydrometer in my sample jar. The key is that once you get a sample, you don't return it to the fermenter - you just use that as an opportunity to take a sip to see how things are going along, and then you throw away any remaining liquid - or just drink it all. But if you just don't have a way to get a sample tomorrow, it's not the end of the world. With an extract-based kit, your gravity will be within a few points of the projection on the recipe sheet so long as you get the volume in the fermenter correct. You could just order a thief today and have it in your hands soon enough to pull a sample at the end of fermentation, which is when it is most useful. Yeah, you won't have a rock-solid idea of your OG or your ABV, but you'll have a ballpark idea - and you can use your new thief to check that your ferment is finished.
|
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2016 19:22
|
|
|
I use any sort of glass drinking cup right out of the dishwasher, when possible. It's been through the heat drying cycle and it's fairly sterilized by the point. I've got a little glass sampling cup from a brew festival a while back that has a little finger loop on it, I just dunk that into the beer and take my readings - being careful not to get my hands in there at all.
|
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2016 20:11
|
|
|
robotsinmyhead posted:I use any sort of glass drinking cup right out of the dishwasher, when possible. It's been through the heat drying cycle and it's fairly sterilized by the point. I've got a little glass sampling cup from a brew festival a while back that has a little finger loop on it, I just dunk that into the beer and take my readings - being careful not to get my hands in there at all. Look at this guy who doesn't stick his hands in for the last ten minutes of the boil to sanitize them.
|
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2016 20:26
|
|
|
I have a bucket so I think I'll go the "sanitize and dunk" route if that works. I'll get a thief for the finished product/next time but the LHBS is kind of far away and I'm trying to do it tomorrow morning.
|
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2016 20:48
|
|
|
Sanitize and dunk will be fine, just don't return the sample to the fv. I do it all the time. I also use scratched plastic buckets, no airlocks just loose lids and have never had any trouble, but maybe I've just been lucky. If you know how to keep poo poo sanitary then you won't have a problem.
|
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2016 21:05
|
|
|
Question: Got my hands on some of that fancy Heirloom Barke(R) Vienna malt for a comparison with regular Vienna malt. The Barke malt netted a 5% efficiency increase, but attenuated poorly compared to the regular vienna. Possible causes beyond being different malt brands? Crush was from the same mill, mash temps the same water the same yeast same FG Difference 0.007 points, so not insignificant
|
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2016 21:18
|
|
|
You say your efficiency was higher. Does that also mean your OG was higher? If so, you could have the same apparent attenuation and end up with a higher FG.
Jo3sh fucked around with this message at 21:59 on Nov 4, 2016 |
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2016 21:56
|
|
|
I topped up with water , so more volume same Starting gravity though but a higher fg on one
|
|
#
?
Nov 5, 2016 00:17
|
|
|
A great alternative for pulling samples is a new, sanitized turkey baster. Works great and is cheap. Brewing 10 gallons of porter and 15 of IPA tomorrow as well as tapping a fresh keg of ESB brewed last month. Should be fun in Seattle rain!
|
|
#
?
Nov 5, 2016 01:57
|
|
|
So apparently spilled Starsan sanitizer concentrate will chew its way right through cardboard and carpet  In better news, I'll finally give the brewing gear some exercise tomorrow!  It's cranberry gose time. First time kettle souring 
|
|
#
?
Nov 5, 2016 04:14
|
|
|
BrianBoitano posted:So apparently spilled Starsan sanitizer concentrate will chew its way right through cardboard and carpet It will also chew it's way through some plastics. Don't leave concentrated acids on things that aren't built to withstand the apocalypse (or weak acids for that matter). I'm putting together my shopping list for the beers I plan on brewing in the next couple months and it is a blast to be able to brew again. I'm just going to be running my water through an extra filter now, so that's going to suck. I swear they dump the chlorine into the water system by the boatload here.
|
|
#
?
Nov 5, 2016 05:28
|
|
|
So I roasted my cocoa nibs and put them in some vodka the other day, to soak up for around another week before I add it to my beer at bottling time. gently caress if it doesn't smell... not great, though. Is that fairly normal? I'm not 100% sold on the idea of doing it and potentially ruining what would otherwise probably end up being a perfectly fine, if boring, sweet stout. I'll probably put the tincture in the freezer next Friday to separate out the fat, then drain out the actual vodka from it on Sunday and see how it tastes then. If it's chocolatey I'll do it, but if it ends up smelling/tasting like it did right after I started making the tincture, I might not.
|
|
#
?
Nov 5, 2016 09:16
|
|
|
I'm in the process of building a stir plate for the Dubbel I'd like to brew next week-end. I'm using the usual fan and magnet thing, but my question is that the only power adapter I have is a 12V one and I read people usually use 6-9V and that 12V is too strong. Is it really too strong or can I use it? I'll still try to find a 6 or 9V one if I can.
|
|
#
?
Nov 5, 2016 10:05
|
|
|
Drone posted:So I roasted my cocoa nibs and put them in some vodka the other day, to soak up for around another week before I add it to my beer at bottling time. gently caress if it doesn't smell... not great, though. Is that fairly normal? The tincture should taste like chocolate, fresh roasted brownies, and a bit bitter. You can pour a bottle of another stout and add a little bit of tincture to trial it, but if it's wierd and not good tasting...don't use it.
|
|
#
?
Nov 5, 2016 15:55
|
|
|
Le0 posted:I'm in the process of building a stir plate for the Dubbel I'd like to brew next week-end. I'm using the usual fan and magnet thing, but my question is that the only power adapter I have is a 12V one and I read people usually use 6-9V and that 12V is too strong. 12V is a lot, and it will probably be too much unless you have good circuitry to slow down the fan. I found in my braindead build that 9V was too much, and I ended up using an old USB charger (5V). In fact, you may find, depending on your fan and such, that you can even power the thing from a USB port. I had a friend 3D print the magnet alignment gizmo from homebrewfinds for me, so I'm going to undertake a better build soon, with some kind of speed control.
|
|
#
?
Nov 5, 2016 16:10
|
|
|
I'm doing my first full turbid mash today. http://funkfactorybrewing.blogspot.com/2011/12/cantillon-turbid-mash.html is what I was *trying* to do. Pretty much everything has gone wrong that could, but I'm having more fun brewing than I have in a while! I read the directions incorrectly and pulled my second turbid portion at 135 instead of 150, then tried to raise the mash temp with water that was too cold. I ended up using all of the sparge water to raise the temp on the mash, and had a very diluted mash. Basically BIAB without the bag. I'm sure my efficiency will be crappy, but I accidentally saved a bunch of time not sparging and there will be beer at the end of all this.
|
|
#
?
Nov 5, 2016 20:07
|
|
|
Jhet posted:It will also chew it's way through some plastics. Don't leave concentrated acids on things that aren't built to withstand the apocalypse (or weak acids for that matter). Yeah, it actually made a silicone ice tray brittle! Silicone!
|
|
#
?
Nov 5, 2016 20:57
|
|
|
BrianBoitano posted:Yeah, it actually made a silicone ice tray brittle! Silicone! I buy these Chemical Guys spray bottles. I haven't had anything chew through them, but they do wear out eventually. I replace every 6 months or so. And they have volumes on the side, so I can just mix my starsan in them. That's a trick I picked up from homebrewfinds.
|
|
#
?
Nov 5, 2016 22:02
|
|
|
Le0 posted:I'm in the process of building a stir plate for the Dubbel I'd like to brew next week-end. I'm using the usual fan and magnet thing, but my question is that the only power adapter I have is a 12V one and I read people usually use 6-9V and that 12V is too strong. This is two of the larger-style (120mm) computer fans, driven by a bench power supply. It's set just slightly above 12 volts. Be aware that size of magnets and distance from magnets also matter, so if you can't vary voltage then vary one or both of those! I put layers of cardboard between the fan and the jars. Since one of my magnet was stronger, it needed more layers of cardboard to get it in the sweet spot.
|
|
#
?
Nov 5, 2016 22:15
|
|
|
Finished my first wort (chocolate porter kit with extract and grains.) No major mishaps besides the hop bag getting loose. I wasn't too thrilled with the boil I got; it was boiling but I wouldn't say it was strong. I used 3 gallons of water for the partial boil, may need to go down to 2.5 next time. Also holy poo poo is liquid extract sticky. Do/how do people get all that out of the bag? I scooped out what I could. Anyway, I think it went well. Hopefully here in a couple weeks I get the bottling right and in a couple more have some good beer.
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2016 00:39
|
|
|
Fork of Unknown Origins posted:Finished my first wort (chocolate porter kit with extract and grains.) No major mishaps besides the hop bag getting loose. I wasn't too thrilled with the boil I got; it was boiling but I wouldn't say it was strong. I used 3 gallons of water for the partial boil, may need to go down to 2.5 next time. Also holy poo poo is liquid extract sticky. Do/how do people get all that out of the bag? I scooped out what I could. I got my LME in jugs, and would soak the jugs in hot tap water for a few minutes to help them be a bit easier to pour.
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2016 01:45
|
|
|
Just brewed my first non-kit beer, so I have some left over grains. What's the best way to store them for next time? Or since they are already milled it's pretty no good? I'll probably be pick up a mill in the future because 
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2016 12:54
|
|
|
Make some kickass bread with them.
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2016 13:04
|
|
|
calandryll posted:Just brewed my first non-kit beer, so I have some left over grains. What's the best way to store them for next time? Or since they are already milled it's pretty no good? I'll probably be pick up a mill in the future because Denny and Drew did a IGOR experiment where the people doing the tests found that there was no difference in storing the milled grain for a few months. Go listen to one of the most recent episodes of experimental brewing. They keep good show notes so you can find it there.
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2016 13:10
|
|
|
Jo3sh posted:12V is a lot, and it will probably be too much unless you have good circuitry to slow down the fan. I found in my braindead build that 9V was too much, and I ended up using an old USB charger (5V). In fact, you may find, depending on your fan and such, that you can even power the thing from a USB port. I used a 9v in the end, but since I haven't received my flask or stir bar I couldn't test yet. In case 9v is too much I will try to lower the fan further. Will see how it goes, hopefully it works because I'm planning on brewing next week-end so I don't have much time to fix this.
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2016 14:37
|
|
|
Drone posted:Make some kickass bread with them. I kept my spent grains from a rye beer I did last month. Meant to thaw it out yesterday to make some bread for teach homebrew day. LaserWash posted:Denny and Drew did a IGOR experiment where the people doing the tests found that there was no difference in storing the milled grain for a few months. Go listen to one of the most recent episodes of experimental brewing. They keep good show notes so you can find it there. Thanks. Listening to the episode right now. I figure I'll grab a few tupperware containers to store the grain in. My basement stays pretty cool ~66-68 year round.
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2016 15:03
|
|
|
Le0 posted:I used a 9v in the end, but since I haven't received my flask or stir bar I couldn't test yet. In case 9v is too much I will try to lower the fan further. Lowering the fan is the opposite of what you want to do in this case. The problem is that the higher the fan speed the harder it is to get the stir-bar to couple and stay coupled to the magnet(s). If you can get a rheostat (variable resistor) you can drop the speed and even as the wort gets moving ramp the speed back up to get a really good vortex.
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2016 23:45
|
|
|
Brewed Tasty McDole's Black Butte Porter clone for the second time today. I rarely repeat brews, but drat, this one is so good. Good brew day, with a small incident where I left the valve open to the mash tun while lautering.... and then again left the valve open when I was draining from the kettle.  TIL, check your valves before moving to the new vessel. Slowly getting the brewery up and running again after moving to a new house and new job. Last week was a Yellow Rose Mosaic/Pilsner SMaSH clone, this week is the porter, next week is Northern Brewer's CDA/Black IPA recipe, and then thinking a lager. I have the grains and hops for the Oktoberfest that I wanted to brew before he move, but now I'm thinking it's out of season and I may brew that in March (for September/October 2017). Doppelbock maybe? LaserWash fucked around with this message at 00:23 on Nov 7, 2016 |
|
#
?
Nov 7, 2016 00:17
|
|
|
My first brew is in the fermenter but I'm already thinking about #2. I'm looking at BIAB and it seems like a decent option. I've got a 5 gallon kettle. I would be totally happy making a 2 or 2.5 gallon batch, especially since I had some trouble getting the 3 gallons in my last brew to a good boil. Is a 5 gallon brew pot big enough to do a 2.5 gallon BIAB batch? All the extra space in my fermenter designed for 5 gallon batches isn't going to be a problem right?
|
|
#
?
Nov 7, 2016 02:47
|
|
|
^^^ Nah you'll be great with that setup, up even more than 3.5 gallons if you could get the boil going. Very heavy grain bills might limit you to 3 gal but most all batches you're talking about will work. Just finished the 2nd day on my gose! 1. Kettle souring a no-boil gose is loving awesome. 2.5 hr brew day Saturday, 1.5 hr brew day today. 2. The lacto took it from refrac ~1.037 to ~1.029, so realistically lower like 1.023. Is that a normal amount of sugar munching for 24 hours of souring? I found one guy online with similar numbers, but the wort didn't taste that sour to me, and that leaves a small amount for the sacch. 3. TIL that lacto does create CO2, and if you don't boil your lacto wort before pitching your sacch or otherwise de-gas it, shaking the fermentor is probably not the best aeration technique:  Like shaking a 2L of soda, except that the whole lid exploded off and I lost 1-2 bottles' worth. I'll be finding more sticky spots in the kitchen for a week. Zaepho posted:Lowering the fan is the opposite of what you want to do in this case. The problem is that the higher the fan speed the harder it is to get the stir-bar to couple and stay coupled to the magnet(s). If you can get a rheostat (variable resistor) you can drop the speed and even as the wort gets moving ramp the speed back up to get a really good vortex. YMMV, but I've had success increasing the distance. My speculation is that there's some kind of gear ratio going on, so that even if the stir stick can't keep up 1:1 rotations it might be able to keep up 1:2 or 1:3 rotations, and the fan magnet is still imparting rotation on it.
|
|
#
?
Nov 7, 2016 04:46
|
|
|
Your wort beer will taste more sour as the shgar ferments out. Did you measure the pH?
|
|
#
?
Nov 7, 2016 12:15
|
|
|
I only have paper pH test strips that go as low as 4.1 or 4.3 iirc. I adjusted the pH down to that level based on this direction in the gose recipe:quote:Adjust PH ~4.2 to limit growth Clostridium butyricum and other potential off-flavor bacteria. Not necessary, but this is a best practice suggestion. See How to Pre-Acidify for instructions. That was before the lacto fermentation, so I can only imagine it's even more off my pH strip range. I should probably buy strips that go lower online, since these are all that were available at my LHBS. I'm not enough for a real pH meter.e: This may work. https://www.amazon.com/Hydrion-Dispenser-0-0-6-0-Ph-Range/dp/B005OD7AEM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1478522698&sr=8-1&keywords=ph+strips+4.0 I'll pick it up before my next sour, as it's kinda pointless now yeah? BrianBoitano fucked around with this message at 13:48 on Nov 7, 2016 |
|
#
?
Nov 7, 2016 13:41
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 19, 2024 16:28 |
|
|
BrianBoitano posted:I only have paper pH test strips that go as low as 4.1 or 4.3 iirc. I adjusted the pH down to that level based on this direction in the gose recipe: You can get pH meters for  Then instead of buying reusable strips, just buy the solutions to calibrate.Lacto also won't drop your SG like that, so you have another yeast of some sort in there. It's probably brewers yeast, and depending on where you sourced your lacto, probably came with it.
|
|
#
?
Nov 7, 2016 16:31
|
|