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Admiral Joeslop posted:I got the idea from Brad at Bon Appetit. He is doing a ferment, using the naturally occurring yeasts and such on the ginger. No idea what the alcohol content would be, but there's some. It's probably pretty good - certainly would not be terrible with some nice dark rum. But I'd still do it with ginger beer plant, and I'd use better sanitation.
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Nov 13, 2019 00:04
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Jo3sh posted:He is doing a ferment, using the naturally occurring yeasts and such on the ginger. No idea what the alcohol content would be, but there's some. It's probably pretty good - certainly would not be terrible with some nice dark rum. But I'd still do it with ginger beer plant, and I'd use better sanitation. "Brad at Bon Appetit" "better sanitation"  Is there a decent place online to buy a GBP? I'm not entirely sure where I would look locally for one.
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Nov 13, 2019 00:58
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It could work, but the chances of failure are fairy high. You’re counting on the right microbes to take over there pretty heavily. And if you watch that episode it fails on the attempt with the fresh ginger root. I frequently ferment things with that method, or one similar to it. The key is adding something for acidity so that mold is discouraged. It helps to do a bunch of starters and then step up from there. It’s not tea either as it’s definitely fermented like the old school ginger ale. It’s just modern versions skip the lacto ferment part and just force carb something that has lemon juice or citric acid for whatever acidity it has. E: A ginger beer plant is just the yeast and LAB that’s been cultured for making ginger ale. Jhet fucked around with this message at 02:24 on Nov 13, 2019 |
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Nov 13, 2019 02:21
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Jo3sh posted:He is doing a ferment, using the naturally occurring yeasts and such on the ginger. No idea what the alcohol content would be, but there's some. It's probably pretty good - certainly would not be terrible with some nice dark rum. But I'd still do it with ginger beer plant, and I'd use better sanitation. Oh, there's more than one recipe that guy demonstrated, I was looking at "Lemon Ginger Brew" sorry if it was confusing.
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Nov 13, 2019 05:13
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Does anyone have cold-weather outdoor brewing experience? Life has squarely kicked me in the dick and I haven't had time, energy, or motivation to brew since the beginning of summer. Now that things are letting up a little bit I want to get back into it, except winter is here early and it looks like it's here to stay. I have no problem with staying out in the cold, and I'm fairly confident I can keep my mash at temp with blankets, but I'm unsure of my burner's ability to get my wort up to a boil and sustain it. I do my brewing on my patio, so I was thinking of temporarily setting up some cardboard or something along the patio railing to block wind from getting at the burner. Gotta have something to do this winter, and I'd like some brews for the holidays so  Worst case scenario, I could use my garage space, but then I'd have to have my car hanging out in my complex's drive all day which I'm sure people would love, and also lugging water and all of my equipment across the parking lot to said garage, which I really don't want to do. T-Square fucked around with this message at 20:56 on Nov 13, 2019 |
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Nov 13, 2019 20:52
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If you have a propane burner like I do, you’ll be fine. The worst part about brewing in Chicago winters is the wind, as that’s what makes it hard to get to boil. It still does, but if you block that wind you’ll be doing well. Just be prepared for the boil to be a little less vigorous and for your boil off rate to be a little higher and you’ll be doing well. The propane tank will also try to freeze on you, so 90 minute boils get tough at the end.
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Nov 14, 2019 03:40
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I actually just did my first outdoors boil with the propane burner I got as a wedding gift. It went pretty well, definitely made the SO happy that I wasn't monopolizing the stove or making the whole house smell like wort. That said, trying to block the wind was a PITA and there isn't enough space in the lee of the house. Also I made an ice bath outside, but I'd probably suggest cooling the wort inside or using a wort chiller.
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Nov 14, 2019 04:19
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Yeah, the easiest cheap way I've found to block wind at the burner is getting some aluminum flashing from HD/Lowes/whatever, and a box of those metal binder clips from Staples/OfficeMax. You can just roll out and bend/crease the flashing around your particular burner and then clip it into place. Nothing to catch fire! Though, my club DID melt the flashing with the insane jet burners we had...
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Nov 14, 2019 04:19
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Don't count on using snow/cold air to chill your wort, it's not nearly as efficient as you would think.
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Nov 14, 2019 14:36
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Got an early Christmas present to myself... Ss Brewtech 14 gallon Brew Bucket. Really happy to be moving on from buckets to something with at least some conical features. Fits perfectly in my upright fridge, and thankfully the thermowell sits at the 3 gallon mark, so I can still control my temps for 5 gallon batches as well. In the next few weeks I'm going to modify the lid so I can do pressure transfers.
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Nov 14, 2019 16:46
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Thanks for the advice! I do have a wort chiller set-up that works well, so I'm not gonna be dunking my pot in the snow like I've done years ago. The aluminum flashing is a good idea, although I think I can get away with cardboard. I have a small private patio in front of my apartment with ~4 foot tall slotted deck railings and I was just going to zip-tie or clip the cardboard to that and it'll be away from the burner. That way I'll have two actual walls (apartment) and two half-walls (blocked/covered railings).
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Nov 14, 2019 16:57
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Scarf posted:Got an early Christmas present to myself... And modify that shelf so it can hold it while full? That looks like it's kind of flimsy and not meant for 60#+. Also, those always look cool, but I have other things that I need to buy first.
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Nov 14, 2019 17:15
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Jhet posted:And modify that shelf so it can hold it while full? That looks like it's kind of flimsy and not meant for 60#+. Oh for sure. It does fine with a full 5 gal bucket, but I don't even want to test it considering it'll be more than double the weight going forward...
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Nov 14, 2019 18:02
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I'd be really curious how you mod it to work under pressure. I have two of the 5 gallon and love them. One day when I make my brew room, I'd like to make the jump to 10 gallon brews for some of my beers. The 14 gallon would be perfect.
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Nov 14, 2019 22:20
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calandryll posted:I'd be really curious how you mod it to work under pressure. I have two of the 5 gallon and love them. One day when I make my brew room, I'd like to make the jump to 10 gallon brews for some of my beers. The 14 gallon would be perfect. Ss Brewtech sells the pieces you need to mod it (including a drill bit for cutting the 42mm hole needed in the lid). https://ssbrewtech.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/210211086-Can-I-perform-a-pressurized-transfer-with-the-Brew-Bucket-s-flat-lid- May not order all of the parts from them, because it's basically another $100... But it's nice to know it can be done. I really just wish they offered it as an option rather than selling each piece you need and leaving it up to the customer.
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Nov 14, 2019 23:14
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Interesting. I may look into it but I do have a fermentasaur that is just sitting there maybe I'll just get those parts for pressurized fermenting.
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Nov 15, 2019 00:54
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I have the smaller SS Brewtech and it's really nice. Bit of an indulgence vs the plastic fermenters at almost 1/10th the price, but it's way easier to clean, doesn't have those crappy plastic spigots, retain odors, etc.
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Nov 15, 2019 08:19
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Being able to pressurize fermenters is awesome, and stainless is also really nice. I love not having a racking cane anymore. I got rid of everything and picked up an old 10g corny keg and it's absolutely perfect for me.Hypnolobster posted:Sold both my Speidel 7.9g fermenters and my pressure racking setup because I finally found a 10g corny keg. I was planning on switching over to a kegmenter, but it's really hard to find small chest freezers that will fit a 15.75" dia vessel.
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Nov 15, 2019 15:53
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Has anyone tried out a Tilt Hydrometer? Total luxury item, but I'm pretty intrigued and wondering what folks' experience has been with them. I definitely dig the idea of not pulling samples and knowing when fermentation is complete just by looking at my phone.
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Nov 19, 2019 20:43
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A friend has two or three of them. He ferments in glass carboys and in chest freezers. He said the only issue he has is getting a decent signal out of that setup. I think he put a RasPi next to the chest freezers to get better connectivity. If I remember correctly, he also bought them on "sale" when you would get a few free items for purchasing them. I'm thinking of getting one mostly for the fast lager so I know when it's roughly halfway done to ramp up the temperature. Does anyone use Beersmith? I did a full volume extract and man were my numbers off at the end. I think recipe was supposed to be 1047 and I was around 1041 or so.
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Nov 19, 2019 22:36
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Scarf posted:Has anyone tried out a Tilt Hydrometer? I haven't tried a Tilt hydrometer just because I ferment in stainless tubs in a refrigerator, which would be pretty hard to get a signal out of. It seems expensive for the small benefit I would see. I guess there's a repeater dealie you can get as well, but that's just more money for something that I am not sure would work at all. calandryll posted:Does anyone use Beersmith? I did a full volume extract and man were my numbers off at the end. I think recipe was supposed to be 1047 and I was around 1041 or so. I've grudgingly started to use Beersmith. It seems odd that an extract batch would be that far off, unless you have some volume wastage somewhere, or a measuring error in the fermenter. You'd have to be over volume by about three quarts to lose those six points. Jo3sh fucked around with this message at 00:51 on Nov 20, 2019 |
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Nov 20, 2019 00:33
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I think that's my error. For batch size I put in 5.5 gallons and the recipe is based on 5 gallons. So yeah about 3 quarts off. I'll have to remember that next time I do an extract brew.
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Nov 20, 2019 01:06
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calandryll posted:I think that's my error. For batch size I put in 5.5 gallons and the recipe is based on 5 gallons. So yeah about 3 quarts off. I'll have to remember that next time I do an extract brew. Yeah, volumes are almost always the reason for OG being off with extract batches.
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Nov 20, 2019 04:04
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Beersmith is great... once you go through the tedium of getting your equipment profile set up. When it's dialed in, it does so much math for you.
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Nov 20, 2019 14:51
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Finally got my score sheets back!  Again, really REALLY happy with how the baltic porter turned out. And it's really nice to see the "intended" response from the judges for the ingredients I put in the recipe.   I think I've already figured out what could have gone wrong with the festbier based on their notes... I definitely did hurry to get it into the keg, so next time I'm definitely going to let it finish out on the yeast a bit longer. Additionally, I probably added my finings too soon as well. AND, when I filled my submission bottles, I was at the very bottom of the keg. I tried to pour myself a pint afterwards and got nothing but a glass of cloudy, yeasty beer. Granted I probably still would have had some notes about acetaldehyde in the beer, but maybe it wouldn't have been as bad if I wasn't down into the dregs of the keg.
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Nov 21, 2019 15:45
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Nice! Also semi-related, anyone want to share your fest beer recipe? I am realizing I just want something super crushable like that on tap right now. Of course I'm just going to use kveik yeast to ferment it because I'm a monster...but still...
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Nov 21, 2019 21:08
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ChiTownEddie posted:Nice! Here's mine: Happy Festbierus 5 Gallon OG: 1.057 FG: 1.014 IBU: 23.0 SRM: 8.8 Mash @ 152*F for 60 min Boil 90 min 75% Pilsen Malt 2-Row (German) 25% Munich Type II 1.00 oz Tradition [6.0%] - Boil 60 min 0.25oz Spalt [4.8%] - Boil 15 min 1.00 oz Spalt [4.8%] - Boil 0 min German Bock Lager (White Labs #WLP833) This last time around I had to use German Lager WLP830 due to not being able to get a hold of 833. 830 worked fine, but I think I like 833 a bit more.
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Nov 21, 2019 23:01
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Harvesting yeast and making starters is fun. That is all.
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Nov 25, 2019 00:57
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Scarf posted:Rock A Rye'm Update on the rye lager I brewed about a month ago... The beer has been sitting in the keg with 12psi head-pressure @ 38*F to carbonate for about a week now. Took a few samples yesterday and it's not quite as carbonated as I thought it'd be at this point. We'll see how it looks on Thanksgiving. Mouthfeel is ever-so-slightly astringent, which I don't mind, but I think next time I need to get a better handle on my mash pH. The taste is really good and pretty much gets at exactly what I was going for. Good, clean lager profile (still a tad green, but that'll condition out). It's got a good rye-bite to it, but honestly I think next time I'm going to bump it up from 25% rye to 30%. That or I'm gonna take out the MO and stick to just Pils for my base malt. I'm just too much of a sucker for MO. All that being said, I think this is going to make for a great winter lager. Scarf fucked around with this message at 18:32 on Nov 25, 2019 |
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Nov 25, 2019 18:29
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ChiTownEddie posted:Nice! Here's my most recent one. Brewed this for an event and it went quite fast. 6 Gallons OG 1.051 FG 1.012 IBU 24 SRM 17 4.5lbs Pilsner 4.5lbs Munich I 1lb Vienna .75lb Melanoiden .75lb Caramunich 1oz Tettnang at 60 min 1oz Tettnang at 5 min Wyeast Bavarian Lager
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Nov 26, 2019 02:56
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Anyone have experience with Brewgr and Brewfather for building recipes? I'm getting different OG's for the same quantity of DME and I want to know what's happening. If I put 1 pound of "Light" 43 PPG DME into a 1 gallon batch on Brewgr I get an OG of... 1.043. This seems like easy math to me! And How To Brew makes me think that the math is supposed to be this straightforward for extract additions. If I put 1 pound of Briess Golden Light DME into a 1 gallon batch on Brewfather, which they say has a "potential SG" of 1.045 and a 97% "yield", I get an OG of 1.035. 97% of 45 is 43.65, so... it feels like this should still be 43-ish gravity points like on Brewgr, not 35. To get it to read 1.043 OG I need a little over 1.2 lbs of DME. The only things I can think of or see to tweak are brewhouse efficiency and mash efficiency, but since it's 100% extract at this point it doesn't seem like that should matter. Anyone know what's up? the 15-20% difference on OG is big enough to give me pause on building up a full recipe without understanding what the difference is here.
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Nov 30, 2019 19:01
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fourwood posted:If I put 1 pound of Briess Golden Light DME into a 1 gallon batch on Brewfather, which they say has a "potential SG" of 1.045 and a 97% "yield", I get an OG of 1.035. 97% of 45 is 43.65, so... it feels like this should still be 43-ish gravity points like on Brewgr, not 35. To get it to read 1.043 OG I need a little over 1.2 lbs of DME. The only things I can think of or see to tweak are brewhouse efficiency and mash efficiency, but since it's 100% extract at this point it doesn't seem like that should matter. It sounds like there is some kind of "mash efficiency" being applied to extracts. I would expect this for grains you are mashing (example below), but the "efficiency" of extract should always be 100%. For grain in a mash, there's a potential extract which is generally about 37 PPG. From that, there is an efficiency that depends on your setup and process. Good efficiency is about 75%, so in the real world, I kind of plan on 28 PPG for grains. That tracks pretty closely with the numbers you have given (43PPG * .75 ~= 32PPG.) That program can't be trusted.
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Nov 30, 2019 20:39
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The endless saga of the pre-order for the Easybrew all-in-one system at Braumarkt continues. Just got a mail from them that they're being delayed... yet again... to January, citing delays at the factory in China. They're scheduled to finally ship from China to the Netherlands next week, but with Christmas season they're not expecting to be able to send them out to customers until early January. However, on top of the poo poo-ton of free poo poo they're already offering pre-orders for having to wait 6 months past the scheduled delivery date, they included a pretty interesting offer that I'm really sad I can't swing at the moment financially: quote:A third option is an upgrade to a more modern and professional brewing kettle. However, the price difference here is € 476, - We are talking about the Grainfather 30L including the new Bluetooth Control box. Because we do not expect every customer that just € 476 can be added, we want to meet this by sharing the difference. € 238 for us and € 238 for you. Then you end up paying € 319 + € 238 = € 557 for a luxury Grainfather worth € 795 Still, assuming I actually get the Easybrew that I already pre-ordered in June, I feel like I've been pretty fairly compensated for the long wait. The original 319 Euro price tag has so far netted me (theoretically): -The Easybrew 30 liter all-in-one for 80 Euros off retail price (pre-order bonus) -A free insulation jacket (as a make-good after the first delay in September, ~35 Euro value) -A 20 Euro gift certificate (as a make-good after the second delay in October) -A malt kit for my first beer with the system (between ~20-30 Euro value based on other kits on their site)
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Dec 2, 2019 12:40
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Any advice on adding coffee in the secondary? Its a 5gal batch of American stout and I was planning on 4-5oz of medium-dark roast coldbrew (hopefully some fancy single source kenyan beans if I can get a good one.). Im guessing that'll give way less astringency or weirdo flavors than adding some coarse beans in the carboy.
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Dec 2, 2019 17:22
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Bread Set Jettison posted:Any advice on adding coffee in the secondary? Its a 5gal batch of American stout and I was planning on 4-5oz of medium-dark roast coldbrew (hopefully some fancy single source kenyan beans if I can get a good one.). Im guessing that'll give way less astringency or weirdo flavors than adding some coarse beans in the carboy. Don't use fancy expensive beans for coldbrew? You really don't get much of the nuance in regular cold brew, and you'll get even less when you dilute it in beer. It will give about the same amount of extract based on time spent on the water/beer in either case. I haven't added coffee to my stouts, but I make a lot of coffee and I never get nuance with my cold brew. Some of the better batches of cold brew I've made has been left over old beans all mixed together. If you do go this route, you can just dose to taste when packaging. Best way to dial in how much you need.
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Dec 2, 2019 17:28
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Results of my home-made beer colorant! I took 8 ounces of Carafa III Special, crushed it, and steeped it overnight in cold water to make a liter. Then I ran it through a coffee filter, leaving perhaps a pint of black liquid. I am going to simmer this to sanitize, then add it to a keg later today when I rack in some light amber beer. This is one teaspoon of the colorant, stirred into an Imperial pint glass of water.
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Dec 2, 2019 20:24
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Jo3sh posted:Results of my home-made beer colorant! what does it taste like, if anything? is that distilled water?
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Dec 2, 2019 20:27
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Bread Set Jettison posted:Any advice on adding coffee in the secondary? Its a 5gal batch of American stout and I was planning on 4-5oz of medium-dark roast coldbrew (hopefully some fancy single source kenyan beans if I can get a good one.). Im guessing that'll give way less astringency or weirdo flavors than adding some coarse beans in the carboy. Don't bother with fancy beans, you'll lose the flavor and fresh beans can give a green pepper-like off flavor. Make a separate batch of cold brew concentrate, then mix to taste and scale up at bottling.
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Dec 2, 2019 20:31
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Adding water to already fermented beer is a great way of oxidizing that beer. Boiling the water for a good while beforehand helps some.
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Dec 2, 2019 20:39
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hot cocoa on the couch posted:what does it taste like, if anything? is that distilled water? It tastes like diluted Carafa III - very faintly roasty. No, it's not distilled, just the usual municipal supply - the same water I brew with. thotsky posted:Adding water to already fermented beer is a great way of oxidizing that beer. Boiling the water for a good while beforehand helps some. Well, I am not adding that pint of water, but the colorant I made. And as I said, I am simmering it, so it should be reasonably well degassed. I am just going to deal if it does get oxidized.
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Dec 2, 2019 20:50
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