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Josh Wow posted:There's nothing wrong with a cloudy saison, but if you did want to clear it up I'd let it sit in the primary for 10 days before transferring it to a secondary. That will give the yeast enough time to clean up any off flavors that may have been produced during the fermentation. I'm not 100% overly concerned with it being crystal clear. I might have gotten a lot of break material and trub from the boil into the fermentor. Here's the picture of the beer from NB  Mine seems so much darker right now but I'm hoping in a week to bottle it up and that should help clear it up too.
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Jul 12, 2012 18:20
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Splizwarf posted:This is probably my problem. At the time I mistakenly decided that the boil was clearly for sterilization, and the fact that an immersion blender wouldn't be enough to get it into a complete solution (while it does do a great job) didn't occur to me. I sanitized my tools, dipped 4 cups out of the bucket, blendered the DME in that, then poured the mixture into the bottling bucket and siphoned the fermentation bucket in on top. I think the disconnect happened because DME is so damned lumpy when it hits water (even when boiling it) and I was fixated on how to deal with that.
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Jul 12, 2012 18:26
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Yes, but after that? Is it worth just uncapping everything, pouring them into a bucket, and letting it all sit for a week or two?
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Jul 12, 2012 18:29
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lazerwolf posted:I'm not 100% overly concerned with it being crystal clear. I might have gotten a lot of break material and trub from the boil into the fermentor. Here's the picture of the beer from NB Larger volumes of beer are darker due to the way light works on transparent things. Thus a glass isn't really comparable to a fermented. Don't confuse darkness with clarity either. I don't rally have any good suggestions about that because my beer always tends toward cloudy.
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Jul 12, 2012 21:02
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Splizwarf posted:Yes, but after that? Is it worth just uncapping everything, pouring them into a bucket, and letting it all sit for a week or two? Not really, cause then you'll just have evenly carbonated bottles of lovely, stale beer. I don't even think you could save it if you had a kegging setup. At least you know you'll never make this mistake again.
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Jul 12, 2012 21:19
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Just store it at 50*F and pretend every poorly-carbed bottle is "Real Ale"
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Jul 12, 2012 21:21
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Splizwarf posted:Yes, but after that? Is it worth just uncapping everything, pouring them into a bucket, and letting it all sit for a week or two? I think you'd end up with staling problems if you tried to dump it. Just wait on it for a month or so. What was the ABV on this beer? One of my bottled batches did take like three weeks to carb so it might be premature to worry. However, this is yet another reason why kegging rules.
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Jul 12, 2012 21:43
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About 5.5%. What specifically causes staling effects? O2 exposure?
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Jul 12, 2012 22:17
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Splizwarf posted:About 5.5%. What specifically causes staling effects? O2 exposure? Yes. Pouring the beer from one vessel to another causes oxygen pickup - hence the use of racking canes.
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Jul 12, 2012 22:25
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Docjowles posted:
Going to brew this Saturday finally I hope, with real-life obligations out of the way. High temp should be only 90 instead of over 100  I decided to switch yeasts to WLP023 since the brew shop had it and past versions of this thread have raved about it. A little worried about how all the esters will play with the hops, but my main goal is to empty the hop freezer so we'll just have to see what happens.
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Jul 13, 2012 05:07
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I'm finally getting around to gathering equipment and I have a few questions: - Does it matter if I get a three piece air-lock or a bubbler? - Is a 1000ml flask sufficient to use for high-gravity yeast starter kits? - If I use a smack pack is it necessary to have a yeast starter? - If I use a PH balance chemical in the mash is it necessary to test the PH? - 5.3 is the ideal PH for mashing correct? - How many times can I use a muslin bag to steep hops, would it be better to just buy a strainer? Sorry for the potentially silly questions and thanks in advance for answers.
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Jul 13, 2012 05:13
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From what I've read over on White Labs FAQ, regarding making starters, the sizes they suggest would imply that you should go for a bigger flask (I used a 2L growler for my first starter with an airlock and it worked great). E: I'm not sure about which airlock you should use, but it seems like a 3 piece is much easier to clean (as it comes apart entirely), and from what I've seen the prices are so close that they shouldn't be a consideration.
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Jul 13, 2012 05:51
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Midorka posted:- Does it matter if I get a three piece air-lock or a bubbler? I'll reply to the ones I know about... 1) I like the 3 piece because you can take the big stem piece and shove tubing over it and have a blowoff tube. Buy 2, one to keep intact and one to use as part of a blowoff setup/spare parts. There WILL come a day when you come home and see wort sprayed all over the drat place because you over filled and your ferment was vigorous. Like someone else said very recently, I just always do a blowoff tube instead of an airlock for at least the first few days. It's a one-time $2 investment to ensure I don't have to spend hours scrubbing poo poo off the walls/fridge interior/whatever. 2) No. I just made a starter for a measly 1.044 bitter tonight and Jamil's calculator (which to be fair is VERY pessimistic about yeast health) demanded a 1L starter for a month-old vial even with my stir plate. I use a 2L flask and I'd call that a good size. If I need a HUUUUUGE starter I'll brew a lower gravity beer first and directly pitch on top. Or buy 2 vials and make a 2L starter from them if I absolutely have to. 3) It really depends. If you use Jamil's Mr Malty Calculator you need at least a small starter unless you're brewing the weakest of beers. If you get yeast that's within about 6 weeks old, has been kept refrigerated its entire life, and aren't trying to brew above ~1.060, you're fine. Go outside any one of those and IMO you want a starter.
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Jul 13, 2012 05:52
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Docjowles posted:I'll reply to the ones I know about... Midorka posted:I'm finally getting around to gathering equipment and I have a few questions: I'm not totally sure I understand the question about steeping/straining. I'm assuming you mean putting the hops in the bag during the boil to keep the hops out of the fermenter. The answer to the number of times you can use muslin bags to steep hops is 1 because the chance that you're going to want to clean and reuse a bag that costs 25 cents is 0%. I usually use paint strainer bags (5 gallon), put them in the bottling bucket or plastic fermenter and then drain the kettle through it after the wort is chilled - if the beer is going to head to a glass carboy I then drain through the bottling spout into the carboy. I throw the bags away afterwards. Angry Grimace fucked around with this message at 06:33 on Jul 13, 2012 |
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Jul 13, 2012 06:18
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I like the bubblers because I always lose the insert to the 3 piece when cleaning. You can still have easy blow off control by replacing the grommet hole with a bung hole. You can usually count on the seal better too with a bung so its usually worth doing with a 3 piece anyway.
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Jul 13, 2012 12:56
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So I've been thinking lately that I want more constructive feedback than my friends provide ("its good"). Does anyone know of a good place to find competitions that I can enter? I've been entering Sam Adams' homebrew stuff for the past couple of years but the 6 month lag time on results is a little annoying.
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Jul 13, 2012 15:05
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Midorka posted:- Does it matter if I get a three piece air-lock or a bubbler? No, use what you prefer. I agree the 3-piece ones are easier to clean, but really, both types are so cheap that it's worth it to keep a few around, and if they get irredeemably soiled, just throw them away. Midorka posted:- Is a 1000ml flask sufficient to use for high-gravity yeast starter kits? 2000mL seems like a better size to me. After all, if you decide to do only a 1L starter, you can do that in a 2L flask, but not the other way 'round. 5L is probably overkill in all but the most extreme cases. Midorka posted:- If I use a smack pack is it necessary to have a yeast starter? This is the third-rail question of homebrewing. I have had good results with using just a smack pack if the yeast is fresh, is an ale strain, and the beer's gravity is below 1.060. Both White Labs and Wyeast sell their products for that use, and they work great. I even did a head-to-head, where I split a ten-gallon batch into two fermenters, and pitched a 2L, stir-plated starter into one and a smack-pack into the other. I could not tell the difference between the resulting beers, nor could a couple of tasters. It's my opinion that the starter calculator at MrMalty is overly pessimistic. I think it is based on good, scientific principles, but that those principles are from the commercial brewing industry, which has different drivers than the homebrewing scene does - primarily, it does not cost us thousands of dollars when a fermenter cannot be emptied and refilled with a fresh batch. Also, I have the feeling that its assumptions about cell vitality over time are unnecessarily pessimistic. So, long story short, I don't really think starters are necessary for ales of normal strength when the yeast is fresh. Using the MrMalty calculator and making a starter for every batch is not going to make worse beer, but I am lazy and don't typically bother. If you have reason to believe the yeast is old or has been poorly treated; if you are making big beers; or if you are brewing lagers, starters are definitely indicated. Midorka posted:- If I use a PH balance chemical in the mash is it necessary to test the PH? Whether you use a buffer or not, it's hardly ever really necessary to check pH for most brewers. If your water is very hard, very soft, very acid, or very alkaline, you may have to worry about it. In almost every case, though, this really takes care of itself. After 19 years of brewing, I am finally starting to think about buying a pH meter or some test strips - but I am doing it in pursuit of mead, not beer. Midorka posted:- 5.3 is the ideal PH for mashing correct? I think it's 5.2, but essentially yes. But also, you can ignore this. Midorka posted:- How many times can I use a muslin bag to steep hops, would it be better to just buy a strainer? Use them until they look gross and then replace them. But muslin is actually pretty heavy and it doesn't seem like you would actually get very good extraction into your beer with it; if you are going to use hop bags, look at some kind of fine nylon mesh rather than tight cloth. I also have had good results just chucking the hops (pellets) into the boiler. Yes, I get hop sediment in the fermenter, but it's not been a problem.
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Jul 13, 2012 15:10
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j3rkstore posted:So I've been thinking lately that I want more constructive feedback than my friends provide ("its good"). Does anyone know of a good place to find competitions that I can enter? I've been entering Sam Adams' homebrew stuff for the past couple of years but the 6 month lag time on results is a little annoying. Your local homebrew club should have something or at least should know where to go. The Maltose Falcons sponsor a couple of contests a year with very good turnaround times. If your club does not have contests, agitate for some. Or at least some kind of organized tasting.
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Jul 13, 2012 15:12
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j3rkstore posted:So I've been thinking lately that I want more constructive feedback than my friends provide ("its good"). Does anyone know of a good place to find competitions that I can enter? I've been entering Sam Adams' homebrew stuff for the past couple of years but the 6 month lag time on results is a little annoying. I would say to join a Homebrew club in the area. They seem to have good inside info on competitions. Also, a lot of times you can just bring in your beer to the meetings and get constructive feedback from certified judges.
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Jul 13, 2012 15:19
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The AHA maintains a pretty huge list of competitions. But yeah if there is a club in your area they're going to be a great resource for you to check out. Unless they're real dicks they should have no problem with you coming to a couple meetings to scope it out before joining and paying dues.
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Jul 13, 2012 15:50
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Anyone have experience with cleaning up diacetyl post-fermentation? I did a Vienna Lager at low ale temperatures (Wyeast 2124 works up into this range). Fermentation was done in four days (1.058 -> 1.018), but it's been three weeks and I've still got a butterbomb. I was thinking of making a small starter with US-05 and pitching it at high krausen in the hopes of cleaning up the remaining diacetyl. Anyone ever cleaned up diacetyl via krausening like this?
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Jul 13, 2012 18:27
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crazyfish posted:Anyone have experience with cleaning up diacetyl post-fermentation? I did a Vienna Lager at low ale temperatures (Wyeast 2124 works up into this range). Fermentation was done in four days (1.058 -> 1.018), but it's been three weeks and I've still got a butterbomb. I was thinking of making a small starter with US-05 and pitching it at high krausen in the hopes of cleaning up the remaining diacetyl. Anyone ever cleaned up diacetyl via krausening like this? internet celebrity tried this out with success a few pages ago.
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Jul 13, 2012 19:03
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I just went to get my CO2 tank exchanged and the price jumped from $26 to $40. The only place in town to do exchanges is Airgas, and they said the FDA forces them to use food grade CO2 now. Anybody heard anything about this? They said it started in June, but I could see this just being them trying to charge more.
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Jul 13, 2012 19:27
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Angry Grimace posted:internet celebrity tried this out with success a few pages ago. I wonder if this works if the diacetyl was caused by fermenting at too high a temp...I actually like the way my last two beers are tasting but I know there's room for improvement if I can bring the temps down. That said, one of those two beers is still in the carboy and would likely benefit from any reduction in that butter taste that I can give it. I need to bite the bullet and get better temp control for my fermenters, but for what's already been brewed and fermenting I'd take any suggestions. Josh Wow posted:I just went to get my CO2 tank exchanged and the price jumped from $26 to $40. The only place in town to do exchanges is Airgas, and they said the FDA forces them to use food grade CO2 now. Anybody heard anything about this? They said it started in June, but I could see this just being them trying to charge more. Mine was $33, wasn't from Airgas, and was only a month or so ago, for what it's worth. To that point, anyone that's got recommendations for a cheaper fill in the 619/858 areas, I'm all ears.
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Jul 13, 2012 19:34
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crazyfish posted:Anyone have experience with cleaning up diacetyl post-fermentation? I did a Vienna Lager at low ale temperatures (Wyeast 2124 works up into this range). Fermentation was done in four days (1.058 -> 1.018), but it's been three weeks and I've still got a butterbomb. I was thinking of making a small starter with US-05 and pitching it at high krausen in the hopes of cleaning up the remaining diacetyl. Anyone ever cleaned up diacetyl via krausening like this? I did this about a week ago. My Oktoberfest (I used Wyeast 2124 too) was really buttery so I made up a big starter with dry lager yeast. When it was at high krausen I dumped it in and let it sit out at around 70f and ferment out. After a few days the diacetyl taste was greatly reduced so I lowered the temperature until it dropped clear again and bottled it. I haven't tasted it in the bottle yet but the butter flavor was greatly reduced after doing the second diacetyl rest. I think that particular strain of yeast has big diacetyl problems so I know not to use it again in the future.
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Jul 13, 2012 19:40
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Is anyone in the Fredericksburg, VA area interested in purchasing my converted keg? I'm moving back to the pacific northwest and although it has served me well I don't plan to take it with me. I know this isn't SAmart but I thought the folks here might have a higher interest. I have a couple of pics I can pass on - it has a ball valve and false bottom, all stainless.
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Jul 13, 2012 19:49
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wattershed posted:I wonder if this works if the diacetyl was caused by fermenting at too high a temp Don't see why not, as long as they're the same chemically the yeast should be equally happy to eat them.
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Jul 13, 2012 20:27
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Jo3sh posted:pH stuff I've been having some problems with mash efficiency. We have the standard home-made orange rubbermaid cooler MLT which gets OK temperature control, so we're starting to look at pH as a possible culprit. Our local tap water is a little alkaline (7.7ish) according to the water service website, but we've never actually tested it ourselves. When people say you should mash at 5.2, does that mean after adding the grains (which I assume have some effect on pH themselves), or are they saying you should mash using hot water that starts a little acidic?
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Jul 13, 2012 20:58
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Blistering Sunburn posted:I've been having some problems with mash efficiency. We have the standard home-made orange rubbermaid cooler MLT which gets OK temperature control, so we're starting to look at pH as a possible culprit. Our local tap water is a little alkaline (7.7ish) according to the water service website, but we've never actually tested it ourselves. Ideally, the pH of the mash, that is to say both grains and water and at mash temp (which matters) should be around 5.2. pH issues actually have had some effect on the development of regional styles and processes - Guinness Stout, for example, is the way it is because of the alkaline water in the region. The roasted grains add some acid to bring the pH down in the tun. I don't think 7.7 is alkaline enough to make a huge difference, but I am not really very up on water chemistry. You could experiment by adding some buffer salts (e.g., 5.2) or by making dark beers for a while. Here's some good info on pH in brewing: http://www.howtobrew.com/section3/chapter15-2.html Edit: Looks like I am incorrect - John Palmer says pH above 7.5 might cause issues. Also, ideal mash pH is between 5.2 - 5.5. Jo3sh fucked around with this message at 21:39 on Jul 13, 2012 |
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Jul 13, 2012 21:11
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Blistering Sunburn posted:I've been having some problems with mash efficiency. We have the standard home-made orange rubbermaid cooler MLT which gets OK temperature control, so we're starting to look at pH as a possible culprit. Our local tap water is a little alkaline (7.7ish) according to the water service website, but we've never actually tested it ourselves. pH stabilizer in the form of "Super 5.2" isn't TOO expensive. Before I started doing RO filtration plus salt additions, I would put a tablespoon in every batch. I immediately noticed a 5% overall jump in efficiency (though we were also getting better at mashing at the time). Also I found lautering was easier when using 5.2 - i.e. it would take fewer pitchers for each vorlauf to clear. A pH of 7.7 doesn't sound very bad though, the grains should lower that to the 5's range unless your water is also loaded with buffering salts.
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Jul 13, 2012 22:13
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wattershed posted:I wonder if this works if the diacetyl was caused by fermenting at too high a temp...I actually like the way my last two beers are tasting but I know there's room for improvement if I can bring the temps down. That said, one of those two beers is still in the carboy and would likely benefit from any reduction in that butter taste that I can give it. $27 this morning at Westair; it's $28 for a 10# fill. They usually try to convince you to exchange your 5# aluminum for 10# steel tanks although I never do, I just get new aluminum tanks since they fit really well inside my freezer. Angry Grimace fucked around with this message at 00:24 on Jul 14, 2012 |
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Jul 14, 2012 00:21
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Ok forgive me for how clueless I am about all this, I'm asking for a friend as he's out of town and he's left me in charge... He's making wine with a wine making kit. He's done the first thing, where the wine is in a giant bucket and has been for two weeks. It was meant to go onto the next stage, the one where it gets syphoned into the giant upside down water cooler thing, yesterday but since he's not around it hasnt. Will it be ok still in the giant bucket for another few days until he's home? Or am i going to have to somehow disinfect all the stuff and do it myself (his home is cat sick heaven and I've no idea how I'm going to disinfect anything in this enviroment). Sorry to come across like a retard but like I said, this isnt my area of expertise.
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Jul 14, 2012 02:10
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yello posted:Is anyone in the Fredericksburg, VA area interested in purchasing my converted keg? I'm moving back to the pacific northwest and although it has served me well I don't plan to take it with me. I know this isn't SAmart but I thought the folks here might have a higher interest. I have a couple of pics I can pass on - it has a ball valve and false bottom, all stainless. I'm interested, I live in south Stafford in White Oak. Let's go to PMs if you got 'em, otherwise email me on username|gmail.
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Jul 14, 2012 02:12
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Angry Grimace posted:$27 this morning at Westair; it's $28 for a 10# fill. They usually try to convince you to exchange your 5# aluminum for 10# steel tanks although I never do, I just get new aluminum tanks since they fit really well inside my freezer. Well see now I'm a bit pissed...because I brought in the heavy (I assume steel) 5 lb tank to Westair (the one in El Cajon) and even before I walked in the door the guy goes "homebrewer?" and they were very nice when I was in there. Kelley Geuscaulk (I think I spelled your name right!) said they'd switch my tank too, but that didn't friggin happen. Just swapped 5 lb for 5 lb tanks.
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Jul 14, 2012 02:23
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Guys, I want to go to corny kegs in a freezer turned kegerator. Guide me down this path. e: poo poo, I can't do math. The style thing is still weird though. Splizwarf fucked around with this message at 03:34 on Jul 14, 2012 |
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Jul 14, 2012 02:27
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Splizwarf posted:Guys, I want to go to corny kegs in a freezer turned kegerator. Guide me down this path. I have questions, like why do these guys pitch this as a good deal when you can also buy them from the same place individually for less money and with actual release valves? Also, why is "style" in "cornelius style kegs" underlined? Is there something shady going on there like "fruit-flavored drink" that contains no actual juice? Ooh I know this one... Link 1 = 4 kegs for $130. Link 2 = 1 keg for $40. As for the 'style' question, it's just their way of saying it as opposed to the pin lock style, and their poor use of html markup tags.
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Jul 14, 2012 02:39
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Josh Wow posted:I just went to get my CO2 tank exchanged and the price jumped from $26 to $40. The only place in town to do exchanges is Airgas, and they said the FDA forces them to use food grade CO2 now. Anybody heard anything about this? They said it started in June, but I could see this just being them trying to charge more. Whaat? There is no such thing as food grade Co2. All that changes is the chain of custody in refilling the exchanges. It's all out of the same bulk tanks. Did you tell them what you're using it for? You guys must either have awful stores, or live in odd areas. It's $16 to exchange a 10# tank here. Splizwarf posted:Guys, I want to go to corny kegs in a freezer turned kegerator. Guide me down this path. I have questions, like why do these guys pitch this as a good deal when you can also buy them from the same place individually for less money and with actual release valves? Also, why is "style" in "cornelius style kegs" underlined? Is there something shady going on there like "fruit-flavored drink" that contains no actual juice? Well, partially because $130 is less than $160  But really though, they're called cornelius style because they're pinlock kegs converted to ball lock posts. Hypnolobster fucked around with this message at 02:42 on Jul 14, 2012 |
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Jul 14, 2012 02:40
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Faithless posted:Will it be ok still in the giant bucket for another few days until he's home? Yes, no problem.
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Jul 14, 2012 02:43
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wattershed posted:Well see now I'm a bit pissed...because I brought in the heavy (I assume steel) 5 lb tank to Westair (the one in El Cajon) and even before I walked in the door the guy goes "homebrewer?" and they were very nice when I was in there. Kelley Geuscaulk (I think I spelled your name right!) said they'd switch my tank too, but that didn't friggin happen. Just swapped 5 lb for 5 lb tanks. That's weird. Maybe they just forgot to tell you about the upgrade. I went in and specifically asked for it. It's funny because the guy that filled mine up was talking to me about homebrewing for like 10 minutes and how he spends hundreds of dollars a month on craft beer. Splizwarf posted:Guys, I want to go to corny kegs in a freezer turned kegerator. Guide me down this path. I have questions, like why do these guys pitch this as a good deal when you can also buy them from the same place individually for less money and with actual release valves? Also, why is "style" in "cornelius style kegs" underlined? Is there something shady going on there like "fruit-flavored drink" that contains no actual juice? If I'm doing my math correctly you actually save $7.50 per keg if you buy them in bulk. Also, I think they went a little underline crazy and it doesn't really mean anything. I've never bought from them but I've also never heard bad things about them either. Homebrewfinds throws their stuff up a lot too if that means anything.
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Jul 14, 2012 02:44
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Splizwarf posted:Guys, I want to go to corny kegs in a freezer turned kegerator. Guide me down this path. I have questions, like why do these guys pitch this as a good deal when you can also buy them from the same place individually for less money and with actual release valves? Also, why is "style" in "cornelius style kegs" underlined? Is there something shady going on there like "fruit-flavored drink" that contains no actual juice? Well, for one thing, 130/4 < 40. Also, the $40/each kegs are not pressure tested, not cleaned, etc. It says right in the description that they often have to replace parts to get them to hold pressure; the 130/4 kegs say they have been pressure tested and are guaranteed to do so. So... LESS money for kegs of higher quality, although missing the pressure relief valve. I am guessing the style thing is because soda kegs were also manufactured by Firestone, Spartanburg, and maybe others as well.
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Jul 14, 2012 02:51
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