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more falafel please posted:It's possible they won't give you a bulk discount, and it's possible you'd need to order ahead, but there's no reason your LHBS wouldn't sell you full sacks. It's just less work for them. With the group buy system we had going on in my last place, we were buying our sacks at cost of grain and shipping. The markup seems to always be heavily in the 1# per price, so they might give you a small discount. But a sack of MO to where I was would still have been around $60 iirc. I got some of the Gambrinus ESB malt instead and it’s a decent replacement from Canada, and it was cheaper at $50 for the sack. All the homebrew shops near me sell MO for $2 per pound or more, or $110 per sack, so hopefully they’ll give you a decent discount. Even if they only charge 85-90$, you’re getting a decent deal. If not, go buy it from ritebrew.com where he doesn’t mark it up excessively and sells it for $1.32 per pound.
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Jun 2, 2020 22:41
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Ethics_Gradient posted:Has anyone got a flavoured ginger beer recipe they'd like to share (either alcoholic or not)? I'm not normally a massive fan of the stuff, but I took a break from alcohol over Lent and discovered Bundaberg's lemon myrtle ginger beer which was actually quite nice. I am currently brewing my second batch of the month, and I’m working on a new ginger bug. My recipes tend to be “throw in about x units of thing.” One thing I really like is to juice cherries and reduce the juice down to syrup for adding directly to the bottle. I think you’ll become a fan once you find additives you like. I’m glad to chat more about it. I am no expert, but I like ginger beer, and make it frequently*. Edit: I was lurking this thread specifically because of my ginger beer activities, but I didn’t see anyone talking about it. I am glad you brought it up. * Well, used to. I’ve just started, again.
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Jun 2, 2020 22:58
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I miss the days early on when North Country Malt sold fob if you called and paid in advance. Weyermann pilsner malt for $35/sack. Oh 2010. Worth the drive over Lake Champlain!
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Jun 2, 2020 23:55
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Veni Vidi Ameche! posted:I am currently brewing my second batch of the month, and I’m working on a new ginger bug. My recipes tend to be “throw in about x units of thing.” One thing I really like is to juice cherries and reduce the juice down to syrup for adding directly to the bottle. Please, share more! For starters, can you maintain a ginger bug if you only brew it infrequently? Worth the hassle vs regular yeast?
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Jun 3, 2020 11:34
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I oftentimes buy grain (by pound) from MoreBeer or Texas Brewing because they don’t charge for “large” or “heavy” packages and the price/pound is usually reasonable. Beyond a certain threshold the shipping is free. More Beer packages in separate 10 lb bags which is also nice.
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Jun 3, 2020 11:39
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Ethics_Gradient posted:Please, share more! For starters, can you maintain a ginger bug if you only brew it infrequently? Worth the hassle vs regular yeast? A ginger bug is almost exactly like a sourdough starter. In fact, you can use it to kick-start a sourdough starter. When you want to slow it down, put it in the fridge, and reduce feedings. As for whether the ginger bug is worth it, yeah, I think it is. For one thing, it is very satisfying to know that you cultivated your brew from scratch. For another, you can use the bug for other things. Want fizzy tea or fruit juice? You're ready to go. Purely from a taste perspective, a yeast-added brew is fine. In fact, I just got a ginger bukkake while burping some bottles from a brew which used instant yeast. My new bug isn't ready, but I wanted to make a batch, so I took the shortcut.   That’s the reduced cherry juice I mentioned. I put a few strips of ginger into each bottle when bottling, as you can see in the photographs. It’s not an ideal practice for drinking, but I like the additional ginger punch.
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Jun 3, 2020 18:53
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I think the only issue I have with making ginger beer is getting the carbonation level right for it. That and being an idiot and thinking that putting grated ginger into a keg without having a filter for it was a good idea. How do you deal with carb levels? I don’t mind it to be sour and dry and I’d prefer it that way, but not everyone in my house will drink that and would want some residual sweetness. Do you just ferment it out far and then carb to a high pressure for increased body? Or do you just risk explosions and bottle early and keep cold?
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Jun 3, 2020 19:19
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Jhet posted:I think the only issue I have with making ginger beer is getting the carbonation level right for it. That and being an idiot and thinking that putting grated ginger into a keg without having a filter for it was a good idea.     Now, back gingerly away. The less-jokey answer is that I have tried a lot of methods. The one I currently use, I selected for simplicity. I throw the live batch into a large Ball jar or carboy, pop on a three-piece airlock, and let it bubble for a few days. Once it has slowed down considerably, I prime the bottles with a bit of sugar, throw in some ginger, and bottle the brew. This is also where I add anything I didn’t cook with the ginger, such as the cherry juice. I let it carbonate for a day or so with frequent burping, then throw it into the refrigerator. I haven’t had an explosion, yet, but you need to keep on top of it until you throw it in the refrigerator, because this stuff builds up pressure quickly. Hence, the kitty litter bomb containment unit. It’s also possible to just bottle it earlier, and not add any more sugar. The reason I prefer my current method is that it allows me to have a tasting bottle, and easily monitor the sweetness so I know when to pop it into the refrigerator. I also like dry and sour, but that is not for everyone. Artificial sweeteners work fine, just be sure to bottle it while there’s still enough activity to carbonate the bottle. I have read about combinations of Stevia, and Nutrasweet, and whatever that balance each other and get rid of artificial tastes and aftertaste, but I don’t bother. If I use an artificial sweetener, I just grab whatever I have on hand. To reiterate, this is “works for me” stuff that I put together from goofing off. I am not a knowledgable brewer, and I might be making obvious mistakes. I just know that I like the result.
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Jun 3, 2020 22:06
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Is heat-pasteurizing carbonated bottles safe? I've only done it with a cider we wanted to keep still but backsweetened. That did work a charm, though.
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Jun 3, 2020 22:13
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more falafel please posted:Is heat-pasteurizing carbonated bottles safe? I've only done it with a cider we wanted to keep still but backsweetened. That did work a charm, though. I think it depends on your definition of safe. You can pasteurize the ginger beer using a hot water bath. I think you do have some increased risk of explosion, but I’m not not sure how high it is. Why is this bail top all by itself in the sink, you ask?  It’s there because I got distracted for a couple of hours and forgot to burp the bottles. I knew it was going to be fun, so I filmed myself opening all of them about half an hour ago. This is the one that blew off the bail. The pop was WAY more impressive in person. https://i.imgur.com/f1NHeQa.mp4 This brew sat for days, and was very inactive when I bottled it. The cherry juice always makes them livelier, but even a regular bottle with just a bit of sugar gets wildly carbonated really quickly. I filmed one of those, too, and it sounded like a .22 going off. To be fair, these were unusually carbonated. I’m not sure if I bottled them a touch too early, or mis-measured my sugar, or what. They’re not usually this ridiculous.
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Jun 4, 2020 02:31
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I only ferment my ginger beer (and kvass for that matter) for a few days because we like it sweet, but 2L plastic soda bottles and strategic chilling put me almost entirely at ease about carbonation.
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Jun 4, 2020 02:46
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Maybe that’s what I need to make sure I’m doing. Use the plastic bottles, make small batches and drink them quickly. I received my order from The Yeast Bay, and it’s two saison/brett mixed ferm cultures and Hornindal kveik. I’m excited to get them started in the next couple weeks. I’m hoping I’ll be bottling the saison in a few months to be autumn drinking. The Hornindal I’ll be using and cropping for pretty much everything else this summer. I just need to get the cycle moving again quickly. Drinking only commercial beer is starting to get expensive.
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Jun 5, 2020 03:24
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I'd love to hear your saison recipe, Jhet! Haven't really brewed any myself but love to drink them. I've got a little lower abv ale fermenting at the moment (last brew was a big boy 8% citra/cascade ipa which I am loving but putting away more than one 750ml bottle means I'm shitfaced lol). I have colombus, golding and bramling cross hops on hand, none of which I've used for dry hopping before. I think I'll give the colombus a miss because I've done a lot of chinook/cascade/simcoe beers lately. Will either of the other 2 be a decent dry hop for a refreshing session ale, and what flavours should I be expecting? If these are bad choices I'll just grab some mosaic or something fruity at the brew shop. It's a 10 litre or 2.5 gallon brew, so thinking 20 or 30 grams for a medium hoppiness? field balm fucked around with this message at 09:56 on Jun 5, 2020 |
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Jun 5, 2020 09:54
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Has anyone tried souring with kefir? I've been drinking some strawberry kefir for breakfasts the last few weeks and thought to myself it would make a pretty good sour beer. Going to bust out an old recipe I did a few years ago that came out great the first time. It's a Hendrick inspired saison. It came out great last time, hoping I can remake that magic.
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Jun 5, 2020 11:31
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field balm posted:I'd love to hear your saison recipe, Jhet! Haven't really brewed any myself but love to drink them. Both hops would work for dry hops, but it depends on what you want in your session ale. I use Golding in my Ordinary Bitter recipe, but it’s for bittering and pairs with Cascade in the flavor and aroma dept. It’s not particularly complicated of a recipe, and it changes a bit constantly. Normally it’s something like: OG around 1.050-1.060 Pilsner base from 70-100% Wheat or Rye from 0-30% Munich 0-10% Hops to 25-30 ibu of a floral/noble hop. Carbonate to 3 volumes.
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Jun 5, 2020 15:52
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My saison guidelines are similar, although perhaps a bit broader since I also brew grisette and petit saison. OG: 1.030 - 1.055 IBU: 10 - 65 Pilsner: 50% - 100% Wheat: 0% - 40% Spelt or Buckwheat: 0 - 30% Oats: 0 - 10% Vienna or Light Munich: 0 - 10% I favor heavy late additions of hops like EKG, Celeia, Mittelfrüh and Cascade unless I'm adding an adjunct I want to showcase or will be using fruit. I don't use rye; it's not terrible, but oats beat it for beta-glucans, wheat and spelt beat it for protein and buckwheat has a more interesting flavor to me. thotsky fucked around with this message at 01:37 on Jun 6, 2020 |
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Jun 6, 2020 01:31
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So, I went and bottled my first brew and started my second, a dark christmas ale with hops, cinnamon and orange peels. My final gravity for the IPA turned out to be 1.005, and it smelled wonderful. I thought I had a bunch of sediment in it but it turned out I just added so much poo poo it was terminally clogged at the top and bottom, the priming rack solved that nicely. Miscalculated the final amount and winded up getting about 19 liters, but that's... a lot more than I expected visually. I hope it turns out okay, it's bottle conditioning now  The christmas ale went much smoother than last time, except for a clogged bazooka filter. Goddamned piece of poo poo. Had to use a backup siphon. I got so stressed and took so long I forgot to take an OG reading  Just gonna have to hope for the best I suppose.Things I learned: bazooka filter problem calculate more time, no even more time, in fact the entire day is now brew day
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Jun 8, 2020 14:06
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If it was not for cleaning my brew day would be so quick. Even with a single vessel system it is a pain in the rear end.
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Jun 8, 2020 14:45
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Nice piece of fish posted:bazooka filter problem Yeah, I would bag the spices next time.
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Jun 8, 2020 14:49
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If I didn't have to clean I would probably brew every weekend. I tell myself that I should brew something and then I go naw I don't feel like cleaning all this crap up afterwards.
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Jun 8, 2020 16:27
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calandryll posted:If I didn't have to clean I would probably brew every weekend. I tell myself that I should brew something and then I go naw I don't feel like cleaning all this crap up afterwards. I've been at that stage of my next beer (a simple smash, even) for the last six weeks.
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Jun 8, 2020 16:32
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I put 2 brews down on Friday, one with voss kveik and one with brett trois vrai. Now, I brew with us05 99% of the time and I know I can just bottle it at 2 weeks without measuring anything and it'll be pretty close to whatever the recipe calculator says, so I blanked and didn't measure the og on either of these, and have never used either of the yeats before. Is it safe to assume that the kveik is done after a week? I'd like to avoid bottling both at the same time lol. Any advice on the brett one? It got started pretty slowly and didn't have a massive krausen so I'm figuring maybe leave it longer than an ale yeast?
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Jun 8, 2020 21:46
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What temperature for the kveik? The one time I used voss, it was done in ~24 hours at 80ish. It was crazy how fast it chewed through that beer, it was 1050ish if I remember correctly.
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Jun 8, 2020 22:03
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Probably 22-25 Celsius so a little cooler than 80f but not much. It had about 8 inches of krausen on top 12 hours after pitching so that doesn't sound ridiculous. Pretty amazing yeast! I'll dry hop it tomorrow then!
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Jun 8, 2020 22:59
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You can measure the current gravity with a hydrometer, so I’d recommend doing that. The kveik should be done unless you kept it cold (under low 70). The Brett Trois Vrai also likes it above 70. But really, measure the current gravity and then measure again in a couple days. If it’s the same, the kveik is done. I’d expect the Brett to take longer and finish closer to 1.000, but I’ve not used that strain to know about how long if longer or if that’s true.
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Jun 8, 2020 23:49
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Transferred a neipa from the fermenter to a keg yesterday and saw some bubbles in the siphon line. I think I know what caused the bubbles. Wondering if I should open the keg to throw a quarter of a campden tablet in and hopefully stop any oxidation or if opening would just make things worse.
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Jun 9, 2020 01:14
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Hey, apparently during my brewing hiatus, I missed all the fuss about kveik. Can somebody give me a quick tl;Dr, or point me in direction of some reading about it?
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Jun 9, 2020 01:21
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honda whisperer posted:Transferred a neipa from the fermenter to a keg yesterday and saw some bubbles in the siphon line. I think I know what caused the bubbles. I'd be worried about getting sulphur from the campden. Your best bet to scrub oxygen from a keg would be to attach your co2 to the out line on the keg and very gently bubble co2 up through the beer while venting the keg. This works much better when the beer isn't carbed because it creates less foam. You'll lose hop aroma doing this but thats better than oxidized beer. I don't have any tips on pressure to use or how long to do it because I've only done this on tanks in a commercial setting but you want to be pretty gentle with it.
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Jun 9, 2020 01:26
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bengy81 posted:Hey, apparently during my brewing hiatus, I missed all the fuss about kveik. Can somebody give me a quick tl;Dr, or point me in direction of some reading about it? It's a genetically distinct family of ale yeasts from Norway. While the various kveik strains can be fairly different from one another, as a whole, they generally ferment very aggressively, can be easily dried for long-term storage, tolerate underpitching extremely well, and perform well at very high temperatures. While they're generally pretty estery at high temps, if you ferment closer to typical ale temperatures (~20C), many of any of them will produce a very neutral result that can approach lager-like for some strains (Skare for instance is well-known in the kveik world for its fake lager capability). The downsides are that they have relatively high nutrient demands and they drop the pH of your beer more than most lager and ale strains, so unless your wort has a relatively high pH, a lot of buffering capacity, or you're doing something during/after the ferment to raise your pH (interestingly dry hopping heavily will accomplish this), your beer might end up with a bit of a tang - in my experience this pH effect really becomes noticeable if you try to make a clean malt-forward beer like a Märzen or in stouts where they can end up a touch harsh. More info Milk the Funk Overview pH effects Kveik pitching rates
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Jun 9, 2020 13:50
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Interesting tidbit about the pH part. I made my Kolsch last year with the Voss strain, if I'm remembering correctly, and noticed a tang that was enough to make me not like it. I'll have to remove the acidulated malt next time and see how it comes out.
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Jun 9, 2020 18:15
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calandryll posted:Interesting tidbit about the pH part. I made my Kolsch last year with the Voss strain, if I'm remembering correctly, and noticed a tang that was enough to make me not like it. I'll have to remove the acidulated malt next time and see how it comes out. As long as your mash pH stays in spec it should help. I personally prefer to add buffering capacity to my wort with a CaCO3 and/or NaHCO3 addition, but you can even dose the keg/glass with a base if you want after fermentation. I ended up having to do the in-glass adjustment on a pseudo Märzen once - I just dosed a test glass with kansui until it tasted right to find the appropriate amount to use then kept a container of diluted kansui on the kegerator to add each time I pulled a glass.
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Jun 10, 2020 03:53
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acco posted:It's a genetically distinct family of ale yeasts from Norway. While the various kveik strains can be fairly different from one another, as a whole, they generally ferment very aggressively, can be easily dried for long-term storage, tolerate underpitching extremely well, and perform well at very high temperatures. While they're generally pretty estery at high temps, if you ferment closer to typical ale temperatures (~20C), many of any of them will produce a very neutral result that can approach lager-like for some strains (Skare for instance is well-known in the kveik world for its fake lager capability). The downsides are that they have relatively high nutrient demands and they drop the pH of your beer more than most lager and ale strains, so unless your wort has a relatively high pH, a lot of buffering capacity, or you're doing something during/after the ferment to raise your pH (interestingly dry hopping heavily will accomplish this), your beer might end up with a bit of a tang - in my experience this pH effect really becomes noticeable if you try to make a clean malt-forward beer like a Märzen or in stouts where they can end up a touch harsh. There hasn’t been much to quantify it, but kveik also (from a lot of anecdotes from brewers) don’t seem to produce a lot of glycerols. Which is strange given how high temperature they run. It could be secondary - in that they are producing enough glycerol but also something that detracts from that type of mouthfeel, but typically most kveik will bot provide the typical soft mouthfeel of a really good lager, or the fluffiness of a hefe.
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Jun 10, 2020 14:34
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That's really cool. Anyone got any hot tips for a great fake lager kveik type recipe for a beginner to try their hand at? I really want to try a brew with kveik. And while I'm asking, anyone got a particularly good braggot recipe they like? I'm thinking something summer-y would be best, since I figure it will have to bottle age or sit in a secondary until at least next summer.
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Jun 10, 2020 19:52
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Nice piece of fish posted:And while I'm asking, anyone got a particularly good braggot recipe they like? I'm thinking something summer-y would be best, since I figure it will have to bottle age or sit in a secondary until at least next summer. It's not a braggot per say, but honey saisons are fun. 70 - 80% Pilsner 15 - 20% Wheat 5 - 10% Munich 25 IBUs of EKG at the start of the boil. Add honey to make up 15 - 25% of the total fermentables as primary is slowing, say day 4 - 5. thotsky fucked around with this message at 10:40 on Jun 11, 2020 |
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Jun 11, 2020 00:14
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That's a great suggestion regardless, particularly as I love Saisons. I did read that braggots should not be combined with too much hops, particularly if one is making a 50/50 honey/malt by weight braggot, and a lot of recipes recommend bog myrtle (pors) which I think is pretty cool. There's a local microbrewery (Klostergården) that makes a lot of their lighter beers with bog myrtle and it's very interesting. I also got a bunch of meadowsweet (mjødurt) lying around I figure might be cool in a braggot. Just trying to do some research before I commit a bunch of cash to buying honey in bulk. I trust this thread's advice over my googling any day.
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Jun 11, 2020 09:58
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For a honey saison I doubt there is much to be gained with using over a kilo for a 20 liter batch. I like getting a kilo of good local honey rather than trying to get a deal on large amounts of cheap European stuff. Of course, if you know a beekeeper or you're willing to spend a lot your options are broader as far as braggots and meads are concerned. 25 IBUs is the sweet spot for me mostly because that's about where I can expect not to get much, if any, souring with my mixed culture, which I don't really want in a honey beer. One could definitely get away with less if doing a clean ferment, or just having a different end result in mind, and yeah, in a lighter beer the resulting sweetness will work better I think. Maybe down to like 15 IBUs. Foraged herbs are really cool, but be aware that fermented honey is really very subtle; it does not take much to overpower it, which is why I don't use any flavor hops and why the grainbill is so light, with malts that can reinforce honey aspects (pilsner, wheat, munich) while staying out of the way. Of course, if you're not so concerned with coaxing out honey flavor necessarily your options are again a lot broader; many well-liked honey beers combine honey with floral hops or herbs. thotsky fucked around with this message at 10:41 on Jun 11, 2020 |
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Jun 11, 2020 10:35
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Nice piece of fish posted:That's a great suggestion regardless, particularly as I love Saisons. Most of my most successful braggots are 50:50 wt% fermented with voss, ebbegarden, or even muri. The honey character is always faint, but I also brew them to be similar to a juicy/hazy beer. Anything between 5-10% ABV will be done fermenting and DiAc in three days at around 90-95F. IBUs at 65 (measured) aren’t a problem at all. The honey character will be at the end, and everything will appear to be a light bodied IPA/PA, but fairly explosive flavor. Muri is my general go-to strain for anything wit-related since it’s fast, and seems to kick in a light citrus flavor reminiscent of St. Bernardus witbier. Even in a braggot. Hopefully yours turns out well with the herbs!
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Jun 11, 2020 14:34
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I have not brewed in months, but today I am able to do it. IPA on the boil, Centennial and Mosaic for hop choice and S04 because that’s what I had available. This will be my first beer that isn’t barrel aged that’s going into bottles in years. If process all works out I’ll be moving on to my saison yeast blends. I’d just rather have to toss a batch of IPA than wait 3-6 months to discover my mixed ferm batches are garbage because of a problem I could have discovered and fixed first. It really feels good to be brewing again.
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Jun 12, 2020 21:52
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Jhet posted:I have not brewed in months, but today I am able to do it. IPA on the boil, Centennial and Mosaic for hop choice and S04 because that’s what I had available. This will be my first beer that isn’t barrel aged that’s going into bottles in years. If process all works out I’ll be moving on to my saison yeast blends. I’d just rather have to toss a batch of IPA than wait 3-6 months to discover my mixed ferm batches are garbage because of a problem I could have discovered and fixed first. That's awesome, welcome back!
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Jun 12, 2020 21:59
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I don't see any thread for Kombucha, Kvass, or even fermented foods. Am I just blinding it?
thotsky fucked around with this message at 23:28 on Jun 12, 2020 |
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Jun 12, 2020 23:25
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