Home Brewing Thread III: Return of the Son of Home Brewing Thread

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Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

JohnnySmitch posted:

Wow this thread (and its predecessors) have an awesome amount of information!

Me and two of my friends just bought starter kits on a Groupon, and we're all pretty excited to do our first brew (recipe kit that came with starter kit) this weekend.

We've agreed to compete on our second batch though, that we'll be assembling the ingredients for ourselves.

I'd like to try to do a GumballHead (Three Floyds Brewing american wheat) clone, but change it up a little and maybe add some pumpkin flavor to it. What's the best way to pumpkin it up a little? Is there any good way to flavor it during bottling, so I can maybe do have the batch plain, and half pumpkin?

"Pumpkin" flavor mostly comes from pumpkin pie spices - cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, etc. You can either buy dried spices at the store and add at the end of the boil, or make a tincture by soaking whole spices in vodka or everclear for a few days/weeks, straining, and adding a measured amount of the tincture when bottling. The tincture method is usually preferred, as you get much better control over how much spice ends up in your beer.

If you want to do a batch half and half, a tincture is definitely the way to go.

# ¿ Sep 24, 2011 15:52

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# ¿ May 2, 2024 10:38

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

I've got a recipe that calls for Northern Brewer hops at 60 and 20 minutes, but I'd rather use some of the bulk hops I have in my freezer instead of buying new ones. I haven't brewed with N.Brewer before, would Willamette or Cascade make a better substitute? It's a stout, so I'm not looking for too much hop flavor/aroma.

# ¿ Oct 17, 2011 03:24

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

Super Rad posted:

2 questions:

1) Anyone have any experience using fenugreek to add "maply" flavors as per Mosher? I'm going to be adding a kilo of jaggery to a barleywine and would like to further accentuate the maple flavor it imparts. I'm thinking 2-3 teaspoons crushed - roasted and then added to secondary. How long should I toast for and at what temp? I may get some maple extract as a backup.

I made the jaggery IPA from the book, I think I crushed the seeds and added them at the end of boil, no roasting. It added a nice maple flavor, though it faded away after a month or two.

I was washing out my aluminum turkey fryer pot in preparation for a brew tomorrow, and found a tiny pinhole in the bottom

I guess I know what I'll be asking Santa for Christmas.

# ¿ Nov 8, 2011 01:58

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

His Divine Shadow posted:

Hey whoa, the container with the cider I put in for clarification, it's started bubbling? Should it do that?

Probably just CO2 coming out of solution.

# ¿ Nov 9, 2011 11:14

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

exant posted:

Ok. My kit recommends drinking a lot of Grolsch.

Looking at the prices, you're right, the capper is much cheaper than swing-tops.

Swing-tops are nice if you have them, but keep in mind that if the bottles are green (Grolsch) you'll need to take care to keep them out of the light. There are some brown swing-tops around, though.

Retemnav posted:

Are the Better Bottle plastic carboys really a better bottle?

I've brewed 2 gallon batches a few times, splitting them into couple of 1-gallon carboys for fermentation, but I'm looking at moving up to a 5-gallon. And I'm not sure if I should go glass or plastic? Is there any difference besides the weight?

Better Bottles don't shatter into a million pieces if you drop them, so there's that. Any reason you don't want to use a bucket?

# ¿ Nov 9, 2011 22:51

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

Beer disaster! I accidentally positioned the picnic tap on my keg so that when the fridge door closed, it opened the tap. Luckily I opened the door just a few minutes later so I didn't lose everything in the keg, but it made a hell of a mess :tubular:

# ¿ Nov 19, 2011 00:44

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

I just kegged a batch of the chocolate mint stout from Radical Brewing. I tried a sample, I'm surprised how good it is, even flat and warm.

# ¿ Nov 19, 2011 21:25

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

I'm thinking of installing an on-door faucet on my mini-fridge. I know Perlick faucets are well regarded, is this a good one? Besides the faucet and tap handle, would this shank be all I need to hook it up to my current corny keg setup?

# ¿ Nov 22, 2011 02:09

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

Hypnolobster posted:

I just keep having awesome luck. A friend of a friend just gave me 3 full size sanke kegs

I'm up to 7 kegs now. It's pretty silly.

Can I have one?

Failing that, anyone know of any good brew kettles sales going on?

# ¿ Nov 29, 2011 05:17

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

krushgroove posted:

Trying to price up things on a budget in the UK is difficult with turkey fryers kind of hard to find. I've found 10 gallon stew pots from France for about 50 euros, shipped, but where can I find a gas burner I can use outside that will boil 7 or 8 gallons of water?

(about to try my first extract brew this weekend, but just seeing how much it will cost to try and go all grain with a 1-burner setup)

Amazon.co.uk seems to have a couple outdoor propane burners.

# ¿ Nov 30, 2011 01:15

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

bssoil posted:

So I've brewed two festabrew kits (cheating) and one extract brew. I did not much enjoy the extract brewing, partially because I suspect my LHBS has old stale extract and I saved no money vs. buying festabrew.

I think it is time to go whole grain. I have been considering modifying a cooler, as outlined on the homebrewtalk wiki. One major concern of mine is whether the cooler will be tolerant of heat, especially extended heat. They seem to have a range of 0-60 C (32-140 F). Is that a huge problem?

Also, what is the problem with doing a partial boil in this scenario? I have a 24 quart stock pot. Is topping up the wort during the boil (with boiling water) a bad idea?

Partial boils and all-grain brewing don't really go hand-in-hand, but look up mini-mash brewing. You basically mash a smaller amount of grain, and augment it with extract.

# ¿ Dec 5, 2011 05:14

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

Midorka posted:

Anyone familiar with this kit? It's $120 in my store and I'm considering picking it up as my first homebrew set-up.

Link's broken.

# ¿ Dec 13, 2011 05:05

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

Anyone have tips for quick turnaround batches? I'm thinking of brewing up a 2.5 or 3 gallon extract batch for New Years.

# ¿ Dec 17, 2011 18:23

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

I am kegging, so that'll cut down on the time some. I think I'll play around in BeerCalculus then head down to the LHBS

# ¿ Dec 17, 2011 18:47

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

Ended up going with 3 lbs extra light LME, 4oz crystal 60L, 35 IBUs and lots of aroma/flavor additions of leftover cascade and amarillo, plus a packet of US-05. I'm gonna have to eyeball the hops because I can't find my stupid scale.

# ¿ Dec 17, 2011 22:13

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

Midorka posted:

Nice!

Question, I want to possibly create a maple oak oatmeal stout for my first beer. I plan on soaking oak chips in pure maple syrup and then putting them in the mix. I assume I would add these during fermentation, or would there be a better time?

Maple syrup will just get eaten up by the yeast, look into using fenugreek seeds. They're used to flavor imitation maple syrup and such and work great in beer.

# ¿ Dec 20, 2011 00:26

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

stizu posted:

I must admit that I am a little foggy on how a cold crash works. Does the cold kill the yeast? The reason I don't understand is because, as far as I understand, lagers are fermented cold.

Cold crashing helps drop the yeast into sleepytime and clarifies the beer, but there will still be plenty in solution for priming.

# ¿ Dec 23, 2011 20:07

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

beetlo posted:

You guys are always talking about spray bottles for star san, but how does that work with a carboy? You can't exactly put a spray bottle inside of the carboy to reach all the surfaces...

Unscrew the top and pour some in.

# ¿ Dec 29, 2011 04:49

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

Anyone dry hop in the keg? I was thinking of putting some leaf cascade in a nylon bag and letting it stay there, am I going to end up clogging my lines or getting terrible vegetable flavors?

# ¿ Dec 30, 2011 00:28

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

I got a fancy new PolarWare kettle with ball valve for Christmas

I guess if I'm draining wort off after the boil, I'll need a false bottom or bazooka tube? Would the home depot stainless steel braid work too?

# ¿ Dec 31, 2011 17:17

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

Jo3sh posted:

I used to use a Bazooka tube in my boiler, but these days I don't use a screen at all. Instead, I use a paint strainer bag to contain the hops during the boil. Sure, I get break material in the fermenter, but it has not caused me any issues.

Does the strainer bag contain pellet hop sludge, and you need to keep the bag suspended to keep from melting?

# ¿ Dec 31, 2011 19:20

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

Ratbones posted:

One more thing, I didn't have any vodka on hand, so I used gin in my airlock. Was that a terrible idea?

Temperature/pressure changes can cause the airlock liquid to be sucked back into the fermentor, so it might be a good idea to change it out for plain water or StarSan. ~1oz gin in 5 gallons of beer probably wouldn't be too noticeable, but its easy enough to fix that I wouldn't take the chance.

# ¿ Dec 31, 2011 21:00

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

I've used frozen apple juice concentrate when making cider before, even the cheapo store brand was preservative free.

# ¿ Jan 8, 2012 21:15

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

Zakath posted:

I see your cocoa porter and raise my cinammon vanilla porter (recipe here):

First beer I've kegged, I can't believe I waited this long. That being said, having a keg of awesome beer real close is dangerous. I'd like to bottle some of the beer from the keg, and I've been looking for resources on how to do this without buying a beer gun, but the guides are a bit confusing. How do I "burp" my keg? How do I keep the foam down to manageable levels?

Assuming you have a picnic faucet, jam a bottling wand/piece of tubing in the end, turn pressure down low, vent the keg, and go to town. It helps if you chill the bottles first.

# ¿ Jan 9, 2012 04:41

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

global tetrahedron posted:

Yeah, short of an eye dropper I don't know how to ensure equal distribution. Is there a certain name brand I should look for, or is that just a generic thing most brew supply stores will have? How about the amount to put in bombers vs. 12 oz bottles?

I think the most popular brand is Coopers. Should have instructions on the package, but I would wager that you'll use twice as many tabs in a bomber as in a 12 oz.

# ¿ Jan 12, 2012 01:16

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

In looking to pick up a new brewing book, would people recommend Designing Great Beers or Brewing Classic Styles?

# ¿ Jan 17, 2012 17:36

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

I decided to go with BCS. I figured it'd be worth it to have a solid baseline recipe for whatever style I'm riffing off of, instead of looking up a bunch of random recipes on homebrewtalk or whereever and hoping for the best. Designing Great Beers also sounds a bit more in depth than I need at the moment.

# ¿ Jan 17, 2012 20:49

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

Jacobey000 posted:

Quoting for a new page - want to know if i need to go to the homebrew store tomorrow for keg supplies

The poppets themselves look fine, but you might want to replace those O-rings, and give them a dab of keg lube.

# ¿ Jan 18, 2012 03:03

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

What do you guys do for cold weather brewing? My kettle doesn't fit on the stove, and it seems that the cold weather will suck away my heat make me use a ton more propane. I'm considering going up to my parents house and seeing if I can brew in their garage, that should at least cut down on the wind some.

# ¿ Jan 21, 2012 19:42

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

Daedalus Esquire posted:

Unfortunately, I don't really have any extra tubing or pin locks. I just got my keg setup and don't have any spare parts yet really, and I'd rather not cut up the pre-assembled stuff I got from Keg Connection as I'm sure I won't be able to put it back together as well as they did.

Maybe I can get some keg lube when I get access to a vehicle later and hit every O-ring. I'm pretty sure the leak is in the lid, but it's a slow leak so it's pretty hard to tell...

Spray some StarSan anywhere you might have a leak. It'll bubble up and make it super easy to see. Also, don't forget the leak might be on the tubing, regulator, or tank, not just the keg.

Edit: Too slow!

# ¿ Jan 24, 2012 21:41

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

chiz posted:

So I have a dopey question : how come homebrewers don't use those bigger kegs to keg their beers...the half barrels or whatever you call them, like you see at keg parties? How much can they hold and why don't people generally use those instead of Corny kegs?

Corny kegs are relatively cheap, widely available, you can fit several in a single fridge, and they are the same size as most home brew batches.

# ¿ Jan 25, 2012 01:45

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

chiz posted:

What about you guys? What are your stories as far as going from LME kits to grain and carboys and kegs and all that?

1. Northern Brewer starter kit with saved up bottles
2. Turkey fryer and Igloo cooler mash tun
3. 2 keg setup from Midwest and a mini fridge
4. Son of Fermentation Chamber for temperature control
5. 10 gallon Polarware kettle w/ball valve (turkey fryer pot got a hole in it)

Still fermenting in my plastic Northern Brewer bucket

# ¿ Jan 25, 2012 03:34

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

I keep considering getting a bottle of SodaStream Energy Drink mix and kegging it with water and a handle of vodka. 5 gallons of Red Bull and Vodka would make for a hell of a party.

Is chocolate malt a close enough substitute for carafa special II? 6 oz in 5 gallons.

# ¿ Jan 27, 2012 12:35

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

If I pick up a sixtel from the liquor store, can I hook it up to my corny setup or transfer the beer to an empty corny? I've hit a dry patch but I'd like to have something in the kegerator for Sunday.

# ¿ Feb 2, 2012 03:32

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

Josh Wow posted:

You have to have a sanke coupler to hook it up to your current setup. All you have to do once you have the sanke coupler is remove the disconnects from your gas and beer lines and hook them up to the correct spots on the coupler. If you have a well stocked homebrew shop they should have the coupler. Here it is on Northern Brewer: http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/sankey-coupler-all-stainless.html

That's more than I was looking to spend on something I'm only going to use rarely. I was thinking of putting a quick disconnect on the liquid out line, transferring it over to my keg, and replacing the picnic faucet, but that would probably just get a bunch of oxygen in the beer.

# ¿ Feb 2, 2012 05:32

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

DrBouvenstein posted:

drat it! Northern Brewery sent me a thermometer in my kit instead of a hydrometer! I was going to brew tomorrow, now I have to decide to wait until they can send me the hydrometer, or saw "gently caress it" and go to the local brew store and buy one...

Assuming you're doing an extract brew, you don't really need a hydrometer right now - you'll be getting pretty much the same OG no matter what you do. Call up Northern Brewer, get them to send you what you paid for, and hopefully by the time fermentation's done and you actually need a reading it'll have gotten to you.

# ¿ Feb 11, 2012 16:29

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

space pope posted:

I have been thinking about starting to homebrew for a long time and finally took the plunge this week. I ordered a kit and several recipes from Craft a Brew in SA Mart. Got everything in the mail yesterday and hope to brew my first batch on Sunday! Can't wait to get started

Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

# ¿ Feb 11, 2012 17:44

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

After kegging my dunkelweizen I realized I had another gallon or so left in the fermentor. I didn't have time to bottle it, so I tossed some DME in and sealed it back up. Good idea? I guess we'll find out!

# ¿ Feb 18, 2012 15:38

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

Can anyone recommend a good brewing app for iOS?

# ¿ Sep 25, 2012 03:49

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# ¿ May 2, 2024 10:38

Toebone: Jul 1, 2002; Start remembering what you hear.

Has anyone here brewed with saffron before? I'm thinking of doing a triple for the holidays, and making a saffron tincture or tea to be added at kegging.

# ¿ Sep 25, 2012 19:46

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > Home Brewing Thread III: Return of the Son of Home Brewing Thread

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