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My first honey crop came in a couple weeks ago and I want to use a gallon of this liquid gold to experiment with braggot. I am thinking of making 5, 1 gallon batches with a different ratio of honey:malt based sugars. I haven't done a split batch like this before, but figured I would just make a ~2.5 gallon batch of wort and a ~2.5 gallon batch of must and mix in the gallon jugs. Does anyone have recommendations on a base beer that would work well for this? My main goal is just to evaluate how honey and malt interact with each other on a general level. I don't really want to introduce too many other flavors with this experiment. I will save that for next spring when I am hopefully able to harvest more honey.
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Sep 26, 2011 18:39
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I assume the answer is yes, but can I rack a beer from the primary into a keg for the secondary to just sit around and wait for room in the kegerator to open up? I can't see why this is an issue but something in the back of my mind is nagging me to ask. The beer is an IPA if it matters. Also, for those of you discussing cider and yeast, I used Forbidden Fruit for a 5gal batch last year and it was the tastiest cider I ever had. Just 5g of cider and an extra 5lbs of sugar to boost the ABV.
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Oct 4, 2011 22:12
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drewhead posted:Indeed the answer is yes. I have 2 kegs sitting in my garage right now waiting on space. You might not want to wait long for an IPA. Hoppy beers tend to be better fresher. But that's a function of age, not what you store it in. Great, thanks. I won't let it sit around too long. This is about the 6th time I have made this particular recipe, and the last time I just threw it right into the kegerator with the dry hop bag after the primary. It was easily my least favorite of the batches. I want to let it sit out for a week or two to dry hop at room temperature while waiting for room to free up this time around. Great to know I don't need to bother dirtying a carboy needlessly.
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Oct 5, 2011 19:19
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Monkeybutt posted:I've been brewing root beer and am having difficulty with either the bottling or fermentation. Almost all of the recipes I've worked with say the bottles should be allowed to ferment 3-4 days 'or until hard.' In my attempts, they get extremely firm within 24 hours, distended within 48 and the one time I let it go longer than that... boom! I've filled the bottles bout 80% full and the general rule of thumb has been 1/8tsp of ale yeast per gallon. When I have made root beer like this I would just put the bottles in the fridge as soon as they were firm. The cold stopped the ale yeast for going much further and creating bottle bombs.
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Oct 26, 2011 16:01
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Yeasts and other things can certainly lay dormant in honey. The main reason bees get it down to 18% water content is so it will not ferment.
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Oct 30, 2011 20:14
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I built a heat stick last year and it worked great. It was really simple and pretty difficult to screw up. Mine did burn out on me, though, not sure why*, and I really need to make a new one. I moved this past August and I can't even get 5-6 gallons of wort to a boil using multiple burners on my current stove. *=I think what happened is it didn't like being in contact with my worth chiller. I put the chiller in the pot to disenfect while the stick was still in and the element was in contact with the copper coil of the chiller. The outlet popped and and stick was toast several seconds later. It may have been coincidence, I don't know. It was all submerged so I didn't think it would be a big deal.
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Dec 6, 2011 15:14
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My SS went out yesterday, I hope it is enjoyed!
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Dec 22, 2011 19:02
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Honey never goes bad. The worst it will do is crystallize which can be undone with heat, something you will be applying to get it all out of the jug anyway.
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Dec 27, 2011 16:38
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Really you are being extra paranoid about the honey. If it had fermented it would be very obvious. The separation you may be seeing is if some of the honey is starting to crystallize. The bees do not cap the honey in their hive until it is below 18% water content and no bee keeper would harvest uncapped honey. If its bad, its either because it isn't really honey ( see this: http://www.naturalnews.com/034102_honey_consumer_alert.html ) or someone added water to it.
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Dec 28, 2011 15:55
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Its a real thing. I am home for the holidays so I don't have my magazines, but both Bee Culture and American Beekeeper, which I would hope are reputable enough for you, had lengthy articles detailing the subject. Here is also a short report on the arrest of a couple fake honey smugglers. http://home.ezezine.com/1636/1636-2011.11.30.20.39.archive.html I keep bees and this isn't something new, it just has gotten a lot more attention lately like most bee related issues (pesticides, colony collapse, etc.). edit: You can also look at Texax A&M's website where the page of the faculty researcher has links to a few more articles and videos on the issue and work done. http://anthropology.tamu.edu/faculty/directory.php?ID=212 nesbit37 fucked around with this message at 16:44 on Dec 28, 2011 |
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Dec 28, 2011 16:29
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Paladine_PSoT posted:Secret Saudit! I have been away for the last week and just got back today with a big box of beer waiting for me! Not certain who sent it though...
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Jan 1, 2012 00:52
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If it tasted like vinegar thats probably exactly what it was becoming. Don't let the fruit flies get in there.
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Mar 12, 2012 21:00
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Yeast starter question: Philly Beer Week just ended and my girlfriend is going on vacation for a week starting this Friday so naturally I was inspired to do at least three brews while she is out. I need to do a yeast starter for each of these as I will be using different strands of washed yeast for each. If I make a starter today, once it has built up can I just decant it into a mason jar and stick it in the fridge till I need it next week? I would love to just churn these beers out next week and the yeast is the only potential hold up. I imagine there will be no issue in doing this but better to be safe and get other opinions then be stuck with no yeast.
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Jun 11, 2012 15:55
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Mr. Glass posted:It probably makes more sense to put the yeast you have in the fridge, and then make the starters the day of. I don't see any reason you couldn't refrigerate a starter, but I guess I don't see the point. I would love to do that but the starters take a couple of days to build. This yeast has already been in the fridge for over 6 months and there isn't much of it, so it has to boost its cell count.
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Jun 11, 2012 16:27
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U.S. Barryl posted:Yesterday I did my first all-grain brew session for father's day. I was really enjoying myself and relaxing, drinking some beers and margaritas. Everything was going really well. I hit my infusion temps nearly perfectly. I put the wort on to boil and added my hop additions at the right times. I drained the cooled wort into my fermentor and realized that my 6 gallons of wort I thought I had had boiled down to about 2.5 gallons instead of 5. poo poo. Tap water should be fine. I use it all the time. If you are going to use the same rig next time I find it is good to measure how quickly it boils off water so you know when to start the 60 minute timer. For example, with 2 burners on my electric stove and a heat stick I boil off 1 gallon in 30 minutes once the wort hits 212F. It would be better to use more water in your sparge as it should help up your brewhouse efficiency that way more than just adding extra tap water to boil off or at the end. You just need to know how much runoff you can handle.
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Jun 18, 2012 14:53
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crazyfish posted:I think the problem you're going to have is you need to use more than you think you do, such that you can't reasonably bottle with that amount without risking bombs. I'd say if you're intent on making it cherry, rack it to secondary or dump some cherry puree in your primary, then bottle as normal. This. I made a cherry ale a couple of months back and used 15 pounds of cherries in the secondary for a month for a 5 gallon batch. Even if it doesn't explode I don't think you are going to get the results you are thinking you will with just adding cherries/filling/flavor to bottles and growlers.
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Jun 21, 2012 15:57
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Nateron posted:Thanks guys. I'll rack to a secondary and pull off what my friend wants (the growlers) and I guess I'll add puree to it and see where it stands after a month or so. Another question though, I take it I'm looking for unsweetened puree and not like the pie filling in a can right? Depending where you live, sour cherries are in season right now. Go buy a bunch of them, freeze them overnight to rupture the cell walls, and then use them whole. 1 quart of cherries is about 2 pounds worth. I wouldn't use pie filling. I could be wrong, but I have a feeling there is a lot of sugar added to it and it is going to do more than just add cherry flavor to the beer.
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Jun 21, 2012 20:41
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As mentioned, build a heat stick. It's cheap and easy and saves a ton of headaches. Its the only way I can get a boil with my electric stove. Using the burners on the stove and a heat stick I can get 9 gallons of wort boiling in less than a half an hour. http://www.cedarcreeknetworks.com/heatstick.htm
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Jun 22, 2012 13:54
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Daedalus Esquire posted:I'm unfamiliar with the brewery/beer, but if I had to guess they probably filter the beer to get the yeast out and then add a peach syrup. I think that's what most brewers do with blueberry beers since blueberries are also very fermentable and lose a lot of their distinct taste when yeast gets to them. It seems like it would be a sound practice for keeping peach flavor intact. I don't actually have experience with doing this, or have the process confirmed by anything, but it was the most reasonable solution I could think up. The Compleat Meadmaker by Schramm actually does a really good job at covering fruit additions and quantities needed for good flavor in the section on melomels. Yes, it is focused on mead but I have used the same recommendations for fruit beers and gotten really good results.
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Jun 22, 2012 16:42
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For those of you that have used both, is it worth buying BeerSmith 2.1 if you already have a license for 1.4?
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Jul 5, 2012 15:36
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When I (briefly) was looking at the BeerSmith site the other day trying to decide if I wanted to pay to upgrade I am pretty sure I saw that you could also add new things to lists with xml. Granted, doing it in the application is certainly a better feature but at least there is a way to add things. Fake edit: Just found this on the beersmith forums about this. Example: <HOPS>Hops <HOP> Hops Name: $HOP.NAME Hops Origin: $HOP.ORIGIN Alpha: $HOP.ALPHA % Type: $HOP.TYPE Beta: $HOP.BETA % Form: $HOP.FORM HSI: $HOP.HSI % per 6 months Inventory: $HOP.INVENTORY Notes: $HOP.NOTES </HOP> </HOPS> More info: http://www.beersmith.com/forum/index.php/topic,1465.0.html
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Jul 6, 2012 16:20
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My kegerator died a while ago and I don't really want to replace it until I move out of this apartment and have more space to build a keezer. I figure a jockey box would be a decent temporary replacement since I could use one anyway. Does anyone know of anywhere with reasonably priced parts kits or at least a parts list and where I should buy them from?
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Jun 5, 2013 13:41
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Regarding the honey, raspberry is very difficult to find and it will be dubious that's what it is anyway. Bees forage within a 3 mile radius of the hive, so for it to be truly a raspberry honey the hive has to be smack in the middle of 3 miles of virtually nothing but raspberry and then the beekeeper has to extract the honey as soon as the bloom ends so nectar from whatever blooms after the raspberry does not get mixed in and change the composition. Plants pollinated by migratory bee keepers for monoculture or honey from very early/late blooming plants where they are all that are flowering (like black locust) are pretty much the only ones that are reliably what they say they are.
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Jun 7, 2013 12:07
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Fluo posted:I wonder how long untill someone is going to go full goony and do a bacon (or dorito) beer...... I haven't seen a dorito beer but there is a bacon beer at every other homebrew meeting/event I attend. Some of them just go for the flavor, some use either a bacon tinciture or put it in the mash. Just make a rauch for your bacon beer needs. I think the worst I had was a salad beer made with tomatoes, lettuce and who knows what else. It tasted like a vinaigrette mixed with alcohol.
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Jun 21, 2013 14:58
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Mikey Purp posted:Anyone have a go-to source for kegging equipment? I'm assuming kegconnection.com but just wanted to see what else was out there. I just re-surveyed the field for jockey box parts and kegconnection ended up being the best IMO for price, options, etc. Second time I have used them, got a 3 tap stainless kit from them for a kegerator conversion in 2010.
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Jun 26, 2013 16:44
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Jo3sh posted:Summer Road Trip Time! I am from Waukesha, what are you stopping there for? Two must hit places in the Milwaukee area are the Milwaukee Brewing Company and the Sprecher Brewing Company. They both have great beers and great tours. Milwaukee Brewing Company bought a bunch of the old Pabst equipment and are using that and they give you ridiculous amounts of free beer. Last time time we went we were greated at the door by someone who was just leaving with the warning "Prepare to be blitzed, my friend." http://mkebrewing.com/ Sprecher also has a great tour and fairly free with their samples. I wish they were more widespread. Also some of the best sodas ever. http://www.sprecherbrewery.com/
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Jun 26, 2013 16:52
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You would need a manifold and extra airline, etc., but otherwise yes.
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Jun 26, 2013 20:21
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Roundboy posted:^^^ speaking of, i always wanted to do a mead, but i think i never have even tried one. I dont see it around locally, so i have nothing to go by on the subject of dry vs sweet vs taste. i need research mead! If your profile location is accurate and you still live in Drexel Hill I will be running a Mead making demo and a Mead sharing event at the Philadelphia Honey Fest this September: http://phillyhoneyfest.com/schedule/mead-event/
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Jul 2, 2013 22:37
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Gas permeability and chemical seepage, that's why.
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Jul 3, 2013 02:25
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zedprime posted:
So you're ok with chemicals seeping into your beer then?
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Jul 3, 2013 02:38
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I remember a month or two back someone in the Philadelphia area posting that they were interested in making mead, so I wanted to make sure I came back to this thread and posted for all in the region that Philadelphia's 4th annual Honey Fest starts tomorrow. I have been with the guild, keeping bees and spoken at the last 3 Honey Fests on different topics. This Saturday at the Wyck Historic House and Garden in Germantown I will be giving a mead making demo at 11 for would be brewers and then leading a mead tasting event that starts at 12:30 for those interested. I was able to talk to and get Michael Manning, one of the founders of The Colony Meadery to give tips and tasting critiques for the mead sharing portion. Full schedule is here: http://phillyhoneyfest.com/schedule/2013-saturday/
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Sep 5, 2013 20:56
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 23:13 |
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I had to take a year off of home brewing and mead making due to living circumstances but just moved into a significantly larger apartment with a private yard. Very excited to get back into brewing! Question though, as I would like to start doing all grain batches outdoors and have only previously brewed indoors on stove top. I should have most of the equipment already (mash tun, 10 gallon pot, etc.) but what should I get or upgrade to start brewing outside? Lets say a $500 budget (though hopefully less)? What kind of propane burner, brewing fixture (a brew sculpture is probably too large and out of budget), what about converted kegs to brew kettles? etc.
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Jul 2, 2015 18:08
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