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Funny you should ask. Its 14* out and snowing today. 
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Jan 21, 2012 20:06
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I've been getting more into home brewing lately, and had some leftover hops, grains and whatnot from my last batch of an American wheat, so I decided to head to my local brew shop to buy some yeast along with the ingredients needed to make some brown ale tomorrow. All was going well until I decided to try to cool it with an ice bath (I think I had read someone doing this in this thread awhile back, or maybe it was somewhere else), so I could pitch the yeast before it got too late. I had thought it clever to use one of those gallon wine jugs as a carboy, but I guess the glass is rather crap, and it cracked on me. Thankfully the other carboy survived and is currently cooling and I'm looking forward to brewing a 5 gallon batch tomorrow. I think brewing beer is my new favorite thing.
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Jan 22, 2012 00:04
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In the process of cleaning my stuff for brew day tomorrow, my keg of porter ran out, so I cleaned that too. However, the tubing for the beer line is discolored, even after soaking it for an hour in hot water with oxiclean. It still has a smell as well. Should I ditch this tubing? Only used it once, does this sort of thing happen often?
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Jan 22, 2012 01:16
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I also have a brewday lined up for tommorow. I'll be kegging my ESB and then brewing an English IPA that I'll be pitching right onto the yeast cake. First time kegging and my first IPA, it should be fun!
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Jan 22, 2012 01:33
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Today's my brewday, and today's batch is a German Altbier. It's my first time actually brewing (as opposed to Mr. Beer'ing it)! I fully expect everything to go wrong, but that just means I'll be extra careful!
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Jan 22, 2012 02:05
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BodyMassageMachine posted:Today's my brewday, and today's batch is a German Altbier. It's my first time actually brewing (as opposed to Mr. Beer'ing it)! I thought the same thing after I used my initial Coopers brew kit because the Coopers tasted terrible. I went to my local brew store after regaining my courage, told them what I wanted to do (and my failure with the Coopers), they measured everything out for me, bagged it and even wrote out some directions and it came out better than I could have imagined. I haven't used a kit since I bought my first starter. Have faith!
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Jan 22, 2012 02:16
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My homebrew store is pretty sweet. I brewed 4 kits before I finally got the courage to try making my own recipe, and when I went to go find all the ingredients it was really easy. They had all the malts in bins, and they had a bunch of mills that you could use just by dumping the malt in and flipping a switch. I can't picture myself brewing from kits anymore when it is this easy to get individual ingredients, although kits were a good way to get started.
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Jan 22, 2012 02:27
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I'm jealous of all you goons with local homebrew stores. The closest one to me is a 90 minute drive. Today was bottling day for my second batch, Scottish Export 80 (extract with specialty grains). I think it's time to look into kegging because dealing with all these bottles is a pain in the rear end.
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Jan 22, 2012 03:51
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Cpt.Wacky posted:I'm jealous of all you goons with local homebrew stores. The closest one to me is a 90 minute drive. Morebeer and the like are useful for that, and not too much more per batch to brew. CDA that I whipped up has been sitting in fermenter for a week or so, about another week until I dry hop with an ounce each of amarillo and cascade (maybe simcoe, but I only have 4 ounces of it left so I'm hoarding it like it's loving platinum)
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Jan 22, 2012 06:34
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Zakath posted:In the process of cleaning my stuff for brew day tomorrow, my keg of porter ran out, so I cleaned that too. However, the tubing for the beer line is discolored, even after soaking it for an hour in hot water with oxiclean. It still has a smell as well. Should I ditch this tubing? Only used it once, does this sort of thing happen often? I had the same problem, I just kept at it and eventually it went away. I was made a keg of carbed water for my lady and the first 3oz of a pull would always taste like beer - i'd just poor a little, ditch, and fill the rest. It took a bit for it to stop. I'd soak it for an afternoon in hot water/oxy and then run cool water though for a bit.
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Jan 22, 2012 14:28
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I guess my kit Belgian Tripel proves the old brewing adage that time heals almost everything. I brewed it 7/1/11, and even though when I first had it it was a harsh mess, it's mellowed a hell of a lot since then. There's still a strong banana presence, but the very unpleasant harsh alcohol burn is completely gone. Makes me wish I had more than a dozen of these left.
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Jan 22, 2012 20:20
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crazyfish posted:I guess my kit Belgian Tripel proves the old brewing adage that time heals almost everything. I brewed it 7/1/11, and even though when I first had it it was a harsh mess, it's mellowed a hell of a lot since then. There's still a strong banana presence, but the very unpleasant harsh alcohol burn is completely gone. Which kit did you have? I'm about to help my friend brew a Brewer's Best Tripel kit he just got, and it's supposed to have an OG of 1.086  . Way more than any other beer I've brewed! If it's the same kit I could see why it might have some alcohol burn.
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Jan 22, 2012 20:32
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I came up a little short of my goal OG on my extra IPA, is there anything wrong with just boiling up a little bit of dextrose or malt extract, cooling it, and dumping it in the carboy to boost the gravity a little bit? How much should I use if I came up .004 short in a 5 gallon batch?
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Jan 22, 2012 20:34
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For four points I wouldn't bother, personally. But if you're determined, half a pound of either DME or dextrose will get you 4-5 points in five gallons.
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Jan 22, 2012 21:12
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Scottw330 posted:Which kit did you have? I'm about to help my friend brew a Brewer's Best Tripel kit he just got, and it's supposed to have an OG of 1.086 The very same. I think my big mistake was using the wrong yeast. I think it could turn out really well with less aging using a yeast that is actually made for high temperatures (Wyeast 3787 comes to mind) rather than the Nottingham packet that came with it.
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Jan 22, 2012 21:29
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crazyfish posted:The very same. I think my big mistake was using the wrong yeast. I think it could turn out really well with less aging using a yeast that is actually made for high temperatures (Wyeast 3787 comes to mind) rather than the Nottingham packet that came with it. Did you use a starter for the Nottingham? Every time I've used Nottingham I didn't use a starter, and it took forever to start fermenting. I'm thinking for an OG of 1.086, a starter might be important.
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Jan 22, 2012 22:13
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Scottw330 posted:Did you use a starter for the Nottingham? Every time I've used Nottingham I didn't use a starter, and it took forever to start fermenting. I'm thinking for an OG of 1.086, a starter might be important. Nope. Just dumped the yeast packet in the wort. Probably was another mistake I made, but I didn't know any better.
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Jan 22, 2012 22:14
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With such a high OG you'd want to at least rehydrate the Nottingham, but there should still be enough yeast that you don't need a starter to get an adequate cell count. Fermenting, especially at the beginning, at high temperatures with any yeast (except MAYBE Wyeast 3111) at that high a gravity is gonna get you some level of alcohol burn, but you're probably right in assuming it'll be less so with Belgian strains.
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Jan 22, 2012 23:19
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10gal brewday of a new brown i put together, with dark belgian candi and brown sugar. Surpassed target OG with a bit of a modified continuous sparge/batch sparge hybrid (ladled in the sparge water, but used a prescribed amount, then drained the grain bed instead of ladling until 1.008). Turned out great. No complications. Psyched to get that bitch bottled.
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Jan 22, 2012 23:53
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Did my first yeast starter last night. Is 20 hours too short for a starter even if you used a stir plate? I made a 1 liter starter off a tube of WLP001 around 10pm last night and pulled it off to pitch into 5 gallons at around 5:00 tonight. I did not see any activity in the starter, but it certainly did seem to have a different color to it than last night. Could the lack of krausen be due to the stirring keeping it from accumulating? The OG on this particular beer is about 1.059 so I guess it is still going to be OK, but I want to get into the habit of doing a starter every batch. Should prep further in advance next time?
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Jan 23, 2012 01:22
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Planning on brewing an Amarillo IIPA. My last Pale Ale I made turned out pretty good, although not much hop flavor. I didn't have hardly any middle hops, everything was 60 or <15 min. and while it had a good nose just not hoppy enough flavor for an American Pale Ale. I've got a 30 minuted addition on this, but please comment if you think things should get moved around. http://hopville.com/recipe/1107001/imperial-ipa-recipes/500kv-iipa Beer Calculus is giving me way lower IBU's than Beer Smith (beer smith says 116), although in beer smith I moved 6 pounds of the LME to a 15 minute addition, so maybe that's it? The AA is the same both places, and I'm actually using less hops (.5 oz at 30 and 15) in Beer Smith just to stay to style.
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Jan 23, 2012 02:21
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kitten smoothie posted:Did my first yeast starter last night. Mine only goes for about 24 hours and then I put it in the fridge for another day and decant. Always have had a very vigorous fermentation.
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Jan 23, 2012 02:22
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Prefect Six posted:Planning on brewing an Amarillo IIPA. My last Pale Ale I made turned out pretty good, although not much hop flavor. I didn't have hardly any middle hops, everything was 60 or <15 min. and while it had a good nose just not hoppy enough flavor for an American Pale Ale. I've got a 30 minuted addition on this, but please comment if you think things should get moved around. Yeah, the late malt addition is the reason for the large difference in bitterness. It's pretty surprising sometimes how much gravity affects bitterness. One thing I would add would be some dry hops. IMO, dry hops make these beers sing. If you don't have any more Amarillo, maybe use Magnum or another high-alpha hop for the 30 and 15 minute addition and move the Amarillo to the dry addition after the ferment dies down some.
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Jan 23, 2012 02:45
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poo poo, I am planning on dry hopping two ounces of amarillo. Forgot that, sorry. This beer will use half of my amarillo for the year though  But I wanted to do a big all-amarillo beer and this should do it.
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Jan 23, 2012 03:02
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I think the optimal time for a yeast starter is 40 hours to reach maximum growth
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Jan 23, 2012 03:23
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indigi posted:I think the optimal time for a yeast starter is 40 hours to reach maximum growth I always wondered, if I put the yeast starter in a sealed, temperature controlled fridge/freezer where there is a finite amount of oxygen is this a bad thing? I imagine the answer is "the yeast will never use up the amount of oxygen in 15+ cf of air". Also how long is LME typically good for? I'm looking at buying $30 worth of Northern Brewer's Gold LME, but it'd be another $50 minus future shipping for triple the amount (which I guess is only a $10 plus shipping a time or two's savings). If I store it in a fridge or freeze it would it last for 3-4 months? Prefect Six fucked around with this message at 04:58 on Jan 23, 2012 |
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Jan 23, 2012 04:55
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I pitch slightly ridiculous amounts of yeast and generally my final volume starter for most beers is only about 16 hours on the stir plate.
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Jan 23, 2012 04:59
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Prefect Six posted:This beer will use half of my amarillo for the year though It's way better to use hops than to let them sit in your freezer forever. They certainly won't do anyone any good if they don't get into some beer.
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Jan 23, 2012 05:36
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I had the same question recently, and googled around without finding anything. I've used a few starters that only had 14-16 hours, and they did the job just fine. Making it earlier, refrigerating, and decanting all seems like a great idea...but detailed planning isn't in my nature. Jacobey's post peaked my interest. If I build a keezer I could set up a corny for just carbonated water? If so, I could probably get more support for this project from my wife. Are there options for 1-2 gallon kegs? I'd love to have some homemade tonic water on tap alongside my homebrew.
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Jan 23, 2012 05:47
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Local Yokel posted:Jacobey's post peaked my interest. If I build a keezer I could set up a corny for just carbonated water? If so, I could probably get more support for this project from my wife. Sure, I do a keg of bubble water in the summer sometimes. It's great and very refreshing. You'd need to add flavoring to make actual tonic, but I am sure it can be done. Here's a recipe that sounds like it would be pretty good: http://www.jeffreymorgenthaler.com/2008/how-to-make-your-own-tonic-water/ You can get 2.5 gallon kegs, but I've never seen one smaller than that.
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Jan 23, 2012 06:31
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Jo3sh posted:Sure, I do a keg of bubble water in the summer sometimes. It's great and very refreshing. You'd need to add flavoring to make actual tonic, but I am sure it can be done. Here's a recipe that sounds like it would be pretty good: That's what I'm talking about. Sparkling water for a refreshing drink, tonic for mixing cocktails. I just don't know that I'd cruise through 5 gallons of tonic water.
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Jan 23, 2012 06:44
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I should not have worried at all about whether I let that starter amp up long enough. I went down to the basement beer room and the thing was bubbling like mad after only 6 hours or so. The 5 batches I have done before this all took 12-24 hours or more to start when just using a smack pack by itself, so I imagine the starter did its job just fine.
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Jan 23, 2012 07:32
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Local Yokel posted:That's what I'm talking about. Sparkling water for a refreshing drink, tonic for mixing cocktails. I just don't know that I'd cruise through 5 gallons of tonic water. For flavor, I'd use more, but I steeped the rind from one lemon in a pot for ~15min and only really got a 'trace' of lemon. I had thought about squeezing the juice but did not. As for the water I used our cold as gently caress tap water (~45f), stuck it in the kegerator at 40psi for 2days. Brought it down to 20psi for a week or so, but then the carbonic acid started to get really 'punchy.' So then, I kicked the co2 to ~4psi to not add anymore and just dispense. If I were to do it again (likely) I'd go with at least three lemon rinds and one to juice - carb at 50psi for 48h and drop it down to ~4psi.
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Jan 23, 2012 14:04
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I've got 5 1-gal carboys that arn't getting much use, so i think I'm going to do 5 meads, but could use some goony input first three will be traditional meads with fruit-based honeys - raspberry, blueberry, and orange blossom. Dunno if I'll actually add fruit to them or just stick with traditional; I might add raspberries and blueberries from my garden. The last two are odd ideas I'd take input for. One I'm thinking of using Fireweed honey as the base and then doing a soak of my fishpoop peppers, though I doubt I'd use habanero in it. The other I'm thinking of doing a chocolate mead, maybe base it with Avocado honey (supposedly gives a good butter flavor) and then vanilla bean and cocoa. I've used Nesquik in brews before with surprising success, but not sure if Avocado is the right route to go as my honey base. Anyone try to achieve a butter flavor with mead? There's a few that are listed as able to, but I've never dealt with them (in honey or mead format) to really know the affect. On the cider front, I've got a kiwi-mango, orange-pineapple, and banana with vanilla bean and orange blossom honey. Mostly made from dried fruit, should be interesting. Kiwi ferments yellow.
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Jan 23, 2012 16:52
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I brewed a 70 Schilling Scottish ale yesterday and I boiled down the first gallon to 1/3 of its original volume. It seems that I should have boiled it down to almost caramel based on my after-the-fact reading, if I want to taste any difference, but it should be good anyways. I also kegged an extract Belgian session beer that used WLP500, late additions of orange blossom honey, and grains of paradise with black pepper. The spices and lighter Belgian and citrus flavors seem to be at odds right now, but time will tell I guess.
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Jan 23, 2012 17:34
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Prefect Six posted:Also how long is LME typically good for? I'm looking at buying $30 worth of Northern Brewer's Gold LME, but it'd be another $50 minus future shipping for triple the amount (which I guess is only a $10 plus shipping a time or two's savings). If I store it in a fridge or freeze it would it last for 3-4 months? I assume you're buying from Midwest and going for their 6x6 pack of LME. I've done this twice and I freeze the LME along with my hops and grains when they get here. I had one container of LME for about 3 months in the freezer and it didn't seem worse for ware (Smelled fine, tasted fine, and I hit my expected OG for the recipie). I suggest taking the LME out 24 hours before brew time so it's not frozen. There was also some discussion earlier about getting those 50 lb. bags of DME and storing them in homer buckets or similar. From Midwest the cost per efficiency is just about the same between 50 lbs DME and 36 lbs LME. (The DME ends up higher per pound, but you get more about 20% more fermentables per pound, too). SoftNum fucked around with this message at 18:05 on Jan 23, 2012 |
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Jan 23, 2012 18:03
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Ok goons tell me what I need to be doing here because I feel like I'm really loving up this batch. When I left today, the water temp around my fermenter was 64. I put in more ice and off I went. Eight hours later, despite the fact the closet this thing is sitting in is 60 degrees, the water is up to 72. I've been having a really hard time keeping the water temp consistent, should I try to get it back down to 64 or at this point just...let it go? I'm on day 4 and its still bubbling away quite vigorously.
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Jan 23, 2012 22:45
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Sirotan posted:Ok goons tell me what I need to be doing here because I feel like I'm really loving up this batch. When I left today, the water temp around my fermenter was 64. I put in more ice and off I went. Eight hours later, despite the fact the closet this thing is sitting in is 60 degrees, the water is up to 72. I've been having a really hard time keeping the water temp consistent, should I try to get it back down to 64 or at this point just...let it go? I'm on day 4 and its still bubbling away quite vigorously. That's a lot of heat to come from your yeasties. I can't imagine where it's all coming from. Is it possible your thermometer is poorly calibrated? This seems like the most likely. Worst case scenario, your beer ends up having a little off-flavors that aren't characteristic of the style. I'll bet it's still worth drinking in the end, and you can re-examine your steps and fix something before your next brew day.
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Jan 23, 2012 23:40
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Local Yokel posted:That's a lot of heat to come from your yeasties. I can't imagine where it's all coming from. Is it possible your thermometer is poorly calibrated? This seems like the most likely. Its definitely possible, I'm just using a cheapish food thermometer sitting in the water, and another one sitting on the floor near the bucket to register air temp. Since reading the whole discussion about the importance of temperature control I've been rethinking ideas of getting a minifridge to be a kegerator/fermentation uh 'vessel' that would make things more constant. Otherwise, I guess I'll never be able to make something that needs to be cold fermented. Its certainly a learning process because I don't think I paid much attention at all to ferm temps in my first two batches.
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Jan 24, 2012 00:46
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Local Yokel posted:Is it possible your thermometer is poorly calibrated? This seems like the most likely. I'd like to second this, the first thermometer I used was a bimetal one that came with my brew kit and I had no idea how bad it was until we tried to use it for our first mash! At what should have been 150* it was reading 135, so we figured out then and there that the thermometer had outlived it's usefulness. We swapped in one of those $10 probe thermometers for cooking and it worked much better though still less than ideal. Should definitely be good enough for monitoring water temps around your carboy - but when it comes to mashing they're only good enough to give you a ballpark figure, so eventually I upgraded to a thermapen. Considering what they are they're steeply priced but I'm pretty satisfied with the increase in accuracy and quick read times.
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Jan 24, 2012 00:47
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