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I was walking downtown today and one of the empty storefronts had a handmade sign announcing a brewing supply store. I am excited.
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Feb 18, 2012 22:12
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Just brewed some kind of American Pale Ale today with ingredients I've been accumulating. Here's what my recipe ended up: 3 lbs Extra Light DME @60 minutes 1/2oz Warrior pellet hops @60 minutes 2 lbs Wheat DME @30minutes 1 lb honey @30 minutes 1oz Zythos pellet hops @10 minutes 1oz Citra pellet hops @5 minutes The gravity sample tastes pretty good - I'm excited to see what it's like in a few weeks!
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Feb 19, 2012 02:17
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Union Jack is so freaking good, anyone have a clone recipe they really like?
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Feb 19, 2012 03:45
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Just cleaning up after putting the lid and tube on a Belgium Special Ale, or maybe it was a Biere De Garde, or an imperial Farmhouse. First 5-gal brew, and not nearly as much boiled off as I thought it would, so I guess I ended up with about 5.8 gallons in the fermenter. That included a mad dash to the 7-11 about 20 minutes into the boil to buy a second propane tank, as I saw the first one running out. It was windy today, tough to keep the temp on the banjo cooker at a consistent level without it wanting to boil over. I started with 6.5 gallons - I thought that was the right amount to get down to 5 gallons, but I was doing an extract + specialty grain brew so maybe I wasn't supposed to lose that much? Certainly didn't burn off as much as I thought. That brings me to my question, I had an expected OG of 1.081, but it clocked in at 1.070. That was from a sample I pulled right before pitching. Is that due to the increase in volume vs what I'd calculated? Is there any way I can do math to determine if, had I only fermented 5 gallons, I would have reached the expected OG? In other words, is there a scale? I tasted the hygrometer sample and it was equally sweet and bitter - if the American Farmhouse yeast does its thing I'm very excited about the outcome, regardless of OG and final abv. Already looking forward to my next batch - I think I'll need another primary bucket to get started on something else soon.
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Feb 19, 2012 04:33
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wattershed posted:That brings me to my question, I had an expected OG of 1.081, but it clocked in at 1.070. That was from a sample I pulled right before pitching. Is that due to the increase in volume vs what I'd calculated? Is there any way I can do math to determine if, had I only fermented 5 gallons, I would have reached the expected OG? In other words, is there a scale? It's pretty simple... 1.070 is 70 points per gallon of dissolved solids. 70*5.8 = 406 total points of dissolved solids. If you had boiled it down to 5 gallons, those 406 points would work out to 406/5 = 81.2 points per gallon, or an OG of 1.081. So yeah, you're right there.
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Feb 19, 2012 05:12
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Epoxy finished curing and my heat sticks can officially heat things without burning down the apartment complex or electrocuting anyone. I'm all on track to brew a lazy ESB tomorrow, my first beer since about September 2010. Lazy because I cheated and mixed in some Crystal 20 for body insurance and color. Between that and the supposedly low attenuation yeast I'm kind of torn on mash temperature and will probably just split the difference on the single infusion guidelines in my head and go for 150F.
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Feb 19, 2012 05:22
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wattershed posted:. That included a mad dash to the 7-11 about 20 minutes into the boil to buy a second propane tank, as I saw the first one running out. It was windy today, tough to keep the temp on the banjo cooker at a consistent level without it wanting to boil over. One thing I did to maximize my propane in the face of windy days was to get two of the aluminum attic exhaust tubing sections at home depot, and bend them to fit around the burner and kettle. Shields the burner from the wind, and gets the kettle boiling faster with less propane used over all, thanks to less peripheral heat loss. Definitely worth the $12.
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Feb 19, 2012 05:56
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Prefect Six posted:Union Jack is so freaking good, anyone have a clone recipe they really like? I haven't made it, but The Brewing Network did a whole series of Firestone Walker clone recipes. Here's the Union Jack show and a transcription of the recipe.
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Feb 19, 2012 18:09
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Do any of you have experience growing hops? I have some land available to me with a hillside facing south. I was thinking of using the hillside and putting up two 7 ft poles running north and south with a wire running between them, which would make for easy harvesting. A cursory google shows that people have successfully grown them with 5 ft and 12 ft poles on level ground.
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Feb 19, 2012 20:16
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There's not a whole lot that makes me happier than when I make a yellow beer and it comes out crystal clear. Behold a lovely picture of my awesome bitter:  Josh Wow fucked around with this message at 00:21 on Feb 20, 2012 |
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Feb 20, 2012 00:09
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Jo3sh posted:It's pretty simple... 1.070 is 70 points per gallon of dissolved solids. 70*5.8 = 406 total points of dissolved solids. If you had boiled it down to 5 gallons, those 406 points would work out to 406/5 = 81.2 points per gallon, or an OG of 1.081. So yeah, you're right there. Thank you very much! I was really surprised how little burnoff there was - the first brew I did was a stove-top effort with only a 1-gallon batch, in a Le Creuset pot which I have a feeling was a recipe for bigtime evaporation. Practice will make perfect. Imasalmon posted:One thing I did to maximize my propane in the face of windy days was to get two of the aluminum attic exhaust tubing sections at home depot, and bend them to fit around the burner and kettle. Shields the burner from the wind, and gets the kettle boiling faster with less propane used over all, thanks to less peripheral heat loss. Definitely worth the $12. Went to Home Depot today, xmas gift card in hand. Headed to the 'ducting' aisle and just kinda poked around looking for something that could get me 40" in diameter of metal circular protection. Found two of something like these, which snap together. This was the end result:  Snapped the pieces together to make one long piece, wrapped it around the Bayou Classic KAB6, snapped them together to keep it snug around the burner, then drilled that hole in it to stick the match/lighter through as well as give me a sight to the flame without moving the pot. I only measured out the diameter before I went to Home Depot, didn't think about the height I'd need, but it turns out that this is basically a perfect fit. It's a little hard to see, but on the right side of the photo you can see the cover to the propane valve, and you can see how the ducting comes down almost right on top of it. There's a few screws around the side of the KAB6, and the ducting more or less sits on them, so even if I hadn't belted it tightly around the cooker it would still sit on the screws/valve cover. Totally awesome modification that I'm pretty sure everyone would benefit from.
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Feb 20, 2012 04:30
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Imasalmon posted:One thing I did to maximize my propane in the face of windy days was to get two of the aluminum attic exhaust tubing sections at home depot, and bend them to fit around the burner and kettle. Shields the burner from the wind, and gets the kettle boiling faster with less propane used over all, thanks to less peripheral heat loss. Definitely worth the $12. I bought a large metal garbage can and cut the bottom off and down one side. It fits around my 10gal kettle and the slit in the side makes room for the thermometer and gas hose. drat near doubled my propane efficiency!
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Feb 20, 2012 14:05
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two_beer_bishes posted:I bought a large metal garbage can and cut the bottom off and down one side. It fits around my 10gal kettle and the slit in the side makes room for the thermometer and gas hose. drat near doubled my propane efficiency! Same concept, just different execution. I agree that it almost doubled my propane efficiency.
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Feb 20, 2012 18:22
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So I've moved to NYC and my old propane system is waaay too bulky. So, I'm going to make a brewing wand from a water heater. I've found some specs online but I was hoping someone had already tried it and had some suggestions. I'll just be doing basic 5 gallon AG batches. Also, any tips for brewing in confined spaces? Shbobdb fucked around with this message at 21:39 on Feb 20, 2012 |
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Feb 20, 2012 21:37
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Shbobdb posted:So I've moved to NYC and my old propane system is waaay too bulky. So, I'm going to make a brewing wand from a water heater. I've found some specs online but I was hoping someone had already tried it and had some suggestions. I'll just be doing basic 5 gallon AG batches. Direct heating the mash is a bit iffy. I gave it a try when the mash temp ended up a bit low (probably from striking with too little since I was eyballing despite not doing it since forever) and I burnt the poo poo out of some a bit of grain, but my mash was probably too thick to be mashing really anyway. Moral of the story is make sure your mash is thin enough to fluidize the grain and never stop moving the stick. I'll be doing as little of this as possible. Boil is just stick it in and go. One 1500w heater wasn't as boiling as much as I would have liked to, but 2 1500w in at the same time was geysering wort everywhere. I found a happy medium using one heater with a stovetop element beneath the pot modulating. Tips for brewing in confined spaces: don't throw out your back using your bathtub as a utility basin. e. Also towels. Towels everywhere. I forgot how wet brewing could be doing it outside when I didn't care if my cooling coil dribbled all over when disconnecting. Among other things. zedprime fucked around with this message at 23:55 on Feb 20, 2012 |
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Feb 20, 2012 23:43
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zedprime posted:e. Also towels. Towels everywhere. I forgot how wet brewing could be doing it outside when I didn't care if my cooling coil dribbled all over when disconnecting. Among other things. The best advice is the towels in a confined space because you will definitely spill poo poo everywhere. I usually put down a big tarp in my apartment and that works great.
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Feb 21, 2012 02:02
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icehewk posted:Do any of you have experience growing hops? I have some land available to me with a hillside facing south. I was thinking of using the hillside and putting up two 7 ft poles running north and south with a wire running between them, which would make for easy harvesting. A cursory google shows that people have successfully grown them with 5 ft and 12 ft poles on level ground. Father-in-law has some growing up on cords behind his garage, nearly 20ft in height (hillside) from tip to dirt. They will go loving nuts, very quickly. Year two is when they really settle in, but you can still harvest cones after the first year. Also, just had a baby ~4d ago and want to brew a small beer with my baby boy's weight. Was thinking 1/2 Vienna 1/2 2 row with Columbus hops? Maybe? Any ideas? I'd like to use half of two base malts (my wife and I) and then some kind of US hop.
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Feb 21, 2012 02:17
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Are there actually 1-gallon PET carboys around, or are they all glass?
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Feb 21, 2012 04:18
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Some fruit juices in 1-gallon bottles are packaged in PET. Apart from that, the smallest PET carboy I have seen is 3 gallons, though
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Feb 21, 2012 04:25
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Any recommendations for cheap containers housing bulk grain? My gang and I finally jerry-rigged a corona mill. Efficiency was awesome, we just need to get bulk grains and store them appropriately.
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Feb 21, 2012 15:21
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LeeMajors posted:Any recommendations for cheap containers housing bulk grain? My gang and I finally jerry-rigged a corona mill. Efficiency was awesome, we just need to get bulk grains and store them appropriately. A free freezer off of craigslist?
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Feb 21, 2012 16:05
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Cointelprofessional posted:A free freezer off of craigslist? is it preferable to freeze them? if that's the case, i don't freeze anything--i could just use my regular freezer.
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Feb 21, 2012 16:22
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LeeMajors posted:Any recommendations for cheap containers housing bulk grain? My gang and I finally jerry-rigged a corona mill. Efficiency was awesome, we just need to get bulk grains and store them appropriately. I use blue poly shipping barrels with sealing lids. I got them on Craigslist in exchange for a few bottles of homebrew. I guess they are 30-ish gallons, and each holds a sack of grain nicely. I don't freeze them or anything, just store them in the garage.
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Feb 21, 2012 16:34
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Jo3sh posted:I use blue poly shipping barrels with sealing lids. I got them on Craigslist in exchange for a few bottles of homebrew. I guess they are 30-ish gallons, and each holds a sack of grain nicely. right on, i've already found some locally with screw on lids.
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Feb 21, 2012 16:46
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LeeMajors posted:Any recommendations for cheap containers housing bulk grain? My gang and I finally jerry-rigged a corona mill. Efficiency was awesome, we just need to get bulk grains and store them appropriately. A thread or two ago someone recommended these: http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3437187&lmdn=Category I got two of the large size and wheel my 50/55# or grain around in the garage. Airtight and pretty convenient.
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Feb 21, 2012 17:44
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I ordered a stirplate. How would I go about harvesting and storing yeast? Since my primary is a bucket, can I just scoop off the krausen?
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Feb 21, 2012 19:37
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Oops. I misread a recipe and used 3lbs of Amber LME instead of 3lbs of Amber DME. My target gravity was 1.080 and my OG was around 1.065. I couldn't figure out the difference until I went back and checked the recipe. Would it be okay to boil a half gallon with one lb DME and add it? I know the recipe won't turn out, but it would be nice to try and salvage it.
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Feb 21, 2012 19:58
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At what point are you in the process? That should be fine unless the yeast have been dormant for days, and even then they might wake back up and eat at least some of the DME.
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Feb 21, 2012 20:06
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As of yesterday, my beer is barely fermenting...like, one little bubble going through my water trap every 30 seconds or so...it's been in the carboy just over a week, is this normal? And to continue the "stupid newbie" poo poo, if I wanted to add some fruit, and do a secondary fermentation (which I do,) how do I figure that into my FG? I know my OG was 1.060, because it was just a simple all-extract kit. When I rack into my secondary I'll take a sample and see what the gravity is at then, but is there some formula that takes fruit into account? Like X pounds of Y fruit fermented for two weeks will add Z to your gravity? And do I only need fruit, or should I toss some DME or corn sugar in there, too?
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Feb 21, 2012 20:19
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I have the last extract kit I did before buying All-Graint stuff in my fermenting bucket and I think I see why nobody just puts the hydrometer right in the bucket. I gave it a try, but my reading looked to be ~1.024, which seemed overly high for an IPA kit (it's a Northern Brewer IPA kit). I thought that seemed high for a FG so I went ahead and sanitized the thief and hydrometer vial and it actually came up when I could see it properly at around 1.018. The sample was pretty tasty, even warm and uncarbonated so that's a good sign. Loads better than the first kit, in any case.
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Feb 21, 2012 22:15
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Docjowles posted:At what point are you in the process? That should be fine unless the yeast have been dormant for days, and even then they might wake back up and eat at least some of the DME. I just brewed it this afternoon. I'll boil that later this evening and add it in.
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Feb 21, 2012 22:15
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DrBouvenstein posted:As of yesterday, my beer is barely fermenting...like, one little bubble going through my water trap every 30 seconds or so...it's been in the carboy just over a week, is this normal? Was it going pretty vigorously before that? I think it's pretty normal for that phase to be short, even as little as 48 hours. Checking the gravity is the most reliable way to track progress, even though it's more work.
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Feb 21, 2012 22:24
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Just did a quick scan of the thread, but if this is a repeat...sorry! Was wondering if anyone had a good Imperial Red Rye (partial or extract) recipe. Might be picking up two kegs soon so want to get a brew or two under way before they get here. Yay friends who never brew and are giving their equipment away. Also, have a friend who has been searching for a sorghum less (or low levels) gluten free IPA. Anyone know of any recipes like that? Lord_Xar fucked around with this message at 23:00 on Feb 21, 2012 |
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Feb 21, 2012 22:43
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DrBouvenstein posted:And to continue the "stupid newbie" poo poo, if I wanted to add some fruit, and do a secondary fermentation (which I do,) how do I figure that into my FG? I know my OG was 1.060, because it was just a simple all-extract kit. When I rack into my secondary I'll take a sample and see what the gravity is at then, but is there some formula that takes fruit into account? Like X pounds of Y fruit fermented for two weeks will add Z to your gravity? There aren't any hard and fast rules; Radical Brewing has some info on fruiting beers, but he doesn't really list gravity impact et cetera. If I were you, I wouldn't worry so much about the gravity impact; concentrate on what kind of flavor you want to get out of the fruit. I fruited a wheat beer with four pounds of cranberries once. First, I put the fruit through 3 freeze-thaw cycles; this helps break down the fruit a bit. Then, just before putting it into the beer, I gave it a light spin in the food processor and then stewed it at 155-165F for 20 minutes. After chilling briefly, I dumped the whole thing into the beer. This gave a nice tanginess but not an overpowering cranberry flavor. I would not add any more sugar other than what's in the fruit. What kind of fruit are you planning to use, and what style of beer / which yeast are you using? EDIT: last weekend made a nice simple Hefe: 6 lbs German pils, 4 lbs red wheat, 1 oz Hallertau at 60 minutes, WLP380. The yeast are happily chugging along and I'm convinced this batch will be quite delicious.
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Feb 22, 2012 01:15
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I could use a recipe critique from someone who knows anything about brewing with rye. I'm using a dry stout as a base style Oh, and it's a 1 gallon batch. 1 lb Rye Malt .75 lb Maris Otter .25 lb Chocolate Malt .4 oz East Kent Goldings (60 minutes, 25 IBU) I'll be sour mashing about 10% of the grist (3.2 oz of the Maris probably) and using Nottingham yeast. Any suggestions would be appreciated since I've been pretty limited in my exposure to rye beers.
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Feb 22, 2012 01:30
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Does anyone have any experience brewing with Chili peppers? Some friends and I are going in on batches that are not run of the mill and splitting them up helps if they're not any good. What we're looking at is using a smoked porter as the base beer. We're planning on using chipolte and ancho chili in the mash and dry hopping without the seeds. We'll be tasting along the way to scale the heat, but any advice would be helpful.
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Feb 22, 2012 02:14
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Ok, so, I need flavor ideas. So far I've got 3 ciders, a Kiwi-Mango, Orange-Pineapple, and Banana with vanilla bean and orange blossom honey. I'm wanting to make 2 more, one of Cranberry and one Anjou Pear, using dried fruit. I have a flavor bible, which makes this so much harder to decide, so I'm soliciting suggestions. These will be still, farmhouse ciders. Cranberry: allspice, apples, apricots, chile peppers, chocolate, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, honey, lemon, lime, maple syrup, peaches, pears, pumpkin, raisins, star anise, tangerines, thyme, and vanilla. Pears: allspice, anise, apples, apricots, basil, blackberries, blueberries, cardamom, cherries, chocolate, cinnamon, cloves, cranberries, dates, dill, fennel, figs, ginger, honey, maple syrup, mint, nutmeg, orange, passion fruit, pepper, prunes, raisins, raspberries, rosemary, star anise, strawberries, and vanilla. Since my others are tropical stuff, I kinda want to have something contrasting that, but I'm a terribly indecisive about this sort of thing e: Cranberry lemon thyme, Pear star anise cinnamon? US Foreign Policy fucked around with this message at 03:17 on Feb 22, 2012 |
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Feb 22, 2012 02:48
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^I'm probably reading this wrong, but when you say cider are the main flavour components (cranberry, etc) the juice or is this flavoured apple?LeeMajors posted:Any recommendations for cheap containers housing bulk grain? My gang and I finally jerry-rigged a corona mill. Efficiency was awesome, we just need to get bulk grains and store them appropriately. Ugh, maybe I'll just mooch those gallon wine jugs off my grandfather. I'm just paranoid about stuff breaking.
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Feb 22, 2012 03:32
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Synnr posted:^I'm probably reading this wrong, but when you say cider are the main flavour components (cranberry, etc) the juice or is this flavoured apple? Main component, I actually am doing these from dried fruit, as in, dried cranberries and dried anjou pear slices
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Feb 22, 2012 03:40
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US Foreign Policy posted:Main component, I actually am doing these from dried fruit, as in, dried cranberries and dried anjou pear slices I'm going to think about this while I'm working, because everything popping into my head is themed and probably too subtle to work smooshed into a bottle for months. I'll be back later to post whatever I come up with before I crash into bed.
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Feb 22, 2012 03:58
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