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Hayden posted:Buy this. I got mine for $20ish at Walmart. Going to do this with the mentioned brass fittings, just not for a few months probably until I have a bigger space to work with. Current gear money is going into kegs, keggerator, carboys, and just keeping batches flowing. Once I have things settled I will probably do an outdoor burner rig that will be more suitable to having multiple pots and containers than currently doing things on a kitchen stove that can JUST get my 8 gallon pot to a boil.
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Apr 24, 2012 23:53
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whatever any of you plan on doing, never, EVER use a vertical 5 or 10 gallon mash tun without a false bottom or filtration set up or anything. the worst brew days of my life involved stuck mashes due to a lack. my current set up is a toilet braid wire mesh thing, and then a cheap metal pot lid false bottom that goes on top and fits the diameter of my cooler perfectly. I just used a dremel to cut little slits in it, and it works amazingly well for 5 bucks. before I had the double safety guard against grain clogging my tubes though, I won't even describe the horrors I had to deal with after 15 pounds of 153 degree grain got stuck and wouldn't drain.
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Apr 25, 2012 03:27
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mindphlux posted:whatever any of you plan on doing, never, EVER use a vertical 5 or 10 gallon mash tun without a false bottom or filtration set up or anything. the worst brew days of my life involved stuck mashes due to a lack. Rice hulls and boiling water. Always have both ready when sparging.
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Apr 25, 2012 04:45
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the whole thread posted:Brass fittings and false bottoms or die! Well, good to know. I was planning on adding a false bottom eventually, just hadn't gotten around to it. As far as using pvc over brass, I was just trying to save a few bucks. Guess I know what my next project is going to be.
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Apr 25, 2012 06:27
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zedprime posted:PVC fittings in hot mash service is just begging for a comical but tragic structural failure pouring hot wort all over the floor as you cry over spilt beer. Maybe not today, maybe not a year from now, but its bound to happen. Splurge a bit on the more expensive brass. And if you are worried about the evil evil lead, well then you probably wouldn't like all the plasticizers or whatever in the PVC. Which is why they make CPVC. CPVC is temperature rated up to 200F, rated for pressure, and is corrosion resistance. It's slightly more expensive in your local big box than PVC, but should be considerably less than Brass. For the purposes of a Mash Tun CPVC is fine. If you want to go metal, go stainless. Go big or go home! Brass is for whimps.
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Apr 25, 2012 13:29
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I made my last brew in this apartment before I move to clean out some leftover malt I had as well as some DME I had for yeast starters. Not really sure what style to file this under, does anyone know? IPA with weird ingredients would be my guess. 4# vienna 4# munich .5# crystal 40 1.5# light DME columbus, citra and amarillo hops adding up to about 90 IBU's US-05 yeast PoopShipDestroyer fucked around with this message at 15:21 on Apr 25, 2012 |
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Apr 25, 2012 14:45
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That's clearly the world-famous kitchen-sink beer [KSB]. Sez right here in the style guidelines: Color: 1-99 IBU: 1-99 ABV: 1-99
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Apr 25, 2012 15:10
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If the hops I used are newer than I think they are, I might be over 99 IBU's, which I guess would be out of style
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Apr 25, 2012 15:22
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Wow brewed yesterday for the first time since October. Also did my first BIAB 10 gal batch. Several things went wrong: 1) needed another gallon of water, started with 12, ended with 9. 2) left lid on pot for entire boil (D'OH!) never done this before. Ended up boiling an additional 20 min w/out lid. 3) needed more ice for pre chiller. With an immersion chiller and 65* outside temp (freakishly cold day for Tampa this time of year, that's winter weather here) took a couple hours to cool to 95*, then another couple hours in the freezer to get to mid 60's. 4) dropped strainer full of hops in second fermentation bucket. 5) pitched 10 month old yeast. 3711 French saison into 4 gal wort, this has been washed. 1275 yeast straight from collected cake. No starters (thats how I roll). 6) one of the buckets had 1 gal of 6 month old DIPA and yeast. Poured out, rinses with star san, racked in new beer. 7) almost forgot, mash was horrible, went from 145-157*, it'll still make good beer, just not repeatable beer. Recipe was simple, 18 # rahr 2-row, 1.5# crystal 40, 1 # Carapils. 1.5 oz magnum hops (42 IBU). 3 oz Simcoe, 1.5 Amarillo at flameout. Will dry hop the 1275 batch with more Simcoe. Probably not dry hop saison half. My last two batches were over 150 IBU's each so these should be supremely drinkable in comparison. It feels good to be back. Now I remember why I was about to get a sight glass and valve for my 20 gal kettle. tesilential fucked around with this message at 16:47 on Apr 25, 2012 |
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Apr 25, 2012 16:24
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drewhead posted:Which is why they make CPVC. CPVC is temperature rated up to 200F, rated for pressure, and is corrosion resistance. It's slightly more expensive in your local big box than PVC, but should be considerably less than Brass. For the purposes of a Mash Tun CPVC is fine. Maybe I don't look hard enough but the giant hardware stores I've visited looked like they only had brass or PVC as far as having a variety of fittings goes. That doesn't preclude mail order, but then as a new pipefitter you can't check yourself by assembling the poo poo on the spot to see if it all fits. Also stainless is a bit overkill for a plastic mash tun since that brass is probably going to be the most sanitary surface you got after a few goes. For that matter cpvc is great if they got them.
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Apr 25, 2012 16:45
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tesilential posted:3) needed more ice for pre chiller. With an immersion chiller and 65* outside temp (freakishly cold day for Tampa this time of year, that's winter weather here) took a couple hours to cool to 95*, then another couple hours in the freezer to get to mid 60's. Get a recirculating chiller. We used ours for the first time last brew day and the wort was 65-70 degrees as soon as it hit the fermenter. It was pretty insane. I was used to waiting hours, using water/ice baths for the pot, etc.
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Apr 25, 2012 16:48
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Speaking of chillers, my copper wort chiller has all these dark spots on it...most likely because I left it outside (under cover, but still exposed) without really cleaning it post-brew, but what's my best bet for cleaning it up on the outside (and inside)? I have my AIO miracle cleaner in Oxi-Clean, but I've been told to keep it away from metals. I'd also rather punch myself in the face than manually scrub the whole thing, but if it came to that what should I use? I'm pretty meticulous about my cleaning and sanitizing, I simply forgot the chiller was out on the patio after taking care of the beer last time and I'd like to avoid paying for more copper if I can help it.
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Apr 25, 2012 17:18
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I've been tweaking the parti-gyle recipe - brew day is Sunday, I'm super excited. We decided to switch the quad to a tripel, with a single-malt step mash of pilsnermalt. For the second runnings, a Belgian-American IPA, we're thinking of adding 5% crystal malts, 5% sugar (mainly because there will be leftovers from the tripel), and then a couple pounds of extra light DME to hit our target OG. Then lots of American hops. Does this make sense? My dad wants to use a bit of wheat DME as well, would this appropriate? Should we be worried about body? Finally - for the crystal malts- would we add them to the mash tun before adding the sparge water? Or steep in the kettle after draining the sparge water?
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Apr 25, 2012 17:44
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wattershed posted:Speaking of chillers, my copper wort chiller has all these dark spots on it...most likely because I left it outside (under cover, but still exposed) without really cleaning it post-brew, but what's my best bet for cleaning it up on the outside (and inside)? White distilled vinegar will remove any surface tarnish from copper. Also, there's nothing wrong with using Oxi-Clean on metal either as far as I know. Angry Grimace fucked around with this message at 23:00 on Apr 25, 2012 |
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Apr 25, 2012 22:58
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wattershed posted:Speaking of chillers, my copper wort chiller has all these dark spots on it...most likely because I left it outside (under cover, but still exposed) without really cleaning it post-brew, but what's my best bet for cleaning it up on the outside (and inside)?
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Apr 25, 2012 23:03
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Angry Grimace posted:White distilled vinegar will remove any surface tarnish from copper. My carboy brush went from basically new to rusty as gently caress because I let it soak in an HDPE bucket. I guess cleaning metal with Oxi Clean = fine, but soaking = bad, at least what I'm gathering from anecdotal comments. zedprime posted:I think Oxiclean is related to PBW, in which case it will dissolve copper, which is a good thing for cleaning if not something you want to do all the time. If its gone all statue of liberty pitted green its going to take oxiclean or vinegar plus mechanical scrubbing potentially. I hate hate hate the smell of vinegar, but it's good to hear from two people that it'll work in a pinch. I'll try the Oxi Clean first...let's hope that's as far as I need to go with it.
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Apr 25, 2012 23:16
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Guys, the way oxiclean works is through a release of oxygen when it's exposed to water. If you've ever heard of metal rusting referred to as "Oxidation" you can probably put two and two together to realize that prolonged exposure of metal and oxiclean will lead to rust. 
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Apr 25, 2012 23:20
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wattershed posted:My carboy brush went from basically new to rusty as gently caress because I let it soak in an HDPE bucket. I guess cleaning metal with Oxi Clean = fine, but soaking = bad, at least what I'm gathering from anecdotal comments. Your carboy brush will be rusted no matter what you do. Daedalus Esquire posted:Guys, the way oxiclean works is through a release of oxygen when it's exposed to water. If you've ever heard of metal rusting referred to as "Oxidation" you can probably put two and two together to realize that prolonged exposure of metal and oxiclean will lead to rust. No, really copper doesn't rust; it tarnishes. You need either vinegar or some kind of acidic solution (i.e. boiling wort) to remove it.
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Apr 26, 2012 00:09
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Or a bucket of Star-San.
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Apr 26, 2012 00:11
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Yeah, I always stick my wort chiller into my star san bucket. Takes the oxidation right off after just a few minutes. Post boil I just hose if off.
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Apr 26, 2012 00:32
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And thats why I bought a stainless steel wort chiller.  (Well it was mostly because I was cheap.)
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Apr 26, 2012 01:06
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Sirotan posted:And thats why I bought a stainless steel wort chiller. Stainless steel is cheaper than copper? Also, if you were really cheap, you'd just make it yourself. I'm a loving idiot when it comes to DIY stuff and even I managed somehow.
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Apr 26, 2012 02:03
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My pale ale is 3 weeks in bottle now so I decided to give another taste to it. It has a decent amount of carbonation bubbling in the glass and a decent head. The taste is good, slightly hoppy and some slight caramel sweetness. The beer finished a bit high (extract batch) so I assume that's where the residual sweetness is coming from. The clarity of the beer is a lot better than my previous batches which is a good sign. All in all my first successful batch of drinkable beer! Huzzah!
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Apr 26, 2012 02:06
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zedprime posted:Maybe I don't look hard enough but the giant hardware stores I've visited looked like they only had brass or PVC as far as having a variety of fittings goes. That doesn't preclude mail order, but then as a new pipefitter you can't check yourself by assembling the poo poo on the spot to see if it all fits. I'm sure based on location supplies vary, but I'd be surprised if the big box didn't have it. Lowes and Home Depot both carry it, as well as my locally owned True Value (my first choice). Stainless is total overkill for a plastic cooler, I agree. But you say "overkill" as if it's a bad thing. I mean, the three piece 316 stainless ball values that were $27 bucks a piece on my converted Sankes are also total overkill. But I like 'em. Three piece values are awful nice as you can disassemble them to clean without tearing your entire bulkhead down.
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Apr 26, 2012 02:10
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RiggenBlaque posted:Stainless steel is cheaper than copper? I bought it from some online site someone in this thread recommended, the stainless was like $15 cheaper than the copper equivalent. I thought copper prices had been way up there for quite a while? Edit: Heh wouldn't you know, went and checked that site again, price differential is now a whole $2. Sirotan fucked around with this message at 03:06 on Apr 26, 2012 |
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Apr 26, 2012 03:04
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So I'm looking for a beer to brew with the intention of aging it for a year. I'm thinking of a simple barley wine - maybe just maris otter and a pound or two of brown sugar, bringing it to somewhere around 1.090 or 1.100. Hop it up to 100 IBU. I'll be pitching it on a US-05 cake. I'll probably throw some oak in the fermenter for a bit, because I love oak. How does that sound? Does it need more, like crystal malts? What about hops? I'm figuring that the hops will fade over time, so it doesn't really matter what I use, but maybe not.
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Apr 26, 2012 03:43
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wafflesnsegways posted:So I'm looking for a beer to brew with the intention of aging it for a year. I'm thinking of a simple barley wine - maybe just maris otter and a pound or two of brown sugar, bringing it to somewhere around 1.090 or 1.100. Hop it up to 100 IBU. I'll be pitching it on a US-05 cake. I'll probably throw some oak in the fermenter for a bit, because I love oak. Getting into personal preference stuff: Brown sugar is kinda tarry, which isn't really a problem except when considering pairing with oak. For the love of god do not use crystal malts, it will be plenty sweet just because of the OG. US-05 will express a relatively high amount of non-aroma hop flavor even with aging so at least pick a high alpha strain with a flavor you enjoy.
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Apr 26, 2012 04:01
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wafflesnsegways posted:How does that sound? Does it need more, like crystal malts? What about hops? I'm figuring that the hops will fade over time, so it doesn't really matter what I use, but maybe not. It certainly does not need crystal malt. In a big beer like that, the struggle is going to be making it dry enough, not sweet enough. And if you hop it hard enough, the hops will fade, yes, but it will still be delicious in a year. Bigfoot tends to wear out in three or four years, to my taste, so it can be done.
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Apr 26, 2012 04:55
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wafflesnsegways posted:So I'm looking for a beer to brew with the intention of aging it for a year. I'm thinking of a simple barley wine - maybe just maris otter and a pound or two of brown sugar, bringing it to somewhere around 1.090 or 1.100. Hop it up to 100 IBU. I'll be pitching it on a US-05 cake. I'll probably throw some oak in the fermenter for a bit, because I love oak. I did exactly what you're describing here in late 2010: Maris Otter, turbinado sugar, and a shitload of New Zealand hops, to the tune of 1.095 and 10.5% ABV. Pitched it on a big yeast cake, let it go for a few weeks, then stuck it in a keg until next Christmas. It turned out excellently, with big body and sweetness but enough bitterness and hop character to round it off. Hell, some of it's still sticking around my brother-in-law's tap system, so it's holding solid after almost 18 months. A lot of the hop character is still evident in the flavor, too, but not much in the aroma. You don't need any crystal or specialty malts at all - just Maris Otter and sugar will make a great beer. The NZ hops gave mine a much fruitier character than I was originally going for, but still taste great. You might want to use more traditional UK hops, like Goldings or Fuggles, or go for a balls-out American style with tons of Chinook or Columbus. I've noticed that many homebrewers like to formulate recipes with a shitload of different specialty malts, and I've found that I prefer the opposite approach: Super-simple malt bills and relatively simple hop schedules, with good process and yeast management, will make a beer every bit as good or even better than the most elaborate recipe. The IPA recipe I gave above is about as complicated as I like to make an IPA these days - usually just a base malt and a tiny amount of crystal is enough for the malt bill, and between one and three different kinds of hops so as not to muddle the flavor and aroma. So a barleywine with nothing but MO and sugar can be excellent, as can an IPA with just 2-row and C40, or a Belgian ale with nothing but pilsner malt.
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Apr 26, 2012 05:31
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Sirotan posted:And thats why I bought a stainless steel wort chiller. Angry Grimace fucked around with this message at 09:26 on Apr 26, 2012 |
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Apr 26, 2012 09:23
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Angry Grimace posted:Stainless steel is actually a pretty poor thermal conductor. This is why you see "sandwiched" 3-ply stainless steel-aluminum-stainless steel cookware; the top of the line holy grail cookware are all copper. Everything I've read about the stainless vs copper debate tells me that copper is a better thermal conductor, but when it comes down to it the difference in cooling time when using it as an immersion chiller is going to be negligible, a minute or two at most. At the time it was also cheaper than copper and I don't have to worry about it tarnishing ever.
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Apr 26, 2012 12:19
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quote:Cleaning a copper immersion chiller Star-San works remarkably well to shine up a wort chiller. If you keep a bucket on hand (and you should!) just give it an overnight soak and it'll be nice and shiny in the morning.
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Apr 26, 2012 12:56
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I know there's been talk about how some of you guys get fermentations done in 72h or whatnot. I've got a question about my brew. It used Danstar Nottingham and the brew temperature was constant at just about 18C. So far so good. It was really vigorous, with a good krausen within 18h of start. It's since died down, 72h later. Still bubbling, slowly, and with the krausen receding quite well. I can't believe it's getting to this stage this quickly. I mean, the instructions did say "ferment for 7 days and rack for several weeks" but drat. If I like this recipe and want to dry hop it in the future, I'll have to watch for the exact point at which to rack it to secondary, as I was reading the old thread where good old Ajaarg said he'd missed his moment by sleeping in on a morning. Though from what I understand I can rack to secondary onto a hop bag even if fermentation is practically done, right?
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Apr 26, 2012 13:20
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It sounds like you're brewing an ale, which means racking to secondary is a lot of  and unnecessary.Just dryhop in the primary.
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Apr 26, 2012 14:09
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j3rkstore posted:It sounds like you're brewing an ale, which means racking to secondary is a lot of Yeah it's an ale, an English-style IPA with NZ hops. Should I just throw it in at the start or after it's died down most of the fermenting? Flavors can get lost during vigorous fermentation, right? (I've not racked to secondary yet, but then again I've not dry hopped yet either)
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Apr 26, 2012 14:21
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Yes its best to wait until after fermentation has settled down. I usually wait 7-10 days before dryhoping.
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Apr 26, 2012 14:28
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Also, just because it hasn't been explicitly responded to, it's totally normal for the "visible" signs of fermentation to have died down completely within 72hours especially when using a beast like Nottingham. I just used Nottingham for the first time a few weeks ago and I was extremely pleased - high and quick attenuation, very neutral, leaves the beer clear as hell without needing to do anything extra. After using Nottingham I'm not quite sure why I would ever use WLP001 or WLP005 ever again, and I loved those two strains!
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Apr 26, 2012 16:18
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So I took some cranberries and strawberries (frozen) put them in some water, boiled it up, cooled it down, then tossed it all directly into primary (about a week after brewing). Should I expect to see any activity? This is using the Wyeast American Ale yeast. I have seen veeeeeeeeery slight bubbling and kind of expected more.
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Apr 26, 2012 16:43
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No that sounds typical. The sugar from whole fruit alone is pretty minimal in the scheme of things, I think this is why a lot of fruit wine recipes include a lot of cane sugar. Incidentally the first part of your post made me remember why I started experimenting with canned fruit purees: fruit is a pain in the butt.
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Apr 26, 2012 22:14
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So it looks like I'm getting golding and fuggle rhizomes from the local hop lady. Anyone have any good links for growing hops? I don't want to murder them but I probably will.
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Apr 26, 2012 22:16
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