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My friend and I are trying to brew a beer with sarsaparilla and are unsure of when to add the bark to the brew in order to extract the most flavor from it. Should we add it to the wort or in the fermenters, or a combination of both?
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May 12, 2012 01:03
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All the root beer recipes I have found using sarsaparilla bark call for boiling it for about 20-30 minutes, so it seems like adding it to the boil would be a good way to go.
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May 12, 2012 01:15
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BerkerkLurk posted:I'm currently doing my best to ignore a Facebook discussion that includes, "why are you waiting two weeks to bottle beer? I only let me meads ferment that long." I've learned to avoid all Facebook discussions.
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May 12, 2012 02:17
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FreelanceSocialist posted:I've learned to avoid all Facebook discussions. This is not brewing exclusive.
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May 12, 2012 02:18
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Ran across Simpson's Peated Malt at the LHBS. Anyone ever used it? Tasted fantastic. I've only had Alaska Brewing Co's Smoked Porter but that didn't have much smoke flavor to it.
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May 12, 2012 03:29
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I'm not sure if it was from Simpson's, but I've used peated malt in a (not to style) Scotch ale and it was a beautiful thing. Some will love it and some will hate it, but if you like peated whisky, you will fall in the love it camp.
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May 12, 2012 04:15
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I dunno, I love Laphroaig, but peat-smoked malt in beers doesn't do much for me. It's too medicinal? I can't explain why I don't mind it in scotch but it really bothers me in beer. I much prefer beers using beechwood smoked malt.
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May 12, 2012 04:17
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cryme posted:I dunno, I love Laphroaig, but peat-smoked malt in beers doesn't do much for me. It's too medicinal? I can't explain why I don't mind it in scotch but it really bothers me in beer. I much prefer beers using beechwood smoked malt. I just brewed a smoked porter using that peat-smoked and I got that same medicinal taste out of it too. I brewed it again using the rauch malt and it was much more drinkable and that medicinal taste was gone. I don't know, maybe I just used too much of the peated but I didn't really like it. After just reading Brewing Classic Styles by John Palmer and Jamil I found they said, "The worst smoked beers I have ever tried were all made with smoke flavoring or peat-smoked malt. I recommend never using either, no matter how tempted you might be." (pg.276)
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May 12, 2012 05:23
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I do find a little goes a long way. I think the most peated malt I ever used was about 2 pounds, while I hear that brewers who use beechwood malt sometimes use as much as half of the grain bill. Stone smoked porter uses peated malt - I don't think they use enough, but then I tend to go for big powerful flavors.
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May 12, 2012 05:27
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Drinking espresso oak aged yeti - so good, so so good, even if it really just tastes like normal oak aged. I had B.O.R.I.S last night and I think I had an off bottle since it tasted like a Belgian with little hopping, but this beer, this is a nicely aged stout. Just a hint of coffee flavor with the oak -- perfect as far as I'm concerned. Now I just want to let my big bottle of Yeti that's already aged a year sit a little bit longer... Edit: Wrong thread. I did homebrew tonight, and even though pretty much everything went wrong, I think it's still going to be great. I didn't have a mesh bad for the caramel pils, no way to get the whole leaf sorachi ace out of the wort, didn't realize my new chiller didn't hook up to my faucet, the whole bit, but this wheat pale ale is still gonna rule  RDWHAHB ftw. the yellow dart fucked around with this message at 06:17 on May 12, 2012 |
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May 12, 2012 05:35
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Had some buddies over and brewed my first ever from scratch extract recipe. The krausen was looking great 10h into fermentation. I'm feeling good about this brew. How long do you let your porters sit and condition for? I was thinking 10 days primary (it's using s04) and a two week warm condition. Sound good? The gravity I read was 1.055, lower than I thought it should be but it could be due to incomplete mixing... Kaiho fucked around with this message at 15:31 on May 12, 2012 |
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May 12, 2012 14:22
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Assuming you have nice healthy yeast let that poo poo sit in the primary for a month. That way the yeast will clean up nicely after themselves, you won't have to worry about diacetyl, and the yeast cake should compact nicely when you rack it over. Last winter I did Denny Conn's imperial porter, sat in primary for a month then I racked it to secondary on a whole split and scraped Tahitian vanilla bean and an ounce of medium toast French oak cubes that I had soaking in Maker's Mark 46 for 6 months. Let's just say that everyone that tried that beer wouldn't stop raving about how good it was.
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May 12, 2012 18:00
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Had a boilover last brew day, and I was able to get the majority of the burnt crud cleaned off my stove, but I have a dark ring that absolutely won't budge. Any tips or tricks for getting that off?
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May 12, 2012 18:27
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bengy81 posted:Had a boilover last brew day, and I was able to get the majority of the burnt crud cleaned off my stove, but I have a dark ring that absolutely won't budge. Any tips or tricks for getting that off? Have you tried steel wool/SOS pads? Depending on what your stovetop is made of you might not want to use them. Should be ok on ceramic.
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May 12, 2012 20:56
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bengy81 posted:Had a boilover last brew day, and I was able to get the majority of the burnt crud cleaned off my stove, but I have a dark ring that absolutely won't budge. Any tips or tricks for getting that off? If it's a ceramic cooktop, take it off the stove and cover it with oven cleaner (outside or in a crappy bathtub) let it sit, and then hose off. I used this method on a white ceramic stove that was practically black with wort-boilover, and I got my deposit back when I moved out. It's a bit dicey with all of the chemicals, but it's very low effort.
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May 12, 2012 21:13
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Mister Jack posted:If it's a ceramic cooktop, take it off the stove and cover it with oven cleaner (outside or in a crappy bathtub) let it sit, and then hose off. I used this method on a white ceramic stove that was practically black with wort-boilover, and I got my deposit back when I moved out. Good idea, Didn't think of that yet, I haven't tried steel wool or SOS because we are in a rental, and our landlord is anal-retentive about everything. So far I have only had one boil over, but poo poo what a mess.
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May 12, 2012 22:30
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Whew, after 24 hours and no activity I was worried the yeast hadn't taken but wheat pale ale is now on its way! Excitement!
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May 13, 2012 04:24
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bengy81 posted:Good idea, Didn't think of that yet, I haven't tried steel wool or SOS because we are in a rental, and our landlord is anal-retentive about everything. Eh, if it's a ceramic stove top you will be five with steel wool. I had to go to town on my (lovely rental) stove the first time I brewed too. Give it some elbow grease and it will be fine and scratch-free.
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May 13, 2012 04:59
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Track down copper wool. Seriously.
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May 13, 2012 05:52
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And if you want to save some time too, find some copper wire cones for a Dremel.
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May 13, 2012 08:11
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bengy81 posted:Had a boilover last brew day, and I was able to get the majority of the burnt crud cleaned off my stove, but I have a dark ring that absolutely won't budge. Any tips or tricks for getting that off? If you already have PBW, mix it at a high temperature (180-ish) and let it soak into the mess. After you've let it sit for a few minutes, a green Scotchbrite pad should make quick work of it. Just don't put so much pressure on the pad that you'll scratch the stove. Keeping the area wet helps with that. To avoid that completely, get yourself a spray bottle full of cold water. When it starts to foam (usually 10 or so minutes before it boils or around 200 degrees) give it some sprays here and there. Then you only have to be careful and ready to spray while adding your hops. As long as you don't dump them all in at once, the spray works really well. This method was the only thing that saved my wife and I from having a completely caramelized brewery floor when we were still kidding ourselves that a Brew-Magic could be used in a small commercial brewery. We've since upgraded to a 7BBL, but a splash of cold water as it foams still does the trick without using any additives.
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May 13, 2012 15:44
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Owithey posted:If you want to get Star-san in the Uk, they sell it at http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/ Excellent, bookmarked. I usually order as much as I can from home-brew-online.co.uk, they have an eBay store and do shipping for I think £5 at the most, no matter how much you order, but their selection can leave something to be desired sometimes. The home-brew-shop site has a much better selection.
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May 13, 2012 16:20
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For UK homebrewers, I'd just like to recommend http://www.brewuk.co.uk . They are pretty drat well stocked IMO, do Star San and will do free shipping above £65. Their extract recipe packs were an excellent intro for me into stepping away from kits. As far as I can tell, they are cheaper on malts and a touch more expensive on hops than the home brew shop. But not by much, and the free shipping is awesome. Also, they have great customer service and will never ship out liquid yeasts if there's a bank holiday or something meaning they'd have to sit unrefrigerated for long. I'm glad about that.
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May 13, 2012 17:29
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So a while ago I asked about some barleywine info, well I'm back. We've reached our FG of 1.020, hitting 10%. When we rack this we plan to split half of the batch to let it sit on bourbon soaked oak chips. I'm wondering how much we should use, I'm thinking of making a layer of oak chips on the bottom to actually let it sit on them but am open to ideas. It will be roughly 2.5 gallons, the bourbon will be Woodford Reserve.
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May 13, 2012 17:51
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I'm going oldschool and doing an extract batch on the stove top because I've been too busy to really want to do a mash on a weekend and doing the stove because my heat sticks need some touching up on leaky points. Doing a full boil and bridging the burners with a megapot is giving a far more impressive boil than I would have ever hoped for from a stove.
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May 13, 2012 19:07
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Kaiho posted:For UK homebrewers, I'd just like to recommend http://www.brewuk.co.uk . Well that is really good - now I have a lot more variety I can look for! It's really weird that I can't find any homebrew shops in the Burton area (since it's historically been such a brewing town) - I know there's at least one club in the area but I don't have time for that unfortunately.
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May 13, 2012 22:01
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cryme posted:I dunno, I love Laphroaig, but peat-smoked malt in beers doesn't do much for me. It's too medicinal? I can't explain why I don't mind it in scotch but it really bothers me in beer. I much prefer beers using beechwood smoked malt. Just want to say this is exactly how I feel too. I love peated scotches but haven't gotten a satisfactory result using peated malt, even when keeping the amount modest. Beechwood smoked malt though was great in my last Scotch ale.
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May 14, 2012 16:17
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I'm looking at adding a wooden collar + taps to my keggerator chest freezer sometime in the next few weeks before a family party. Looking at Northern Brewer, it seems like for a stainless steel tap + shank + nut its going to cost me like $50 each and I have 4 tanks in there. Is there anyplace that offers cheaper solutions? Are the chrome taps that bad (I seem to remember someone in IRC saying something about them sucking)? I really want to do all 4 in one installation, but if its going to be a $200 bill it may have to wait.
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May 14, 2012 16:25
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zerox147o posted:I'm looking at adding a wooden collar + taps to my keggerator chest freezer sometime in the next few weeks before a family party. Looking at Northern Brewer, it seems like for a stainless steel tap + shank + nut its going to cost me like $50 each and I have 4 tanks in there. Is there anyplace that offers cheaper solutions? Are the chrome taps that bad (I seem to remember someone in IRC saying something about them sucking)? I really want to do all 4 in one installation, but if its going to be a $200 bill it may have to wait. I've got chrome taps, they don't suck, but the forward-sealing design of a Perlick is definitely superior. If I could go back in time I'd probably spend the extra money to get SS Perlicks with SS shanks, but it's not like I regret getting the chrome taps. They do the job, they look nice and shiny, I haven't seen any brass showing after > 6 months of use. If those are your main concerns and you're more interested in minimizing costs, the chrome taps will definitely fit the bill. If you don't want to ever have to upgrade you kegger again... you'll have to cough up the extra dough for SS, once again I would bypass the SS rear-sealing taps and go straight for Perlicks then.
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May 14, 2012 16:48
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Super Rad posted:I've got chrome taps, they don't suck, but the forward-sealing design of a Perlick is definitely superior. If I could go back in time I'd probably spend the extra money to get SS Perlicks with SS shanks, but it's not like I regret getting the chrome taps. They do the job, they look nice and shiny, I haven't seen any brass showing after > 6 months of use. If those are your main concerns and you're more interested in minimizing costs, the chrome taps will definitely fit the bill. If you don't want to ever have to upgrade you kegger again... you'll have to cough up the extra dough for SS, once again I would bypass the SS rear-sealing taps and go straight for Perlicks then. Yeah this is going to be the centerpiece of the basement bar. For the family party we will just have to deal with opening the thing up and using the picnic taps for the time being. Will just throw 1 set of taps into my next 4 orders from NB to space out the cost a bit. Thanks.
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May 14, 2012 16:55
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zerox147o posted:Yeah this is going to be the centerpiece of the basement bar. For the family party we will just have to deal with opening the thing up and using the picnic taps for the time being. Will just throw 1 set of taps into my next 4 orders from NB to space out the cost a bit. Thanks. Make sure you get the forward sealing faucets, aka NOT the ones you see at your local bar.
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May 14, 2012 17:32
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Can you explain the difference and the pros and cons? I'll be looking to do this same project later this year.
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May 14, 2012 17:41
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Midorka posted:So a while ago I asked about some barleywine info, well I'm back. We've reached our FG of 1.020, hitting 10%. When we rack this we plan to split half of the batch to let it sit on bourbon soaked oak chips. I'm wondering how much we should use, I'm thinking of making a layer of oak chips on the bottom to actually let it sit on them but am open to ideas. It will be roughly 2.5 gallons, the bourbon will be Woodford Reserve.
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May 14, 2012 18:05
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Splizwarf posted:Can you explain the difference and the pros and cons? I'll be looking to do this same project later this year. It comes down to two basic questions: 1. Chrome? Pros: Cheapest by far Chrome is shiny, people like shiny things Cons: Chrome will slowly be eaten away by the acidic beer which will eventually reveal the brass underneath which may impact flavor, stainless steel will last forever. 2. Forward-sealing (i.e. Perlick)? Pros: Will not drip after closing tap Less gunk buildup in the internal surfaces (means you can get away with fewer full cleanings) Seems to give a smoother pour Cons: May be slightly more expensive than the rear-sealing SS models, but at my LHBS I think this is literally a $1 per tap difference, definitely worth it Despite being higher quality, these taps can look less "cool" depending on your idea of aesthetics It boils down to this - if your budget is limited you may be forced to get the chrome rear-sealing taps. Otherwise Perlick SS taps are the way to go.
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May 14, 2012 18:11
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indigi posted:That sounds like far too much. Oak chips have a crazy amount of surface area, which is what you're looking at when figuring out how much oak flavor you'll get. Covering the bottom in oak chips isn't like having a oak bottom to the fermenter, it's like having an oak barrel with oak staves going through it. I'd be careful with how much oak you use and give it taste tests fairly frequently, cause the oak will take a long time to age out if you overdo it. Agreed. People talk about adding like 1-2 ounces of oak to a 5 gallon batch. Start very very conservatively and taste every few weeks; you can always add more oak but you can never take it out.
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May 14, 2012 18:25
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Docjowles posted:Agreed. People talk about adding like 1-2 ounces of oak to a 5 gallon batch. Start very very conservatively and taste every few weeks; you can always add more oak but you can never take it out. When you say "1-2 ounces of oak" - are you speaking in terms of the 1-2 oz of liquid it's been soaking in, the weight of the oak pre-soak, or the weight post-soak? Or is it more commonly measured in terms of surface area of the oak (a size instead of weight)? I'm going to be doing something like this soon with a stout but want to try to hit the right balance on the first try.
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May 14, 2012 18:59
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Nthing that 2oz of Oak Chips is PLENTY of Oak flavor for 5gallons (at least American Oak). For safety sanitize your Oak Chips in vodka or bourbon/whiskey and dump the whole thing (chips + liquor) into your secondary. I would also definitely recommend keeping the oak chips in a bag that you can pull out once you are satisfied with the level of oak flavor.
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May 14, 2012 19:00
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I'm talking about the dry weight of something like this, not the bourbon/whatever that you soak them in.
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May 14, 2012 19:02
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What does each of the terms refer to mechanically, rear- and front-sealing? I drink a good amount of alcohol but I can count the number of bars I've been in on two hands, so I'm not familiar with tap operation in general (other than "
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May 14, 2012 19:17
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Here is a diagram of a rear-sealing faucet: http://www.micromatic.com/images/3/schema/18.gif And a forward sealing faucet: http://www.chicompany.net/images/Repair%20Parts%20-%20Perlick%20SS.jpg Basically, on the rear-sealing faucets, the source of the seal occurs after the spout which means that there will be a few drops of beer remaining in the faucet after it seals. Also, beer will work its way into metal plug causing it to stick. Honestly from an engineering point of view I have no idea why rear-sealing faucets became so dominant when forward-sealing makes more sense.
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May 14, 2012 19:41
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