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Hypnolobster posted:Don't worry Yeah, this just means your stir plate is working  The whole point is to keep the yeast in suspension so it does as much growing as it possibly can.
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Sep 26, 2012 01:57
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Tonight, I'm going to brew Norther Brewer's Bourbon Barrel Porter and plan to secondary ferment in a corny keg. The recipe wants you to put bourbon soaked oak cubes in the secondary fermenter. Can I just put those in the keg? Is it going to hurt anything (i.e. stopping up a line)?
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Sep 26, 2012 13:50
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BDawg posted:Tonight, I'm going to brew Norther Brewer's Bourbon Barrel Porter and plan to secondary ferment in a corny keg. It'll be hard to get them out, so unless you drink it fairly fast it may eventually get too oaky/boozy. But other than that, no.
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Sep 26, 2012 15:10
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BDawg posted:Tonight, I'm going to brew Norther Brewer's Bourbon Barrel Porter and plan to secondary ferment in a corny keg. Nope, I did that with an Imperial Stout a few years ago and it worked fine. The "beans" I used were ~1cm^3, which is larger than the gap between the dip tube and the floor of the keg, so I am guessing it was actually impossible for them to plug up the works. FWIW, I used 1 ounce of medium+ toast oak "beans" per Corny, having soaked them in 4 oz. of Jack Daniels for a couple of weeks before use, and dumped all of that into the kegs. I left them in until the kegs ran dry, but if you found the beer to be getting too oaky, you could jumper the beer over to a fresh keg, leaving the oak behind.
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Sep 26, 2012 16:07
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Couldn't you put them in a mesh bag to keep them contained and make it easy to fish them out?
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Sep 26, 2012 16:16
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Galler posted:Couldn't you put them in a mesh bag to keep them contained and make it easy to fish them out? Yes, but you'd need to tie the bag so that it doesn't slide to the bottom of the keg - and then if the beer is consumed quickly it's possible the beer will go below the mesh bag, stopping the steep prematurely.
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Sep 26, 2012 16:30
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Based on my limited experience, the bag itself is more likely to stop up the dip tube than the oak cubes are. Oak chips, on the other hand, seem very likely to cause an issue and should probably be bagged and suspended within the keg.
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Sep 26, 2012 17:26
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When you guys dry hop, do you usually put the pellets in a mesh bag, or let them free-float? Also, I've got an ounce of Amarillo hops laying around and I'm conditioning the Jamil's Evil Twin kit from NB. Thinking about dry hopping it. Any experiences with this kit? Thoughts re: dry hopping it? I feel like the hop flavor goes falls off faster on the tounge than I'd expect based on the hydrometer samples I've sipped thus far; don't want to amp up the hop nose too much if the malt bill is going to be the core of this beer. However, the hops *are* just sitting around, so.
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Sep 26, 2012 18:02
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global tetrahedron posted:When you guys dry hop, do you usually put the pellets in a mesh bag, or let them free-float? People have had different experiences with this, but for me, I always bag 'em. I had one batch where a lot of pellet matter made it into the keg and the dip tube clogged constantly. Never again  Another approach would be to let them float free but put a bag around your racking cane to act as a filter.
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Sep 26, 2012 18:05
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I throw them directly in the fermenter but I put a bag over the end of my siphon when I rack to my bottling bucket
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Sep 26, 2012 18:09
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I've been bagging them but since I don't keg I probably won't do it anymore since it's a hassle to clean the hop particles out of the mesh bag.
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Sep 26, 2012 18:11
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I put them in the fermenter unbagged and don't bother to do any kind of filtering when I rack into kegs. I do get the occasional hop particle in the glass but I have not had an issue with the dip tube getting clogged.
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Sep 26, 2012 18:18
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internet celebrity posted:I throw them directly in the fermenter but I put a bag over the end of my siphon when I rack to my bottling bucket I've done this however it invariably still gets clogged, or the bag falls off somehow... it's never really worked for me. Looks like I'll have to get an extra bag next time I'm at NB...
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Sep 26, 2012 18:31
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Docjowles posted:Another approach would be to let them float free but put a bag around your racking cane to act as a filter. This is what I do. I've got two large fine mesh nylon bags - one for racking to the bottling bucket, then a fresh one for bottling. It's worked fine so far, but I'm going to be dryhopping my IIPA with 5 oz of Cascade, so I'm thinking of bagging the hop pellets this time. IF it ever finishes fermenting. OG was 1.080 at 63*F, using Wyeast American Ale I (1036 I think). Fermentation has been pretty steady, and there's definitely less krausen than a week ago but the gravity keeps on a dropping. Managed to keep the temp between 64* and 68*, but now that the bulk of the ferment is done can I give switching water bottles out a rest? I was expecting maybe a week long ferment but this is ridiculous.
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Sep 26, 2012 18:53
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Quick question about the Wyeast 3068 Weihenstephan Weizen... My dunkelweizen was about 3gallons, 1055ish OG, and fermented around 62-63°. I think it was a sliiiight underpitch because I used just the smackpack and no starter. It is pretty strong banana (maybe a hint of vanilla) and a tad bit of clove. Is that basically the profile of the yeast? I wasn't quite expecting this strong of a banana aroma/taste. Not to say its bad (in fact I really like how it turned out) just curious if that is what I can expect every time.
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Sep 26, 2012 19:16
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I'd be curious to hear as well; I fermented this summer with 3068 and it was hot out, so yeast was around 70 or higher for a lot of the time, but it was very delicious, and strong on the banana and clove. I've heard it's supposed to be "ideal* at 63? I don't know what "ideal" means in this context as I really liked it at 70.
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Sep 26, 2012 19:50
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Ideal in that sense means that it's balanced to popular taste, if you loved it at 70, go for it again.
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Sep 27, 2012 01:37
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Pretty sure all wheat yeasts give banana anything above 65f pretty much. Looks like on Wyeast's site, it sounds kinda like the only way to nix it is by over pitching (along with low density, temp, etc).
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Sep 27, 2012 04:16
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Didn't see this posted, but I got an email from NB last night, apparently they're running a one-day 15% off sale on 15 winter beer kits today only. The code to enter at checkout is WINTERBEER2012. Note that they're all extract kits; also note that some of them are big beers that they recommend a yeast starter with, and some of them will take some aging to mature. We were planning to try the Winter Warmer and the Spiced Winter Ale anyway (hadn't planned on extract but v  v), so this is serendipity. Code's good til midnight tonight apparently.
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Sep 27, 2012 13:21
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I'm brewing a Founders KBS clone this weekend and the recipe calls for coffee grounds to be added at flame out. Is there any thing I special I need to do to the coffee other than just do a fine grind and throw it in? The coffee grounds should just settle out with the rest of the trub, right?
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Sep 27, 2012 15:48
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Raveen posted:I'm brewing a Founders KBS clone this weekend and the recipe calls for coffee grounds to be added at flame out. Is there any thing I special I need to do to the coffee other than just do a fine grind and throw it in? The coffee grounds should just settle out with the rest of the trub, right? Huge coincidence, I'm also going to be doing a KBS clone on saturday. I'm just going to toss the grounds in at flameout. Not sure whether to do a coarse or fine grind though.
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Sep 27, 2012 16:05
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The finer the grind, the more suspended particulate you may have. Also, the finer the grind the more exposed surface area, thus the stronger the flavor will be. It sucks that your clone recipe doesn't specify the grind, as that could make a huge difference in how much flavor is contributed.
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Sep 27, 2012 16:14
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I'd be really hesitant to add coffee at flameout. In the past I've added it in secondary and gotten great results (about the only time I do use a secondary). You're going to get a much less harsh flavor by cold steeping it, and you can also monitor how strong the flavor is and rack off as soon as it's to your liking. If you add at flameout and it turns out it's too strong, welp.
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Sep 27, 2012 17:10
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It's a flavor that will fade with age, though, and reasonably quickly (Founders' Breakfast Stout for example will lose a lot of the coffee note in just a couple of months), so it'd just need some cellar time.
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Sep 27, 2012 17:13
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My recipe calls for 2 oz. at flameout and then 2 oz. cold steeped for secondary. Quickly looking at other coffee stout recipes, that seems relatively low. Reviews for this recipe didn't seem to say anything about too much coffee flavor. Adding all the coffee into secondary might be worth trying also.
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Sep 27, 2012 17:29
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Raveen posted:My recipe calls for 2 oz. at flameout and then 2 oz. cold steeped for secondary. Quickly looking at other coffee stout recipes, that seems relatively low. Reviews for this recipe didn't seem to say anything about too much coffee flavor. Adding all the coffee into secondary might be worth trying also. Well for what it's worth I don't remember much coffee flavor in KBS.
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Sep 27, 2012 17:51
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What recipes are you guys using for KBS?
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Sep 27, 2012 18:03
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Raveen posted:My recipe calls for 2 oz. at flameout and then 2 oz. cold steeped for secondary. Quickly looking at other coffee stout recipes, that seems relatively low. Reviews for this recipe didn't seem to say anything about too much coffee flavor. Adding all the coffee into secondary might be worth trying also. A little goes a long way. I got quite a lot of coffee flavor out of cold steeping a little over 2oz in secondary for 2 days.
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Sep 27, 2012 18:09
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Jeff Bagby, the former head brewer at Pizza Port (and brewer of a beer called "Coffee Monster") gave me a tip that best coffee flavor comes from steeping the coffee in the cold crashed beer for 24-48 hours rather than trying to do it in water.
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Sep 27, 2012 18:26
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internet celebrity posted:What recipes are you guys using for KBS? This is my variation on a recipe I saw on homebrewtalk: http://hopville.com/recipe/1648341 I'll be using some locally produced dark chocolate instead of the Belgian, and some locally roasted Guatemalan for both coffee additions. The secondary times are also only there because I needed to put one in, and I'll be primarily looking for the right taste. edit: Also will be mashing around 154
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Sep 27, 2012 18:32
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Wow, 12oz of bourbon. I haven't had KBS so I don't know how much bourbon flavor it has. Is that a lot for a 5 gallon batch?
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Sep 27, 2012 18:37
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Angry Grimace posted:Jeff Bagby, the former head brewer at Pizza Port (and brewer of a beer called "Coffee Monster") gave me a tip that best coffee flavor comes from steeping the coffee in the cold crashed beer for 24-48 hours rather than trying to do it in water. Given that coffee monster is the best coffee-flavored beer I've ever had* I'll probably take this advice to heart next time I do a coffee stout. I added my grounds at 5 mins before killing the boil and I get hints, at best, of a coffee flavor in my RIS. *I'd put the Kopi Luwak Speedway Stout above it but I only had a small sampler AND the coffee wasn't as predominant in the mix in that beer.
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Sep 27, 2012 18:39
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internet celebrity posted:Wow, 12oz of bourbon. I haven't had KBS so I don't know how much bourbon flavor it has. Is that a lot for a 5 gallon batch? I haven't done it so I could be talking out of my rear end, but we're talking about the same volume as a can of soda into 5 gallons.
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Sep 27, 2012 19:02
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Angry Grimace posted:I haven't done it so I could be talking out of my rear end, but we're talking about the same volume as a can of soda into 5 gallons. Yeah, but for strongly flavored ingredients that can be a fair amount. That's about how much cherry lambic goes into Three Philosophers (which I've considered cloning too) and that's pretty distinct in the end result. What I wonder at is if the listed alcohol/calories are with or without the bourbon, since if you're using a 100 proof bourbon for example that's going to bump ABV by about 1% on its own.
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Sep 27, 2012 19:22
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It depends on what bourbon you use I suppose, some bourbons like Knob Creek are pretty aggressive, while Jefferson's Reserve is smoother than a polished gem. I can't find what barrels KBS uses though, but I remember it being very smooth.
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Sep 27, 2012 19:36
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internet celebrity posted:Wow, 12oz of bourbon. I haven't had KBS so I don't know how much bourbon flavor it has. Is that a lot for a 5 gallon batch? My friend did a vanilla bourbon porter with about 1 cup of Makers Mark in 5 gallons and I prefer mine more bourbony than that. Maybe I should scale it back a tiny bit because I'm using Evan Williams.
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Sep 27, 2012 19:42
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Angry Grimace posted:Jeff Bagby, the former head brewer at Pizza Port (and brewer of a beer called "Coffee Monster") gave me a tip that best coffee flavor comes from steeping the coffee in the cold crashed beer for 24-48 hours rather than trying to do it in water. So, something like a big tea bag for the grounds in the keg before carbonating it or maybe taking a cup or two of beer from the carboy, cold steeping it refrigerator with the grounds, filter, and returning back to the carboy or keg right before carbonating would be ways to accomplish something like that? Here is the recipe I'm using: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/kbs-clone-recipe-zymurgy-185487/
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Sep 27, 2012 20:13
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Unclosed oversized "fill-your-own" teabags exist for people who need a teabag but only have looseleaf on hand, they'd hold a couple ounces of whatever pretty well.
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Sep 27, 2012 20:24
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Killer robot posted:Yeah, but for strongly flavored ingredients that can be a fair amount. That's about how much cherry lambic goes into Three Philosophers (which I've considered cloning too) and that's pretty distinct in the end result. Actually, I'm not entirely sure how strongly flavored I would say bourbon is. It's mostly just alcohol and wood, but the alcohol flavor itself is really strong seeming at distillation levels. Raveen posted:So, something like a big tea bag for the grounds in the keg before carbonating it or maybe taking a cup or two of beer from the carboy, cold steeping it refrigerator with the grounds, filter, and returning back to the carboy or keg right before carbonating would be ways to accomplish something like that? Angry Grimace fucked around with this message at 22:18 on Sep 27, 2012 |
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Sep 27, 2012 22:15
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How important is a yeast starter, and what's an easy way to do one at home? I'm curious at what OG you guys start futzing with starters, and what homestyle methods everyone uses.
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Sep 27, 2012 23:54
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