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global tetrahedron posted:Do you do this? This kind of sounds like a bad idea to me, I'd be hesitant to get plastic bottles that hot. But if it works, then I guess it works. I don't do this, because when I've used LME it hasn't appreciably slowed the boil. However, to get all the thick LME out of the containers, I dunk them sideways in the boil to mostly-fill them with hot wort, cap 'em, shake 'em, pour 'em out, and repeat until all the LME's out of the container. I need a silicone glove for this because I keep roasting my fingers when I dunk. Someone more finicky might have good luck with a funnel and a ladle but that's a hassle.
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Oct 5, 2012 19:04
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Beer4TheBeerGod posted:Clamping isn't necessarily terrible so long as you make sure the fittings are always lower than the lip of the bucket so the chance of non-sterile water getting into the wort is mitigated. I agree, I just would recommend for most people to look for one that's been soldered or glued or otherwise sealed. If the clamps are below the lid and angled down everything should work itself out, even if there's a leak it should normally just drip down and away from the pot. But there could definitely be a rare case where water pressure builds inside the cooler (clog of some kind, or a crimped outflow tube) and instead of dripping, the clamped tubes could possibly squirt unsanitized water and then there's no telling whether or not it will end up in the wort.
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Oct 5, 2012 19:43
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Super Rad posted:I agree, I just would recommend for most people to look for one that's been soldered or glued or otherwise sealed. This has happened to me more than once. Never had an infection, but thats more likely because infections aren't a certainty if you have a single unsanitary practice or exposure.
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Oct 5, 2012 20:20
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Angry Grimace posted:This has happened to me more than once. Never had an infection, but thats more likely because infections aren't a certainty if you have a single unsanitary practice or exposure. I once had water from my swamp cooler get inside my fermentor. No infection.
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Oct 5, 2012 20:28
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I can also attest - the first time I made an all-grain batch, I had almost a gallon of water from the cooler leak into the beer. (I didn't realize just how bad the leak was until I checked the volume.) No infection and the resulting brown ale was still really good - but it's something to beware of when it comes to clamp designs. After that, I made sure that the clamped ends were outside the pot and added extra clamps on each side. Even so, as Super Rad mentioned - if the outflow hose becomes kinked, water will still spray out towards your precious wort. I've learned its quirks now, but I would definitely recommend doing a practice run with any wort chiller before using it on your beer.
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Oct 5, 2012 20:32
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I can just steep Caramel 40L, right? No need to do a mash (if I don't want other grains)?
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Oct 5, 2012 22:11
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ChiTownEddie posted:I can just steep Caramel 40L, right? Yeppers
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Oct 5, 2012 22:13
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ChiTownEddie posted:I can just steep Caramel 40L, right? No need to do a mash (if I don't want other grains)? You can steep pretty much anything that isn't a base malt, although I'm sure some people would disagree. Crystal malts are converted in the hull by the stewing process and there really isn't a lot of convertable starches left in most heavily roasted malts either. The only things you *really* need to mash are base malts and unmalted adjuncts like oats, flaked barley, etc.
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Oct 5, 2012 22:20
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global tetrahedron posted:Do you do this? This kind of sounds like a bad idea to me, I'd be hesitant to get plastic bottles that hot. But if it works, then I guess it works. Also, it's probably not necessary to keep the LME at 180°F for ~2 hours, like I did with my Hefeweizen brew.  Beer4TheBeerGod posted:I could see that being really helpful for monitoring the temperature of your wort directly.
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Oct 5, 2012 23:24
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What do people think of this DIPA recipe? I've never come up with a big recipe like this, so I'm not going for fancy, I just want a straightforward hoppy/citrusy hop taste. 9 lbs gold malt extract 2 lbs light DME 1 lb caramel 30 1 lb corn sugar (not sure about the schedule on this part exactly, will probably do some split additions, so it doesn't get too dark) 60 min- 2 oz cascade 30 min- 1 oz Centennial 15 min- 1 oz Citra 15 min- 1 oz Centennial 10 min- 1 oz Citra 10 min- 1 oz Centennial 5 min- 1 oz Centennial flameout- 1 oz Citra US-05 at like 66ish? I dunno, I pretty much pulled this out of my rear end messing around on Hopville. Wondering if there's some other specialty grain or something I could use to enhance the malt bill, the light DME is what I'm not sure about, sorta added that just to up the gravity.
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Oct 5, 2012 23:59
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global tetrahedron posted:What do people think of this DIPA recipe? I've never come up with a big recipe like this, so I'm not going for fancy, I just want a straightforward hoppy/citrusy hop taste. Looks pretty respectable to me, although I'm not sure the difference between gold malt extract and normal malt extract. I like the copious amounts of late additions. Add some dry hopping to that and you'll be all set.
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Oct 6, 2012 01:26
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global tetrahedron posted:What do people think of this DIPA recipe? I've never come up with a big recipe like this, so I'm not going for fancy, I just want a straightforward hoppy/citrusy hop taste.
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Oct 6, 2012 02:50
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http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/northern-brewer-gold-malt-syrup.html
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Oct 6, 2012 02:53
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I'd suggest you take out the crystal malt. Higher-gravity beers will leave enough residual sweetness that the crystal malt ends up being superfluous, and often leaves the beer way too sweet. Especially when you're using malt extract, which won't ferment out as fully as an all-grain beer. Everything else looks nice, though. Are you doing any dry-hopping? If you want your hop flavor and aroma to really snap, dry-hopping is the best way to ensure that. For a DIPA, 3-6 ounces of hops for 5 gallons will work nicely. No, it's not too much - almost the opposite, if you want really heavy hop aroma. Don't worry about doing any secondary conditioning - just toss the dry hops in your primary after 7-10 days, or after it's fermented out fully. Leave the dry hops in there 5-10 days, then package. If you want the beer to sit longer to eliminate off-flavors, do so before adding the dry hops, as longer than two weeks of dry-hopping risks extracting unwanted flavors from the hops.
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Oct 6, 2012 03:01
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Ubik posted:I'd suggest you take out the crystal malt. Higher-gravity beers will leave enough residual sweetness that the crystal malt ends up being superfluous, and often leaves the beer way too sweet. Especially when you're using malt extract, which won't ferment out as fully as an all-grain beer. He does have a full pound of corn sugar in there, which is going to dry that beer out quite a bit. I would think at least a half pound or crystal might be okay. I'm not sure there's any reason to use corn sugar over table sugar either.
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Oct 6, 2012 03:29
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Okay, so I've had a brew sitting in the fermenter for a couple of weeks (~3-4) while I've been waiting to find some bottles. It went through fermentaiton quickly and settled down, with not much happening on the top. However, over the past days it's been bubbling again and having little bubble piles sitting on the top, sort of like what you get before the krausen. Is it infected? It should be completely fermented at this point, I checked the SG a couple of weeks ago over a couple of days and it was defintely finished. Will I be able to save all/some if I quickly bottle it? Or is it just beer being weird?
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Oct 6, 2012 07:01
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Well, if you've been popping the lid off a lot, yea it could be infected. Honestly, it doesn't matter how long it sits in the fermenter as long as the airlock is full and the lid is on. To re-assure you, it could just be gas bubbling up from you disturbing it.
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Oct 6, 2012 07:20
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Docjowles posted:Came across this link today. Brewing on its own not nerdy enough for you? Use open-source software and off-the-shelf parts to make a programmable temp controller complete with web interface and graphs Bahahaha poo poo, I was doing this exact thing (but... not as pretty) last winter until work/grad school stomped my poo poo in. Less work for me then, wooo~
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Oct 6, 2012 08:41
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Is there a big difference in taste between C02 added by tank and just using sugar?
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Oct 6, 2012 10:02
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Daedalus Esquire posted:Well, if you've been popping the lid off a lot, yea it could be infected. Honestly, it doesn't matter how long it sits in the fermenter as long as the airlock is full and the lid is on. Yeah, I've opened it up a little a couple of times, just to see what it was smelling like, poo poo. Oh well, I'll see how it tastes in a couple of days and whether it's worth bottling. Thanks
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Oct 6, 2012 10:10
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In the process of making Northern Brewer's Bourbon Barrel Porter kit. A couple questions: took a gravity reading yesterday, so it would have been in primary for about 5 days. It's down to 1.018, but tastes pretty much spot-on, like a really quality porter. Can I assume that it's going to drop any further? The krausen is completely gone. I made a pretty decent sized starter but I'm surprised it's seemingly done so fast. Is a gravity around 1.018-1.020 about what you'd expect for a strong robust porter? On another note, I'm realizing I don't even really *like* bourbon that much. The directions say to soak 2 oz of oak cubes in 16 oz of bourbon for 12-24 hours and then add to the carboy. If I were to forgo the bourbon, would I need to do anything else to the oak cubes? Is it even advisable to forgo the bourbon? Anybody have an experience with this kit or adding booze that could speak to this? Maybe I should skip the bourbon/oak thing completely. A buddy of mine added oak cubes to a Two Hearted clone, and that was loving awesome. I'm just not sure I wanna tinker with this much as I'm really happy with how it tastes currently. global tetrahedron fucked around with this message at 15:05 on Oct 6, 2012 |
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Oct 6, 2012 14:56
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Nanpa posted:Yeah, I've opened it up a little a couple of times, just to see what it was smelling like, poo poo. Oh well, I'll see how it tastes in a couple of days and whether it's worth bottling. Thanks You could be rousing suspended CO2, which is causing the bubbling. Like, when you move a carboy, the airlock will bubble a little bit, that doesn't mean that the beer is fermenting again. However, formations on the top of the beer could be worrisome. Honestly, I bet you're fine.
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Oct 6, 2012 14:58
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Nanpa posted:Yeah, I've opened it up a little a couple of times, just to see what it was smelling like, poo poo. Oh well, I'll see how it tastes in a couple of days and whether it's worth bottling. Thanks A couple of times isn't a problem. A whole bunch of times us though, you don't want the CO2 blanket over the surface of the beer to disperse.
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Oct 6, 2012 15:20
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ClaytonClaw posted:Is there a big difference in taste between C02 added by tank and just using sugar? Taste wise, not so much. The advantage to force carbing with a tank is even carbonation throughout. You can also filter your beer prior to putting it in the keg and remove all sediment which you of course can't do if you're bottle conditioning. Speed is also a big advantage of force carbing. 24 hours instead of 24 days. If I'm entering something in a competition I'll usually filter and force carb, simply for the great clarity it gives. Otherwise I prefer to bottle condition, just cause well. It seems more 'homebrew'.
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Oct 6, 2012 15:42
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global tetrahedron posted:On another note, I'm realizing I don't even really *like* bourbon that much. The directions say to soak 2 oz of oak cubes in 16 oz of bourbon for 12-24 hours and then add to the carboy. If I were to forgo the bourbon, would I need to do anything else to the oak cubes? Is it even advisable to forgo the bourbon? Anybody have an experience with this kit or adding booze that could speak to this? 16oz sounds like an awful lot, but you should at least cover the oak cubes with some sort of 80+ proof alcohol (even if it's just cheap vodka) since oak can contain bacteria. If the goal is to just cover it it should only take ~6oz of booze, the booze will have a very minimal flavor impact but it will sanitize and help to extract the oakey flavors. As for whether or not to even bother that's up to you - I have found oaked recipes and removed the oak without any ill effect, so it's just going to be up to your preference.
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Oct 6, 2012 17:31
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global tetrahedron posted:The directions say to soak 2 oz of oak cubes in 16 oz of bourbon for 12-24 hours and then add to the carboy. I agree with Super Rad - 16 oz is a LOT of bourbon for 2 ounces of oak. I would say 8 ounces at the outside should be enough. When I did my bourbon/oaked RIS, I used 1 ounce of oak cubes and 4 ounces of Jack Daniels per 5 gallons, and that was a really really good beer. One thing I am not clear on - are you supposed to add the oak AND the bourbon it's been soaking in? Because that sounds like a lot of loving bourbon, and I LIKE bourbon. Whether you add just the oak or also the whiskey, I would cut that back, myself.
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Oct 6, 2012 17:44
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It's not that 16 ounces will get fully absorbed by the oak cubes since there's a lot of wood to penetrate, chips would be a different story. You'd just have a lot of left over bourbon sitting in oak. Don't use vodka either as that will suck out some of the oak flavor from everyone I've talked to, just toast them at 350 for an hour in your oven, it will kill bacteria and bring out some more oak flavors. Sources: A few home brewers I know and this oak guide.
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Oct 6, 2012 17:55
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Oak is in that murky "who the gently caress knows whats going on, this is what works for me" state so you really just have to experiment and find what you are looking for. An initial booze soak in whatever is usually a good idea if only because fresh oak is so pungent its going to dominate in any beer you may want to throw at it. Vodka will just take the edge off. Bourbon will take the edge off, while adding the char sourced flavors unique to bourbon barrels. If I personally wanted to oak a beer I'd probably just save all the hassle and pour myself a boilermaker.
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Oct 6, 2012 18:25
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ClaytonClaw posted:Is there a big difference in taste between C02 added by tank and just using sugar? Some people say CO2 from bottle conditioning is "finer" or "softer" or something. Personally I think that chemically it's all just CO2 and that's romantic mumbo jumbo.
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Oct 6, 2012 18:31
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Jo3sh posted:I agree with Super Rad - 16 oz is a LOT of bourbon for 2 ounces of oak. I would say 8 ounces at the outside should be enough. When I did my bourbon/oaked RIS, I used 1 ounce of oak cubes and 4 ounces of Jack Daniels per 5 gallons, and that was a really really good beer. I think you are supposed to add the bourbon along with the cube; that's what they say anyway. And some of the reviews say that 16 oz is not enough; I dunno. I'm just going to go with my gut feeling, as suggested above, since there is clearly no correct answer. At this point I'm feeling like soaking the cubes in bourbon and only adding them and discarding the bourbon. And I'll only add enough to cover the cubes up.
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Oct 6, 2012 18:44
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Docjowles posted:Some people say CO2 from bottle conditioning is "finer" or "softer" or something. Personally I think that chemically it's all just CO2 and that's romantic mumbo jumbo. I imagine there is a difference simply because one is an organic process and the other is a physical one. Not necessarily with the carbon dioxide itself but with the other flavors in the beer.
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Oct 6, 2012 18:57
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Ahh yes, the exotic primary fermentation metabolic pathway that would never otherwise be taken when brewing beer. Wait a minute, that doesn't sound quite right. Natural vs forced carbonation is basically some CAMRA hot bullshit but taste is rooted so much in preconceived notions I can understand preferring one over the other.
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Oct 6, 2012 19:32
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Don't bruise the vodka!! 
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Oct 6, 2012 19:33
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Docjowles posted:Some people say CO2 from bottle conditioning is "finer" or "softer" or something. Personally I think that chemically it's all just CO2 and that's romantic mumbo jumbo. Assuming there even is a difference I would guess it's because bottle conditioned homebrew, in general, is probably less carbonated and more aged than kegged homebrew. I, also, think that anything else would be romantic mumbo jumbo.
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Oct 6, 2012 20:03
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global tetrahedron posted:I think you are supposed to add the bourbon along with the cube; that's what they say anyway. And some of the reviews say that 16 oz is not enough; I dunno. I'm just going to go with my gut feeling, as suggested above, since there is clearly no correct answer. At this point I'm feeling like soaking the cubes in bourbon and only adding them and discarding the bourbon. And I'll only add enough to cover the cubes up. Did you ever try the Russian Imperial stout with oak and bourbon that I made? I used 1 oz of french oak and 3 oz of bourbon and added everything in. It has a very distinct taste and any more would be overwhelming I think.
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Oct 6, 2012 20:59
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Just saw this on Amazon for those of you with Kindles or Kindle software running on some other device: Clone Brews for $2.51 Also, Tasting Beer for $2.99
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Oct 6, 2012 21:07
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Cointelprofessional posted:Did you ever try the Russian Imperial stout with oak and bourbon that I made? I used 1 oz of french oak and 3 oz of bourbon and added everything in. It has a very distinct taste and any more would be overwhelming I think. Nope, I don't believe I ever had it. I definitely think downsizing the bourbon and oak addition is a good option. I don't want to screw up a good thing. The taste I had while testing the gravity reminded me of Founder's Porter a little bit.
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Oct 6, 2012 21:09
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Docjowles posted:Some people say CO2 from bottle conditioning is "finer" or "softer" or something. Personally I think that chemically it's all just CO2 and that's romantic mumbo jumbo. Chemically speaking a bottle conditioned beer will have another .5% alcohol or so and be a little drier as though you'd added that much extra corn sugar in the boil. But that's about it. The CO2 molecules don't have any memory of what process created them, and the beer has no memory of what caused it to dissolve.
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Oct 6, 2012 21:27
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I don't know, there's probably a market for homeopathic beer.
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Oct 6, 2012 21:31
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Bad Munki posted:I don't know, there's probably a market for homeopathic beer. That would be something like this, I imagine.
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Oct 6, 2012 21:37
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