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Midorka posted:Edit: What do you do when the bottle breaks? I'm guessing toss the beer and call it a loss? Yeah, I wouldn't want to gently caress with trying to get shards of broken glass out of my beer. Better to just toss it.
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Dec 14, 2012 20:01
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 11:10 |
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Cpt.Wacky posted:What is so bad about bench cappers? I was thinking about getting one eventually. You need to be Arnold Schwarznegger in his prime to use one comfortably. A bench capper will cap any bottle regardless of shape though since it doesn't put pressure on the neck, but instead puts the pressure on the bottom of the bottle. Edit: I totally wasn't kidding about HBT crazies sniping that Citra/Amarillo. It's already sold out. Angry Grimace fucked around with this message at 20:25 on Dec 14, 2012 |
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Dec 14, 2012 20:04
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I've used both bench and wing cappers and I prefer wing cappers. I feel like I have more control and get better feedback from the wing capper. I also had the same issue as baquerd with regards to bottles getting stuck in the bench capper on occasion.
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Dec 14, 2012 21:06
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cryme posted:I've had problems with Founders, Firestone Walker, and Ale Asylum stubbies, but never with Sierra Nevada. I had a New Belgium bottle pretty much explode while I was capping it a while back. I'm sure it was a random one-off defect but I avoid them now for homebrew.
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Dec 14, 2012 22:13
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I just found a gallon of cider I set aside and pitched some Jolly Pumpkin dregs into as an experiment from July/August. It's got a nice pellicle forming and is smelling awful pleasant. Now I'm all excited to try it out in few months from now. It was .997 FG before I pitched the dregs, I can't imagine how dry its gonna end up.
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Dec 15, 2012 00:25
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Daedalus Esquire posted:I just found a gallon of cider I set aside and pitched some Jolly Pumpkin dregs into as an experiment from July/August. It's got a nice pellicle forming and is smelling awful pleasant. Now I'm all excited to try it out in few months from now. It was .997 FG before I pitched the dregs, I can't imagine how dry its gonna end up. I've been looking for something to do with an extra gallon of cider, and I think this is it, except instead of Jolly Pumpkin I'll be doing it with some Russian River sours.
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Dec 15, 2012 00:30
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Daedalus Esquire posted:I just found a gallon of cider I set aside and pitched some Jolly Pumpkin dregs into as an experiment from July/August. This is the best idea. crazyfish posted:I'll be doing it with some Russian River sours. This is the best idea. I've been collecting "Weird poo poo in a Beaker (tm)" from all the commercial sours we buy and I can't wait to throw it into something. Cider sounds like a fun breeding ground.
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Dec 15, 2012 04:42
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hellfaucet posted:Yeah, I wouldn't want to gently caress with trying to get shards of broken glass out of my beer. Better to just toss it. I dumped three bottles because the glass just shattered. I saved one because I caught the break in time, but I specifically marked it so I know which one it was.
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Dec 15, 2012 07:09
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So you can think really hard about whether you want to risk glass in your digestive system? It's not worth your $.50 bottle of whatever man. Toss the brew.
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Dec 15, 2012 07:33
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Hey everyone, sorry about taking so long to get the secret santa assignments out. Wife and I just had a kid, and she was a hair early so I didn't get a chance to finish things out like santee assignments. You'll be getting them tomorrow, notes sent to me via PM will be in there as well. -PSoT
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Dec 15, 2012 11:03
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I had a pretty good brewday yesterday. After all the frustrations I had with my (lack of) cooling last time, it was really refreshing to get to 70 degrees in a reasonable period of time, and to actually be able to pitch the yeast right away rather than waiting until the next morning. I also got a reasonable whirlpool going in the brewpot, and I had an idea for a whirlpool trap - essentially, a piece of copper curled into a spiral, so that the clockwise whirlpool will tend to drive particulates to the center of the trap. Anyone ever tried anything like this? EDIT: congrats on the new addition, PSoT. Are you going to name the child Zymurgy, or Brewer?
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Dec 15, 2012 18:15
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Daedalus Esquire posted:I just found a gallon of cider I set aside and pitched some Jolly Pumpkin dregs into as an experiment from July/August. It's got a nice pellicle forming and is smelling awful pleasant. Now I'm all excited to try it out in few months from now. It was .997 FG before I pitched the dregs, I can't imagine how dry its gonna end up. This sounds amazing! I love Jolly Pumpkin, especially some Bam Bier on a hot summers day with some grilled, steaks.
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Dec 15, 2012 18:35
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Jo3sh posted:I also got a reasonable whirlpool going in the brewpot, and I had an idea for a whirlpool trap - essentially, a piece of copper curled into a spiral, so that the clockwise whirlpool will tend to drive particulates to the center of the trap. Anyone ever tried anything like this? Can you elaborate on this device? I'm not quite conceiving how it would work.
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Dec 15, 2012 18:47
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Angry Grimace posted:Can you elaborate on this device? I'm not quite conceiving how it would work. You know, it's been a long time since I have had an excuse to inflict MSPaint on you guys... So, looking down into my kettle (black) from above, I have a pickup (red) that does not go to the center, the idea being to leave behind whirlpooled sediment. There's also a return (orange) with an elbow in it, which pushes the wort in a clockwise direction, past the immersion chiller (blue). The proposed whirlpool trap is the green spiral in the center. It's just a sheet of copper, maybe 8" wide, bent into a coil and resting on edge at the bottom of the pot. In my mind, the whirlpool should push hop gunk and break material to the center, and the copper should encourage it to stay there. Jo3sh fucked around with this message at 21:24 on Dec 15, 2012 |
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Dec 15, 2012 19:10
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Anyone getting homebrew goodies for Christmas? I'm thinking of asking my wife to get me a March Pump.
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Dec 16, 2012 02:06
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I asked for the Chugger pump with the stainless head.
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Dec 16, 2012 02:18
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Jo3sh posted:I asked for the Chugger pump with the stainless head. What's the difference between that and a March Pump (other than price?)
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Dec 16, 2012 03:07
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Pretty much zero apart from the material the head is made of. I have the March pump now, and it's been great, there's nothing wrong with the polysulphone head except that the threads might wear out if you remove and install fittings frequently. There's a video on their homepage which says they've made some design changes that should improve flow and head. Either one is a good choice.
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Dec 16, 2012 03:15
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I'm considering pickup up a CO2 cylinder for my father so he can purge the headspace in his wine carboys after he pulls samples. I know that the gas can dissolve into the wine but I'm thinking that the much reduced chance of aerobic infection or oxidation from him regularly opening the carboys would offset that. He isn't exactly thorough about his sanitation when sampling. Any thoughts?
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Dec 16, 2012 03:18
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Angry Grimace posted:Anyone getting homebrew goodies for Christmas? I'm thinking of asking my wife to get me a March Pump. Hoping for an immersion chiller and another Better Bottle.
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Dec 16, 2012 03:49
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Shifty Pony posted:I'm considering pickup up a CO2 cylinder for my father so he can purge the headspace in his wine carboys after he pulls samples. I know that the gas can dissolve into the wine but [...] The amount of CO2 that can dissolve into the wine is going to be very very small given that there's essentially no pressure and that it's already got CO2 dissolved in it from the fermentation. quote:... sanitation ... Wine guys have a very different attitude about sanitation than brewers do, I'm not really sure why.
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Dec 16, 2012 03:54
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Angry Grimace posted:Anyone getting homebrew goodies for Christmas? I'm thinking of asking my wife to get me a March Pump. Bought all the parts I need to finish my keezer on a ridiculous Cyber Monday sale, I'm pretty much counting that  I usually get a gift card to the LHBS from someone, too.
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Dec 16, 2012 05:53
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So, I've been brewing with buddies for a bit and understand the general concepts behind the process. I've brewed at my own house twice, and put my first beer on tap at my own place (after buying all the necessary equipment, with some hand-me-downs from my friends I brew with). It's a brown ale, which isn't hard to gently caress up, but it's super fusel-alcohol-y. It tastes a little like banana-gasoline, and a little like brown ale. Granted, the keg is not very cold yet, but I don't see this flavor diminishing too much. I know this is a flavor that comes from warm fermentation. We keep our house cool, but I fear that our closet that we keep the fermentors in doesn't get good circulation. Aside from finding another well ventilated dark area in our house, are there any suggestions as to how to keep a poorly circulated area of our house cooler than it is, while still keeping it dark?
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Dec 16, 2012 06:29
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thomawesome posted:So, I've been brewing with buddies for a bit and understand the general concepts behind the process. I use a mini fridge. You could also use whatever you are keeping your keg in.
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Dec 16, 2012 06:44
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That works, the minifridge is small, so it'll be a squeeze. There's another closet we have that may get better circulation, and I might try first. Our place is really small, and brewing takes up a fair amount of real estate here. I'd really like to find a way to better circulate the closet air in a quiet way, or to insulate the fermentors.
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Dec 16, 2012 08:39
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Ambient temps where I ferment are 70ish, frequently more, and variable. I just use a rubbermaid as a swamp cooler and I can keep that at almost exactly 63-64 by swapping out frozen water bottles a few times daily. A friend of mine has a bathtub that isn't in use and we've loaded it up before as well. The more thermal mass of water you can have, the less temperature fluctuation you get.
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Dec 16, 2012 16:00
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Speaking of bad brew days... yesterday: Credit card got stolen, massive stuck mash, rained while brewing, water line burst in the house, girlfriends daughter got her fingers crushed in a door (this all happened more or less at the same time somehow). And I couldn't get the drat temperature of my wort into pitching range so I had to leave it overnight :shake fist: Now I'm on my way half way across the country and I don't even get to watch this thing blow chunks all over my brew room  I need to solve all sorts of temperature control problems as soon as I get back. What kind of mini fridges do you guys use? I'm assuming they have to be pretty big to fit airlocks and whatnot.
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Dec 16, 2012 17:41
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fullroundaction posted:Speaking of bad brew days... yesterday: I use a chest freezer from Costco.
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Dec 16, 2012 18:17
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fullroundaction posted:I need to solve all sorts of temperature control problems as soon as I get back. What kind of mini fridges do you guys use? I'm assuming they have to be pretty big to fit airlocks and whatnot. A chest freezer. My 7 cubic foot one fits two buckets or carboys, they're fairly inexpensive even new and they're pretty drat light empty so it's not too much of a pain to move. Just get a temp contoller for $40-60 and you're good to go.
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Dec 16, 2012 18:18
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Yeah a cheap chest freezer and a temperature controller are all you need.
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Dec 16, 2012 18:19
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I use a regular kitchen fridge. The freezer on this one is on the bottom, which means the fridge compartment (where the fermenters live) is elevated, so I never have to move them to rack into kegs.
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Dec 16, 2012 18:22
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With a chest freezer/temperature control can you maintain higher temps like 65? I think I was under an assumption that was incorrect and I think I understand now. I'm guessing it works like a thermostat for your house where it will only turn on if the chest falls below X temp and turn off at X temp?
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Dec 16, 2012 19:07
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Yes, no problem with running ferment or serving temps in a chest freezer with a controller. The controller has a sensor that goes in the storage compartment, and it just cuts power when the temp is at or below the set point, and turns it on again when it rises a few degrees.
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Dec 16, 2012 19:19
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Midorka posted:With a chest freezer/temperature control can you maintain higher temps like 65? I think I was under an assumption that was incorrect and I think I understand now. I'm guessing it works like a thermostat for your house where it will only turn on if the chest falls below X temp and turn off at X temp? The way mine works you set the temp you want it to keep, the deviation from that temp before it activates the heating or cooling side, and a compressor delay. So I've got mine set to 6.5*C with .5* of deviation and a 5 minute compressor delay. When the temp hits 7* the cooling side is energized providing power to the freezer which notices it isn't currently frozen and turns on. When the temp controller sees the freezer is at 6.5* it turns back off (the temp actually keeps dropping to about 6* before it starts rising again). The compressor delay prevents the freezer from being turned on and off rapidly due to having the lid open or something which would kill the compressor in a hurry. The heating side would work the same in reverse. You can use one of those ceramic heat things that people use for reptiles, some type of heating mat, or whatever.
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Dec 16, 2012 19:23
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Thanks! My girlfriend has an unused fridge. Can this be used in the same manner? Edit: I realize that's probably a stupid question though.
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Dec 16, 2012 19:42
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Midorka posted:With a chest freezer/temperature control can you maintain higher temps like 65? I think I was under an assumption that was incorrect and I think I understand now. I'm guessing it works like a thermostat for your house where it will only turn on if the chest falls below X temp and turn off at X temp? If your temps are BELOW ferment temps you're looking for, i.e. if you're trying to make a Belgian or Saison in December, you need a heat belt or wrap with the temperature controller set to "heat." There are dual stage controllers that will allow you to do both at the same time for precision.
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Dec 16, 2012 19:43
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Midorka posted:Thanks! My girlfriend has an unused fridge. Can this be used in the same manner? Yes, it absolutely can.
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Dec 16, 2012 19:43
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I've personally had a lot of luck just keeping the chamber itself at 65, but the impression I get is that most people try to monitor the liquid itself by taping the probe to the Carboy.
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Dec 16, 2012 19:45
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Angry Grimace posted:I've personally had a lot of luck just keeping the chamber itself at 65, but the impression I get is that most people try to monitor the liquid itself by taping the probe to the Carboy.
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Dec 16, 2012 19:55
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 11:10 |
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Going to my homebrew club's first internal competition, an "APA Off", in an hour - wish me luck.
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Dec 16, 2012 21:13
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