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almost posted:If I add campden tablets when racking to a secondary and there is a lot of headspace in the secondary, do I need to worry about it? I have 20L in the fermenter and the glass carboy seems to be 25L. There are a lot of variables because the sulfites bind up different things. The protection comes from having a certain level of available sulfites depending on the pH. Those available sulfites would then bind with any oxygen that was introduced. Since measuring the sulfite level (and even the pH precisely) isn't practical for homebrewing we just ballpark it and hope for the best. You can read about it a lot more detail here: http://morewinemaking.com/public/pdf/so2.pdf quote:If I add the campden tablets and Potassium sorbate directly into my primary, do I need to worry about stirring? Or can I just sprinkle it? Also can I cold crash at the same time or will that make the campden tablets take longer to do their thing? I always add additions like this and yeast nutrients by dissolving in a little warm water and pouring in without stirring.
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Jan 17, 2013 00:23
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Midorka posted:I used a BB carboy for my first time and I'm not looking forward to the clean up involved. I love Better Bottles so much just to be able to see what's going on. My dedicated fermenting chamber needed to hold better bottles and not some opaque plastic! That said you do need to remember they'll suck all the liquid out of your airlock if you try to pick one up. I either put a non-drilled stopper in it or just put a piece of aluminum foil over the top. A Fridgidaire 13.7cf freezer will hold 4x 6 gallon better bottles although you need to make some sort of Peek-a-boo shelf that lets you sort of overlap them a bit. (Not shown here yet because I just got this). I'm planning on building my own controller into it to control the cooling, fan, and the defrost heater which should be enough to keep them in the fermentation zone even when it is colder in my house. 
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Jan 17, 2013 01:06
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Jo3sh posted:I used 1 ounce of medium+ toasted oak "beans" (cubes) which I soaked for a couple of weeks in 4 ounces of Jack Daniels (which might or might not be bourbon depending on who you ask) in five gallons, and was satisfied with the results. JD is inexpensive enough and widely available while not being completely terrible for drinking if people want to. Isn't the whiskey that's actually in barrels usually at barrel strength though? I don't know if that actually makes a difference or if you could even get that strength outside of moonshining some.
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Jan 17, 2013 01:19
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Angry Grimace posted:Isn't the whiskey that's actually in barrels usually at barrel strength though? I don't know if that actually makes a difference or if you could even get that strength outside of moonshining some. The fatal flaw in replicating commercial bourbon barrel beers with a boilermaker is that its going to be a slightly different sugar profile in bourbon compared to what beer will extract out of a used barrel. Different brands are varied enough you should be able to still make a good beer to your taste though.
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Jan 17, 2013 02:24
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For "barrel-aged" beers, I've always just soaked oak chips in either vodka (for neutral barrel character) or whatever spirit I want to dose the beer with for about a month, then add all the chips and most of the spirit after fermentation has finished. Usually it only takes a few days for some of the barrel character to come through, so you may want to either package the beer or rack it off the chips once you get the character you want. I've been having some fun with this technique lately - I used oak chips in vodka for a black Matilda recipe that came out nicely, and then oak chips in the infamous Malört to do a "Malört-barrel" black rye saison. 
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Jan 17, 2013 02:48
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I'm going to be within spitting distance of Cleveland this weekend, anyone know of any good homebrew supply places in the area? I'm having trouble googling up anything that's not just a brewery or brewpub etc.
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Jan 17, 2013 02:50
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Bad Munki posted:I'm going to be within spitting distance of Cleveland this weekend, anyone know of any good homebrew supply places in the area? I'm having trouble googling up anything that's not just a brewery or brewpub etc.
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Jan 17, 2013 02:58
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That's a bummer, I was already kind of stretching it to come in as far as Woodcraft, going to Kent would add another hour to the trip that's already been stretched. Akron is probably out of the question. 
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Jan 17, 2013 03:04
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RiggenBlaque posted:I looked back 20 pages and didn't see this question, even though I know people were talking about it fairly recently. If I'm looking to add some oak + bourbon flavor to an imperial stout, my understanding is I should soak some chips in the bourbon for a while and then drain the bourbon and add the chips. Can anyone give me any insight into how long I should soak the chips? I'm trying to get my timeline in place for making the beer. I recommend reading this. As for what bourbon to use, Evan Williams is very strong on the vanilla if that's what you want while Buffalo Trace is an excellent sipping bourbon with good balance and a slight heat. Both are good budget options with Evan Williams being around $15 for a 750ml and Buffalo Trace being under $30. You could also go with Old Grandad, the bonded version, which is a great cheap alternative to Buffalo Trace.
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Jan 17, 2013 03:24
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Well, just brewed my first batch last Saturday, an IPA. Seemed like everything went well, and the wort was bubbling from late Saturday until early this morning, but I'm starting to worry about how I had been storing the dry yeast and hop pellets. I bought a starter kit from Northern Brewer on Cyber Monday and it shipped about a week and a half later, but I wasn't able to brew it until this past Saturday because of holiday travel and such. My kit (yeast and hop pellets) was stored at around ~68 F for that period. Should I be okay?
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Jan 17, 2013 04:00
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Bad Munki posted:I'm going to be within spitting distance of Cleveland this weekend, anyone know of any good homebrew supply places in the area? I'm having trouble googling up anything that's not just a brewery or brewpub etc. I just moved to Cleveland, and there is only one that I know of, and it is pretty small. They have grains, but only a hand crank to grind it! Took my 25 minutes to grind up the grains for my IPA, so I buy online now. Its called Warehouse Beverage, and it is on Mayfield Road.
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Jan 17, 2013 04:26
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illcendiary posted:Well, just brewed my first batch last Saturday, an IPA. Seemed like everything went well, and the wort was bubbling from late Saturday until early this morning, but I'm starting to worry about how I had been storing the dry yeast and hop pellets. I bought a starter kit from Northern Brewer on Cyber Monday and it shipped about a week and a half later, but I wasn't able to brew it until this past Saturday because of holiday travel and such. My kit (yeast and hop pellets) was stored at around ~68 F for that period. Should I be okay? You'll be okay and it seems like you'll get a drinkable beer out of it. It won't taste great, but it should be decent. In the future, be mindful of storing ingredients. Liquid yeast should always be stored in the fridge upon arrival. That way, it'll ensure that when you pitch your yeast the cell count will be numerous and healthy. When you get specialty grains with your kit, ideally you want use them within a week of being ground. After they're ground they start to go stale, but some people have managed to keep them several months in an air tight container in their freezer and still have had good luck. Hops should be kept in their air tight pouches and in a freezer as well to ensure maximum freshness.
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Jan 17, 2013 05:57
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I've been bartending for a few years and learned a lot about beer in the process. Now I think I'm finally ready to give home brewing a shot. I am prepared to spend a decent amount of money, but I want to start relatively reasonable, and then upgrade heavily once I'm ready to switch to all grain. To start I think I am going to buy the following: - Starter Kit - Kettle - Burner I also need to get an immersion chiller, but I haven't picked one out yet. My intention is to start here, and then upgrade to a really nice 15 gallon once I graduate from extract, and make the economy 10 gallon in to my sparge water pot. If there's one thing I've learned about this subject, it's that everyone seems to be in disagreement and have their own way of doing things. That being said, do you guys have any suggestions on how I could improve these purchases?
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Jan 17, 2013 06:32
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If you plan on bottling your beers I can't stress enough how much my quality of life has improved since picking up a bigass bottle tree.
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Jan 17, 2013 13:58
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crazyfish posted:If it's just reading super high temperatures all the time, there's a chance the probe is still saveable. Put the probe (minus the jack that plugs into the display unit) in a cold oven and heat said oven to 350. Wait about 20 minutes, pull the probe out, and let it cool to room temp. It should work again. This has saved my probes at least three different times, so it might help you. Hey just wanted to say thanks for the tip, I tried this last night and it worked! Probe is no longer reading everything as 300+. I would have never thought to do that myself.
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Jan 17, 2013 15:13
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Leighton posted:I've been bartending for a few years and learned a lot about beer in the process. Now I think I'm finally ready to give home brewing a shot. I am prepared to spend a decent amount of money, but I want to start relatively reasonable, and then upgrade heavily once I'm ready to switch to all grain. There are many things I would rather spend money on than that pot and burner before I upgraded that. The kit doesn't come with a hydrometer, nor a tube to take hydrometer samples, which I guess isn't too important when going extract first, but I like to see the numbers personally. I recommend a Brinkmann Turkey Fryer as a cheaper alternative as it comes with a 7.5 gallon pot which is more than what you'll need for 5 gallon batches you'll be doing, they can be found for $50-$60. I would suggest an immersion chiller over the 10 gallon pot and Blichmann burner a million times. Just doing one batch without an immersion chiller then using one and you'll never do one without again, seriously an immersion chiller was the best money I ever spent on brewing. Other than that though for extract I can't think of anything else. I burner/kettle combo I linked is what I've been using and it will bring 10 gallon batches to boil with ease. The Blichmann claims it won't burn the bottom of the kettle or turn it black, which the Brinkmann does, but I've had my kettle for 15 batches so far and it's still working fine. It's not pretty, but for $50 it's doing what it should be.
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Jan 17, 2013 15:52
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Leighton posted:I've been bartending for a few years and learned a lot about beer in the process. Now I think I'm finally ready to give home brewing a shot. I am prepared to spend a decent amount of money, but I want to start relatively reasonable, and then upgrade heavily once I'm ready to switch to all grain. I don't see a hydrometer listed with that kit, so you should make sure it includes one. I also prefer bucket fermenters, since they are easier to clean, easier to carry, easier to add things to. Here is an alternative kit that uses a bucket type fermenter and has a hydrometer. In my opinion, you might as well just purchase a 15 gallon kettle from the start. You don't necessarily need an extra tank for storing the sparge water, although it is a very nice thing to have. Check out Homebrew Finds for deals on kettles. If you go with a ported kettle, get a welded kettle if you can. The difference it made for me when I got my kettles welded was incredible. This kettle from MoreBeer is pretty good looking. You can definitely get a cheaper burner. Blichmann makes good stuff, but they sure do charge a premium for it. Any burner rated to 55K btu will work, but I love the heck out of the 210k btu's my banjo burner can put out. None of your selections are bad, though. Imasalmon fucked around with this message at 16:26 on Jan 17, 2013 |
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Jan 17, 2013 16:24
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Sirotan posted:Hey just wanted to say thanks for the tip, I tried this last night and it worked! Probe is no longer reading everything as 300+. I would have never thought to do that myself. No problem. I can't remember where I first heard that tip, but I repeat it to everyone who has to deal with those unreliable, lovely probes. Leighton posted:I've been bartending for a few years and learned a lot about beer in the process. Now I think I'm finally ready to give home brewing a shot. I am prepared to spend a decent amount of money, but I want to start relatively reasonable, and then upgrade heavily once I'm ready to switch to all grain. If you want to save a bit of scratch on your 10 gallon pot, http://www.amazon.com/Winware-Profe...on+aluminum+pot will give you plenty of room for full boils and will serve as a fine sparge water pot when you go all grain, and at half the price of the Polarware. The Blichmann burner is probably awesome, but as Midorka said, you can get burners for much cheaper that will do the job. fullroundaction posted:If you plan on bottling your beers I can't stress enough how much my quality of life has improved since picking up a bigass bottle tree. This is the truth. Makes bottles so much quicker and easier to dry.
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Jan 17, 2013 16:25
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I couldn't imagine having a 200k BTU burner. My 42k one gets 6 gallon volumes to boil in less than 20 minutes from sparge, though I do have to worry about boil overs. With a 10 gallon pot are boil overs really something you don't have to worry about? Because that may be my next investment. After chilling, waiting/watching the boil over is the most annoying thing about brewing.
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Jan 17, 2013 16:32
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I have the Blichmann burner and it's overkill. Get something cheaper and use the savings for an immersion chiller.
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Jan 17, 2013 16:38
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Leighton posted:If there's one thing I've learned about this subject, it's that everyone seems to be in disagreement and have their own way of doing things. There's a lot of adaptation to what is available to the individual brewer and personal preferences, it's true. There's also a pretty heavy scrounging/tinkering factor in a lot of rigs and processes, so you see some kind of wacky equipment and make-do methods on occasion. Leighton posted:That being said, do you guys have any suggestions on how I could improve these purchases? I think you're spending more than you have to for a good start. I'd go with a less expensive starter kit, myself: http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/essential-brewing-starter-kit.html To which I would add the hydrometer and test jar that others have recommended. I would not get the "Raise Your Game Mad Brewer Upgrade Kit" as I think it has some stuff in it you don't need right now and maybe not ever. Buckets are great fermenters and actually have some advantages over glass or PET carboys. The Blichmann burner is very very nice, but the price point hurts me and it's frankly overkill for boiling 5 gallon batches. I'd look on Amazon or directly from Bayou Classic for a less expensive one - or watch Homebrew Finds for a deal to come across. You can get good burners for under $50 if you look around, and while you may eventually want more heat when you step up the batch size, your first burner will still work nicely for heating sparge water. Kettle, similar to the burner. Absolutely nothing wrong with the one you've chosen, but I think you can do better on price, particularly if you consider aluminum kettles. Homebrew Finds again has these come across with pretty good regularity. As to what's NOT there: Others have already mentioned the hydrometer and test jar. Where are you going to ferment? Think about a way to control your temperatures, whether that's a tub with some water and a T-shirt for evaporative cooling, or a scavenged refrigerator with a thermostat.
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Jan 17, 2013 16:47
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Midorka posted:I couldn't imagine having a 200k BTU burner. My 42k one gets 6 gallon volumes to boil in less than 20 minutes from sparge, though I do have to worry about boil overs. With a 10 gallon pot are boil overs really something you don't have to worry about? Because that may be my next investment. After chilling, waiting/watching the boil over is the most annoying thing about brewing. Here is the answer to all your problems: http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/fermcap-s-1-oz.html
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Jan 17, 2013 16:52
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Marshmallow Blue posted:Lastly and furthest away is Strange Brew in Marlboro MA. This is also the shop currently in a legal battle with Strange Brewing Co. in Colorado.
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Jan 17, 2013 17:25
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Cpt.Wacky posted:I have the Blichmann burner and it's overkill. Get something cheaper and use the savings for an immersion chiller. I said that I'm planning to buy an immersion chiller as well. The extra money isn't really an issue. Jo3sh posted:The Blichmann burner is very very nice, but the price point hurts me and it's frankly overkill for boiling 5 gallon batches. You're probably right that it's overkill for 5 gallons, but my next upgrade will be to a 15 gallon kettle. Other than people complaining about the price, I've never really heard anyone complain about it, which is why I'm okay investing the money in something I'm going to use for 10+ years.
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Jan 17, 2013 17:45
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Why are you wanting to upgrade to a 15 gallon kettle and why is that on the list before other things like temperature control? Also I can not stress enough on how much you will want an immersion chiller your first time doing an ice bath even once.
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Jan 17, 2013 18:10
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I said I will EVENTUALLY upgrade to a 15 gallon kettle. I'll probably buy a lovely fridge that I can use for temperature control at some point, but that's on the back burner. I haven't even brewed my first batch yet. And I don't know how many times I can post that I'm buying an immersion chiller before you guys actually believe me.
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Jan 17, 2013 18:58
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Leighton posted:You're probably right that it's overkill for 5 gallons, but my next upgrade will be to a 15 gallon kettle. Other than people complaining about the price, I've never really heard anyone complain about it, which is why I'm okay investing the money in something I'm going to use for 10+ years. I've been using the same $12 burner head, $25 20PSI regulator, and $10 worth of steel angle for about 10 years now to heat my 15-gallon kettles. I mean, you're not wrong, the Blichmann has a great reputation, and it's your money, so you can certainly do that. It's just that you asked for advice and we're giving advice. No one is saying you're stupid or something, only that there are other ways to do what you want - ways that might work better, or at least as well, without spending so much money.
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Jan 17, 2013 19:10
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Leighton posted:I said I will EVENTUALLY upgrade to a 15 gallon kettle. I'll probably buy a lovely fridge that I can use for temperature control at some point, but that's on the back burner. I haven't even brewed my first batch yet. The immersion chiller is probably best from Bell's brewing. It seems to be the cheapest anyway. As for that, what are your intentions with brewing? Do you plan to stick with 5 gallons? As for the burner, if money isn't an issue than go for the Blichmann, it looks really nice and I wouldn't mind having it if I could spare the scratch.
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Jan 17, 2013 19:45
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Midorka posted:The immersion chiller is probably best from Bell's brewing. It seems to be the cheapest anyway. I'd like to eventually be brewing 10 gallons on a regular basis, or at least when I can. And if I get a 15 gallon that will allow for 10 gallon all grain brews of most normal beers, and lots of extra room for 5 gallon high gravity brews.
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Jan 17, 2013 19:52
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Midorka posted:I couldn't imagine having a 200k BTU burner. My 42k one gets 6 gallon volumes to boil in less than 20 minutes from sparge, though I do have to worry about boil overs. With a 10 gallon pot are boil overs really something you don't have to worry about? Because that may be my next investment. After chilling, waiting/watching the boil over is the most annoying thing about brewing. I picked up what turned out to be a 170k btu burner and regulator off craigslist for $30 and it completely spoiled me. Sure I don't turn it all the way up for the boil but being able to pull the mash and sparge water up to temperature in only a few minutes is great. The best part is that if it gets windy the burner can still consistently put more than enough heat to the kettle just by being  You always have to worry about boil overs; even when using a keggle I had to watch for them if I did not add a defoaming agent. A larger pot just gives you more time to react before the mess happens. Defoaming additives such as fermcap really help prevent boil over, I highly recommend giving them a try before switching to a bigger pot.
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Jan 17, 2013 20:01
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Imasalmon posted:I don't see a hydrometer listed with that kit, so you should make sure it includes one. I also prefer bucket fermenters, since they are easier to clean, easier to carry, easier to add things to. Here is an alternative kit that uses a bucket type fermenter and has a hydrometer. NB must have cheaped out because that kit came with a Hydrometer last year and it doesn't now.
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Jan 17, 2013 20:44
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Midorka posted:I couldn't imagine having a 200k BTU burner. My 42k one gets 6 gallon volumes to boil in less than 20 minutes from sparge, though I do have to worry about boil overs. With a 10 gallon pot are boil overs really something you don't have to worry about? Because that may be my next investment. After chilling, waiting/watching the boil over is the most annoying thing about brewing. internet celebrity posted:Here is the answer to all your problems: http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/fermcap-s-1-oz.html Fermcap, a decent thermometer, a hydrometer, a bottle of star san, and a $2 spray bottle to squirt star san on everything are the absolute, 100%, "I wouldn't recommend anyone brew without these things" items. But especially Fermcap. Doing BIAB with full boils, I would start with around 8 gallons in a 10 gallon pot that I needed to boil down to 5.25 gallons over 90 minutes. I used to have to watch my boil to make sure the heat was on enough to keep it boiling, but not so much that it would foam over and put out the burner (not to mention leave me scrubbing like a bastard to get the burnt sugar off the pot). Now I can use those 90 minutes cleaning equipment I'm already done with on the day, or things that are actually fun instead of watching a pot. Also, one drop in a yeast starter on a stir plate will allow for a good-sized starter that doesn't foam out all over the counter and the stir plate. Lastly, those 210k banjo burners were tested and proven to only crank out at around 66k, but it's not like you'll need anything bigger than 30ish k in the first place.
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Jan 17, 2013 20:46
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I don't use fermcap. Never have. Even when I was using a smaller kettle. A spoon for stirring and/or a spray bottle of cold water will fight that down pretty easily. And can you link me to the info about the banjo only being in the 60k btu range? I can't find that anywhere. Imasalmon fucked around with this message at 21:10 on Jan 17, 2013 |
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Jan 17, 2013 21:02
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Imasalmon posted:I don't use fermcap. Never have. Even when I was using a smaller kettle. A spoon for stirring and/or a spray bottle of cold water will fight that down pretty easily. I'll see if I can dig it up, I read it probably 18 months ago somewhere in the bowels of a random homebrewing forum. Someone used some math I didn't entirely understand and asked others to do the same, where they found similar results. And the whole stirring and spray bottle of water thing, yeah, it works, but I'd really love to NOT have to babysit it. Fermcap's great in that way.
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Jan 17, 2013 21:13
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Imasalmon posted:I don't use fermcap. Never have. Even when I was using a smaller kettle. A spoon for stirring and/or a spray bottle of cold water will fight that down pretty easily. It's from Blichmann themselves: quote:A 72,000 BTU/hr burner that is a great blend of heating power and efficiency - and does so whisper quietly! In addition, low flame combustion is clean, wind performance is outstanding, and the heavy stainless construction is built to last a lifetime! For operation on natural gas expect 15% less power and 15% longer heating times due to the lower BTU contelt of natural gas vs. propane.
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Jan 17, 2013 21:25
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Also, some of those flat castings will blow themselves out with too much pressure - I have the fairly standard cup-shaped casting, and it does great at high throttle, but allows me to dial it down once the boil starts.
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Jan 17, 2013 21:29
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Angry Grimace posted:It's from Blichmann themselves: simply run the burner for an hour at full power and measure the weight of the propane used in lb. Then multiply the weight in lb X 21,000 to get the burner rating in BTU/hr. This jogs my memory a bit. That's the math I remember reading for sure. I can't find the thread I read it in, but these people wanted to see if Blichmann was just trying to discredit their competitors or what, so they did the test and their results jived with Blichmann's statement.
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Jan 17, 2013 21:48
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wattershed posted:This jogs my memory a bit. That's the math I remember reading for sure. I can't find the thread I read it in, but these people wanted to see if Blichmann was just trying to discredit their competitors or what, so they did the test and their results jived with Blichmann's statement. Well there isn't any reason why Blichmann's burner would be 1/3 of the strength of a Banjo burner since they're basically the same style burner with a different housing. In all fairness, my KAB6 is overkill and just as much money as a Blichmann was. I would bet a turkey fryer would have worked just as well.
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Jan 17, 2013 22:19
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I've found the best way to manage boil overs is to make sure you get a good hot break before you start adding your hops and to add your hops gradually. Once I hit a boil I'll boil for 10-15 minutes before I start adding my hops, this lets you dial in a steady boil since it seems to ramp up and down a bit at the start. When I do my hop additions I'll throw in 3-4 pellets at a time until I'm done, it probably takes me a full 60 seconds to add an oz of hop pellets. This stops the boil from jumping up really quickly because you're only adding a couple nucleation points at a time instead of a few dozen.
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Jan 17, 2013 22:21
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Angry Grimace posted:NB must have cheaped out because that kit came with a Hydrometer last year and it doesn't now. It definitely did. I ordered one in June of last year and it came with a few more things than it does now. Want to thank everyone for the book suggestions they gave me last week. Been ripping through as much of Radical Brewing and Designing Great Beers as I can every night and absolutely loving them. Perfect intermediate-level reading.
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Jan 17, 2013 22:52
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