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zedprime posted:Actual dill, or sorachi ace? Actual dill. It was surprisingly good, especially for a first iteration. It was a tad heavy on the dill (no surprises there), and it was certainly not lagered, but for something I drank half a bottle of, it was decent.
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Feb 28, 2013 00:33
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I've got an IPA that is cold crashing that I want to rack into a keg tomorrow to start carbing, but I was also planning on brewing this weekend and using a portion of the yeast cake as calculated by Mr. Malty to ferment this next batch, which is a IIPA. Since I'm not overly concerned about washing the yeast, is it ok for me to just chuck the measured amount of yeast cake from the fermenter into a mason jar and then to pitch that directly into the next batch on Saturday? Could I even just leave the yeast cake in the fermenter with a small layer of beer on top for a couple of days and pitch directly from there if I wanted to?
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Feb 28, 2013 00:48
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Mikey Purp posted:Since I'm not overly concerned about washing the yeast, is it ok for me to just chuck the measured amount of yeast cake from the fermenter into a mason jar and then to pitch that directly into the next batch on Saturday? Could I even just leave the yeast cake in the fermenter with a small layer of beer on top for a couple of days and pitch directly from there if I wanted to? Yeah definitely, I have tons of mason jars of previous-batch yeasts in my fridge and I've never had any issues getting them restarted, even ones that have sat for months. I'm sure if you left it in the fermenter it'd be fine too, but it's going to get really funky really fast so I wouldn't bother.
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Feb 28, 2013 00:59
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Sometimes I drag my feet on doing the actual washing of yeast and leave a trub sample in a jar for too long. If I go to use it, the yeast tastes really sharp and unhealthy, I can't imagine leaving the trub in the bucket unrefrigerated for more then a few days or weeks making a good beer.
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Feb 28, 2013 01:07
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Crunkjuice posted:Where did you guys get all of your bottles? Homebrew store, craigslist, local bars? I completely forgot about that in my planning and now i have 4 days to come up with enough for my batch. I have two more batches fermenting in my basement and I will want to bottle them before I drink enough of the other beers to free up a hundred bottles. So the other day I went to one of the city recycling drop off centers. There was no one there, just a phone number. I called it and asked if it was OK if I took beer bottles. The lady said it was fine but they are not responsible if I hurt myself. So I managed to acquire about 200 used crown cap bottles. It took a long time to clean them, and some had hidden cracks, but now I have enough bottles to do several more batches. I found a half dozen bomber bottles too. On that note, New Belgium, Sam Adams, New Glarus, Big Sky Brewing, Guinness, Boulevard are the bottles to get. The labels come off easily and with minimal residue. Don't even bother with Woodchuck, O'Dells, or Rogue 12oz. bottles. Too much trouble. Bottles with foil around the top are kind of a pain in the rear end too. Rogue bombers are fine as long as the painted on label doesn't bother you. Rogue 12oz bottles have paper labels stuck on with some kind of industrial adhesive. There are some other bottles you can't use with a wing capper like Redhook, Heineken, and Red Stripe. As for cleaning bottles, I took the labels off then cleaned the insides with a bottlebrush attached to the chuck on my cordless drill. I inspected them for cleanliness and for cracks. Once I was sure they were clean on the inside I ran them through my dishwasher with no soap. Come bottling time I will inspect them again then clean and sanitize like normal.
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Feb 28, 2013 01:58
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PBCrunch posted:Guinness [...] are the bottles to get. Except for the Draughtflow 'widget' bottles. The kind of stubby ones that used to hold the Extra Stout (a superior beer, IMO) are stellar.
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Feb 28, 2013 02:15
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My favorite bottles to use are from Green Flash. They aren't the easiest labels to remove, but goddamn they're nice bottles.
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Feb 28, 2013 02:24
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PBCrunch posted:There are some other bottles you can't use with a wing capper like Redhook, Heineken, and Red Stripe. I had no problem wing capping Redhook ESB bottles. On the other hand I now value my time enough to be willing to pay for new bottles from the LHBS when I need them instead of digging through recycle containers and removing labels. Most people will return rinsed bottles if I give them a 6-pack and tell them they're more likely to get more beer if the bottles come back clean. Marshmallow Blue posted:Hello folks. Just thought I'd update you on the FRANKENMEAD (Caramelized apple pie Cyser). Figured I'd take a gravity reading to see if its dropped down a bit. Well it's dropped more than a bit. It's now at 1.051 . That's a drop of 062 in just a few days. Added nutrients and maybe is thing will be done fermenting in another week haha! Would you mind sharing the recipe? I'm feeling kind of guilty not brewing for a quite a while and it would be fun to knock out a small batch of that.
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Feb 28, 2013 02:44
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My favourite bottles are Bell's. The label comes off super easy with zero residue after a short soak in oxiclean.
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Feb 28, 2013 03:12
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Marshmallow Blue posted:Brewed a batch of Caramel Apple Pie Cyser (Mead with apples or apple cider) on Saturday. Here's my recipe for those interested; Back a couple pages, but I like the attention so here you go =3
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Feb 28, 2013 03:19
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Brooklyn labels also fall right off with a quick soak.
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Feb 28, 2013 03:19
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crazyfish posted:My favourite bottles are Bell's. The label comes off super easy with zero residue after a short soak in oxiclean. Agreed, those are great. I also like Sierra Nevada bottles but their labels are a little stickier.
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Feb 28, 2013 03:28
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Thufir posted:Agreed, those are great. I also like Sierra Nevada bottles but their labels are a little stickier. While bottling the other week I finished with a couple of bottles that I cleaned out left over in my Starsan mix. I dumped out the 5 gallons into my tub without realizing that one Bigfoot empty was at the bottom of it, and despite my recklessness it did not break, crack, or make me feel like I needed to check my tub for glass.
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Feb 28, 2013 03:39
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Feel the label. Is is a papery/cardboardy feel? If yes, the bottle is almost certainly going to strip like it was being paid to. Is the label in any way glossy? Just move on.
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Feb 28, 2013 03:40
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Lagunitas bottles delabel very easily.
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Feb 28, 2013 04:06
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Three Floyds labels, however, are bonded to the bottle on a subatomic level.
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Feb 28, 2013 04:40
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Planning on doing my second ever brew this weekend, and first without a using a kit. I want to do a coffee porter and I found this pretty basic recipe that seems do-able with my experience level.quote:Ingredients: I'd like to add some vanilla flavor to it as well, but something kind of mild. Could I toss a vanilla bean or two into secondary with the dry hopping? Any suggestions or changes to the posted recipe?
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Feb 28, 2013 04:50
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lifts cats over head posted:Planning on doing my second ever brew this weekend, and first without a using a kit. I want to do a coffee porter and I found this pretty basic recipe that seems do-able with my experience level. For the coffee, 15 minutes of boiling will blast off all the good flavor and aroma you want, and make it harsh and astringent. I recommend doing a cold extraction: Take the coffee and add it to some cold, clean water in a sanitized container. Keep it in the fridge overnight, filter out the grounds, then add the extract at bottling time. The dry hopping is extraneous and has a good chance of clashing with the coffee flavor. Don't do it. I don't see any other problems there, though.
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Feb 28, 2013 04:58
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Ubik posted:For the coffee, 15 minutes of boiling will blast off all the good flavor and aroma you want, and make it harsh and astringent. I recommend doing a cold extraction: Take the coffee and add it to some cold, clean water in a sanitized container. Keep it in the fridge overnight, filter out the grounds, then add the extract at bottling time. Without the dry hopping should I change any of the hops added during the boil?
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Feb 28, 2013 05:04
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Just drank my first Belma hopped beer, a Mirror Pond clone. I have heard a lot of people say Strawberries are the main flavor, but I really taste honeydew melon or something. Like that tart, semi-citrusy taste.
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Feb 28, 2013 05:39
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Anyone know the best way of getting hold of morello cherries? It seems like most of the purees you can order have sugar added, which I guess isn't a deal breaker. I assume dehydrated ones are not the way to go since all the juice would be gone, right?
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Feb 28, 2013 14:54
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Daedalus Esquire posted:Anyone know the best way of getting hold of morello cherries? It seems like most of the purees you can order have sugar added, which I guess isn't a deal breaker. I assume dehydrated ones are not the way to go since all the juice would be gone, right? Ive seen some in Trader Joes, but they've been sitting in Magic Syrup for god knows how long so if you have to go that route, I'd rinse em real good.
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Feb 28, 2013 15:11
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baquerd posted:Feel the label. Is is a papery/cardboardy feel? If yes, the bottle is almost certainly going to strip like it was being paid to. Is the label in any way glossy? Just move on. O'Dell's labels feel papery but their labels are a pain in the rear end. The bottles do have this cool picture of hops molded in though.
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Feb 28, 2013 15:14
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Going back to the reusing yeast discussion: Is there a recommended way to get a bunch of yeast from the bottom of a carboy or better bottle? Do I just tip it over and pour some into a jar or something? I understand you don't necessarily want all of the trub that's settled out, but I suppose I'm now venturing into yeast washing territory.
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Feb 28, 2013 17:25
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That's what I have done in the past - sanitize a Mason jar or two, swirl up the yeast cake, then pour it right into the jars. After that, you can pitch slurry directly if you want or go with the washing regimen.
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Feb 28, 2013 18:23
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Great, thanks!
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Feb 28, 2013 18:52
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PBCrunch posted:Don't even bother with Woodchuck, O'Dells, or Rogue 12oz. bottles. Too much trouble. Also Smuttynose
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Feb 28, 2013 20:33
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When doing a basic cider do you guys use a secondary? The cider I pitched 3 weeks back is pretty darn clear in primary at this point so I'm wondering if I should just bottle and let it sit for another month or do a secondary then bottle.
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Mar 1, 2013 01:16
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I just do 4 weeks in primary and then straight to the keg.
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Mar 1, 2013 01:30
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Okay. Thanks. I'm just going to bottle this weekend and then let it carb up for at least another 2 weeks.
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Mar 1, 2013 01:34
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So I finally did it. After all that time of talking about how I wanted to brew a berliner weisee I pulled the trigger and did a hybrid sour mash as detailed here. It's pitched and waiting, just holding my breath. I changed a few things with my recipe, but tasting/smelling the wort I'm confused if I hosed something up. It's tart (maybe could be more) and there is sugar in there - so I made beer. Only thing that I'm confused about is people always complain about the barf/acid/garbage smell from the sour mash associated with lacto; mine smelled like a WAY over-ripe pineapple and tasted like one too. It was bizarre, I readied myself for the horrible retch worthy smell come after a full day of mashing but I got nothing. I just followed the instuctions listed in the blog and forged ahead as told. The only thing I could think is one: the acid malt in the process is meant to stave off any other funk-nasties from turning the mash into warm garbage, creating the perfect environment to grow lacto (another is the ~100f temp); two: I didn't let it sour long enough and the puke-mobile hadn't pulled into station quite yet. But I mean, it's not like the Citra thing where I can't smell it, my wife didn't say she smelled a thing during the day and a half it was mashing.  Will report back once it's bottled/kegged.
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Mar 1, 2013 03:56
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Jacobey000 posted:So I finally did it. I've been obsessing over BW brewing for a couple months and I finally did mine last weekend too. My recipe and methods in no way resemble yours, and I think that's hilarious. Why can no one agree on anything about this style?!?! I haven't experienced any of the unpleasantness that people describe either (and mine was a no-boil). Anyway, good luck BW buddy  
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Mar 1, 2013 04:08
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Cheers brew-ham. I dunno if your mash did the same to your kettle, but I've had this pot for about three years now and it had squelched on sugars/etc that would NOT scrub off and I just left it to be what it will be. After a rinse the 5 gallon pot I used for the mash was SPOTLESS. As shiny as the day I bought it. So I assume the pH was at least low enough to chew the stain... 
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Mar 1, 2013 13:32
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I'm getting ready to rack an RIS to secondary and I wanted to add some coffee to it. Should I brew the coffee and just dump it in there, or should I put the grounds straight into the beer?
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Mar 1, 2013 16:50
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Throwing grounds into the beer over extracts to all hell and isn't terribly optimal, although people do it all the time. I like to do a very heavy concentration cold brew and dump that in.
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Mar 1, 2013 16:57
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Hypnolobster posted:Throwing grounds into the beer over extracts to all hell and isn't terribly optimal, although people do it all the time. Yeah, definitely brew it before and add it at bottling or something so you can taste it and avoid overdoing it. I used 2oz at flameout in my last coffee stout and it was way too strong.
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Mar 1, 2013 17:09
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I did an oatmeal stout with 2oz of coarse grounds added directly to secondary for 2 days and that was enough to give a strong but not overpowering coffee flavor. That method takes minimal  so that's nice. But yeah if you want complete control the optimal method is probably to cold-brew a pot a few days beforehand and then just blend to taste when you bottle/keg.
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Mar 1, 2013 17:13
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So I'll go ahead and brew it; I guess 1 oz for 3 gallons? Should I use drip, press or espresso? Any specific roast?
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Mar 1, 2013 17:14
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Avoid really dark roasts like French or espresso. That's how I like my morning coffee but I found in the beer it was very harsh, acrid and bitter. I'm not a huge coffee sperg (just a caffeine addict!) so I don't have great recommendations. One option would be to go to a nice coffee shop in your area and chat up the barista about what you're doing and what flavors you're looking for, and they'll probably know what beans will get you there.
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Mar 1, 2013 17:32
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The best coffee home brew I've had was with espresso but I've had that espresso before and it is innately phenomenal. With your options I'd go with espresso or cold press. If you've had enough coffee beer previously you can probably just taste it and figure in your head "yeah that'll do" or "no that'll make paint thinner." E. If your espresso tastes like the bottom of a coffee pot you are making espresso wrong. zedprime fucked around with this message at 17:38 on Mar 1, 2013 |
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Mar 1, 2013 17:36
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