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Mr. Wiggles posted:Well, the honey was full of bee pollen and wax bits and other stuff (completely unfiltered), and I threw a bunch of raisins in there. But I'm willing to be patient with it. Have you been aerating it regularly? This can really help it chug along. I also think getting some ld Carlson yeast nutrient would help too. My meads have had much healthier fermentations since I started using it. And it's only like 2 bucks.
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Mar 11, 2013 01:59
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Okay, so I got Campden tablets for any potential chlorine/cloramine. What else does the tablets do for water? I plan to measure out the amount of water I need an put it in there for an hour before I brew. Reading about it, it would seem that I could use it in an already brewed beer to get any chlorine out retroactively and also prevent infections? Edit: I forgot to sanitize my thermometer before checking the temperature of my starter wort. It was sanitized a few times before when checking the temperature, but the last time I used it I just rinsed it then put it in the wort. Should I throw a campden tablet in to prevent against an infection? Also is there any sure signs of infections within 3 days? I'd hate to use this starter and have 2 batches infected. Ugh the worries, I know relax and have a homebrew, but this is for an event I'm brewing it for. Midorka fucked around with this message at 02:58 on Mar 11, 2013 |
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Mar 11, 2013 01:59
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Gravity check todayon my spiced hydromel. It's at 1.001 so this is about wrapped up. Ill let it sit on the lees for a week for some final fermentation touches and extra sediment dropping. Right now the taste is light, dry and smooth with a finish of clove spiciness. Ill probably back sweeten this just a bit as the dryness is not super aggressive.
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Mar 11, 2013 02:06
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My day gets even better. OG expected: 1.070. OG achieved: 1.058. My guess is that the new grain mill at the LHBS is a piece of poo poo (they just got it like two days ago)
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Mar 11, 2013 03:06
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Angry Grimace posted:My day gets even better. OG expected: 1.070. OG achieved: 1.058. My guess is that the new grain mill at the LHBS is a piece of poo poo (they just got it like two days ago) I used to tell my LHBS to pulverize the grain after having some low gravities. Since then I just bought one. I'm done with inconsistent crushes.
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Mar 11, 2013 03:21
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Midorka posted:I used to tell my LHBS to pulverize the grain after having some low gravities. Since then I just bought one. I'm done with inconsistent crushes. Its annoying because the other option (Ballast Point) is way too expensive and has a far inferior grain selection.
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Mar 11, 2013 03:26
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bewbies posted:So my LBS is doing this: Absolutely. If you want to progress in brewing past the "gently caress YEAH!! I MADE BEER!!" stage (and there's nothing wrong with "stopping" there, everyone is in the hobby for different reasons), learning what's wrong with your brews is the next step. And the knowledge spills over to commercial beer, too. I've had a few pro beers that tasted like a slug of movie theater popcorn butter  . If I hadn't been turned onto diacetyl as a common flaw I might have just thought that's what a kolsch (or whatever) was supposed to taste like and decided I hate the style.edit: oh hey I completely missed a new page Angry Grimace posted:My day gets even better. OG expected: 1.070. OG achieved: 1.058. My guess is that the new grain mill at the LHBS is a piece of poo poo (they just got it like two days ago) Yeah my efficiency completely took a poo poo right around the time my LHBS bought a new grain mill. I'll probably splurge on one of my own eventually. For now I just adjust my recipes to like 60% efficiency and buy another $4 worth of malt per batch 
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Mar 11, 2013 04:41
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fullroundaction posted:Went to Google so I could try to visualize how big a 55gal kettle is and Worst Homebrew Ingredient 2013
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Mar 11, 2013 04:47
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mewse posted:Worst Homebrew Ingredient 2013
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Mar 11, 2013 04:53
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mewse posted:Worst Homebrew Ingredient 2013 Well we know from HBT that people have literally brewed with the ashes of their loved ones (  ). This is the logical extension I guess?
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Mar 11, 2013 05:04
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Marshmallow Blue posted:Have you been aerating it regularly? This can really help it chug along. I also think getting some ld Carlson yeast nutrient would help too. My meads have had much healthier fermentations since I started using it. And it's only like 2 bucks. Eh, somewhat regularly. You guys keep going on about all these name brand yeast nutrients, but I really want to find out what they are chemically so that I can replicate them from ingredients on hand. Because you see, the nearest homebrew store is 80 miles away, and not open on Sundays when I can normally go that far, so it's somewhat difficult to just pop down and pick up supplies. I WILL get some when I do a supply run, but that's probably not going to be for a while.
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Mar 11, 2013 05:09
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bewbies posted:So my LBS is doing this: Absolutely. I only learned to pick out certain off flavours when I've had particular beers and (for example) thought "oh, that's what they mean by 'cooked vegetable'". Having a frame of reference for those off flavours is an immensely valuable tool in your brewing arsenal.
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Mar 11, 2013 05:19
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Mr. Wiggles posted:Eh, somewhat regularly. Usually it's primarily DAP (Di-Ammonium Phosphate) with other additives like yeast hulls.
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Mar 11, 2013 05:46
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Docjowles posted:Well we know from HBT that people have literally brewed with the ashes of their loved ones (  what
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Mar 11, 2013 05:53
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Midorka posted:Okay, so I got Campden tablets for any potential chlorine/cloramine. What else does the tablets do for water? I plan to measure out the amount of water I need an put it in there for an hour before I brew. Reading about it, it would seem that I could use it in an already brewed beer to get any chlorine out retroactively and also prevent infections? Campden won't do much in the quantities you would use it for stripping chlorine or chloramine. It will add some very small amount of salt to your brewing water, either sodium chloride or potassium chloride depending on what kind of sulfite you have. It will add some sulfite, too, but that's so volatile it will be gone as soon as you start heating your water. There's probably some other chemical stuff going on, too, but all of it is at such low levels it's going to be undetectable in the finished beer. As to your thermometer, I would not worry about it. First, you sanitized it previously. Second, municipal water is pretty sanitary anyway - in fact, it's the sanitizer we're trying to get rid of with the Campden tab. Third, beer is actully fairly inhospitable to infection - the yeast eat sugar fast, and make alcohol and lower the pH of the wort in the process, both of which protect your beer. So unless it smell bad or grows a big cap of mold, you're going to be just fine.
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Mar 11, 2013 06:03
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Docjowles posted:Well we know from HBT that people have literally brewed with the ashes of their loved ones (
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Mar 11, 2013 06:04
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illcendiary posted:
I don't think the beer actually happened, but a long while ago there was a thread on HBT where a guy asked if he could brew a beer with his dead wife's ashes. Luckily, not even the rest of HBT would go so far as to suggest he do such a thing.
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Mar 11, 2013 06:16
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Mr. Wiggles posted:You guys keep going on about all these name brand yeast nutrients, but I really want to find out what they are chemically so that I can replicate them from ingredients on hand. Because you see, the nearest homebrew store is 80 miles away, and not open on Sundays when I can normally go that far, so it's somewhat difficult to just pop down and pick up supplies. I WILL get some when I do a supply run, but that's probably not going to be for a while. I managed to find the original article on nutrients when I first started making mead but all I can find now is the citation: quote:Steinkraus, K.H. and Morse, R.A. 1966. Factors Ken Schramm goes into more detail on the nutrients in The Compleat Meadmaker. He says you can improvise with ammonium sulfate (replaced by DAP these days) and yeast hulls (which should be available at local health food store). You need nitrogen and various micronutrients. It's much easier to buy the premade mix in the form of Fermaid-K than mix it up yourself. My suggestion is to go over to MoreBeer and order yourself some big packages of DAP, Fermaid-K and Go-Ferm Protect (if you use dry yeast and rehydrate it). Unless you live on the moon it's going to be more convenient than an 80 mile drive and they will last a long time.
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Mar 11, 2013 07:34
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Jo3sh posted:Campden won't do much in the quantities you would use it for stripping chlorine or chloramine. It will add some very small amount of salt to your brewing water, either sodium chloride or potassium chloride depending on what kind of sulfite you have. It will add some sulfite, too, but that's so volatile it will be gone as soon as you start heating your water. There's probably some other chemical stuff going on, too, but all of it is at such low levels it's going to be undetectable in the finished beer. Thanks for the vote of confidence!
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Mar 11, 2013 14:48
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So I went a little crazy with my tax return and bought a tri-clover Brewhemoth and a 20gal kettle. Any of you guys rocking one of these? There's a huge thread on HBT about them, half of it is filled with insane people. Product looks solid though. I do my boils outside and all of my fermentation inside in my basement, I have no idea how I'm going to be able to brew alone now, as I'm too weak to carry a 20gal boiling pot into my basement by myself or lift it over my head. Is it too insane to buy a pump and pump it like 35ft into my basement?
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Mar 11, 2013 14:54
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So, wort chillers. All of the copper coil style chillers i've seen are just bent copper and some fittings to attach a garden hose. Any reason I can't just buy a coil myself (buddy has access to a 25 ft 3/8in OD coil for 25 bucks) and just bend it myself to save like 40 bucks? Is there something i'm missing or is it just some coiled copper and hose attachments. Also, does it really matter the wall thickness of the copper? We obviously won't have it up to any real pressure, but would we want thicker or thinner copper for better cooling?
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Mar 11, 2013 14:57
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Crunkjuice posted:So, wort chillers. All of the copper coil style chillers i've seen are just bent copper and some fittings to attach a garden hose. Any reason I can't just buy a coil myself (buddy has access to a 25 ft 3/8in OD coil for 25 bucks) and just bend it myself to save like 40 bucks? Is there something i'm missing or is it just some coiled copper and hose attachments. Also, does it really matter the wall thickness of the copper? We obviously won't have it up to any real pressure, but would we want thicker or thinner copper for better cooling? I made my own. It took about 30 mins and it works great. I am profoundly unhandy too so it must be easy.
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Mar 11, 2013 15:04
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Crunkjuice posted:So, wort chillers. All of the copper coil style chillers i've seen are just bent copper and some fittings to attach a garden hose. Any reason I can't just buy a coil myself (buddy has access to a 25 ft 3/8in OD coil for 25 bucks) and just bend it myself to save like 40 bucks? Is there something i'm missing or is it just some coiled copper and hose attachments. Also, does it really matter the wall thickness of the copper? We obviously won't have it up to any real pressure, but would we want thicker or thinner copper for better cooling? Thinner is better for cooling. The biggest limit in tubing size is going to be how you want to plumb it up but there's fittings for everything these days.
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Mar 11, 2013 15:55
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Anyone have a quick link to a draft line balancing calculator? I think I'm finally going to finish my kegerator order tonight. Only been a year of using picnic taps because of draft tower indecisiveness. I figured I'd go retro and do Lincoln Logs.
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Mar 11, 2013 16:34
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hellfaucet posted:So I went a little crazy with my tax return and bought a tri-clover Brewhemoth and a 20gal kettle. Any of you guys rocking one of these? There's a huge thread on HBT about them, half of it is filled with insane people. Product looks solid though. As long as you get a powerful enough pump there's no problems with pumping a long way to get into your fermentor. The only problem I'd see would be when the last of the wort hits your pump head you'll want to cut the pump so as not to run it dry, which would leave some wort in your line. You can either chase it through with water or disconnect the line from your pump and push through with CO2. Also make sure if you're using clear line that it doesn't see sunlight, it would suck to have 20 gallons of beer skunked before you even start fermenting. How do you control the temperature of that fermentor? It looks pretty awesome, I'd suggest putting a high-pressure tri-clamp fitting (https://www.gvc.net/p/788/high-pressure-clamps) where the fermentor connects to the valve on the bottom. There's a reason we refer to them as dummy locks, since you have to use a wrench to undo them there's no way to accidentally remove the valve from the bottom of your tank when you're not paying attention.
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Mar 11, 2013 16:40
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fullroundaction posted:You guys are my homebrew club You guys are the only ones I go to  Speaking of which... Rye IPA does this hop schedule make sense? 60m 1oz Citra 15m 1oz Centennial 10m 1oz Simcoe Dryhop 1oz Citra,Simcoe I have 3oz of Citra, 2 Simcoe, 1 Centennial, and a ton of Cascade on hand. Im not sure if Citra is the best bittering option but seems better than Simcoe or Centennial.
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Mar 11, 2013 16:46
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I've done a couple batches of mead so far with my wife and I just did my first beer with a Northern Brewer kit yesterday. I think we'll be sticking with mead. It's just much easier and less messy to brew at home, plus it's a lot harder to find where we are. We've gone a bit crazy with the equipment for beginners and have the glass carboy and bottling bucket we got with our gold brewer kit, plus 2 plastic buckets and 2 better bottles from https://www.bremasterswarehouse.com. Also, we have 6 1-gallon carboys for test batches on order. We were going to use Carlo Rossi bottles at first, but none of the corks we have fit them. Plus, we're having trouble getting our guests to drink Carlo Rossi. So far we've done a dry that's bottled up, plus a bochet and a semi-sweet that are both in primary ferment. The semi-sweet is getting siphoned into a secondary once our new racking cane comes in.
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Mar 11, 2013 17:18
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Emerson Cod posted:I've done a couple batches of mead so far with my wife and I just did my first beer with a Northern Brewer kit yesterday. I think we'll be sticking with mead. It's just much easier and less messy to brew at home, plus it's a lot harder to find where we are. There's nothing whatsoever wrong with making what appeals to you. I'm kind of interested in making more mead myself, so I'd like to see your recipes and process/tasting notes as things go along.
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Mar 11, 2013 17:27
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hellfaucet posted:This is loving insane. He uses standard kegs (1/2 barrel) with bungs to ferment in. But this brew is split (like most of those in the system are). He does a ton of souring, and his basement looks like a mad scientist lives there (he also has 2x 55 gallon wine barrels). e: I should also say he's collecting things for his eventual move back to Alaska where his plan is to open a brewery. For instance: he cool-shiped 4 gallons of the Oktoberfest. I should take some photos next time I'm at his place. Maybe I'll make a 360° view thing. It's really quite impressive. He's got like... 50 cronies? Likely more. But that is mostly from a local brewery selling them for $20 a pop (I bought 2). e2: Oh and the system he bought, was the system of a local brewery that had recently expanded. His HLT is a 55 drum from a local guy who's business is selling drums (~Maine~). Jacobey000 fucked around with this message at 17:53 on Mar 11, 2013 |
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Mar 11, 2013 17:45
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Emerson Cod posted:I've done a couple batches of mead so far with my wife and I just did my first beer with a Northern Brewer kit yesterday. I think we'll be sticking with mead. It's just much easier and less messy to brew at home, plus it's a lot harder to find where we are. I cant wait to have more space so I can have an entire brewing room in my house with 1 gallon carboys and better bottles galore! But yeah, Trader Joes stopped carrying the only mead they ever had... Now I have to go to Blanchards if I want some. Emerson: Where do you get your honey? Just wondering if you have any good bulk deals or what not with so many carboys. Jo3sh I've got 2 completed recipes (and 20+ recipes in the 2 do) in my brew log if you're interested in them, A strawberry Raspberry mead, and a dry apple cider mead. Ill soon be finished with a wild blueberry maple mead and after that a bochet will be about wrapped up.
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Mar 11, 2013 17:45
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Marshmallow Blue posted:if you're interested Always, can't hardly have too many recipes or information. Someone will get good info from it even if I never get off my lazy tuchus and do anything with it.
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Mar 11, 2013 17:49
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Marshmallow Blue posted:I cant wait to have more space so I can have an entire brewing room in my house with 1 gallon carboys and better bottles galore! But yeah, Trader Joes stopped carrying the only mead they ever had... Now I have to go to Blanchards if I want some. We made the bochet with cheap rear end Great Value clover honey, which is fine because you burn the poo poo out of it in the process (and attract every bee in a 10 mile radius), but we've primarily been getting the 48 oz Tropic Bee Honey off Amazon. We used their Florida Wildflower honey for the dry, which had a slightly spicy flavor, and their orange blossom, which actually tasted a bit like orange. They run for about $15 per bottle, and we need 4-5 per batch. If you're in no rush you can do subscribe and save and get them for $14 or so. We're just starting to order honey from other places, too, but generally it's about $75 worth of honey for a 5 gallon batch of mead. I'm always on the lookout for local sources, though.
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Mar 11, 2013 18:02
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Emerson Cod posted:We made the bochet with cheap rear end Great Value clover honey, which is fine because you burn the poo poo out of it in the process (and attract every bee in a 10 mile radius), but we've primarily been getting the 48 oz Tropic Bee Honey off Amazon. We used their Florida Wildflower honey for the dry, which had a slightly spicy flavor, and their orange blossom, which actually tasted a bit like orange. They run for about $15 per bottle, and we need 4-5 per batch. If you're in no rush you can do subscribe and save and get them for $14 or so. There are a couple of apiaries within striking distance of me, so I try to buy from them. IIRC, I paid about $55 for the 15 pounds I used in my mead. I used the no-heat, no-sulfite method from the MoreWine whitepaper, and it came out really nicely. EDIT: Here's the link to that document: http://morewinemaking.com/images/file.php?file_id=600 Jo3sh fucked around with this message at 18:21 on Mar 11, 2013 |
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Mar 11, 2013 18:17
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I've got a Cherry Wheat kit on the way from Midwest that includes 4 oz. of cherry extract that's supposed to be added during bottling. Reviews on the kit say the cherry extract tastes like cough syrup, so I was thinking of not using it. I've seen the R.W. Knudsen Black Cherry Concentrate (8 oz.) and Just Juice (32 oz.) at the local health store. Anyone have any experience using either of these to flavor? How much would I need for a 5 gallon batch? If I use them, when should they be added...end of boil, secondary, bottling?
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Mar 11, 2013 18:20
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new home, old colors, same Arsenal
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pimpslap posted:I've got a Cherry Wheat kit on the way from Midwest that includes 4 oz. of cherry extract that's supposed to be added during bottling. Reviews on the kit say the cherry extract tastes like cough syrup, so I was thinking of not using it. I've seen the R.W. Knudsen Black Cherry Concentrate (8 oz.) and Just Juice (32 oz.) at the local health store. Secondary, just rack on top. I'd use cherry concentrate before I use a kind of "juicy juice." You could always rack on top of frozen cherries too.
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Mar 11, 2013 18:27
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pimpslap posted:I've got a Cherry Wheat kit on the way from Midwest that includes 4 oz. of cherry extract that's supposed to be added during bottling. Reviews on the kit say the cherry extract tastes like cough syrup, so I was thinking of not using it. I've seen the R.W. Knudsen Black Cherry Concentrate (8 oz.) and Just Juice (32 oz.) at the local health store. The idea solution is racking onto a puree since they're packaged sterile, but that doesn't sound like an option. I can see why kits don't do that though, those purees are like $20.
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Mar 11, 2013 18:34
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Josh Wow posted:How do you control the temperature of that fermentor? It looks pretty awesome, I'd suggest putting a high-pressure tri-clamp fitting (https://www.gvc.net/p/788/high-pressure-clamps) where the fermentor connects to the valve on the bottom. There's a reason we refer to them as dummy locks, since you have to use a wrench to undo them there's no way to accidentally remove the valve from the bottom of your tank when you're not paying attention. I'm working on getting an old refrgerator for temp control, I'll definitely need it in the summer. Not sure how I'm going to get hot air into it, but they do sell accessories for liquid cooling/heating via a giant wort chiller. Kinda pricey, but I may drop the cash if I need to down the line. My basement stays at a pretty solid 65-68 degrees throughout the summer, so I shouldn't have too much of a problem just starting out. Will definitely need to have a solution before next fall, as temps drop to around 54-56 degrees during the winter. First thing I'm going to be brewing in it will be a cream ale for my wedding in May, giving out 12oz bottles as favors. Great suggestion on the high-pressure fitting. It was kind of hard to piece together the hardware for the tri-clamps without really working with a system like that before, but I think I did OK with room for upgrading later on down the line. Jacobey000 posted:He uses standard kegs (1/2 barrel) with bungs to ferment in. But this brew is split (like most of those in the system are). He does a ton of souring, and his basement looks like a mad scientist lives there (he also has 2x 55 gallon wine barrels). The dude that's been teaching me AG in my club kind of has a similar basement, though way crazier and not mad scientisty... more hoarder style. Cornies everywhere, equipment everywhere, huge sour full barrel, about 100 5gal better bottles filled with varying ages of fruit and beer. He's won a ton of awards for his sours, but holy poo poo was it a trip to see the disarray of a guy who expanded way too fast on a smaller platform. He has a furnished basement that is never used because it's completely covered with beer poo poo. I'm so loving anal about all of my stuff/sanitation that this kind of a setup really makes me cringe. I freak out if I leave a carboy/keg out for a night if I'm too tired to clean them.
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Mar 11, 2013 18:37
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hellfaucet posted:I'm working on getting an old refrgerator for temp control, I'll definitely need it in the summer. Not sure how I'm going to get hot air into it, but they do sell accessories for liquid cooling/heating via a giant wort chiller. Kinda pricey, but I may drop the cash if I need to down the line. My basement stays at a pretty solid 65-68 degrees throughout the summer, so I shouldn't have too much of a problem just starting out. Will definitely need to have a solution before next fall, as temps drop to around 54-56 degrees during the winter. First thing I'm going to be brewing in it will be a cream ale for my wedding in May, giving out 12oz bottles as favors. Highly ordered brew areas are the sign of a person who has too much money and not enough good beer 
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Mar 11, 2013 18:40
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Angry Grimace posted:Highly ordered brew areas are the sign of a person who has too much money and not enough good beer  His beer is really good, it's true.
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Mar 11, 2013 18:43
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Emerson Cod posted:We made the bochet with cheap rear end Great Value clover honey, which is fine because you burn the poo poo out of it in the process (and attract every bee in a 10 mile radius), but we've primarily been getting the 48 oz Tropic Bee Honey off Amazon. We used their Florida Wildflower honey for the dry, which had a slightly spicy flavor, and their orange blossom, which actually tasted a bit like orange. They run for about $15 per bottle, and we need 4-5 per batch. If you're in no rush you can do subscribe and save and get them for $14 or so. Ive got a Tropic bee subscription for 48oz Orange Blossom for my 1 batch per month quota, All bonus honey for bonus batches comes from other apiaries or farms if they are open for Pick your own, they usually have some nice wildflower honey. Jo3sh and others interested Ill Post my recipes and to brew ideas later, I'm at work and its gonna be hell of a formatting job.
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Mar 11, 2013 20:11
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