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What kind of jump in quality did you guys notice (for those of you that have) going from fermenting ales at ambient temperature to using some sort of control? I know it needs to be my next investment but for some reason I haven't pulled the trigger.
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May 6, 2013 04:16
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| # ? Apr 28, 2024 01:08 |
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Temperature control is huge in quality. I think it's one of the most important things in regards to quality. Being able to control what temp the beer you're fermenting at is huge.
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May 6, 2013 04:52
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fullroundaction posted:What kind of jump in quality did you guys notice (for those of you that have) going from fermenting ales at ambient temperature to using some sort of control? I know it needs to be my next investment but for some reason I haven't pulled the trigger. A lot. How is it you have like a $500 kettle but no temp control 
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May 6, 2013 05:16
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OH I'M SORRY NOT EVERYONE CAN JUST POP ON OVER TO NEW BELGIUM AND USE THEIR EQUIPMENT WHENEVER THEY WANT. Like you. You jerk. But yeah my kettle is awesome as hell thank you for bringing that up. And okay I'll buy the next thing that pops up on HBF 
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May 6, 2013 05:34
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 I'm just jealous of your baller kettle. But seriously temp control (which you must be doing to some extent, even if it's frozen soda bottles in a water bath) is like the most important thing.
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May 6, 2013 06:14
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There are a few things which have increased the quality of my brewing, such as not brewing with an idiot, using a properly calibrated thermometer for mashing and not using huge amounts of flour as a money-saving adjunct. But none of those things increased the quality of my brew as much as controlling the temperature during fermentation.
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May 6, 2013 06:33
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Temperature control is one of the biggest things that can improve the quality of your homebrew, and is one of the first things you should always look at in terms of troubleshooting, since higher-than-optimal fermentation temperatures are responsible for so many off-flavors. It's also not that hard to do, since even a swamp cooler in your bathtub will help temperature control significantly. Investing in a mini-fridge off Craiglist plus an analog temperature controller costs about $100, and will help you dial that in even more and enable you to do fun stuff like lager brewing. It's worth jumping to that before kegging or even going all-grain!
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May 6, 2013 06:54
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Docjowles posted:
What would I be looking for to get temp control, like 16 C (62F). My garage tends to be 20c at night and depending on the weather it ranges but since its getting near summer (UK, so not really insane heat waves like in US but still) and temp control is serious I was wondering what would be good? (Gonna take another 2months to get because of cash but knowing is half the battle). Was thinking of a fridge but I think that is just too cold and only really needed for lagers? Ubik posted:Temperature control is one of the biggest things that can improve the quality of your homebrew, and is one of the first things you should always look at in terms of troubleshooting, since higher-than-optimal fermentation temperatures are responsible for so many off-flavors. It's also not that hard to do, since even a swamp cooler in your bathtub will help temperature control significantly. Investing in a mini-fridge off Craiglist plus an analog temperature controller costs about $100, and will help you dial that in even more and enable you to do fun stuff like lager brewing. It's worth jumping to that before kegging or even going all-grain! I'm finding it a nightmare to find a fridge, as they all seem to come with too many gimmicks and such. Think its worth getting one where you can take the shelfs off to fit 10UK gallon demijohn in? Have to get rid of the salad box at the bottom too but should be good right? Also would it be best the first 3 days leaving it out with the blowoff tube before putting it in the fridge? Fluo fucked around with this message at 08:21 on May 6, 2013 |
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May 6, 2013 08:16
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Fluo posted:I'm finding it a nightmare to find a fridge, as they all seem to come with too many gimmicks and such. Dunno about your part of the globe, but I had a MUCH easier time finding a chest freezer I liked than a refrigerator. A 15 cubic foot chest freezer older than myself off of craigslist, a STC-1000 temp controller from ebay, and a heating pad ran me about $80 US. Plus maybe five more dollars for parts to wire up the temp controller. The most annoying part was breaking the auto shutoff on the heating pad. I believe the same controller is available in 220 for a similarly cheap price. Your goal with temperature control is not so much a specific low temperature as it is the ability to fix a consistent desired temperature. Different styles will do better with different temperatures. It's nice to have a unit that is burly enough to get down to freezing temperatures, so that you can cold crash after you're done fermenting. Ideally, you cold crash at just above the freezing temperature of whatever you're fermenting. Other than that, bigger is better, as long as it still fits nicely in your available space. It's handy to be able to do two (or three, or six...) batches at once, or have multiple kegs on tap if you later reuse the unit for a draft setup. The onboard temperature control on most refrigerators and freezers is really coarse and bad, so what a lot of us do is get a separate temperature controller and plug the refrigerator or freezer into that. You just crank the cooler's own controller as far as it will go, and let the separate temperature controller decide when to cut power to the cooler. It's not a bad idea to get a two stage controller that can handle a heating element as well. You don't have to use a heating pad like I did, anything that pumps out some watts will do. If you go with a temperature controller that requires some wiring, make sure you know what you're doing or have someone who does look it over. eviltastic fucked around with this message at 09:14 on May 6, 2013 |
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May 6, 2013 09:06
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eviltastic posted:Dunno about your part of the globe, but I had a MUCH easier time finding a chest freezer I liked than a refrigerator. Seconding this, they seem to be the most common and easiest thing to get together for 2-3 5 gal kegs depending on the size of the freezer. A chest freezer can be easily converted to hold kegs by adding a piece of wood between the chest and the lid and drilling your taps into that. This means you don't have to actually mess up the freezer and can convert it back any time you like. Get a decent temp control unit and you should be gold. If there's a homebrew club in your area or a store ask them if they know of anyone who refurbs units. I'm in the process of finally getting one and it shouldn't cost me more than $100 for the unit, maybe $20 to convert it if even that much, but I still need a control.
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May 6, 2013 13:12
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On top of all that, a chest freezer is absurdly efficient because you're not having all your cold air start flooding out the door every time you open it. I've been using a homemade ice chest for temperature control, but just got a nice freezer and will be doing a keezer conversion some time this week so I'll post pics as that progresses.
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May 6, 2013 13:44
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Temp control is an incredibly valuable addition but I wouldn't necessarily peg it as a quality issue since all saisons all the time is a valid and high quality path. That said it divorces you from the environment letting you make what you want when you want. It will definitely do a lot for consistency which is related to quality. Fridges/freezers definitely easier in that regard as opposed to tuning in an evaporative or ice addition system to your house.
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May 6, 2013 14:17
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fullroundaction posted:Looking good, Lambic! And now how about my funky Flanders That looks like the moon. Fantastic. My 'pitched a handful of bugs/dregs beer' recently: 
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May 6, 2013 14:21
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wattershed posted:Kegging/CO2 question... I currently have this exact same problem although mine tops out around 25psi. I'm pretty sure it is just a busted regulator. Luckily I have a spare but haven't had the chance to swap it out yet. I'll report back once I do and confirm if that fixed it, which I assume it will.
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May 6, 2013 15:21
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Fluo posted:Also would it be best the first 3 days leaving it out with the blowoff tube before putting it in the fridge? Forgot to respond to this one: temperature control is just as important during the growth phase, if not more. Ideally, you rig up something to handle blowoff within your controlled environment.
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May 6, 2013 16:42
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I'll also chime in saying that since using a swamp cooler my beers have been more consistent and delicious. Your pellicles above are lovely. I've got one at about 8-9 months and another at about 1.5 months. First got dregs, second got a dose from the first + a more interesting mash bill.  
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May 6, 2013 19:11
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I guess to stay on the topic of sours; I've been wanting to do a sour mead / Wine (strawberry) for some time. Strawberries will be in season soon and I want them fresh so I need to get this planned out. The biggest questions I have that I cant seem to find answers for are as follows: 1. When do you add your sour bugs? Would you add them right in the beginning with your regular yeast, Somewhere in the middle while adding some fruit (strawberries in my case), or after everything been previously fermented. (Or none of the above) 2.Pellicle maintenence: What is the sort of "racking procedure" when should be used when pellicles are present. I've seen people say that you just follow what you would normally do for beer racking, but once you rack off the pellicles will new ones form in the new container? What stops pellicles form forming in bottles?
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May 6, 2013 19:27
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Xeus posted:what yeast did you use? A lot of California Common's should be brewed ~ 70 degrees. 62 will be just fine with any yeast imo, it might have a slightly different flavor profile though. I'm just going off what the book tells me. It's the White Labs San Francisco Lager yeast. I'm mainly interested in setting something else up because it's a pain in the rear end to keep monitoring and switching out frozen water bottles.
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May 6, 2013 19:40
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Marshmallow Blue posted:1. When do you add your sour bugs? Would you add them right in the beginning with your regular yeast, Somewhere in the middle while adding some fruit (strawberries in my case), or after everything been previously fermented. (Or none of the above) 1. Adding bugs at different times makes different results. Generally (and per Mad Fermenationist), adding the bugs + a sacc at primary for beer will result in fairly rapid bug action, and adding in secondary will result in a milder bug presence. (Alternatively, go Orval/maybe Jester King style and add at bottling). I don't know how this related to mead/wine, though. 2. Rack it like normal, don't worry about having a pellicle or not. Pellicles tend to form as a barrier against oxygen, and if I rack a sour I prefer to purge the headspace with CO2 to prevent acetic acid formation. Pellicles do form in bottles, but people don't notice them much and they aren't as substantial as they look. Whenever I've pulled a sample I've been surprised by how easily the pellicle was destroyed.
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May 6, 2013 19:44
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ChickenArise posted:1. Adding bugs at different times makes different results. Generally (and per Mad Fermenationist), adding the bugs + a sacc at primary for beer will result in fairly rapid bug action, and adding in secondary will result in a milder bug presence. (Alternatively, go Orval/maybe Jester King style and add at bottling). I don't know how this related to mead/wine, though. 1A: Do these bugs have a sort of alcohol tolerance to be known? As meads shoot over 12% regularly I may want to add it earlier on in Fermentation. And yeah, as far as sour meads are concerned, everybody is "Yeah I really want to do a sour mead. I going to do one". Then nothing. First things first is to get a better bottle so I can actually have something after a year besides a gallon. 2. So from further reading, these guys will continue to sour no matter what. Kind of like how an old old photograph won't stop developing (Before the technology / know-how was there) Edit: Is the WLabs belgian sour blend any reliable? Or are there other recommended strains / blends, that someone would recommend for a strawberry sour
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May 6, 2013 20:03
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eviltastic posted:Dunno about your part of the globe, but I had a MUCH easier time finding a chest freezer I liked than a refrigerator. A 15 cubic foot chest freezer older than myself off of craigslist, a STC-1000 temp controller from ebay, and a heating pad ran me about $80 US. Plus maybe five more dollars for parts to wire up the temp controller. The most annoying part was breaking the auto shutoff on the heating pad. I believe the same controller is available in 220 for a similarly cheap price. eviltastic posted:Forgot to respond to this one: temperature control is just as important during the growth phase, if not more. Ideally, you rig up something to handle blowoff within your controlled environment. Awesome, big thanks  I think a chest freezer is the way I'll have to go, only reason I haven't thought of it yet is because it being a freezer I just thought I wouldn't be able to get it to a stable temp around 18 Celsius for some beers and such depending on the yeast. So with the STC-1000 temp controller I'd be able to keep it at a stable not freezer but more cold fridge temp etc?
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May 6, 2013 20:06
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Fluo posted:Awesome, big thanks How the temp controller works is you plug the freezer into it, and then plug the temp controller into the wall. The probe goes into your freezer and then whatever temp you set it to, the freezer will come on (at full blast) long enough for it to reach the set temp, and then will turn off. Depending on the temperature variance you set, the freezer then won't kick back in until its reached X degrees above your desired temp, then the process repeats.
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May 6, 2013 20:28
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ChickenArise posted:I'll also chime in saying that since using a swamp cooler my beers have been more consistent and delicious. How the hell do you control? Besides throwing in ice if it's too hit and uh... removing the towel if it's too cool I guess?
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May 6, 2013 20:49
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Marshmallow Blue posted:1A: Do these bugs have a sort of alcohol tolerance to be known? As meads shoot over 12% regularly I may want to add it earlier on in Fermentation According to WLabs, the alcohol tolerance of Lacto is ~9%. Definitely something to keep in mind if you're brewing big meads. From my personal experience I can definitely say that lacto "slows down" the higher the ABV goes (as in takes longer to achieve the same level of sour). Marshmallow Blue posted:Edit: Is the WLabs belgian sour blend any reliable? Or are there other recommended strains / blends, that someone would recommend for a strawberry sour I've had no problems, but I guess it really depends on if there's something very specific you're going for. In my case, if it makes my mouth pucker, I'm happy.
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May 6, 2013 20:58
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fullroundaction posted:if it makes my mouth pucker, I'm happy. Pretty much this. I ate lemons when I was younger. I stopped because its not socially acceptable, That and my poor poor tooth enamel.
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May 6, 2013 20:59
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Saint Darwin posted:How the hell do you control? Besides throwing in ice if it's too hit and uh... removing the towel if it's too cool I guess?
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May 6, 2013 22:16
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Anyone here actually try no-chill? The articles are promising. An impasse w/ my brewmates has lead to me sort of breaking off and having to start from scratch--so I'm planning on going no-chill.
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May 6, 2013 23:54
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LeeMajors posted:Anyone here actually try no-chill? The articles are promising. I've done this out of necessity a few times, and nothing bad happened/beer turned out fine, but I don't think anyone would ever recommend it if there are any other options available.
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May 7, 2013 00:17
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fullroundaction posted:I've done this out of necessity a few times, and nothing bad happened/beer turned out fine, but I don't think anyone would ever recommend it if there are any other options available. Right on. I was thinking of doing the aussie method of like sealing it in a USP container for 24hrs at boil. Might be a good time to 'whirlpool' hops or something as well before pitching. What problems did you run into specifically? Also, do you have PM? I may hit you up for sour-specific questions if you don't mind.
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May 7, 2013 00:20
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Sour mead chat posted:Chatlogs I've done a sessionable "soured" braggot. No surprise: the last bottle was the best. It was my first dreg/sour/braggot so there could have been many issues, but it took time to clean up. That said, I used dregs from Jolly Pumpkin and it was fantastic. Their whole 'profile' was there and melded really well with the 50/50 honey/beer. One I'll have to take on again, for sure. Kegged that beer this afternoon from the photo above. Holy shitballs. Much more intense than I had anticipated. It's EC-1118 and Brett B blend for primary, then I added dregs from Gueuze Tilquin not expecting much. Seems like the gueuze really took over. Very dry and clean from the champagne yeast and very mellow 'funk' from the Brett, but it's the tilquin dregs that take the reigns and force the bit into your mouth. Goodness. e: Uncle has "30-40"lbs of honey that I and able to get some of. Besides the session sour braggot - other ideas? (it's all wildflower)
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May 7, 2013 00:46
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Got my freezer today and setup my external thermostat. How much cooler should I keep my freezer to ensure my wort is at the right temperature? Like, if I keep it at 68, does that mean the wort will be 68 or should I set the thermostat for a bit cooler?
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May 7, 2013 01:41
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MisterFusion posted:Got my freezer today and setup my external thermostat. How much cooler should I keep my freezer to ensure my wort is at the right temperature? Like, if I keep it at 68, does that mean the wort will be 68 or should I set the thermostat for a bit cooler? I am unsure how most do it, but I tape my temp probe to the outside of the fermenter then set it for about what I want. I figured that was slightly more precise than setting the general temp.
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May 7, 2013 04:19
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How long should it take to boil about 10-12 gallons of water on a propane burner? I was trying to oxidize my new 15 gallon aluminum pot tonight for brewing tomorrow and I gave up after about 45 minutes got me up to 133 F. The lid was on, ambient was about 60 F with a light wind. No clue on the tap water temperature but probably 45ish? Burner is the Blichmann model with the 10 PSI regulator giving as much gas as it could without the little blue flame cones occasionally jumping off the nozzles.
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May 7, 2013 05:10
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LeeMajors posted:Anyone here actually try no-chill? The articles are promising. A friend of mine was telling me about this a while ago, his method was basically pour it straight into his (sanitised) plastic fermenter while it was still steaming and leave it there for however long to cool to a reasonable level, then add any top up water and yeast. His reasoning basically was he found it too awkward to bulk cool down all the wort, and the mostly full fermenter of steaming wort should be able to ward off any bugs by heat alone until he pitched. I don't think he had any problems or major differences at all, but I don't think he was looking for them either. When I move to full size batches I'll probably do it as well because  and I can't be bothered wasting a bunch of water/ice unless I find any better reason (he generally made hoppy ales)
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May 7, 2013 06:05
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Cpt.Wacky posted:Thanks. I'm going to start with all the grains dumped in and brought up to temp since that seems much simpler. If I don't like it or I want to experiment later then I can get more complicated. I think I'll get the paddle too since I was thinking of stainless steel spoon on SS kettle, but the new one is aluminum. I have my own mill because I knew I'd be a pain in the rear end to whichever LHBS I visited and I also wanted to buy my 2-row in the 50lb bags to save money. For BIAB I'm not going to say "you can't go too thin" because brewing with flour wouldn't be good, though you can get pretty drat tight on the rollers, like sub-credit card width. I think I just got lucky with where I set mine at the first time; I don't believe I've touched the knobs on there since. I should probably invest in feeler gauges before the rollers get bumped.
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May 7, 2013 07:16
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Fluo posted:So with the STC-1000 temp controller I'd be able to keep it at a stable not freezer but more cold fridge temp etc? Yes. In this respect, a chest freezer is just a refrigerator with a better heat pump. A good temperature controller will let you keep the temperature within a degree of your desired temperature (or better). Sirotan is exactly right about how it works in practice: you tell it to stay at a temperature, and it runs the compressor however long it needs to run it to keep things at that temperature. A freezer's able to handle more than a refrigerator, so it would run the compressor less often, and you'd have a larger range of temperatures you could try to reach. The freezer wouldn't run any cooler than a refrigerator given a desired temperature, it's just got more muscle when it comes to trying to reach that temperature. If you go this route, there are two areas where there are noteworthy complications. The first is the possibility of overshooting temperature. Your controller only knows what temperature the probe that came with it is at, and it might cool the air in the freezer way past that point to try to chill it down. If you've also got a heater of some sort (this is good), the controller can start to oscillate. "Oh god it's too cold, oh god it's now way too hot" and so on. I keep my temperature probe in a bottle full of saltwater as a buffer. Ideally you have your probe in whatever you're fermenting, for as precise control as possible, or at least stuck to the side of the fermenter. But if you're fermenting a bunch of stuff at any given time like I am (group project), you have to settle for controlling the ambient temperature. The other complication is that you occasionally have to move five or ten gallons of fluid out of a chest freezer. Lifting that kind of weight above waist height sucks. It's totally doable by anybody in half decent shape, but it's a decent amount of effort, particularly if you're trying to hold things steady and not disturb a layer of settled yeast. I tweaked my shoulder once by not paying enough attention when lifting a carboy. Just something to be aware of.
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May 7, 2013 07:48
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Cpt.Wacky posted:How long should it take to boil about 10-12 gallons of water on a propane burner? I was trying to oxidize my new 15 gallon aluminum pot tonight for brewing tomorrow and I gave up after about 45 minutes got me up to 133 F. The lid was on, ambient was about 60 F with a light wind. No clue on the tap water temperature but probably 45ish? Burner is the Blichmann model with the 10 PSI regulator giving as much gas as it could without the little blue flame cones occasionally jumping off the nozzles. You've got to futz with the air jammer. It should the raging like an unholy beast. Those Blichmanns are strong, as in real strong. Should have hit a boil at least 30min. Instructional video: http://youtu.be/80DXdiSVxQI?t=2m21s e: wait just watched it. Says "no noise" or no "yellow flame". Either I'm doing something wrong, or they want your burner turned WAY down. Jacobey000 fucked around with this message at 12:54 on May 7, 2013 |
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May 7, 2013 12:52
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My first ever 'sour' beer (Brett L pitched in primary with some S04) is finishing up after 6 months and I want to start a new one right away to keep the chain going. Do I: 1) Completely scrap the bugs because it also has old yeast in it? 2) Brew a new batch and pour over all the old trub? 3) Any other ideas? I had my beer sitting on some oak cubes as well, so if I do end up pitching all the old bugs, I could just transfer the oak cubes to the new beer, thus saving some of that delicious Brett L.
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May 7, 2013 14:51
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Pretty much all of my sours are first generations, but I intend to rack beers onto the cake for most of them.
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May 7, 2013 15:35
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I've heard beer will sour faster if you reuse a full cake so I'd do that unless you want a different blend of bugs. IIRC you don't have to worry about autolysis because the bugs and brett use the dead cells as a nutrient.
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May 7, 2013 15:41
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