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BrianBoitano posted:So I've got a modest set of brewing equipment (mostly 1 gallon glass) and then a friend buys me this: You don't lager with the Mr. Beer. It's just a simple little kit that's supposed to get you to make something with booze in it. It's a great starter for someone who's interested in homebrewing. If you already brew some, i'd suggest using the Mr. Beer with the friend that gave it to you. Maybe it'll get them to enjoy homebrewing enough, too!
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Feb 1, 2014 07:32
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Paladine_PSoT posted:You don't lager with the Mr. Beer. It's just a simple little kit that's supposed to get you to make something with booze in it. It's a great starter for someone who's interested in homebrewing. If you already brew some, i'd suggest using the Mr. Beer with the friend that gave it to you. Maybe it'll get them to enjoy homebrewing enough, too! That's my plan, but won't making something bland turn him off a bit?
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Feb 1, 2014 14:45
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BrianBoitano posted:So I've got a modest set of brewing equipment (mostly 1 gallon glass) and then a friend buys me this: That plus 3lbs of honey in a 5 gal batch will get you close to a 6% braggot that can drink in regular beer time but ages well too. You may also want to boil some extra hops with it though. Also i started in the mr beer my fiancé bought me. Im sure not a day goes by that she doesn't regret it because i take up a lot of space with my addiction.
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Feb 1, 2014 14:47
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BrianBoitano posted:Also, the ingredients don't mention lagering at all, but I guess I could stick this in my fridge after a week or two. I've never had an interest in lagering, but this could be nice I guess? Okay so my friend got this as a gift, outside of taking a while to figure out their "airlock", which is nothing more than a few notches at the top of where the lid screws on, I've figured out what we're going to do. We're going to steep crystal 40 and 60, about 0.25 ounces each, and use cascade and goldings towards the end to give it a bit of a hop character. From then on I'm going to build him some kits based around what he's looking for. I don't trust their "airlock" but we'll see. Edit: I'm probably going to change the yeast also.
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Feb 1, 2014 16:10
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Wheee pop goes the airlock! Fun way to wake up on a Saturday morning. Even used fermcap. Someone clean my ceiling for me tia
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Feb 1, 2014 16:20
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wattershed posted:Juuust put the airlock in a cider on the WLP002 English ale yeast. This combo got good reviews so I'm giving it a whirl, but now I'm a little intrigued and thinking I won't be done with it after the 002 has petered out. I didn't think sour ciders were a thing worth pursuing, any tips along the way? I feel like it'd get way too dry after the Roeselare cleans up, no? I like a spritzy, dry cider so it being very dry is pretty OK with me. What I've found fascinating with this cider is that even though it's been hanging out around 1.001 for a long time, the flavors keep on changing. The Roeselare really added a pretty cool sour cherry sweetness to the cider that I'm very excited to try once carbonated. The best tip I can give is give it time, sour ciders need patience.
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Feb 1, 2014 16:44
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Marshmallow Blue posted:That plus 3lbs of honey in a 5 gal batch will get you close to a 6% braggot that can drink in regular beer time but ages well too. You may also want to boil some extra hops with it though. Great idea! Here is my new plan for a 2 gallon batch (equipment limitation): Boil 1 gallon water, cool, and save for later 1.5 lbs (of the 1.8 provided) hopped extract, brought just to a boil Cool to 212 2 tea bags earl gray, steep 7 minutes Cool to 190, remove tea bags 2 lbs orange blossom honey Pour into keg with cooled gallon water Aerate like crazy, pitch yeast. Thanks again! vvv: something something fermentation temperatures bubble sizes final gravities BrianBoitano fucked around with this message at 22:48 on Feb 1, 2014 |
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Feb 1, 2014 22:23
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Random thought. I've never made a ONETRUE lager. Living in CA and not having the space or will to spend the money on power for a 2nd fridge means that lagering is just outside of my ability at the moment. I'm also not terribly familiar with the genre as a whole. Since I don't have lagering capabilities, I have been playing with the familiar idea of using sf lager yeast or maybe doing a clean ale yeast at lower temp etc but as I was perusing internetz someone mentioned how champagne yeasts are not worth using in beer because they don't add any yeast character. This got me thinking that if the point of lagering is to minimize the fruity esters/phenols from yeast, how would a champagne yeast fermented lager be? Anyone ever try it?
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Feb 1, 2014 22:28
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GrAviTy84 posted:Random thought. I don't know anything about the champagne yeast but I guess it'd make it dry? I don't know sorry  however have you tried Whitelab Cry Havoc Yeast? I've not tried it but it made me think of what you was talking about because it is a yeast that can do both ale and lager.  quote:Licensed from Charlie Papazian, this strain can ferment at ale and lager temperatures, allowing brewers to produce diverse beer styles. The recipes in both Papazian's books, The Complete Joy of Homebrewing and The Homebrewers Companion, were originally developed and brewed with this yeast. But I guess it'd produce esters and such I don't know, the reviews are worth checking out! 
Fluo fucked around with this message at 04:02 on Feb 2, 2014 |
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Feb 1, 2014 23:24
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GrAviTy84 posted:This got me thinking that if the point of lagering is to minimize the fruity esters/phenols from yeast, how would a champagne yeast fermented lager be? Wine/champagne yeasts weren't selected for their ability to ferment the more complex sugars in beer so they kind of suck at it. IMO there's really no way to get a good lager character from anything other than true lager yeast at lager temperatures. I've done clean ale yeast at super low temperatures and there's still a very distinct ale character there. It doesn't quite get that crisp and slightly sulfury tang that you get from a good clean lager fermentation.
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Feb 1, 2014 23:41
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Just got done christening my victoria mill with 5lbs 2row and 2 pounds specialty malts. Took about 30 minutes but there was very little effort. Im not a judge of what a good crush is but im excited to see how my efficiency turns out. Brew day tomorrow!
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Feb 2, 2014 01:14
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internet celebrity posted:Wine/champagne yeasts weren't selected for their ability to ferment the more complex sugars in beer so they kind of suck at it. IMO there's really no way to get a good lager character from anything other than true lager yeast at lager temperatures. I've done clean ale yeast at super low temperatures and there's still a very distinct ale character there. It doesn't quite get that crisp and slightly sulfury tang that you get from a good clean lager fermentation. Hmmm ok. There are also ways to mess with fermentability. Maybe 90 min 145F mash with all or mostly pils and a lot of dextrose or honey. Maybe I'll make a 1 gal testbatch.
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Feb 2, 2014 01:32
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internet celebrity posted:Wine/champagne yeasts weren't selected for their ability to ferment the more complex sugars in beer so they kind of suck at it. IMO there's really no way to get a good lager character from anything other than true lager yeast at lager temperatures. I've done clean ale yeast at super low temperatures and there's still a very distinct ale character there. It doesn't quite get that crisp and slightly sulfury tang that you get from a good clean lager fermentation. Currently fermenting a saison with Red Star's Premier Cuvee - it's got plenty of sulfury tang, trust me. I've also used EC-1118 to primary a beer and it was pretty clean and uninteresting and served as a great starting point for a sour beer (and have re-pitched said yeast since). If it were me, Gravity, I'd split batch between a calcommon and a wine yeast to find what you like better.
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Feb 2, 2014 03:38
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You could use an alt yeast at low temps instead of lagering.
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Feb 2, 2014 03:54
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Midorka posted:You could use an alt yeast at low temps instead of lagering. Kolsch is another one that might work, though I haven't tried it.
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Feb 2, 2014 03:58
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BrianBoitano posted:That's my plan, but won't making something bland turn him off a bit? Not if he's part of the process, probably.
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Feb 2, 2014 06:36
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I did a lot of mock lagers with US-05 or Wyeast German Ale fermented cold before I got a chest freezer for fermentation. While some of them came out good they really don't get the same character as using an actual lager yeast. The Anchor Steam strain is probably the closest ale yeast you'll get, but it's way better in a california common or a cream ale.
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Feb 2, 2014 09:43
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BrianBoitano posted:So I've got a modest set of brewing equipment (mostly 1 gallon glass) and then a friend buys me this: http://www.basicbrewing.com/index.php?page=january-7-2012-doctoring-mr-beer Maybe this will interest you? They're using the Mr Beer kit but making it better with other stuff.
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Feb 2, 2014 13:38
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Sistergodiva posted:http://www.basicbrewing.com/index.php?page=january-7-2012-doctoring-mr-beer There was also a podcast (sunday session) where jamil had to make a black ipa without boiling and he used mr beer kit + dry hops
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Feb 2, 2014 14:51
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GrAviTy84 posted:Random thought. Search out an old brewing tv episode called lager work arounds. They show a couple of different techniques that you can probably use.
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Feb 2, 2014 16:36
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GrAviTy84 posted:Wheee pop goes the airlock! Fun way to wake up on a Saturday morning. Even used fermcap. Someone clean my ceiling for me tia "Sure glad I didn't use a blowoff tube"
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Feb 2, 2014 17:52
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more falafel please posted:"Sure glad I didn't use a blowoff tube" Idk this is the first blow in a good dozen brews since using fermcap-s. Strange. Colder ferment, too, us05. It was like 2 days after pitch with good activity 12 hours after pitch.
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Feb 2, 2014 18:24
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Doing a 15 gallon batch today, started at 11:30, currently sparging. I've collected 5 gallons in 45 minutes. I wonder what time I'll wind up finishing today.  e: Just finished my brew day, about 6.5 hours total, not bad considering it was a huge batch and took almost 2 hours to sparge. Hit my gravity and boil volume, feeling good! hellfaucet fucked around with this message at 00:32 on Feb 3, 2014 |
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Feb 2, 2014 20:17
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Just bottled a case of cider (2.5 gallons) after adding 3 family size cans of apple juice concentrate and a couple cups of maple syrup. Went from 1.005 to 1.04. If I don't post an update it's because I waited to long to pasteurize and my apartment catastrophically exploded.
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Feb 2, 2014 21:26
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Alright then guys, StarSan it is  I'll still keep the bleach around though, just in case I need something to completely nuke bacteria and such (unless StarSan is as thorough). On a different note, my last batch came out with some heavy yeast in the bottles after two weeks of fermentation, to the point that the beer had a noticeably yeasty taste. Do you guys know of any special methods or such for bottling to minimize yeast content in the bottles?
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Feb 3, 2014 00:06
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NEED TOILET PAPER posted:Alright then guys, StarSan it is Starsan is phosphoric acid based so it nukes pretty well. What kind of beer was it? Did you avoid racking the trub/yeast cake? How much is there? Is it in all the bottles? You may be able to cold crash them if its not insane amounts.
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Feb 3, 2014 01:26
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It was ostensibly a Baltic Porter, though I'll drop the recipe here and let you all see for yourselves:quote:Malt and Fermentables It was a 2.5-gallon batch, entirely in glass bottles. I did my best to avoid racking the yeast sediment, but bear in mind that this was all done in October/November (it was for a friends' Thanksgiving party) so the details are a bit hazy at this point for me. I don't think my bottling for this batch went any differently than my other batches, FWIW.
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Feb 3, 2014 02:53
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NEED TOILET PAPER posted:It was ostensibly a Baltic Porter, though I'll drop the recipe here and let you all see for yourselves:
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Feb 3, 2014 05:10
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The original recipe (I changed recipe notebooks around that time and I guess I forgot to copy my own recordings in the new notebook when I copied recipes) says OG=1.123, FG=1.033. I was also doing BIAB so I may have fiddled around with the grain amounts a bit to make up for lost efficiency, but honestly my memory is really hazy since I brewed that thing in early October at the latest.
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Feb 3, 2014 05:57
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Even still that thing is like 20% dextrine malts. At 5 gal it would be thick and ridiculous. At 2.5 gal  Edit. That might be the bready/yeasty taste you taste. The insane amounts of unfermentables. Edit2: Drinkin dis in honor of the fallen manning. 
GrAviTy84 fucked around with this message at 06:15 on Feb 3, 2014 |
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Feb 3, 2014 06:12
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Hey guys, popping in to share my [Tangerine Dreaming](http://brewtoad.com/recipes/tangerine-dreaming) saison recipe I'm going to brew soon. The idea is to use French saison to get it nice and dry and accent the spice with the rose hips and tangerine. I thought about throwing in .5lb of Orange Blossom honey per 5 gallons, but I don't want any sort of cloyingness to this. I want a crisp citrusy/spicy wheated saison. I will report back once I've brewed it!
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Feb 3, 2014 08:09
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Hey folks. Just wannted to drop in and say hello. Homebrewer here with several years in making lovely beer and lovely mead. But its my own lovely brew and not the lovely stuff i get out of cans.
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Feb 3, 2014 14:21
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Cimber posted:Hey folks. Hey, welcome. Stick around a while.
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Feb 3, 2014 17:29
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Midorka posted:Hey guys, popping in to share my [Tangerine Dreaming](http://brewtoad.com/recipes/tangerine-dreaming) saison recipe I'm going to brew soon. The idea is to use French saison to get it nice and dry and accent the spice with the rose hips and tangerine. I thought about throwing in .5lb of Orange Blossom honey per 5 gallons, but I don't want any sort of cloyingness to this. I want a crisp citrusy/spicy wheated saison. Honey would ferment out completely, especially with the monster attenuation you would get from 3711.
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Feb 3, 2014 17:58
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crazyfish posted:Honey would ferment out completely, especially with the monster attenuation you would get from 3711. This, Honey doesn't have any unfermentable sugars, (unless you caramelized the fudge out of it (and even then it's still pretty ferment-able))
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Feb 3, 2014 18:02
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Why are meads so sweet if it ferments all out? Is it how the mead yeast interacts with the beer? What purpose is there to use honey in a beer over other cheaper sugars than? I don't mean any of that sarcastically, I'm truly wondering.
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Feb 3, 2014 19:00
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Midorka posted:Why are meads so sweet if it ferments all out? Is it how the mead yeast interacts with the beer? What purpose is there to use honey in a beer over other cheaper sugars than? Sometimes they're made strong enough to kill off the yeast with alcohol before they ferment out. Sometimes they're stabilized and backsweetened.
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Feb 3, 2014 19:04
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Most homebrewed mead I've had is super duper bone dry. It's only the insanely high gravity stuff that comes out sweet and I think it's because they push the yeast well beyond its tolerance.
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Feb 3, 2014 19:05
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I just brewed my first all grain batch on Saturday, which was my second batch ever. The recipe is a German weizen from Brewing Classic Styles, adapted to what the brew shop had in stock. 5 gal batch 5.6 lbs domestic pilsner 5.6 lbs white wheat 1 oz Hallertau @ 60m 1pk Wyeast #3333 German Wheat I had a blast doing it and am totally in love with the hobby. I missed all my numbers and calculated my efficiency at something dismal like 65%. Still ended up with 4.5 gallons in the fermenter at 1.054 og so I'm quite happy and am pumped to start another batch. I have a couple of questions- when making a starter, how long before pitching should you start it? I let a 2qt starter go for about 18 hours and had bubbles in the blowoff bucket 4-6 hours after pitching, but I have no idea what my pitch rate was. Second, what do you do with your spent grain? It seems a shame to toss it in the garbage.
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Feb 3, 2014 20:00
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Marathanes posted:Anyone have any experience with dark wheat beers? Just a trip report since I finally got around to sampling this with some friends who could give me opinions other than my own, and the consensus is that it turned out quite well (better than I was expecting, to be honest, even my fiancee enjoys it in small quantities). It's very roasty, almost like drinking a lightly carbonated iced coffee, but with a body on the light side for a wheat beer, making it rather sessionable at about 4% ABV. Certainly not for everyone, but since most of my friends drink coffee like its going out of style, it was a reasonable hit.
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Feb 3, 2014 20:09
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