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Oh good, kegchat. I'm waiting-for-my-tax-return away from saying gently caress bottling forever. I'm looking for a minimum 3, preferably 4 keg setup and would love a push in the right direction since I'm 100% clueless on where to get started. I'll just put my credit card and address in spoiler tags if that's easier than one of you responding to this.
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Mar 14, 2014 03:35
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fullroundaction posted:Oh good, kegchat. I'm waiting-for-my-tax-return away from saying gently caress bottling forever. I'm looking for a minimum 3, preferably 4 keg setup and would love a push in the right direction since I'm 100% clueless on where to get started. I'll just put my credit card and address in spoiler tags if that's easier than one of you responding to this. Check on Homebrewfinds.com. At least once a month, some ball lock kegs go on sale for reasonable shipping costs. You'll also see freezers on sale as well for creating a keezer. Many other things you should be able to find on craiglist for cheap if you're patient and persistent. Also, if you go to your LHBS, they'll treat you nicely.  Basically, do you want faucet taps or picnic taps? If it's picnic taps, you just need to buy some used kegs, gas and liquid lines, a #20 CO2 tank (you'll save in the long run), some gas tubing, a gas manifold, a temperature controller and some keg lube. If you want faucet taps on the outside, you'll either need to find a fridge that you can drill through the door or build a collar for a freezer. Buy the necessary building materials and then pick up some stainless steel faucets, shanks, wingnuts, tap handles, and over a dozen feet of liquid tubing and a few disconnects in addition to the supplies above. That's an overview that I'm sure sounds more complicated than it actually is.
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Mar 14, 2014 03:56
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Syrinxx posted:Tired of washing bottles. For babby's first keg system should I look at pin lock or ball lock kegs? My keezer will fit either one without a collar but I'm curious about ease of use/cleaning and parts availability, etc. Also I'd like the option to use 2.5 or 3 gallon kegs with the same fittings as well. Would love to hear opinions about which type keg to purchase, thanks. fullroundaction posted:Oh good, kegchat. I'm waiting-for-my-tax-return away from saying gently caress bottling forever. I'm looking for a minimum 3, preferably 4 keg setup and would love a push in the right direction since I'm 100% clueless on where to get started. I'll just put my credit card and address in spoiler tags if that's easier than one of you responding to this. You probably want ball lock. However, you can replace the posts on pin lock kegs with ball lock posts and get a sort of hybrid -- the size/shape/price of the pin locks (plus the extra posts) with the flexibility of ball locks. Most people prefer ball locks for the shape because they're thinner, which means more of them fit in the same footprint. For everything other than kegs, a fridge/freezer, and the wood needed to make a collar if you're going that route, http://www.kegconnection.com/ has build-your-own kits that are by default everything you need, but you can customize every part of it -- and for good prices. ScaerCroe posted:I have been thinking of doing a Kriek with the Wyeast blend with a year in primary, 6 months secondary Funny, I'm planning on doing... exactly the opposite. Wyeast lambic blend, Pils/wheat, just a little hops, 6 months primary, a year on cherries. Glottis posted:Do you filter coming out of your kettle, or just wait for a while for it to settle? I feel like when I've got about 5.5 gallons in the kettle and wait for an hour for it to settle, I can only get maybe 4 gallons out before it's truby again. I think I just need to try to have 6 gallons at the end of my boils. I use an immersion chiller, so I agitate the crap out of it after flameout. Once it's cool I'll usually take a sanitized thingum and make a whirlpool for a few minutes, leave the lid on and let it settle out a bit. I then run a hose from the valve on my kettle to a wire strainer sitting in a funnel in my carboy neck. Whirlfloc usually does a pretty good job of getting everything to drop to the bottom. A gallon and a half of trub is an awful lot. Are you using a lot of leaf hops or something?
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Mar 14, 2014 04:50
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Is there any reason to have small kegs for small batches other than space considerations? You could just keg a 3 gallon batch into a 5 gallon keg normally, right?
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Mar 14, 2014 05:25
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more falafel please posted:
What I mean is that it'd take forever for the trub to really compact such that there's only .5 gallons of it in the kettle. I use pellet hops and I make sure to vorlauf enough that there's not a TON of proteins going in the boil, but maybe not well enough?
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Mar 14, 2014 07:09
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illcendiary posted:Is there any reason to have small kegs for small batches other than space considerations? You could just keg a 3 gallon batch into a 5 gallon keg normally, right? Absolutely no reason afaik, since you purge the co2 headspace is no issue.
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Mar 14, 2014 08:48
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Thanks for the keg advice. If I wanted to rush the project just to get it done and used picnic taps, how hard is it to convert to external taps later on down the line? I'm assuming other than the actual taps I would not have any wasted/or need for new stuff right? Except maybe some fittings or tubing.
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Mar 14, 2014 13:34
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fullroundaction posted:Thanks for the keg advice. If I wanted to rush the project just to get it done and used picnic taps, how hard is it to convert to external taps later on down the line? I'm assuming other than the actual taps I would not have any wasted/or need for new stuff right? Except maybe some fittings or tubing. Correct. Removing the picnic tap will just leave you with the end of the beverage line which you fit onto the back of the shank. Mine fit well enough that I never have to use even a hose clamp though I don't know if that's normal.
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Mar 14, 2014 14:53
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How do you know when a beer would be better aged or should be consumed in a certain time frame? The batch I've been talking about is the AIH Winter Solstice. It's a porter with chipotle and cocoa nibs. Do porters usually age well? If so I want to reserve six or so bottles to age until next winter.
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Mar 14, 2014 15:14
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Porters age fine. If you find the cocoa or pepper aren't up to par aging should help mellow and round out the flavors.
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Mar 14, 2014 15:34
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Martello posted:How do you know when a beer would be better aged or should be consumed in a certain time frame? Typically the beers with the biggest problems aging are hoppy beers -- hop flavor and aroma tends to fade over time. I've heard wheat beers don't age well either, but I'm not sure why that is. I had a wheat beer that I saved a bottle of for about 6 months and it was delicious. But yeah, porters, stouts, belgians, anything real malty or yeasty should age well for at least a year or two.
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Mar 14, 2014 16:12
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Very generally, the stronger a beer is in terms of alcohol and the more richly-flavored a beer is, the better it will age. Hops do tend to age out, especially aromas. If you're making a barleywine, for example, and you want it to still be bitter in a few years, you really have to go nuts with the hops on brewday. There are all kinds of exceptions, like sours, but my usual rule of thumb is that beer over 9% ABV or so makes good keeping beer.
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Mar 14, 2014 16:25
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I think wheat beers can age OK, but plane and simple hefes are ready so fast that they don't really benefit that much, you generally want a blend of banana/bubblegum esters and clovey phenols which I assume can get duller with age. Yeast generally "clean up" their byproducts after they finish pigging out on the good stuff, and speaking on a major assumption, I would think that would include those esters and phenols. Hefes also have a lot of yeast in suspension while you drink them, hence the cloudiness and low flocculation, which imparts additional flavors. Letting it sit allows yeast to die, precipitate out, and just generally be less fresh, and like with most things, fresh tastes better.
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Mar 14, 2014 16:26
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Daedalus Esquire posted:I think wheat beers can age OK, but plane and simple hefes are ready so fast that they don't really benefit that much, you generally want a blend of banana/bubblegum esters and clovey phenols which I assume can get duller with age. Yeast generally "clean up" their byproducts after they finish pigging out on the good stuff, and speaking on a major assumption, I would think that would include those esters and phenols. I guess with stuff like hefes where they're relatively low gravity and are drinkable super fast, I don't see the point in aging -- just make another one. I don't see the flavors in a hefe getting better with time, so even if it doesn't get worse... just make another one.
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Mar 14, 2014 17:27
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If it tastes like fruit or has fruit in it, uses floral hops (with the intent that you would taste the floral qualities in them), or has coffee in it, don't age it. All those qualities will fade.
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Mar 14, 2014 19:17
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wattershed posted:If it tastes like fruit or has fruit in it, uses floral hops (with the intent that you would taste the floral qualities in them), or has coffee in it, don't age it. All those qualities will fade. Any reason why you're only specifically mentioning floral hops? Hops naturally fade in beer fast as it is, so any hop forward beer should be drank with relative quickness. Vanilla is a compound that also ages out quickly.
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Mar 14, 2014 20:05
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Midorka posted:Any reason why you're only specifically mentioning floral hops? Hops naturally fade in beer fast as it is, so any hop forward beer should be drank with relative quickness. Vanilla is a compound that also ages out quickly. This is wholly anecdotal, but I've found that when piney and fruity hops age, they just lose their punch and fade into the background, whereas hops with more floral notes get grassy/vegetal. And yes, should have mentioned vanilla in my previous post too. People sitting on coffee vanilla beers for more than 6-9 months crack me up.
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Mar 14, 2014 20:13
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fullroundaction posted:I used the only sour blend the LHBS had in stock at the time I was there: http://www.whitelabs.com/yeast/wlp655-belgian-sour-mix-1 Basic Brewing Radio interviewed a guy who ran an all-Brett experiment who concluded that Brett is actually quite clean if added early. I would try fermenting with a Belgian yeast until not much is left, then pitching Brett and your fruit. From my experience, 20 oz raspberries is way too much for a 1 gallon batch. Not that anyone else would make that mistake, but I just want others to learn from mine.
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Mar 14, 2014 20:27
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wattershed posted:This is wholly anecdotal, but I've found that when piney and fruity hops age, they just lose their punch and fade into the background, whereas hops with more floral notes get grassy/vegetal. The oxidation of alpha acids is gross and really shows in most hoppy beers when they age.
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Mar 14, 2014 20:36
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BrianBoitano posted:Basic Brewing Radio interviewed a guy who ran an all-Brett experiment who concluded that Brett is actually quite clean if added early. I would try fermenting with a Belgian yeast until not much is left, then pitching Brett and your fruit. You can do Brett early/100% but then you need to make sure it's a stressful environment to get funk out of it.
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Mar 14, 2014 21:35
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BrianBoitano posted:From my experience, 20 oz raspberries is way too much for a 1 gallon batch. Not that anyone else would make that mistake, but I just want others to learn from mine. You'll probably run out of room, but usually I add two pounds per gallon to my five gallon batches.
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Mar 14, 2014 22:37
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Pew! 14.5 litres of saison just added to the fermenter. 100% pilsner malt and pitched with 3711. Tasted like bitter sugar-water but that's about what it should taste right?
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Mar 14, 2014 22:37
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Sistergodiva posted:Pew! 14.5 litres of saison just added to the fermenter. 100% pilsner malt and pitched with 3711. Tasted like bitter sugar-water but that's about what it should taste right? That's basically what it is. Sounds like it'll be successful.
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Mar 14, 2014 23:11
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ieatsoap6 posted:That's basically what it is. Sounds like it'll be successful. Yeah, just never tasted it before. Think I overshot ibu, thought I would get 18litres. How horrible is a 38-42 ibu saison?
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Mar 14, 2014 23:25
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Please help troubleshoot my kegerator issue: -Two tap kegerator, with a single corny hooked up to the gas at 10 PSI (so says the regulator) for 7 days. All valves are open (I did 5 checks to make sure I wasn't being an idiot). -Just hooked up the beer line today, but it will not dispense! I have pulled the ball lock connector on and off 3 times to make sure it is seated correctly. -When I pull off the beer line from the keg, a small amount of beer is coming out of the post. -When I flush the headspace of the keg, I hear more gas going in (so the tank is not empty, and the regulator shows there is pressure behind it). The only difference that I can think of is that I filled this guy to nearly the brim with beer. Is this what an overfilled keg will do?
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Mar 14, 2014 23:39
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ChickenArise posted:
 I'm considering switching to table sugar once I'm out of the 15lbs. I'm thinking if maybe I change the sugar type, the yeast will all "Quel est ce?" and give up on fermentation. I've also thought about dropping the temperature (70F currently) but I think that will just slow the yeast and make bottle bombs instead of stopping it. Adding camden / etc isn't something I planned to do and I don't have any on hand. The brew store is over two hours round trip so let's not have to do that. Taste wise? It tastes like a hop pellet ground up in a glass of beer. There's still a lot of hop bits floating around in there so that would be a pretty accurate flavor.
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Mar 14, 2014 23:55
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Godspeed, you crazy diamond
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ScaerCroe posted:Please help troubleshoot my kegerator issue: An overfilled keg will work just fine and won't mysteriously fail to dispense like that. You have some kind of blockage in the dispense side. The dip tube might be blocked, the poppet might be clogged, there might be a kink in your dispense line, etc. It's probably in the keg, though. I say take the gas off, vent the keg (lock the overpressure valve open), and take apart the out post and pull out the dip tube. Clean and resanitize all the bits, and reassemble, then try again. Jo3sh fucked around with this message at 00:06 on Mar 15, 2014 |
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Mar 15, 2014 00:02
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http://www.theyeastbay.com has the Conan yeast back in stock as of...2 minutes ago. SWARM SWARM SWARM (I'm only telling you savages because I got mine and I'm deciding not to fulfill the first part of 'FYGM') ScaerCroe posted:Please help troubleshoot my kegerator issue: My only guess is that the beer out post isn't seated properly OR you have some sort of buildup (hops, trub, etc) in your dip tube that's preventing the beer from working its way out to your tap. I'd do a breakdown of the beer path and ensure there's nothing clogging the route. Might be as simple as a lot of trub in the bottom of the keg and the tube is jammed up.
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Mar 15, 2014 00:08
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I will echo that the outlet is probably clogged with hops or something. It takes a tiny amount of hop chud to completely clog one of those poppets, I learned the hard way. edit: and now I just spent $26 on 2 vials of yeast being shipped like 30 minutes away from me Glottis fucked around with this message at 00:46 on Mar 15, 2014 |
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Mar 15, 2014 00:34
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Sistergodiva posted:Yeah, just never tasted it before. That's a bit on the high end, I think, although if it's particularly strong then it'll balance out. I've never really found post-boil wort to be indicative of the finished product, though.
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Mar 15, 2014 00:37
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Jo3sh posted:An overfilled keg will work just fine and won't mysteriously fail to dispense like that. You have some kind of blockage in the dispense side. The dip tube might be blocked, the poppet might be clogged, there might be a kink in your dispense line, etc. It's probably in the keg, though. I was on HBT earlier (I know, I feel dirty) and they were saying it is hard to carb when the in line is below the beer level, which mine was, so I pulled off a pint from the top. Next step will be as you suggest. Thanks for the answer Jo3sh, as your advice has always been helpful.
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Mar 15, 2014 01:50
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Cracked the first bottle of my citra dry hopped American wheat...holy poo poo the aroma.
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Mar 15, 2014 01:51
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wattershed posted:This is wholly anecdotal, but I've found that when piney and fruity hops age, they just lose their punch and fade into the background, whereas hops with more floral notes get grassy/vegetal. Yeah, there's people opening Bourbon County Vanilla from 2010 and claiming it still have big vanilla flavor. Now I haven't had it, fresh or aged, but the only way I could imagine it having any vanilla would be from the barrel. Perhaps Goose Island chose select barrels that had the biggest vanilla presence from the barrel and then added more? Either way I've had a few vanilla beers that were even a few months old and they barely had any.
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Mar 15, 2014 14:39
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Thufir posted:Cracked the first bottle of my citra dry hopped American wheat...holy poo poo the aroma. I recently did an American Wheat with 80% Citra/20% Amarillo and it's loving awesome. Will probably brew this beer all summer long as my house beer.
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Mar 15, 2014 14:42
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hellfaucet posted:I recently did an American Wheat with 80% Citra/20% Amarillo and it's loving awesome. Will probably brew this beer all summer long as my house beer. Would it be cool to post your recipe? I've never done an American Wheat style beer and love to have a look at what one looks like, I'll be brewing one sometime and getting a rough idea of one is always a bonus. 
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Mar 15, 2014 18:08
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Anyone know why vanilla flavor is fleeting? I'm not arguing with those of you claiming 1st hand that it does, I'm just curious why as it doesn't make sense to me. Vanilla extract is made by steeping vanilla in 30%~ alcohol and that sits on most peoples shelves for a few months to a year. Why would adding vanilla to an 8% beer in a brown, sealed container suddenly make it dissipate? I'm just curious about it is all. Could it be that the extract contains so many vanilla flavor compounds that it just takes longer for them to break down/go away? Lasting by sheer volume as most vanilla flavored beers are probably not meant to double as extracts. I understand the hops as I've witnessed that first hand and being familiar with coffee that one makes sense to me too. I've only tried a couple beers with vanilla and don't really have any time table to bench the reference in flavor.
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Mar 15, 2014 18:12
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Fluo posted:Would it be cool to post your recipe? 54% Wheat 40% 2-Row 6% Caravienne 1.059 OG 1x HopShot (for 5gal) @ 60 mins 1.5oz Citra @ 0 mins 0.5oz Amarillo @ 0 mins 1.0oz Citra @ whirlpool 20 mins 0.5oz Amarillo @ whirlpool 20 mins WY1968 London ESB hellfaucet fucked around with this message at 15:04 on Mar 16, 2014 |
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Mar 15, 2014 18:45
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Toxx posted:Anyone know why vanilla flavor is fleeting? I'm not arguing with those of you claiming 1st hand that it does, I'm just curious why as it doesn't make sense to me. Vanilla extract is made by steeping vanilla in 30%~ alcohol and that sits on most peoples shelves for a few months to a year. Why would adding vanilla to an 8% beer in a brown, sealed container suddenly make it dissipate? I'm just curious about it is all. Could it be that the extract contains so many vanilla flavor compounds that it just takes longer for them to break down/go away? Lasting by sheer volume as most vanilla flavored beers are probably not meant to double as extracts. Whether there's a good reason for it or not, it just does. My guess is that 10 year old vanilla extract doesn't taste all that good, either.
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Mar 15, 2014 18:46
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This 7.4% chocolate and mint stout from Fluo is absolutely fantastic. All chocolate with a lingering mint finish, does not drink 7.4% at all and definitely very moreish like you mentioned!
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Mar 15, 2014 19:05
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hellfaucet posted:54% Wheat  minstrels posted:This 7.4% chocolate and mint stout from Fluo is absolutely fantastic. All chocolate with a lingering mint finish, does not drink 7.4% at all and definitely very moreish like you mentioned! Oh man so glad you liked it! I know mint in beer is very polarizing all started with a bet since Stone Brewery made one once but it was limited edition. Also minstrels if I get you this secret santa I'll have alot more / better ones to send as a couple I sent were kind iffy. Glad you enjoyed it! Fluo fucked around with this message at 19:53 on Mar 15, 2014 |
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Mar 15, 2014 19:47
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