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No input on Sorachi Ace, but I've noticed that certain people (including myself) catch a really weird tang from Galaxy. It's bad enough that I can't really drink beers with Galaxy-forward profiles anymore and I straight up threw out that last of it I had in my freezer. A friend and I brewed this crazy Blueberry Milkshake IPA (Tired Hands Clone) and it called for some Galaxy. That flavor dominates and ruins the beer 
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Jan 9, 2019 13:05
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FWIW, I have started to shy away from a lot of the galaxy/mosaic/fruity type hops. The last year or so I’ve really discovered that old school noble’ish hops (mittelfruh, saaz, etc.) some “dirty English hops” (challenger, styrian golding, etc.) and old west coast hops (chinook, cascade, centennial) are my jam. I know. I’m a heathen. Tar and feather me now.
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Jan 9, 2019 14:07
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I'm not sold on mosaic either, but my first IPA was half Galaxy and half New Zealand Super Alpha (I think this goes by another name now) and I used a lot of both of them and it was pretty solid, though bitter as hell as I was aiming for 100 IBU. I think I had just had Hop Stupid from Lagunitas and like the idea of an insanely hoppy beer.
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Jan 9, 2019 15:00
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NZ Super Alpha is called Dr. Rudi now. Mosaic is delicious. Hops are delicious. I definitely would have used Mosaic in that Blueberry Milkshake IPA recipe because drat are they good. Noble hops are also delicious. Fuggles is my favorite hop out there and is a great backbone for your punchier hops. Come at me. Sorachi Ace is dill herbal isn't it? I could see it working with Cascade or Amarillo as a secondary hop in an IPA. I'm not sure how best to use it in that circumstance, but I imagine if you went 1:2 or even 1:1 in your aroma/dry applications you'd be okay as long as the other hops were carrying it. I don't know how Citra would play there, maybe okay, but I probably wouldn't. And if you can get your hands on some pFriem Double IPA or their Dank IPA, that's probably going to be a good thing. A lot of the brewers up in hop country are playing a lot with later additions and fresh hops are a seriously amazing thing for beer. But pFriem was doing it when West Coast IPAs were the bomb, and I'd throw it up there with Pliny as being a style setter. There's also Stone with some seriously hoppy stuff, but most of the really amazing stuff never goes into bottles. Which is very sad because all I can get here is Elysian and it's just not what it used to be.
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Jan 9, 2019 15:45
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Sorachi ace varies a lot. I always find it lemony, but this can be complimented with either earthy dankness, bubblegum or dill. All of which work pretty well in Saison although I prefer the dill. For an IPA I would pair it with something dank and lemony like Citra. Pairing it with Galaxy might play up the weirdness if you are into that.
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Jan 9, 2019 16:23
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I have a "english winter ale" recipe that calls for 5 weeks of bottle conditioning, after two weeks in the primary. The recipe includes cinnamon, orange peel and ginger. Does carbonation with spices take longer or is the extended bottle conditioning to achieve a certain flavor? My first time using a recipe that calls for more than 2 weeks of bottle time.
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Jan 9, 2019 17:08
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That's probably just its peak.
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Jan 9, 2019 17:26
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Anyone brew tepeche (pineapple beer) or ginger beer? I just made my first batch of pineapple beer last night, which is insanely easy. (pineapple,sugar,water and let sit for a few days) My only concern is trying to figure out a way to bottle it. From what I've read you pretty much need to drink it within a few days?
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Jan 9, 2019 17:41
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Harminoff posted:Anyone brew tepeche (pineapple beer) or ginger beer? I tried it once, but apparently most (?) pineapples in the US are UV Pasteurized on the outside, so it's hard/impossible to do a spontaneous fermentation with them. Obv you can do a standard yeast pitch/dregs/whatever but I was trying to be traditional. From what I gathered, it's best to drink them quickly as they tend to go acetic pretty fast.
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Jan 9, 2019 17:48
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Harminoff posted:Anyone brew tepeche (pineapple beer) or ginger beer? I make this every summer. I just brew it in a sun tea jar on my counter and pour it direct over ice. If you haven't tried throwing a cinnamon stick and like some cloves in there, you should.
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Jan 9, 2019 17:51
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Harminoff posted:Anyone brew tepeche (pineapple beer) or ginger beer? You should be able to keep it longer, but you want to be absolutely sure it's done fermenting, otherwise you're going to get bottle bombs. You could also stabilize it with potassium sorbate and potassium metabisulfite, but you'd have to drink it uncarbonated as it's going to kill the yeast.
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Jan 9, 2019 18:04
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I keep tepache in my fridge like I do cold brew tea in the summer. I have so much lacto flying around my kitchen on a regular basis (fermenting stuff is fun) that it doesn't matter where I got the pineapples. Although I buy them from the green grocer, so I know they just don't come from the US. I've never had to add yeast/bacteria, so while they may or may not get UV lights to mine, they still pick up the lacto/yeast from just being in the grocery store or sitting on my counter. I've added cinnamon, cloves, ginger, chilis, lemon/lime zest, green cardamon, allspice, and coriander to name a few. I won't do chilis often because it's only okay and best if I'm blending with a cheap lager or something. I use piloncillo for my sugar, but any raw sugar would probably be good (jaggery?). I've yet to grab a sugar cane or two and mess with those too. Maybe this sumer. I have issues not drinking it in two-three days once I put it in the fridge. I just use plastic bottles and filter/siphon right into them. Opening the cap every few hours a day because I'm drinking it keeps any carbonation issues away. rockcity is right that you could just wait until it's completely done fermenting, take a gravity reading, and then add bottling sugar. You'd do that like you'd do any natural soda process. Make sure you filter well though, or you may have gushing problems.
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Jan 9, 2019 20:19
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DARPA posted:I have a "english winter ale" recipe that calls for 5 weeks of bottle conditioning, after two weeks in the primary. The recipe includes cinnamon, orange peel and ginger. Does carbonation with spices take longer or is the extended bottle conditioning to achieve a certain flavor? My first time using a recipe that calls for more than 2 weeks of bottle time. I just made a winter warmer with similar spices and it was carbonated acceptably at two weeks. The finish was a tad rough but that’ll prob mellow out as I let it sit longer.
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Jan 9, 2019 20:35
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I always do tepache with standard Dole supermarket pineapples and have never had a problem with it fermenting.
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Jan 9, 2019 22:10
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I brew a lot of sour beers in my apt and with my equipment and the one time I try to do a spontaneous ferment, it just sat there for like 5 days before I gave up on it. Conditions were perfect. Meanwhile, I'm 0/2 helping my friend brew a Cream Ale because the hop content is so low and it keeps getting a minor lacto infection. The resultant beers are pretty awesome, but they're not classically Cream Ales. Speaking of which: If you were to "deep clean/sanitize" your gear, what would you use? Standard rates of StarSan don't seem to be cutting it and I've picked minor lacto infections with my last few clean beers. My friend swears by iodine, but the discoloration/staining is offputting. robotsinmyhead fucked around with this message at 23:09 on Jan 9, 2019 |
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Jan 9, 2019 23:06
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robotsinmyhead posted:I brew a lot of sour beers in my apt and with my equipment and the one time I try to do a spontaneous ferment, it just sat there for like 5 days before I gave up on it. Conditions were perfect. Meanwhile, I'm 0/2 helping my friend brew a Cream Ale because the hop content is so low and it keeps getting a minor lacto infection. The resultant beers are pretty awesome, but they're not classically Cream Ales. If I were doing a deep clean, I'd be using more than one sanitizer to try to cover a broader spectrum. Depending on what the gear is you could use heat/steam too.
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Jan 9, 2019 23:41
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I'd go with hot caustic (so PBW/oxyclean free), but cycle and take apart any and all valves and connections. It's a deep clean, so everything needs to be exposed to the cleaning agents. Soak for 15 minutes/recirc for 15 minutes, then make a batch of starsan with distilled water (not tap water). Iodophor is another option if you're that worried, and the iodine color will wash away on glass and metal. Technically, you can use bleach, but it means you'd be doing a ton of rinsing. Properly mixed starsan will otherwise do just fine provided everything is clean first. It bursts cell walls, so as long as it gets to the cells, it will kill them. If you're doing a deep clean, that means it's also time to replace plastics, so your tubing and siphon, and any bottling buckets and fermentation buckets that are also plastic. Any gaskets and o-rings that might touch too.
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Jan 10, 2019 00:15
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Jhet posted:I'd go with hot caustic (so PBW/oxyclean free), but cycle and take apart any and all valves and connections. It's a deep clean, so everything needs to be exposed to the cleaning agents. Soak for 15 minutes/recirc for 15 minutes, then make a batch of starsan with distilled water (not tap water). Iodophor is another option if you're that worried, and the iodine color will wash away on glass and metal. Technically, you can use bleach, but it means you'd be doing a ton of rinsing. Properly mixed starsan will otherwise do just fine provided everything is clean first. It bursts cell walls, so as long as it gets to the cells, it will kill them. If I were to take a stab at this, I'd guess it's coming from my Auto Siphon. Everything else is accounted for. It's looking more and more likely that I'll need a second one for clean beers.
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Jan 10, 2019 03:44
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robotsinmyhead posted:If I were to take a stab at this, I'd guess it's coming from my Auto Siphon. Everything else is accounted for. It's looking more and more likely that I'll need a second one for clean beers. FWIW, I’ve had to replace two that were suspect.
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Jan 10, 2019 07:01
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Anyone here done any fermentation under pressure? I realized my club's big lager day is tomorrow and I've never tried out my Spunding Valve.
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Jan 11, 2019 21:28
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I just took what I expect is the FG of my saison. I used Omega's Saisonstein's Monster strain and holy crap 94% attenuation. This is my second time using the strain and I did not enjoy the first attempt a while ago. But that musta been a botched beer because this is tasting great. 70% 2row, 30% rye malt, just added the Nelson dry hop. Should be great.
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Jan 12, 2019 00:19
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ChiTownEddie posted:I just took what I expect is the FG of my saison. I used Omega's Saisonstein's Monster strain and holy crap 94% attenuation. I dig that yeast, and yeah, it lives up to the monster name when it comes to attenuation. It shines with dry hops in my opinion so that should play nicely.
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Jan 12, 2019 00:52
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Update on my tepache, I wasn't getting any fermentation after 3 days so I decided to add some bread yeast last night. Really bubbling up now! Hopefully will be ready to bottle tonight or tomorrow.
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Jan 12, 2019 17:50
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robotsinmyhead posted:Anyone here done any fermentation under pressure? I realized my club's big lager day is tomorrow and I've never tried out my Spunding Valve. Might be worth it for beers with lots of essential oils you want to preserve. The first days of lager fermentation are full of smells you don't want in the final beer, as soon as it starts smelling good it might be worth it. But don't ever ferment saisons under pressure, they hate it and will stall. If you dry hop during mid-fermentation, it's a good idea to finish under pressure to preserve the aromas. We do this on our Enigma/Vic Secret IPA and it works well, plus the beer is almost fully carbed.
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Jan 12, 2019 18:43
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God drat it. Here in CA, I have never been able to get the "real" 190 proof Everclear, but I could get 151, which was almost the same for making limoncello and so on. Until now. I've just got home from the liquor store, and it appears there has been a rule change, so now all I can get is 120 proof. I guess I am going to have to make a trip to a state where I can get the high-test stuff. Can any brewgoons in Arizona confirm for me that 190-proof Everclear is available there? A rough price would be appreciated as well. I already have half a plan to go visit a friend in the Phoenix area, so it looks like that is going to need to firm up.
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Jan 12, 2019 21:28
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Jo3sh posted:God drat it. You can select and shop specific stores on Total Wine's website. Looks like the 190 everclear is limited quantity, so you may have to call, but looks like in Phoenix a 750 is ostensibly $14.99. https://www.totalwine.com/spirits/white-whiskey-moonshine/everclear-grain-alcohol-190/p/5959750?s=1006&igrules=true
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Jan 12, 2019 22:11
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Did my first brew day today. Got 17L of geterbrewed's Hoppy APA in my fermenting bucket, looking forward to seeing bubbles. Made a few mistakes, though most were just about making mess, not anything actively problematic. I did accidentally put the whole volume from the brew vessel into the fermenter, trub and all, so might end up with some off notes, but we shall see.
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Jan 12, 2019 22:50
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mehall posted:Did my first brew day today. The trub thing is largely considered myth, at least at homebrew volumes. Some of the things in trub are actually god for yeast health and fermentation.
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Jan 13, 2019 00:16
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rockcity posted:The trub thing is largely considered myth, at least at homebrew volumes. Some of the things in trub are actually god for yeast health and fermentation. Good times for me then, healthy yeast and fermentation would definitely be preferable for my first brew haha. It does mean my "17L" figure is a touch of a lie though, who knows how much we'll actually be able to bottle up.
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Jan 13, 2019 01:59
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Having a bunch of trub in your fermenter is not a big problem but it can cause massive krausens full of little protein particles if you don't have a lot of headspace or a blowoff. Also, make sure to rack it gently when you're going to bottle or keg.
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Jan 13, 2019 04:21
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Jo3sh posted:God drat it. Well, there's a happy ending. I had had a plan to visit a local distillery today, and we did indeed go. Had a very nice conversation with one of the owners over a couple of tastes, and he just ended up giving me a fifth of 190 proof corn liquor along with the two bottles of legit booze I bought from them.
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Jan 13, 2019 04:47
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Hey! I’m a new home brewer and I just made my first batch of Hefeweizen! It worked out fairly well, but due to a slight logistical slip up, I ended up only having enough bottles for half of my initial (10 liter) batch. I have a plastic bucket fermenter with a tap in the bottom, so I just sealed it back up and stuffed it into the closet for when I could get some more clean bottles. Unfortunately, a week later, I peaked into my fermenter and saw this:  The dreaded infection! Except... it smelled like pure sour. Like the strongest sour beer I’ve ever had! It has to be a massive Lactobacillus infection! I ended up dumping it because I had no way of knowing what else was growing in there, but did that represent an actually usable sour beer starter? Could that have been salvaged and turned into a sour Hefeweizen? Or was it just trash? Is this how souring works, except just with more planning and control? Thanks!
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Jan 13, 2019 13:16
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To make a sour beer you'd: a) add lactobacillus to the wort before boiling, then boil to pasteurize for a short time before cooling and pitching a saccharomyces strain (typically). This is called a kettle sour. b) add lacto, pediococcus, or a LAB producing yeast (or anything else that produces lactic acid), to the fermenter while also pitching yeast. c) spontaneously ferment the wort and hope you got the necessary biodiversity for it to be properly sour. Probably an okay idea to just dump that as it's an already fermented beer that I'm guessing you added bottling sugar to and it picked up an infection and went sour. Just looks to be a biofilm on there, so you probably could have tasted it if you didn't. But yeah, that's basically what happens when souring, but usually with more control of specific parts of the process. Hops have different effects on the microbes, and will keep some from doing anything, and cooling process, grist composition, and mashing process can all play different parts in how the beer tastes sour and everything else. So, it's about as varied as brewing beer, there's just another step or a few modifications to what your normal process might be.
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Jan 13, 2019 17:42
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Heer98 posted:Hey! I’m a new home brewer and I just made my first batch of Hefeweizen! It worked out fairly well, but due to a slight logistical slip up, I ended up only having enough bottles for half of my initial (10 liter) batch. I have a plastic bucket fermenter with a tap in the bottom, so I just sealed it back up and stuffed it into the closet for when I could get some more clean bottles. Looks like there may have been some brett in there. If you don't know the bacterias in your beer, just make sure it ferments out to 1.000 FG or less before you bottle. Did you taste it before flushing it?
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Jan 13, 2019 22:43
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tripwood posted:Looks like there may have been some brett in there. If you don't know the bacterias in your beer, just make sure it ferments out to 1.000 FG or less before you bottle. Did you taste it before flushing it? Biofilm does not necessarily mean brettanomyces, you'd only be able to see what it was generally speaking with a microscope. You'd be able to see morphology and have a decent guess, but past that, you'd not be able to see specific strain without further testing. That's the science of those pellicles/biofilms you see everyone post bubbly pictures as they ask if they have an infection. Anecdotally, sometimes I end up with pellicles and sometimes I don't. Same bacteria under similar situations and grists and different results. They're fairly unpredictable, and the science is back out on whether it actually does anything or if it's just something strange. Seems to form under exposure to oxygen, but doesn't necessarily protect the beer from oxygen like was long thought. The purpose of pellicles is very much not well understood, but they're not harmful. @Heer98 If you're wanting to harvest lacto, there's nothing wrong with that and your grains are covered in the stuff. Just toss some into a weak starter (1.010-1.015 is probably plenty) and you'll have a lacto starter hopefully. L. plantarum is so cheap though that I just buy capsules of the stuff from Swanson off of amazon. There is a plethora of information and data out there on the milkthefunk wiki that will get you over-informed.
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Jan 13, 2019 23:07
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Pretty sure I screwed up my tepache by adding the yeast. I wasn't thinking any mixed the yeast with water and sugar like the packet said to, but I used tap water instead of the bottled water that I have, and now it smells like plastic. Ah well, at least it's cheap and easy to make.
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Jan 13, 2019 23:33
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Thanks guys! I actually didn’t try to taste the beer. Is it generally safe to do so in this situations? Maybe I could have boiled it again and then pitched bottling sugar and yeast again.
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Jan 14, 2019 00:19
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It's safe to drink, although my bet is that you wouldn't want to drink a lot of it. Beer is such that nothing really dangerous (e.g., botulinum) can grow in it, so you might get a mouthful of yuck that you'll spit out, but you won't kill yourself.
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Jan 14, 2019 01:36
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That’s nice to know. I’ll try to be more adventurous in the future. My girlfriend absolutely loves sour beers, so I really should try and figure out a souring process that works for me soon.
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Jan 14, 2019 04:46
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BobbyDrake posted:I am about to make my initial brewing equipment purchases as I want to start brewing meads and ciders. I want to start small with 1 gallon batches so I’m not wasting money if I screw it up. I am probably going to get two or three 1 gallon car boys with stoppers and airlock, but I had a question. Has anyone used the smaller, 3 gallon plastic conical fermenters available like the BrewDemon or the FastFerment? They certainly look like they’re awesome, but at 50ish bucks each I don’t want to spend the money if they suck. Late reply, but for small batch meads just go buy one gallon bottles of apple juice in glass and repurpose the bottles with a bung and airlock. My current test batches were fermented in 1/2g Mason jars. Popete posted:Good ideas and thanks for the link. I think I'll go the crushed route for the cloriander/cloves, I was worried about grinding them too finely but I think crushed should work fine in a mesh bag. Cloves are strong enough that you can use them whenever, but for anything lighter flavored, I almost always put them in to infuse in secondary because sometimes the yeast can come up with really odd off-flavors with them. Liquid Communism fucked around with this message at 09:52 on Jan 14, 2019 |
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Jan 14, 2019 09:45
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