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rockcity
Jan 16, 2004

Zagazunt posted:

I cannot for the life remember and I didn't put record it in my notes, that would be a pretty easy fix in the coming days though. Thanks!

Yeah, if you forgot to throw in fresh yeast, that is for sure the problem as to why they're undercarbonated. They might carbonate eventually, but it could take quite a while.

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Jhet
Jun 3, 2013
Tapped the keg of Bohemian Pilsner last night. It's a touch too astringent, but only just maybe. May have left it sit on the hops for too long while cooling, but it's been a while and I didn't make a note of it. Rest of the beer is perfect, and makes me happy for my yearly lager brews. The Vienna is still lagering, and I'm going to finally brew a stout that I'd planned a month ago.

I have only about 35kg of base malt on hand, and that'll be the last of the specific malt I'll be getting for a while. It's just French pilsner malt, but unless Country Malt Group reverses on their selling to our group I won't be getting any more. Instead I'll be going probably BestMalz, but I expect the flavor of my malt forward brews to change a bit.

ChiTownEddie
Mar 26, 2010

Awesome beer, no pants.
Join the Legion.
Man I am excited about the Brut IPA I just kegged. Went from 1.045 to 1.000 in less than a week with Ultra-Ferm and Omega's Hothead Kviek strain. Using mostly Hallertau Blanc and Nelson Sauvin hops. The FG sample was delicious and that didn't even include my keg hopping dose yet obviously.

LaserWash
Jun 28, 2006
First brew with "The Brew Bag" in my rectangular cooler with a cpvc manifold and a Sous Vide yesterday.

Had the sous vide set up to mash at 5a, left for work, came back at noon. Drained tun, boiled, cooled, and cleaned up. Was done by 2:30!!!!

2.5 hour brew day, if you don't count the mash-in early yesterday morning. Think I might have solved my "I have two kiddos under two years old and can't spend all day brewing" dilemma. My wife's reaction when she returned at 4 yesterday was "Oh wow! You are done?"

:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:

Those brew bags in a rectangular cooler with a manifold... pure genius. Didn't have to take apart the manifold, no scooping of spent grains, cleanup was a spray off with the hose and little clean up of the ball valve.

ChiTownEddie
Mar 26, 2010

Awesome beer, no pants.
Join the Legion.
Think you got conversion in that 7 hour mash???????
Haha thats awesome though. Smart using a Sous Vide!

LaserWash
Jun 28, 2006

ChiTownEddie posted:

Think you got conversion in that 7 hour mash???????
Haha thats awesome though. Smart using a Sous Vide!

I ended up making an "imperial" Bo-Pils, rather than a Bo-Pils. Targeted 1.050, got 1.065'ish. Ha ha.

Also, I'll say that this was a five gallon batch with 11.5 pounds of grain. No sparge. So yeah.... 11.5 pounds of grain and 1.065 OG.

Hit it with a 1/4 pound of Sterling at 11.3%, so we'll see. First time using Sterling rather than Saaz. Everytime I use Saaz in a Bo-Pils, I end up crying a little bit inside when I see 1/2 a pound ($10 worth) of Saaz going into the boil/dry hop and then losing 1/5 of the wort to hop matter.

LaserWash fucked around with this message at 15:52 on Feb 6, 2019

Jhet
Jun 3, 2013
I switched to Yakima Gold instead of Saaz for bittering in those sort of things. Then I can still use Saaz for aroma/flavor to much less quantity. The oils are similar enough and for bittering it cuts the addition by about 1/4 by weight of what you'd use for Saaz. Sterling is another good option for it as it's a higher alpha noble hop. Let us know how it turns out.

robotsinmyhead
Nov 29, 2005

Dude, they oughta call you Piledriver!

Clever Betty
BIAB is ripe for First Wort Hopping because of the basic filtering effect. Not sure if that's something you can utilize, but I do it a lot with my setup, especially with my homegrown whole cone hops.

LochNessMonster
Feb 3, 2005

I need about three fitty


Brew day today went conpletely wrong. Since it was raining all day I figured I’d brew in the laundry room instead of outside. Since this is only my 3rd brew I still need to figure out something of a routine.

For my birthday I recieved a brew kit with a
I switched from a really cheapucrappy fermentation bucket to a somewhat more sturdy model. The biggest mistake I made is that I only noticed there weren volume indicators on the bucket while I was already adding water to fill up to the final volume. I stopped immediately but the extract kit was for a 15L brew while both my previews brews were 20 or 25L so I overshot the amount of water I needed to add. Really stupid, and I’m going to filler her up with water when the fermentation is complete and draw volume marks on the outside to prevent this from happening again.

I put the bucket on a scale to see how much the weight of the bucket + total volume was and by the looks of it I added 5L more water to it then I was supposed to. As a result the gravity is like 1036 instead of 1050. Will this mess up my beer entirely or is it just going to be lower on ABV than expected as I more or less watered it down? The kit was for a London Porter if that makes any difference. I hope it’ll be at least drinkable.

It was great fun to be brewing again but I’m a bit bummed out by messing this up so badly. I also added dry hops after instead of before adding the cold water to it.

Jhet
Jun 3, 2013
1.036 is fine for a London Porter. It may turn out just fine. Messing up volumes is never ideal, but won’t completely ruin your brew with those numbers. It’ll just be lower ABV, but should still taste fine.

Don’t add your dry hops before leaving the yeast to do its thing. You’ll blow off more aroma than you’ll want.

LochNessMonster
Feb 3, 2005

I need about three fitty


Jhet posted:

1.036 is fine for a London Porter. It may turn out just fine. Messing up volumes is never ideal, but won’t completely ruin your brew with those numbers. It’ll just be lower ABV, but should still taste fine.

Don’t add your dry hops before leaving the yeast to do its thing. You’ll blow off more aroma than you’ll want.

Ok, glad to hear it might still be fine. I got 3 extract kits as birthday gifts and this one I was looking forward to the most so I was already kicking myself for messing it up!

As for the dry hops, the recipe mentioned throwing them in there directly, although I did let them sit in a cup of boiled water for 15 minutes; not sure if that’ll take off some of the aroma. For future brews, when would you add them exactly?

Jhet
Jun 3, 2013

LochNessMonster posted:

Ok, glad to hear it might still be fine. I got 3 extract kits as birthday gifts and this one I was looking forward to the most so I was already kicking myself for messing it up!

As for the dry hops, the recipe mentioned throwing them in there directly, although I did let them sit in a cup of boiled water for 15 minutes; not sure if that’ll take off some of the aroma. For future brews, when would you add them exactly?

When you dry hop you'll usually add them after fermentation is finishing, so that will change depending on yeast used and starting gravity. Usually 3-5 days though for the most popular yeasts. For a NEIPA you add them earlier, but still not concurrently with pitching yeast.

You also don't need to leave pellet hops or leaf hops sit in boiled water. I prefer pellet hops for dry hopping because they're engineered to dissolve in the fermenter. You can swirl to increase surface area contact time, but leave the fermenter closed.

I have a London Porter recipe that sits at 1.040 starting gravity, and it's one of my favorites. I use a bunch of brown malt which I really enjoy.

rockcity
Jan 16, 2004

Jhet posted:

I have a London Porter recipe that sits at 1.040 starting gravity, and it's one of my favorites. I use a bunch of brown malt which I really enjoy.

Brown malt is in every porter recipe I do. It's awesome.

ReaperUnreal
Feb 21, 2007
Trogdor is King

rockcity posted:

Brown malt is in every porter recipe I do. It's awesome.

I'm also a big fan of it in English Milds, really helps tie the beer together.

I just kicked my first ever homebrew keg last night. I wasn't expecting it to go yet and it's a weird mix of sadness and excitement. I'm sad that it's all gone and that I don't have another ready to go, but I'm excited that kegging went so well and that now I get to make another keg of a nice NEIPA.

rockcity
Jan 16, 2004

ReaperUnreal posted:

I'm also a big fan of it in English Milds, really helps tie the beer together.

I just kicked my first ever homebrew keg last night. I wasn't expecting it to go yet and it's a weird mix of sadness and excitement. I'm sad that it's all gone and that I don't have another ready to go, but I'm excited that kegging went so well and that now I get to make another keg of a nice NEIPA.

Good to know. An English mild is definitely on my short list for beers to brew in the near future. I haven't done one yet and I need to fix that.

Jhet
Jun 3, 2013
Idle thought...

Has anyone tried hooking up a gas line in to the out post of a keg to help carb it? Clearly I’d need to use the right connection, but I over filled a keg last week to above the gas spear and it carbed super fast (after chilling and purging).

Concept is similar to those quick carb caps that you see, but I have a spare connection on my manifold, so why not?

Only thing I can think of is dealing with pressure trying to move the beer up the gas line, but they make check valves for that?

E: Doesn't really increase the surface area for the gas though, does it? Not without a way to make lots of bubbles from one of those diffusion stones. I suppose if it had worked really well that people would have already been talking about it.

Jhet fucked around with this message at 18:02 on Feb 12, 2019

Jo3sh
Oct 19, 2002

Like all girls I love unicorns!
The do make kits that are just a tube that connects to the gas-in tube, plus an air stone. Once the thing is set up, gas gets injected as fine bubbles from the bottom of the keg.

robotsinmyhead
Nov 29, 2005

Dude, they oughta call you Piledriver!

Clever Betty
I bought a corny keg lid with a fitting welded onto it. You put a gas hose on the fitting, the hose runs down into the carb stone in the beer (submerged). Works pretty well.

Jhet
Jun 3, 2013
^Do you just vent and put on a new lid or do you leave the lid on while serving?

Jo3sh posted:

The do make kits that are just a tube that connects to the gas-in tube, plus an air stone. Once the thing is set up, gas gets injected as fine bubbles from the bottom of the keg.

Yeah, I've seen those before at morebeer I think. I may do that, but it would be difficult to retrieve the stone after it's up to level so I could use it in the next keg. I guess I was more hoping to find a way to improve the process and reduce downtime between packaging and serving that wasn't the quick carb-shake method. It works okay, but the level is never perfect for a week anyway after the quick carb method.

I think the real solution is of course to have enough kegs that I carbonate ahead of time and just put in cellar storage prior to putting them in to serve.

The real-real solution is to find a way to push the beer through and carbonate it on the way to the keg, but I think that might be a little over-engineered for what I actually need.

robotsinmyhead
Nov 29, 2005

Dude, they oughta call you Piledriver!

Clever Betty

Jhet posted:

^Do you just vent and put on a new lid or do you leave the lid on while serving?

You can leave it in there, but it's best to remove it which requires venting the keg obviously. You lose some gas/carbonation in this process, but it builds back up. The whole process is still significantly faster than slow-carbing and definitely faster than high pressure force carbing. I've only gotten to use it once due to a lull in my brewing, but it's a pretty cool toy.

Jhet
Jun 3, 2013
I may try it anyway. I have one racetrack lid keg though, so it’s not the one size fits all solution that I was hoping it would be.

Luceo
Apr 29, 2003

As predicted in the Bible. :cheers:



Jhet posted:

Idle thought...

Has anyone tried hooking up a gas line in to the out post of a keg to help carb it? Clearly I’d need to use the right connection, but I over filled a keg last week to above the gas spear and it carbed super fast (after chilling and purging).

Concept is similar to those quick carb caps that you see, but I have a spare connection on my manifold, so why not?

Only thing I can think of is dealing with pressure trying to move the beer up the gas line, but they make check valves for that?

E: Doesn't really increase the surface area for the gas though, does it? Not without a way to make lots of bubbles from one of those diffusion stones. I suppose if it had worked really well that people would have already been talking about it.

This is actually how I was taught to force carbonate circa 2005-6. I just have a Y adapter coming off my regulator with the two different post fittings.

AKA Pseudonym
May 16, 2004

A dashing and sophisticated young man
Doctor Rope
Just had a bottle from my first batch and it's really, really satisfying. I already want to get another batch going. Any tips on a good thermometer? I'm just brewing one gallon so I use an ordinary kettle on my stove. A lot of what I'm seeing seems designed for proper brew kettles. I used a digital thermometer with a probe I've had for a while, but it seems to be crapping out.

ReaperUnreal
Feb 21, 2007
Trogdor is King

AKA Pseudonym posted:

Just had a bottle from my first batch and it's really, really satisfying. I already want to get another batch going. Any tips on a good thermometer? I'm just brewing one gallon so I use an ordinary kettle on my stove. A lot of what I'm seeing seems designed for proper brew kettles. I used a digital thermometer with a probe I've had for a while, but it seems to be crapping out.

The ThermoWorks Thermapen is the standard recommendation I've seen for thermometers. Personally I just use a $20 instant read I picked up at a kitchen supply store.

thotsky
Jun 7, 2005

hot to trot
I went through a lot of cheap thermometers before getting a Thermapen. It was pricy, but I've been really satisfied with it, I use it for all kinds of things these days :shrug:

Jhet
Jun 3, 2013

Biomute posted:

I went through a lot of cheap thermometers before getting a Thermapen. It was pricy, but I've been really satisfied with it, I use it for all kinds of things these days :shrug:

If you sign up for the thermoworks emails they often have small sales, but they're worth the price. Otherwise, if I'm in a pinch or need something out of the ordinary I'll just pick up a cheap lavatools thermometer from amazon. They work for 5-6 months before needing a new battery, but they're okay otherwise. I need to change the battery in my thermapen every 1.5 years or so.

The MK3 version is usually about 79$, and while the MK4 is a step up, it's not entirely necessary.

robotsinmyhead
Nov 29, 2005

Dude, they oughta call you Piledriver!

Clever Betty
I've had a Lavatools pen for like 3 years and never changed the battery. I really need to verify the temp reading on it though. A friend has one just like mine and there's a noticeable difference in readings.

gamera009
Apr 7, 2005

robotsinmyhead posted:

I've had a Lavatools pen for like 3 years and never changed the battery. I really need to verify the temp reading on it though. A friend has one just like mine and there's a noticeable difference in readings.

Do the thermapens have 2-point calibration? I typically just use an IR thermometer, but it’d be nice to have a javelin for quick batches now and again, for more accurate reads than surface temp.

Toebone
Jul 1, 2002

Start remembering what you hear.
I have one of those lollipop-shaped thermometers that Thermoworks makes, works well enough for my brewing needs. I think it was like $15-20 on Amazon.

Jhet
Jun 3, 2013

gamera009 posted:

Do the thermapens have 2-point calibration? I typically just use an IR thermometer, but it’d be nice to have a javelin for quick batches now and again, for more accurate reads than surface temp.

They do not that I know of. They calibrate to freezing, but you can adjust it with a screwdriver in the new ones. And it's a AAA battery in the MK4.

They're certified for food service applications though? They have a lab version with a 5-pt calibration for $200 if that's what you need.

Salvor_Hardin
Sep 13, 2005

I want to go protest.
Nap Ghost
I finished my first brew and have been drinking the results which have been great. The only issue is I'm finding that I feel vaguely nauseous after having a couple. I can't tell if its psychosomatic or just a small sample size or is there something I might have screwed up that could be causing this?

Salvor_Hardin fucked around with this message at 02:49 on Feb 23, 2019

eviltastic
Feb 8, 2004

Fan of Britches

I sometimes get that when I’m drinking something with a hefty amount of yeast still kicking around. Like if a fair bit settled out at the bottom of a keg and I still drank the first glass or two rather than dumping them.

Salvor_Hardin
Sep 13, 2005

I want to go protest.
Nap Ghost

eviltastic posted:

I sometimes get that when I’m drinking something with a hefty amount of yeast still kicking around. Like if a fair bit settled out at the bottom of a keg and I still drank the first glass or two rather than dumping them.

Yeah, I have noticed some minor sediment in some of the bottles. My siphoning technique wasn't too good to start and I chugged up a fair amount of gunk.

eviltastic
Feb 8, 2004

Fan of Britches
Maybe try leaving a few bottles in the fridge for a few days. Then when you drink them, pour carefully and stop pouring before the sediment goes into your glass and see how that goes.

I’ll add that at least a bit of sediment in the bottle is typical if you bottle condition, so that being present doesn’t necessarily mean you did anything wrong.

Jhet
Jun 3, 2013

Salvor_Hardin posted:

I finished my first brew and have been drinking the results which have been great. The only issue is I'm finding that I feel vaguely nauseous after having a couple. I can't tell if its psychosomatic or just a small sample size or is there something I might have screwed up that could be causing this?

It is extremely unlikely to get ill from drinking beer that you pitched healthy yeast into. It's probably a little psychosomatic and a little you're drinking the yeast. Hefe yeasts taste good-ish, but most other ale and lager yeasts taste gross. If you take care in pouring like eviltastic suggested then you're doing great. Especially if your first batch turned out and tastes good. I would recommend getting your second brew started asap though. Waiting for the next batch to be ready to drink is always the worst part.


Personally, I've got some great smelling oatmeal export stout mashed in and making my kitchen smell awesome. I'm hopping to have it carbed and drinkable in two weeks, but the Irish Ale yeast always takes a little bit longer to drop and finish. I've also come up with a solution to needing to water my hops a lot more than they've been getting. That's just brew more and use the grey water from the immersion chiller to fill my rain barrel which will probably be very empty this summer.

gamera009
Apr 7, 2005

Voss kveik yeast looking good.

1.086 SG torn down to 1.014 in six days. At 77F ferm temp.

No DiAc. No acetaldehyde. Slight sulfur. All orange soda flavors.

Still churning out CO2. Still smelling great and alive.

I plan on krausening with WLP01 to force flocc everything and fine the sulfur and any residual off flavors out. I’m mildly terrified.

:iiam:

Kveik yeast is insanity.

Jhet
Jun 3, 2013
Commercial pitch of Voss or the traded culture?

I’ve only used Hornindal and these yeasts are crazy.

gamera009
Apr 7, 2005

Jhet posted:

Commercial pitch of Voss or the traded culture?

I’ve only used Hornindal and these yeasts are crazy.

Imperial Loki is supposedly Voss. Omega sells hothead, which is supposed to be hornindal. I have a pitch of the hothead to try next.

Jhet
Jun 3, 2013

gamera009 posted:

Imperial Loki is supposedly Voss. Omega sells hothead, which is supposed to be hornindal. I have a pitch of the hothead to try next.

When you run the hothead, go nice and hot. It’s pretty slow in the 70s, but rips through at 85F. Lots of great citrus in it too. I’ve used it for a gose and an IPA and it was nice and expressive in both.

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thotsky
Jun 7, 2005

hot to trot
All my beer blogs are dead because the authors started breweries.

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