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rage-saq posted:... is at serving pressure. ex: 38f and 12psi for regular beers and 38f and 17psi for Belgian beers. Tastybrew calc says 8psi at that temp (Belgian). I've got my fridge at 52f and 14psi, is that too low? And is tasty brew wrong? I saw on other charts i should be carbing at 20psi. I just want a clear answer on what it should be set at...
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Jul 24, 2011 03:25
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Jacobey000 posted:Tastybrew calc says 8psi at that temp (Belgian). I've got my fridge at 52f and 14psi, is that too low? And is tasty brew wrong? I saw on other charts i should be carbing at 20psi. I just want a clear answer on what it should be set at... Tastybrew's guide for carbonation is pretty much a ton of crap. Even the high end of their "style guidelines" for carbonation is REALLY low. I like my American styles at about 2.5 and my Belgian styles to about 3.1. On my fridge I have 7 taps, 3 at 2.5vol/co2 with 8 foot lines and 4 at 3.2vol/co2 with 10 foot lines. The carbonation level is perfect if you pour it right.
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Jul 24, 2011 05:49
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Brewed for the first time in 3-4 months due to moving house, moving job, etc etc. Got my IPA in 1 point under target. Brewing went good other than my pumps being whiny little bitches and sometimes cavitating like hell and the other times not. Hoping to have this on tap in 2 weeks, go WY1450 go!
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Jul 24, 2011 06:11
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Thinking about picking this up... http://albany.craigslist.org/for/2510772566.html Seems like a pretty good value to me, as just buying a 10 gallon pot usually seems to be $300 online and the local used restaurant supply place only ever has new ones. It looks like it comes with some sort of false bottom and I assume those holes on the side are threaded to put spigots or something into. Are there any questions I should ask first? The pictures don't really show the inside of the pot, but since it's advertised as a brew kettle I'd assume it's in OK shape.
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Jul 24, 2011 19:56
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rage-saq posted:Tastybrew's guide for carbonation is pretty much a ton of crap. Even the high end of their "style guidelines" for carbonation is REALLY low. Thank you for confirming what I was starting to suspect! My APA has british pub levels of carbonation, and it's kind of weird, thanks to that site. Is there somewhere online that has better guides for carbonation by style?
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Jul 24, 2011 19:59
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Is corn sugar/dextrose usually available from the supermarket? I was just at my LHBS and bought a bunch of things but forgot priming sugar edit: also my lhbs has fuggles!! woo
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Jul 24, 2011 22:13
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It seems like my screw off wine bottles can hold pressure, I've had one sitting for a week now and it looks good. Also I got some grolsh bottles from a professor and went to rinse them out when I found some still had beer in them. I opened one up and the clasp shot into my ceiling and sprayed beer all over my carpet. Obviously the next step was to go outside and see how far I could get them to shoot, and the one with the most range went ~90 feet. How they didn't give before now is beyond me.
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Jul 24, 2011 22:45
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Question about a witbier I brewed a couple months ago: overall I'm super happy with it, but after about a month in the keg, it's insanely clear. I can practically read this post through the glass. Normally this is would be great, but a wit is supposed to stay cloudy. I've heard the trick of adding flour at the end of the boil, which I did not do as I wanted to see what would naturally happen. I'm not opposed to using flour next time, but how did traditional wit brewers achieve the hazy look? I used a crapload of unmalted wheat, no whirlfloc or Irish Moss, and didn't fine it with gelatin or anything. Yet it's as bright as Bud Lite. Yeast was WLP400 "Belgian Wit Yeast".
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Jul 24, 2011 22:51
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wafflesnsegways posted:Thank you for confirming what I was starting to suspect! My APA has british pub levels of carbonation, and it's kind of weird, thanks to that site. Is there somewhere online that has better guides for carbonation by style? You can get all specific with certain carbonation ranges for different styles but you can kind of generalize it like this. English styles: 1.7-2vol/co2 American & German styles: 2.2-2.6vol/co2 Most Belgian styles: 2.8-3.4vol/co2 "High Carb" styles like Saisons, Berliner Weisse, Orval, some sours, etc: 3.2-4.5vol/co2 Since I mainly do American and Belgian styles my two pressure system (~2.5 & ~3.2vol/co2) works out just fine.
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Jul 25, 2011 00:00
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I brewed an English style bitter about 2 months ago. Here's the recipe: http://hopville.com/recipe/508047/special-best-premium-bitter-recipes/session-bitter When I first started drinking it it tasted great, but now, its developed a quite tart flavor, almost overly acidic. It almost tastes like a hint of cardboard too, so I am wondering if it's oxidation related? Or perhaps an infection that took awhile to set in? The beer was bottle conditioned, and for the past 3-4 weeks been refrigerated. Its crystal clear and smells fine. I drank an 8 month old bottle of homebrew from a different batch using the same strain of yeast (Nottingham) a week ago. It didn't exhibit these flavors, although it was an extract beer. ETA, it doesn't taste terrible, its just not very great, its still drinkable.
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Jul 25, 2011 00:32
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It's always hard to say for sure over the internet, but your guesses sound reasonable. Cardboard/wet paper is the classic description of oxidation, especially in a low gravity beer like a bitter (in strong beers, the alcohol can oxidize into nicer stuff that tastes like sherry). And in such a straightforward recipe tartness almost has to come from bacterial infection. Especially if you've brewed a beer with the same water and yeast and it didn't show that flavor. Think about places that oxygen could have gotten in before the boil or after fermentation, and what you could do to limit that. Does every bottle taste sour or is it just one or two? I've definitely had a couple dirty bottles that had to get dumped but then the others were fine. Edit: Actually, did you treat the water on your bitter at all? The first few times I started dicking with mineral additions, I way overdid it and the beer was strongly acidic. So it could be that rather than an infection.
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Jul 25, 2011 01:17
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Docjowles posted:Welp the shop didn't stock Golden Promise, and had either like 300 or 600L for roast. I ended up sticking with Maris Otter and the 600L grain, I'm sure it'll be fine if a bit more intense than I wanted. 500-600 is perfect, it's when you get up near 700 that I think it's a bit much. I won 3rd place specialty beer for my Belgian export stout this weekend. I wasn't expecting anything as I didn't brew anything specifically to style and there were over 230 beers entered overall. The bad part is it was 105* outside where the judging and results were and they're mailing our result sheets out next week, so I haven't even been able to look at them yet  The guy who won best of show entered 20 beers, and had brewed them all specifically for this competition. Seems crazy to me.
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Jul 25, 2011 01:48
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Docjowles posted:It's always hard to say for sure over the internet, but your guesses sound reasonable. Cardboard/wet paper is the classic description of oxidation, especially in a low gravity beer like a bitter (in strong beers, the alcohol can oxidize into nicer stuff that tastes like sherry). And in such a straightforward recipe tartness almost has to come from bacterial infection. Especially if you've brewed a beer with the same water and yeast and it didn't show that flavor. Every bottle i've had the past few weeks has the tartness. I did not modify the water at all, I just use local city water. I brewed a tripel a couple weeks earlier than the bitter, and it tastes great with the same water source.
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Jul 25, 2011 01:54
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One very important thing I forgot to add. I made a 'red ale' (turned out dark brown, doh) early this year and it had a very similar tartness to it. I used Nottingham as well. One similarity between both beers is they both used UK malts. The red ale grist consisted primarily of Golden Promise, and the bitter Maris Otter. The red ale had soley Williamette hops, and the bitter soley East Kent goldings. I wonder if the ingredients could be causing these issues? Though both were less than 5% abv and the tripel is 10%.
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Jul 25, 2011 02:01
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Jeez luiz my Munich Helles with wyeast 2308 is raking quite a while to clear. I brewed it about 2 months ago and it's about as cloudy as the French saison I brewed a month ago and way more cloudy than an IPA and ESB I brewed 1.5 months ago. I would expect lagers take longer to clear than ales since the yeast keep working at cold temps instead of crashing out. When I harvested the yeast it took several days to settle in the fridge but  Also anyone have a link to or perhaps a quick write up of the method for making dark Belgian candi syrup. It's for use in a couple Trappist inspired beers. I plan to do a dubbel then harvest the yeast for a quad. I've seen instructions involving yeast nutrient but I'm looking for the traditional sugar and water Belgian method.
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Jul 25, 2011 02:32
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tesilential posted:Jeez luiz my Munich Helles with wyeast 2308 is raking quite a while to clear. I brewed it about 2 months ago and it's about as cloudy as the French saison I brewed a month ago and way more cloudy than an IPA and ESB I brewed 1.5 months ago. http://hopwild.com/2009/04/07/make-your-own-belgian-candi-syrup/ He uses lactic acid, which... I don't think should be needed, but whatev's.
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Jul 25, 2011 03:38
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tronester posted:One very important thing I forgot to add. I made a 'red ale' (turned out dark brown, doh) early this year and it had a very similar tartness to it. I used Nottingham as well. Can't think of any real reason those ingredients would give you a tart beer. Unless your water is really, really soft and even the slight darkness of UK malts (compared to the pilsner I imagine you used in your tripel) is enough to push everything into acidic territory. Review everything that touches the wort post-boil and whether it was sanitized. This is a good exercise even if your beer doesn't have problems  What are you using as a sanitizer anyway? I can't recommend Star-San enough, that poo poo Just Works.Edit: adding beer porn because this thread can always use more photos. My Dry Irish Stout (WLP007) about 4 hours after pitching. Those yeasties are hungry! 
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Jul 25, 2011 04:01
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Morebeer failed to provide me with a decent shipping option. Is there any homebrew e-supplier that doesn't charge $200 to ship kits to an APO address, via USPS? My $330 shopping cart ended up costing $550 from Morebeer, despite their promises of "free shipping". I'm in Japan--my APO address is easier for me to get things shipped. However, I wouldn't rule out visiting a B&M store in Okinawa, if such a place exists. Does anyone know of any Japanese homebrew e-suppliers?
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Jul 25, 2011 13:09
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Docjowles posted:Question about a witbier I brewed a couple months ago: overall I'm super happy with it, but after about a month in the keg, it's insanely clear. I can practically read this post through the glass. Normally this is would be great, but a wit is supposed to stay cloudy. I've heard the trick of adding flour at the end of the boil, which I did not do as I wanted to see what would naturally happen. As for pro brewers these days, reading Hieronymus's Brewing with Wheat makes it pretty clear that keeping commercial wheat beer hazy is a big problem. Some hefeweizen brewers ship their kegs upside down so they get turned before being served. There's some extract from a Chinese plant that a lot of pro brewers use as a tasteless additive that keeps beer hazy. So for homebrewers, I guess you have to drink up quickly or do the flour thing. My wit beer has marmalade in it and the pectin in that keeps it hazy.
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Jul 25, 2011 15:18
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Jacobey000 posted:So life got in the way of me pulling this recipe list together, but here is a list I got around to making - thought I'd post it now. Maybe I'll edit this post with updates and it can be added to the OP (and giving me a push to finish the list)?
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Jul 25, 2011 15:21
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skyydude posted:I'm in Japan--my APO address is easier for me to get things shipped. However, I wouldn't rule out visiting a B&M store in Okinawa, if such a place exists. Does anyone know of any Japanese homebrew e-suppliers? I can't help much with the cheap APO shipping much, but I've read Japan has some crazy regulations on homebrewing, like you can only make a maximum of a 1% ABV (ABW?) beer. As a result there isn't much of a homebrewing presence there, or so I've heard.
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Jul 25, 2011 15:46
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Here's an article which includes a list of homebrewing retailers in Japan: http://beerinjapan.com/bij/486/homebrewing-in-japan/ No idea if the list is anything like current though. The article does discuss the ban on brewing, but also says that the authorities know it's impossible to enforce.
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Jul 25, 2011 15:56
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Docjowles posted:Can't think of any real reason those ingredients would give you a tart beer. Unless your water is really, really soft and even the slight darkness of UK malts (compared to the pilsner I imagine you used in your tripel) is enough to push everything into acidic territory. Holy hell. 4 hours after? I assume that you are using a starter, as I never even get bubbles for the first 12 hours or so with pitching straight liquid yeast. Coincidentally enough, I made up some Sweet Oatmeal Stout last night. It is in primary now, awaiting action. It took me way longer than anticipated, because the Oatmeal gummed things up worse than I expected. It smells and looks spot on though. Going to make another batch of the same thing later this week though, to split into 5x1 gallon primaries with slight variations in each. I have been brewing a bunch of batches of random different styles, which has been fun, but I want to buckle down a bit and try more or less "perfecting" a single style, instead of just creating decent versions of a bunch of different things. Stout is my usual favorite for Fall/Winter, and if I start brewing now, they should be perfectly aged by then.
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Jul 25, 2011 16:21
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Doom Rooster posted:Holy hell. 4 hours after? I assume that you are using a starter, as I never even get bubbles for the first 12 hours or so with pitching straight liquid yeast. Yeah, I did. And to be fair some of that is residual foam from oxygenating it, but there was definitely some yeast activity going on.
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Jul 25, 2011 16:50
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My other recipe that is currently brewing. Oatmeal Stout: http://www.onegallonhomebrew.com/recipes/stout-street-stout-oatmeal-stout/75
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Jul 25, 2011 17:14
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How long should I let that cider everyone was brewing bottle condition for?
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Jul 25, 2011 21:24
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Sointenly posted:
48hrs into my first IPA and i'm pretty god drat excited. Haven't checked it since I pitched on Saturday but the krausen mark is almost to the lid so I assume it had some good action going, just steadily bubbling away now. OG was nearly 1.070 on the nose and i'm already down to about 1.028... Hoping this finishes out drrrrry as gently caress. Smells awesomely hoppy, took a taste and it's still pretty bitter, but dry hopping and time will hopefully cure what ails it. *Question Do I need to be concerned with timing when I go to dry hop? I'm probably going to give this 1.5-2 weeks in the primary depending on activity, and then another 2 in the secondary before bottling (might keg it... not sure). But is there a max / minimum time I want to let if have after dry hopping?
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Jul 26, 2011 03:13
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I've heard two weeks is the max you want to dry hop in secondary, but I know people who dry hop right in the keg and leave it til it kicks. Supposedly if left too long it can get kind of vegetal. I'm only leaving mine in for two weeks before bottling.
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Jul 26, 2011 03:46
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***EDIT^^^^^ Indigi, I didn't get any response when I posted earlier, and you are the only one I've seen post about wyeast 2308 Munich Lager. What are your experiences with it clearing? I made a helles based on your recipe a couple months ago and its cloudy as all hell, while I can literally read this post through an IPA and ESB made a month later! I'm not sure I like this yeast, it's delicate and subdued but I'm getting a slight off-flavor which could be diacetyl or DMS but I'm not sure. I need to mail one off to a competition to get a judge scoresheet.Sointenly posted:48hrs into my first IPA and i'm pretty god drat excited. Haven't checked it since I pitched on Saturday but the krausen mark is almost to the lid so I assume it had some good action going, just steadily bubbling away now. My first IPA has had 1oz whole cascade sitting in it for a month and is delicious! My only regret is not using more....come to think of it it's in a keg so I could dry hop again, 1.5 months after I brewed it...muhahahahaha...excellent... Your recipe looks good and I'm sure it'll get dry , mine was 1.062 and went down to 1.007 in 2 weeks, chico strain as well. Come to think of it kinda looks like you are low on flavor additions, I used like 3 ozs between 30-10 mins, but I'm sure it'll still be excellent.
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Jul 26, 2011 03:55
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Hello, good old thread. I've been busy making a pizza oven so I haven't brewed in a really long time. tesilential posted:***EDIT^^^^^ Indigi, I didn't get any response when I posted earlier, and you are the only one I've seen post about wyeast 2308 Munich Lager. What are your experiences with it clearing? I made a helles based on your recipe a couple months ago and its cloudy as all hell, while I can literally read this post through an IPA and ESB made a month later! I'm not sure I like this yeast, it's delicate and subdued but I'm getting a slight off-flavor which could be diacetyl or DMS but I'm not sure. I need to mail one off to a competition to get a judge scoresheet. http://www.byo.com/stories/techniques/article/indices/23-clarity/490-conquer-chill-haze I haven't bothered with protein rests. I have played with clarifiers but ultimately didn't need them. I think what ultimately did it was slowly getting down to freezing over a few days and keeping it there at least a week long after all fermentation was done. If you leave a bottle in the fridge for a week or so, and then it comes out clear, then you should know what you're up against.
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Jul 26, 2011 04:35
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I did a 3 part step mash on the helles, pils malt of course. The pils malt has given me tons of trub in the kettle. It actually looks like egg drop soup during the boil. Chilling got all that to quickly settle out, and I racked carefully. I used irish moss in the boil as well. Fermentation was at 50* for 2 weeks, then up to 75 for a rest and then down to 43* for a one week cold crash/ secondary in my food fridge. Then it got kegged and chilled to 33 for a week before setting the keezer to 43* for the past month. Next time I'll use gelatin I guess.
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Jul 26, 2011 05:23
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tesilential posted:***EDIT^^^^^ Indigi, I didn't get any response when I posted earlier, and you are the only one I've seen post about wyeast 2308 Munich Lager. What are your experiences with it clearing? I made a helles based on your recipe a couple months ago and its cloudy as all hell, while I can literally read this post through an IPA and ESB made a month later! I'm not sure I like this yeast, it's delicate and subdued but I'm getting a slight off-flavor which could be diacetyl or DMS but I'm not sure. I need to mail one off to a competition to get a judge scoresheet. I'm having a similar kind of problem right now. I got the first 2L starter I made to clear pretty well after a week at 33* and it formed a pretty compact layer of yeast in the flask. The first Helles I made with the yeast cleared brilliantly after a couple months of lagering in primary then another month in the keg. The starter I made recently, though, is still very cloudy after 14 days at 33*, and the layer at the bottom of the flask will kick up if I look at it too strongly. So short answer, I'm not really sure how the yeast behaves or which of my experiences is more typical, but I'm sure that it'll eventually clear. If not, there's always gelatin.
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Jul 26, 2011 06:54
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How does everyone keep their pellet hops out of the fermenter? I use a carboy, so I have a funnel in the top and a 7" strainer above that, but the strainer gets fully clogged every time I pour wort through it. I have to dump out the hops in the trash. Repeat 3-8 times, depending on the style. I know some people use stainless steel bags to contain hops inside the pot, but does that work for pellets?
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Jul 26, 2011 16:00
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Large Hardon Collider posted:How does everyone keep their pellet hops out of the fermenter? I use a carboy, so I have a funnel in the top and a 7" strainer above that, but the strainer gets fully clogged every time I pour wort through it. I have to dump out the hops in the trash. Repeat 3-8 times, depending on the style. I know some people use stainless steel bags to contain hops inside the pot, but does that work for pellets? Big tieable nylon strainer bags. About 8"x4" across and only put about 2oz in each.
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Jul 26, 2011 16:04
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I use a large paint strainer bag suspended in the boil. Here's a pic from a while ago:
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Jul 26, 2011 16:05
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Large Hardon Collider posted:How does everyone keep their pellet hops out of the fermenter? I use a carboy, so I have a funnel in the top and a 7" strainer above that, but the strainer gets fully clogged every time I pour wort through it. I have to dump out the hops in the trash. Repeat 3-8 times, depending on the style. I know some people use stainless steel bags to contain hops inside the pot, but does that work for pellets? I bought a hops bag but I don't use it in favour of a strainer.
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Jul 26, 2011 16:08
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I find that pellet hop material settles to the bottom during cooling, so I try not to siphon that up when I'm moving the cooled wort to the fermenter. If some of that comes along for the ride into the fermenter, I haven't noticed. But I don't remember trying this with anything more than 4 oz. of hops.
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Jul 26, 2011 16:16
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BerkerkLurk posted:I find that pellet hop material settles to the bottom during cooling, so I try not to siphon that up when I'm moving the cooled wort to the fermenter. If some of that comes along for the ride into the fermenter, I haven't noticed.
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Jul 26, 2011 16:27
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I siphon too and it works really well. The little bit that may get carried over will usually settle out and usually gets stuck in the yeast cake during primary. As for aeration, I'll usually pull the little plastic siphon clamp on my hose almost all the way off so that part of it is in front of the end of the hose, this makes it spray when you siphon. Just make sure to dip the whole thing in sanitizer before you start siphoning.
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Jul 26, 2011 16:51
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indigi posted:I'm having a similar kind of problem right now. I got the first 2L starter I made to clear pretty well after a week at 33* and it formed a pretty compact layer of yeast in the flask. The first Helles I made with the yeast cleared brilliantly after a couple months of lagering in primary then another month in the keg. The starter I made recently, though, is still very cloudy after 14 days at 33*, and the layer at the bottom of the flask will kick up if I look at it too strongly. So short answer, I'm not really sure how the yeast behaves or which of my experiences is more typical, but I'm sure that it'll eventually clear. If not, there's always gelatin. Hmmm, guess I'll use gelatin after primary with this guy. Edit: how do you all dry hop with pellets? My LHBS always has every hop imaginable, but only has cascade in whole form. I'd like to dry hop with Amarillo and Simcoe for my next IPA, but I really, really don't want hop particles floating around. Next question, has anyone ever taken the used dry hops and used them as a bittering charge in a subsequent brew? I'd expect there to be plenty of AA's left in the hops even after 2 weeks in secondary.
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Jul 26, 2011 18:17
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