Home Brewing Thread III: Return of the Son of Home Brewing Thread

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > Home Brewing Thread III: Return of the Son of Home Brewing Thread

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

Catpain Slack posted:

So my first batch is now in the carboy and bubbling away like champ after only 12 hours. One question though: When I tasted the wort, it was nice and hoppy as I planned but also really bitter. I attributed it to the hop particulates in the wort as I used pellets but I'm not sure if that's true. Will the bitterness subside a bit as it ferments and conditions?

Here's my hop schedule fwiw:
15g 17AAU polaris @ 60min
20g 9AAU aurora @ 30min
15g aurora and 10g polaris @ 5min

According to the brewer's friend calculator I should end up at ~50 IBU, which doesn't seem too unreasonable.

You're probably fine. The first time I made an ipa I thought the gravity samples were way too bitter. Carbed up and chilled it was great. It might just be a trick of perception that it tastes more bitter when warm/flat I dunno.

# ¿ Oct 23, 2017 14:50

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ Apr 25, 2024 14:29

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

Is bottling wine appreciably different from bottling beer, besides not adding priming sugar? This weekend I plan to bottle blueberry wine that has been aging since early summer. I have saved up and cleaned screw-top wine bottles.

# ¿ Oct 25, 2017 16:31

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

Thanks for the advice everybody. I'll make sure to kill the yeast before bottling.

# ¿ Oct 26, 2017 03:18

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

Ethics_Gradient posted:

Let us know how this goes, I did some with just the fruit yeast and let it sit for two or three days (probably came 1-3% or something). People liked it but I was personally a bit eh on it.

Please do. I made tepache for the first time this summer, with cinnamon and cloves. Curious how this spicier variant turns out.

# ¿ Nov 12, 2017 23:17

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

Rex-Goliath posted:

Just bottled my first attempt at a lager. Was super worried because of how easy it is to screw up. Took a bit of a taste

I love this hobby so much

Congrats! After two pretty decent lager batches I'm still hesitant with them. Mostly because I just use a large tub with ice water as temp control. Now that it's getting cold out, I might try just lagering in my garage.

# ¿ Nov 26, 2017 04:12

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

DecentHairJelly posted:

This is like the most friendly and helpful thread, you guys are awesome.

Thanks for the tips!

It really is a great thread. When I started homebrewing about a year ago I read this whole thread from beginning to end. It's a great resource.

Man I prefer winter brewing. My chiller works so much faster and since I just ferment in my closet, I don't need to keep the fermenters in an ice bath or anything. Most styles do just fine at the ambient temp in my house this time of year.

# ¿ Dec 31, 2017 22:09

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

Pham Nuwen posted:

For some reason, it just feels right to drink it out of a small glass instead of a big modern wine glass. (Yes that's a Trader Joe's ginger beer bottle, I've got another one and a growler full of the remainder of the batch)

Looks amazing. I have one of those Trader Joes bottles I got from a coworker. It has blueberry wine in it now but the seal was actually good enough to carb beer in it previously.

# ¿ Jan 10, 2018 00:29

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

Ethics_Gradient posted:

I milled the grain for a 5 gallon batch ~2 months ago, then life got in the way. Has been stored in a cool, dry place, containers not really airtight though. Throw out or brew? I'm mostly thinking about the $25 worth of hops for it that would go to waste if it was a dud.

If the grain doesn't taste stale I think you should be fine.

# ¿ Jan 23, 2018 00:50

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

Jhet posted:

^^ I didn't start brewing until after the kid was born. He was about a year old when I started and is now 4. Weather and moving has more to do with me not brewing, but the hardest stage to actually do it was while he was 2-3. After that he was less clumsy and would actually help. Now he's in pre-school and my whole stay at home to take care of him thing has a big break in the day which is just enough time to complete any standard brew sessions.

My boy is 4 now and insists on helping clean bottles which can be hair raising. His other areas of brewing expertise include smelling the bowls of hops before I put them in the boil, and explaining to me how yeast works. :3:

# ¿ Jan 31, 2018 19:21

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

Pham Nuwen posted:

Has he seen Alton Brown's burping yeast explanations?

I'll have to check that out. His basic understanding is the yeast are "friends" that live in the beer, which is also the extent of my knowledge on the subject.

# ¿ Jan 31, 2018 20:42

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

In my experience with beer, there is a very small amount of carbonation that stays in solution as long as it is handled gently when racked or bottled. That's why you have to pour a gravity sample back and forth between containers a few times before checking it.

# ¿ Feb 13, 2018 07:33

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

How big are your batches? I do 5 gallons and use at least a couple pints of water in the sugar solution. But I'm a pretty lazy brewer as far as exact measurements go.

I boil it, cool down in the sink, then pour that in the bucket and rack onto it like you. I also stir gently after racking. Haven't had a carb issue in a while.

# ¿ Feb 23, 2018 04:45

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

Ethics_Gradient posted:

I did kind of a halfarsed cleanup of my bottling bucket last time, so opted to do a PBW soak (first time using it) + rinse + starsan before bottling my SMaSH this morning. Only maybe the rinse wasn't good enough, something tasted seriously wrong from the bit I sampled out of the fermenter once I'd done bottling. Such is life.

I assume you mean the sample from the bottling bucket, unless you mean you hit the fermenter with PBW as well. What kind of off flavor was it? I've had bottles that tasted slightly sour to me, and I always guessed I didn't drain all the star san out of the bottle properly.

Anyhow, I think all the samples I take before packaging taste weird and it always makes me paranoid.

# ¿ Mar 12, 2018 00:42

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

robotsinmyhead posted:

Brewed for the first time since like January today. The one nice thing about it being cold out is chilling time. I put the coil in to knock my wort down to 160F for a whirlpool and it was like 90 seconds from 195.

This is why I love winter brewing, plus I don't have a fermentation chamber.

# ¿ Mar 24, 2018 02:05

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

Jhet posted:

My saison kicked and now I'm paler beer-less again. I wanted to brew a KY Common next, but I think a standard bitter or APA might be necessary. Honestly, I think I should just buy a new bucket and write 3711 on it in permanent marker and go back to using it. That or just use my sour kit for it. Or maybe I just need to brew about 6 batches to keep in a cellar to drink. Such wonderful problems to have.

I'm brewing saison next weekend and I'm already super excited. One of the best things about brewing is the anticipation, in my opinion. Especially since I'm pretty strict with myself when it comes to brewing season appropriate styles.

# ¿ Apr 3, 2018 18:26

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

Tibalt posted:

I was starting to worry because I wasn't seeing any bubbles in the airlock after 24 hours, and was about to pull the lid off my bucket... when I noticed that good old yeast fermentation smell. Turns out I hadn't quite sealed the lid completely. Whoops!

I'll be a little sad if this batch doesn't work out. It's an Imperial IPA, and I've been read the riot act on brewing hoppy beers. Turns out if you don't like beer, you don't like the smell of beer either!

I love the brewing/fermentation smell but my wife is not a big fan of it. Moving the hobby from my kitchen to a propane burner outside was a win-win in that regard.

Having your brew unsealed for a couple days is probably no big deal. In my experience really hoppy beers are very forgiving. Dry hops can cover minor flaws.

# ¿ May 2, 2018 16:59

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

Saison with wyeast 3711 is my favorite summer beer. Pilsner, wheat and rye malt in whatever combo you like and amarillo hops. Just let it ride at any insane temperature.

I had a separate question on yeast though. I had planned to make a simple kolsch-style beer this weekend but changed my mind and brewed a big, resinous IPA instead. Problem is I had already built a starter of kolsch yeast so, being a lazy and thoughtless brewer, I pitched it in. Now I'm worried that this might not be a great choice for a higher gravity super hoppy beer. Anyone have experience with a kolsch IPA? I have some US 05 satchets in reserve, should I sprinkle one in as backup? Just keep it cool and hope for the best?

# ¿ May 6, 2018 02:51

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

Rex-Goliath posted:

Saison update:

Glad to hear it. I'm down to the last few bottles of my saison batch brewed in early April. Gave out a bunch to co-workers which I'm regretting now. It really is a style that gets better with a few weeks age on it.

# ¿ May 11, 2018 23:10

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

tripwood posted:

Just brewed a 100L of Ryepa in my brew shed on a 29 degrees celcius day, everything is clean and neat. I am exhausted but a happy man.

Nice. What % rye? I have brewed a few rye pale ales and IPAs but never dialed in the perfect amount.

I just got done bottling my latest batch. SMaSH with Mecca grade pale malt (I think Lamonta?) and 007 hops, which my wife bought for me and I've never had before. Smelled good in the fermenter though.

# ¿ Jun 30, 2018 00:04

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

Skellyscribe posted:

I just got done bottling my latest batch. SMaSH with Mecca grade pale malt (I think Lamonta?) and 007 hops, which my wife bought for me and I've never had before. Smelled good in the fermenter though.

I chilled and opened a mostly carbonated bottle this evening because I'm impatient and am really impressed with the 007 hops. Saw tasting notes online suggest a minty note and that's not far off.

# ¿ Jul 3, 2018 03:16

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

Rex-Goliath posted:

When you're bottling it should taste like fresh beer, just warm and flat as well. As long as it didn't taste offensive you should be fine.

I think that beer straight out of the fermenter tastes weird and I always have a paranoid belief that the batch will suck. This seems especially true with lighter styles. Then it's always good once it's cold and carbed.

# ¿ Sep 30, 2018 23:08

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

LochNessMonster posted:

The only thing I’m not sure about is the UltraMoss package that was included and needs to be added just before I throw in the 2nd batch of hops.

Must be irish moss, which helps clarify the beer. Throw it in 10-15 minutes before the end of the boil, or just skip it. I usually use moss but can't really tell if it makes a difference because I almost never repeat the same recipe. If you want really beautiful crystal clear beer, look up gelatin fining.

# ¿ Sep 30, 2018 23:12

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

Eeyo posted:

I wanted to do some dry hopping though, but I wasn't completely sure about sanitization. Since I only made 1 gal I have most of the bag of hops left, which I had placed inside a ziploc bag inside the freezer. Should I only be dry hopping from freshly opened packets of hops since they're more likely to be not covered in microbes?

Are you using the rest of the bag, or weighing them out on a scale? I just dump hops out of the bag. They are highly antimicrobial. Never had a sanitation problem with dry hopping.

# ¿ Oct 2, 2018 22:26

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

That should work just fine.

# ¿ Oct 2, 2018 23:36

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

LochNessMonster posted:

How long do you guys wait for carbonizing your beers after bottling? I read somewhere between 10-14 days and it’s been 10 and I can’t wait to taste my first batch. Should I be more patient and wait a few more days to be sure?

I'm really impatient and even after a couple years of brewing, I always open a bottle after like 4 days. It's usually not all the way done but I like to taste every step of the process.

Unless it's a really small batch I would chill one bottle then try it.

# ¿ Oct 10, 2018 18:57

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

LochNessMonster posted:

It was a 15L batch, I’m just gonna put one in the fridge and give it a go then. Might give me a better idea on how long to wait next brew.

Yeah totally. There are a few variables that affect carb timing like the yeast strain, total volumes you're aiming for, and the temperature they're stored at.

Using French saison yeast and carbing in my closet in July got me fully carbonated beer in 5 days

# ¿ Oct 10, 2018 19:18

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

LochNessMonster posted:

Well this was my first brew and I used a beginners set with a bucket. Definately not in keg territory yet.

I did taste it and I think it needs a little bit longer. It’s got some co2 but definately could use a bit more. It was a special ipa starter package and while I’ve tasted plenty of of ‘normal’ ipa’s this one tastes a lot different. Totally not as hoppy and way more sweet as I had expected and it’s actually a lot more like a belgian double or triple.

I have to get used to this one a bit since it’s completely different than I expected but I really love the fact that I made this all by myself and it doesn’t taste like crap.

Congrats on your first brew! If it's not done carbing maybe there's a little unfermented sugar making it taste sweeter.

You mentioned a beginner's set - were the hops very fresh? If they were at room temp or exposed to air for a while that can dull the hop flavor and bitterness.

# ¿ Oct 10, 2018 21:57

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

LochNessMonster posted:

After some googling I (finally) understand what you mean. A mash tun looks like something that’ll definately take away few of the issues I had and might be a nice DIY project.

Thanks for taking the time to explain it to me.

I made mine with braided steel hose jacket instead of a false bottom and it's worked without problems for two years now. Huge brewing level up for me.

# ¿ Oct 23, 2018 18:35

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

Eeyo posted:

How do you clean the braided hose jacket? I saw that braided hose was common but it looked like a nightmare.

After dumping the spent grain I spray it out with water then dry. Every 3rd or 4th brew I PBW soak the whole mash tun. Haven't had any problems with grain husks sticking to the hose if that's what you're thinking. Any moisture left in a closed mash tun between brews will cause problems though.

# ¿ Oct 24, 2018 15:11

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

LochNessMonster posted:

I saw those before too but didn’t quite understand the use for it then. This also looks nice but still means more work and time cleaning the mash tun before boiling.

What made you choose this over a brew in a bag?

BIAB is a good method but my boil kettle is cheap and paper thin so I was worried about it keeping temp. And it really isn't hard to clean out the mash tun. I clean and dry it when I have a free minute during the boil.

# ¿ Oct 27, 2018 17:02

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

I brewed an IPA on Sunday and didn't see any airlock activity a couple days later so I opened the lid and sure enough, krausen. Upon further inspection I found a bunch of thin cracks along the edges of the lid.
How worried should I be? I feel like any attempt to seal the cracks would just make the lid difficult to remove. I'm tempted to just let it ride since I'll be dry hopping anyway so it's not like there won't be a little oxygen exposure, and I don't plan to let this batch age very long or anything.

# ¿ Nov 21, 2018 20:11

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

Thanks for all the advice on the cracked fermenter lid. I'll let it ride and then just replace the lid after this batch.

# ¿ Nov 22, 2018 19:36

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

Drone_Fragger posted:

Hmm, I suspected it might add haziness but wasn't sure, it certainly seems to have haziness that hasn't settled after I boiled it (which I believe is when most stuff crashes out as the proteins get hosed up by the boiling?) . It's not really an issue as long it's drinkable, and yeah, first attempt so I'm not too worried.

Expect haze regardless, the methods to produce crystal clear beer are more advanced and basically all beginner homebrew will be hazy. I bet you will be surprised at how good your first batch is (unless you completely ruin it like I did with my first attempt).

# ¿ Dec 31, 2018 05:30

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

Harminoff posted:

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?

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.

# ¿ Jan 9, 2019 17:51

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

Jo3sh posted:

It's absolutely just fine.

I want to give a reassuring reply to first time brewers but then I remember my first brew turned out awful. Then again I forgot the bittering hops.

I also tried to rack to secondary by just opening the spigot and pouring right down the center of the glass carboy. So I'm pretty familiar with the oxidation off flavor. Took a while to convince family members to try my second attempt.

# ¿ Jan 22, 2019 04:01

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

LochNessMonster posted:

For the porter I siphoned the beer from my fermentation vessel to another vessel (cleaned with oxipur first of course) so most of the residue is left in the fermentation vessel. I hope theres still enough yeast inside for carbonation or I’ll have some flat beers...

There is enough yeast in solution to carbonate basically no matter what you do. Let us know how they like the porter. I always like to brew dark beers because I find it easier to get closer to retail examples. So when I want to impress someone who has never had homebrew I'll give them a bottle of stout.

# ¿ Apr 6, 2019 21:05

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

Spaced God posted:

Just started my first ever batch of mead because I don't like beer and I'm not guillotineable enough for wine. I think I might've over pitched it a bit (used maybe 3/4 of a yeast packet instead of half) but I'm hoping that's not the end of the world

Someone make the next three weeks go quicker

Mead is definitely an exercise in patience. I wouldn't worry about the yeast overpitch. Let us know how it turns out!

# ¿ Apr 29, 2019 02:24

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

Drone posted:

How does 85% Maris Otter, 15% CaraMunich I sound? Too off the mark percentage-wise, or would another malt be preferable? I chose CaraMunich mainly because my preferred online shop stocks relatively few British malts and I have to rely mainly on stuff from BestMalz or Weyermann.

I used a very similar grain bill on my last ESB and it turned out great, I think it was closer to 90/10 than 85/15 though.

# ¿ May 14, 2019 17:24

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ Apr 25, 2024 14:29

Skellyscribe: Jan 14, 2008; See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

honda whisperer posted:

Second question. I love cooking and this seems similar in that you follow the recipe, try the results, and try again with a small adjustment later. I'm not used to the ~4 week lead time to see results though. Also having 5 gallons of one style beer is a lot. Actual question, should I try another style in a week and a half so that when it's done I have variety, or suck it up, wait the 4 weeks, and see what's lacking and make another attempt on the same thing?

There was an episode of Basic Brewing Radio with a guy who brewed the same recipe over and over again for a year in order to perfect it. I could never do that, but you could try alternating two recipes. I would also recommend finding a one gallon vessel so you can do small batches. It really allows you to experiment without committing to a full size batch.

# ¿ Oct 11, 2019 02:11

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > Home Brewing Thread III: Return of the Son of Home Brewing Thread