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Marshmallow Blue posted:Round and round the secret santa goes Just have to echo that these labels look amazing. Do you (or anyone else!) have any tips for the best way to go about making good looking labels/having them printed for a decent price? I've tried a number of methods and they all seem to either look decent OR cost a reasonable amount, never both. I'm no graphic designer, though I am tech savvy. Also what is the best way to adhere the labels while also making them easy to remove for future bottle reuse?
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Dec 15, 2014 10:08
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Marshmallow Blue posted:What are peoples thoughts on an Ale with Pilsner malt. A hoppy Pilsner Ale if you would. My most well received beer is a really simple kölsch with just a straight pilsner malt bill. Depending on what your intended style is, maybe 10-20% specialty/wheat malt for head retention or complexity, but 100% pils works just fine.
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Jan 2, 2015 18:02
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McSpergin posted:
The concept of low alcohol brewing intrigues me. I love IPAs and Belgians in particular, like most homebrewers/craft drinkers, but much to the surprise of most of my friends, I don't really like getting drunk. One of my favourite local brews is Muskoka Detour, a "session IPA" at 4.6% ABV but all the hops of a beefy IPA. I'd be interested to know if you can get the bold flavours of a tripel or IPA but stay in the 3-4% range, and if it requires some special techniques?
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Apr 6, 2015 08:23
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Alright home brew thread, I hosed up. I have a party I've promised to bring a keg to on Saturday. I meant to keg and begin carbing this weekend that just passed, but because of some circumstances that just didn't happen. Now the earliest I can get the beer in the keg is Wednesday morning. I've read around that a vigorous force carbing can have a beer ready in 2-3 days, but what should my procedure be? I'm planning on bringing the keg to the party Friday morning and having it sit for ~36 hours to settle out (on ice), but Wednesday morning, what is my best bet to get as much CO2 into solution as possible? Should I set it to 40 psi for 2 days and then turn it down to serving pressure (I'm thinking 12 psi) when we get to the location Friday morning? Should I do the ol 30 psi / shake for 2 minutes / repeat trick when I keg, and then leave it on 12 psi till Friday? Some combination or alternative? Advice and reassurance requested! Also this is my first time kegging haha. About my 30th batch of home brew, but first time packaging in a keg. I definitely didn't want it to be like this 
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May 17, 2016 03:37
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JawKnee posted:from the OP, force carbing guide So in that guide, I notice they're shaking the keg with the CO2 still hooked up? That must not be a very vigorous shake or else beer would get in the gas lines wouldn't it? Will a light rock back and forth do?
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May 17, 2016 21:08
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Well just want to let everyone know that the baller force carbing guide worked perfectly for me! I set to 30 psi and shook for 40 seconds to get 12 psi of CO2 in my alt on Wednesday morning, then let it sit at 12 psi till Friday afternoon. Then I took the keg and put it on ice for 24 hours at the party house. By the second pour it was clear and perfectly carbonated! A great first experience in my kegging journey, I already have other people asking me to brew a keg for their party now!
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May 22, 2016 12:31
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Well, I've had a pretty frustrating weekend. Entered my first brewing competition and got 4th of 4 in my category, though I did get some good useful feedback. Then today, while trying to modify a used mini fridge I bought to use as a kegerator (while sick as hell and sore/sunburned), I broke the cooling line at the weld and released the freon... so I guess I'm going a little longer now without draft beer  Ah well, only it was only $65. I guess I'm going the route I should have the whole time with a deep freeze and a temp controller. Any suggestions on size of freezer and model of temp controller? 2 or 3 kegs is what I'm looking to store.
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Jul 19, 2016 15:35
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Biomute posted:There's a reason the homebrew emoticon is: Or if you live in a country with a state owned liquor store/monopoly distribution system that gouges consumers. I'm way beyond break even, and I'm at ~800L brewed now. Our liquor store sells craft beer for $7-$8/L and I can brew an average beer for about $1/L, really crazy poo poo for maybe as much as $3/L, so my equipment is definitely paid for at this point (this all discounts my time of course, which I don't consider worth money when spending time on a leisure activity). That said I'm just about to scale up from 20L batches to 60-80L, and yeah, 
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Aug 20, 2016 03:21
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^^^ yup, a fellow Canadian homebrewer that can attest to really high beer prices and comparatively cheap malt and hops. I did some quick math and assuming you're saving $4/L by brewing your own ($40 for a 20L batch vs $12.78 six-packs or $6/L), and assuming all your equipment cost $1000 (say you dove right into all grain and kegging from the outset), it will take 12.5 batches to break even, and from there on out its cheap beer. I know I did that in my first year of brewing e: again, discounting labour, because this is a leisure activity we also gain enjoyment from, not a business hot cocoa on the couch fucked around with this message at 05:17 on Aug 20, 2016 |
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Aug 20, 2016 05:13
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So what is the thread opinion on aging big beers? I made a Belgian tripel and singel from a partigyle on the 13th, and I sampled them the other day. Interestingly enough they already taste quite separate. The singel is a lot more phenolic and flowery while the tripel has lots of sweet notes, bubblegum and banana. The tripel started at 1.087 and sampled at 1.008 yesterday. Wondering how long I should leave this in primary, and whether to secondary or not? The thing is, for a 10.6% abv beer, it already tastes pretty good. A little one dimensional and young maybe, but very deceptive as to the strength. My plan was to wait 6-8 weeks and then package, probably bottles, but I want to know if I should do a bulk age in secondary before I bottle. I'd like to just throw it in a keg and bottle/sip at my leisure but I don't know if I'll be able to get an extra keg to dedicate to it for a few months. Guess I just want to hear the threads opinions on fermentation/aging schedule for Belgian strong ales.
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Aug 23, 2016 23:00
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Yeah I was thinking I'd like to have some ready for Christmas/New Years if possible so I guess I'll go for 8 weeks in the fermenter and 10 in the bottle before I crack one. Think the yeast will still be viable for carbing after 8 weeks or should I pitch half a pack of US-05? The yeast I used was WLP575.
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Aug 24, 2016 03:22
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Errant Gin Monks posted:In the next few weeks I will begin to build my modified Brutus 10. I don't know if any of you followed my motorcycle build but this shift is going to get real... Fast. Yes please. I'm dreaming of upgrading from a mish mash of equipment collected over the years to a purpose built 50 litre brew house, I love to see other peoples projects that I can crib from!
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Sep 1, 2016 08:24
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So I'm thinking I wanna do an all Munich IPA, anyone else do an American style hoppy beer with all Munich? My idea was something like; OG of ~1.065 from Munich 10L, mashed at 149 to make it dry out like an IPA should 14g each of simcoe, Amarillo and citra @ 60 mins 7g each of the same @ 10 mins 7g again of each @ flame out Dry hop with 28g of each for 3 days prior to packaging. I've got a cake of wlp575 coming ready that I think I'd like to pitch into this to give it a vaguely Belgian character as well. Thoughts?
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Sep 8, 2016 03:41
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Yeah I'm basically looking for an IPA with a little more character. Once you've had so many IPAs they all seem to taste a little samey and one dimensional. I like hoppy, citrusy beers but I want to add another dynamic, hence the Munich and Belgian yeast.
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Sep 8, 2016 05:16
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Biomute posted:I'm not taking the piss, but why not brew a different style if this is the case? A hoppy tripel, a saison, or a hoppy red/brown ale would seem to fit the bill. Well I like the dry, crisp, bitter and citrusy/resiny character of IPAs, just trying to take a unique spin on it you know? I guess it's kind of beyond the style guide now anyway haha. Also oat chat: it's good. I just brewed an oatmeal porter for my breastfeeding wife with ~15% oat malt iirc and its so velvety smooth it's dangerous. It's a good thing it's only 3.7%, but I'm drinking so much of it I'm gonna have to brew more for her!
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Sep 8, 2016 23:23
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Le0 posted:So last week-end I brewed my saison and it went quite well. I hit my OG but my volume was off somehow. I usually just dump the whole kettle into the fermenter, and do batch sizes of 5.5 gallons (or ~21 litres) to offset for trub and break loss. I've read that, while at a commercial level this material can be harmful, in comparatively wide vessels and low pressures used in homebrewing the break material is actually beneficial to yeast development. Either way, I've done both methods (leaving break in kettle vs dumping it all) and never found much difference, aside for compensating for volume. Honestly my advice is do what is easiest. If you hand dump the kettle, just dump it all. If you find it easier to whirlpool and have a valve you can use to empty the kettle, you don't need to worry about the extra volume in the fermenter and can just collect wort without break.
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Sep 13, 2016 14:04
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I've read a bit about it when a friend asked. It's essentially a flavourless adjunct that will boost gravity but leave a beer dry. Sweet potatoes apparently colour the beer orange though, so there's that
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Oct 5, 2016 08:47
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Quick question about star san. Last weekend I cleaned out a couple of kegs, rinsed with star san, and pressurized them. One of them I took and filled right away, but the other has been sitting for a week now with residual star san in it and is pressurized. It's just the film/bubbles left, but that should be okay to just pop open and rack a beer into today, right?
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Feb 26, 2017 16:15
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Cool thanks guys. I thought I'd remembered reading about it in here before so I thought I'd save my future self the hassle last weekend by cleaning and prepping both kegs at once. But in the hours beforehand I was a little unsure because it's something I'd never done haha. Now it's got an amazing Belgian red IPA (Belgian India Red? It's not exactly pale lol) that I've brewed now for the second time because the first 20L went so quick!
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Feb 26, 2017 21:40
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What was the final gravity? ~6% and dry finish sounds like a typical American IPA anyway. I decided to check on my tripel while preparing a starter for Easter brew day this weekend. It was about 5.5 gallons in a 6.5g bucket, and I pitched wlp530 into it. Well, I've had Belgian strains pop the airlock off with vigorous fermentation, but not the lid!     Next time I'll use a blow off tube!
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Apr 15, 2017 00:48
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kirtar posted:Drinking one right now while reviewing the sheets, it's mostly the finish that is absurdly dry (reminds me roughly of brut sparklers). While it's on the tongue it's fine. I'm just going to try keep the process pretty much the same, but with better management of the mash temperature and maybe dealing with the water profile a little. Maybe a water issue. Could be that your water is giving it an astringency and harshness that they're perceiving as dryness and hop alpha acids, possibly from chlorine? Because 1.015 shouldn't taste brut at all.
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Apr 15, 2017 11:54
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So I'm planning on making some mead. Will probably do 2 1-gallon batches, one with 3lbs of average golden honey, and one something like 1lb pale honey, 1lb amber, 1lb buckwheat. I've brewed a lot of all grain batches, maybe 60+ at this point, so I'm fairly experienced when it comes to methodology and sanitation, and have lots of equipment. I've done a bunch of reading but just want to check in with goons, any tips or things that are easy to overlook when doing mead for the first time? This is the summer of new sugars for me, I've never done anything other than beer, but I'm planning on doing mead, grape wine and maybe cider/apple wine too! Very excited.
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Apr 30, 2017 07:20
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Thanks for the tips on yeast and nutrient re: meads. One thing I'm still unsure of is how to control/predict fermentation? I'm also now thinking I want to do a cyser and cider, and want to be able to know the abv I'm targeting in advance and whether it will turn out dry or sweet. Is it just a case of assuming all the sugar will be eaten (like FG is always 1.000?) and backsweetening if it's too dry, or what?
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May 2, 2017 14:17
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Well it's berry season and my wife wants a strawberry wheat again. Probably gonna do the same thing I did last time (which was like 3 years ago and many hundreds of dollars of equipment ago haha); 4 lbs wheat 4 lbs 2 row Mash at 152 1 oz saaz for 60 minutes US-05 for 2 weeks, then on 5 lbs of strawberries for a week Really simple but really tasty. I may also experiment with back sweetening this time. But I have to ask the thread, anyone have any fruit beer recipes they really enjoyed? I didn't care much for them years ago but lately I've been fermenting anything with sugar and really appreciated the world of fruits and grains.
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May 24, 2017 06:04
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So I think instead of making a strawberry wheat, I will take a rather boring saison I have in a keg right now (I fermented it in march and I don't think it got warm enough) and turn it into a strawberry saison. Any tips on putting fruit in a keg? I was thinking of making a cheesecloth bag and just tossing it in there for a week.
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May 28, 2017 00:49
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hot cocoa on the couch posted:So I think instead of making a strawberry wheat, I will take a rather boring saison I have in a keg right now (I fermented it in march and I don't think it got warm enough) and turn it into a strawberry saison. Any tips on putting fruit in a keg? I was thinking of making a cheesecloth bag and just tossing it in there for a week. Also, should I sanitize the cheesecloth bag?
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May 28, 2017 18:40
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I ended up just dunking the bags in star san and chopping up some fresh Ontario strawberries and dumped the bags in the keg. We'll see how it turns out in a week or so! Boiling was a good idea though, I'll do that next time if this works out
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May 29, 2017 02:58
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Der Penguingott posted:Never fruit beer in a sanke keg. Ever. Try putting it in a cheesecloth bag next time? I did 4lbs strawberries in 4 gallons of saison in a corny and that worked pretty well
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Jun 26, 2017 23:59
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GigaPeon posted:Brewed yesterday. Had my first lid fly off this morning. Luckily I heard the boom and was able to get the lid resanitized and back on fairly quickly, but it took me some time to find some tubing to fit on the airlock for the blow off. Yeah it'll be fine. I went through a spate of trappist brews this spring/summer, and out of 7 batches, 4 of them blew their top. All but one had a defoamer added to them too haha. Only one blew the lid clean off but it sat for maybe 3 days before I realized it and that one actually turned out to be the best dubbel I've ever made. I actually began to view a blown lid as a good luck charm haha Doesn't make the mess any better to clean up tho
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Sep 26, 2017 14:38
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Anyone ever use Burlington Ale Yeast? I accidentally bought it instead of Burton Ale Yeast to make a northern brown. Will this make a good brown? I've read it's basically Vermont/Conan, will I be able to get some good esters, and at what temp?
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Oct 28, 2017 18:38
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Can I restrain the esters with a lower temp? I wouldn’t mind a brown with some fruitiness, I’m not brewing exactly to style or anything. I guess I’ll find out, I already got the starter going by the time you responded haha. Thanks tho
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Oct 29, 2017 00:09
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rockcity posted:Definitely keep the temp as low. 65 or less if possible. I usually ferment with Conan at 68 and definitely get fruitiness out of it. I blended it with a saison strain once and did it at 72 with a temp rise to 75 and got a real nice peppery fruit character. grain bill will be: 7lbs maris otter 1lb victory 0.5lb pale chocolate kind of a plain northern brown was what I was going for I'm brewing it tomorrow, will definitely try to pitch cool and keep the ferment temp at 65. I'll report back in a couple weeks with results!
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Oct 30, 2017 04:14
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hot cocoa on the couch posted:Anyone ever use Burlington Ale Yeast? I accidentally bought it instead of Burton Ale Yeast to make a northern brown. Will this make a good brown? I've read it's basically Vermont/Conan, will I be able to get some good esters, and at what temp? So an update to this after 9 days in the fermenter - tastes strikingly like a cappuccino or something. Not too much fruitiness that I can detect but I’m really enjoying it right now. I ended up mashing a bit high (153F) and that gave it some additional body and sweetness that really accentuates the pale chocolate malt I think. I made this recipe up on the fly in the brew shop (with the help of my 2 year old daughter) so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it’s pretty drat tasty right now. Will report in a couple weeks when it’s in the keg.
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Nov 8, 2017 19:33
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Rex-Goliath posted:While my lager turned out really nice and is tasty and gets me drunk I think there's something about this particular yeast strain because any time I have a couple I end up farting non-stop for about 12 hours. Don't think I'm gonna try this recipe again- real shame because it's so tasty This is me and wlp530. I have a westy 12 clone in a keg that is about a year old and really amazing right now, but I usually only pull 4-8oz at a time or my farts are noxious for like a full 24 hours
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Dec 21, 2017 17:53
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Fork of Unknown Origins posted:I’m brewing a 5 gallon all-grain BIAB brown Porter later this week that I plan on putting .75 lbs of Demerara sugar in to. I’ve heard of people waiting and adding sugars after a couple days of fermentation for the yeast’s sake but for that quantity would that be necessary? It seems like just one more shot at something going wrong to open it up during primary. I pretty much always add a pound of Demerara to my Trappist style beers at flameout, has always turned out good
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Feb 3, 2018 01:38
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What’s the difference between corn whiskey and bourbon? Is bourbon a style of corn whiskey or? I always thought the two were synonymous
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Mar 16, 2018 22:28
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Anyone in Ontario know of a good place to get barrels? Preferably for not insane prices. And preferably in the 1/4 to 1/2 bbl size range, which I know may be difficult, but I want something I can fill myself. Previously used is okay, and would prefer spirit barrels vs wine. Should I just contact some distilleries? All I can find googling is bespoke stuff for like $500+
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Mar 27, 2018 17:17
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Yeah the 180 and 90 are legit for doing quads and dubbels, I scoffed at the price at first but they’re 100% worth it. I just use Demerara for my singels and tripels tho
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May 27, 2018 13:17
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I’ve tried my own invert sugar and reducing a portion of the wort into a syrup on the stove top during brew day but I find it can be a hassle and inconsistent. I’ve brewed probably 10-15 quads/dubbels now and I find the predictable results from just dumping in the syrup to bring me less stress on brew day, especially now that I have a house quad recipe I want to turn out the same every time now
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May 27, 2018 20:44
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Wait wait wait, there's a product out there that reduces gluten content of regular (barley/wheat) beer to under 20ppm and doesn't affect flavour? Am I reading this right? This is pretty fuckin revolutionary if so, what with the current gluten-free trend.
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Jan 5, 2019 19:33
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