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Inspired by the President's recipe of all things I'd like to get into home brewing. I've read the OP and I'm reading the How to Brew book, and I had a question about starter kits. Is there a difference between this kit recommended in the OP (which is out of stock) and this kit? I'm not afraid to drop some more cash so I'm also tempted by the deluxe kit. Finally are there any brewer goons in MD? Any recommendation on local shops? It looks like there are these guys and these guys in MD and these guys in VA.
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Sep 5, 2012 17:31
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Jo3sh posted:I called them up and mentioned this thread and said I would be updating my FAQ once I had reviewed all their kits again, and the dude just mentioned that they had stopped doing the flat-rate shipping and suggested I might want to make a note if I had mentioned that. It would appear that one of my local stores (Annapolis Home Brew Shop) offers $7.95 shipping. I literally know nothing else about them but I thought I should mention that. Cpt.Wacky posted:The out of stock kit includes a hydrometer which you'll definitely want. The deluxe kit has carboys for secondary fermentation and that's really unnecessary when you're just starting out. I'd get the essentials kit and the gravity testing upgrade for $21 that include hydrometer, sample jar and thief. I was curious about that, since it's part of the White House recipe. What does secondary fermentation do? EDIT: Speaking of the White House brew, they have a video and it turns out that they must have bought their starter kit in Annapolis. I thought that was kind of cool. Beer4TheBeerGod fucked around with this message at 18:36 on Sep 5, 2012 |
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Sep 5, 2012 18:28
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Okay, well that all makes a lot of sense. I think since they're local I'm going to swing by the Annapolis store and pick up Their Deluxe 1 Stage kit and an ingredient packet. Should be fun!
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Sep 5, 2012 19:04
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Splizwarf posted:If you want to make a daytrip out of it, I'm having a Brew Day the Sunday after next (the 16th) in Fredericksburg, VA. Bottling two and expect to be brewing 3 or 4. I could see that being a lot of fun! That's about an hour from my house.
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Sep 5, 2012 21:04
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What do you guys use to make your labels?
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Sep 6, 2012 02:17
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I imagine a paint pen or a silver sharpee would work fine. Using something stronger like acetone would probably wipe the bottle clean afterwards too.
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Sep 6, 2012 15:17
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Splizwarf posted:What's my best bet for bang-for-buck for propane burners? Bonus points if it's locally available. Time to step up out of the kitchen (and into one pot for my wort boils Deep turkey fryers work really well. I got one from Lowes for $50 that included a massive pot (it was on sale). If I had to start all over again I would buy this one.
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Sep 7, 2012 16:35
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Killer robot posted:The stories about off flavors or Alzheimer's or what have you aren't true, but as I understand there are a couple extra concerns with aluminum. First, you need to pre-cook the pot to form an oxide layer when you first get it and if anything cleans the layer off (for example if you scour it out after scorching the bottom.) Second, you can't use more caustic or oxygen-based cleaners on it, so no oxi-clean soaks or anything. Other than that it's light, cheap, and conducts heat well. So even if aluminum isn't bad, it's still good to know exactly what material you're using since it does affect your procedure. You don't have to pre-cook aluminum. OTOH I can't find an official recommendation about Oxi-Clean. BKF is not recommended as it explicitely says not to use it on aluminum on their website. I suppose I'll just stick with vinegar and water.
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Sep 7, 2012 19:49
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Splizwarf posted:"Well, one of the kits you ordered isn't ready, it's backordered and there's 150 people ahead of you." It's the drat White House one, isn't it?
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Sep 12, 2012 22:07
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Splizwarf posted:The porter, yeah. I got in touch with them by phone again now that I'm off work, and apparently after the chat I was upgraded to 1-day shipping and "it's definitely going out tomorrow". I'll let you know how the Hail Mary pays off tomorrow afternoon. If not let me know. On Friday I'm planning on swinging by Columbia to pick up my starter kit  so I can get anything else we'll need.I have $200 to spend. What should I buy?
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Sep 12, 2012 23:25
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I have a turkey fryer already, so the 6-7 gallon pot isn't a problem aside from the fact that the burner is poo poo and I'll probably be replacing it.
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Sep 13, 2012 00:29
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How do you use the wort chiller with respect to sanitizing? Just wipe it down and drop it in?
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Sep 14, 2012 19:31
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Holy poo poo I CANNOT WAIT for Sunday. 
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Sep 15, 2012 04:06
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I just wanted to say thanks to Splizwarf and his wife for being such awesome people and teaching me a ton about home brewing. I'm really excited to see how the Honey Ale turns out! Fun things we've learned: - The banjo burner is angry mother. Also Splizwarf it turns out it's the same price on Amazon but if you have Prime it's cheaper. - Should your banjo burner bring forth a massive overboil because you have it turned on too much you should definitely have a spray bottle on hand. Also turn off the gas at the propane tank rather than the regulator, it's quicker. - Brewing in the driveway helps with cleanup immensely. - Breakfast Stout is delicious. - If your bottle of homebrew decides to vomit forth a cascade of foam when you open up the bottle, check the bottom. You probably didn't clean the bottle well enough. - Giant nerds seem to like to marry tiny teachers. - Homemade chili and beer is the greatest thing ever. Splizwarf the honey company I was thinking of was Cloister Honey. I have no idea if they can supply stuff in 5 gallon batches or not, but I bet it's worth asking.
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Sep 17, 2012 12:50
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BTW Splizwarf I just bought the banjo burner. I anticipate being able to nuke a turkey in ten seconds.
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Sep 18, 2012 00:46
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Splizwarf posted:Three is ideal. One preps bottles, one fills, one moves bottles away from the "filled" dropoff spot, caps, and dunks in water to clean any beer off the outside of the bottle. Four is even better if you want to get them dried and labeled in a hurry. Two is fine, but fill the bottle tree ahead of time. Thanks for the heads up. I've got a Bass Ale bottle that I'll pitch. My new nuclear-grade burner came in, so I'm definitely on track to get some brewing done. I think I'll try the ice bath approach to keep the temperature in check. You were right about the WL yeast; it needs things to be a bit colder than I could otherwise provide. Water bath it is!
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Sep 25, 2012 20:17
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Splizwarf posted:If you use ice, remember you'll eventually have to remove some water. If you use ice packs, take care not to lose them under the bucket if you lift it, you'll never catch them again without removing the bucket completely. Keep a couple big towels in the room all the time just in case. drat, it really has been two weeks hasn't it? Yeah, I should be able to make it. I don't think I have anything going on. Same time as before? I take it you're not planning on racking anything secondary then?
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Sep 25, 2012 20:30
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Splizwarf posted:Yep, around 9 will be good. Let me ask my better half tonight. She may already have plans for me. I seriously want to get a taste of that saison.
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Sep 25, 2012 20:46
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wattershed posted:If condensation is your big concern myself and some others here would recommend this guy to take care of that. Hey Splizwarf this looks like a perfect solution to your mold problem in the fridge.
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Oct 1, 2012 01:12
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Splizwarf posted:I was just thinking the same thing. For anyone wondering, I need to address condensation in the keezer somehow as I'm getting a bit of puddling moisture and thus some mold under the buckets. Will Star-San destroy mold or should I just spritz bleach solution for my cleanup? The keezer's empty for the next week at least so I can let it air out. I would wipe it down nice and dry, let it air out, and then clean it up with white distilled vinegar. It does a good job against most mold (the majority of which will die since you'll be drying out its environment) and it's not toxic at all. Also wear a mask and gloves.
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Oct 1, 2012 13:55
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Jo3sh posted:Personally, I just chuck 'em in loose, but you have decided not to do that. You can use a fine-mesh bag, like a lingerie wash bag, or a cheap nylon stocking. Cheesecloth would make sense.
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Oct 1, 2012 17:46
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Splizwarf posted:
Hey I was wondering about the Saison de Noel you did. Was that with the White Labs WLP670 or the Wyeast 3711? The 3711 has an optimal temperature of up to 77, but the Farmhouse says the optimum is 72. I thought Saisons could go super high?
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Oct 1, 2012 18:52
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How toelrant is WLP080 (White Labs Cream Ale) to temperatures in the 70-80 range? Optimum is 65-70 and I'm hoping I can maintain that in my back bathroom, but I'm trying to get a sense of how much I should worry. If it wasn't supposed to get in the 80's I'd just leave it outside.
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Oct 1, 2012 23:33
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Yeah if it's a mix of lager and ale then I'll just keep it good and cold.
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Oct 2, 2012 00:34
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Kelley Geuscaulk posted:Anyone have a good substitute blend for Simcoe or Amarillo? For example I saw some people saying 70% Chinook and 30% Citra. I have no idea and I saw tons of different answers. There's a IPA Homebrew competition where you can't use Simcoe or Amarillo because the winner gets to brew the recipe on a 15BBL system This. This is going to happen. Can that thing fit a 5 gallon bucket? EDIT: I believe I found my solution: http://www.igloocoolers.com/Beverage/All-Beverage/10-Gal-Seat-Top-Orange-with-Cup-Dispenser Beer4TheBeerGod fucked around with this message at 02:32 on Oct 2, 2012 |
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Oct 2, 2012 02:06
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What model cooler is that cube one?
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Oct 2, 2012 05:00
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Splizwarf posted:With the holidays coming up it's time to invest in some uniform bottles. The NB ones get trash-talked for being pretty thin, where else should I be looking? I'm going to Columbia next week to take their intro to brewing course. If you ask nicely I can pick up a couple cases of bottles.
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Oct 3, 2012 18:50
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mewse posted:Columbia = the Kokanee brewery? They offer courses? Columbia, MD. Home of the Maryland Homebrew store.
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Oct 3, 2012 21:00
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Clamping isn't necessarily terrible so long as you make sure the fittings are always lower than the lip of the bucket so the chance of non-sterile water getting into the wort is mitigated. That said making your own version of one of these looks rather trivial. I might do it before I brew my first batch of home beer either this weekend or next weekend.
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Oct 4, 2012 20:38
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The reading a pressure gauge gives you is independent of the temperature. All a gauge does is tell you the pressure inside relative to the ambient pressure (14.7 psi). I just did a brief search on McMaster-Carr (the greatest website ever) and their basic pressure gauges are rated for -40F all the way up to 150F. What will change is the pressure of the gas itself once it changes temperature. You can figure it out pretty easily using the ideal gas law (which I do below). Basically thermal expansion between 40F and 70F causes 6% increase in pressure. So if your CO2 tank is outside your keezer then expect the working pressure to be about 6% lower than whatever the gauge reads. Ideal Gas Law (Degrees are in Kelvin) P1 = 40F Pressure, P2 = 70F Pressure, T1 = 40F in Kelvin (278), T2 = 70F in Kelvin (294) PV=nRT P/T=nR/V P1/T1=P2/T2 P1/278 = P2/294 P2=1.06*P1
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Oct 5, 2012 15:14
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zedprime posted:CO2 is a liquid in those cylinders, P is directly related to the saturated vapor pressure of CO2 at whatever temperature. I assumed we were discussing the regulator pressure, and not the pressure inside the tank itself.
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Oct 5, 2012 15:40
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Docjowles posted:Came across this link today. Brewing on its own not nerdy enough for you? Use open-source software and off-the-shelf parts to make a programmable temp controller complete with web interface and graphs I could see that being really helpful for monitoring the temperature of your wort directly.
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Oct 5, 2012 17:10
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Docjowles posted:Some people say CO2 from bottle conditioning is "finer" or "softer" or something. Personally I think that chemically it's all just CO2 and that's romantic mumbo jumbo. I imagine there is a difference simply because one is an organic process and the other is a physical one. Not necessarily with the carbon dioxide itself but with the other flavors in the beer.
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Oct 6, 2012 18:57
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zedprime posted:Ahh yes, the exotic primary fermentation metabolic pathway that would never otherwise be taken when brewing beer. Wait a minute, that doesn't sound quite right. What I meant by that is that the yeast are producing products other than CO2 whereas the forced carbonation is just straight gas. I think it is reasonable to experience the taste to be different. I didn't mean to imply one or the other was superior.
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Oct 7, 2012 00:26
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zedprime posted:So in your head, what exactly is happening differently to that final 2 points of gravity compared to the first 60, and why should it manifest strong enough to make a difference with a 3% gravity contribution consisting of a neutral adjunct? Looking over my post I should have been more clear. You're right that the difference is probably not significant.
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Oct 7, 2012 14:50
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Turns out my upstairs spare bathroom never goes above 72 during the winter.
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Oct 9, 2012 03:09
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If you check out Better Bottle's website they have some technical information on which cleansers to use. They also provide a PDF showing compatability with various materials. It's a bit biased against glass (something about "soft glass" absorbing water and becoming weaker), but the information appears thorough. I bought a glass carboy in the starter kit but I see no reason to not just use buckets for most of the stuff.
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Oct 10, 2012 15:37
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RiggenBlaque posted:I use oxyclean on my better bottles (granted, not for days) and I haven't had any problems either. When I was in the brew store I asked them about glass versus plastic. Their argument was that glass is less susceptible to scratches that could harbor bacteria and other nastiness.
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Oct 10, 2012 16:09
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Oh well. Lesson learned.
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Oct 10, 2012 17:56
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So my wife and I did the cream ale extract kit. Between the mega burner and our aluminum turkey fryer pot boiling was a snap, but the OG was 1.039 when the kit calls for 1.049 to 1.054. Any idea what could have happened? We went to 5 gallons in the bucket. Oh well. Time will tell in two weeks!
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Oct 15, 2012 00:38
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