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

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PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

Angry Grimace posted:

I ordered a pound of Citra hops online since all the recipes I found that I want to do seemed to use them, but then I opened the package and it's all Chinook instead. I was about to get really sad and irritated since the site said they were out now, but the guy on the phone just said they have a lot of them, but they don't make them available year round.

Besides, poo poo was expensive. In fact, hops are expensive everywhere, I've noticed. It was like $4.50/2 oz. for this, and it was significantly more expensive for similarly high demand hops like Simcoe locally.

As mentioned earlier, hops like Simcoe and Citra are proprietary hops only produced on the farms that developed them or licensed farms, so they sell for more money. Not to mention they are in extremely high demand at the moment, so the market prices them accordingly.

PoopShipDestroyer fucked around with this message at 02:57 on Feb 18, 2012

# ¿ Feb 18, 2012 02:55

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 03:45

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

Well I'm about ready to label my latest lager another complete failure. My last was a complete loving diacetyl bomb and even though this one isn't nearly as bad, it's definitely still there enough to bother me. Even though I did a diacetyl rest on both when I was about 4 points away from my target FG, I figured this latest lager would be better because I used more than enough yeast.

Oh well, live and learn I guess. Maybe I'll bring it back up from lagering temps again for a few days and hope for the best.

# ¿ Feb 18, 2012 04:23

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

Super Rad posted:

I just got an old RO filter I had laying around up and running. The goal is to stop paying $2.50 to the water machine down the street each time I brew (can't use the straight tap water here as it is disgusting).

Now this RO filter should be brinigng the water awful close to 0ppm - what, if anything should I be adding to my water to get it into a normal hardness?

I'm not necessarily trying to emulate any specific water source, I just remember reading that water that is too soft poses some issues.

The Mad Fermentationist has a pretty good guide for what sort of minerals you'll want depending on what type of beer you're making.

http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2008/09/i-think-that-water-treatment-has-made.html

You'll want to use some sort of water calculator. I like using BeerSmith's but I'm sure there are ones online.

edit: This one looks pretty good.

# ¿ Feb 22, 2012 19:28

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

MJP posted:

The hop choices are pure me, took from the descriptions of initially Cascade/Amarillo/Cascade.

So based on my original, here's my tweaked output via the Hopville calculator:

3lb wheat DME
1 lb 6 oz Weyermann pale wheat malt
1 lb 6 oz Breiss organic 2-row malt
1 lb 4 oz Breiss organic carapils malt
1 lb Weyermann CaraWheat malt

60 mins 1.0oz Cascade pellet 5.5% AA

30 mins 0.5 Ahtanum pellet 7.0% AA

5 mins 0.25 Pacific Gem pellet 13.0% AA

Hopville even lets you target a style, that is awesome.

This solid... is the carapils a good substitute for the rye?

I'm not familiar with CaraWheat, but presumably it has all the same properties as any caramel grain. In that case, you now have 2.25 pounds of caramel grains, which I would say is far too much.

# ¿ Mar 2, 2012 18:05

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

MJP posted:

Would replacing the Carawheat with regular pilsner be a good substitution?

That certainly would be better, but you're not really going to gain much from doing it. I'd probably just add more 2-row to get to the OG you want.

# ¿ Mar 2, 2012 18:44

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

beetlo posted:

The thing that keeps me going back to Brewmaster's Warehouse is that they let you order grains in ounces. Not just down to 6 ounce increments. Yes they are slow to process, but I just plan ahead and take that into account.

I was tolerating the slow processing for awhile, but what really drove me to stop ordering from them was when I ordered a better bottle and it took them 3 full days to inform me they were out of stock and still hadn't shipped the rest of the order.

# ¿ Mar 3, 2012 21:58

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

Cael posted:

For anyone who's bought/made your own kegerator, is there a particular minifridge model you'd recommend? I've been looking at the plans at KegKits because that's pretty close to what I'd want in terms of size (something that can hold two Corny kegs). If anyone has a better site or recommendation I'd be interested to hear it.

Was watching Craigslist, but I'm too lazy to wait for someone to actually reply as well as have something good so I'll probably end up just buying something new.

I bought this one and it works pretty great. However, I bought it for ~$125, I'm not sure why it's gone up in price so much. Also, I put the taps in the front out of laziness, so I can't speak to how easy it would be to put in a tower on the top.

With that model you'll probably have to carve away some of the door to get 2 kegs in, but that's about 5 minutes work with a $15 saw. I can't remember if I did that to fit in kegs or to fit in a fermenter, though.

PoopShipDestroyer fucked around with this message at 19:48 on Mar 5, 2012

# ¿ Mar 5, 2012 19:46

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

the42ndtourist posted:

Can someone point me towards a resource (internet or book) that can explain step mashes and how to design them? ie. this talk about a beta glucan rest...

I've googled around, but not found something that actually explains what all the different possible rests are, how long each one should (or could) be, their effects on the final product, and how to put them together to arrange it properly.

I now have the ability to easily step-mash, and I'd like to know how to do it.

This probably doesn't give everything you're looking for, but is a good overview:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Mash_temperatures

# ¿ Mar 29, 2012 17:27

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

I made my last brew in this apartment before I move to clean out some leftover malt I had as well as some DME I had for yeast starters. Not really sure what style to file this under, does anyone know? IPA with weird ingredients would be my guess.

4# vienna
4# munich
.5# crystal 40
1.5# light DME
columbus, citra and amarillo hops adding up to about 90 IBU's
US-05 yeast

PoopShipDestroyer fucked around with this message at 15:21 on Apr 25, 2012

# ¿ Apr 25, 2012 14:45

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

If the hops I used are newer than I think they are, I might be over 99 IBU's, which I guess would be out of style

# ¿ Apr 25, 2012 15:22

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

Sirotan posted:

And thats why I bought a stainless steel wort chiller.

_{_{(Well it was mostly because I was cheap.)}}

Stainless steel is cheaper than copper?

Also, if you were really cheap, you'd just make it yourself. I'm a loving idiot when it comes to DIY stuff and even I managed somehow.

# ¿ Apr 26, 2012 02:03

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

Docjowles posted:

That guy's Top Finds page has some pretty sweet deals. Scale accurate to 0.1 grams for $6? Yes please!

I bought this and I love that the "suggested items" are all weed related. I guess they're not that far off since hops are the same family of plant.

# ¿ Apr 29, 2012 01:43

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

Docjowles posted:

A new version of BeerSmith is coming next month, featuring "cloud sync" of all your recipes and the ability to publish them to the web for easy sharing. That actually sounds pretty great.

Sounds cool on the surface, but:

quote:

BeerSmith 2.1 will be a free upgrade for all BeerSmith 2 users. A basic cloud account will also be free. It has limited online storage (currently 10 recipes in your cloud folder), but gives you enough room to download several recipes at a time (which you can easily cut/paste to your main My Recipes folder), share the ones you are working on across machines or the community, and engage in commenting and bookmarking on the new site.

If you find the service meets your needs you can purchase additional space and resources starting at around $1/month (introductory price). I also have higher level accounts for professional brewers, groups and vendors. My goal was to keep the service very affordable but also cover the costs of operating and maintaining the site as it grows.

I'll continue just using dropbox, thanks.

I realize $1 / month isn't much, but storing all my recipes on dropbox is free and easy.

# ¿ Apr 29, 2012 21:15

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

Sirotan posted:

Soooo it took an hour to get to a boil. Then I dumped in the LME. That was 35min ago.....still not back to boiling.

I had a similar experience when I first moved into my new apartment. Let me see if I can find a related post I made about your choices.

edit (responding to someone asking about electric turkey fryers):

quote:

I have a really weak stovetop so I spent a bit of time researching this a year or so ago. Basically, as far as I was concerned, these weren't an option. From what I understand, even though the fryer has the ability to bring oil to ~400*, it's harder to bring water up to boiling because the heat capacity for water (the amount of energy required to change the temperature of a substance) is higher than oil. Depending on the electric fryer you buy your success will probably range from complete disaster to barely manageable. This guy ran some tests with the fryer you linked and starting at 76* water temp it took him almost an hour and a half to reach boiling.

I don't know what your situation is, but there are probably two options for you:

1) Use your stove and split your batch up into two separate pots for the boil. I use two 6 gallon pots with about 4 gallons in each and split hop additions between the two of them. I also have to put the pots between two burners to get the heat I need to boil. It's all pretty ridiculous, but it works well even though you get higher evaporation rates.

2) Use your stove / buy an electric turkey fryer and supplement it with a heat stick. This seems to be really common, but I'm not really crazy about it because I don't have a good enough understanding of electricity to feel safe dropping a home-made 2000 Watt power source into a vat of water even with a GFI outlet.

# ¿ May 2, 2012 02:07

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

Sirotan posted:

I'm not sure how much I like either of those options. I've got it straddling two burners now and its jusssttttt boiling. I really can't imagine the cost of my electric bill if I was doing this with every available burner. I might just compromise and start doing 3gal batches of beer instead of 5 when I start on all-grain, and just suck it up until I move and have an outdoor space where I can use propane. In my old pot I was able to get 3gal to a vigorous boil without an issue, so 4/4.5 should be ok, maybe.

Immensely bummed right now though.

Yeah it's not ideal and I'm really looking forward to leaving this apartment after doing this for 2 years.

# ¿ May 2, 2012 03:19

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

Magua posted:

Just replace one of the burners with one of these:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MP26KA-Elec...9#ht_1331wt_172

My little apartment-sized GE stove boils 6 gallons without any problems with that installed, makes my life so much better.

It's possible he has either an awful ceramic stovetop (what I have to deal with) or weak gas burners.

# ¿ May 2, 2012 04:03

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

Well if you have a stovetop with burners, you're in pretty good condition. I've heard previously that those replacement burners work well.

# ¿ May 2, 2012 04:32

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

Jo3sh posted:

I agree, saving money on beer is not really a driver for my brewing - far more effective just to stop drinking - but I have to say I save money on it too. I brew 10 gallons of ordinary house beer for $25 or so, and big beers are around $40. Even at warehouse store case prices, I am getting a whole batch for the cost of 1 to 2 cases of decent beer.

Are you factoring in equipment costs, though? I have a pretty modest setup and I would estimate I've spent about $1500 at least on equipment that is either dedicated to brewing (grain mills, mash tun, etc) or equipment that is multipurpose that I explicitly bought just for homebrewing (thermapen, electric drill, etc).

# ¿ May 9, 2012 23:03

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

Jo3sh posted:

Sure... maybe I have about the same amount of gear you have. Or maybe more, I don't know what your rig is like and I have no idea what all my crap adds up to. But I've also been brewing for about 19 years now. Call it $100/year? That's like $8/batch, so even if you add that in, my house beer goes from $25 to $33 for ten gallons.

... and that assumes that the rig has depreciated in value to zero by this time, which is probably true from any kind of rational accounting perspective, but also means that I can stop counting previous expenditures in future batches.

Yeah, I think after 19 years you can ignore equipment costs, so nevermind

# ¿ May 10, 2012 01:34

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

I know this gets asked all the time, but I've finally moved to an apartment where I no longer have to remain restricted to using a stovetop for boiling, so I'm looking for burner recommendations. I know one of the bayou models is the de facto recommendation, but I don't know which.

# ¿ Jun 5, 2012 23:23

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

AlternateAccount posted:

I don't know if I know how to read this thing. If I am looking at it right, it is between the hashes for 1.040 and 1.050, yes? So if NB lists the FG for this beer as 1.043, it's probably finished, right?

edit: tasted a sip or three of the sample and holy poo poo it's GOOD! If it's this good warm and flat, I can't wait to get some bubbles and and cold glass around it!

That is reading a FG of 1.006 - 1.008, there is no way NB lists the FG as 1.043. OG, maybe.

# ¿ Jun 8, 2012 02:37

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

AlternateAccount posted:

Ahh, yeah, I read that wrong, it was the OG. So each hash is .002? So the first "big" hash is 1.010? OK, makes more sense now. I will double check it again Saturday I guess, but I can't imagine it's not finished at that gravity. Probably be bottling on Sunday, I basically resemble RiggenBlaque's avatar right now.

Where the blue and green meets is 1.000. That looks like the finishing gravity there at about 1.008, but give it a couple days to be sure.

# ¿ Jun 8, 2012 03:23

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

Anyone have any boil pot recommendations? I only do 5 gallon batches, so I'm thinking a 40 quart pot is all I need and I'm not sure how much of a difference wall thickness and base width and things like that will make. I'm thinking something like the Northern Brewer stainless steel Megapot 10 gallons ($182.99 with ball valve), I'm having a tough time seeing why paying anything more than that would be worth bothering with.

# ¿ Jun 11, 2012 22:01

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

BerkerkLurk posted:

Probably nothing wrong with that pot, but if you're a cheap mother fucker like me I'd recommend getting a 10 gallon aluminum pot from a restaurant supply store for less than half that price.

I've been using the same 2 aluminum pots for the last 3 years, so I'm not too worried about cost

# ¿ Jun 11, 2012 23:16

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

Doing my first outdoor burner mash and wow, this is a lot more nerve racking than doing it on a stove. I can't even see the flame because it's so bright out so I keep worrying the flame went out and the unit is just spewing out propane.

Nice and fast boil, though.

# ¿ Jun 23, 2012 17:00

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

Cpt.Wacky posted:

I had the same experience about 2 weeks ago on my first outdoor attempt. Chickened out and went back to the stove. Gonna give it another try tomorrow, weather permitting.

If it makes you feel safer, I found that if you just keep turning up the regulator until the burner sounds like a jet plane (as someone mentioned earlier), that seems to be the way to go. Once it gets to that point it's pretty easy to see the flame, regardless of how bright it is outside.

# ¿ Jun 24, 2012 04:15

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

WaterIsPoison posted:

BrewingTV did a very nice episode on capturing and inoculating wort with wild yeast that could provide you with some insight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3sijnoW5HU

That was really interesting (although him sanitizing the coolship by burning it and then subsequently having to use a sponge to wipe off all the soot was supremely stupid). Was there any update on how that turned out?

# ¿ Jun 29, 2012 22:48

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

wattershed posted:

Yesterday I took a sip straight from one of my taps.

Just because I could.

America.

Anyone have any heat shield tips? I'm thinking I'll just go buy a piece of metal duct stuff that's about the right shape and hope for the best.

# ¿ Jul 3, 2012 20:35

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

wattershed posted:

Talking about a way to block wind from your banjo cooker's flame?

Allow me to quote myself from February:

This is the exact post I've been looking for, but couldn't remember where I saw it. Thanks a lot! I have a KAB4 but it looks like they are pretty much the same

# ¿ Jul 4, 2012 01:40

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

wattershed posted:

Went to Home Depot today, xmas gift card in hand. Headed to the 'ducting' aisle and just kinda poked around looking for something that could get me 40" in diameter of metal circular protection. Found two of something like these, which snap together. This was the end result:

Snapped the pieces together to make one long piece, wrapped it around the Bayou Classic KAB6, snapped them together to keep it snug around the burner, then drilled that hole in it to stick the match/lighter through as well as give me a sight to the flame without moving the pot. I only measured out the diameter before I went to Home Depot, didn't think about the height I'd need, but it turns out that this is basically a perfect fit. It's a little hard to see, but on the right side of the photo you can see the cover to the propane valve, and you can see how the ducting comes down almost right on top of it. There's a few screws around the side of the KAB6, and the ducting more or less sits on them, so even if I hadn't belted it tightly around the cooker it would still sit on the screws/valve cover. Totally awesome modification that I'm pretty sure everyone would benefit from.

I cannot stress how easy this was to do and what a huge difference it makes. I bought two of the 8" ones and snapped them together as best I could and I just can't believe how much of a difference it makes. I cut my time to boiling in half, easily. Thanks again

# ¿ Jul 17, 2012 01:08

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

That was il serpente cosmico, I've been meaning to make it for years since everyone raves about it. I'll probably wait until the fall and make a dunkelweizen since standing out in this heat for at least 7 hours sounds like a complete nightmare

il serpente cosmico posted:

Double Decoction Weizen

7# German light wheat
3# German pilsner (hefeweizen) or munich (dunkelweizen)

.7oz. Tettnanger (60min)
.5oz. Tettnanger (15min)
.5oz. Tettnanger (5min)

(15IBU)

Wyeast Weihenstephaner

Decoction process:

Add grain and 10 quarts water to mash tun to hit 100*. This is the beta glucanase rest, which will make the mash less gummy, and runoff easier. Allow mash to rest for 15 minutes.

Next, add enough boiling water (usually over 5 quarts) to raise temperature to 128*. This is the protein rest, which will improve body and head retention, as well as increase the efficiency of the mash. Allow mash to rest for 15 minutes.

Now begin the first decoction. Pull about 33-40% of the mash (easily calculated with a ruler)�you want get the thickest part of the mash. Raise the heat of this portion to 149* and allow to rest for 20 minutes for saccharification. Next, heat to 162* to convert most of the remaining starches to dextrins. Allow to rest for 10-15 minutes. Now raise to boiling, stirring often in order to prevent scorching. Try to mark where the water line is, and periodically add water during the boil to maintain the water level. Boil for 30 minutes, and add the entire portion back into the mash tun.

This should have raised the temperature of the entire mash to 149*. If it did not, add some cold water (a little bit goes a long way) to bring the temperature down, or pull some of the mash, add heat, and add it back in to hit the target. Try not to pull too much, or you�ll screw up the diastic power. It�s better to overshoot your temp and adjust down, so plan accordingly when you pull the decoction. Boiling water can also be added to raise the heat. This is the main saccharification rest. Allow the mash to rest for 45 minutes.

Now begin the second decoction. Once again, pull about 40% of the mash (maybe a little bit more), getting the thickest part. Heat to 162* to build dextrins. Rest here for 10-15 minutes. Try to mark where the water line is, and periodically add water during the boil to maintain the water level. Bring to boil once again for 30 minutes, stirring to prevent scorching. Add this back into the mash. The goal this time is to hit 162-168*. If temp is too high, use cold water to correct. If it�s too low, heat a portion of the mash and add it back in (don�t worry about pulling too much, as saccharification is already complete). This is �mash-out� rest. Allow it to sit for 10 minutes.

Now begin the sparge. Run off all the liquid from the mash tun into a bucket. Run-off slowly, as the high wheat content can cause problems. After runoff is complete, add the batch sparge water (3.5 gallons @ 175*). Let it sit for a couple minutes, and run off again.

Boil the liquid for a total of at least 90 minutes (this is more important for the hefe, as pilsner malt will create more DMS). Add hops as usual. Cool as usual. Strain into carboy and pitch the yeast. WLP380 seems to do best when pitched at a high rate. Ferment in a cool place, as high temperatures will result in a banana runtz taste.

Effeciency is typically around 77%. OG is typically 1.056. FG is typically 1.013.

Expect the entire process to take nearly 7 hours.

Ferment at 62-63�F

Bottle with 1.5 cups of extra light DME per 5 gallons to get proper carbonation.

PoopShipDestroyer fucked around with this message at 13:37 on Jul 18, 2012

# ¿ Jul 18, 2012 13:34

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

Brooklyn bottles seem to give me the most trouble out of anyone else. I don't even bother with them anymore, their bottles go straight into the recycling.

# ¿ Jul 19, 2012 23:12

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

Ew, Dr Pepper

# ¿ Jul 26, 2012 19:20

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

If your apartment is 80*, the fermentation will push the temperature of the beer up to around 85*, and there aren't really any non-belgian strains that will work well at that temperature. You basically have three options, 1) buy a fridge 2) submerge your fermentation vessel in water and rotate frozen plastic water bottles several times a day 3) make a saison, which likes high temperatures

# ¿ Aug 2, 2012 14:47

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

CalvinDooglas posted:

Well here's what I ended up getting for my American Saison:
code:
2.75 gal water

4 lb German Pils 2-row
1 lb Victory (for color)
4 oz flaked Wheat
8 oz cane sugar

.5 oz East Kent Golding @ 90min
.5 oz Citra @ 30-0min
.5 oz Cascade @ 15-0min
.25 oz Willamette @ 1min

~.25 oz Coriander @ 5min

Saison III yeast (WLP585)
I plan on mashing at 147� with a grain bag. I've seen ramp-up mashes suggested for Saisons - should I start steeping the grains cold or wait until it gets close to temperature?

It's tough to tell because its not a 5 gallon grain bill, but I'd pull back on that Victory big time. That accounts for almost 25% of your grain bill, which is way too high for a roasted malt, I wouldn't even put a pound of roast into a 5 gallon batch of saison.

# ¿ Aug 2, 2012 21:10

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

I think something like Munich would be best, it would add some color and complexity without adding any large amount of unfermentables.

# ¿ Aug 2, 2012 21:28

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

Kaiho posted:

Argh.

How long is too long to keep dry hops in a beer to start seeing negative effects (if any)?

I (and a lot of other people) just throw hops into a keg and leave it there for the lifetime of the beer with no bad side effects. However, I don't know if being stored cold that entire time is what prevents it from having problems.

# ¿ Aug 3, 2012 15:18

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

Paladine_PSoT posted:

Pitching a starter of wyeast 029 tonight (first time with a starter). Should I temperature control that like I would with the fermentation or let it go nuts at ambient (80ish)?

edit: unintentional quote

I personally let all my ale yeast starters just go at ambient and I've never noticed any off flavors

# ¿ Aug 3, 2012 21:12

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

Angry Grimace posted:

I'm strongly considering doing a Bohemian Pilsner and I have no clue whether Lager yeasts require starters to be fermented at 50 or not. I don't even know how I'd manage that - stick the stir plate in the chest freezer?!

That would be the way to do it. I don't know much about lager yeast starters, but my inclination is that you should keep them at proper fermentation temperatures. Since lagers have so little to hide behind, you want to take all steps possible to avoid off-flavors

# ¿ Aug 3, 2012 22:59

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 03:45

PoopShipDestroyer: Jan 13, 2006; I think he's ready for a chair

internet celebrity posted:

My club's next comparison is rye beers, any style. Has anyone ever made a rye stout? I don't have much experience brewing with rye but I always see it in small quantities in a lot recipes, usually in the 8% to 12% range. Would 20% or more of the grain bill be way too much rye in a stout?

Just be careful using a lot of it, anecdotal evidence points to lots of stuck mashes. Whenever I use it I just drain the mash out super slow to avoid the rear end-ache. I guess you could use rice hulls if you want to just be safe about it

Zakath posted:

Here's a public service announcement: check the "best by" date on yeast you buy from your local homebrew store. The starter for my Oktoberfest failed to take off, and after fishing the vial out of the garbage I saw it was 4 months past the date. I ended up getting two packets of saflager w-30/74 which I think will work pretty well for an Oktoberfest, but I've never used dried yeast before so it's time for yet another homebrewing adventure.

I think you mean 34/70 and that's supposedly the "most used lager strain in the world." I've used it once and even though the beer came out awful, it wasn't the yeast's fault. I had no problems with it.

# ¿ Aug 8, 2012 00:03

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

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