I'm seriously considering brewing my own beer.
I'm think small home brew batches.
Any advice?
Not beer, but I have made some dandy dandelion wine and have a batch of mead going at the moment.
I used old-school earthen ware crocks rather than air locks and carboys.
Works well. My last batch of dandelion wine was quite strong...
JM
The Northwest crew has a bunch of homebrewers.
Maybe Veektor or Mom will pipe up.
Hope so, I'm a noob and welcome to hints & help ~
JM
You could always crash their party...
They have a whole thread about it.
http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=32927.0 (http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=32927.0)
Only some of them bite. ;D
Three friends are homebrewers.
I plan on starting up this winter. :)
I've brewed quite a lot of kit beer (the can into the bucket just add water and dextrose variety) pretty well fool proof, I have since moved on to adding extra grain and hops to try and copy some of my fave factory brews.
The biggest PITA is cleaning the bottles, but if you can afford a keg kit go for it.
My number one tip is leave the brew for a good 4 weeks before you drink it.
I've also done quite a few batches of fruit wines, strawberry, mango, passionfruit to name a few. Got some strawberry on the go now as it happens.
And another thing, brewing in a northern winter, you may need a heating pad for your keg.
As I live in the tropics my biggest problem is keeping the brew cool, I also use a high temperature yeast as the weather warms up here.
The interweb is full of info, I get most of my stuff and my recipes from here.
http://www.brewcraft.com.au/ (http://www.brewcraft.com.au/)
USA outlets here
http://www.brewcraft.com.au/wa.asp?idWebPage=9608&idDetails=301 (http://www.brewcraft.com.au/wa.asp?idWebPage=9608&idDetails=301)
Krolik is the brew king followed by Toolfan(the new daddy) I've done one myself without the supervision of one or both.
Several key points to live by
1) clean everything and then clean it again
2) keep the drinking to a minimum during the boiling process
3) it's best to do it outside, catastrophic failures of 5gallon carbouys filled with sticky hot fluid happen and the collateral damage is easier to mitigate on the porch vs in the kitchen
Quote from: Mother on September 30, 2010, 01:28:01 AM
Several key points to live by
1) clean everything and then clean it again
2) keep the drinking to a minimum during the boiling process
3) it's best to do it outside, catastrophic failures of 5gallon carbouys filled with sticky hot fluid happen and the collateral damage is easier to mitigate on the porch vs in the kitchen
+1
Especially #1. This is key.
Quote from: Mother on September 30, 2010, 01:28:01 AM
Krolik is the brew king followed by Toolfan(the new daddy) I've done one myself without the supervision of one or both.
Several key points to live by
1) clean everything and then clean it again
2) keep the drinking to a minimum during the boiling process
3) it's best to do it outside, catastrophic failures of 5gallon carbouys filled with sticky hot fluid happen and the collateral damage is easier to mitigate on the porch vs in the kitchen
You guys planning on anymore brew days? I wanna come up.
My buddy does. He started with the Mr Beer kit due to limited space, and still uses it as he works in small batches. One of the best things he got his hands on were some slight larger (14 or so oz) bottles with the latch tops, like Grolsh bottles - but in brown glass. I know one can buy them, but he got lucky and the base commissary had some sort of good beer in those bottles, so he just earned his collection.
But, as I said, he started and works small. Originally he just used the kit stuff, but has branched out and is doing a lot of his own variations that are getting really good. He's got a note book of all his works so far, the wins and not-so-wins. Keeping that log has let him tune successive batches into some fine stuff.
Been doing it for about 5 years, all grain and extract brewing. It is nice because you can have total control over what your beer tastes like and you can make it for less than 50 cents a beer in most cases. I have only had one batch out of 20 not work out but I was trying to use real raspberries for the first time in a brown ale, similar to New Belgium's Frambozen.
Bottles are a PITA but are nice if you want to age something that is very high in alcohol that needs to balance out the flavor over time. Kegging (5 gallon)is the way to go. You don't have to open a whole bottle for a sample or sip, way easier to clean, and your friends freak out when they find out you have multiple beers on tap. For parties, kegs are portable too, or you could fill a couple growlers from your tap for ease.
I have recently started extract brewing again as it is less time consuming (half the time of all grain)and I have a 2 year old, along with another on the way. It is a good hobby, but like any other hobby (Ducati's) once you get into it, it can take over and cost some bucks.
I think the best place to start looking is Northerbrewer.com to get ideas for the potential of beers you could make, and check their forums too. Very active.
So far some great advice.
Things I didn't know; over clean, work outside (this will reduce the damage in case of a disaster) and keep notes.
I'm going to try to follow Alton Brown's demonstration.
Good Eats S6E7P1: Amber Waves (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vlv1wBy7Z5w#normal)
The bottles my buddy got are almost exactly like the one you see Alton pop @ 1:20
I'm going to have to start drinking Grolsch.
golgofett...do you use floral hops or the pellets?
There's a member in Texas that goes by the screen name Murduc. He is hands down the best brewer I've come across. His stouts are spoken of in hushed whispers and and bed time stories.
Quote from: D Paoli on September 30, 2010, 05:17:37 AM
You guys planning on anymore brew days? I wanna come up.
nothing in the works but i wouldn't mind having a winter brew available
I've got 4 empty kegs if I can figure out how to clean em
Are they 5 gallon kelly (soda) kegs or beer kegs?
Good general advice has been spoken, the best thing is to keep everything clean. The worst part of brewing is cleaning bottles. THe less you have to clean the more fun it is. That's why I have a 3 keg beer fridge in the basement.
I only brew extract recipes, mostly because of time. All grain isn't much harder, you just need a bit more equipment and about twice the time.
Quote from: zooom on September 30, 2010, 07:12:32 AM
golgofett...do you use floral hops or the pellets?
I have always used pellet. I read that whole hops soak up a lot of the wort and pellets are easier to store in the freezer. I was going to take a chance and grow my own, but after my rhizomes arrived, I decided I did not want to go through the trouble. Lucky for me, a friend did and traded me 4 corny kegs so know I have about 10 kegs but have never come close to filling them all at the same time.
Just for a little more motivation to convince a new homebrewer to start, experimentation is half the fun.
One beer I have made on a few occasions is a espresso oatmeal stout. I soak a 1/2 pound of hand cracked espresso beans after fermentation is complete for a week, cold conditioned. When you pour a pint, it smells just like coffee, but has the mouthfeel of a creamy stout. I have had a couple friends show up and get a little upset when it is gone. I have also made a vanilla Imperial Stout that had many friends calling me after drinking one as they were almost 10 percent alcohol. Used real vanilla beans and after some time, the flavors balanced real well.
I also make a irish red that I keep tweaking a little by little. Sometimes I will stick with the original recipe, other times I will add more hops to give it a different twist.
Quote from: krolik on September 30, 2010, 11:50:32 PM
Are they 5 gallon kelly (soda) kegs or beer kegs?
Regular beer kegs
Soda kegs are gooder based on helping my buddies....
Quote from: Mother on September 30, 2010, 08:43:10 AM
nothing in the works but i wouldn't mind having a winter brew available
I've got 4 empty kegs if I can figure out how to clean em
Pressure washer and a 5% bleach solution?
Wear your raincoat. ;D
I've got an earthenware crock, capped by a clean dishtowel and held in place by a plate & a quart of water in a jar. I cleaned it well before I started. I've brewed prior with this method with no ill results. Very very simple. I currently have in there honey and yeast. We'll see what happens (boiled the honey down with citrus rinds for flavor) when I check on it. It's got a couple months yet to ferment.
JM
I have yet to do my own start to finish, but I have helped my dad for years. Way back in college, I though I might try brewing my own, having seen some of the DIY kits that had become popular. DME + water + heat + waiting. Seemed pretty straightforward. Instead, I bought my dad a kit with the intention of starting up a family hobby.
Well, he took the ball and ran with it. His undergraduate is in chemistry, and up until then, his chem skills lay dormant, waiting for for an outlet. Between the time I bought him the kit and the next time I made it home, he had gone from DME brewing to full grain. He regaled me with complex brewing recipes and phrases like "triple concoction mash" - he got good, fast, so I was content to be brewers assistant and high-volume quality control officer.
Anyways, on to advice. We tried pony kegs, and found that getting the carbonation right was a bit more work than priming bottles. You may not want to start with that. If you bottle, use non-screw-cap bottles, as screw tops tend to leak unless you are perfect in the capping process. Flip-top/Grolsch bottles are great (more beer, less work) but are also not 100% reliable - new gaskets are a good investment. And if at all possible, try to regulate the temperature during primary fermentation as much as possible. If you have a cold corner in a basement, or better yet, a wine fridge, I think your results will be better than sticking your carboy in a closet or the garage. My dad used to lager batches in the pool during winter with no ill effects, but I think the variation in temperature can produce variation in results. Good luck, have fun with it, and share with the rest of the class [thumbsup]
My Dad used to make Home Brew as he called it.
What I remember, was he put boiling water in a large Crockery container that stood about 2 ' tall and a foot in diameter.
Along w, the boiling water he added Malt, Barley and Yeast and dissolved it all.
He then put a bobber/ thermometer in it that I think when the Alcohol content was right it would pop up ( which was after a week or 2 ) and a towel over the Crock.
Then when it was ready, he would put like a teaspoon of sugar in a beer bottle then the fermented mix, put a cap on it and cap it w, a caper and put it in a cool dark place for another couple of weeks .......and hope it didn't blow up !
We made Home made Rootbeer also.
Dolph :)
i tried home brewing a few years ago (i was living in the NW, so it was kind of expected...)
miserable failure.....while the beer that i ended up with was excellent in taste, i was able to drink 3 pints without any kick.
somehow i failed to brew alcohol...
I bought all the equipment and ingredients yesterday. I plan on starting the brewing this weekend. I'll keep you guys posted.
Quote from: herm on October 02, 2010, 09:21:51 PM
i tried home brewing a few years ago (i was living in the NW, so it was kind of expected...)
miserable failure.....while the beer that i ended up with was excellent in taste, i was able to drink 3 pints without any kick.
somehow i failed to brew alcohol...
That is most unfortunate. I sure hope that doesn't happen to me.
Quote from: The Architect on October 06, 2010, 04:08:01 AM
I bought all the equipment and ingredients yesterday. I plan on starting the brewing this weekend. I'll keep you guys posted.
Good luck. Remember to wash everything thoroughly. [drink]
Oh, and "Relax, have a homebrew."
Props to Charlie Papazian. [thumbsup]
Good luck. Home brewing is fun, and not all that hard. Like others have said...be anal with your cleaning and all should be good. It isn't that hard to make a decent beer, especially if you're using a recipe from the homebrew shop. [thumbsup]
Quote from: zooom on September 30, 2010, 07:12:32 AM
golgofett...do you use floral hops or the pellets?
Not asked of me, but I've used both. I prefer floral as they seem to give a fresher or brighter aroma. It may be all in my head, but it seemed that way...although I admit I haven't done a specific comparison. Pellets are defintely easier to handle and store though.
So the wort is in the basement bubbling away. ;D
I have one concern. I used the biggest pot I have, a lobster pot. It's a light weight enamel coated large pot. When I added the liquid malt extract it took a long time getting it to boil. I burned some of the extract on the bottom of the pot. The wort looks dark.
I wonder what kind of effect this will have on the beer?
Quote from: The Architect on October 11, 2010, 08:15:25 AM
So the wort is in the basement bubbling away. ;D
I have one concern. I used the biggest pot I have, a lobster pot. It's a light weight enamel coated large pot. When I added the liquid malt extract it took a long time getting it to boil. I burned some of the extract on the bottom of the pot. The wort looks dark.
I wonder what kind of effect this will have on the beer?
Burning the malt is never good. If it was just a little it may not be bad...I've done it a couple times as well. You have to be ready to stir when the malt is added! :)
All I can add is that if you happen to break a 5-gallon glass carboy full of sticky wort indoors, don't bother cleaning it up.
Just sell the house at whatever price you can get for it.
Quote from: Triple J on October 11, 2010, 09:20:18 AM
Burning the malt is never good. If it was just a little it may not be bad...I've done it a couple times as well. You have to be ready to stir when the malt is added! :)
Define just a little. I don't think I burned it much, just enough to stain the bottom of the pot.
Quote from: triangleforge on October 11, 2010, 02:14:31 PM
All I can add is that if you happen to break a 5-gallon glass carboy full of sticky wort indoors, don't bother cleaning it up.
Just sell the house at whatever price you can get for it.
Oh no! [puke] I was seriously considering buying a glass carboy. The plastic bucket will do for now.
Quote from: The Architect on October 11, 2010, 03:04:35 PM
Define just a little. I don't think I burned it much, just enough to stain the bottom of the pot.
Oh no! [puke] I was seriously considering buying a glass carboy. The plastic bucket will do for now.
You don't know what that technical term means?! ;D Hard to say...if you just stained the pot a little you may be OK. I can't remember how bad I've burned it in the past, but it was always OK...at least the beer was always decent and drinkable. Just see how it tastes.
Personally I'd pass on the glass carboy for now. Plastic buckets are cheaper, more available, easier to clean and transfer fluid to/from, and a lot of people think the flavor isn't affected by them. It's also a hell of a lot easier to dry hop in a plastic bucket, as it's easier to add/remove them. I went to buy a glass carboy from our local homebrew place and the guy said there wasn't any real benefit as far as I can remember (even though he sold them)...so I stayed plastic. Eventually I'll go glass but not for any reason I can think of off hand, other than I like the idea of glass better. :P
Quote from: The Architect on October 11, 2010, 03:04:35 PM
Define just a little. I don't think I burned it much, just enough to stain the bottom of the pot.
Oh no! [puke] I was seriously considering buying a glass carboy. The plastic bucket will do for now.
Don't get me wrong - glass is definitely a step up from plastic, but 5 gallons of any liquid will go into any nook, cranny & crevice you know of, and all the ones you don't (yet), and three or four pounds of glass shards is nothing to sneeze at. But I did buy another glass one to replace it - I just made a point of being especially careful after that - and didn't have to sell the house; it took a divorce to do that.
Adding one of these handles makes juggling the full carboys a whole lot easier & safer:
(http://www.heartshomebrew.com/html/images/CAR-HS.jpg)
And don't get too worried about some minor scorching in the brewkettle - it's not a good thing, but I did the same thing with one of my first batches many years ago -- it added a little toasted flavor to the final product, but nothing too overwhelming. You need to just repeat the Papazian mantra "Relax, don't worry, have a homebrew."
Quote from: golgofett on October 01, 2010, 12:02:16 AM
I have always used pellet. I read that whole hops soak up a lot of the wort and pellets are easier to store in the freezer. I was going to take a chance and grow my own, but after my rhizomes arrived, I decided I did not want to go through the trouble. Lucky for me, a friend did and traded me 4 corny kegs so know I have about 10 kegs but have never come close to filling them all at the same time.
Just for a little more motivation to convince a new homebrewer to start, experimentation is half the fun.
One beer I have made on a few occasions is a espresso oatmeal stout. I soak a 1/2 pound of hand cracked espresso beans after fermentation is complete for a week, cold conditioned. When you pour a pint, it smells just like coffee, but has the mouthfeel of a creamy stout. I have had a couple friends show up and get a little upset when it is gone. I have also made a vanilla Imperial Stout that had many friends calling me after drinking one as they were almost 10 percent alcohol. Used real vanilla beans and after some time, the flavors balanced real well.
I also make a irish red that I keep tweaking a little by little. Sometimes I will stick with the original recipe, other times I will add more hops to give it a different twist.
I still have a Raspberry Wheat Beer that I brewed last year. Racked into a secondary onto a kilo of frozen raspberries. Pretty awesome. And a mate of mine tried to make a Banana Beer, didn't turn out that well.
I will definitely try that coffee and vanilla out! [drink]
The main benefit of a glass carboy is that it's easier to keep clean, plastic buckets get scratches in them that are almost impossible to disinfect.
Unless you're using hopped extract, you don't need to add it to the wort until the end of the boil. Boiling the malt extract doesn't do anything, and all that sugar take alot of energy to heat up & time to cool down. I've been adding the extract after I've finished boiling the wort & hops for over 5 years now, and it hasn't made any difference to the end results that I can see (taste).
I was planning on checking the wort Sunday to see how it's doing. That'll be 7 days of fermenting. If the bubbler is still bubbling at more than a bubble per minute, I'll wait.
How long do you guys typically let the wort ferment?
7 to 14 days depending on the temp.
Just tasted the strawberry wine today (it's had about 3 months in the bottle now) coming along very nicely. Nice balance of acidity and tannin and not too fruity, gonna label this one a success. Pity I only did 8 litres. :'(
Quote from: krolik on October 16, 2010, 12:17:00 AM
7 to 14 days depending on the temp.
Temp = 60 degrees
Bottle when you have less then one bubble per minute.
You can wait a few days or even a couple weeks to bottle. Most fermentation occurs in the first few days.
Quote from: The Architect on October 15, 2010, 03:35:31 PM
How long do you guys typically let the wort ferment?
I have always let the primary fermentation go for 2 weeks, usually around 66-70 degrees in my pantry. I have always done this as a rule of thumb that I picked up from some book but it has always worked out fine. I usually secondary in a fridge for a week to pull out the sediment and then rack to a keg. I could skip the secondary in the fridge step but I try to make the beer as clear as possible.
I have read that sometimes fermentation could be done in as little as three days and then force carbed in a keg, giving you drinkable beer in as little as 5 days. I like to take my time and not rush things though. I have become pretty routine with my brewing as I have been fortunate to not have any mishaps.
I did it.
(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4051/5143827481_ce3367539b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/32381491@N07/5143827481/)
100_1013 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/32381491@N07/5143827481/#) by anzalone22 (http://www.flickr.com/people/32381491@N07/), on Flickr
And it's delicious!
I was surprised at how much settles to the bottom of the bottles.
Quote from: The Architect on November 03, 2010, 04:52:52 PM
I did it.
And it's delicious!
I was surprised at how much settles to the bottom of the bottles.
[clap]
Well done.
You may be able to get rid of the dregs by racking into a secondary fermenter and adding finings (gelatine I think it is) to the brew with extra sugar or if you didn't put a sediment trap on the fermenter tap, you probably should use one.
I've actually started buying the odd beer again because my home brew is too good to drink. ;D
I don't use finings, a sediment trap, or a secondary on any of my beers. Come out nice and clear! I have used all of those things however... and found them unnecessary places to introduce infections.
Most of the stuff that has settled to the bottom in a properly conditioned bottle of live beer is produced during conditioning/carbonating of the beer in the bottle.
QuoteI was planning on checking the wort Sunday to see how it's doing. That'll be 7 days of fermenting. If the bubbler is still bubbling at more than a bubble per minute, I'll wait.
How long do you guys typically let the wort ferment?
Any answer other than, "It depends on the beer," is wrong. My 11.5% barley wine stayed in the fermenter for 8 months. Then four more in the keg. My Koelsch takes 2 weeks in the primary, a 3 day cold crash, and three in the keg. The only way to accurately determine whether it's time to bottle is with a gravity reading from your handy dandy hydrometer, and, again, there is no hard fast number there either.
I can't wait.
I just started collecting the necessary bits and pieces to start brewing this winter....
Ive been eyeballing the home brew concept for a while now.....
Any jump ahead equipment tips?
The guy at the brew shop insisted I buy a brew kit. Yes it has a few things I don't need but it was still cheaper to buy the kit than buy the parts individually.
I was surprised at the cost of the bottles. Start saving your used beer bottles but not the twist offs.
Get a priming siphon it's so much easier than trying to start a siphon and not contaminate the beer. I don't know what the brewers call it.
The next time I brew I'm going to throw the grains into a tea bag in order to keep the brew a little less cloudy.
I used the pellet type hops. I'd like to try actual hops next time.
Architect:
Quote
Get a priming siphon it's so much easier than trying to start a siphon and not contaminate the beer. I don't know what the brewers call it.
Auto-siphon. Good stuff.
Another, cheaper option is a barbed t-fitting spliced into your line with enough tubing to put the t below the fermenter. Put a piece of tube out of the top of the line with a hose crimp. Another hose crimp on the down-river side of the t helps too.
To start the siphon, crimp off the down river end and suck on the tube coming out the top. Before the wort or beer reaches the T, but after it is below the fermenter, crimp the line you were sucking on and uncrimp the down river end. Voila! Siphon, and no risk of infection!
Quote
The next time I brew I'm going to throw the grains into a tea bag in order to keep the brew a little less cloudy
Steeping grains should always be in a bag. If not in a bag, how do you get them out of the kettle before you start boiling? Temps above 170* pulls junk outta the grain that you don't want.
With extract recipies, your biggest factors for good clarity are time and yeast strain. I don't know if you use a carboy or a bucket to ferment in... but I usually don't bottle/keg until I can read something through the beer (hefe's don't follow this rule...). If fermentation is complete according to your hydrometer and the yeast wont settle out... try cold-crashing the beer. Put the whole carboy in a fridge, or if that's not an option, a cooler with ice-water for a while. You can freeze water bottles to (re)use in the cooler.
Ramjet:
Most homebrew kits are a great start. Make sure it comes with a hydrometer, and a bottling wand.
Carboys! Much mo better than buckets.
I like the s-type bubbler airlocks over the 3-piece.
And, a good, 7.5 gallon or larger kettle. Stainless or aluminum, it doesn't really matter. Better beer comes from full-boils (no adding water at the end), and for 5 gallon batches you'll need at least a 7.5 gallon kettle. Turkey frier kits can be had for $60 that come with a suitable pot and a burner with enough umph to bring 6 gallons of wort to a boil.
Another handy piece of equipment, a spray bottle filled with plain tap water. If you are about to have a boil over, you can mist the water onto the impending doom and hold it off till you lower the heat. That oughta save you some cursing.
Finally, get some tubing that fits snugly in the neck of the carboy... I forget what size it is exactly. Stick one end in the neck, one end in a small bucket of sanitizer. This will allow a vigorous fermentation to vent properly as opposed to cloging a standard airlock and spewing doom all over your closet. After the krausen has fallen, swap it out for a regular airlock/stopper.
Krolic:
Late addition with extract is a good thing. Better hop utilization, less caramelization, reduced threat of boil-over, etc.. BUT, you do have to have some maltose in your wort to get what you want out of the hops. 1lb of extract to start and the rest for the last 15mins is a winner.
Quote from: The Architect on November 04, 2010, 07:31:24 AM
The next time I brew I'm going to throw the grains into a tea bag in order to keep the brew a little less cloudy.
I steep grain by using a coffee plunger. Use it the same way you would brew a coffee, but leave the grain in for about 15 minutes then pour into your fermenter.
Quote from: The Architect on November 04, 2010, 07:31:24 AM
I was surprised at the cost of the bottles. Start saving your used beer bottles but not the twist offs.
I use twist offs, I've had no problems with them.
Quote from: Punx Clever on November 04, 2010, 04:08:57 AM
I don't use finings, a sediment trap, or a secondary on any of my beers. Come out nice and clear! I have used all of those things however... and found them unnecessary places to introduce infections.
Most of the stuff that has settled to the bottom in a properly conditioned bottle of live beer is produced during conditioning/carbonating of the beer in the bottle.
Neither do I. I have used finings and a secondary fermenter once but I can't remember which brew I used it on, but I've always used a sediment trap on my fermenter tap. I'm just passing on what was told to me about having clear beers, but yeah, it's not necessary. ;)
It's good also to keep a diary of what you've brewed and how you've brewed the beer, something which I'm a bit slack with. :-\
Quote from: Stinky Wizzleteats on November 04, 2010, 01:28:37 PM
Neither do I. I have used finings and a secondary fermenter once but I can't remember which brew I used it on, but I've always used a sediment trap on my fermenter tap. I'm just passing on what was told to me about having clear beers, but yeah, it's not necessary. ;)
I used gelatin ONE time on a cider that just would not clear up... good fresh pressed, non pasturized, special blend from the homebrew shop in Indy apple juice. I lost that batch because of the make the beast with two backsing gelatin and swore I would never use it again.
The trick to no sediment traps is using a standard racking cane... pass it through the hole in your stopper and use the friction to adjust how far down the end goes. If you've let it clear enough you'll have a nice hard yeast cake and you can set the cane at just the right height to not pull any of the sediment. Works better than a trap because you NEVER disturb the cake
Quote from: The Architect on November 04, 2010, 07:31:24 AM
I was surprised at the cost of the bottles. Start saving your used beer bottles but not the twist offs.
Kegs!!!!!
I don't plan to even screw around with bottles.....
Subscribed, and taking copious notes. [coffee]
Lets see...
Complete keg setup (granted it's a picnic tap): $154.00
http://cgi.ebay.com/Single-Tap-5-Gal-Keg-Home-Brew-Beer-Draft-System-/350325019356?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5190ff92dc (http://cgi.ebay.com/Single-Tap-5-Gal-Keg-Home-Brew-Beer-Draft-System-/350325019356?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5190ff92dc)
Craigslist garage fridge: $50
Total cost of kegging: $204
2 cases of small bottles: $60 from your local homebrew shop
3lb bag of oxygen barrior caps (should last a long time): $21
Capper: $18
Plus a couple bucks per brew for priming sugar...
Total cost of bottling: $100 or so
Lets say your personal time is worth a measly $10/hr
Bottling is about 2-3 hours of doing stuff including sanitation: $20-30 per brew
Kegging is 20 minutes of doing stuff: $5 per brew, so $25 dollars per brew difference in personal time.
Four brewing sessions later, you've made up for the additional cost of kegging. Adding another keg is in the $50 range if you do it on the cheap...
Yeah. Kegging is worth it! [drink]
So when is the DMFSBEG going to start?
DMF Small Brewers Exchange Group
You mail me a few.... I mail you a few. [beer]
Hmmmmm
I'm behind on batches right now... but when I get the pumpkin ale sorted out it's on!
Quote from: Punx Clever on November 04, 2010, 03:34:36 PM
Yeah. Kegging is worth it! [drink]
And if your fridge is big enough you can have multiple kegs tapped and ready to rock. [drink]
Barboys better than buckets, yes, cos the seal on the buckets is easily damaged.
.The advantage of bottling over kegging (in my case anyway) is portion control. [drink]
Ditto with the twist offs, no trouble at all.
With a bit of clever stacking, you can clean 375ml bottles in the dishwasher (on the hottest cycle) you have to do it in 2 batches per brew, but have been doing it for years now and no problems.
Quote from: brimo on November 04, 2010, 11:21:33 PM
Barboys better than buckets, yes, cos the seal on the buckets is easily damaged.
.The advantage of bottling over kegging (in my case anyway) is portion control. [drink]
Ditto with the twist offs, no trouble at all.
With a bit of clever stacking, you can clean 375ml bottles in the dishwasher (on the hottest cycle) you have to do it in 2 batches per brew, but have been doing it for years now and no problems.
750ml crown seal bottles are getting harder to come by but the twist tops are still good. The Grolsch bottles are the ducks guts!
I'm still umming and ahhing about kegging, I think I'll drink more if I start kegging, not necessarily a bad thing.
I think I actually drink less by kegging. There are many times that I would just like a taste and not a full bottle. If I cracked open a bottle, I would be obligated to finish it.
Agreed. It also leaves you with more good, drinkkable beer at the end because as it ages and conditions you can taste just a wee little bit as opposed to killing off the bottle.
Quote from: Punx Clever on November 04, 2010, 11:25:45 AM
Krolic:
Late addition with extract is a good thing. Better hop utilization, less caramelization, reduced threat of boil-over, etc.. BUT, you do have to have some maltose in your wort to get what you want out of the hops. 1lb of extract to start and the rest for the last 15mins is a winner.
Thanks for the tip, I'll try that the next time I brew. [thumbsup] [drink]
Quote from: Speedbag on November 04, 2010, 06:03:23 PM
And if your fridge is big enough you can have multiple kegs tapped and ready to rock. [drink]
I've got a three keg beer fridge. [beer] I have a friend who works in the C0
2 business, so I get my gas for free, and he hooked me up with a double gauge regulator, 10lb tank, and tubing for about $50.
Quote from: krolik on November 05, 2010, 09:51:29 PM
Thanks for the tip, I'll try that the next time I brew. [thumbsup] [drink]
I've got a three keg beer fridge. [beer] I have a friend who works in the C02 business, so I get my gas for free, and he hooked me up with a double gauge regulator, 10lb tank, and tubing for about $50.
Sounds like your friend just unloaded some cheap junk on you... better fed ex it to me so it doesn't blow up on you!
Quote from: Punx Clever on November 05, 2010, 11:55:13 PM
Sounds like your friend just unloaded some cheap junk on you... better fed ex it to me so it doesn't blow up on you!
I'll get right on that. ;D
I made strawberry wine. Taste wasn't great, a bit like strawberry water. However, by the end of a bottle, you're disoriented...
Got some mead going right now, it should be ready for bottles soon.
JM
Always wanted to do near
Has anyone tried to do a n/a homebrew?
I have no idea how they get the alcohol out of beer (I'm guessing it's difficult), but it seems if a microbrewery would make a quality n/a beer there might be a market.
Quote from: Triple J on November 11, 2010, 08:37:41 AM
Has anyone tried to do a n/a homebrew?
I have no idea how they get the alcohol out of beer (I'm guessing it's difficult), but it seems if a microbrewery would make a quality n/a beer there might be a market.
What's the point! ;D
Two possibilities for N/A beer:
1) Vacuum. Lower the pressure in the container enough that the alcohol boils off at room temperature but not the water. Not really cheap to get a vacuum pump or a container that can do that for ya.
2) Heat. Alcohol boils at 78.1 degrees. Water boils at 100 degrees. Celcius, of course. You will loose water in the process, so making a thin beer with more volume and heating it would work. I also read somewhere about having to do something more with hops to keep the flavor right.
It CAN be done.
We just did a home brew this weekend...Mother and I hosted toolfan, his wife, and their new baby. I'm new to the brewing thing but they've all done this before. Very cool to watch and learn.
Me drinking several year old mead. It was soooo good.
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs463.ash2/73600_153922281318508_100001022103264_283416_2922798_n.jpg)
Beer and steak. Nom.
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs897.snc4/73026_153922307985172_100001022103264_283417_4868902_n.jpg)
The new dad.
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs466.ash2/73896_153922331318503_100001022103264_283419_5415972_n.jpg)
Things happening, not sure what.
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs592.ash2/154468_153922347985168_100001022103264_283420_5044298_n.jpg)
More things happening.
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs960.snc4/75342_153922394651830_100001022103264_283424_6749970_n.jpg)
Then this.
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs932.snc4/74537_153922447985158_100001022103264_283429_1711001_n.jpg_n.jpg)
OOOOH, leaf hops as opposed to pellet. Vari Nize!
Quote from: JBubble on November 16, 2010, 08:52:49 PM
Then this.
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs932.snc4/74537_153922447985158_100001022103264_283429_1711001_n.jpg_n.jpg)
Awesome!
I have a bottle of the Rogue beer in my fridge. A friend gave it to me for my birthday.
this batch had a pretty mild peak on the fermentation
we ...(I)...over cooled the wort before yeasting it
but its bubbling away solidly still even with some temp changes
My prediction is this IPA is going to be be over-hopped with a weak body
but
according to the brewmaster if we get perfect fermentation (which we wont) it should produce 14.3% by volume
if we get half that it will still do the job nicely
I dunno, if your wort was too cold for the yeast (you are talking like 55 F with ale yeasts for that to happen) the worst that would happen is it would take longer for the fermentation to complete, or the fermentation would stall. Neither of which would thin out the body. Hell, I'd be more worried about poor attenuation just from the gravity! Hope you made a big starter!
Better that the wort is too cold than too hot. ;)
I'm worried about the body due to deviating from the recipe
the crystal malt and the malted barley we used was pretty light compared to what the recipe called for
unfortunately our regular ingredients shop was closed and the ones we went to was pretty small with limited options
and
it called for an amber dried extract and we used a light extract syrup
having no experience with dried extracts I'm not sure what effect that will have
Ahh, gotcha. You'll be fine. Just a little lighter color and less caramel flavor to it. No biggy. After a pint or two of that you won't notice the flavor much anyways! [drink] [beer] [beer] [puke]
So... Any guess on how my crock fermented mead, using orange & lemon peels will turn out? Yeast was proofed and put in right at 100ºF. It smelled good going into the crock.
JM
Nope, no idea. Beer and cider gnomes, I understand them. But mead and wine requires the use of fairies (longer lifespans you know), and I can't for the life of em figure those buggers out.
I'm a little late to the party, but an avid home brewer for about 3 years now. Just moved to all grain. I brew just about every Sunday morning. Beer is my religion, my brewery (read: garage) is my church [beer] [drink]
How much more difficult is all-grain versus extract?
Just gotta be a little more precise and have more time available. The comparison is as such:
Extract Brewing : Can you make mac & cheese?
All Grain Brewing: Can you bake a loaf of bread?
So I started my second batch yesterday.
Things I've learned so far, mostly related to getting the beer clearer or with less settlement in the bottles:
1. Gotta do a second ferment to get more of the "stuff" to settle.
2. Place the grains in a tea bag like nylon sack when brewing.
3. Also place the hops in a tea bag like nylon sack when brewing.
4. Use a filter or cheese cloth when pouring the wort into the first ferment bucket.
I did buy a carboy for the second ferment.
Let's see how this goes.
Quote from: The Architect on November 25, 2010, 05:33:29 AM
So I started my second batch yesterday.
Things I've learned so far, mostly related to getting the beer clearer or with less settlement in the bottles:
1. Gotta do a second ferment to get more of the "stuff" to settle.
2. Place the grains in a tea bag like nylon sack when brewing.
3. Also place the hops in a tea bag like nylon sack when brewing.
4. Use a filter or cheese cloth when pouring the wort into the first ferment bucket.
I did buy a carboy for the second ferment.
Let's see how this goes.
also
Irish Moss will help clear it up some
If you are using fresh hops and not the pellets I would leave them loose for the initial boil and finish
then
bag them if you are going to drop them in for the second ferment
I moved my mead into the 2nd stage fermenter yesterday. Smelled really good and rather strong [evil]
Here's two of the three gallons: The other wasn't as clear, but it'll clear up nicely I'll bet.
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn168/the_journeyman/Misc/DSC_0015-1024.jpg)
JM
http://www.makebeer.net/Woot-Special-Offer (http://www.makebeer.net/Woot-Special-Offer)
An early Christmas present.
Here, in MD, I've seen Cooper's Ale for $16 per six pack.
This looks like a good deal!
I'm ready to start a new batch today! Anybody got any fool-proof (simple/easy) beer recipe worth a beer n00b trying? I've
done wine and the above mead and would like to "diversify" [laugh]
EDIT: after watching the video on page 1, I'm ill-equipped for beer unless someone has details on the crockery version Double Eagle was talking about. I have exactly what he's talking about just throwing boiling water and such in and leaving for a while ~
JM
So, since I'm lacking proper equipment for beer...
Just took a batch of a pumpkin & spice mead off the stove. Details:
Something good is brewing on the stove - Cooking pumpkin, spices, honey, water
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn168/the_journeyman/Brewing%20-%20General/DSC_0011-1024.jpg)
In short - liquid pumpkin pie
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn168/the_journeyman/Brewing%20-%20General/DSC_0012-1024.jpg)
Needed equipment for brewing - Crock (holds around 3.5 gallons, nearly a century old), notebook, yeast
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn168/the_journeyman/Brewing%20-%20General/DSC_0013-1024.jpg)
Waiting on the mixture to fall below 115F.
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn168/the_journeyman/Brewing%20-%20General/DSC_0015-1024.jpg)
Still waiting - it takes a while for a 3ish gallon batch to cook from cooking temperatures
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn168/the_journeyman/Brewing%20-%20General/DSC_0016-1024.jpg)
Finally down to 113F, time to proof yeast
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn168/the_journeyman/Brewing%20-%20General/DSC_0019-1024.jpg)
Final color after adding yeast - Once yeast is added, they top ferment and are quite active
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn168/the_journeyman/Brewing%20-%20General/DSC_0021-1024.jpg)
Can't wait until fall 2011 to drink me some pumpkin pie with a kick ~
JM
Now thats old school.
Coopers kit arrived. It's been bubbling nicely since Friday. I tasted the wurt and I can taste where its going.....so far so good!
Plan is to make 5-10 batches with the extract then move to the real stuff.
My kids love to watch the airlock bubbling away.
Quote from: rgramjet on December 12, 2010, 07:41:10 PM
Coopers kit arrived. It's been bubbling nicely since Friday. I tasted the wurt and I can taste where its going.....so far so good!
Plan is to make 5-10 batches with the extract then move to the real stuff.
My kids love to watch the airlock bubbling away.
Let us know how it turns out. Yes the kids love the airlock, they like it even more when you explain the bubbles are from the yeast burping. Wait till I tell the the alcohol is from the yeast pooping.
Yesterday I brewed a batch of stout. The house smelled like coffee and chocolate.
I bottled the beer last night. Each bottle was primed with two sugar drops for secondary fermentation. I'm hoping this step gives the lager more body. There's something missing.....guess I'll know in about a week.
Looking to do a stout next.
Semi dumb question to all you beer experts.
My brother in law and I recently had a discussion about taking cold beer from a store cooler, taking it home, NOT putting it in your 'frig immediately, it getting back to room temp and then cooling it back down several days later. Not just to wrongly punish the beer and hurt it's feelings. [laugh] But as in you buy a cold 12 pack, get home and realize you don't have enough room in the 'frig for all twelve. So you store the leftover beer for a later date with the 'frig. A friend says the answer is easy... buy a bigger 'frig!! [laugh] Does doing that cold/room temp/cold cycle really mess a bottled beer up. I have never noticed that it does. But my brother in law says it does. Maybe doing it 20 times, sure... but just once? Talk amongst yourselves. ;D
Depends on the beer... we talking the standard swill from Bud Miller Coors? Then no, biggest enemy is light. They killed all the critters in the beer long before it was bottled, so there's really nothing to wake up in there.
Craft brews... maybe. Depends on the beer again.
Overall, i wouldn't switch em back and forth just for the fun of it... but If I bought more beer than the fridge could handle... I wouldn't be worried. Allthough, I would get started on teh beers that were about to warm up!
Quote from: Punx Clever on December 18, 2010, 10:47:14 AM
Overall, i wouldn't switch em back and forth just for the fun of it... but If I bought more beer than the fridge could handle... I wouldn't be worried. Allthough, I would get started on teh beers that were about to warm up!
I approve this method.
JM
FINALLY got some brewing done today. 5 gallons of Pale Ale and 5+ gallons of cider. New experiment with these batches: fermenting in soda kegs!
The kegerator mini-fridge:
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1235.snc4/156715_10100234558699418_13735265_57635373_7129338_n.jpg)
The kegs about to be bubbling away happily in a temperature controlled manner:
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs953.snc4/74656_10100234555650528_13735265_57635277_101088_n.jpg)
HUZZAH!
Where do you guys usually buy your supplies from? This is something I've been wanting to do for quite some time, and I don't want to be spoiled on the process by purchasing poor equipment/ingredients.
Here's one good place:
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/ (http://www.midwestsupplies.com/)
Try to find a local home brew shop. You'll pay a little more for the stuff than you would online but Q&A with he shop owner/operator is really what you need.
I picked up one of those home brew kits. It has everything you need and then some. Once you have the kit you can then add to it.
Quote from: Punx Clever on December 19, 2010, 06:31:07 PM
FINALLY got some brewing done today. 5 gallons of Pale Ale and 5+ gallons of cider. New experiment with these batches: fermenting in soda kegs!
The kegerator mini-fridge:
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1235.snc4/156715_10100234558699418_13735265_57635373_7129338_n.jpg)
The kegs about to be bubbling away happily in a temperature controlled manner:
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs953.snc4/74656_10100234555650528_13735265_57635277_101088_n.jpg)
HUZZAH!
Nice setup! Couple questions: how do you fill/sanitize the soda kegs? What are the steps involved with fermenting in a keg?
Quote from: Punx Clever on December 19, 2010, 06:31:07 PM
New experiment with these batches: fermenting in soda kegs!
What serves as the air lock?
Quote from: Adamm3406 on December 20, 2010, 12:26:34 AM
Where do you guys usually buy your supplies from? This is something I've been wanting to do for quite some time, and I don't want to be spoiled on the process by purchasing poor equipment/ingredients.
Austinhomebrew.com is good if you don't have a local shop.
QuoteNice setup! Couple questions: how do you fill/sanitize the soda kegs? What are the steps involved with fermenting in a keg?
Thanks! The soda kegs have a hatch in the top that you open up. It's big enough to get my arm up to my bicep in (yeah, I'ma pansy!), which is deep enough that I can scrub all the way to the bottem with a scotchbrite pad. Sanitation is the same as anything else... I prefer StarSan, but Iodophor works good too... in a real pinch some bleach will work.
QuoteWhat serves as the air lock?
Pulled off the liquid out post and dip tube, clamped some 1/2" vinyl tubing on, and have the other end in a mason jar full of sanitizer behind the kegs.
The nearest home brew store for me is almost an hour away. :'(
Quote from: Speedbag on December 20, 2010, 04:33:49 AM
Here's one good place:
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/ (http://www.midwestsupplies.com/)
That seems like a good site and the prices are very reasonable.
Quote from: Adamm3406 on December 20, 2010, 09:58:42 AM
The nearest home brew store for me is almost an hour away. :'(
Try one of their starter kits and post any questions you might have. One of us should be able to help. ;D
Quote from: The Architect on December 20, 2010, 06:27:27 PM
That seems like a good site and the prices are very reasonable.
Try one of their starter kits and post any questions you might have. One of us should be able to help. ;D
Great folks to deal with at Midwest. Place is huge (basically a warehouse), everything's in stock.
And for me it's local. :)
Questions: I just bottled my first batch of lager. Primed each liter bottle with 2 drops. Currently stored in a 70 degree dark closet.
How close to the final product should the beer taste at this point? Final product with no carbonation or does the secondary fermentation add body/complexity to the beer?
You'll be surprised what carbonation does to a beer. Plus, your beer is still probably pretty green. Give it time.
The wife made fun of me when I told her I'm going to make another batch. She asked why I don't wait until I finish the ones I have.......
ah..........yeah.
Because if you wait till you finish the ones you have to make more, then you wont have any to drink while you make more! Not to mention the terrible beer shortages that would undoubtedly come about while you waited for it to ferment.
I was actually forced to drink a green beer last night.....in the name of science of course (and I ran out of Dogfish....)
Ok... So, I got a couple extra dollars for Christmas and my birthday. I'm thinking about getting me a basic brewing kit from Midwest Supply. Those of you in the know, please help me out in selecting what I really need to begin beer brewing. Lets assume I'm not going to attempt to use my ancient earthen crocks and go with the basic buckets in several of the beginners kits.
Thanks for any input!
JM
Mead, started end of August, bottled today. Racked into two different ferment stages.
13 bottles!
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn168/the_journeyman/Brewing%20-%20General/DSC_0185.jpg)
Very very clear, and a nice golden color
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn168/the_journeyman/Brewing%20-%20General/DSC_0180.jpg)
JM
Quote from: the_Journeyman on December 31, 2010, 08:03:31 PM
Ok... So, I got a couple extra dollars for Christmas and my birthday. I'm thinking about getting me a basic brewing kit from Midwest Supply. Those of you in the know, please help me out in selecting what I really need to begin beer brewing. Lets assume I'm not going to attempt to use my ancient earthen crocks and go with the basic buckets in several of the beginners kits.
Thanks for any input!
JM
This seems like a nice starter kit. I like that it includes a carboy.
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/brewing-starter-kit.html (http://www.midwestsupplies.com/brewing-starter-kit.html)
I was looking at that one, and the one that came with the bottles too. I might just have to order soon.
Taste test:
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn168/the_journeyman/Brewing%20-%20General/Test01.jpg)
Dry, citrusy finish.
Just has a bit of a yeast taste/smell, but I'm thinking that will age out considering it is much less noticeable than when I tried it at the 2nd racking.
Also seems to be time to transfer the pumpkin spice mead I started Dec 1st. There are almost zero bubbles coming up.
JM
I've seriously been wanting to for a while but my garage doesn't look like it can afford another hobby. How about this, if you brew your own beer, I'll make you a damn fine pairing dinner to go with it? deal?
You are in austin/Houston right? My latest batch will be tapped in a month and a half down in corpus... :D
Quote from: Punx Clever on January 02, 2011, 12:08:55 AM
You are in austin/Houston right? My latest batch will be tapped in a month and a half down in corpus... :D
I hear they have some mighty fine beaches round those parts ;)
That's the rumor. Now talking world class cooking or what?
I've been known to cook a damn fine meal, yes. I cook with beer too! Now, could you deal with hosting two or three of my girlfriends on the way to Padre is the question?
Lets see... yeah, I think I could handle that. Even better than on the way... I live on the Island.
But the food... there will be food right?
Cleaning...yay
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs072.snc6/168287_167433793300690_100001022103264_371519_1660572_n.jpg)
Built a better mouse trap
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1357.snc4/162938_167433889967347_100001022103264_371524_2149236_n.jpg)
Mmmm, bleach
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs071.snc6/168121_167433913300678_100001022103264_371525_1515048_n.jpg)
Bottling
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs071.snc6/168172_167433946634008_100001022103264_371526_2018710_n.jpg)
More Bottling
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1395.snc4/164719_167433963300673_100001022103264_371527_3946052_n.jpg)
All done
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs061.snc6/167188_167433989967337_100001022103264_371528_3936987_n.jpg)
So glad i don't do that anymore... ferment in kegs... pressure transfer to the serving keg... only santize one big container that I can get my arm in...
[drink] [beer] [thumbsup]
Yup, kegs are the way to go. [drink]
[roll]
and everyone should learn to ride on a litre bike
elitists
Quote from: Punx Clever on January 08, 2011, 08:50:32 PM
So glad i don't do that anymore... ferment in kegs... pressure transfer to the serving keg... only santize one big container that I can get my arm in...
[drink] [beer] [thumbsup]
Details Man, I need details! Washing/sanitizing bottles is a pia.
Okay, I brewed another batch and bottled it 10 days ago. I went and stored it in the deep dark part of the basement.
The problem I'm having is that 10 days later the bottles aren't carbonated and the beer taste sweet.
My guess is that the deep dark part of the basement is too cold, close to 45 degrees. I'm going to move the beer to a warmer area.
Any thoughts?
I wonder if I can brew beer in Afghanistan... ;D
Quote from: Adamm3406 on January 09, 2011, 07:48:33 AM
I wonder if I can brew beer in Afghanistan... ;D
You can, but whether or not you're allowed to is a different story.
Quote from: Mother on January 09, 2011, 12:09:18 AM
[roll]
and everyone should learn to ride on a litre bike
elitists
Hey, my first street bike was 1000cc...
Quote from: Mother on January 08, 2011, 07:38:33 PM
Cleaning...yay
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs072.snc6/168287_167433793300690_100001022103264_371519_1660572_n.jpg)
Built a better mouse trap
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1357.snc4/162938_167433889967347_100001022103264_371524_2149236_n.jpg)
Mmmm, bleach
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs071.snc6/168121_167433913300678_100001022103264_371525_1515048_n.jpg)
Bottling
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs071.snc6/168172_167433946634008_100001022103264_371526_2018710_n.jpg)
More Bottling
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1395.snc4/164719_167433963300673_100001022103264_371527_3946052_n.jpg)
All done
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs061.snc6/167188_167433989967337_100001022103264_371528_3936987_n.jpg)
Don't
Drop the drill.
Quote from: rgramjet on January 09, 2011, 06:35:28 AM
Details Man, I need details! Washing/sanitizing bottles is a pia.
5 gallon soda kegs can hold about 6 gallons of liquit when filled to the brim.. same as a 5 gallon glass carboy. Just pull the dip tube and put a piece of tube over the lug, then put the other end in a mason jar of sanitizer. When you are ready to transfer it to the serving keg, put the dip tube back in (with the end bent up about an inch) and use CO2 to force it over. Very sanitary, very easy.
Just transferred the cider over to the serving keg... just over 8% ABV. A little sweet, but not bad. Need to pick up some cinnamon sticks to throw in it.
You can stay with the bottles. I actually prefer bottles because I brew small batches (2.5 gallons) to experiment with different ingredients. The trick to cleaning bottles is; always rinse the bottle immediately after you pour out the beer and then drain the water out. This will help avoid any fungus from starting. After you collect a decent amount of bottles, fill your wash container with hot water, put in some Oxy Clean Free. ** Important point, it must be Oxy Clean
Free not the regular Oxy Clean. The Free version has no perfumes which would be left behind in the bottle. ** Oxy Clean Free in warm water will even remove the labels from the bottles. Let them soak overnight. I actually use the Oxy Clean Free to clean up all my brewing equipment, even the carboy.
Then get a good bottle rinser which is a long, slim, tapered nozzle for the end of a hose. I made my own from a brass leaf blaster I got from Ace Hardware which threads onto a regular hose nozzle. I thinned down the brass till it would fit into the mouth of the bottle while still allowing the water to flush out. I then put a "Y" attachment on the hot water faucet supplying the clothes washer and attach a short hose there to flush the bottles in the utility sink.
(http://i930.photobucket.com/albums/ad148/dennisdib/IMAG0038.jpg)
Quote from: Mother on January 08, 2011, 07:38:33 PM
Cleaning...yay
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs072.snc6/168287_167433793300690_100001022103264_371519_1660572_n.jpg)
Built a better mouse trap
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1357.snc4/162938_167433889967347_100001022103264_371524_2149236_n.jpg)
Mmmm, bleach
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs071.snc6/168121_167433913300678_100001022103264_371525_1515048_n.jpg)
Bottling
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More Bottling
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All done
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I brewed my first batch on Sunday, 6.5 gals of Nut Brown Ale from extract. It's not my favorite, but that's what my wife got in the kit for my birthday. I already ordered a double IPA, I like hops, in full grain but I think I am going to do another extract first cause I might have jumped in too quickly. The fermenter is bubbling like crazy this morning.
Brew team post bottle cleaning
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v70/snookslanger/Brewing/P1010617.jpg)
Brew in bag sparge going
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v70/snookslanger/Brewing/P1010621.jpg)
Hop boil
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v70/snookslanger/Brewing/P1010620.jpg)
Chilling the wort post hop boil
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Adding yeasties
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v70/snookslanger/Brewing/P1010628.jpg)
Batch of Stout bottled.
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5212/5398649094_96de8a4b89.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/32381491@N07/5398649094/)
100_2858 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/32381491@N07/5398649094/#) by anzalone22 (http://www.flickr.com/people/32381491@N07/), on Flickr
I like to use one clear bottle just to check the color.
Quote from: YellowDuck on January 18, 2011, 08:59:46 AM
Brew in bag sparge going
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v70/snookslanger/Brewing/P1010621.jpg)
I've been wanting to try the brew in a bag thing now for a while. On the other hand, I'll probably just get a RIMS system built first.
Let us know how it turns out!
Quote from: YellowDuck on January 18, 2011, 08:59:46 AM
Adding yeasties
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v70/snookslanger/Brewing/P1010628.jpg)
Also, good choice in yeast! Love Nottingham. Does good for me in everything from cider to big ass barleywines.
http://www.craftbeer.com/pages/news-and-events/news/show?title=discovery-channel-presents-how-beer-saved-the-world (http://www.craftbeer.com/pages/news-and-events/news/show?title=discovery-channel-presents-how-beer-saved-the-world)
Brown ale turned out well. It's fairly heavy, almost like a porter. Tasty indeed.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v70/snookslanger/P1010641.jpg)
My neighbor liked it so much we had to brew Magic Hat #9 clone before the superbowl.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v70/snookslanger/P1010642.jpg)
My wife getting the mash started on the stove.
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Transfered to the brew in bag. I really like this method.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v70/snookslanger/P1010645.jpg)
No more pictures after that, too many brown ales. [drink]
Good call... I might have to do a #9 clone too. mmmmm
I just filtered & bottled 13 750ml bottles of pumpkin spice mead! I've got almost a 200ml extra to sample in a couple or three months. It's not as clear as the first mead I made, but it has a good bit more flavor.
JM
Ball lock or Pin style Cornelius kegs? Why?
Im looking at this kit, any thoughts?
http://www.homebrewing.org/Kegging-system-with-2-kegs-picnic-faucets-double-regulator-5_p_1517.html (http://www.homebrewing.org/Kegging-system-with-2-kegs-picnic-faucets-double-regulator-5_p_1517.html)
Quote from: rgramjet on February 26, 2011, 12:58:41 PM
Ball lock or Pin style Cornelius kegs? Why?
Im looking at this kit, any thoughts?
http://www.homebrewing.org/Kegging-system-with-2-kegs-picnic-faucets-double-regulator-5_p_1517.html (http://www.homebrewing.org/Kegging-system-with-2-kegs-picnic-faucets-double-regulator-5_p_1517.html)
Ball Lock (pepsi) are more common from my experience. They are slimmer and a little taller.
Pin Lock (coke) are less common. A little fatter and shorter, but the added height of the connectors makes them the same height in use.
Because of dimensional issues, most kegerators/keezers can hold one more pepsi keg than coke kegs. That fractional difference in diameter really does matter.
As for the kit... I'd look for a used CO2 tank locally or on e-bay. When you get it filled, you can just swap it out with the ones at the welding shop and not lose your shiny new tank... I have a 20# steel tank, lasts forever, and it's cheaper to swap it than it would be to have the shop fill a tank to return to me. I also don't have to worry about the tank going out of date that way.
To chime in late w my $0.02 - my boyfriend's been homebrewing for years, I'm his helper monkey (& I fully acknowledge that he's the brains behind the operation)
Quote from: Punx Clever on February 26, 2011, 02:37:14 PM
Ball Lock (pepsi) are more common from my experience. They are slimmer and a little taller.
Yup, ball lock kegs are good stuff.
Quote from: Punx Clever on February 26, 2011, 02:37:14 PM
As for the kit... I'd look for a used CO2 tank locally or on e-bay. When you get it filled, you can just swap it out with the ones at the welding shop and not lose your shiny new tank... I have a 20# steel tank, lasts forever, and it's cheaper to swap it than it would be to have the shop fill a tank to return to me. I also don't have to worry about the tank going out of date that way.
Got any friends who work in science labs that use a lot of CO2?? If so, offer to trade a fill of your relatively tiny CO2 tank for some of the batch, works every time.
StarSan is a great no-rinse sanitizer. As someone mentioned earlier, a turkey frier is very handy for a fast boil. My BF relies on a mouthful of vodka before sucking on the tubing to start a transfer, and even though there's plenty of StarSan in the waiting 2nd carboy/etc, and he's never had a problem, it still weirds me out a little.
Other advice I can offer: if you ever have a fire where you're brewing... well, lemme start from the beginning.
I asked my boy if we could make a nice pumpkin ale. BF agrees, soon it's fermenting. A few days in, the motor on his janky wall heater starts spewing flames. He discovers that his seriously janky apartment has no fire extinguisher, so he frantically blows/beats it out & calls the fire dept in case there's still something inside the wall. FD arrives, 2 trucks of firemen swarm his tiny living room with axes, ready for action...
...sorry, where was I? Oh yeah. Two guys thermal image the wall, everyone else is chatting & catching up w buddies from the other truck. They give the all-clear & ask for BF's contact info so they can fill out paperwork, and take off. A couple weeks later, BF gets urgent messages on multiple phones/email. It's a special agent from the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, who has *very serious questions* about the large glassware the firemen noticed in his living room (2 carboys w fermentation locks, mostly wrapped in old towels, bucket of thermometer, tubing, etc). BF explains the beer brewing. Special Agent retorts with "what about the giant burner and pot?" BF explains the turkey frier. Special Agent, dejected, mutters "wish the firemen had just asked when they were there" and hangs up. So if you ever have a fire near your brewing, you may want to casually mention to your firemen what all that equipment is (after the fire is out, of course), unless you've been itching for the street cred an FBI file confers. At least his apt didn't burn down & the pumpkin ale turned out great! [drink]
Great story! I've sent a PM your way with my pumpkin ale recipie if you guys wanna try it... dunno if youdo all grain or not, but if you do, it's a really nice pumpkin ale thats not overpowering on the spices.
Also, news for tonight: Put together another bach of cider. Only 8% so I can have it done a little quicker. Made a label while I was at it:
(http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/9928/numbereightl.jpg)
I name my ciders for their alcohol content. 8%, thus, Number Eight. I like my label for number 9 better.. but cant find the damn tree I used in it to save my life.
^^ thanks Punx Clever, your recipe looks great!! Once this batch is all drunk up, we'll try it.
Sweet cider label too!
Syphoned the porter off into the secondary fermenter today and added 4 oz espresso beans, lightly crushed and soaked in homemade early stage vanilla (ie vodka with vanilla beans) to sanitize.
Soooooo many weeks until I get to taste it....the anticipation!!!
Received four ball lock kegs, a co2 tank, regulator, manifold and gas/beer lines today! I'm pumped!
Have a batch ready for kegging/secondary fermentation......any tips or suggestions?
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About half our bottles carbonated, the ones that did are amazingly good. We're going to use the same recipe and mind it better this time so we don't kill off the yeasties.
Quote from: rgramjet on March 21, 2011, 04:23:56 PM
Received four ball lock kegs, a co2 tank, regulator, manifold and gas/beer lines today! I'm pumped!
Have a batch ready for kegging/secondary fermentation......any tips or suggestions?
30PSI for a week... or 3 hous of rocking/shaking the keg vigorously. I usually attach CO2 and watch TV while I roll the keg with my foot.
The beer will be carbonated from the secondary fermentation in the keg, no?
My plan is to mix the wort with a priming sugar solution then dump it in the corny keg.
5 gallons of All Malt Amber, Kegged!
That can work... but then you have all that new yeast in the bottom. I prefer forced carbonation.
Update.
The Magic Hat #9 didn't carbonate, flavor was spot on and tasty. It uses DME for the carbonation food and I think it's a shitty method. Corn sugar going forward.
Did a double IPA, Hop Head IPA - really good, really hoppy. Almost like a belgian IPA. It didn't last long.
Single IPA just hitting the fridge now. Gonna be a good weekend.
Racer 5 clone in the fermenter, added the dry hop last night.
I've got a Nut Brown Ale kit that I am going to add some stuff to make a honey brown. Suggestions?
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Apple wine. Very simple recipe. Can't wait for the rest of it. This was a little extra on a smaller bottle that fermented without the help of yeast. The rest has been going strong for over a week now using Lalvin D47.
JM
Hefeweizen bottled! It may end up being a little sweeter than planned, which is fine by me & my giant sweet tooth, but not as fun for Mr. AJ...
My apple wine is still bubbling away, after two weeks, still rolling the bubbles out!
JM
I always let my ciders go for a month.
Anyone have a good online source for hardware (taps, taplines, drains, etc)?
www.austinhomebrew.com (//http://), morebeer.com, or northernbrewer.com.
Ebay is also your friend. I picked up a secondary co2 regulator for 15 bux... brand shiney new.
Tonight, I bottled eight 15oz bottles of apple wine! It's a bit tart & dry, slightly carbonated and very very smooth.
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn168/the_journeyman/Brewing%20-%20General/Finished-1200.jpg)
Gonna let it sit another month before trying it. There is absolute ZERO yeasty flavor. I suppose I should use real brewing yeast from now on!
JM
I just bottled my 3rd batch. They've all been drinkable, and friends love them but I've been disapointed.
1st batch was a pale ale "kit." Came out too sweet and uncarbonated. I expected worse, as this was my first run and I was trying to keep the costs down, so I used an aluminum pot (whoops) covered with boiling cause the borrowed burner wasnt getting hot enough (Whoops) had no idea I had to chill the wort and reactivate the yeast before pitching (Whoops, thankfully a friend came by and saved me from pitching dehydrated yeast into 200 degree wort :-X ) And it fermented at like 80 degrees. I honestly was happy it was still drinkable.
2nd batch was a Red ale. Some bottles tastes nice and bitter others tasted really sweet. Still not sure where I went wrong there.
Third batch is an IPA i'm excited about. Just bottled it.
I'm pretty much done with bottling lol. I already find a old mini fridge, got a 20# co2 tank from a friend, will be picking up a keg or 2 once the Stout and Drakes IPA I brewed up on Saturday is ready for kegging.
Any ideas why each bottle tasted different when I drank the red ale? I let it sit for 3 weeks as told to age and carbonate.
^^ I had a somewhat similar problem with the last batch of hefeweizen, it was sweet going into the bottles and didn't carbonate. Could the sweetness be because the yeast aren't digesting as much sugar as they should be?
The carbonation issue turned out to be temperature related, Mr. AJ's apartment was too cold for the yeast & they fell out of solution & into hibernation. Mr. AJ solved that by shaking up the crates, putting them in a small room with a heater set to 80, and periodically shaking them more.
But the bottles were still sweet.
Anyone know why?
Just modified my mini frige to accept to corny kegs last night. Got a free 20 bottle of co2 . Just need some lines and some beer yo fill them with now!
Friggin neighbors killed my recently kegged amber....... Good time was had by all!
Next to brew, IPA, and a Double IPA.
Heading back to the bayfrom denver. Got an incredible ipa and an espresso stouy eeaiting for me when I gey back. Espresso stout is my first keg attempt. Hope itsgood!
Just put my first batch in the fermenter. Pics shortly.
Bottled a pale ale, turned out well, which is nice given the issues we had with the last bottled batch. It was surprisingly red in color, but tasted good.
BTW, the too-sweet hefeweizen ended up shockingly delicious, even to Mr. AJ, who scoffed at it throughout brewing :)
Enjoying the last of a batch of rye IPA right now that my brewing bud and I made a while back. [thumbsup]
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5032/5892633660_593121d68b_z.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/64654910@N03/5892633660/)
Malt and Yeast (http://www.flickr.com/photos/64654910@N03/5892633660/#) by gibby939 (http://www.flickr.com/people/64654910@N03/), on Flickr
Used these to make...
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5077/5892633712_d575d1a2f8_z.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/64654910@N03/5892633712/)
Chilling Wort (http://www.flickr.com/photos/64654910@N03/5892633712/#) by gibby939 (http://www.flickr.com/people/64654910@N03/), on Flickr
this.
Which is now resting comfortably in a corner of my kitchen. Even if the beer ends up tasting like piss, it was a learning experience and I'll know better for next time. [beer]
Totally forgot about this thread... and how badly I want to try doing this. Quick question... when you brew to one of the 5 gal pony/soda kegs, is that something that you can easily remove from the fridge and transport to a party or something? Or, do you have to bring the CO2 bottle and everything else to make it work right? Can you tap it like a normal keg?
I bought a co2 dispenser that attaches to a ball lock keg. Works great for dispensing......don't think it would work for forced carbonation.
Looks like part of a bike repair kit, uses the 16g co2 canisters.
Help me with the basics on beer ingredients please:
1. Hops
2. Malts
3. Grains
4. Yeast
5. Water
Now, is that pretty complete for a basic brew? How does one go about picking out different malts, hops, and grains?
Basic method for combining would be helpful too. Seems like you boil the hops, then add malts & grains?
JM
Your ingredient list is solid, but your brew process is backwards.
For my batch, the process was:
1) Sanitize the hell out of everything.
2) Boil water.
3) Once the water was boiling, I killed the heat and added one can of malt extract. I turned the heat back on and boiled it, watching for boil over, until it had it's "hot break," where the foam started to subside. Once that happened I...
4) Added 1 oz of hop pellets and started a timer at 60 minutes. When it was down to 15 minutes I added another 1/2 oz of hop pellets, and then again when it hit 5 minutes. At the end of the hour, I added the other can of malt extract.
5) Chilled the wort in a sink full of ice and water to get it < 80 o F.
6) Put the wort in the fermenter and added water until it was at 5 gallons.
7) Pitched the yeast, which was in a little vial with clearly-written instructions.
8 ) Put the lid and the airlock on the fermenter and put it in the corner.
6 hours or so later the airlock was bubbling like crazy as the yeast go after all those delicious sugars.
Total time from start to finish was probably 3 1/2 hours, including the run to the local grocery store for a bag of ice.
Next time I may try adding some specialty grains. For that, all you do is put whatever grains you want to use in a strainer bag and steep them in the water you're going to boil your extract/hops in. Pull out the bag of grains before you start boiling and then just brew like normal.
Eventually I'd like to get into all-grain brewing, but that process is a little more involved and requires a bit more specialized equipment. The up side is that it gives you even more control over the taste of your beer.
As for choosing ingredients, there are tons of recipes out there that should at least give you a starting point. Additionally, the people at both of the homebrew stores near me have been immensely helpful getting me set up with tools, tips, and supplies. Both of them have pre-assembled ingredient kits, which you can then customize based on what you want to achieve in a brew.
Hope that helps, but I'm sure some of the more experienced brewers here will step in with more solid advice. [beer]
Thanks Buckethead!
JM
Quote from: Buckethead on July 03, 2011, 03:11:54 PM
1) Sanitize the hell out of everything.
Very important!
Just capped 47 bottles of Munich/Amber red-brown-ish something or other ale.
Didn't <quite> have enough to fill that 48th bottle, so I got a bit of a taste.
It's got some serious potential. It's a bit rough around the edges right now, but damn, it's got some zip. Just judging from the mouth feel, taste, and "warmth," I'm guessing it's 7-8% ABV.
I'm going to give it a couple of weeks to condition in the bottles and give it another taste.
Brewed a double IPA last night. The process went suspiciously well. For the first time I hiit my OG and and volume spot on. Everything worked out, no messes were mad 79 percent efficiency FTW.
Also kegged a BIG brown that I made a couple of weeks ago. It was very tasty, can't wait until it's carbed.
Just slapped together a 5 gallon batch of hard cider. Used 6 lbs of honey instead of 2lbs of muscavado sugar... potency should be the same, I'm hoping for a fuller flavor though. Gotta love how easy cider is!
Doing my first all grain tomorrow. Probably my second as well, both my carboys are empty.
Pumpkin ale for halloween and either a double barrel ale or aroma coma clone. I don't think I can do an aroma coma clone cause it's a 75 minute boil starting off at 8 gallons, and my kettle isn't large enough. I have my eye out for a half barrel keg to make a keggle, but it's not happening quick enough, lol.
Just sealed the airlock on an Oktoberfest-style ale.
Yes, I know, to be a *real* Oktoberfest, it'd have to be a lager. I lack lagering facilities, and word is the German Kolsch yeast makes a passable facsimile while fermenting at room temperature.
First time using grain. Sure did smell good. [drool] Hope my potted pepper plants like malted barley.
Other observations: - I need more pot. The 2 gallon stock pot just ain't cutting it.
- Along with a bigger pot, it may be time to invest in a wort chiller.
- Need to talk to the roommate about NOT recycling my empties. Gonna have to drink another couple of cases between now and bottling. Damn.
Quote from: Buckethead on August 28, 2011, 09:46:07 PM
Just sealed the airlock on an Oktoberfest-style ale.
Yes, I know, to be a *real* Oktoberfest, it'd have to be a lager. I lack lagering facilities, and word is the German Kolsch yeast makes a passable facsimile while fermenting at room temperature.
First time using grain. Sure did smell good. [drool] Hope my potted pepper plants like malted barley.
Other observations: - I need more pot. The 2 gallon stock pot just ain't cutting it.
- Along with a bigger pot, it may be time to invest in a wort chiller.
Do you care to share your recipe for this?
I am working on a Oktoberfest Ale also.
- Need to talk to the roommate about NOT recycling my empties. Gonna have to drink another couple of cases between now and bottling. Damn.
I used THIS (http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/oktoberfest-style-ale-recipe-11888/) as a starting point.
I probably could have used half the grain he did and come out alright. As is, it was about all I could do to get ALL OF the grain in the bag wet (no way it was fitting inside the brew pot) before putting it in the oven to malt. In addition to lautering the grain into the brew pot I used a gallon or so of boiled water to lauter the grain into the primary fermenter, ensuring I captured more of the fermentable sugars.
As malty as I'm expecting this to be when it's done, I think I'll probably use brown sugar to prime before bottling.
And now... to wait. [drool]
Quote from: Buckethead on August 29, 2011, 05:15:26 PM
I used THIS (http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/oktoberfest-style-ale-recipe-11888/) as a starting point.
I probably could have used half the grain he did and come out alright. As is, it was about all I could do to get ALL OF the grain in the bag wet (no way it was fitting inside the brew pot) before putting it in the oven to malt. In addition to lautering the grain into the brew pot I used a gallon or so of boiled water to lauter the grain into the primary fermenter, ensuring I captured more of the fermentable sugars.
As malty as I'm expecting this to be when it's done, I think I'll probably use brown sugar to prime before bottling.
And now... to wait. [drool]
That recipe looks fine on the malts for a partial mash. When I did a partial mash (only did one, then decided it wasn't worth the effort to just do a partial mash and went full grain), I used a 2 gallon igloo "iced tea" cooler. Plenty of room.
Collecting wort from your grains directly in the fermenter is a bad bad bad idea though. Think about it... that grain undoubtedly has quite a bit of nasty buggers in it. Keeping it at 150-160 for one hour isn't going to kill those critters. When you collect your wort in the the brew kettle, you boil it for an hour. This kills the nasties. Then you take the utmost precaution to keep everything sanitary (not clean, sanitary) after the boil to not introduce an infection. Hopefully you don't grow a batch of nasties.
As for bottling, stay away from cane sugar if you can. Brown sugar is cane sugar. I'd use corn sugar, or dry malt extract.
Finally, when you do invest in a bigger pot... get at least a 10 gallon pot. You'll be glad you did.
I get what you're saying WRT the wort into the fermenter, but I'm not too worried about it.
Worst case I brew a batch of super plague, unleash the zombie apocalypse, and start over again. ;)
As for priming, all of the resources I have indicate that cane sugar, or in fact any fermentable sugar source, will provide carbonation. Corn sugar is simply the easiest for the yeast to digest and doesn't add any noticeable flavor to the beer. Both John Palmer's "How To Brew" and Charlie Papazian's "The Home Brewer's Companion" provide charts showing how much of several different priming agents to use for a 5 gallon batch, including things like honey, maple syrup, and molasses. Palmer's even has a nomograph to calculate how much cane sugar to use to achieve a desired carbonation level. In this instance, I don't think the mild flavor of the brown sugar will have a detrimental effect on the (hopefully malty) overall flavor of the beer.
Oh, I know cane sugar will work... but it will dry out the beer and give it a cidery taste (hence why I use 2lbs of muscavado sugar in my cider)... which totally doesn't go with a Marzen. As for brown sugar... it's just plain old white cane sugar with a bit of molasses.
Palmer and Papazian know their shit, no doubt. And those are some fine books you are reading. But given the option... Ya know?
i have a case and a half of 12 oz bottles and another 2 cases of 22oz bottles.
i am not going to do anything with them if anyone here can use them. I would prefer to not have to pack them for shipping, but we can see what happens.
i also have a 4 gal carboy (yeah, i made a mistake) which needs to be cleaned since i can't seem to get a bottle brush in there properly. I have a 5 gal plastic bucket and a transfer bucket. along with everything else you need for a basic brewing kit. i need to get rid of it as it can't move with me and i really don't want to throw it out.
if i can meet you somewhere within an hr away from philly let me know.
Quote from: Punx Clever on August 29, 2011, 10:57:13 PM
Oh, I know cane sugar will work... but it will dry out the beer and give it a cidery taste (hence why I use 2lbs of muscavado sugar in my cider)... which totally doesn't go with a Marzen. As for brown sugar... it's just plain old white cane sugar with a bit of molasses.
I'm planning to use about 4 oz of sugar to carbonate the beer. That's it. Not an adjunct. Just enough readily-digestible sugars for the yeast to turn into CO2 in the bottle, and maybe add just a touch of a molasses sweetness as a finishing note.
Quote from: Punx Clever on August 29, 2011, 10:57:13 PM
Palmer and Papazian know their shit, no doubt.
Palmer How To Brew p. 110
Priming and Bottling - Which Sugar Should I Prime With
You can prime your beer with any fermentable that you want. Any sugar - white cane sugar, brown sugar, honey, molasses, even maple syrup - can be used for priming. The darker sugars can contribute a subtle aftertaste (sometimes desired) and are more appropriate for heavier, darker beers. Simple sugars, like corn or cane sugar, are used most often, although many brewers use dry malt extract, too. Ounce for ounce, cane sugar generates a bit more carbon dioxide than corn sugar, and both pure sugars carbonate more than malt extract, so you will need to take that into account.
p. 256
Is My Beer Ruined - Common Off-Flavors
Cidery - Cidery flavors can have several causes but are often the result of adding
too much cane or corn sugar to a recipe.
Papazian The Complete Joy Of Home Brewing (3rd Ed) p. 83
Cane and beet sugars - If cane or beet sugar is used in excess of 20 percent of the fermentable sugar, a characteristic "cidery" flavor may develop.
p. 84
Corn Sugar - Its use in excess of 20 percent of the total fermentable sugars will often contribute to the flavor characteristic of the finished beer, lending what most homebrewers will refer to as a dry "cidery" flavor.
Like I said:
Quote from: Buckethead on August 29, 2011, 08:21:51 PM
Worst case I brew a batch of super plague, unleash the zombie apocalypse, and start over again. ;)
My experience leads me to not use cane sugar in a beer unless I have to. Priming, alcohol content, whatever (unless we are talking belgians... but that's just weird anyways). Choosing to use cane for the purpose is different than simply using it because it was what was available like I assumed. Your beer, do it your way. [thumbsup]
As for my last batch of cider... it's happily bubbling away in the kegerator/fermenting chamber at 66 degrees.
Quote from: Buckethead on August 29, 2011, 05:15:26 PM
I used THIS (http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/oktoberfest-style-ale-recipe-11888/) as a starting point.
I probably could have used half the grain he did and come out alright. As is, it was about all I could do to get ALL OF the grain in the bag wet (no way it was fitting inside the brew pot) before putting it in the oven to malt. In addition to lautering the grain into the brew pot I used a gallon or so of boiled water to lauter the grain into the primary fermenter, ensuring I captured more of the fermentable sugars.
As malty as I'm expecting this to be when it's done, I think I'll probably use brown sugar to prime before bottling.
And now... to wait. [drool]
That looks like a good one, I saw it when I first started researching how to brew a Oktoberfest. But without Lager capabilities and living in Florida, I am gonna have to do an ale also.
I brewed a rye pale on Sunday, I might have fusked up , because i have no fermentation now 3 days later.
If you haven't seen this site, I have been using it to put my recipes together, it's pretty slick: www.hopville.com (//http://)
I like this software: http://www.beersmith.com/ (http://www.beersmith.com/)
Quote from: Punx Clever on August 31, 2011, 01:49:13 PM
I like this software: http://www.beersmith.com/ (http://www.beersmith.com/)
I've been tinkering around with it for a bit. I decided to try my hand at deciding a recipe. Either I messed up royally or theres a glitch in the program.
I tried making a red-colored IIPA using hops based of descriptions of flavor and aroma, etc.
Either I didn't fully enter in something correctly or the program is flawed. I entered in my equipment as follows:
10 Gallon rubbermaid cooler mashtun w/ false bottom, .5 gallon loss
15.5 Gallon keggle with a trub loss of 2 gallons (I didn't have a downspout inside the keg at the time, and I use an immersion chiller so I like to pour only clear beer into the carboy)
My OG was supposed to be 1.080, came in at 1.055. So I went back to the drawing board, and redesigned my equipment profile as follows
10 Gallon rubbermaid cooler mashtun w/ false bottom, .5 gallon loss
15.5 Gallon keggle with a trub loss of .5 gallons (Equipped a pickup tube in kettle with attached screen to filter
When plugging the new equipment profile into the same recipe, the gravity doesn't change, which I find interesting. Why wouldn't it change if I'm not using 3 extra gallons of water for mashing and boiling/etc. I would have assumed the OG would have sky rocketed and I'd have to lose some grain, but alas, not.
Can't wait to try the recipe again with the pick up and screen. IIPA's are sure expensive to brew though.
Our pumpkin ale is aging nicely, and I just through the Morebeer double barrel ale clone in the keg, and it tasted pretty good.
EDIT: I'm also trying my hand at culturing some yeast from my pumpkin ale. I used "Denny's favorite 50" or something like, and I love that yeast! The beer is crystal clear and the yeast is tightly compacted at the bottom of the bottle and barely stirs when you pour, which was GREAT characteristics for this beer since we're giving about 80% of it away to friends and family, and they don't really know all about not pouring that LAST sip. lol.
mmmmm yeast farts....
Bottled the Oktoberfest yesterday.
Having an unveiling in 3 weeks to see how it turned out.
Quote from: PhoenixS4R on September 18, 2011, 03:36:31 PM
I've been tinkering around with it for a bit. I decided to try my hand at deciding a recipe. Either I messed up royally or theres a glitch in the program.
I tried making a red-colored IIPA using hops based of descriptions of flavor and aroma, etc.
Either I didn't fully enter in something correctly or the program is flawed. I entered in my equipment as follows:
10 Gallon rubbermaid cooler mashtun w/ false bottom, .5 gallon loss
15.5 Gallon keggle with a trub loss of 2 gallons (I didn't have a downspout inside the keg at the time, and I use an immersion chiller so I like to pour only clear beer into the carboy)
My OG was supposed to be 1.080, came in at 1.055. So I went back to the drawing board, and redesigned my equipment profile as follows
10 Gallon rubbermaid cooler mashtun w/ false bottom, .5 gallon loss
15.5 Gallon keggle with a trub loss of .5 gallons (Equipped a pickup tube in kettle with attached screen to filter
When plugging the new equipment profile into the same recipe, the gravity doesn't change, which I find interesting. Why wouldn't it change if I'm not using 3 extra gallons of water for mashing and boiling/etc. I would have assumed the OG would have sky rocketed and I'd have to lose some grain, but alas, not.
Can't wait to try the recipe again with the pick up and screen. IIPA's are sure expensive to brew though.
Our pumpkin ale is aging nicely, and I just through the Morebeer double barrel ale clone in the keg, and it tasted pretty good.
EDIT: I'm also trying my hand at culturing some yeast from my pumpkin ale. I used "Denny's favorite 50" or something like, and I love that yeast! The beer is crystal clear and the yeast is tightly compacted at the bottom of the bottle and barely stirs when you pour, which was GREAT characteristics for this beer since we're giving about 80% of it away to friends and family, and they don't really know all about not pouring that LAST sip. lol.
mmmmm yeast farts....
Your gravity doesn't change because you loose less in the kettle... unless you are "topping off" with water once you are done boiling? Shouldn't need to do that.
Probably what is going on is that you didn't input the efficiency of your setup properly. IE: 60% vs 75% or whatever.
Racked the Gingered Honey Ale today
secondary fermentation started off nicely and rapidly droped to 1 bubble every 90 seconds... hhmm
<lightbulb>
its 50 degrees outside...turn on heater
and
presto a bubble every 4 seconds for about an hour
and then nothing... hhmm
<lightbulb>
Doh! heater too close to carbouy
turn off heater..wait...wait...nothing...pressure in lock reverses... shit I killed
3 hours later
bubble every 90 seconds...whew
Racked the Octofist into the secondary last night also.
Didn't take any readings, but had a good smell of high alcohol content. Hells yes.
Then I noticed the haziness and realized I forgot to add the whirlfloc tablet in the boil.
Good thing I don't give a shit about cloudy beer. [thumbsup]
Quote from: Punx Clever on September 27, 2011, 08:58:26 PM
Your gravity doesn't change because you loose less in the kettle... unless you are "topping off" with water once you are done boiling? Shouldn't need to do that.
Probably what is going on is that you didn't input the efficiency of your setup properly. IE: 60% vs 75% or whatever.
Ya I was under the assumption that the amount of grains used at, lets say 5 gallons, would run out of sugar and woulnd't give me the proper sugar I needed at 10 gallons, which wasn't true. It did turn out to be really, really bad efficiency.
Can't wait for my own grain mill
Wife: "Hey, we have these grapes in the back yard, think we can make wine?"
Guy at the local brew supplies store: "Of course! Here's a one-stage kit, and you can do secondary fermentation in a 1 gal jug. You'll probably want more grapes though."
Me: "Can I also do beer?"
Guy: "Of course! But you'll want a bigger secondary vessel depending on the beer you want to brew. No use brewing 1 gallon at a time."
Needless to say, looks like I've got my new winter hobby lined up.
Stopping at the brew store for two carboys & a couple airlocks. Doing another batch of Apple-Honey wine!
JM
Today's purchase:
Only one, they didn't have any other carboys on hand.
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn168/the_journeyman/Brewing%20-%20General/DSC_0087-1024.jpg)
JM
I've been thinking of picking up another 2 fermentation vessels so I can keep a steady stream of homebrew going. Thinking about 2 better bottles instead of glass carboys though
This is my first. The local brew supply has the 5 gallon ones for $35
JM
Quote from: the_Journeyman on October 08, 2011, 04:44:50 PM
This is my first. The local brew supply has the 5 gallon ones for $35
JM
Did you pick it up for beer? EDIT: nevermind, I see the champagne yeast now... sorry.
If you brew 5 gallon batches you'll need a blow off.I finally found a localish homebrew shop that does a decent crush. 85% efficiency batch sparge baby! Much better then the 55% i was getting at Morebeer....
Yea, they had 5 and 6 gallon, but since I currently make wine, I stuck with the 5 gallon.
JM
Glass carboys are harder to find and more expensive these days... and I'm not a terrible fan of better bottles. I like being able to scrub the glass carboys. I've got two of each.
OTOH, this years pumpkin brew will be done no-chill in a plastic tote. We'll see how it goes.
Quote from: Punx Clever on October 09, 2011, 01:50:02 AM
Glass carboys are harder to find and more expensive these days... and I'm not a terrible fan of better bottles. I like being able to scrub the glass carboys. I've got two of each.
OTOH, this years pumpkin brew will be done no-chill in a plastic tote. We'll see how it goes.
I was listening to a pod cast on the brewing network, and once of the fellows mentioned that there was only 1 shop making glass carboys in mexico, and they shut down, so glass carboys are going to be the thing of the past.
Don't know how valid that info is, I know the box I received mine in had Italian wording on it.
I think i'd be ok with a better bottle. I've been getting pretty lazy lately and just pumping my carboy full of hot water and PBW and leaving it on the counter. The racking port would be nice. I think they are overpriced for what they are tho.
http://www.brewersfriend.com/2009/06/06/australian-no-chill-brewing-technique-tested/ (http://www.brewersfriend.com/2009/06/06/australian-no-chill-brewing-technique-tested/)
I'm following those instructions for no-chill brewing. Basically, the idea is that the fermentation vessel is sanitized by the near-boiling wort that is put into it. And, since you aren't wasting a shit ton of water/ice to chill your beer, it's better for the environment. I've heard of people keeping a container of wort for over a year and it fermenting just fine when they finally did throw some yeast in.
The containers they are using are these:
(http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/images/products/bottles/400/75030p.jpg)
And at $18 a pop, i couldn't pass it up. Plus, if the no-chil doesn't work out... well, I can ferment like normal in it too!
Another option, is to get a conical bottom HDPE tank and ferment in that. I've been seriously considering it.
I'd rather just get a plate chiller than no chill. All of your hop schedules have to be revisited and modifies with no chill.
There are some hdpe conicals for like 40 bucks. Smallest size is 15 gallons though. And u still need at least 1 valve. I've thought about doing it for keeping a pipeline of pale ale running through my kegs and harvesting a shit ton of yeast though.
Starting a batch of hard cider!
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn168/the_journeyman/Brewing%20-%20General/DSC_0085-1024-1.jpg)
All of the ingredients are local except the brown sugar! Once I put all of my ingredients together, it tastes about like apple pie. The hard part is waiting on it to ferment!
JM
Quote from: PhoenixS4R on October 09, 2011, 01:35:17 PM
I'd rather just get a plate chiller than no chill. All of your hop schedules have to be revisited and modifies with no chill.
There are some hdpe conicals for like 40 bucks. Smallest size is 15 gallons though. And u still need at least 1 valve. I've thought about doing it for keeping a pipeline of pale ale running through my kegs and harvesting a shit ton of yeast though.
I'm going from a counter-flow chiller.
Good luck with it. Not my cup of tea. Let me know how it work out for ya.
Quote from: the_Journeyman on October 09, 2011, 04:57:26 PM
Starting a batch of hard cider!
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn168/the_journeyman/Brewing%20-%20General/DSC_0085-1024-1.jpg)
All of the ingredients are local except the brown sugar! Once I put all of my ingredients together, it tastes about like apple pie. The hard part is waiting on it to ferment!
JM
Hows about a recipe?
Quote from: rgramjet on October 10, 2011, 10:55:49 AM
Hows about a recipe?
Let me make sure this works, I've adapted a recipe from 1-gallon batches using apple juice. I'll PM you the recipe if you want to start with 1-gallon batches.
JM
Stone's 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Stout - All Grain Beer Kit (Advanced)
Sounds like a good brew for this weekend to me!
Their 15th anniversary Black IPA was amazing......
Quote from: the_Journeyman on October 10, 2011, 04:57:55 PM
Let me make sure this works, I've adapted a recipe from 1-gallon batches using apple juice. I'll PM you the recipe if you want to start with 1-gallon batches.
JM
I've got a 6 gallon fermenter with nothing to do.....think I'll try this! How carbonated is it if at all?
I haven't done any carbonation, so I don't know what to tell you about that.
JM
I suppose that would depend on how much priming sugars you give it when it's done fermenting and you bottle.
How about kegging it?
Then i would suppose that would depend on what pressure and temperature you serve at...
I usually go 12-15psi and 35-45 degrees
Made a 2 quart starter last night, another 3 quarter starter tonight and I'm in business for my stout this weekend.
Very excited.
I present to you Drinky The Beer Pumpkin:
(http://hphotos-sjc1.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/332576_10100812309876428_13735265_62809154_831086800_o.jpg)
He's just hanging out in the oven right now, getting ready to be put in the mash for my Horseman's Ale:
Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
2.00 lb Rice Hulls (0.0 SRM) Adjunct 16.67 %
7.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 58.33 %
1.67 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 13.89 %
1.00 lb Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) Grain 8.33 %
0.33 lb Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM) Grain 2.78 %
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (80 min) Hops 19.0 IBU
1.00 tsp Cinnamon (ground) (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
1.00 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs English Ale (White Labs #WLP002) [Starter Yeast-Ale]
Wish me luck!
Good luck. We just gave our last bottle away to our local homebre shop. Our recipe was slightly different. It was actually quite undrinkable until it ages a full month and a half in a bottle.
My current batch of hard cider is going good!
JM
Just got done mashing my imperial chocolate oatmeal stout. That was a pregnant dog. Stuck sparges like crazy. Oh well. Hit my gravity and my volume. This is gonna taste great
I'm apparently rusty as hell at actual brewing... haven't done beer in a while, just cider.
Missed my final volume by about a gallon and a half... which leads me to believe I goofed up on my sparge volumes. Fits in with the poor efficiency (60%). Oh well, no chill just means bring the extra water up to boiling and throw it in with the wort. 1.043 OG looking for 1.010 final for about 4.25% ABV. Good session beer.
But, the good news is that my no-chill batch is in it's jug, nice and sanitary. Plus, I have a real wort starter going. Actually took 800cc of the wort to use as a starter. Big plus for no-chill there!
(http://hphotos-sjc1.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/339140_10100813223804908_13735265_62820305_972961746_o.jpg)
And, I set my mash tun up with a recirculating pump that I had sitting around. This is gonna be the CLEAREST beer I have ever brewed. I will never go back to manually vorlaufing. So easy!
Hard Cider bubbling away:
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn168/the_journeyman/Brewing%20-%20General/1018110950-1024.jpg)
JM
Both carboys full. No brewing this weekend.
Pale ale is conditioning in the closet, I don't like using that dried yeast that was recommended but I like the price of it.
Imperial Chocolate Oatmeal stouts is fermenting away. I ended up filling my carboy almost to the neck with the wort, since that damn recipe costed me 60 bucks (all grain) by the time i was done with it, which didn't leave a lot of room to shake and aerate, which may have been a problem. Hoping for the best.
Girlfriends own recipe brown ale is conditioning/carbonating in the corny, 12 more pumpkin ales to give out, half a corny full of a wheat box and about 25 bottles of my last IPA left.
Girlfriend thinks we have too much beer sitting around. I told her it doesn't count if it's not drinkable yet.
I think you should have just told her she was wrong... :D
He did so.
But in a way that lets him still get laid.
It's diplomacy at work.
Quote from: Buckethead on October 20, 2011, 12:08:27 AM
He did so.
But in a way that lets him still get laid.
It's diplomacy at work.
Winner
Well I'll be damned!
I brewed my stout. Missed my numbers...... Too much volume not enough gravity. Still hit 1.083 (was supposed to be 1.097)
Since I missed my numbers I kinda got pissed and decided to fill my carboy to the neck with as much wort as I could (was an expensive stout recipe). Once I laid down I realized I didn't even shake the carboy for aeration, figured I was make the beast with two backsed.
Watch fermentation from outside of my glass carboy at 60*.... it was fermenting for sure... but it was very subdued.... Figured it wasn't going to complete due to lack of aeration.
Took a sample 5 days later and it's at 1.025. I think's i'm gonna use this rogue least a little more often!
After 2 weeks in the primary, I've racked the Pumpkin Ale to the secondary:
(http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/297172_10100838200735938_13735265_63012516_1336505505_n.jpg)
Came out very clear, kinda thin... but really easy to drink.
(http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/385815_10100838124678358_13735265_63011816_89558501_n.jpg)
Carbonation will thicken it out a bit.
Results are:
OG: 1.043
FG: 1.011
ABV: 4.2%
Calories per Pint: 189
Why does it look black? Trick lighting?
No lighting from behind is my guess. There isn't much in the glass, but it's definitely a chocolate-lab type of brown.
Stout-starter (Pumpkin ale yeast collected and fed stout wort):
(http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/382002_10100839761573008_13735265_63026688_1173469426_n.jpg)
No clue what to brew this weekend.....
Maybe an IPA? I dunno... It's getting colder. Maybe another stout....
Oatmeal stout?
I have an imperial oatmeal chocolate stout going right now.... but I would like a plan jane super thick oatmeal stout.
I found an expired vial of European ale yeast in the fridge.... I'm gonna try to revive it. Any idea on what to make with it?
Can I do an IPA with that style? Hmm... google here I come.
Yep, sure can. Use Marris Otter & EKG's and fuggles
Fuggles. Blek! Tasted like dirt in my last IPA.
Well... yeah... it's supposta be earthy. British IPA's are.
Fine, no fuggles... Willamette then
lol.
I had no idea. I had a wild hair up my ass my last IPA and started just throwing in hops that I had never used before for the hell of it. It was actually quite good at the 3 week mark and went downhill (In my opinion, i must not like english IPA's) real quick. Not terribly overwhelming, just kinda left you with that "did I just get dirt in my mouth?" taste.
I forgot to check my starter with the expired yeast in it but girlfriend says it doesn't look cloudy as it normally does at this point. We'll see. Dry yeast just tripple in price, just when I started to use it. Bah. Time to start making slants.
Bottling/kegging the pumpkin ale today!
Making 12 bottles and the rest kegged... not worth it to mix priming sugar into the whole batch... so sugar directly into the bottle.
(http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/314341_10100854052923028_13735265_63161660_498846997_n.jpg)
Pumpkin beer.
Bottled and kegging. Thanksgiving may now proceed according to plan.
U can also just naturally Carb the keg. I do that now to allow a 3 week conditioning period while carbing so its completely aged and carbonated at 6 weeks @ room temp.
Yeast started didn't take off at all, good thing I have some 05 in the fridge.
Quote from: PhoenixS4R on November 05, 2011, 12:32:57 PM
U can also just naturally Carb the keg. I do that now to allow a 3 week conditioning period while carbing so its completely aged and carbonated at 6 weeks @ room temp.
Meh, I force carb @20psi. I brew the pumpkin beer to not need much aging time. Only 60minute hops, and easy on the spices @4.2-4.5%. Normally, I would even force carb then bottle from the keg... but I've lost my little-bitty stopper...
Sorry to hear about the yeast. -05 is good stuff though. It's either that or Nottingham when I use dry yeast.
(http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/312531_10100855013697628_13735265_63169967_1420550974_n.jpg)
Candle wax didn't work quite right... but it's all good.
That's pretty cool lookin
Pain in the ass... wouldn't want to do it for a whole case.
Back in the day we just dipped them in the hot waxer at the ski shop
Popped open one of my imperial oatmeal chocolate stouts last night. WAAAAAAAAYYYY early because I had anticipated aging for a couple months, but I ran out of beer and wanted another one, lol.
Tastes perfect. Just what I was looking for. Massive amount of chocolate flavor, and just a tad too sweet. Perfect desert stout which was what I was really going for!
Good deal! I had a taste of the pumpkin ale last night too. It's been a while since I've had pumpkin beer
Brewing up another batch of Cheating Whore Amber tomorrow. [thumbsup]
Was her name actually amber? ;D
So... A month later, my Cider is STILL fermenting!!!
JM
Yeah. Buddy's ex wife. I was the best man at the wedding 2 years ago. He came out for a visit about the time my first batch was mature and I needed a name. It just kinda fit. ;D
Anyone here interested in a pre-mix soda, beer dispenser ? It's the soda fountain they used back when they used corny kegs. Kegging without buying a fridge to keep the kegs cold. Plug in jockey box etc. 5 tap.
Quote from: PhoenixS4R on November 13, 2011, 03:14:54 PM
Anyone here interested in a pre-mix soda, beer dispenser ? It's the soda fountain they used back when they used corny kegs. Kegging without buying a fridge to keep the kegs cold. Plug in jockey box etc. 5 tap.
Gotta pic?
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f16/premix-soda-beer-dispenser-280882/ (http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f16/premix-soda-beer-dispenser-280882/)
Sorry, computer is f'd so I don't even want to try to upload a pic on this forum from phone.
There's a pic in that link tho.
Photobucket works good with smart phones..
Just picked up a March 809-BR pump on ebay for $55 shipped.... oooooh yeah, time to start using my keggles!
Nice deal. thats my next purchase....
Got all set up to run a RIMS mash with my old equipment. Doing it's first run on an oatmeal stout tomorrow.
I'm finally down to about 15 seconds between bubbles on my cider. Gotta get another carboy for my secondary ferment vessel.
JM
I bit the bullet and bought a chiggers pump. My back can't handle lifting a full keggle. getting a hurricane burner and natural gas coversion for Xmas, so now its time yo build a stand, then I think I'm gonna go electric with the hlt and mash tun
Pumps are awesome man... I feel like a fool for not doing it sooner.
Ya I was just trying to find a deal on one. Ended up getting a chugger for 99
Quote from: PhoenixS4R on November 27, 2011, 08:41:35 AM
I bit the bullet and bought a chiggers pump. My back can't handle lifting a full keggle. getting a hurricane burner and natural gas coversion for Xmas, so now its time yo build a stand, then I think I'm gonna go electric with the hlt and mash tun
Nice, I was gonna do the same amd go electric for tje HLT and MT but ended up with a brew magic. If you're doing Nat Gas I would reccomend the jet burners, I put them on the BM and holy shit do they work well. I think I paid about 25$ for it as well.
Gotta love some controls... the mash was amazing this time around. The sparge was no less amazing. Being able to control temperatures like that is just... WOW!
As for you Matador... I don't even want to talk to you. Wayyyy to jealous for that.
Quote from: Punx Clever on November 27, 2011, 01:34:19 PM
Gotta love some controls... the mash was amazing this time around. The sparge was no less amazing. Being able to control temperatures like that is just... WOW!
As for you Matador... I don't even want to talk to you. Wayyyy to jealous for that.
You know you can come brew here any time you want. ;)
I can't wait to break in my new bourbon barrels. They were emptied last week and are ready to infuse some bourbon oaked goodness into beer.
I'm thinking Brown, but next up is a gingerbread imperial red for our Xmas beer.
Quote from: El Matador on November 27, 2011, 09:11:16 AM
Nice, I was gonna do the same amd go electric for tje HLT and MT but ended up with a brew magic. If you're doing Nat Gas I would reccomend the jet burners, I put them on the BM and holy shit do they work well. I think I paid about 25$ for it as well.
Soooo many people have differing views about those burners, so I went with the hurricane.
Quote from: PhoenixS4R on November 28, 2011, 08:22:14 AM
Soooo many people have differing views about those burners, so I went with the hurricane.
They work great as long as you set them up properly.
I got new toys today!
(http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff448/chipo100/cf210ac9.jpg)
(http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff448/chipo100/97da5eef.jpg)
And what the brewery is looking like now:
(http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff448/chipo100/8b13523f.jpg)
I can't wait to use the shit out of them :D
Quote from: Punx Clever on November 26, 2011, 09:06:05 PM
Got all set up to run a RIMS mash with my old equipment. Doing it's first run on an oatmeal stout tomorrow.
How did the brew session go?
Would either of you gents let me know what you think of my question I posted on HBT? Basically trying to run a single pump to recirculate the mash then transfer to the BK, then recirculate the BK during cooling without using any QD's only valves to prime.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/plumbing-questions-pump-owners-283819/ (http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/plumbing-questions-pump-owners-283819/)
Forgot the lnk lol..... The design shows only the input lines. Just need to know iif i can prime
Quote from: PhoenixS4R on November 28, 2011, 06:08:18 PM
Would either of you gents let me know what you think of my question I posted on HBT? Basically trying to run a single pump to recirculate the mash then transfer to the BK, then recirculate the BK during cooling without using any QD's only valves to prime.
It can definitely be done. It's just easier and cheaper to just get another pump
I'm gonna get my setup going so that it's hard-plumbed with flared copper tubing, all to one pump. One pump is doable on a single tier if you batch sparge. It is also doable if you make a two-tiered stand with the HLT and mash tun above the kettle.
Side note: You will need some way of adding heat to the mash tun if you recirculate. The heat loss from the tubes is HUGE. I almost lost the pumpkin ale I made due to heat losses in the mash (had to add maltodextrin to the keg).
Sometime in the next year it'll happen... for now, I'm just using the pump to recirc the mash tun and transfer to the boil kettle. I'm young, and only doing 5 gal batches, so lifting isn't a problem.
And Matador, the brew session went swimmingly. I am going to do a quick and dirty retrofit to a HERMS system to decide between the herms and rims though...
Quote from: Punx Clever on November 28, 2011, 09:30:10 PM
I'm gonna get my setup going so that it's hard-plumbed with flared copper tubing, all to one pump. One pump is doable on a single tier if you batch sparge. It is also doable if you make a two-tiered stand with the HLT and mash tun above the kettle.
Side note: You will need some way of adding heat to the mash tun if you recirculate. The heat loss from the tubes is HUGE. I almost lost the pumpkin ale I made due to heat losses in the mash (had to add maltodextrin to the keg).
Sometime in the next year it'll happen... for now, I'm just using the pump to recirc the mash tun and transfer to the boil kettle. I'm young, and only doing 5 gal batches, so lifting isn't a problem.
And Matador, the brew session went swimmingly. I am going to do a quick and dirty retrofit to a HERMS system to decide between the herms and rims though...
I'm young too. Killed my back at work. I'm a big dude tho. Overall it's more embarrassing then anything.
I know I need a source of heat if I wanted to recirc the mash over the entire duration, which will happen later. I'm attempting to look at the big picture when doing things. Currently just have a 10 gallon rubbermaid as a mash tun, but I'm trying to set everything up for my total goal, which is a hybrid 3 keggle 10 gallon batch system, gravity fed from HLT into MT, pump recirculated mash with heater element, to a gas fired boil kettle, 110v electrical, HLT/MT with natural gas BK. I don't want to plumb the pump one way and 6 months later replumb now that I have what I want, know what I mean?
I'm mostly getting ahead of myself anyways. I haven't recieved my pump or my hurricane burner. Just thinking big so I hopefully don't forgot anything when the time comes.
Man, trading these ball lock kegs for pin lock kegs is harder than I thought.
Why you trading? I might know a guy here in Monterey that has some pin-locks that would probably trade for some ball-locks.
I'm in the same place as you as far as building a system. I take it you are fly-sparging? Perhaps you could build a stand with the brew kettle down low, and the HLT and MT on the same level. No reason to have hot liquid above you.
1) Heat strike water in HLT
2) Transfer to MT with pump
3) Recirculate the mash with pump
4) Heat sparge water in HLT
5) Collect wort by gravity while pump moves sparge water from HLT to MT
6) Boil
7) Pump wort through chiller and into fermenter
That would be fly-sparge with a single pump on a 2-tier system with no lifting required Would require 3 inlets to the pump, and 3 outlets. Batch sparges wouldn't be much different.
My system is set up for pin locks. I got these ball locks free and 1 is missing yhe lid. With ball locks bbeing so popular I figured I could get two pin locks with lids but its not really a big deal.
I'm actually doing my stand similar, except the HLT will be raised and the MT and BK will be lower, to facilitate cleaning the mash tun out, etc. I currently batch sparge, but would like to have the option to do both. This would require 1 pump to recirclute the mash, transfer, and recirculate the boil for my immersion chiller.
This forum hates my phone. Sorry for the misspells.
http://www.wortomatic.com/articles/Push-Eject's-Brewstand-2003 (http://www.wortomatic.com/articles/Push-Eject's-Brewstand-2003)
This is what I'm going for, for the most part. Total plan is 3 keggle system with pretty much this stand, everything stainless steel plumbed (Maybe), and with water running through the stand with all the controls mounted below the HLT. HLT and MT electrically heated, BK nat gas. Would also like to hard mount my immersion chiller inside the bk and run hard lines back to my HLT, so I can use the (hot) waste water to CIP the entire thing.
Again, mostly dreaming, we'll see how it turns out.
I'll trade 3 pin locks for 3 ball locks and I'll pay for the shipping bith ways. :D
Why don't you do HLT and MLT on a tier and the BK on a lower tier being gravity fed. Kinda like the Sabco system. I can send you the exact plumbing specs for it. It handles a rims and only uses 1 pump, no need for a priming system.
I only have two ball locks, 1 is missing a lid and they need new o rings, but if u want to, sure.
My only gripe with the mash tun being higher it removal and cleaning of grains. Trying to avoid the ladder, but I'd look at whatever specs u have.
Quote from: PhoenixS4R on November 29, 2011, 04:25:52 PM
I only have two ball locks, 1 is missing a lid and they need new o rings, but if u want to, sure.
My only gripe with the mash tun being higher it removal and cleaning of grains. Trying to avoid the ladder, but I'd look at whatever specs u have.
I have a Sabco Brewmagic, and it's set up that way. Carrying shit is just o e of this things that you have to do when you brew, I don't mind it that much. Still a pain in the ass.
You got yourself a deal for them kegs. pm me for Details.
I might be in love with the new fermentors' yeast harvesters and butterfly valves, they're so awesome.
(http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff448/chipo100/4dacee17.jpg)
(http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff448/chipo100/464604a1.jpg)
Thats a thinig of beauty for sure!
On second thought, i'll probably just start off with HLT/MT on the same tier. I priced out metal today to build my stand and I'd rather just keep the one I have and focus on setting up my HLT and MT on electric elements.
Coffee malt stout is kegged... purdy tasty
Nice! Vanilla cream stout got bottled today as well. Thinking of getting my friends together and doing a Xmas barleywine to open next Xmas.
Sounds like a good plan to me! Next up over here is probably some kind of IPA...
Wife got me my first small, gallon, kit.. read live in apartment, so can't go too crazy lol.. well it'll let me know if I can do it or not..
(http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c174/cokey2/2011-12-25_12-14-14_725.png)
Thoughts?
Nice! I'm still on the fence with beer. I have some cider going, but it seems like there is a lot more to making beer. I'd like to walk through a couple simple batches with someone before I leap.
JM
Brewing beer is really easy, its when you start realizing you can make it an expensive hobby it gets complicated. All you really need is a kitchen pot, and a bucket and some ingredients
Well, ill just stick to the one gallon for now.. I don't have space for much more really.. with 6 tires/rims in a closet and a spare trans in a bathroom, space is limited...
I actually looked at the 1 gallon kit the other day. Looked pretty cool.
Still plan on brewing an IPA with my new fancy equipment today.
(http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/384681_272234582833815_258484890875451_738954_2122498667_n.jpg)
I've been following that hit tub rims thread. I would like to do it but I just got a new keg to turn keggle. Need to focus on the e-HLT setup and sculpture first.
When I finally get a sculpture started, I'm gonna finish my keggles and keg mash tun. for now, I'm perfecting the RIMS portion of the setup
Gonna start it tomorrow. Just gotta pick up some bourbon and a funnel.. don't want to use the car one lol. Any one just use the sanitizer a kit comes with? I had to get the exact instructions on pdf from the site..
Anything think I can add to this one?
I would follow the directions as closely as possible, to include using the sanitizer that came with it, for your first batch at least. You are making a bigger jump than most by going all grain to start, so keep it simple! Just like checking the valves on the duc... one step at a time.
I just googled that 1 gallon kit, thats quite nice! I'm gonna recommend that to a few folks that have been putting off all grain because they think it's too hard!
Hey Punx, do you batch or fly sprage? If batch, do you mash out? If so, how did you do it? (Before the rims system I mean)
I've been using beersmith, and it seems everytime I try to batch sparge usuing it's calculations, I come up short on my pre-boil volume batch sparging. Sometimes I have too much, sometimes too little, it's getting aggrivating, I want to get my 2 tier up and running so I can just fly sparge. I originally thought my pot was marked incorrectly, (that I use to measure out the mash/sparge water) so I started using my bucket, which is also marked, and what I used to mark my sight glass on my brew kettle so it would be the same, still ended up a gallon short last run, it's annoying.
I just got 2 brew kits for Christmas so i guess ill be starting to make some [drink]
Batch sparge... and I used to have no problems with brewsmiths calculations... but lately it seems like I've come up short too. Today I have an extra gallon or two of weak wort to throw in at the end of the boil if I come up short. I'm not anticipating it, but it's there in case.
Before I had the rims, I didn't really mash out (but now with the rims, I'm loving mashes). Just started heating the wort as soon as it was in the kettle from each sparge. I use my spoon as a "story stick" to measure volume in my big kettle. Today I checked my 6-gallon mark. Anyways, my beer has been consistantly good, so I'm not terribly worried.
Grains only means?
This kit has hops and yeast..
Quote from: cokey on December 28, 2011, 10:46:48 AM
Grains only means?
This kit has hops and yeast..
All grain is a type of brewing that means you literally, extract sugar from the grains from your brew. Your kit is teaching you how to do that and is considered "more advanced" than the other form of brewing which is extract.
I've brewed 2 times this week... 5 gallons of IPA that will take a while to ferment, and 10 gallons of Blonde Ale that should ferment out in a week!
All grain takes longer? Says this ones ready to drink in a month?
All grain takes longer on brew day... IE, more time in the kitchen. Ferment/conditioning time depends on the style of beer (stout, pilsner, whatever).
That being said... I'm getting my all-grain brew days down to about 4 hours, a little longer for the 10 gallon batch cause I tried a lot of new stuff.
Cool.. the one gallon should be done quick but for this recipe it seems about 2 weeks fermentation and 2 weeks in bottles
Zomg. Finally dmf is on tapatalk. Finally
The Irish Ale has turned out great, http://www.brewerschoice.com.au/images/stories/recipes/beer_recipes/maltsters%20shovel%20amber%20ale.pdf unfortunately it's too damn hot to be doing any brewing for the next couple of months.
(I'm too tight to build a cooler)
I brewed a pumpkin ale and let it ferment at 90+. And everyone I gave it to loves it, soooooooo........
Quote from: brimo on January 01, 2012, 09:54:51 PM
The Irish Ale has turned out great, http://www.brewerschoice.com.au/images/stories/recipes/beer_recipes/maltsters%20shovel%20amber%20ale.pdf unfortunately it's too damn hot to be doing any brewing for the next couple of months.
(I'm too tight to build a cooler)
Saison. 'nough said.
I ferment my cider in a bathroom closet that is always cool. It's got a plumbing panel for the tub, but it also keeps it cool since it opens directly to the crawlspace. Even on 90º days in the summer it's usually around 65º in the bottom of that closet.
JM
That all grain gallon kit looks pretty awesome. I have been doing extract brewing for a little while and this seems like a great way to get a hold of the all grain process without the hard part of the volume. Of course a gallon of beer goes pretty quick so I'm sure it would be a short step.
I've kicked around the idea of doing some 1 gallon batches just to try new beers. Seems like the brew day would be a lot shorter than it is now just for the fact of staying inside the house and having running water available...
My girlfriend and I will be doing 1 gallon batches come our harvest of hops. We have 3 different ones going, so we should probably do a 3 gallon batch and split it, but I think the idea of having a tiny all grain sculpture on counter with a mini chiller would be funny as hell, so I'm gonna build it.
Moving my batch of cider I started in October to bottles finally!
JM
That's a long fermentation!
also:
Bubble bubble (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvOGHoybjOs&feature=plcp&context=C31f0ae7UDOEgsToPDskKI_k0I3eaL_asK7x9yDZgi#)
IPA fermentation got out of hand today, luckily I caught it before it blew up everywhere. Still some hop residue in the airlock, but sanitizer and hops won't hurt anything.
Lucky.
I luckily had gottan a free stand up fridge for my first blow out. Clogged the airlock, blew it and the krausen out, painting the entire fridge with yeast / hop material.
I have a 3 piece that had cracked so I permanently attached a hose and snag an empty juice container, milk jug the week I brew. I have thought about harvesting the yeast....
I think the reason I caught it was the fact that I'm fermenting in a winpak container and it can swell quite a bit. If it were one of my carboys, it would have blown quite a bit earlier
How come Tht happens and how can you prevent it?
Vigorous fermentation. When you put the wort in the container and pitch your yeast, it farts out co2 (which is why we put airlocks on instead of sealing the container) and also creates of foamy layer of.krausen. if you put too much wort in, and don't have enough room for this to take place, it will blow out, which is why folks put a blow off tube. also while fermentation is active, it literally looks like someone is churning it with a stick, and some of the hop debris can get into the airlock and clog it, creating pressure from aforementioned co2 creation, until something fails.
It can be avoided with a blow off tube and a water/juice/milk jug filled with water, or just assuring you dont put too much wort in the fermentation vessel to begin with. I have a tendency to fill my carboys up all the way so I get more beer.
Yea the kit says to do that.. cool..
See, i was really surprised cause the winpak is a 6 gallon container, but actually can hold more like 6.5-7 gallons. The IPA was about 5.5 gallons collected, yet it still went to town.
I decided to take the oppertunity (since I needed to pop the airlock off anyways) to toss in another ounce of hops. mmmmmmmmm
Quote from: Punx Clever on January 02, 2012, 05:51:21 PM
That's a long fermentation!
No kidding. I was hoping it would have been done in time to share for my post-Christmas trip to FL.
The 1/4th of the carboy I didn't get into bottles last night is still lazily bubbling. STOP FERMENTING already!
JM
My ciders usually ferment for a month... what's the gravity at?
Its getting so cold I had to install a heater in my stand up fermentation freezer.
Quote from: Punx Clever on January 03, 2012, 08:19:27 AM
My ciders usually ferment for a month... what's the gravity at?
No idea. I didn't get a hydrometer until Christmas. I've not measured it, but if I did, I don't have a pre-fermentation measurement. According to the instructions, I need that to measure properly.
JM
Quote from: the_Journeyman on January 03, 2012, 02:22:29 PM
No idea. I didn't get a hydrometer until Christmas. I've not measured it, but if I did, I don't have a pre-fermentation measurement. According to the instructions, I need that to measure properly.
JM
I've never done cider however new folks to beer are often told to check final gravity, then check it again in 3 days. If the same, its done fermenting.
Quote from: PhoenixS4R on January 03, 2012, 02:31:08 PM
I've never done cider however new folks to beer are often told to check final gravity, then check it again in 3 days. If the same, its done fermenting.
this.
Only need of to say how much alcohol is present. Cider usually ends around 1.005 for me.
Thanks for the input, I'll check it tomorrow and report back!
JM
First ten gallon batch this weekend. Probably a red ale.
Quote from: Punx Clever on January 03, 2012, 05:54:54 PM
this.
Only need of to say how much alcohol is present. Cider usually ends around 1.005 for me.
Most current batch is 1.005ish.
Prior batch is CRAZY sweet and weighs in a 1.084. I wonder if I've got a stuck ferment or something on that batch that has been fermenting since October.
The only difference? Non-pasteurized (fermenting forever batch) and pasteurized (current batch, fermented about 2 weeks) and is nicely dry and crisp.
JM
Hmmm... does the non-pasteurized batch have preservatives in it? If there is... well, they are doing their job and preserving the juice! I had that problem one time when i didn't read the juice label well enough. Does the stuck batch smell bad? No smell? Have you tried pitching more yeast?
As for the finished one... check it again in a couple days. No movement means keg/bottle it!
Phoenix: Good luck!
I have to get more no-chill fermenters before I do another 10 gallon batch... I have worse clarity with the 10 gal batch that I immersion chilled than I do with no chill. I did learn, however, that engine hoists are great for lifting a keggle full of boiling wort.
Quote from: Punx Clever on January 11, 2012, 06:32:45 PM
Hmmm... does the non-pasteurized batch have preservatives in it? If there is... well, they are doing their job and preserving the juice! I had that problem one time when i didn't read the juice label well enough. Does the stuck batch smell bad? No smell? Have you tried pitching more yeast?
No mention of preservatives on the label, but small and local pressing farm might not label everything right.
The Other batch (finished) will be great, no movement in several days and it's already in 2nd ferment with no issues. looking forward to it!
JM
Things are starting to get serious around here...
(http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/395147_10101083226642058_13735265_64161317_545407174_n.jpg)
Tomorrow, brewing a Scottish 80/-
Just did my first ten gallon batch Taught a buddy how to all grain brew, Irish red ale. Went better then expected. 80% efficiency, both carboys filled.
Coming up soon, English IPA:
(http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/424967_296480273742579_258484890875451_797074_2018117448_n.jpg)
We will be doing an experiment next week, creating a ten gallon batch of something (thoughts?) And splitting the batch in half, pitching the correct amount of yeast into one, and a simple vial of the same yeast (under pitch) in the other.
I am interested to see if the taste buds of my craft beer drinking friends, as well as myself, can pick up the difference.
Gravity should be standard ale, 1.050ish
14lbs of 2 row
1 lb of crystal 60L
2.5 oz of EKG or fuggles at 60
1.5 oz of EKG or fuggles at 30
1 oz at 15
.5 oz at flameout.
Pitch english ale yeast.
I've been brewing and enjoying stouts. I have one ready to goto second ferment. I plan on adding a scotch to it.
I'm guessing that 2 oz. of scotch to 5 gallons of stout should be enough for flavor but not too much to kill off the yaest?
Quote from: Punx Clever on February 05, 2012, 03:05:19 PM
14lbs of 2 row
1 lb of crystal 60L
2.5 oz of EKG or fuggles at 60
1.5 oz of EKG or fuggles at 30
1 oz at 15
.5 oz at flameout.
Pitch english ale yeast.
Possibly. Think I can get away with American 2 row? I plan to buy a sack and have no interest on that much English malt, lol.
Sure, no reason to use Maris Otter if you don't like it.
Hell, you could go to centennial's and cascades if you'd like... make it a real american pale ale :D
Just put down 23 litres of amber ale, http://www.brewerschoice.com.au/recipes/55-beer-kit-recipes/195-malsters-shovel-amber-ale.html drinking the last bottle of the last batch now. (weather is only now starting to get cool enough to brew again).
This winter gonna have a go at all grain brewing.
(http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/3804/img20120303151347.jpg)
[beer]
Not beer, but I have 8 gallons of strawberry wine going at the moment. One of them (yeast aided) has the potential to be really strong. Looking forward to that.
I also bought the ingredients to an American Pale Ale the other day. Once one of my batches of strawberry wine is ready, it's on to some beer!!!!
JM
I was wondering about this thread the other day...
I've got a batch of cider going, a batch of oatmeal stout kegged, a batch of koelsch kegged, a batch of Bavarian hefe kegged, and I'm working down an ESB I brewed a while ago.
All good times
English porter now ready for drinking, just in time for the weekend. [drink]
Quote from: the_Journeyman on June 07, 2012, 06:25:31 PM
Not beer, but I have 8 gallons of strawberry wine going at the moment. One of them (yeast aided) has the potential to be really strong. Looking forward to that.
I also bought the ingredients to an American Pale Ale the other day. Once one of my batches of strawberry wine is ready, it's on to some beer!!!!
JM
Not a lot of success with this year's batch of strawberry wine, somehow developed some really off odours, never had a problem in the past with my many previous batches of fruit wines (mango, mulberry, passionfruit, strawberry), it wasn't salvageable so down the drain, bummer.
May 10th I took my original recipe for Cheating Whore Amber and went super-sized.
It's done bubbling, but with the amount of malt in there, I'm gonna go ahead and let it sit for a while before I rack it over to secondary.
Well, my strawberry wine is STILL fermenting. Been going strong since May 23rd. Bubbles have only slowed down by about a second.
JM
Sampled my current batch of Strawberry Wine. It is coming along nicely. I forgot to take a gravity reading when I made it so I don't know content. However, due to the amount of sugar I used, the particular yeast, and the warm tingly feeling in my belly, I'm gonna say 15%. The fermentation is loosing about a second a day between bubbles (was at 4 seconds between when first started). This particular yeast will die off in the 16-18% range.
JM
Time to bottle! Tastes great too!
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn168/the_journeyman/Brewing%20-%20General/DSC_0001-1200.jpg)
JM
Looks pretty. Through together some pale malt with some cherrywood smoked malt and some leftover hops in the freezer a couple of months ago, turned out so good we're doing it again. Cold crashing as I write this.
That sounds great! I'm getting into beer for the next batch! If that's a relatively simple recipe, feel free to pass along!
JM
The best part of this recipe is it appeals to all of my friends. It's easy drinking enough for the Bud light crowd, but has enough hidden sophistication to impress folks that really dig their beer.
It's an extremely easy recipe. This is for an all grain, 11.5 Gallon batch:
22 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 83.3 %
2 lbs Smoked Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 2 16.7 %
1.00 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 3 21.9 IBUs
1.00 oz Perle [7.10 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 4 11.1 IBUs
1.00 oz Willamette [4.60 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 5 2.6 IBUs
1.00 oz Willamette [4.60 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 6 0.0 IBUs
2.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) [50.28 ml] Yeast 7 -
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.061 SG Measured Original Gravity: 1.062 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.010 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.002 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.7 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 6.8 %
Bitterness: 35.6 IBUs Calories: 206.7 kcal/12oz
Est Color: 5.4 SRM
Mash Profile
Mash Name: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge Total Grain Weight: 24 lbs
Sparge Water: 8.73 gal Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F Tun Temperature: 72.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE Mash PH: 5.20
Mash Steps
Name Description Step Temperature Step Time
Mash In Add 31.64 qt of water at 161.6 F 148.0 F 75 min
Sparge Step: Batch sparge with 4 steps (Drain mash tun, , 2.91gal, 2.91gal, 2.91gal) of 168.0 F water
Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).
If you do extract, swap the base malt with enough light extract to reach gravity and steep the smoked malt, if you do 5 gallon batches, cut everything in half.
Very nice and easy drinking summer beer, the smoke doesn't even come out until you swallow, so it's not in your face. We actually upped the smoked malt to 4 pounds to see what it will do.
Beersmith puts the FG at 1.010, but both times it's finished at 1.002 for us
Lastly, if you have a cold smoker, pick up some 2-row malt and just smoke it yourself with whatever smoke tickles your fancy. The cherrywood smoked stuff isn't cheap
been brewing for 6 years now, im starting a micro brewery, well its in plans of course, but we are currently making really good beer.
i brew ipas, 2ipas, RIS, everything above 1.070
Quote from: monsterjoe on July 04, 2012, 12:48:49 PM
been brewing for 6 years now, im starting a micro brewery, well its in plans of course, but we are currently making really good beer.
i brew ipas, 2ipas, RIS, everything above 1.070
Where are you at?
My brewpub goes live in September :)
2nd batch of strawberry wine. WAY better than the first and it WILL take your legs away very quickly to be a wine.
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn168/the_journeyman/Brewing%20-%20General/SecondBatch-1200.jpg)
JM
Quote from: the_Journeyman on September 24, 2012, 06:54:37 PM
2nd batch of strawberry wine. WAY better than the first and it WILL take your legs away very quickly to be a wine.
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn168/the_journeyman/Brewing%20-%20General/SecondBatch-1200.jpg)
JM
Looks delicious. My next step is "wine" making (wine out of a box is hardly wine, but it tastes like a Merlot and it will get you drunk :)) but for now the brewing will have to suffice.
It looks as though I'm a few years behind the party, but I thought I would add my two cents and see how everyone else has been spending their winter.
My first batch was earlier this year and cost me close to $100! A local "brew shop" (read local odds and ends store that also had ridiculously over priced brewing supplies) was going out of business and seeing as how the beginners kit I bought a few years prior was just gathering dust, I thought I would give it the old college try. The brew actually came out pretty decent (think Irish red with a nice cream finish) but I made the newb mistake of trying to carbonate/condition my bottles in the fridge. Doh. There was a bit of fizz, but not enough really. Did it do the job? Absolutely.
A few assisted brews under my belt, I have 11 gallons worth (3 different batches worth) fermenting in the closet as we speak. The first was a recipe my buddy dubbed "Fiery Blonde". A very light blonde ale with lots of spice and hop flavor, but low alcohol. All his batches had been all grain so he made up an extract recipe for me out of Rye liquid and British Malt liquid with Nugget, Mt Hood, and Cascade hops with adjunct oats.
Long story short it looks like a standard pale ale in the carboy. No "blonde" at all, but everything smells right, so I'm hoping for the best. I got a kegging kit for Christmas this year, so we'll see how everything turns out post carbonation.
The other batch is a bit late for fall drinkability, but I'm making what I hope to call "Blackberry Apple Pie a-la-mode". It SHOULD end up as a blackberry hard apple cider that I plan on "dry hpping" with cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and vanilla steeped in vodka.
The little batch was a half gallon of cider I had left over that I heat up for 5 minutes, threw some brown sugar into to dissolve, pitched yeast, and tossed in the fermenter. Being new to brewing I thought it would be a fun experiment. The big batches are getting force carbonated (maybe one or two bottles of the cider will get bottled. For science) and the little guy will get bottle conditioned and carbonated.
I'm definitely hooked on this "money saving" hobby and after reading through all 25 pages of this thread I'm hoping I'll get some good advice from you more experienced cats and maybe trade a brew or two. Cheers.
[beer]
Just about any fruit (provided it can be had cheaply enough) can be used to make wine, some of mine:
Mango (from my own trees) pretty good quite strong tasting.
Passionfruit (from a neighbour's vine) fermented to a dry finish, nice and refreshing on a hot day.
Strawberry- (storm damaged fruit from a local farm) femented til dry -delicious
Mulberry (from my own trees,) fruity- had one batch that ended up having a secondary fermentation in the bottle-mulberry champagne! that one was excellent.
Rosellas- a disaster, the high pectin level caused it to go a bit thick, tasted nice but a bit like drinking spit, will use some pectinase next time.
Beetroot-pretty ordinary
No beer brewing on at the moment, too warm down in the brew room.
Pear cider from last winter has turned out pretty well.
Czech pilsener good
Ginger beer is a bit powerful
Amber Ale good too, all together a pretty successful brewing time last winter.
Had a bumper crop of apples and pears this year so I decided to try my hand at cider. Have 5 gal of apple in secondary fermentation now - should be about 7.2% Alcohol, gravity is down to 0. Have 5 gal of pear with about 1% of alcohol potential remaining yet and just pressed another 6 gallons worth of apples last night. Trying different yeasts, etc. Should be interesting! Before next year, I'm going to build a grinder out of a stainless steel garbage disposal and a press. I processed all the juice with a countertop juicer - major mess and PITA, but I do have 15+gallons doing its thing. Took a bit of the dry apple cider and am making apple cider vinegar out of it. Just checked it last night and it has a good amount of the vinegar mother so I think that is working well. I might try to do some pear cider vinegar if I have a bit extra.
Quote from: WarrenJ on November 07, 2013, 07:11:49 AM
Had a bumper crop of apples and pears this year so I decided to try my hand at cider. Have 5 gal of apple in secondary fermentation now - should be about 7.2% Alcohol, gravity is down to 0. Have 5 gal of pear with about 1% of alcohol potential remaining yet and just pressed another 6 gallons worth of apples last night. Trying different yeasts, etc. Should be interesting! Before next year, I'm going to build a grinder out of a stainless steel garbage disposal and a press. I processed all the juice with a countertop juicer - major mess and PITA, but I do have 15+gallons doing its thing. Took a bit of the dry apple cider and am making apple cider vinegar out of it. Just checked it last night and it has a good amount of the vinegar mother so I think that is working well. I might try to do some pear cider vinegar if I have a bit extra.
(I'm bringing this back) How did that turn out? We are doing things with apples as well, but none of them involve making drink......yet.
Two of my latest:
(http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/oo118/Speedbag/IMAG0488_zps2bc0dca9.jpg)
(http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/oo118/Speedbag/IMAG0490_zps33f7fd6b.jpg)
Black IPA and a Belgian Wheat Ale. Both my own recipes, and quite tasty.
[drink] [beer] [drink]
Looks good. I wan't some.