|
Quoted:
Quoted:So how does the hive add fruit to a recipe?
Thanks Any fruit additions I ever made went into the secondary fermentation. The recipe calls for puree. Dump it in your secondary and rack on top of it. Thanks, my copy of Brewing Classic Styles arrived, and I've (finally) had some time to read through it. I was concerned with contamination issues and something about pectins giving an off flavor to the beer. I guess it's not as much of an issue as I thought (being new, I don't know which details require extra attention yet). There are plenty of other stouts in there for me to try and brew, so I'll worry about this one later. I've got a partial mash lager that I'm going to brew next while it's still cool, then maybe a porter. |
|
Have three carboys of stuff coming out of secondary this Saturday. It is the first time I have tried home roasting barley to get some color/malt flavor from 2-row. Worked pretty good, aimed for 60L brown color and got pretty close from how it looks. Followed this article for the roasting; http://barleypopmaker.info/2009/12/08/home-roasting-your-malts/ Made the kitchen smell GREAT!! I made 2lbs of "home 60L" and had no problems with getting it dry. Final stage roasting was just on cookie sheets. I know, specialty grains are not that expensive, just an experiment to see how it worked. Started with 20# 2-row, 1.5# of home roast, 90 min at 152 and 2oz of leaf Hallertau for 60 and a then a 2L starter of some US-05. It makes a real mild cream ale that even my wife likes. Usually make it golden, this time it is NewCastleBrown color. It is at 5.4 abv, great hallertau smell and just off clear.  I also took 1 gallon of the cream ale wort and the rest of a 6g better bottle of cheap Aldis Apple Juice, 2lb of corn sugar, some yeast nutrient and made a Graff attempt. The color is darker than any apple based bev I have made, that home roast working. Hit with a quart starter of washed nottingham/apple juice. It is dropped out crystal clear now, hazel brown and 8.1abv. That surprised me a bit. Several other batches of bumped Nottingham cider have went to 7.5 and quit. No matter, it is pretty good right now. I will put the Graff in bombers and the Dark Cream in 12s. I know you keggers are itchin to tell me how much you hate bottles right now  .......... resist. |
|
I just put an American Ale on the boil. My pipeline got all clogged up with lagers, well lagering.  Lots of beer for summer, but running out of stuff to enjoy in the present time. 
I'm going out and buy 100 lbs of base malt this week. Word is, it's going to sky rocket along with the other grains. 
|
|
Quoted:
Have three carboys of stuff coming out of secondary this Saturday. It is the first time I have tried home roasting barley to get some color/malt flavor from 2-row. Worked pretty good, aimed for 60L brown color and got pretty close from how it looks. Followed this article for the roasting; http://barleypopmaker.info/2009/12/08/home-roasting-your-malts/ Made the kitchen smell GREAT!! I made 2lbs of "home 60L" and had no problems with getting it dry. Final stage roasting was just on cookie sheets. I know, specialty grains are not that expensive, just an experiment to see how it worked. Started with 20# 2-row, 1.5# of home roast, 90 min at 152 and 2oz of leaf Hallertau for 60 and a then a 2L starter of some US-05. It makes a real mild cream ale that even my wife likes. Usually make it golden, this time it is NewCastleBrown color. It is at 5.4 abv, great hallertau smell and just off clear.
I also took 1 gallon of the cream ale wort and the rest of a 6g better bottle of cheap Aldis Apple Juice, 2lb of corn sugar, some yeast nutrient and made a Graff attempt. The color is darker than any apple based bev I have made, that home roast working. Hit with a quart starter of washed nottingham/apple juice. It is dropped out crystal clear now, hazel brown and 8.1abv. That surprised me a bit. Several other batches of bumped Nottingham cider have went to 7.5 and quit. No matter, it is pretty good right now.
I will put the Graff in bombers and the Dark Cream in 12s. I know you keggers are itchin to tell me how much you hate bottles right now .......... resist.
I find this very interesting even though I haven't gone past extract brewing at this point. My son has a friend whose family malts and roasts their own barley. This kid (the one who is my son's age) even entered the malted barley in the high school science fair––he made some charts & tables to show how different methods of roasting would equate to different amounts of sugar (and thus alcohol, but he left this part out). I keep telling my friend, who is into AG brewing, that when he finally converts me over to AG, I'll have him malting his own barley 
I am also intrigued by the recipe for Graff, I have hard cider on my list of things to brew, but I haven't looked for cider lately (we have trees but no apples last year  ), with all the Amish orchards one valley over, I should be able to find some though.
I guess I'd better get another carboy or two so I can ferment more batches than just one at a time. |
|
I put in a batch of Apfelwein from EdWort's recipe, except that I put in a little bit of pomegranate juice (whose base is apple and grape juice), which made it more of a Rose wine in color. I also subbed the yeast in the recipe for Red Star Champagne yeast. Oh, and used brown sugar instead of corn sugar. Now that I think about it, I guess I didn't follow the recipe at all. I'm on week two of bubblin', got a few more to go, and then backsweeten to taste, maybe put in some cinnamon for a more rounded apple flavor and then (hopefully) enjoy.
I made 5 gallons of a Reddish APA/IPA yesterday that is happily bubbling. I'm taking the opportunity for downtime to break down and clean all of my corny kegs to get ready for spring. Rob |
|
Quoted:
Just dropped the wort chiller in my last Pils a few minutes ago. Got to make as much use of my lager yeast as possible. I just brewed my first partial mash lager recipe today and a friend made a yeast starter for me; I have the wort fermenting in my keezer at 40 degrees (and I finally have the fan wired so that it runs with the compressor) just waiting for the bubbles to start. Here's to a good lager in a couple months!
I also made a porter today; I used some of the yeast (Nottingham) from my Amber ale that I just took off a secondary and kegged yesterday to make a starter just to see if it would work. Not trusting myself with starters, especially with yeast from a secondary, I threw in the Nottingham that came with the kit just to be sure. You guys were right about some of these kits, not sure how long the extract was in the can. Austin homebrew supply or Morebeer.com is gonna get my business for my next extract ingredients. |
|
Quoted:
You guys were right about some of these kits, not sure how long the extract was in the can. Austin homebrew supply or Morebeer.com is gonna get my business for my next extract ingredients. The canned extract will keep (how long, I don't know). If you buy extract kits from AHS, you'll get fresh extract in plastic pails. But it won't keep very long since it's not canned. So you don't want to order a kit and let it sit around. |
|
Quoted:
But it won't keep very long since it's not canned. So you don't want to order a kit and let it sit around. Yeah, I'm torn between buying in volume for three of my anticipated brews (the Kolsch mentioned here, a Dortmunder style lager, and a Porter) since they all use the same two base extracts, or getting the extract one batch at a time. I did notice that MoreBeer.com shows their extract packed in what looks like aluminum/mylar(?) bags––not sure if that's reality or not. I may order from them just to find out. I do have a dark, cool spot that's 52 deg with no daily variation in temp to store it in if I were to get extra. But either way, I'm buying the ingredients to make a recipe––no more kits. My Porter is happily bubbling away in the better bottle  My lager is causing me some concern. I think I had it too cool––40deg in my keezer––it's now in a 52 deg spot, but still no bubbles. The yeast is multiplying in the sample flask it have beside it, but I was hoping to see some action in the airlock of the primary fermenter.
What's the consensus on how long I have to re-pitch the yeast? I'll measure the SG tonight (which is about 48 hours after I pitched the yeast and capped it) to see if it's changing, hopefully it is. |
|
Quoted: My lager is causing me some concern. I think I had it too cool
––40deg in my keezer––it's now in a 52 deg spot, but still no bubbles. The yeast is multiplying in the sample flask it have beside it, but I was hoping to see some action in the airlock of the primary fermenter.
What's the consensus on how long I have to re-pitch the yeast? I'll measure the SG tonight (which is about 48 hours after I pitched the yeast and capped it) to see if it's changing, hopefully it is. 40* is a bit too cold even for most lager strains. It should perk up at 52*, depending on the strain and how how big of a starter you pitched. Lagers take a pretty big yeast cell count. Even for a 1.040 ish lager, I have to use 1.5 packets of dry lager yeast. Using liquids, you usually have to step up your starter a couple of times to get the proper pitch rate. Once you get this one finished, you can wash it and pitch a lot of slurry in the next batch.
|
Thanks Waldo. My lager was bubbling gently this morning when I left for work. Temp is right around 53*. I did (have a friend) make a starter for me for this one, but it wasn't stepped up––just an 800ml starter from Wyeast Octoberfest yeast. After listening the the Brewers Network Radio podcasts, I'd have made it bigger. I can get 1500ml bottles from work that had/have sterile water in them. I'd make a starter in one of these instead of 1 litre flask.
I don't suppose you––or anyone––could link to, or describe how you make your starters? I've read How to Brew, and listened to a few podcasts, I suppose I just need to try it. Do you shoot for a certain SG of your starter wort? I guess another question is how do you split it––or know when to? This is the most fun I've had since I got into reloading
Thanks! Oh yeah, to the hive in general: I ordered 4 corny kegs from SABCO They came yesterday. They were shiny on the outside and all 4 were under pressure when they arrived. They were the only ones I have received that came under pressure. Only two had a few small dings in them. I've nothing in it, but look them up if you need some. |
|
Quoted:
I don't suppose you––or anyone––could link to, or describe how you make your starters? I've read How to Brew, and listened to a few podcasts, I suppose I just need to try it. Do you shoot for a certain SG of your starter wort? I guess another question is how do you split it––or know when to? . http://www.mrmalty.com/starter_faq.htm BTW, I hate making starters and use dry yeast even for my lagers, then wash-reuse. The only time I use liquid is when I need something special that just isn't available in dry form. I don't make much in the way of "big" beers either. An IPA is about as high of a gravity beer as I'll ever make. Just really don't care for them. |
|
That was a good read. I had the pitching rate calc bookmarked, but must have followed a link cause I didn't know the rest of the site had all that info on it. My lager, which started out at 1.062, finished out at 1.010 after about 9-10 days. I'm going to put it in my keezer this weekend and (Try!) to forget about it for a month, not sure if I'm going to put in my glass carboy for few weeks, or just a keg to lager. My Porter will get racked to a keg and carbonated this weekend too. It's got a really nice bed of Nottingham yeast under too, I'm not sure I trust my self to washing and making a starter with it to repitch in the Stout I want to brew next. Since I do have dry yeast on hand, I may just try making a starter and if I don't like it, I can always pitch the dry yeast I have. Edited: Hey Postban; How do you like that Safale US-05? I have some in the fridge and I'm thinking I might use that in the Stout I want to brew––the recipe calls for either Nottingham or the US-05 . Any experience with this yeast in a Stout? Thanks |
|
Quoted:
[I'm not sure I trust my self to washing and making a starter with it to repitch in the Stout I want to brew next. For me, tossing a Stout wort on top of an old Porter yeast cake is the easiest thing I could do. No need to wash the yeast. I've gone about 5 batches from 1 pitch and never had an issue. (So long as you're running a clean setup) They say the yeast mutates after a while. Even at batch 5, I wasn't tasting anything funny and the outcome was a damn fine product. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
[I'm not sure I trust myself to washing and making a starter with it to repitch in the Stout I want to brew next. For me, tossing a Stout wort on top of an old Porter yeast cake is the easiest thing I could do. No need to wash the yeast. I've gone about 5 batches from 1 pitch and never had an issue. (So long as you're running a clean setup) They say the yeast mutates after a while. Even at batch 5, I wasn't tasting anything funny and the outcome was a damn fine product. Hmmm, there's a thought, I know that used to be SOP for breweries, but I didn't know the technique was being used anymore (still a lot to learn). From what I've read and listened to via podcasts the yeast (when its washed and re-grown in a starter) gets better for the first three uses then starts to go the other way. You say you're at five pitches on the yeast cake and still going––so that's even better. I work in an OR (operating room) and I'm pretty obsessive about keeping things clean, so I don't see a problem there. So you don't don't find off flavors from left over hops and whatever yeast byproducts are in with the yeast cake; what about from autolysis from multiple yeast generations? Edited: grammar |
|
OK, I'm in! I've got 4 pints of boiled and canned water water cooling. I'm going to wash the yeast from the Porter and put it in jars as per the Beersmith sticky I found. And, because I have it and want to try it, I'm going to put the Safale US-05 in the Stout––and harvest it when I'm done too!
As far as the hops go, I'm no hop head, but I do like the Burning River that Great Lakes Brewery makes––so from you guys point of view maybe there's hope for me yet 
|
Don't worry. You'll convert eventually. I know Waldo is getting closer to fullfilling his brewing destiny and going hopwild. He just doesn't know it yet. It's progressive. 
I knew a guy who didn't like IPAs. He swore by Kolsch's. He even bashed one of my Imperials because it tasted faaaar too bitter. Said it was unbalanced. I coulda and shoulda slapped him down. That was a few years ago. He's now all about getting bombers of stuff like Hopapocalypse and DFH 90, etc. Hop up a Stout or a Porter combined with a high AC and go long term storage and you'll have an unbeatable brew. IMO |
|
Quoted:
Don't worry. You'll convert eventually. I know Waldo is getting closer to fullfilling his brewing destiny and going hopwild. He just doesn't know it yet. It's progressive. I've actually gone the other way a bit. When I first started 90% of what I brewed was IPA. I spent the winter making different Lagers and Pils and kind of enjoy the end products. I still make the DFH 60 minute clone, but not as much as in the past. |
|
Quoted:
Don't worry. You'll convert eventually. . . . . It's progressive. And here I thought my destiny was to be die hard all grain brewer! I didn't know that conversation to a hop head was part of the bargain
I now have four pints of Nottingham yeast in the fridge. I had more beer left in the bottom of the better bottle than I thought I would, so the yeast are mostly in a robust porter not boiled water. Is this a problem; should I wash it again with sterile water? I'll see how much falls out by morning and see how clear the pints look. I racked the Porter to a keg tonight, and put some CO2 on it. I'll give it a few weeks to settle before I carbonate it to drink. I'll do the same to my Lager this weekend.
|
|
anyone considering making home shine?
www.moonshine-still.com all the info for tax stamps, legality of making up to10k gallons per annum etc..and Bio Gas of course... CHEF is seriously looking into this and bio diesel as well.. |
|
Quoted:
anyone considering making home shine? www.moonshine-still.com all the info for tax stamps, legality of making up to10k gallons per annum etc..and Bio Gas of course... CHEF is seriously looking into this and bio diesel as well.. To my knowledge, home distillation of alcohol for consumption is illegal. That said, I do know of people who do it, and I've tasted their results. Not bad at all! K |
|
Free Shipping on Orders Over $50!
visit us at www.homebrewers.com Coupon Code 55687 * HomeBrewers.com * Expires at midnight on Thursday, March 31 * Offer only valid in the contiguous United States Here's an email I received, I thought I'd throw this out there in case anyone is sending an order out soon. I've done business with them and recommend them. I had a pressure relief valve leaking on my corny keg, and I didn't know which valve parts to buy as I didn't see anything on their website that was similar to mine. I called them up talked with a guy named Steve; he sent me a whole new lid w/ gasket––free! That's customer service
|
|
Quoted: Well I filled a carboy with 4 1/2 gallons of apple juice,1 1/2 pounds of light brown sugar,.package of Monchat yeast and a table spoon of yeast notrient..Hopefully this makes some booze It will but will also make a lot of sulphur stink unless you add 3-4 more TBSP yeast nutrient. |
|
Quoted:
For me, tossing a Stout wort on top of an old Porter yeast cake is the easiest thing I could do. Monday I brewed the foreign extra stout from Brewing Classic Styles. And, I should have tried this instead of picking now to try and harvest yeast Not much krausen after 48 hours , and minimal bubbling. I know that doesn't correlate to what actual fermentation is taking place, but I was hoping for something more active. The yeast I pitched was rehydrated Safale US-05
However, after racking my lager to a corny keg, I managed to harvest 12 ounces of Wyeast Octoberfest yeast from it I may just make another lager instead of a light beer. On that note, what's the hive's thoughts on this––brewing the Kolsch that was mentioned in a previous post and using my lager yeast instead of the kolsch yeast in the recipe? The Wyeast Kolsch yeast is a pseudo lager anyways and I have the cool(er) area––56*––to ferment it in. I'm still trying to come up with a homebrew that the Mrs likes.
Thoughts / Insight? |
|
Quoted:.......snip...... I'm still trying to come up with a homebrew that the Mrs likes. Thoughts / Insight? Try a simple cream ale, 5g batch is 6-7lbs LME, mash 1lb of any L up to 60 for color and 1oz Hallertau or Saaz at 60, makes a 5-6% abv beer that is what my Wife calls "her beer". I use a little bitter orange peel and coriander too. All grain would be 10lb 2-row instead of the LME. If they don't like that just give up and buy them Sam Adams Light, at least you can reuse the bottles |
|
Quoted:
However, after racking my lager to a corny keg, I managed to harvest 12 ounces of Wyeast Octoberfest yeast from it I may just make another lager instead of a light beer. On that note, what's the hive's thoughts on this––brewing the Kolsch that was mentioned in a previous post and using my lager yeast instead of the kolsch yeast in the recipe? The Wyeast Kolsch yeast is a pseudo lager anyways and I have the cool(er) area––56*––to ferment it in. I'm still trying to come up with a homebrew that the Mrs likes.
Thoughts / Insight? I'd be leary of trying to get a kolsch from an o'fest yeast. A kolsch recipe w/ an o'fest beer will give a nice beer I think, but not a kolsch! O'fest will tend towards a more malty profile than the clean, crisp bitterness of a kolsch. Doesn't hurt to try though, just don't expect a kolsch! K |
|
Ok... Here is the story.. I bought some LALVIN EC-1118 yeast from the local brew store. (fast acting yeast) It fermented very fast its now on day 12. No warning about the smell... I used 5 gallons of Tree Top Apple Juice... starting gravity of 1.05 (didnt take abv into account: I see now I should have added sugar) I just tested the gravity today and its at 1.005 If I calculate this properly? (1.05 - 1.005)129 = 5.805 abv ? So a couple of questions. Do I just wait for the ABV to go up? (I would prefer higher) Its now bubbling much much slower only about 1 time per 5-10 sec. Then how do I back sweeten and carbonate? As simple as possible would be appreciated. (I am a complete novice). Taste tested after gravity and it tasted a bit like a cheap white wine, but with an apple flavor. also with a bit of smell any advice greatly appreciated. in hall closet  taste test  |
|
––-Try a simple cream ale, 5g batch is 6-7lbs LME, mash 1lb of any L up to 60 for color and 1oz Hallertau or Saaz at 60, makes a 5-6% abv beer that is what my Wife calls "her beer". I use a little bitter orange peel and coriander too.
All grain would be 10lb 2-row instead of the LME. If they don't like that just give up and buy them Sam Adams Light, at least you can reuse the bottles––fm Postban ––-I'd be leary of trying to get a kolsch from an o'fest yeast. A kolsch recipe w/ an o'fest beer will give a nice beer I think, but not a kolsch! O'fest will tend towards a more malty profile than the clean, crisp bitterness of a kolsch. Doesn't hurt to try though, just don't expect a kolsch! K––fm kmmuellr Thanks guys for the input. The ale recipe looks close to what I had in mind the first time, but what I brewed was from a kit and came out darker than I thought. I'm still learning yeasts , so if I decide on a kolsch I'll get the proper yeast. I'm still trying to figure out hops too, I have an ounce of East Kent Goldings that's 7.2% AA; I may throw that in if it's not too out of line. |
|
Quoted: Check your abv calc here http://www.rooftopbrew.net/abv_calculator.php.. I just tested the gravity today and its at 1.005 If I calculate this properly? (1.05 - 1.005)129 = 5.805 abv ? ... The current taste you describe is how I would too If you let it continue it should go all the way dry to .980, which will get you more alcohol but take every bit of the apple out of it. It will be about like beer power. That Champagne yeast will do that. It will continue to bubble slower and slower. Also it will come right back to vigorous fermentation if you add more sugar to it. You can still bump it and add yeast nutrient and oak if you want. A 5lb bag of sugar will give you a 25-30 point bump but will take up 1/2 gallon of space when dissolved in. Backsweeten and carbonate in bottles is not possible with that champagne yeast. Any sugar you add will rev up the yeast to eat more, bring up the abv/CO2 which will bring it back down to dry and very carbonated, a super foamy virtually unpourable level. Use a 2lb bump, yeast nutrient and Nottingham yeast next batch and it will stay sweeeter If you are a kegger it is easy, kill the yeast with Campden Tablets, one per gallon, sweeten to your taste, keg it and pressurize. The sulphur smell/gas can be driven off, use a "wine whip" and it will degas it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SN6PH20jBik I made one out of a plastic clothes hanger, cut it and formed a small bend on one end with a torch, have used that ever since for CO2/sulphur degassing.  |
Sliding on in here, been homebrewing since 1984, currently have a 3 gal batch of traditional (mostly) mead going here in the corner. Momma likes her honey wine. I tend to brew sweet still mead but have been known to put up a batch of Cyser or Melomel.
"Relax have a Homebrew" |
|
Quoted: Quoted: Check your abv calc here http://www.rooftopbrew.net/abv_calculator.php.. I just tested the gravity today and its at 1.005 If I calculate this properly? (1.05 - 1.005)129 = 5.805 abv ? ... The current taste you describe is how I would too If you let it continue it should go all the way dry to .980, which will get you more alcohol but take every bit of the apple out of it. It will be about like beer power. That Champagne yeast will do that. It will continue to bubble slower and slower. Also it will come right back to vigorous fermentation if you add more sugar to it. You can still bump it and add yeast nutrient and oak if you want. A 5lb bag of sugar will give you a 25-30 point bump but will take up 1/2 gallon of space when dissolved in. Backsweeten and carbonate in bottles is not possible with that champagne yeast. Any sugar you add will rev up the yeast to eat more, bring up the abv/CO2 which will bring it back down to dry and very carbonated, a super foamy virtually unpourable level. Use a 2lb bump, yeast nutrient and Nottingham yeast next batch and it will stay sweeeter If you are a kegger it is easy, kill the yeast with Campden Tablets, one per gallon, sweeten to your taste, keg it and pressurize. The sulphur smell/gas can be driven off, use a "wine whip" and it will degas it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SN6PH20jBik I made one out of a plastic clothes hanger, cut it and formed a small bend on one end with a torch, have used that ever since for CO2/sulphur degassing. http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f49/postban/th_2011-04-03_08-34-00_908.jpg thanks for the advise.. any experience backsweeting with splenda, saccharin, dextrose etc? |
|
Quoted: Nope. Quoted: Quoted: Check your abv calc here http://www.rooftopbrew.net/abv_calculator.php.. I just tested the gravity today and its at 1.005 If I calculate this properly? (1.05 - 1.005)129 = 5.805 abv ? ... The current taste you describe is how I would too If you let it continue it should go all the way dry to .980, which will get you more alcohol but take every bit of the apple out of it. It will be about like beer power. That Champagne yeast will do that. It will continue to bubble slower and slower. Also it will come right back to vigorous fermentation if you add more sugar to it. You can still bump it and add yeast nutrient and oak if you want. A 5lb bag of sugar will give you a 25-30 point bump but will take up 1/2 gallon of space when dissolved in. Backsweeten and carbonate in bottles is not possible with that champagne yeast. Any sugar you add will rev up the yeast to eat more, bring up the abv/CO2 which will bring it back down to dry and very carbonated, a super foamy virtually unpourable level. Use a 2lb bump, yeast nutrient and Nottingham yeast next batch and it will stay sweeeter If you are a kegger it is easy, kill the yeast with Campden Tablets, one per gallon, sweeten to your taste, keg it and pressurize. The sulphur smell/gas can be driven off, use a "wine whip" and it will degas it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SN6PH20jBik I made one out of a plastic clothes hanger, cut it and formed a small bend on one end with a torch, have used that ever since for CO2/sulphur degassing. http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f49/postban/th_2011-04-03_08-34-00_908.jpg thanks for the advise.. any experience backsweeting with splenda, saccharin, dextrose etc? homebrewtalk.com might be of assistance with them. |