Messages

1

Commercial Beer Reviews / Re: Founders Reds Rye PA

« on: August 24, 2012, 04:53:14 PM »

I love this beer.  Founders has shown up in Vermont this year and so far I have enjoyed everything from them but this is my favorite folowed closely by the centenial IPA.

They also had Bear Republics and Magic Hats rye beers but neither came close to the founders.

The magic hat rye was horrible. If you have a chance to get some don't waste your money and buy the Reds instead 

2

Kegging and Bottling / Re: high alcohol bottling

« on: November 11, 2011, 02:27:29 PM »

So no secondary, generally once you transfer to secondary you have removed so much yeast that it has a hard time finishing up any remaining sugar.

I have to disagree here.  I bottle conditioned for 4 years, and every batch was in secondary for a few weeks.  Yes it went into bottles very clear, but there was still enough yeast to do the job, even for 10 %abv beers.  Never had to add more yeast.

It may be fine most of the time but highly recommend adding yeast at bottling time for high gravity beers.  All it takes is one batch of beer to not carbonate to make it worth the pennies it costs (or free if you use a slurry from a previous batch) to add a little insurance at bottling. This is especially true for beers that have been aged for extended periods in a carboy. 

3

Equipment and Software / Re: Proper Drill for Milling Grain

« on: October 03, 2011, 04:30:06 PM »

After reading these posts and doing some homework, I opted for the 1/2 heavy duty low speed drill from harbor freight in my earlier post.  Drill specs are:
variable speed control from 0 to 550 rpm
double gear reduction motor for increased torque
120 volts, 7.5 amps

Someone mentioned that this may be too much drill... nah... let her rip, lol.  Thanks for your help.  I can't wait to brew a double IPA and mill the grain with this bad boy.

Let her rip indeed.. I use a Milwaukee Hole Hawg... 

  Holy drill...got a little Tim Allen syndrome?     You milling gravel?

4

Equipment and Software / Re: Proper Drill for Milling Grain

« on: September 28, 2011, 05:06:12 PM »

I use a 19V cordless craftsman drill and have no problems as long as I use a fresh battery.  It probably wouldn't make it through the grain bill for ten gallons of barley wine but it makes it through 5 gallon size fine.

I think any good cordless drill will work fine.  I use an 18V Milwaukee drill at work everyday and that thing could easily grind any size batch you need to grind.  The lithium ION batteries work great.  This is of course well over the $100 budget listed by the OP but I felt the need to defend the cordless drill...    Plus you can use it for all sorts of other projects around the house you've been meaning to get to 

The downside is you will loose muscle tone developed over all those years of hand cranking...

5

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Saving the yeast cake

« on: September 28, 2011, 04:51:11 PM »

Like others said saving your yeast means you don't have to buy as much and it acts like a huge starter. 

If I'm going to save it I will leave enough liquid in the fermenter so I can swirl up the yeast cake and pour it into a clean mason jar, put some foil on top and store in the fridge. 

If I want to make a big beer like a barley wine I will brew say a pale ale or IPA and rack the barley wine right on the yeast cake from the IPA.  Not only does this save you from making a starter for the barley wine it provides plenty of yeast to fully ferment a high gravity wort.

6

Kegging and Bottling / Re: bottle carbonating an Imperial IPA??

« on: September 28, 2011, 04:45:50 PM »

With a beer that high in alcohol adding yeast at bottling time is your best bet for carbonation.  I had two batches of duds before I figured it out (thanks to this forum).  My last barley wine at 10.5% was carbonated in a couple weeks and I added I believe a teaspoon of yeast slurry (I may be wrong but I can't find my notes to be sure) at bottling time.

For now I would just wait a little longer

If you still don't carbonate you might want to try is shaking the bottles up a bit to get any yeast in the bottle back in suspension and then let the bottles sit at room temp for several weeks.  I had a scotch ale I did this too that did carbonate eventually but it took over a month.

Be patient and have another homebrew while you're waiting.

7

Extract/Partial Mash Brewing / Re: Full Boil Process ?

« on: June 13, 2011, 02:28:50 PM »

Process looks good except I would not use the late extract method.  With a full boil there really isn't much need to do the late extract method.  You would for sure get better hop utilization but I don't think it would effect the color of your beer much. 

8

Ingredients / Re: Apollo hops

« on: June 12, 2011, 06:36:14 PM »

It's not bad in the flavor camp but with alpha acid levels over 15% they are ideal for bittering.  I've used them in big IPAs and my last barley wine for bittering.  They seem to provide bitterness without a lot of harshness and you can use less of them than pretty much any other hop variety to achieve the bitterness levels you want.  That makes your wort a little less of a hop stew and you loose less wort to the hops. 

I know I didn't really answer your question but I do like these hops for bittering.  The barley wine I brewed with these took 1st place in the local homebrew competition (the apollo hops I used had 19% AA).   

9

Commercial Beer Reviews / Re: Southern Tier

« on: May 14, 2011, 08:05:50 PM »

I am not a fan of Southern Tier beers generally although I actually like the Unearthly.  I find there beers to be thick and syrupy to the point that I find them undrinkable.  I also find their beers to be very unbalanced with an over emphasis on the flavors they are trying to infuse, like chocolate or coffee, and the malt takes a back seat.  I've tried everything I've seen available in VT and aside from the Unearthly I am not very impressed. 

10

Commercial Beer Reviews / Re: Texas Beers

« on: March 25, 2011, 03:58:32 PM »

To bad you didn't get to check out Freetail brewing in San Antonio.  They are a 20 mile cab ride from the riverwalk (that's $50) but well worth it.  There was another brewery Blue Star within walking distance of the riverwalk (about a mile or 2) that had decent beer but they were out of 4 different beers when I went there.

I'm surprised you found that many beers on the riverwalk!

11

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Suggestion for home bar build

« on: February 21, 2011, 04:45:07 PM »

I'm building my bar right now. The way I planned my basement is to have the bar in front of the furnace/mechanical/brewery room. My chest freezer with collar is going in there. My faucets will be in the back wall of the bar with the shanks in an insulated cavity in the wall. That cavity will be attached to the collar of my freezer in the other room. I'm putting a muffin fan in to circulate cold air onto the shanks. I plan on mounting the faucets to a wood panel that is removable for maintenance, cleaning, etc. I don't know if through the wall mounting is an option for you, but it gets that kegerator out of the bar area. Eventually I'll get it done and post pics, but the extra bedroom/bathroom are priority right now with another kid on the way, so it may be a couple months...

Spooky!  I am planning doing the exact same thing. I already have my serving chest freezer/fridge setup in my furnace room, all I plan on doing is drilling a large hole through the wall (cinder block in my case) and maybe circulating some cold water with a cheap pond pump to keep the lines and faucets cool. I had originally planned on using a barrel bottom to attach my taps, but as a friend pointed out, I probably won't have enough room for enough taps. I had planned on 4 taps, but as I am finding out now, 4 may not be enough. I am constantly switching out kegs between the faucets and a pic nic tap or two.

You both have just given me an idea.  Right next to the bar is my garage.  I could put the freezer in the garage and run the lines through the wall!!!  Me likes 

I do have enough room behind the bar to put an upright with taps on the front but I'd have to make it look like the rest of the bar.  Maybe I could frame the fridge with wood to make it match the bar...hmm. 

A decent bar certainly would have influenced my decision in home purchase. Got any pics?

I think I do have some pictures of the original bar (it's gone now).  I'll post some before and after pics when it's done.

12

General Homebrew Discussion / Suggestion for home bar build

« on: February 18, 2011, 06:53:13 PM »

I bought a house about 7 months ago and it had a bar but was in need of updating.  I am in the process of remodeling the bar area and would like some suggestion on where to find good ideas on how to set up a bar for kegs. 

I don't have the money to start kegging now but I want the bar to be keg ready when I can make the switch.  I had planned to use an old chest freezer I have for the kegs but I can't figure out a way to configure the bar so I can access the freezer from the top. All the commercial examples I've seen of home bars have two taps (not enough) on an overpriced under counter fridge. 

Any help would be appreciated.  Pics would be great too 

Cheers.

13

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Price for Rogue Ales

« on: February 18, 2011, 03:34:26 PM »

Rogue is only available in 24 oz bottle here in Vermont...I can't remember the price but I've never found them expensive. 

14

Extract/Partial Mash Brewing / Re: What is the next step to improve my beer?

« on: February 14, 2011, 04:59:21 PM »

Looks like my next step is a Son of Fermentation Chiller or a Water Fermentation Chiller.  I'll also start making some starters because that does not look that difficult.

Scott

Depending on your location you could probably get away with a swamp cooler.  It was suggested to me on this forum and it worked like a charm.  It's also nice because it costs next to nothing.

15

Ingredients / Re: Dry hopping...

« on: February 14, 2011, 04:49:36 PM »

Normally, the hops will fall to the bottom, so I don't need the bag to keep them from going into the keg.

Do you use pellets?  I've never had whole hops fall to the bottom.  They just float.  Pellets on the other hand sink to the bottom.

Usually whole, because most of the dry hopping I do is Am. styles and I tend to use whole hops for those.  But it's not a hard and fast rule...it just depends on which form the hops I want to use are in and which is in the best shape.

In your experience do you see a difference in aroma between pellets and whole hops?