Topics

1

Kegging and Bottling / Any advice on priming with Maple Syrup?

« on: March 02, 2010, 05:13:37 PM »

So i have a nut brown ale that will be ready to be bottled very soon. I kinda like the idea of a maple nut brown  A couple of questions before i commit. Will there be a noticeable maple character left to the beer? I have read differing ideas on the amount needed to bottle a 5 gallon batch anywhere from 1 cup to 1 1/2 cups...

Any advice would be helpful. Thanks in advance !

Jason

2

Yeast and Fermentation / Bourbon added to secondary

« on: February 11, 2010, 12:45:55 AM »

So i am making a bourbon barrel porter, aged with oak cubes and straight bourbon (2oz cubes and 14 oz makers mark). My question is, will the addition of the bourbon kill off/weaken the yeast enough to be concerned with bottle conditioning? I saved the yeast cake and it is in the refrigerator. Should i add some yeast back before bottling or am i being overly worrisome?

3

Other Fermentables / Thinking of making a cider

« on: February 07, 2010, 01:07:18 PM »

My question is what is the difference between a common cider and an english cider? What style is a Strongbow? I'm assuming its the english style, but i dont really know.

4

Yeast and Fermentation / Leaving thermometer in carboy

« on: January 15, 2010, 03:24:37 PM »

Is it a bad idea to leave a sanitized thermostat probe dangling down into my carboy while my beer ferments? I would like to just be able to turn it on and know what the fermentation temps are. I wonder if this will cause a seal problem with my blow off tube / airlock... Was wondering if anyone had thoughts on it.

5

General Homebrew Discussion / Cleaning carboys

« on: January 06, 2010, 04:21:51 PM »

So i was trying to clean the scum that the krausen left around the top ring of my carboy and was having some trouble figuring out a good way to scrub around there. It was at such a weird angle i couldnt clean it well enough with a wire brush so i started to do some brain storming.

 That is when i got the idea to buy some of that aquarium gravel and put some of that in the carboy with just enough water to swish it around. I then just capped the opening with my hand and swirled the gravel around and BAM! clean as a whistle. I was so excited i thought i might share with you all. I probably am not the first person to think of this but figured it might help someone else out as well. 

6

Yeast and Fermentation / worried my fermentation may be stuck early

« on: December 15, 2009, 04:00:57 PM »

In my first attempt in all grain brewing i made an IPA. the OG was  1.050 and currently the gravity is at 1.020. the last time checked, which was 4-6 days ago it was also at 1.020. Isnt the gravity too high to be finished yet? I'm worried i may have ruined my first batch of all grain beer 

Any help would be appreciated.

Jason

7

Yeast and Fermentation / Using extra wort as a starter?

« on: December 02, 2009, 04:10:35 PM »

Hello all, new to homebrewing. Based on an over estimate when doing my sparging, i now have about 3/4 of an extra gallon of wort at about 1.050 OG. Can i use this to make starters if i freeze/refrigerate it. After doing some reading everywhere else has you use DME to make the wort for a starter. Just wondering if i can use my extra wort, i feel bad just dumping it out.

Thanks in advance,

Jason