Topics

1

Equipment and Software / Fred Francis from Monster Mills....???

« on: November 27, 2012, 08:52:23 am »

Does anyone know him?  I sent him my three roll malt mill for repairs 4 months ago and now he won't return my calls.  I hope there is a good explanation for him not to return my calls.  I really thought he was reputable.

2

Ingredients / Raw Wheat vs. Flaked Wheat.....

« on: September 28, 2011, 01:02:58 pm »

Wanted to brew a clone of the Bruery Black Orchade and it calls for 5 pounds of Flaked Wheat.  I have Raw wheat instead.  Can I use this with similar or prehaps better results?

Would I just mash it along with the Pilsner and Malted Oats?  How fine should I grind this?  Does it require special mash schedule such as a Decoction or will a single infusion mash do the trick to convert it?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!!

Richie

3

Yeast and Fermentation / My BDG is Hot!!!!

« on: May 26, 2011, 08:02:45 am »

I brewed an Artisanal version of a Biere De Garde as per Markowski's Farmhouse Ales.  Followed the recipe as per the book, also followed the mash schedule for a fermentable wort as per the book and I used the following yeast...

Wyeast 3725-PC Bier de Garde Yeast
Beer Styles: Saison, Biere de Garde, Belgian Blonde Ale, Belgian Pale Ale, Belgian Golden Strong Ale
Profile: Low to moderate ester production with subtle spiciness. Malty and full on the palate with initial sweetness. Finishes dry and slightly tart. Ferments well with no sluggishness.

Alc. Tolerance 12% ABV 
Flocculation     low
Attenuation      74-79%             
Temp. Range   70-84°F (21-29°C)

The beer went from OG 1.081 to FG 1.011.  It looks great, smells great even tastes great at first but it finishes hot with fusels!!  This is usually a yeast by product when fermenting too warm but this yeast temp tolerances are from 70 to 84 and I fermented at 70 degrees ambient temperature.  I would have thought that wouldn't have been a problem but now my beer is hot with fusels.  This is frustrating to say the least.  Any idea what culd have happened here?  If this beer salvageable?  Will the heat subside over time??

Richie

4

Ingredients / Golden Naked Oats vs. Flaked Oats

« on: April 18, 2011, 05:06:34 pm »

Are they totally different?  I was thinking of subbing GNO for Flaked Oats.

Any thoughts?

Richie

5

Equipment and Software / Sturdy Equipment.....

« on: April 07, 2011, 04:09:20 am »

Has anyone here bought anything from these guys.  They've been advertising in Zymurgy for a few months now but their website is quite limited on information.  Was interested in their conical germenter but no real pictures or prices.

http://sturdyequipment.com/v1/index.php

Richie

6

Kegging and Bottling / Bottle Priming Calculators and my Heffe

« on: April 05, 2011, 02:24:36 pm »

I brewed a German Style Heffeweizen Beer.

After two week in the primary I decided to bottle today.  I fermented the beer at around 64 degrees.  The beer going into bottling bucket was already quite carbonated however the Bottle Priming calculator on BeerSmith and on Tastybrew.com called for the beer to be primed with 8.8 oz of priming sugar.  It was a 5.5 gallon batch of beer and it was around 64 degree.  OG 1.056 FG 1.013.  Tasted and smelled great almost as it was.  As I was siphoning into the bottling bucket the last gallong wouldn't siphon.  I had to pump my auto-siphon till I got the rest of it in the bucket which leads me to believe I may have oxydized the crap out it already.

So here are my fears.....

1) Over CO2ing the beer.  The guide lines for German Heffe CO2 levels is in the high threes and low fours volumes.  As I said before the beer seems like it already had quite a bit of CO2 in it already.  So much so that when I was pumping the auto-siphon it created a thick head in the bottling bucket.

2) Oxydation.  I'm afraid that having to pump the last gallong or less of beer into my bottling bucket I may have introduced too much O@ into the beer.  My only hope is that the yeast will scavenge the O@ as it primes and conditions the beer over the next week or two.

Has anyone here had a similar experience?

Thanks for any replies to this post.

Richie

7

General Homebrew Discussion / Late additions to a hefeweisen...??

« on: March 23, 2011, 10:11:05 am »

I'm brewing a hefeweisenat the moment and I usd.3 oz of Sorachi Ace (4.9 AA) for min as a bitering charge (og 1.045).  Thinking of adding .4 oz of Sorachi at 15 min.  Does anyone else use latadditions in theit hefes?

8

All Grain Brewing / 10 gal polarware as a mash tun....

« on: March 22, 2011, 05:11:29 am »

Anyone use one?  I have one but I have only used it as a brew kettle.  There is a bout 1 gallon of water under the false bottom. 

If I want say to mash 14 pounds of grain at 1.33qt/pound of grain do I calculate water needed and then add an aditional gallon of water to ensure the proper consitency?  Seems pretty logical to me but I was wondering what every one else's thought was on this and also if there were others using this type of mash tun is this what you do.

Thanks,

Richie

9

All Grain Brewing / Adjunct Mash

« on: March 21, 2011, 04:52:53 pm »

Randy Mosher talks aboiut doing an adjuct mash when using ingredients like raw wheat and oats for his wit.  He suggest using 6-row malt for this.  If I don't have 6-row will 2 row be good enough? 

Richie

10

Kegging and Bottling / 750 ml bottle venders.....??

« on: March 17, 2011, 05:54:44 am »

Does anyone have a lead where I can get 750 ml bottle at a good price?  I need about 3 or 400 of the and $26.00 for a case of 12 is a bit steep>  There has to be a better priced vender than the LHBS.

Any info is greatly appreciated.

Richie

11

General Homebrew Discussion / $17.00 an entry??

« on: December 16, 2010, 06:55:22 pm »

A comp in Brooklyn, NY mentioned in the new issue of BYO requires $17.00 per entry.  Isn't that a bit steep??  Thos most I've ever seen is $7.00 per entry.

Richie

12

General Homebrew Discussion / Transfering to a barrel.....

« on: December 14, 2010, 07:11:03 pm »

I want to transfer my Flanders Red into the barrel before it ferments all they way out so I can leave some fermentables for the Roselare Blend to do its thing over the course of a year.  However if I do that will it leave a bit of a yeast cake at the bottom of the barrel (I know it will) and if so will that yeast die and cause an adverse effect / off flavors due to autolysis??

My fermenters at the moment have quite a bit of krausen still on top.  If I know how to add pictures to this I would show you. I brewed five gallons on Thursday and pitched it with Roselare Blend alone.  Then I have two other carboys with 5 and 6 gallons repectively that were brewed on Friday and those were pitched with WLP-001.  

My barrel is wetted, sanitised and in all respects ready to recieve this beer.  Just wondering if I should wait a few more days.

If you know how to add photos to this post let me know.  

Thanks for your replies.


Richie

13

General Homebrew Discussion / mash thickness

« on: December 08, 2010, 01:23:30 pm »

How much will the effeciency of a mash be effected at 1.0 qt's per pound of grain vs. 1.25 qts per pound of grain vs. 1.33 qts per pound vs 1.5 qts per pound of grain.......

My mash tun size restrictions are a bit of a pain in the a$$ for me at the moment.

Thanks for your replies!!

Richie

14

Yeast and Fermentation / Roselare Question...

« on: December 05, 2010, 08:01:18 pm »

I will be aging 15 gallons of Flanders Red in an Oak Barrel using the Wyeast Roselare Blend (don't recall the number). 

My question:  I plan on fermenting this beer with Wlp 001 and about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way I plan on transferring to the Oak Barrel and then pitching the Roselare Blend and age for a year.  I have 2 smack packs of this strain, is it enough for 15 gallons or should I make a starter?  Is two packs enough since I plan on leaving it in there for a year?  Will it eventually still do the job?

I have made this before using a 5 gallon barrel and I use one smack pack and after a year it worked out great.  I was hoping  two packs would be enough.

Another side question...

Say after a year I only bottle 10 gallons and leave 5 gallons in there, will I be able to brew 10 gallons of Flanders and top up the barrel and let age for a year without any ill effects?  I was wondering if the barrel needs to be emptied and cleaned out after a long aging period or can it perpetually be used year after year as I just described?

Thanks for everyone's replies!!

Cheers,

Richie

15

Wood/Casks / Souring in a Whiskey Cured Barrel???

« on: December 03, 2010, 06:36:57 am »

Gents,

I just purchased one of these because I want to age a Fladers Red in it. I'm a bit concerned with the whiskey essensce that will probably leach out into the beer. This may be really good in a porter or stout but what do you guys thing regarding how it will effect the Flanders Red Sour Ale?? I still might go the Imperial Porter/Stout way but I really wanted to do the sour and age it for about a year. I have a 5 gal oak barrel that I have used in the past with great results but it was new and not whiskey cured.

http://stores.intuitwebsites.com/TuthilltownSpirits/-strse-107/Whiskey-Cured-Barrel%2C-15/Detail.bok

Thanks for your thoughts.

Richie