Topics

1

General Homebrew Discussion / Birthday Beer Awesomness

« on: April 26, 2013, 05:12:10 pm »

I missed out on my last 4 birthdays due to training and deployments. My family made up for lost time this year with a new polar ware brew kettle, bayou classic burner and a gift card for my local Home Brew store to load up on the goodies. Anyone else get some awesome home brew equipment for their birthday's this year?

2

Yeast and Fermentation / Funky Cider Smell

« on: March 06, 2013, 07:44:57 pm »

So I had about 2 cups of wildflower honey left over from this summer from a local farm. One of my friends is allergic to gluten which means beer for her is a no no. I realize gluten free beers are a possibility, but thats a thread for another time. Anyway I decided to brew her a up a quick 6 pack of cider using a gallon carboy I have left over from a roommate. I picked up a gallon of organic preservative free apple cider and I decided to use some left over washed yeast from a honey amber ale recipe (#1056 wyeast). I made a 2 cup starter 24 hours before hand using some light DME and some honey. Then boiled the cider for about 15 min with the 2 cups of honey. Cooled and pitched the starter. The lag time was about 20 min and it was going crazy by hour 4. But now 48hrs in, I'm getting some ridiculous rotten egg smell. Indicative of hydrogen sulfide. I realize that H2S production is possible and common with lagers however I've never encountered it with an ale yeast. Should I be worried about a secondary infection or just ride it out and see what's going on when it's over. The krausen has subsided and the fermentation is still very active though slowing. I figure in another 48 hours it will hit it's FG.

3

Yeast and Fermentation / Lemon flavors in coffee stout

« on: February 28, 2013, 04:36:31 pm »

So I just brewed my first stout and I decided to make it a coffee flavored. I googled a couple of recipes and I think I ended up going with one from the AHA forum.  I cold brewed the coffee (Alterra Cafe Voltaire) for 24 hours to decrease bitterness and the finished wort smelled fantastic. I just racked over to the secondary after 6 days, and I couldn't resist grabbing a glass to taste. I chilled it for about 15 min in the fridge and then sat down with it. It tastes great and the flavor of the coffee really shines but I'm also getting some noticeable citrus: lemon and tangy. Used 1056 for the yeast, Fuggle for the hops. Any clue where that citrus came from? Was it the yeast, hops, or something I did?

4

Kegging and Bottling / Cold Crashing before bottling

« on: February 22, 2013, 11:54:00 am »

I'm fairly new to the home brew experience and so far i've been very happy with the taste of my beers but not so happy with the amount of sediment i'm getting in my bottles. I've been using Irish moss, whirpooling at the end of my boils and I've been careful not to kick up sediment when I rack to secondary's. My question is about cold crashing in the secondary for a couple of days to a week before bottling. I just kegged my first beer and I had the secondary sitting in my garage for about 7 days before I transferred it over. The garage sits at between 39 and 40 in the winter so this beer went into the keg crystal clear. I force carbonate so I wasn't worried about dropping out the yeast. With this beer that I want to bottle though if I chill it for a couple of days before bottling will there be enough yeast left to carbonate or will I have to re-pitch at bottling and how much?

5

Yeast and Fermentation / Yeast for gallon sized fermentation

« on: February 19, 2013, 06:27:20 pm »

So my roommate received a small brewing kit for christmas that he finally got around to using. The kit came with a gallon glass carboy that I have claimed as mine now that he's finished with it. I figured I could use if for small test batches of recipes I would like to try. The brew shop that I get my supplies at (Brew & Grow) only stocks the Wyeast pouches. Obviously an amount of yeast tailored for 5 gallons is overkill for fermenting a gallon of beer. So what should I do? Would it be easier to make a starter and then pitch a portion of it and fridge the rest till I use it for a larger recipe, or can I just pitch the entire pouch and then harvest the yeast when fermentation is finished and then store it for a larger recipe. I'm going for ease and sanitation here. Opinions?

6

General Homebrew Discussion / Ruined threads on brew pot

« on: February 15, 2013, 05:39:50 pm »

I received a 42 qt polarware brew pt from my parents as a gift while on deployment last year. My parents bought it in nov 2011 but I didn't pull it out until now to use. When I tried to attach the spigot I saw that the threads have been pretty much sheared off to the point that I can only screw the spigot on 2 full revolutions before it refuses to turn any further. I can't return it because it was a clearance item from the brew shop and it was bought too long ago. I figured I could just solder the spigot to make it watertight. Would I have any issue with bacterial growth inside the spigot if I was unable to remove it or could it just stay on permanently?