Topics

1

Equipment and Software / Refractometers

« on: November 08, 2010, 12:29:29 PM »

During a recent brew, I was using my refractometer and getting readings all over the place. one minute I would get a reading of 21 brix, and the next minute 19 something. I had lost my little dropper that came with it, and was just dropping a little on my view plate with my stir spoon. Could the quantity of wort being put on it cause such a variation of discrepancies?

2

General Homebrew Discussion / Fermentation temp and hop bitterness

« on: July 05, 2010, 10:16:00 AM »

I recently brewed an 11 gallon batch of double red ale using CL-50 yeast. I fermented half of the beer at around 68-70 degrees. The remaining half I fermented at 60-62 degrees in my fermentation fridge. The beer that fermented at 68 had a much more pronounced hop bitterness as compared to the half that fermented at a lower temp. ( SWMBO actually liked the second one because it wasnt near as bitter as the first.) I am wondering if the taste difference is due to maybe more malt flavor comming through because of the lower fermentation temp? Definately ended up with two good, but very different tasting beers.

3

General Homebrew Discussion / Next brew

« on: January 04, 2010, 08:36:33 AM »

It is time to start dreaming up the next brew. I have recently aquired a small fridge that I can use to control temps and make lagers. It has enough room to hold one of my eight gallon buckets,and I typically brew eleven gallons at a time.

So my question is... What kind of beer would be good to brew that I could split between an Ale, and a lager? (Same wort, different yeasts split into two batches.) At this point I am thinking on another Double Red type beer, but I have been brewing a lot of them lately. I wouldnt mind trying some sort of bock, but am not sure if the ale side of the fermentation would be appropriate.

Also are there any dry lager yeasts that would be acceptable for either a red or a bock?