Messages

1

Kegging and Bottling / Naturally carbonating a keg

« on: Today at 08:57:57 AM »

I plan on brewing a 10 gallon batch this weekend. About half of it is for a party in late July, in which I plan to keg. I have an 1/8 keg, which I believe is 3.8 gallons. I want to add priming sugar and naturally carbonate it, because I don't ever plan to hook it up to CO2. The keg will be kicked that night, so we'll be tapping it with a party tap. I usually use about 3.5 oz of priming sugar to bottle 5 gallons of an APA depending on the temperature. I know the keg isn't five gallons, but would I use the same ratio of priming sugar in the keg as I do in the bottles?

Thanks!

2

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: 1st All grain today

« on: Today at 08:27:35 AM »

Good luck! Let us know how your brew day goes!

3

Ingredients / Re: Adding Strawberries

« on: Today at 08:25:58 AM »

I've racked 5 gallons of a stout on 10 pounds of fresh cherries without any prep. I did freeze and thaw the cherries, but that was about it. This beer was about 8% ABV too. I had no ill effects. I did have a great beer though! This being said, doesn't mean that I am in the right.

4

Beer Recipes / Re: Amarillo IPA

« on: May 22, 2013, 11:20:30 AM »

Will do.... Fermentation is still kicking butt!

5

Beer Recipes / Re: Amarillo IPA

« on: May 21, 2013, 03:08:01 PM »

I have almost 3 pounds of Amarillo hops,

What's your address, and do you lock up the brewery at night?

LOL

Haha I don't keep my eggs all in one basket. 

Check out www.hopsshack.com. I think he's out of Amarillo now, but he has pretty solid bulk hop prices. He may have ounces left available though. Being from Ohio, shipping prices are pretty legit for me.

6

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: First beer taste

« on: May 21, 2013, 10:00:31 AM »

Frank, it might help to do what I do...I take an 8-12 oz. hydrometer sample.  After I get the gravity, I pour the sample into a 20 oz. PET bottle, put a carbonator cap on it and hit it with about 30 psi.  Put it in the freezer for maybe 30-45 min. and you have a cold, carbonated sample.

sheer genius!

Around here we call it "pragmatism"! 

Now we're cookin with peanut oil!

7

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: First beer taste

« on: May 21, 2013, 08:50:52 AM »

Good to know. I never questioned the practice, or said that I was right. I might have to revisit this. I just never got anything out of it in the past... Maybe I would discover something in the future. Ok... Maybe I'll quit hijacking this post now

8

Beer Recipes / Re: Amarillo IPA

« on: May 21, 2013, 08:18:45 AM »

I brewed it Saturday.... Brew day went very well.

9

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: First beer taste

« on: May 20, 2013, 07:11:03 PM »

Ok, apparently I'm ignorant of the benefits of tasting beer throughout the process. Please educate me.

I used to taste throughout, but I really dislike it all until the final product... Which then tastes very good. I would work myself up over pre-finished product tasting to the point where I quit doing it.

Thanks for feedback

10

Beer Recipes / Re: Amarillo IPA

« on: May 20, 2013, 05:06:35 PM »

I haven't had the chance to read the new Zymurgy, because I just finished the process of moving. I mainly did this to get a taste of straight Amarillo. And I had three pounds on stock and needed to use some, so why not use 9 oz? I did the same with a dry hopped Citra APA not long ago. I had never tried Citra before. It's one of my favorite brews to date. I figure if this beer isn't great, it's still gonna be pretty good.... Kinda like pizza 

11

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: First beer taste

« on: May 18, 2013, 05:59:29 PM »

I stopped tasting beer prior to bottling. Warm, flat beer tastes bad.

Some beers will be great after 2 or 3 weeks in the bottle, while others will mature nicely and will be excellent after 6 months.

12

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What's Brewing this Weekend - 5/18 edition?

« on: May 17, 2013, 12:48:15 PM »

I'm brewing an all Amarillo IPA. I'm looking forward to it since I haven't brewed in over a month. I'll also be re-using harvested yeast for the first time. I was worried it wouldn't be alive, but the Chico yeast is burning up the second stage of the starter. Everything looks a go for tomorrow morning!

13

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: When did you switch to all grain?

« on: May 15, 2013, 12:21:39 PM »

I started extract brewing in March of 2012. After about 7 or 8 batches, I switched to all grain in June of 2012. The first two all grain batches I brewed, I made from scratch. Then second of which was a cherry stout, and to my surprise, it took first place in the region of the NHC this year. I ordered a handful of all grain kits after that, but I do all my own at this point. I got my membership for the AHA for Christmas and have learned so much since then. You are at the benefit of having infinite brewing education at your finger tips. If you're asking this question, you must think you are or close to being ready for the transition. So I say go for it! I feel that brewing a beer from scratch is much more rewarding than using extracts and kits. Good luck!

14

Beer Recipes / Re: Amarillo IPA

« on: May 15, 2013, 11:18:43 AM »

This is great stuff, and this thread hasn't been hi-jacked, so don't worry about that. What I wanted to do is taste amarillo alone. So, I'm doing that and going to experiment with FWH. The last brew I did was a Citra APA. I used 5 ounces of Citra in that beer (3 dry hop). I missed my gravity with that, but I changed some of my process up prior to brewing that one. I love the beer. I wish I had more Citra, but I'm not buying anymore hops this year. I'm using the same grain bill (to see if my gravity is consistent and then adjust my efficiency accordingly) with this beer as that and just dousing it with hops. I have a bunch of Amarillo and need to start using them.

15

Beer Recipes / Re: Amarillo IPA

« on: May 15, 2013, 08:57:35 AM »

I'd move the 15 min. addition to FWH.

I might try this....I've never done FWH before..