Messages

1

All Things Food / Re: Starsan and tomato paste

« on: May 16, 2013, 05:22:17 PM »

I used to always run into this problem.  Sometimes I'd freeze it but then I'd forget it was in there and open another can.

My wife bought some dehydrated tomato powder like this:
http://amzn.to/16C0mC7

It really works great and is super convenient.

Does it work well as a thickener?

Seems to work pretty good.  I used to reconstitute it into tomato paste form and then add it, but now I just add the powder and adjust the other liquid content if necessary

2

All Things Food / Re: Starsan and tomato paste

« on: May 16, 2013, 08:17:19 AM »

I used to always run into this problem.  Sometimes I'd freeze it but then I'd forget it was in there and open another can.

My wife bought some dehydrated tomato powder like this:
http://amzn.to/16C0mC7

It really works great and is super convenient.

3

All Things Food / Re: Growing food - The Garden Thread

« on: May 08, 2013, 11:47:58 AM »

I should get some then! My attempt at zucchini wasn't very successful last year.

a small or non-existent zucchini crop is a blessing to have compared to a normal crop

4

Equipment and Software / Re: Cleaning Beerstone

« on: May 06, 2013, 04:21:36 PM »

Bar Keeper's Friend seems to work pretty well too.

Ahh yes, before I had Acid #5 and recirculation I would use BKF and a scrubbie.  Works great.

5

Equipment and Software / Re: Cleaning Beerstone

« on: May 06, 2013, 02:07:07 PM »

I use 5 Star's Acid #5 and it works good

6

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: sanitation questions

« on: May 01, 2013, 01:52:03 PM »

I'll agree with Tom that star san is fine in stainless.  I have one keg dedicated to star san and it has had some random quantity of star san in it for the past 6 years.  I have gone through numerous picnic taps on that keg over time though.  The rubber inside the picnic tap breaks down in star san, so now I leave the tap disconnected most of the time and replace the tap every year or two.

7

Homebrew Competitions / Re: NHC regional experiences

« on: May 01, 2013, 10:41:39 AM »

First round results are up

http://bit.ly/13MxsL3

8

All Things Food / Re: Pizza stones

« on: April 30, 2013, 10:17:15 AM »

For round vs square I'd say it depends on the shape of the place you are putting it.  In my oven I have a rectangle stone, in my komodo style grill I have a round one.  I actually need to buy a slightly bigger one for my grill, I bake most of my pizzas there now.  It's a beautiful thing throwing a pizza on at 700 degrees

9

Kegging and Bottling / Re: IPA tasting awful through new line, recently cleaned tap

« on: April 26, 2013, 02:30:12 PM »

St Pats sells a TC x Beer thread adapter in both male and female.  Perfect for using your existing cleaning hardware for cleaning your lines

10

The Pub / Re: Brewer's Kids

« on: April 25, 2013, 06:07:30 PM »

I was so proud when we were driving and my daughter pointed out the window and said "Daddy those are hops".  Another time I had poured the first pint of a homebrew IIPA and held it to my wife to smell it, my oldest wanted to smell it also and she said something like "Stinky, it smells like hops"

11

Beer Travel / Re: Yakima, WA

« on: April 22, 2013, 06:08:05 PM »

Bale Breaker just opened up recently.  Limited hours at their tasting room, but if you can't get there when they are open you can find their beer at a few places around town.

The Beer Shoppe has a good variety of stuff (bottles and taps), but probably not as good as what you are used to getting on the west side.

I always end up at Sportscenter, 2nd street, or whatever hotel bar after I'm at an event in Yakima

12

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Acetaldehyde

« on: April 13, 2013, 10:12:03 PM »

How fast are you raising the temp for your diacetyl rest? You may actually create acetaldehyde if you stress the yeast by raising/lowering the temp to quickly.

About 1-2 deg F per day is a safe bet.

Any yeast stress can yield acetalaldehyde - underpitching, under-aerating, temp. fluctuations, etc. Check all that out as well.

I've had this issue with my kolsch and found that I need about 1.5x the amount of yeast recommended by Mr. Malty. O2 and temp. control really helped, too.

I'd agree with this.  It seems like most of the time I've experienced acetalaldehyde it has been from extreme underpitching 

13

Homebrew Competitions / Re: NHC regional experiences

« on: April 07, 2013, 07:04:32 PM »

I drove over to Seattle to judge this weekend.  We did 1 session Friday night and 2 on Saturday.  Wrapped up by 5:30 on Saturday.

Really well organized and everything went smoothly.  Having the 2nd bottle for mini-BOS is awesome.

14

Equipment and Software / Re: Adjustable Pressure Relief Bung

« on: April 04, 2013, 05:58:53 PM »

It sounds like you are using a sanke keg as a fermenter, a 2" Tri-Clamp fitting will fit right over the top and you could use some adapters to hook your pressure relief valve

15

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Time Crunch - What Would You Do?

« on: March 27, 2013, 09:00:15 AM »

If you are using pellets for dry hop I'd add them in the primary, let it settle, transfer to kegs, crash it, carbonate it, and gelatin in the keg for about 3 days.

If using leaf I would dry hop in the keg in a bag.

Edit: If you have pellets and leaf and want to get a little extra bang.  Some pellets in fermenter now and then some leaf in kegs in a few days.