Messages

1

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Is this yeast or somthing else?

« on: May 03, 2011, 08:52:13 AM »

Thanks for the responses.  Kind of what I figured / hoped.

Also,  Not to hijack my own thread but is a ring of Krausen normal with lager yeast?  The one in my pic was a little bigger than most b/c the beer was strong but I thought lager yeast was bottom fermenting.

2

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Is this yeast or somthing else?

« on: May 02, 2011, 05:16:15 PM »

Also,  I haven't noticed any off flavors in the beers but maybe I don't have the pallet (spelling?) for it yet or I just catch it early enough.  They all taste / tasted pretty clean to me.

3

Yeast and Fermentation / Is this yeast or somthing else?

« on: May 02, 2011, 05:10:23 PM »

I've done a few beers this winter with WY Pilsen lager yeast.  They all have formed these flat globular floaters that I notice when I go to rack the beer.  It's like a light brown with maybe some green in it.  I usually scooop it off before I rack and it tastes harshly bitter more than anything which makes me think leftover Krausen.

So the fact that it's been in my lagers leads me to believe it's either related to this yeast I haven't used before or I have infection in my bucket.

All the lagers were fermented in the low 50's.  I've also been leaving all the trub/hops/break in the fermenter which is new to me but I don't see how that would be a factor.

Have a look (sorry if it's a little blurry):

http://home.roadrunner.com/~thewilliams/brewing/P1110146_small.jpg

http://home.roadrunner.com/~thewilliams/brewing/P1110144_small.jpg

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Kegging and Bottling / Re: What the...! Exploding keg!

« on: March 05, 2011, 05:26:37 PM »

If you disturb carbonated liquid can't it cause a chain reaction and cause the CO2 to undissolve rapidly?  Kind of like hitting the top of a bottle with the bottom of another bottle... (if your familiar with that trick.)

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General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Where'd those fusels come from? Or is it the something else?

« on: March 05, 2011, 04:51:32 PM »

Maybe you weren't as sensative to the fusels a year ago.?

How long was the fermentaion?  (A question for all, Can fusels develop from an unhealthy fermentation even if temps are in control?)

I think a year and a half is a bit long to age a Tripel but then again I haven't aged one more than sixth months and I think they taste awesome in that timeframe.

Did you take temps of the fermenting beer itself?  Even in a water bath, I've had bigger beers get away from me w/o ice in the bath.  Then temp may have been higher than you think if you didn't check the beer itself.

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General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Decanting question

« on: March 05, 2011, 04:40:21 PM »

If it was me, I'd stick with the original plan.

+1.  I like to make starters bout a week in advance though.  A few days of growth and a few to settle out, then decant.  That seems to work well for me.

7

All Grain Brewing / Re: Decotion in a strong dark Belgian?

« on: March 05, 2011, 06:32:47 AM »

I use decoction mashes with my big Belgians, but I use a two-stepped sacc. rest. Barley starch doesn't fully gelatinize under 149*, so I do a step at 145-ish, then pull a decoction to raise the temp up to 158-160. At that temp the enzymes denature within 30-45min, but most of the conversion is done already, and the enzymes are just working on the newly-liberated starches.

This is what I like to do except I switched to infusions (less messy).  No need to worry about having enough water/room for a mashout.  Just skip it since your batch sparging.

8

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Belgian Tripel

« on: March 05, 2011, 05:59:06 AM »

Agreed that the appropriate amount of Belgian yeast is always a great way to go, but I thought the later sugar addition was a pretty smart idea.  I got it from Timothy's Tripel recipe in Homebrewopedia.  My all pilsner malt triple was made to a gravity of 1.075 and then added sugar to reach 1.085 after four days of fermenting.  It shows 1.010 after another week.

While it can't hurt, I certainly haven't found any benefit from adding the sugar to the fermenter rather than the kettle.  In beers even in the 1.085-90 range, as long as you're pitching an adequate amount of healthy yeast, the sugar works just fine (for me) in the kettle.  It also means there's one less thing to deal to deal with down the road.

I find that adding sugar to the fermentation is invaluable when you forget to add it to the boil.   

9

The Pub / Re: So ya got this Car

« on: March 05, 2011, 05:48:19 AM »

I haven't had to face this decision yet but if I think if it's on the edge and it's going to need new tires, brakes, rotors etc for inspection then that might be a breaking point.  I would hate to replace four tires and then have the thing break down in a few months.

Not sure what your state rules are.

10

Ingredients / Re: Updated water calculator

« on: February 27, 2011, 10:33:45 AM »

Good questions. I'll have to add them to the documentation.

I used to use grams as a salt input and adjusted to the desired ppm but I find that since using your spreadsheet I like starting in ppm and have grams as the output.

Specifying salts in mg/l (ppm) is still there. Just select mg/l as the units for the salts.

Yeah, I realized that.  Just saying how my preference changed.

11

Ingredients / Re: Updated water calculator

« on: February 27, 2011, 07:04:58 AM »

Thanks Kai.

I used to use grams as a salt input and adjusted to the desired ppm but I find that since using your spreadsheet I like starting in ppm and have grams as the output.

12

Beer Recipes / Re: I think my Schwarzbier is a Dunkel

« on: February 26, 2011, 12:50:58 PM »

You can submit it in both subcategories if you want!   

Did the rules change from last year? I thought I remembered one beer per category.  Guess I'll have get around to reading them for this year.

You can enter one beer per category.  But one beer can be entered into the categories that it could do well in. 

If I have 2 American IPA's I can only enter one in category 14B, for example. 

If I have 1 German Pilsner, I could enter it in 2A, and if I thought it could do well as a Dortmunder, the same beer could go into 1E.   

Thanks.  That's what I thought.

13

Beer Recipes / Re: I think my Schwarzbier is a Dunkel

« on: February 26, 2011, 12:06:39 PM »

You can submit it in both subcategories if you want!   

Did the rules change from last year? I thought I remembered one beer per category.  Guess I'll have get around to reading them for this year.

14

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Boil Time with All Munich ?

« on: February 24, 2011, 10:53:53 AM »

I get it now.  Thanks guys.

15

General Homebrew Discussion / Boil Time with All Munich ?

« on: February 24, 2011, 09:45:02 AM »

I usually do 90 minute boils or longer because I usually use some amount of Pils malt.

Is a 60 minute boil ok for all Munich?  (or all vienna for that matter?)

Even if DMS isn't an issue will the brew still turn out better with the longer boil?