Messages

31

Yeast and Fermentation / How much yeast to add for refermentation in a high gravity beer?

« on: February 18, 2011, 07:10:25 PM »

I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations about how much fresh yeast to add to a high gravity Belgian to help ensure good bottle carbonation and conditioning?

32

Equipment and Software / Re: Building a new mashtun!

« on: February 17, 2011, 12:51:35 PM »

The problem I had with a bulkhead was that it held the braid off the floor of the cooler, and I didn't get a siphon to empty out all the wort.  But I assume different coolers will work in different ways.

Not much dead space in a Coleman Xtreme.  I tried the braid for a few batches, but ultimately switched to a bazooka screen.  I know you tried both and reached the opposite result. 

Well the bazooka screen is in my round cooler and I think the problem isn't the screen but just that the drain is positioned higher than in the extreme so its been leaving more behind.  The braid just seemed easier for me to set up in the xtreme than trying to adapt my bazooka-T set up to fit in.  I decided to leave all the fittings in my round cooler so I can pull it out and mash in that if I ever want to.  I'll see how well it works this weekend.

33

Equipment and Software / Re: Building a new mashtun!

« on: February 17, 2011, 11:52:55 AM »

I just tested mine this morning with water.  With a braid and a bulkhead installed when drained on a level surface about a pint of water was left behind.  It looked like a good portion of that would have been recovered if I angled the cooler.  Either way it is a big improvement over what is left behind in my round cooler with a bazooka-T.

Can't wait to mash in it this weekend

34

Equipment and Software / Re: Building a new mashtun!

« on: February 15, 2011, 09:54:16 PM »

Nice.  You'll really like the 70 qt xtreme.  You'll still leave some wort behind though.  Not as much but there's still room beneath the drain.  It helps if you prop up the back end of the cooler before you start the vorlauf.  I use a little ceramic flower pot that used to belong to my wife.  She was going to reclaim it until I told her it was now part of my brewing system.  I'll leave it to your imagination the look I got for that one.

You've probably already seen it but this is the site I followed when I converted mine:

http://brewing.lustreking.com/gear/mashtun.html

And it is really nice to have all that room in the mash tun for the bigguns.

I just got my order from Amazon ($40 with free shipping!) and put it together tonight!  Leak testing it now, everything looks great!  Can't wait to use it for a Begian Quadrupel this weekend.  Getting the 20 pounds of grain into and out of this should be a lot easier than the round rubbermaid.  I think the hosebraid should help me get a much better runoff than the bazzooka screen I've been using too.

Best of all....Its a blue one 

35

Equipment and Software / Re: Building a new mashtun!

« on: February 09, 2011, 01:02:03 PM »

I think this will be my next brewing upgrade!  I currently use a 10 gallon Rubbermaid, and it works pretty good, but someday I'm sure I'll want to do 10 gallon batches, and this cooler would be a good choice.  Thanks for the link tygo.

I'll be sad to retire the rubbermaid but am also thinking of 10 gallon batches which will be a lot easier with the 70 qt xtreme.  That being said, I was able to do a 10 gallon batch of 1.10+ braggot using the trusty 10 gallon round rubbermaid.  Boy, that was one full mashtun!

36

Equipment and Software / Building a new mashtun!

« on: February 08, 2011, 07:11:41 PM »

Can't wait!  I just ordered a 70 qt coleman xtreme cooler to upgrade my mash tun.  I've been using a 10 gallon round cooler for years now with reasonable success but have always had problems getting the efficiency up as high as I'd like.  I think a big part of the problem is that I end up leaving too much of the wort in the bottom of my tun when I drain it off.  I really like the channel in the bottom of coleman cooler that lets everything drain out instead of leaving a bunch of wort behind.  Plus I love all the extra space I'm going to have for making really big beers 

37

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: White House Homebrew

« on: February 07, 2011, 01:38:39 AM »

I wonder if they will release the recipe?  I would be curious to see what this brew really was

38

Kegging and Bottling / Re: Breakfast time bottling

« on: February 05, 2011, 06:07:09 PM »

This discusson has me thinking that you should start kegging! 

Good point!  I don't have any space to keep a keg chilled though so bottles are easier for me (once they are filled anyway )

39

Kegging and Bottling / Re: Breakfast time bottling

« on: February 05, 2011, 05:14:43 PM »

A breakfast stout would have been nice....

I bottled a really tasty dubbel.  This discussion has me thinking it is time for a coffee porter though 

40

Kegging and Bottling / Breakfast time bottling

« on: February 05, 2011, 11:03:45 AM »

I love bottling beer in the morning.  Great excuse to have a fresh beer with breakfast!   

41

Kegging and Bottling / Re: How many volumes of CO2 can a standard brown bottle safely hold?

« on: February 05, 2011, 09:16:08 AM »

Thanks!

42

Kegging and Bottling / How many volumes of CO2 can a standard brown bottle safely hold?

« on: February 05, 2011, 09:01:36 AM »

I have a Dubbel that I want to bottle with lots of carbonation.  I don't have any champagne bottles, just lots of standard 12 ounce bottles.  How many volumes of CO2 can safely go into a 12 ounce crown top bottle and what are people out there recommending for carbonation for a dubbel?

43

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Frigid Weather Brewing

« on: January 21, 2011, 03:20:52 PM »

I'm brewing in Fairbanks, AK.  I heat my water outside but bring the mash inside.  Haven't had any problems with boiling.  I'm sure if I timed it I would see that it takes a little bit longer to come to temp but doesn't seem like a noticeable difference to me.  I set up the burner near a window where I can keep an eye on it and periodically go out and check on it.  I do haul the hot kettle inside to run my immersion chiller which is a pain but I don't have a way to run water outside where I live.  For me living here winter is a good time to brew despite the cold.  The summers are so short and there is so much stuff to do it is hard to find brew time.

44

Commercial Beer Reviews / Re: Canned Microbrews

« on: January 19, 2011, 12:14:47 PM »

Cans make taking good beer on a camping trip easier.....when can I start getting my homebrew in them?

If you want beer for a camping trip, buy a case of plastic bottles. You don't have to use the whole case at once, maybe a sixer from each batch.

That seems a whole lot easier than strapping a keg to my frame pack 

45

Equipment and Software / Re: Batch Sparge Theory

« on: January 18, 2011, 07:56:32 PM »

I always seem to 65-70% efficiencies with my sparge.  I mash/sparge in a 10 gallon round cooler with a bazooka screen and these days typically batch sparge, when I fly sparge my efficiencies might get up to 75%.  I tightened up my mill to get a better crush which helped some but it always seems low to me compared to some of the numbers I see people posting.  Do people find a big difference between rectangular vs round coolers as mash/lautertuns?  I frequently don't do a mash out, maybe doing that would help a little too.