Messages

16

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Conference pointers

« on: February 09, 2013, 05:00:19 AM »

Anyone got any pointers for a conference first-timer?  Registration is Tuesday and I"m still not sure which type of registration I'm going for.. looking at the Social - no banquet but could be persuaded.  Any info on what to expect is appreciated.

Monitor your drinking. I was mostly a drunk fool for my first conference, less so for my second one and never really drunk for my third one. There is a lot of great beer, if you aren't completely enjoying a beer then just dump it (but not in front of the brewer). Drink as much water as you do beer. Also tell people to only give  you short pours. I make a point of only drinking 2oz or so of a beer unless it is absolutely fantastic. During my first conference there were a couple of guys that were absolutely hammered 30 minutes into club night (frat boy hammered), don't be that guy. Plus, the more you monitor your alcohol intake the easier it will be to wake up for the talks. You learn a lot of great stuff from the talks as well as have some great beer at them. The conference is awesome and you are going to have a great time.

17

All Grain Brewing / BIAB efficiency

« on: November 03, 2012, 02:30:56 AM »

I'm curious what type of efficiency people are getting with BIAB? I'm especially curious about anyone that is measuring mash pH.

18

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: BJCP Tasting Exam Grading

« on: July 19, 2012, 08:55:26 PM »

The first exam given under the new format was closed in less than two months.

I would love for this to be a trend, but as of now it's a single data point.  Should know more within the next week or so.

Do you mean that the first written proficiency exam was turned around in less than two months?

19

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Senate approves bill to allow USPS to ship alcohol

« on: May 28, 2012, 03:55:41 PM »

AFAIK, we have a state law prohibiting the mailing of beer, so nothing changes here.

Not having read the full text of either this bill or the OR law, why wouldn't the federal law trump state law?

Federal law doesn't trump state law in this case because the Federal bill (it's not law yet) is allowing the shipment but the it doesn't state that individual states cannot outlaw it.

20

General Homebrew Discussion / Opinion about posting Jamil's recipes

« on: February 08, 2012, 03:45:32 AM »

I'm having a debate right now with someone that posted Jamil's recipes from Brewing Classic Styles onto their website. I told the guy that I think he shouldn't post it as Jamil probably wouldn't like it and that people should just buy his book. He says that the recipes are public domain. What does everyone else think?

21

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Broke a carboy,.... salvage the beer?

« on: August 04, 2011, 10:22:37 AM »

I hadn't broken a carboy in 9 years and now I've broken 2 in the last 2 months.  There was no significant injury, but in the second case my pyrex had fallen from the edge of the freezerdor and cracked the side of a carboy full of precious IPA.  The break was very clean and didn't appear to generate small shards.  I had just put gelatin in the carboy.  I was able to pour the beer into another carboy in a sanitary manner.

Do you think the beer is safe?  My thought is that any glass particles, if present, will fall to the bottom and become encapsulated in the gelatin.  I am going to bottle that portion and will be racking it to a bottling vessel prior.  It would take terrible luck to get any glass particles through 2 transfers with the final being a bottling wand.

What would you do?

Time to start fermenting in kegs.

22

Yeast and Fermentation / San Francisco lager yeast in other types of lagers

« on: July 29, 2011, 01:23:11 PM »

Has anyone ever used San Francisco Lager yeast (WLP 810) in any other types of lagers like a German pilsner, Helles, etc? Any issues with esters or other off flavors? Can it ferment at 50F?

23

Equipment and Software / Re: Stir plate issue

« on: July 18, 2011, 12:31:20 PM »

Take the potentiometer/rheostat out of the circuit. Does it run at 12 V?

Is the transformer actually putting out 12 V?

I don't know much anything about electrical stuff so I assume the adapter is putting out 12v, but I don't have any way of testing it. When I took out the rheostat and wired the adapter directly to the fan I still had the same issues I mentioned before.

24

Equipment and Software / Stir plate issue

« on: July 17, 2011, 09:22:00 PM »

The fan won't start when I plug it in. If I give the fan a little spin it will turn on and keep going. The stir bar rattles on the outside of the flask and when I get it to the middle it stops the fan dead in it's tracks. There is enough spacing between the fan magnet and the top of the box, so that isn't the issue.

This is a homemade stir plate with these items:
12v ac/cd converter
12v computer fan
rare earth magnet (the half moon kind like you find in a computer hard drive)
25 ohm rheostat
1 inch stir bar


The rare earth magnet is glued to the middle of the fan.

25

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: factors contributing to diacytel

« on: July 17, 2011, 02:55:53 AM »

JZ says that a higher ferm temp produces more of the precursers that are responsible for diacetyl formation and visa versa. Therefore he recommends pitching low to supress the precursers and ultimately produce a beer with miminal diacetyl.

For pitching low, what sort of temperatures are we talking about?

Also, i notice it says raising the temperature to around 65, which is way lower than i can achieve in the hot Denver summers. The lowest i can get is 72. What sort of techniques to you all use to lower fermentation temperature in the summer?

Recirculate ice water through your wort chiller with a pond pump. Then it doesn't matter what your ground water temps are. Chill normally for 10 min and then switch. I can get my lager worts down 42F with this method.

26

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Such a thing as over-pitching?

« on: June 29, 2011, 10:25:09 PM »

You certainly could overpitch and that might cause less than optimal flavors.  But on a homebrew scale I don't think it's something to worry about.  I think we struggle, even with starters, to pitch enough yeast usually.  At least, I think I do.  Hard to really know without going the science geek route and counting cells.

If you pitch directly on an entire yeast cake that's a different story of course.  I never do that unless I'm making a truly monstrous beer.

Burial Chair Wee Heavy sounds like one of those monstrous beers. Great name.

27

Yeast and Fermentation / WLP brett strains (cell count and viability)

« on: June 29, 2011, 08:01:47 PM »

With regular WLP vials a brand new vial has 100 billion cells. How many does a Brett (brett only) vial have? I ask because the vial doesn't have the regular yeast cake in the bottom of the vial like their regular sacch. strains do. Their packaging date is four months before the best by date for sacch. strains. What is it with brett vials? It clearly isn't 4 months because I just picked up a vial that has a best before date of 12/08/11.

28

Equipment and Software / Re: Canister vs. Plate filter

« on: June 28, 2011, 02:23:15 PM »

Doesn't a 1 micron filter clog too easily? Does it strip out too much aroma and flavor? With my plate filter I have only been using rough (5-7 micron) filters. Does Foxx Equipment sell reusable 5-7 micron filters?

Foxx Equipment has course cartridge but there is no rating.
It is too rough to my experience and yeast will get thru it.
How much beer are you planning to filter?

I am filtering about 150 gallons a piece. I have to replace (and wash) 1 micron cartridge every 30 gallons (or so).
My set up is not ideal but will have to do right now.

I generally filter all of my beer. What PSI do you push the beer through with? Do you ever have any problems with leaks? My plate filter leaks if you push it past about 6 PSI. Do you know any other place to purchase the reusable filter? Foxx Equipment won't let you set up an account if you aren't a business.

29

Equipment and Software / Re: Canister vs. Plate filter

« on: June 28, 2011, 02:23:12 AM »

Doesn't a 1 micron filter clog too easily? Does it strip out too much aroma and flavor? With my plate filter I have only been using rough (5-7 micron) filters. Does Foxx Equipment sell reusable 5-7 micron filters?

I have both plate and canister filter.

You have more surface area with 10" canister 2.5" diameter filter then with plate filter.
More surface area faster you filter.
Your filter speed also depends on "soil load" or how much yeast is still in suspension.

When I filter cold un-carbonated beer.
It takes about 10 min for 15 gal of beer at 10 psi.
You can filter about 30 gal on one cartage.

Another thing is that you can buy reusable 1 micron filter cartages.
They are about $25 a piece from Foxx equipment.

When you are done filtering you back flush the filter and put the cartage in PBW.

30

Equipment and Software / Canister vs. Plate filter

« on: June 22, 2011, 10:46:32 PM »

Has anyone both used canister and plate filters? If so how do you think they compare?

Right now I have a plate filter but find the whole construction and use a pain. I watched a youtube video of someone using a canister filter and it looked much easier.