Topics

31

Kegging and Bottling / German slide-on connectors

« on: October 31, 2012, 06:22:47 PM »

I bought a commercial kegerator today from a restaurant that had gone out of business and I have a few questions about these style of connectors.  I also bought a few used kegs and a 20 lb CO2 tank.  4 of the kegs are 30L stainless kegs (1/4 barrel) that have these sort of connectors.  Also included in the kegerator was the tap for these so if I can figure out how to clean them up, I'm pretty sure I can use them but maybe not.
I also got 3 sankey fittings and 2 guinness fittings, two towers, 2 creamer taps, 3 regular taps etc.  I'll post some pictures tomorrow.  Oh, and I grabbed two slim 1/4 barrel sankey kegs that I figure I can either use as kegs or maybe adapt into fermenters.  Also, 3 plastic kegs with sankey fittings.  Not sure about these.

I also bought a 3 door bottle cooler (low, undershelf type) that I think will make a perfect lagering cabinet since at least 10 cornie kegs will fit in it, maybe more.

So, anyone know anything about these slide on connectors?  I'm probably gonna have a few questions about filling/adapting sankey's for home use too if anyone has any advice.
Thanks

32

All Things Food / Biscuits - need help!

« on: October 15, 2012, 08:33:45 AM »

I'm not the best cook in the world although I'd say I'm not the worst either.  But one thing that has always eluded me is biscuits.  So, I'm appealing to you for a good recipe and some good advice on how to make light, fluffy biscuits.  I make excellent flour based hockey pucks but nothing that would qualify as a biscuit.

I'm making chicken stew for supper and I thought biscuits would be a great partner.
I'd prefer to go from scratch (flour) instead of using Bisquick or something like that (because I don't have any and am not going to town today).

Thanks

33

Beer Recipes / How much Munich 1 in a bock?

« on: October 12, 2012, 05:46:47 AM »

I want to try some lagers.  I've mentioned before that I don't really do lagers and that they intimidate me but I'd like to give some a try.  I'm thinking a bock, probably a traditional bock to start with.  I'm still undecided if I want to try a decoction or not, probably a hochkurz double decoction as outlined in Kai's website if I do.
Yeast is likely going to be WLP833 unless someone tells me not to.  Base malt is likely going to be mostly pilsner but I'm unsure how much Munich and/or Vienna to use.  I have Brewing Classic Styles but I wanted other opinions. 
My batch size is going to be 10 gals so I know I need a big starter for that but I'll be sure to check with Mr Malty on that. 
I checked the recipe wiki but there weren't many all-grain bock recipes under traditional bock.  I guess the thing that has me unclear right now is the percentage of pils and Munich.  I've found recipes on line that are predominantly pils while the one on line is predominantly Munich.

Thanks

34

Equipment and Software / Starter motor for grain mill

« on: October 11, 2012, 08:28:57 AM »

 I have a heavy starter motor that I'm thinking of using for a grain mill.  Obviously it has substantial torque but I'm not sure about the run time.  I don't think 12 V starter motors are set up to run for an extended period of time but I'm not sure if the 5 to 10 minutes needed for grinding a batch of beer would be too long.  It would need to be geared down to get near the 200 RPMs needed for a grain mill but that shouldn't be a problem.
Has anyone used a starter motor for a grain mill?   

35

Yeast and Fermentation / Over pitching/under pitching experiment

« on: October 10, 2012, 02:13:16 PM »

I did a 10 gal batch of pale ale yesterday split into two pails.  I had a cake of WLP007 in the fridge.  It had been there about 5 days so it had really settled into a hard cake and I dumped off the remaining beer.  Being the idiot I am, I tried to pour half of it into each fermenter but instead, I brick of WLP007 went splashing into one bucket and there was about a teaspoon of yeast left in the container (probably about as much as in the original tube minus the liquid).  So, it got dropped into the other. 

I am tempted to leave them as is but what do you think would happen.  I can't do anything for the over pitched but I can top crop some over to the under pitched if necessary. 

36

The Pub / Trained by a Guinea Pig

« on: October 09, 2012, 07:19:04 AM »

My son got a guinea pig for his birthday back in May.  It is a very smart guinea pig because it now has my wife and I trained to give it treats.  Whenever she or I walk past the bed room door, this thing starts whistling like crazy until we give it a carrot or lettuce or something.  It never does it with the kids, just with her and I.  It must recognize the heavier footsteps or something.
It also has an interesting way of telling us it doesn't like it's food.  We got some pellets that had dried vegetables mixed in.  It eats all the pellets, leaving just the dried veggies and then poops in the food dish, apparently to let us know we can get rid of the rest.  It never does this when there are pellets in the dish.
I didn't realize that these things were that smart.

37

Ingredients / Water Softeners

« on: October 06, 2012, 10:04:41 AM »

First of all, I tried a search but I got 12 pages of items with the word Water or the word Software so I'm asking.
The house we are moving to has a water softener because the water is fairly hard.  I'm going to have water put into the garage for brewing and it will by-pass the softener but that may not be until next year so I'm wondering what I can expect if I use softened water to brew with?
Thanks

38

Kegging and Bottling / Summit Kegerators

« on: October 02, 2012, 07:22:25 PM »

Anyone have one of these?  I'm looking for a 3-tap kegerator and I'm thinking about this one but it's a bit more than I want to spend and I'm wondering if it's worth it.  I've gotta re-distribute some counters to make this work cause my current opening is only 21" wide at most.  I'd like to get a 3 tap if I can but I could live with 2...I guess.
http://www.kegerator.com/Summit-Triple-Tap-Built-In-Kegerator-Black/SBC490BITRIPLE,default,pd.html?cgid=Kegerators-Undercounter_Kegerators

39

Beer Recipes / Drying out an APA

« on: October 02, 2012, 09:45:44 AM »

I normally use about 1/2 lb of crystal malt in IPA/APA.  It could be 1/2 lb of C40 or a blend of various crystals depending on what taste I want to create.
But, I'm wondering what would happen if I left out the crystal entirely?  I'm just thinking of making a drier pale ale without any sweetness.  I'm looking to make something fairly malty but dry, a session style beer with good hop character but decent balance for fall.  In particular I'm considering the following:

4.5 lbs 2-row
4.5 lbs Munich 1
20 g Centennial @ 60
28 g Centennial @ 10
28 g Centennial @ flameout
WLP007
Mash at 152 for 60 mins.

I guess I'm wondering if the maltyness of the Munich would make it malty enough without the sweetness of the crystal.  Or, is crystal just absolutely essential for an APA/IPA?  I've done IPAs with almost all Munich and just a touch of crystal and they've been good but I'm thinking 50/50 for this attempt.
Please let me know what you think.
Thanks

40

Beer Recipes / Potato beer

« on: October 01, 2012, 10:42:50 AM »

Anyone make that potato beer that is running on the AHA homepage right now?  I took a look at it and it looked interesting but I'm wondering if anyone has done it.  Since the potatoes aren't cooked I assume the starch gelatinizes OK with the hot water?  Is this a sparging nightmare?  Seems like it should be.

41

General Homebrew Discussion / Cramming for a BJCP Tasting Exam

« on: September 20, 2012, 02:21:30 PM »

I've got to do the BJCP tasting exam on Sept 30.  Not ideal timing since I just passed the entrance exam and this is the only time that there will be an exam in the next year near me. 

So, any advice on cramming for this?  I can read the off-flavours material in How to Brew, style comments in Brewing Classic Styles and look around on-line but that's about it.  I've gotten some great advice PM'd to me but I'd love to hear from others how I can do my best on this.  Doesn't help that I'm away working all next week.  I will try to drink as much beer as I can while I'm gone, hope that works.
Please help.
Thanks.

42

Yeast and Fermentation / Going from Cider to Beer

« on: September 18, 2012, 07:02:09 PM »

I pitched a tube of WLP001 into some cider that I was wanting to make and it's working away at fairly cool temps.  But, if I wanted to use this same yeast to pitch into a beer after the cider is done, do you think I can just go ahead and do it it do I need to make a starter to re-train the yeast to eat maltose instead of simpler and more fermentable sugars in the cider?  Could I just over-pitch instead given that I'm likely going to have a fairly big pitch.
The other question is about contamination.  This is frozen cider, not pasteurized.  Are there enough natural yeast/bacteria hiding in the cider that it isn't worth using as a re-pitch?  I've never noticed any issues in my ciders but I've never used the yeast again.  Would a re-pitch (or two) give the bugs enough time to grow up in populations that would be a problem?
Thanks

43

Yeast and Fermentation / First sour - bottle or not?

« on: September 13, 2012, 07:19:04 PM »

I've got a strong saison that I put in glass about 2 months ago with an old package of rosealare blend.  I can't really say it ever formed anything that I would call a real obvious pellicle but I'm not sure what a pellicle really looks like.  About a month ago I added 1 oz of oak chips soaked in some rye.  I did make a starter to see if there was any life left in the bacteria and I did have activity before I pitched it.  My plan at the time was to leave it for at least 6 months, maybe a year to do its thing.

Now, I am going to have to move in a couple weeks and I'm not sure if I should bottle the beer as it is or whether to try to move a full carboy.  I'd prefer to move a box of bottles than a full carboy.  But, will it screw up the whole thing (assuming I've got some sort of thing going on)?

My thought is to bottle it into champagne bottles cause it should be about 9% ABV if the bretta eats everthing down to close to 1.000. 

Let me know if you think it would be best to bottle it or leave it.  I am sure that if there is any form of pellicle, it'll be busted up by the time I get it moved anyway.
Thanks.

44

Equipment and Software / Kegerator

« on: September 10, 2012, 01:58:15 PM »

We get our new house in a couple weeks and my first priority is to get some sort of kegerator.  The house has a bar with an opening for a bar fridge but I don't know if it's big enough for a kegerator of any sort.  I'd like to be able to have at least 3 beers on tap.  I'm just not sure the best way to do this.  I have a big freezer that I use for beer now but I'm gonna make that into a lagering freezer.  Any recommendations on a kegerator for 3 beer styles that doesn't take up that much room? 

45

General Homebrew Discussion / BJCP On-Line Exam - did you finish?

« on: September 10, 2012, 12:19:37 PM »

Did anyone else run way short on time doing the exam?  I only got about 150 of the 200 questions done.