Messages

1

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Is this homebrew?

« on: June 10, 2013, 01:53:53 PM »

I'm something of a seat-of-the-pants brewer too.  I quit writing down my recipes, I create them on the fly, I will get an OG measurement but no FG, just generally lazy about a lot of this stuff I guess.  I play with no-sparge, no-chill, and BIAB.  Beer still comes out good.  Can I reproduce something if it comes out good?  No but I know the next batch is going to be good so I don't need to.

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General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Goose Island Sofie

« on: June 10, 2013, 07:49:41 AM »

I found a 2012 Sofie on sale at my favorite liquor store, snagged it up.  Hopefully the time in the bottle will help it show more sour.  I've had it "fresh" and it didn't have that much character.

3

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Burner question

« on: June 07, 2013, 01:32:28 PM »

Is the Blichmann using a banjo burner?  The video looked identical to whats on my Bayou KAB6.  I thought it was 200K BTU though.

4

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What Hops for Imperial Porter?

« on: June 07, 2013, 05:32:51 AM »

The best porters I've made use a combo of Tettnanger and Cascade.

Spoken like a true West Coaster.

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General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What Hops for Imperial Porter?

« on: June 06, 2013, 07:49:31 AM »

The bittering hops are kind of wide open although I'd maybe go with something smooth like Magnum.  The late addition, I'd use a British hop or at least something with floral/berry/earthy rather than citrus character.  I like Kent Goldings but there are a number of possibilities.  First Gold would fit the bill.

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General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Bourbon barrel porter

« on: June 04, 2013, 11:45:52 AM »

1. Just a few days is enough to completely saturate the chips.  In fact that is probably a matter of hours.
2. Doesn't matter too much although you're going to have leftover bourbon so you want to be able to enjoy it too.
3. Alcohol is a great sanitizer.
4. Yes although a jar with a lid might be better.
5. Chips will give up all their flavor in a week tops.

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General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Well....it happened

« on: June 04, 2013, 11:42:48 AM »

I just use a big plastic tub, not insulated.  I'll throw in some 1L ice bottles morning and switch them out in the evening.  Between the extra thermal mass of the 3-4gal of water, and the cooling of the ice, the temp of the brew doesn't ramp up nearly as much.  Its really important for those bigger beers because the high sugar gets the yeast cranking, and the temp can run away.

Oh and by the way, if a beer isn't right I dump rather than suffer through it.

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General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Well....it happened

« on: June 04, 2013, 09:27:46 AM »

Sometimes a heavily-hopped IPA will be kind of harsh at first.  I wouldn't give up on it.  If you got into the mid-70's with US05 it might throw some fusels though.

9

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Competition routine question

« on: June 03, 2013, 08:18:24 AM »

I will do some looking around. For me a competition will be all about the unbiased feedback. Obviously if I won it would hang on the wall, but that's not at all the point. It seems like the bjcp could build their funds up if they offered feedback tasting for a reasonable fee. Send in beer just like for competition and get back a judgment sheet with score and feedback just no awards.

BJCP is all-volunteer.  This is exactly what the numerous homebrew contests acheive, multiple opportunities to get feedback.  Theres one next week in Peroia, and the week after in Lexington KY.

10

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Naturally Carbonating a Keg

« on: May 30, 2013, 06:03:25 AM »

If the keg is full you won't push much beer before the gas in the headspace is exhausted.  You would get away without an external source of pressure if you only filled the keg halfway.  All the headspace would then most likely provide enough pressure for the event.  I do this at home, keg 3gal in a 5gal keg and drink off it without gas for several days.

11

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: LHBS

« on: May 28, 2013, 07:51:03 AM »

We got a small LHBS in a nearby town last fall.  I've been buying some stuff from them, making suggestions on what to stock, and recommending them to other brewers.  They are primarily supplying LDCarlson stuff so I still go elsewhere for certain malt brands and bulk hops.  Its nice having them as an option though and I hope they do well and expand.

12

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Visual BJCP style resources

« on: May 28, 2013, 07:44:53 AM »

Good stuff for those who learn by seeing.  Thanks for the link.

Good luck on the exam.

13

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: not all RO water created equally

« on: May 15, 2013, 11:31:47 AM »

An RO membrane probably works at its best when new.  And of course it depends on the water coming into the system, on how well RO will clean things up.  Still I'm surprised theres much of a difference.  I thought RO was only supposed to be around 20ppm Ca and not much alkalinity.

14

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Beers for the non-craft drinker

« on: May 15, 2013, 06:24:13 AM »

This spring I made a couple of decent American lagers that are being well received by non-hop-minded individuals.  They still have a nice malt flavor to them and barely enough hops to back that up.

15

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Bottling prep

« on: May 14, 2013, 01:25:59 PM »

I don't sanitize caps and haven't had any problems.  The O2 absorbing caps have some metabisulfite in them.