Messages

16

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What's Brewing This Weekend - 2/11 Edition

« on: February 09, 2011, 06:41:36 PM »

Hopefully brewing a double batch on Sunday. ESB and a Schwarzbier. If not this weekend, then next. My daughter's spring softball just started, and Saturday practices will put a crimp in my brewing schedule. Worth every minute, though!

17

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: BJCP exam - vital statistics needed?

« on: January 24, 2011, 11:16:56 AM »

As an exam grader, I would recommend using stats only if you're sure you know them WELL. 9+ points are possible without the numbers, but it's hard not to deduct points for numbers that are way off.

18

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What's Brewing This Weekend - 1/14 Edition

« on: January 17, 2011, 07:19:48 PM »

Brewed a RIS today. Once fermented, it'll be the third beer to go through my 5-gallon bourbon barrel. I plan to let it sit in the barrel up to 6 months, then the barrel should finally be ready to sour!

19

All Grain Brewing / Re: Rice Hulls?

« on: January 13, 2011, 08:14:05 PM »

If my grain bill is more than 50% wheat, I use rice hulls and have been very happy with the results. No stuck mashes, and I haven't noticed any reduced wort volume.

20

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: How much did you brew in 2010?

« on: January 02, 2011, 04:43:17 PM »

25 batches for 125 gallons, all of them Belgians!

21

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What's your first brew for 2011?

« on: January 02, 2011, 04:39:12 PM »

What does everyone out there have planned for their first brew of 2011?  I'm planning to kick off 2011 with a big Tripel and hoping to use the yeast cake from that to brew a quad

Happy New Year!

FYI, many recommend against using yeast from any higher gravity beer (>1.060) to brew another beer. The high alcohol stresses the yeast, and they usually struggle in the second batch. I tried it once - never again.

22

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: 2011 Brewing Goals

« on: January 01, 2011, 01:36:46 PM »

I brewed only Belgian styles for all of 2010. I learned a lot, but don't think I would restrict myself that much again. Goal for 2011 is to learn the gory details of fine-tuning water chemistry.

23

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What's Brewing This Weekend - 12/31 Edition

« on: January 01, 2011, 01:30:15 PM »

Cooling down an English mild. I decided in December 2009 (sort of a resolution) to brew only Belgian styles for all of 2010. Succeeded and enjoyed it, but I am happy to have other options again!

24

All Grain Brewing / Re: Mash Out?

« on: December 16, 2010, 07:38:41 PM »

What are everyones procedures for a mashout? I used to use a SS kettle as my mash tun, and could add direct heat to raise mash temp or do a mash out. I've since gone to an Igloo cooler mash tun, and only raise temp by addition of hot water. It seems a true mashout would require a large addition of boiling water, or does anyone do decoction-style mashouts? Any ideas are welcome!

25

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Want a bigger better bottle?

« on: December 15, 2010, 08:16:10 PM »

Glad to see the BB people checking in! Thanks for the info. Although I'd like an additional half gallon or so in my BB, they work great and I understand the reasoning behind the size offerings. I'm very happy to have "lost the weight" by converting from glass to BB.

26

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What's Brewing This Weekend - 12/17 Edition

« on: December 15, 2010, 08:03:35 PM »

Belgian Dubbel!

27

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Could this be all the yeast I have??

« on: December 09, 2010, 09:56:45 AM »

Hard to tell for sure from the photo, but it looks to me like quite a bit of yeast still in suspension above the trub/yeast layer at the bottom of the flask.

28

All Grain Brewing / Re: portlike beer

« on: December 09, 2010, 09:30:28 AM »

Oxidation of beer is usually a bad thing (cardboard, etc.), but can lead to sherry- and port-like characters in high-gravity beers.

29

All Grain Brewing / Re: About being fresh.....

« on: December 09, 2010, 09:22:10 AM »

Those sacks of grain will produce weevils after a while if they sit around. Lots of weevils. Especially when it warms up. Anyway it doesn't affect the brew much but they can spread throughout your house if their population explodes. Keep your grain airtight. Depending on the strength of your brews you ought to get upwards of three 10 gallon batches out of a sack. Seeing your incipient enthusiasm for brewing that probably won't be a problem. 

Also, your grain behaves a lot like flour, so if it isn't sealed up good then humidity can throw your weight off some but it really affects how the malt feeds through the rollers in your grain mill.

I've read and it has been my experience that the weevils and eggs can be killed by putting the grain in a freezer for a week or so. It may not be practical for a 50# sack, but it does seem to work.

30

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Best Brew Software??

« on: December 05, 2010, 06:24:57 PM »

Put me down for Beer Tools Pro... I have used them all though, and all have some great attributes. I'm on a mac. BTP on a mac is like fine pale chocolate is to a mild. Bliss it is...

Also Mac, and also BTP. Couldn't be happier.