Messages

661

Zymurgy / Re: Easing the physical process

« on: May 13, 2010, 07:36:37 AM »

Yes, not far-fetched. I realized after I bought a propane burner that moving from waist-height to knee-height would bring its own complex issues. Still working that out. The batch I made last week I did as a split boil on the stove.

For around the main level of the apartment we live in (part of a house), I've considered something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Radio-Flyer-Classic-Red-Wagon/dp/B00000IS6G/

But it won't go down stairs, and the best fermentation spot is a cool, dark closet in the garage below us. My current answer is to make smaller batches, which is easy to do with brewing software. I could also split the fermentation across two small carboys. I own two 3-gallon Better Bottles which I bought for $30 for the pair when Amazon briefly carried them.

I agree that focusing on affordable, entry-level solutions is the right approach. I do like the trebucket though

662

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Random Laws of the brewday #266

« on: May 12, 2010, 02:54:25 PM »

Try using a checklist and a mise en place (that is, set out everything you need in a specific order). I use a Brewsmith brew sheet printout and I place my ingredients out in small Pyrex cups in the order in which they will be used.

I took this idea one step further. Using those $2.00 kitchen timers, I set a timer for every kettle edition. Best $10.00 I ever spent. 

I use the timer on the microwave, but same concept. :-) I use it for the mash, then for the boil. (Just in case I accidentally hit the wrong button and cancel the timer, I write the start time on the brewsheet.)

663

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Random Laws of the brewday #266

« on: May 12, 2010, 01:58:01 PM »

Try using a checklist and a mise en place (that is, set out everything you need in a specific order). I use a Brewsmith brew sheet printout and I place my ingredients out in small Pyrex cups in the order in which they will be used.

664

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Code language in Blue Ribbon Malt Extract recipe booklet

« on: May 09, 2010, 04:27:27 PM »

On the topic of baking, malt extract has a long history of use in baked goodsq, predating prohibition. Look at the baked goods in the grocery store and I guarantee you'll be surprised at the number of goods (particularly anything intended to be 'soft & chewy' that contain extract. If you troll the web for extract information it becomes apparent that the vast majority of the world's extract production is for the baking industry.

Oh, absolutely. In fact some of the recipes made my mouth water... I bet the malted pecan pie and the gingerbread are pretty good. Meatloaf with hopped malt malt extract, not so much.

665

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Code language in Blue Ribbon Malt Extract recipe booklet

« on: May 09, 2010, 02:56:18 PM »

Didn't some of that come from prohibition. They would continue to mash and produce malt products that have roots in beer but would not ferment to avoid breaking the law. The birth of malt extracts for food was born, no?

Yes, though I am guessing the only intended use for hopped extract was beer... kind of a "wink wink nudge nudge."

I checked the back of the pamphlet and there is a recipe for "Home Made Vinegar" that if you leave out the vinegar sounds suspiciously like beer! 3 lbs malt extract ("plain or hop flavored"), 2 1/2 lbs sugar, dissolved in 3 qts hot water, pour over a yeast cake, ferment between 70 and 75 degrees... later on you add vinegar. I wonder if that was intended as a recipe for beer (just leave out the vinegar).

666

Extract/Partial Mash Brewing / Re: Why is partial mash steeping done at 155 degrees F?

« on: May 09, 2010, 09:05:51 AM »

That makes sense... thanks! I was thinking about non-conversion uses such as using crystal in a coffee extraction for adding post-boil... or even just steeping different types in small amounts to get familiar with their flavors.

667

General Homebrew Discussion / Code language in Blue Ribbon Malt Extract recipe booklet

« on: May 09, 2010, 09:01:57 AM »

Found "Tested Recipes with Blue Ribbon Malt Extract" (1951) in my cookbook pamphlet collection this morning while looking for a cake recipe. (I think I picked it up at a garage sale years back, pre-homebrew.)

"Malt extract has long held an important place in the industrial preparation of food. Bakers and confectioners use it widely. ... [etc.] For some food uses plain malt extract imparts the desired taste, for others the addition of the tang derived from fragrant hops is an advantage. Old time bakers and chefs knew the advantage of using malt and hops, but their methods entailed considerable work. ..."

No mention of beer. Some of the recipes, such as the breads, suggest hopped extract as an alternative.

668

Extract/Partial Mash Brewing / Re: Why is partial mash steeping done at 155 degrees F?

« on: May 08, 2010, 10:46:12 AM »

Is there a top limit to how hot the water can be for steeping? Below boiling?

Supposed to be 170F or just below AFAIK.

Not to be circular :-) but if tannin extraction is a moot point (see thread above) then 170 degrees wouldn't seem to matter. But there must be an upper limit that affects flavor. Below boiling?

669

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What's Brewing This Weekend - 5/7 Edition

« on: May 08, 2010, 08:00:14 AM »

Doing a half-batch AG version of West Coast Blaster (from Brewing Classic Styles). Just now heating the strike water.

670

Extract/Partial Mash Brewing / Re: Why is partial mash steeping done at 155 degrees F?

« on: May 08, 2010, 07:56:48 AM »

Is there a top limit to how hot the water can be for steeping? Below boiling?

671

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: AHA Member Surveys

« on: May 05, 2010, 09:03:37 PM »

"paticular" ;-)

672

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Siphoning Technique

« on: May 03, 2010, 10:45:09 AM »

For starters, I set up a whirlpool in the kettle while chilling, then drain from the edge so that most of the hops and break material stay in the kettle.

Do you use an auto-siphon to rack from the kettle into your primary fermenter?

673

Questions about the forum? / Categories for users?

« on: May 02, 2010, 04:39:15 PM »

I'm sure as soon as I hit "post" I'll find this, but I couldn't figure out how the user categories are determined (Newbie, Member, etc.). I'm guessing by number of posts. I'm assuming "Member" is unrelated to AHA member status. True, true?

674

Pimp My System / Re: I pimped my carboys

« on: May 02, 2010, 07:36:36 AM »

I'm jealous. I use a laundry marker to note half-gallon markings, and the markings seem to stay on through various washings, but it's downright primitive compared to this.

675

Beer Recipes / Re: Amount of Vienna in Bell's Two-Hearted Ale?

« on: May 01, 2010, 06:10:19 AM »

Thanks. Munich it is... I've already determined that the local LHBS's carry Briess. I will try it with WLP001 again when I brew it the next time, for one very important reason. When we moved cross-country last fall we also moved away from Bell's distribution areas! (See http://www.bellsbeer.com/distributor.html ... I'm in San Francisco) But I've read that about using Bell's for the yeast.

I wonder if I keep brewing and tinkering with "my" version without being able to compare it to the real thing if I'll be surprised someday when I taste THA again. "Hey, that's not Two-Hearted Ale!" ;-)

(Cultivating yeast from a bottle sounds good to learn... there must be local beers I can practice on.)