Messages

61

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What's Brewing This Weekend - 8/24 Edition

« on: September 03, 2012, 01:44:42 PM »

What did you come up with as your grain bill? I've got an Amber in the fermenter right now using CaraMunich with a pinch of Carafa III that is looking more like a Brown Ale right now, although I'm hoping it will look lighter in the glass.

(Edited, added photo)

Well, those images are pre-brewing, I didn't do the math quite right in the recipe.  I did 19.5 lbs total into a 6 gallon batch, hit 1.078.  Because recipes of the past have come out tasting "grainy", I try to go light on adjuncts and see how it turns out - I did 8 oz of Carared and 3 oz of roasted barley. 

I'm not sure what it'll look like in a glass, maybe orangy/red, but it had a lot of brown hue when boiling.  My guess that some adjustment is in order.

Anyone have a favorite combination that's worked well for them?

62

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What's Brewing This Weekend - 8/24 Edition

« on: September 02, 2012, 08:58:57 PM »

brewing a rye IPA, It'll be the third time I've made this yet tweaking the recipe every time.

Picking out color from what I have on hand (left to right, a tea of: Caramunich 45, Carared, Crystal 60, Roasted Barley)


Blending roasted barley into each makes them very close.   Going with the Carared + Roasted Barley based on color and flavor, targeting 14 Lovibond.

63

Ingredients / Re: Rye?

« on: September 01, 2012, 11:35:04 AM »

65 IBU isn't all that high for a 1.085 IPA.  My recipe is 1.073 and 75 IBU.  I wonder if maybe it's the Nugget?  Although the middle pic of the flaked rye doesn't look like anything I've ever seen before.

I was thinking the rye would kick up the bitterness (albeit a different flavor), so no need to add tons of hops as I have trouble filtering it out. 

So, maybe leave the middle flake out?  I was guessing if the rye itself didn't mash well, the flake would cover for it.

Thanks again everyone!

64

Ingredients / Re: Rye?

« on: September 01, 2012, 11:31:52 AM »

That middle batch of flaked rye looks very suspect, almost molded, hence your nasty flavor?

No mold, it has the same green color of the rye on the left, kinda like it's the same thing but pressed into a flake.

65

Ingredients / Re: Rye?

« on: September 01, 2012, 07:31:21 AM »

mash @ 152, batch sparge, 90 min boil, WLP001

14 lb 2 row (73%)
2 lb vienna (10%)
1.5 lb rye (8%)
1 lb munich (5%)
.5 lb carapil (2.5%)
2 oz roasted barley (0.5%)

Looking for ~65 IBU, an ounce of each:

60 min, American Nugget
20 min, German Opal, German Smaragd
8 minutes, German Opal, German Smaragd
dryhop, German Opal, German Smaragd

66

Ingredients / Rye?

« on: August 31, 2012, 08:28:25 PM »

I don't know Rye.  At the stage of crafting my own recipes, which includes picking up random ingredients whenever found & tossin'm in.

Anyone have input on the rye below?  For a 6 gallon batch (~1.085), I used a pound of rye (upper left, moistened before crushing) + a half pound of flake (middle image), and the rye taste was brutally bitter lingering on the tongue for a minute or so (it was great, really).  Those without the 'lupulin shift' attraction would not go near it.

So, I figure I'd cut the rye way back, but can someone detail the difference on these ingredients as they impart flavor?  I picked up the flake on the lower right just recently, it's void of the green color.  When bringing together rye recipes, what is it that you use?

Thanks y'all.

67

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What was your last change in your procedure that you feel was beneficial?

« on: August 24, 2012, 07:42:51 AM »

I bought a nice strainer for pouring wort into my fermenter from the kettle. Now I don't have to use hop sacks anymore. Also bought an RV hose so I don't have to run in and out of the house with a pitcher to fill my water kettle.

Is the mesh fine enough to filter pellet hops, and if so would you know what size mesh or what kind it is?  Gracias.

68

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What was your last change in your procedure that you feel was beneficial?

« on: August 22, 2012, 08:36:31 AM »

My process changes are to taste everything from start to finish (starter, grain, mash, wort, & the different stages of fermentation), simplify where possible, & keep in-use carboy's in like-new plastic trash-containers.  I add cooling/heating to water inside the carboy containers to control temp.  Overall, putting carboy's into something makes them easier to manage & store.

69

All Grain Brewing / Re: Does it matter?

« on: July 22, 2012, 09:36:34 PM »

If you do water to grain make sure the mash tun is heated.   I started off mashing in a cooler(blue of course) and I did water to grain.  The first few times I did it without warming the cooler and I had to play catchup to get it to mash temp. Warming the cooler first made a big difference.

Depending on a couple factors, I add ~4 degrees to the strike water and I hit the temp I need without the cooler warm-up.  Orange also helps... 

70

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: 2 wks Primary ; 2 wks Seconday ; 2 weeks bottle?

« on: July 18, 2012, 03:06:11 PM »

Great feedback, thanks.  Have not had this issue before, maybe it's simply saison season.

71

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: 2 wks Primary ; 2 wks Seconday ; 2 weeks bottle?

« on: July 18, 2012, 12:48:05 PM »

Do y'all think the 'leave it in the primary' logic also applies to lagers? 

I typically keep things in the primary from 3 to 7 days, however with my last pilsner I left it in the primary for slightly over two weeks (~60 degrees).  I've got a bread-like taste that hits right in the middle of the palate.  Not real strong, but enough of an off-flavor to where I'm not handing it out.

AFAIK, it's from where the live yeasts start feeding on the yeast cake of the fermenter.  I've not had this problem with other yeasts.

Cheers.

72

Equipment and Software / Re: Peristaltic pumps, revisited

« on: May 28, 2012, 05:34:52 PM »

Thanks for the feedback.  No, I do not have a U-Bend on the tubing, it's just the tube being pinched between the wood cutout and the rollers.  The spacing on the rollers was not designed for accuracy, so I've got'm wrapped in with about 1/8" of duct tape to get the fit right.  I should be able to remove the duct tape and add the U-Bend & clamps to keep the tubing in place.

Thanks again Richard, I appreciate the help  :-).

73

Equipment and Software / Peristaltic pumps, revisited

« on: May 28, 2012, 04:31:48 PM »

One of my setup improvements this year was to add a pump such that I can recirculate and move wort without lifting wort. Based on comments in this forum (thank you), this is a prototype peristaltic pump:

(hoping this works, first time posting images)




As a guideline I DIY what I can and spend as little $$$ as possible.  This one is 5 skateboard bearings, 1" pipe connectors, pinch of aluminum, nuts & bolts: maybe $20 overall + scrap wood.  Drill and router speed control I had; it actually worked, lol.  It's all assembled with wingnuts to keep the build easy.  Just wanting something simple where I can recirculate the mash or move to boil kettle.

Seems like I gotta keep tension on the hose as it routes in & out of the pump as it gets rather soft when hot.  Any suggestions on how to accomplish this?  Curious if anyone's done something similar & can offer further advice, thanks.

74

Equipment and Software / Re: DIY pumps

« on: February 27, 2012, 05:27:09 PM »

afaik, the peristaltic/tube pump thing is perfect DIY material.  The cake pan implementation - very nice. 

75

Equipment and Software / Re: DIY pumps

« on: February 26, 2012, 10:04:39 PM »

Thanks for the feedback; off flavors would be the problem with this.

The Little Giant, especially with the detail on manufacturing, seems ideal but beyond my budget.

The March seems like the way to go.  I did not know they were available sans motor, I'll give it a try.  The gripe has come from guys who've built HERMS systems - I don't know exactly other than it's been a weakspot in their setup.

Cheers!