Messages

481

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Tips for the beginner

« on: October 10, 2012, 04:21:44 pm »

My only advice is to never lose the attitude that you're "still learning." I know after a few years doing this, I thought my beer was the best and that I knew it all.

Holy crap, was I wrong.

482

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Red Hoptober

« on: October 10, 2012, 04:00:09 pm »

Guess I'll have to go with "The Ides of Marzen" instead.

You could make a Belgian Champagne-style beer and call it "Et tu Brut"

483

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Red Hoptober

« on: October 10, 2012, 02:38:58 pm »

Yeah, I wasn't that excited about it either. Odell's seasonal red, however, is great.

484

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Fresh HOPS, How To?

« on: October 08, 2012, 06:49:02 pm »

So I ended up using half the hops in a basic tripel, and the other half in the pale sour. They lost some weight overnight, so I ended up with 200g in each.

The beers are fantastic. Insane, huge hop punch. A good showcase for the hops, but I think next time I'll use more like 1/3 or 1/4 of a pound for a batch. A 5-6:1 ratio seems really high. I'd say using 8oz fresh hops was comparable to using 4oz of dry hops, so more like a 2:1 ratio.

I know they had a lot more water weight, but I guess the volatile oils you lose during kilning made the hops pack more of a punch.

485

The Pub / British hops declining due to low demand

« on: October 08, 2012, 03:23:37 pm »

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/oct/08/british-beer-makers-fight-foreign-hops

I thought this was an interesting article.

"At the industry's peak in 1872, British hop farmers grew around 72,000 acres of the perennial climbing plant, but demand has decreased to the point that last year only 2,500 acres were grown. The only major hop-growing regions now are Hereford and Worcester and Kent. Despite this, the UK is at the forefront of efforts to develop new varieties – including dwarf or hedgerow plants thought to be more sustainable than higher climbing hops – and the revival of old ones. The hedgerow hops cost less to grow, can be picked by machine, are more resistant to disease and require lower chemical inputs. "

486

All Grain Brewing / Re: First repeat recipe almost on mark

« on: October 08, 2012, 03:18:43 pm »

I don;t plan them out for the whole year- though that isn;t a bad idea!

Since I'm both a) insane and b) I love Excel, I've considered doing that. My problem is I get really excited about brewing something, then when it's time to brew it, there's something else I'm way more into. For instance, I bought a bunch of smoked malt for a rauchbier, but then I decided to buy a bunch of different NZ hops, so the rauchbier is on the back-burner for a while I work through those.

487

Ingredients / Re: Falconer's Flight

« on: October 08, 2012, 02:29:43 pm »

It's kinda like how when you can't get enough coffee, you mix it with chicory.

488

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: more aeration on day 2-3?

« on: October 08, 2012, 02:13:55 pm »

According to this paper, http://www.fermentis.com/SHARED/Doc_52528.pdf, the amount of dry yeast per gram on average greatly exceeds the 6 billion cells per gram.  That's probably the discrepancy.

S-04, for some reason, only has 8b per gram, according to that. I've always used the 20b / gram rule of thumb, but I guess it makes sense that it may vary by strain, and I'll try to use that info in the future.

489

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: more aeration on day 2-3?

« on: October 08, 2012, 02:03:28 pm »

Well that's confusing to. Just checked Mr Malty and he says 1.8 packs even if they are a month old. He also recomends >300 billion cells but says that 1.8 packs will deliver that.

I must be missing something here.

ahh well. I guess I will RDWHAHB and pitch the two packs as planned. There is something wonky in my understanding of this whole thing.

If you properly rehydrate the yeast, 2 11g packs will be plenty. If you just throw the yeast in the cool wort, you'll kill 50%+ of the yeast.  BTW, the optimum rehydration temp varies a bit by strain, but most strains will be more like 100-105*, rather than 90*.

You also don't want to use RO water. Tap water would be better. It needs some minerals so the minerals inside the yeast don't get sucked out into the water.

I came across this that I thought was interesting: http://www.fermentis.com/SHARED/Doc_52528.pdf
Viable cells per gram:
k-97 - 1.4*10^10
s-04 - 0.8*10^10
t-58 - 1.8*10^10
s-33 - 1.6*10^10
s-23 - 1.0*10^10
s-189 - 0.9*10^10

490

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Research papers or studies on homebrewing's contribution craft beer industry?

« on: October 08, 2012, 12:30:08 pm »

Although everybody has their favorite homebrewer-gone-big-time story, I believe the biggest impact of homebrewing is to provide a customer base for all those pro breweries. But that is even more difficult to quantify.

That's so true. Per capita consumption is seriously skewed by heavy drinkers. We studied alcoholism in my psychopathology class in college. Basically, something like 90% of all alcohol consumed is consumed by about 10% of the drinkers. Most of the homebrewers I know definitely fall into that 10%. The other "drinkers" drink very infrequently. Some people only drink one or two times a year. As someone who enjoys a pint just about every day, that's inconceivable to me.

491

All Grain Brewing / Re: First repeat recipe almost on mark

« on: October 08, 2012, 12:25:20 pm »

I've never brewed exactly the same recipe twice. If it ain't broke, keep tinkering until it is!

492

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: more aeration on day 2-3?

« on: October 08, 2012, 11:28:25 am »

I'm sure I read somewhere it was OK to aerate until the SG passed the halfway mark on your planned attenuation.  So if you're aiming for ~1.020 from 1.100 then unless it's past 1.060 I think you should be OK.  I've never tried it though

I've read something similar, I couldn't remember what the cut-off is. If it were my beer, my cut-off would be a lot more conservative, maybe more like <20-25% of planned attenuation. I'd aerate if gravity > 1.080-84.

493

Ingredients / Re: What is candi sugar?

« on: October 08, 2012, 10:55:28 am »

I'm pretty sure D2 is the Candimic dark 78%

494

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: more aeration on day 2-3?

« on: October 08, 2012, 10:51:21 am »

Rousing is a great idea.

Aerating is a good idea too if gravity hasn't dropped much. Adding O2 is only bad if the yeast don't need it.

495

Ingredients / Re: Belma Hops?!?!?

« on: October 08, 2012, 10:48:50 am »

I just ordered some too, mostly because of the price point. I got a pound of Citra too, so it might be a while before I get around to using the Belma.