Topics

1

Yeast and Fermentation / WLP630

« on: June 06, 2013, 08:00:31 AM »

I am going to brew a berliner weiss using WLP630.  I searched the forums to try to get some information, but one thing I never could find is a proper fermentation temp.  I have seen ferment in the low 60's and I have read start fermentation in the high 70's.  I know that lacto by itself like to start high (I think near 100 or so), but I know I cant do that based on the other yeast in the blend.

What recommendations do you have or related past / present experience using this blend?

2

Hop Growing / growing hops hydroponically

« on: March 29, 2013, 01:33:35 PM »

Has anyone had any experience with growing hops in a hydroponic environment? My neighbor has a hydropnic system for growing flowers and vegetables and he said we could experiment with some rhizomes.  Before I engage in it just want to know if there is any feedback from the forum.

3

Ingredients / simcoe, citra and amarillo

« on: March 28, 2013, 07:10:16 PM »

I am going to make a big an imperial ipa and I am going to use Simcoe (12.8 AA), Citra (14.1AA), and Amarillo (9.4AA) but I am unsure how to best utilize the bitterness and aroma to maximize each.  I have been brewing so many single hop beers to try to be able to recognize what each does that I am afraid using a combo of each I may lose something.  Here is the recipe and please feel free to give suggestions on how YOU would utilize these three hops in a single beer.

LBS   OZ
14   2   American Two-row Pale
1      Corn Sugar (Dextrose) (Boil)
   10   American Dextrin (Cara-Pils)
   10   American Crystal 40L

                        oz                             AA
boil   60 min   ½    Citra ~ pellet   14.1
boil   60 min   ½    Simcoe ~ pellet   12.8
boil   45 min   ½    Citra ~ pellet   14.1
boil   30 min   ½    Simcoe ~ pellet   12.8
boil   15 min   ½    Amarillo ~ pellet   9.4
boil   3 min           ½    Amarillo ~ pellet   9.4
boil   3 min           ½    Citra ~ pellet   14.1
boil   3 min           ½    Simcoe ~ pellet   12.8

Using (2) 11.5 GRAMS OF SAFALE 05

EST OG: 1.078
EST FG: 1.017

IBU: 78.5

there will be some dry hopping using the some of the same three hops.  Suggestions welcome on that aspect too.

Always appreciated.

4

Equipment and Software / promash vs beersmith vs others

« on: March 02, 2013, 06:13:39 PM »

I am thinking of upgrading to more advanced brewing software and want to get some opinions.  I have been using Hopville for the last two years or so and I like it, but I consistently run into calculation errors (possibly me, but doubtful)

Anyway, what do you guys use or prefer and why?

5

Kegging and Bottling / recarbonating

« on: February 22, 2013, 02:09:43 PM »

I bottled an american wheat beer and before I bottled I had cold crashed it for about a week.  I used a carbonation guide that asked me for the temperature of the beer at bottling, which was 40, but I input 45 to account for any heat gained in the process.  This was right on because when I finished I was at 46 degrees.  Anyway the carbonation guide using told me to use a significantly less amount of priming sugar to achieve  a 2.7 carb level.  I went with the amount it indicated and after 3 weeks at 66 degrees there is minimal carbonation.

Is there a safe way to recarbonate or increase the carbonation? I know I will have to open bottles, but didn't know if carb tablets would help or add a small amount of priming sugar to each bottle would do it.

Just for reference I used the beer recipator carbonation guide and used wyeast american wheat yeast.
 

6

Beer Recipes / Cucumber Saison

« on: February 18, 2013, 02:43:00 PM »

So I made a cucumber saison and incorporated my cucumber slurry / tea during cool down before pitching yeast my yeast.  It has been 4 days and the gravity has dropped from an OG of 1.070 down to 1.015.  I believe I may have used too many cucumbers as I have an overpowering cucumber aroma and a very strong cucumber flavor.  Much more than the subtle cucumber aspect I was hoping to achieve.  I figure I can dry hop the hell out it to reduce the cucumber aroma, but at this point is there anything I can do to reduce the flavor?

Here is the recipe:
11 lbs Belgian Pilsner Malt
2 lbs White Wheat
1 lbs Vienna Malt
1 oz tettanger hops 45 min
1 oz Styrian Goldings 30 min
1 oz Styrian Golding 5 minutes

incorporated approximately 2/3 of a gallon of cucumber tea made from 10 cucumbers during cool down.

Any assistance is greatly appreciated

7

Equipment and Software / Conical Fermenter

« on: January 14, 2013, 05:02:24 PM »

My wife surprised me this year at Christsas and got me a 7.3 gallon stainless steel conical fermenter.  It was on the wish list, but didn't think I would get it.  Well now I have started using it and my primary fermentation has completed and now I am not sure what to do or better yet the best method of doing it.

There is of course a side spout (not sure of the proper name), but I was opening that to take my gravity samples.

What is the best method for transferring and procedural order for getting to my secondary or keg?
 
Do I open the bottom and collect of the yeast sediment that built up and dispose of that and then go into my secondary or keg?

Do I open up the side and go into secondary / keg that way?  That doesn't seem correct as I may be not collecting all of the clean beer as some may be below the side spout.

Are there any other steps I am missing?

Any advice / suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

8

Yeast and Fermentation / Double Boiling, Double Fermentation

« on: November 28, 2012, 06:24:46 PM »

I have a home brewing buddy who did a double boil and a double fermentation and achieved (what he said) 11.4%ABV.  I was unfamiliar with this technique and was trying to figure out his math behind it to see if it made sense.

Here is what he said.  He had an OG of 1.083 and finished off at .0995.

That part makes sense, but the metjod to how he got to it is where I got lost.

He let it ferment then reboiled it with 3lbs of dark LME and 7 lbs of cane sugar.  He repitched it the same yeast.  IT was for a 10 gallon batch.

It was a Double IPA and had a lot of hop additions, but that is irrelevant to the information I am inquiring about.

I have struggled with achieving high ABV (above 9%) and is this metjod a common practice to achieve higher ABV?  Is there advantages / disadvantages to this method?  Does the math add up?

9

Yeast and Fermentation / Phenolic Contamination??? Not sure

« on: August 29, 2012, 04:47:06 PM »

Alright so I brewed a dunkelweizen and I took about a gallon and a half of it and racked it onto some iced oatmeal cookies (it is for my homebrew club competition - everybody has to use these cookies).  My dunkelweizen by itself is fine, but I'm concerned about the iced cookie portion.  It has been on the iced cookies for about 9 days and when I went to check on it today it has a very strong smell, like nail polish remover.  I took a taste sample and the taste was nothing like the smell.  The taste was pleasant with a slight oatmeal cookie taste.

I know they say phenolic contamination will smell like adhesive bandages, and it is expected in certain styles of beers.  I just want some thought on if it is bacterially contaminated.

10

Yeast and Fermentation / Slow Yeast and / or no evidence any fermentation

« on: August 27, 2012, 04:46:45 PM »

I brewed a Belgian Wheat IPA on Friday (8-24-12) from the kit the Austin Home Brew.  My OG was 1.070 which was on target and I pitched 2 WYEAST Belgian Strong Ale 1388.  Fermentation started within 12 hours and was kicking until this morning.  I opened up the carboy and there was no evidence of any real noticeable fermentation as the top fermenting yeast cake I guess had begun settling to the bottom.  I took a gravity reading and it was at 1.028.  It has only been 3 to 3/12 days since I brewed this batch.  Is there reason to be concerned?

Here is the recipe:
7lb Belgian Pilsen Malt
6 LBS White Wheat
1/2 lb Aromatic Malt
1/2 lb Flaked Wheat.

Mashed for 1 hour at 154 then mashout for 15 minutes at 168.  Fly Sparged for 1 hour using 170 degree water.  60 minute boil.

Thank you in advance!

11

Ingredients / Cookies?????

« on: August 19, 2012, 01:02:09 PM »

So my local homebrew is having a member brew competition where everybody has to use the same uncommon ingredient.  This ingredient is iced oatmeal cookies.

My thought is to crush them and put them in a grain bag during the boil, but I don't know how that will work.  I don't typically mess with a lot of nontraditional ingredients so I am at a loss on potentially the best way to incorporate.  The ingredients contain sugar, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, dextrose and rolled oats.  I am assuming I would get some fermentables out of it if I incorporate it at the right time, but what is the right time?  Do I necessarily want any fermentables from it?  My thought is to incorporate into a stout or porter, but I don't know.

Any suggestions, thoughts, comments, suggested style, etc. would be greatly appreciated. 

Thanks!

12

Kegging and Bottling / Naturally Keg Priming

« on: July 30, 2012, 07:48:36 PM »

I looked back about 3-4 pages on the forum to see what good threads I could find before starting this post.  I found some good info, but wanted to throw it out there anyway to get some more current feedback.

I have always gone with the set it and forget method when it comes to carbing my kegs.  Very happy with that, but I just tapped two new kegs and have two more batches which will be ready to be kegged within the next 2-3 days.  Without extra CO2 tanks I can't go with the set ti and forget it method right now so I wanted to get some info on priming my keg with corn sugar (like bottles).

I know I will get a little more sediment, but that is no big concern for me.  I can deal with that.  DO I use less corn sugar because of increased head space?  Use the same amount I would use for bottles?

Are there any other pros and / or cons to doing this based on my setup?  I could always bottle the next batch or two, but wanted to have at least 1 or 2 backup kegs for when the two I have tapped run out which will be in a few weeks.

As always thanks for the feedback!

13

Kegging and Bottling / NO FLOW

« on: July 28, 2012, 12:06:47 PM »

I have a new dual tap kegerator with a single gauge regulator split into two lines.  This is my first run with this set up and today I went to try it out as I had two corny kegs that are ready to go.  I am having problems with getting beer to flow from one of the kegs, all I get is a small trickle for a few seconds.  It may not fully be carbonated but has been at 12 psi for the last 7 days.  I have switched gas lines between the two kegs and have also flow lines to see if that works, and still nothing.  The keg is pressurized, hearing major release of gas when I press the relief valve and I hear it refilling with gas.  I am not hearing any leaks, but my assumption is there may be a small leak.  Is this a logical and correct assumption?

If it is a small leak can I replace the seals without ruining the batch?

14

Kegging and Bottling / Carbing and Quitting

« on: March 21, 2012, 06:35:23 PM »

I have a keg which I began force carbing about 3 weeks ago.  I thought that by the time it was ready, 7-10 days, I would have finished the keg I was currently drinking on.  Well that is not the case.  I still have about 1-2 gallons left of the keg I am drinking on.

Here is my question:  Can I remove the CO2 line from the untapped keg and it keep it carbonation until I am ready to tap it?  It is currently sitting in my outside fridge.  If I can remove the Co2 do I need to keep it chilled or can I let it get back to room temperature.  I ask because I have two other kegs that have been aging and was wondering if I can go ahead and be carbing them.

15

Yeast and Fermentation / Stuck fermentation

« on: October 30, 2011, 06:08:20 PM »

I have two batches currently in fermentation, a porter and an Imperial IPA.  Both were brewed on 10-21-11 so they have been fermenting for about 9 days.

Neither batch has dropped to a gravity I was expecting.  The porter began at 1.076 and is now at 1.030.  I had great activity, but now all has seemed to stop.  My fear is that it will be too sweet as I was hoping to finish around 1.020.  I pitched two packets of wyeast london ale when it was at 69 degrees.  It is in the basement and with cooler temperatures at night the wort may fluctuate 3-4 degrees. 

This essentially the same with the imperial ipa, although it has progressed better than the porter.  It started at 1.078 and it is now at 1.024.  with this batch I pitched 2 packets of Wyeast Denny's Favorite 50

Any suggestions?