Messages

1126

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Complete Fermentation

« on: January 13, 2010, 10:38:55 pm »

But keep in mind that if you're expecting an FG of 1.012 and you get 1.020 for 3 days the beer may not be done.  You may have to warm it or take other measures.  Hydrometer readings are not the absolute indicator of a beer that is completely fermented.  I've had beers stall at a particular gravity for a week until I warmed it, shook it or added more yeast. 

1127

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Recipe ownership?

« on: January 13, 2010, 10:35:29 pm »

If I brew something I'm proud of I'll give the recipe away.  First of all no matter what I think I did, somebody probably did it before me.  And even if my recipe is somehow absolutely original I know that nobody will probably ever brew my beer exactly as I did so it won't be the same.  I'm from the Gulf of Mexico coast, my mom has made her gumbo for 65 years now.  She gave her recipe, and even trained us to make it, to me and my sister, but nobody would ever know that those 3 gumbos had any connection.  There's way too much more than just a recipe.

1128

Kegging and Bottling / Re: Cork & Cage Bottling

« on: January 12, 2010, 06:06:23 pm »

The easiest one in my opinion is the Ferrari Champagne corker.

We bought a Ferrari years ago for bottling wine, it's ery easily adapted for corking beer.
The cages can be a little tricky.  i broke several before I figured out how tight I could get them without breaking.

1129

Kegging and Bottling / Re: Beer Gun or Conditioning with priming sugar?

« on: January 11, 2010, 10:08:31 pm »

I decided to keg and Beergun mine, it would be tough to get the carbonation right on an old beer like this.

1130

Kegging and Bottling / Re: Cork & Cage Bottling

« on: January 11, 2010, 10:07:02 pm »

Put a standard  carboy stopper on the plunger so it doesn't push the cork all the way in.  This will leave about 1/2 inch of the cork sticking out for the cage to rest on.  as the bottle carbonates the cork get pushed out creating the mushroom shape.
Make sure your bottles and stoppers are compatible-Belgian bottles take bigger corks.

1131

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Whatcha brewin' this week? - 2010 Jan 7 - 2010 Jan 13

« on: January 09, 2010, 10:00:45 am »

10 gallons of porter to pitch on the Nottingham yeast cake from my rye pale ale.  I'll soak vanilla beans in bourbon and add to one keg, cold brewed coffee in the other.

1132

Kegging and Bottling / Re: Beer Gun or Conditioning with priming sugar?

« on: January 08, 2010, 11:24:47 am »

I was glad to see this thread, I've got a similar issue I'm dealing with.
I brewed a Belgian strong dark ale in January 2007, racked to secondary and added Roselare blend when it got to about 75% of expected FG and let it sit in a carboy until June last year.  Then I racked it back to the fermenter and added 8 pounds of fresh/frozen cherries.  It's time to get off my lazy ass and bottle it but I don't know if I should use priming sugar and new yeast or force carb in a keg and beergun it.  Anybody had a similar situation?

1133

The Pub / Re: Bama vs the Longhorns-What are y'all drinking?

« on: January 08, 2010, 11:12:35 am »

My wife, a total non football fan opened the last bottle of Mumm Champagne she had and I actually enjoyed it last night.  Not so much this morning though.

1134

The Pub / Bama vs the Longhorns-What are y'all drinking?

« on: January 07, 2010, 06:13:27 pm »

Being from Mobile and being a beer fiend I'm prepared to win or lose tonight.  I've got some Maredsous, Spaten Pils, and  a Rodenbach Grand Cru if Bama looks goods, and if we lose I''ve got some St. Arnolds Lawnmower and some Real Ale Coffee Porter.

1135

Commercial Beer Reviews / Re: Sam Adams Noble Pils

« on: January 06, 2010, 10:54:55 am »

OK
Where are you guys finding Noble Pils?

I got it at the Albertsons grocery store in Carlsbad NM.  It's sad but that's the closest thing to a decent beer store for 150 miles.

1136

Commercial Beer Reviews / Re: Sam Adams Noble Pils

« on: January 05, 2010, 12:54:23 pm »

one thing I forgot to mention, at ~$13 per 12 pack, versus $9-10 for a sixer of anything else, including Prima, its priced right!

Damn, I paid 9$ for my sixer so it can't really be a session type everyday beer.  I'll look around and see if it comes in 12 packs.

1137

Commercial Beer Reviews / Re: Sam Adams Noble Pils

« on: January 05, 2010, 11:08:52 am »

I bought a sixer last week and loved it.  I caught myself trying to drink all 6 that afternoon.  It really is a great beer, too bad it's a seasonal.  I wish they brewed it year round.

1138

All Grain Brewing / Re: fly sparging: once you're done should it be wet or dry?

« on: January 04, 2010, 10:52:59 pm »

How do you know how much sparge water you will need?
I have The Home Brewers Companion
and it says "...... generaly sparge water will equal about 3/4
to just over the total volume of water necessary for the mash process.
I don't understand this?
And I know you're supposed to stop when the gravity gets below
1.008 but how the hell can you check this without a refractometer?
Stop sparging take a sample of wort cool it down and use a hydrometer?
That seems like a real pain , I've just been sparging till I get my boil volume
but sometimes I think I might be going to far.
Luckily it really isn't rocket science.  Before my son gave me my refractometer I sparged until my ketle dad around 12.5 gallons for normal beer 13.5 for beers with a 2 hour boil.  People have been brewing beer without thermoeters, refractometers etc for thousands of years.  Modern tools do help us be consistent and MAY help optimize our brewing sessions but honestly great beer can be brewed without all the bells and whistles.(but I still love my toys-people see my beer room and it reminds them of a 40's movie of some mad scientist).

1139

All Things Food / Re: Post your chili recipes

« on: January 04, 2010, 10:09:39 pm »

No offense to anybody but good, well made chile shouldn't need a thickening agent.  Rehydrate dried chiles, scrape the pulp and the chile will be plenty thick without having to make gravy.

1140

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: aspirations

« on: January 04, 2010, 11:22:26 am »

My goal is to open a brewpub in my wife's area in France.  She has a brother who is a chef and caterer, he just retired from his "day" job and is looking for something to do.  Since he has the business already set up it would be a lot easier for me to just have to deal with the brewing part.  My BIL the farmer could plant 20 acres of hops for me, he already grows 2-row barley and wheat. But how realistic is this, I have no idea.