Messages

316

General Homebrew Discussion / Something rotten in the state of Illninois

« on: April 20, 2012, 09:23:19 AM »

Heads up to folks in Illinois: The Illinois Liquor Control Commission recently cracked down on a festival that served homebrew and commercial brew.  http://www.pjstar.com/entertainment/x643675111/Illinois-Liquor-Control-Commission-enforces-law-no-home-brews-at-festival

I'm told that the AHA is going to seek clarification from the Illinois Liquor Control Commission.

317

All Grain Brewing / Re: Breaking big batches into multiple boils

« on: April 11, 2012, 08:16:43 AM »

He should be able to get a little more consistency from boiling in 4 kettles providing that he is paying sufficient attention to each one, the four kettles are the same and have the same heaters, and the worts have the same initial gravity.  Otherwise he is working in uncharted/unpredictable territory. 

318

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Homebrew Store In Evanston IL

« on: March 29, 2012, 07:24:33 PM »

I might stop by since I'm in Evanston every now and then.  I live in Oak Park and work in the Loop so I often go to Brew and Grow by Racine and Madison.  Good luck.

319

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Bulk Aging and its effect on hop flavor

« on: March 29, 2012, 07:18:37 PM »

Once the dry hops are removed the flavor and aroma drops off quickly. But it levels off after about two weeks and the drop beyond that is not so apparent. I haven't tried it yet but I may dry hop a second time if a keg loses too much hoppiness. Who knows DDH or double dry hopping may catch on .

I've cut back late additions and I dry hop nearly everything now. It just seems like a better way to go, for me. I usually dry hop with Simcoe, Centennial, Citra or Amarillo -- the latter two being my favorite combo. I've tried 1 to 4 ounces. Two ounces -- combined not each -- per 5 gallons is the sweet spot for me. I don't notice a big increase flavor and aroma above that. It's not worth the extra hops and the reduction in beer (from absorption).

I always use leaf hops in a nylon hop bag. Sediment is never a problem. Getting the bag out once the hops have absorbed beer is. Recently I left dry hops in until the keg was half empty. That worked out pretty well. I'm racking a batch this weekend. I'm going to try leaving dry hops in for as long as there is beer in the keg.

One trick I learned is to use dental floss to suspend the hop bag in the keg. When I used string the CO2 pressure would leak from where the string met the o-ring (in a corny). That doesn't happen with dental floss. So I can pressurize the keg with the hops suspended, hopefully just off the bottom. I also put a couple of hefty stainless steel bolts in the bag so it sinks.

DaveR,
Why do you remove the dry hops? I'm new to kegging but so far leaving a bad of dry hops in the beer seems fine.

320

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Bulk Aging and its effect on hop flavor

« on: March 29, 2012, 10:19:52 AM »

Agree with the above comments.  British IPAs are traditionally aged a year apparently and then dry hopped.  Use a paint filter bag to keep the dry hops from clogging your keg.

321

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Unexpected pellicle? I hope I'm wrong

« on: March 29, 2012, 10:12:23 AM »

Beer is 8.5% ABV and about 30 IBUs. I thought Lacto was inhibited by IBUs that high, but maybe some strains aren't? The ABV would rule out enterobacteria, right, so I probably won't get sick from it? Could be acetobacter. I started the fermentation in two vessels, then combined when I oaked the first time. I may have gotten some O2 in there accidentally. I'm hoping it's pedio or brett though, those would probably taste pretty good.

If it is some kinda bug I don't want, is there any reason I shouldn't use metabisulfite?

Not all wild lacto is sensitive to hops.  The stuff you get from Wyeast and YeastLabs is sensitive to hops though.

Did you notice DMS?  If you did then it probably is pedio.  I'm not sure if pedio forms a pellicle.  I think pedio makes the beer ropy.

322

Beer Travel / Re: Michigan Breweries

« on: March 28, 2012, 07:30:54 AM »

I'll be in Detroit(Farmington Hills) and Grand Rapids area(Sagautuk,Ada).  Thanks for the link. I have Bells and Founders on my list and would like to try and visit a couple more. What would be the next best ale houses to visit? Thanks.

Saugatuck has one.  I wouldn't make a special trip to go to it but if you're there already why not?

New Holland is nearby. 

Round Barn might be interesting as it is a winery, brewery and distillery.

323

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: How to Add Vanilla

« on: March 17, 2012, 01:51:00 PM »

I've read where some soak the beans in vodka before adding them.  Is soaking them in vodka necessary?  Thanks.

Soaking in vodka is frequently used as a precaution before adding something to beer.  It may also help to extract some vanilla flavor.

324

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Sanitizer question

« on: March 08, 2012, 08:59:16 PM »

Depends upon which sanitizer and what sort of water.

Star-San / Saniclean - is good until it goes cloudy (which is an indication of a pH rise). Best life span you can get out of that stuff is by mixing it with distilled water and sealing it up in a container between uses.

Iodophor - basically when it loses color. Haven't really worked with it though.

If you have hard water, Star San will quickly become cloudy, but can still be effective.  I use it for making 1 batch of beer from brewing to packaging before I toss it out.

325

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Sour Beer Sanitation

« on: February 25, 2012, 03:30:36 PM »

inhibited is quite different then destroyed or eliminated. inhibited just means it will sour things very very slowly.

If you are talking about the souring needing many years  before it is notice then we are in agreement.  Lactobacillus delbrueckii, the type used in Berliner Weiss, is an insignificant threat to spoil beer because it only eats glucose which is rapidly depleted during fermentation and because it is inhibited by hop levels over 10 IBUs. 

326

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Sour Beer Sanitation

« on: February 24, 2012, 02:31:58 PM »

The specific type of lacto traditionally used in Berliner Weiss is inhibited by IBU levels of 10 and higher.  If the beers you brew are generally much higher than 10 IBUs then I wouldn't worry about it if you are using the appropriate lacto.  Sorry I can't remember the appropriate type of lacto.

That would be lactobacillus.

The lactobacillus found in Berliner Weiss is different than the lactobacillus found in Lambics.  I believe Wild Brews has a description of the two types.  The one for Berliner Weiss is inhibited by 10+ IBUs and feeds only on glucose (homofermentative) while the one for lambics is not inhibited and is heterofermentative (e.g. can eat dextrins left behind the yeast).

While good sanitation practice is a good idea in and of itself, you don't need good sanitation practice to eliminate infections from the Berliner Weiss lacto; you just need enough hops.

327

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Dubbel vs Belgian Dark Strong

« on: February 24, 2012, 02:21:46 PM »

Guess I focused on the narrative and didn't notice that the %alcohol did not overlap.  Definitely no alcohol flavor in my beer so I'm going to enter it as a dubbel.  Thanks for the input.

328

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Sour Beer Sanitation

« on: February 24, 2012, 11:51:04 AM »

The specific type of lacto traditionally used in Berliner Weiss is inhibited by IBU levels of 10 and higher.  If the beers you brew are generally much higher than 10 IBUs then I wouldn't worry about it if you are using the appropriate lacto.  Sorry I can't remember the appropriate type of lacto. 

329

General Homebrew Discussion / Dubbel vs Belgian Dark Strong

« on: February 24, 2012, 11:46:06 AM »

When I look at the BJCP guidelines, a beer that I will bottle this weekend appears to fall into both the dubbel and Belgian dark strong categories based on both the narrative and the quantitative characteristics (e.g., F.G., O.G., IBUs).  Are there any specific things that point to a beer being doing better in competition as a  dubbel rather than Belgian dark strong or vice-versa?

330

All Grain Brewing / Re: Sparge Rate for Big Batches

« on: February 22, 2012, 11:01:29 AM »

I would use the same sparge flow rate that you use for your 15-20 gal batches assuming you are using the same lauter tun for consistency purposes.