Messages

16

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Yet another Rookie question...Pitching

« on: May 19, 2011, 03:39:30 PM »

I bought the 3rd and will also pick up the other. I figure the more information the better.

Thanks for the input and feedback.

17

Yeast and Fermentation / Yet another Rookie question...Pitching

« on: May 19, 2011, 02:37:50 PM »

OK so I was reading the Joy of Homebrewing last night and they way I read about when to pitch the yeast made me question my comprehension.
Do I pitch the yeast while the wort is still in the brew pot after it has cooled or do I wait and pitch my yeast after adding the wort to the water in the carboy? For that matter is there a difference either way?
My thought is if I pitch before then I do not want to use my strainer on the funnel incase that catches any of the wonderful beer making yeast.

Thoughts and input are once again much appreciated.

18

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: 60 deg to cold to ferment American Pale ale????

« on: May 17, 2011, 06:15:45 PM »

ah crap Weaze there are 2 sizes? Damnit I have got to start paying attention to what the hell I am using.

You know I love to cook. It brings me great pleasure and relaxes me. I hate baking. It is a very precise procedure that I have never been that good at. Brewing is starting to seem a lot like baking. The difference is I am motivated to enjoy and learn brewing to if precise is what I need to be then so be it.

Now I have to go dig out my yeast packages out of the trash to see what damn size they were.

19

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: 60 deg to cold to ferment American Pale ale????

« on: May 17, 2011, 03:30:34 PM »

So I plugged in my info at MrMalty and came up with needing 1.9 packs of dry so I hope all turns out well. It was good to see they have an App for that so I can use it on my next batch as well and be more accurate with the amount of yeast needed.

20

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: 60 deg to cold to ferment American Pale ale????

« on: May 16, 2011, 07:34:08 PM »

So I had a OG of 1.050 and used 2 packs of US 05 yeast pitched dry for 5 gal. It is currently at 59 deg F and all seems well. Thanks again for all the info.

21

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: To do secondary fermintation or not???

« on: May 16, 2011, 07:32:20 PM »

That is the exasct clarification I was looking for. Again the people here have been a great source of information. Thanks all.

Now which board would be the proper place for me to inquire about waht dry hoping is and why to do it?

22

Yeast and Fermentation / To do secondary fermintation or not???

« on: May 16, 2011, 02:55:18 PM »

So in another post of mine a couple of people said not to mess with secondary fermintation and to just leave the beer in the fist stage fermentor for 3 to 4 weeks before bottling. Is this a good practice?
I thought leaving the beer on the sedement that long could cause off flavours? Is the secondary only for trying to seperate the sedement for cleaner looking beer?

23

Yeast and Fermentation / 60 deg to cold to ferment American Pale ale????

« on: May 16, 2011, 02:52:13 PM »

So with the advise of a lot of great people here I built a cooler for fermentation for my current batch of pale ale. It works great. So great that even with one ice pack I stay at 63 deg but mostly 60 to 62 deg F. Is this to cold? At these temps how long will fermentation take?
I am seeing activity in the air lock and good foam on top so I assume all is well but thought I would verify.

24

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: First batch of beer ever and had 3.5% ABV???

« on: May 16, 2011, 10:19:05 AM »

Thanks guys.

25

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: First batch of beer ever and had 3.5% ABV???

« on: May 15, 2011, 08:25:50 PM »

OK so based on the feed back from everyone I pitched 2 packs of the Safale US 05 yeast and I built a cooler. So my OG was 1.050 and am fermenting at 60-63 degrees. So to all of you thank you for the help. I will let you know how this turns out in a few weeks.

Now I would have posted the pics but apparently I can not figure that out so here are the links instead.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/62926422@N02/5724595799/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/62926422@N02/5725152888/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/62926422@N02/5724595925/

26

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: First batch of beer ever and had 3.5% ABV???

« on: May 12, 2011, 07:21:02 PM »

OK so just to clarify I shake the holy crap out of it right before adding the yeast or right after I add the yeast?

27

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: First batch of beer ever and had 3.5% ABV???

« on: May 12, 2011, 06:52:51 PM »

Man you guys are a wealth of information. I did use dry yeast on the first and will try using 2 packets on this next batch. I do not know the brand of yeast as it was one that the guy at my local suggested.

I am going to try and answer some of the other things that came up on this. I use a hydrometer to measure my gravity. Also if I can not control my fermentation temp for this next batch and it stays around 74 in my closet should I let it ferment a longer time than 3 or 4 weeks?
Also the only way I knew to aerate was to just stir the wort vigorously with a spoon. Ideas for cheap?

Also the recipe I had called for WLP001 but I used the dry yeast so sorry for the misinformation on the original post.

In case I have not already I would like to thank you all for the feedback and the help. I am really excited about home brewing and creating my own beer.

28

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: First batch of beer ever and had 3.5% ABV???

« on: May 12, 2011, 02:42:35 PM »

So question is what is a yeast starter? I thought that is what I was doing by adding the hot water to the dry yeast?

29

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: First batch of beer ever and had 3.5% ABV???

« on: May 12, 2011, 02:31:28 PM »

It was in the first bucket for 7 days then in the second for 7 days then bottled and tomorrow will be 14 days in the bottle.

30

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: First batch of beer ever and had 3.5% ABV???

« on: May 12, 2011, 02:12:50 PM »

6.5 #      American Pale Ale Liquid Malt Extract
 
1 #          Crystal Malt 60L
 
½ #         Victory Malt
 
.5 oz       Centennial Hops               9.4 AAU                60 min
 
.5 oz       Cascade Hops                    6.6 AAU                30 min
 
1 oz        Cascade Hops                    6.6 AAU                15 min
 
1 tsp      Irish Moss                                                           5 min
 
.5 oz       Cascade Hops                    6.6 AAU                0 min
 
.5 oz       Centennial Hops               9.4 AAU                0 min
 
I used California Ale Yeast WLP001

I put the cracked grains in a mesh grain bag and placed in the pot of 2 gallons of water. Heated the water with the cracked grains until almost boiling. Removed the grain and added the liquid malt. Once it boiled added the first hops. After 30 minutes of boiling added the second step of hops. After fifteen more minutes added the third step of hops. After 10 minutes added the Irish Moss. After 5 mins add the finishing hops.
After bringing the temp down to 68 degrees I added the wort(?) to the other 3 gallons of water. I then used warm tap water to activate the yeast and dumped it into the beer. Put the lid on the bucket and put it away in my closet which was around 74 degrees.
I never really saw activity in the airlock but I was using a bucket and was told sometimes those aren't air tight which would allow for the gas to escape that way. I have replaced the bucket with a glass carboy for the next batch.