Messages

91

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Refractometer vs. hydrometer

« on: January 30, 2012, 12:11:08 PM »

I did it after breaking 3, but in hindsight I should have just bought one right away.

Although I still use a hydrometer for final gravity readings, I find a refractometer makes the brew day easier.

92

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Trucking wort?

« on: January 19, 2012, 12:10:43 AM »

Could it have to do with avoiding using a distributor?  I'm thinking that if they transport beer, maybe they are forced to use a distributor, whereas wort they can truck on their own and "make beer" on site.

93

Equipment and Software / Re: 10 gal kegs

« on: January 19, 2012, 12:08:20 AM »

It is a shipping cost that will kill the deal. They ship freight only and you pay for one skid/pallet. For me one pallletshippi g was $300+. They are in CA.

I do like the kegs. You clean Sankey kegs with keg washer.

Out of curiosity, how much were the kegs themselves?  If cheap enough, it may be something worth looking into for some homebrew shops.

94

The Pub / Re: Bacon increases cancer risk

« on: January 13, 2012, 11:37:39 AM »

Looks like I should have been dead years ago.  LOL

95

Commercial Beer Reviews / Re: Cold Brewed?

« on: January 11, 2012, 05:50:51 PM »

Just use the same process as when you "triple hop".   

Seriously, It's just marketing talk.  It's a lager, so it's brewed "cold" compared to an ale.

96

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What's Brewing This Weekend - 1/13 Edition

« on: January 11, 2012, 03:20:06 PM »

Will be racking an Oatmeal Stout and an English IPA to kegs.  Then I'll be making a batch of Southern English Brown Ale this weekend.  Not sure if it'll be on Saturday or Sunday, yet, though.

97

The Pub / Re: Why hide behind a Alias?

« on: January 10, 2012, 01:41:38 PM »

OK... I'll give my 2 cents.  I like using an alias because people are judgmental.  The original poster is a case in point, in that he has already decided that advice from those of us not plastering our real names all over our posts have no valuable information for him.  That sort of blind judgement of me I can do without, so he is free to ignore my posts if he would prefer.

I'm not concerned about him, or any of you... I'm mostly thinking about future employers and whatnot doing a blanket google search on my name and coming up with a bunch of information that they shouldn't be using to paint a picture of who they think I am.

I don't hide my name if asked in PM or whatnot... but I have no interest in attaching it to all of my public online correspondence.

98

Ingredients / Re: Hops Direct...Imported Pellets...Fresh?

« on: January 06, 2012, 04:46:07 PM »

Now is the time to buy. They got the sea containers in right before Christmas.

They make their own pellets from the bales of whole hops.  Says so somewhere on the web page.  The quality of the pellets depends on the whloe hop quality going in.

If I open up more freezer space, a pound of Styrian Goldings is tempting.

So Jeff, have you purchased 2011 English hops from Hops Direct?  Thanks.

I can't speak for Jeff, but I have bought both Fuggles and EK Goldings in pellet form.  I am happy with both.  I've never bought hops from any seller that I thought were bad upon arrival, though, so your mileage may vary.

99

Other Fermentables / Re: Cider Yeast options

« on: January 06, 2012, 02:09:10 PM »

What a coincidence. I was at a friends tonight who moved here from England and he was commenting that cider here was sweeter than cider in Britain. Do all the yeasts make a dry cider that is back sweetened or do some yeasts finish drier than others?  I said I'd try a cider for him so this is a great thread to see active.
I was going to use unpasteurized cider pressed fresh from the orchards down the road. Any apples that are better than others?

I learned to love hard cider when I was working in England, so I know exactly what your friend is talking about.  I really don't like all the back-sweetened ciders... just too sweet and cloying for my tastes.

I like the white labs english cider yeast.  I let it ferment out completely (.998-ish, I think, although it doesn't really matter.), keg it, and let it age in the keg for 3 - 6 months.

100

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: A few newbie questions

« on: January 06, 2012, 01:03:05 PM »

I'll see what I can do.  Offhand, I don't know how well the tub holds water (recently moved in and all).  My main freezer space for bottles would end up being outside, and the weather hasn't been all that cooperative on the freezing front lately.

I'm planning to cool the wort in the tub with some ice around the outside and pitch the yeast when the thermometer reads 70F.  Sound kosher?

Am I going to have to get a second refrigerator if I want to make beer in the summer?

The cooling process you have will work.  That's what I did for my first few batches.  I found it helps if you swirl the kettle or stir the wort with a sanitized spoon while the kettle is in the water bath occasionally as the ice bath will quickly cool the wort on the edges, but not in the middle.

If you find the water bath/frozen water bottle method is working for you, and your HVAC system keeps your house the same all year, you'll be fine without the extra fridge.  I like the extra fridge because I'm too lazy to deal with the water bath and constantly freezing water bottles.  I just set the temp controller to the fermentation temp I want and walk away.

101

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: A few newbie questions

« on: January 06, 2012, 12:40:26 PM »

Can you get away with filling your tub with water for 2-3 weeks? if so you can do that, submege the fermenter in said water (well submerge may be a bit strong. make sure it's got water all around in at least half way up) and use frozen 1 or 2 litre soda bottles filled with water (lets try that again) 1 or two liter bottle filled with water and THEN frozen to bring the temp down those critical few degrees.

+1  Well worth the effort compared to leaving it in a 70 degree room.

All that said, my first year or two of brewing was basically just leaving the bucket of fermenting beer in a dark closet in our 1-bedroom house, which was usually kept around 70 degrees.  While I'm sure it wouldn't have won any awards at competition, it made pretty good beer for drinking.  I just kept to English and Belgian beer styles until I could get my temperatures under control.  I eventually did that with a used refrigerator and an external temperature controller.

102

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: A few newbie questions

« on: January 06, 2012, 11:42:29 AM »

Re-hydrating is preferred, but I've just poured it on top plenty of times with no issues.

103

The Pub / Re: Hey, did you guys know.....

« on: January 06, 2012, 11:39:27 AM »

Since it's illegal to make your own, I would assume that transporting it via airline would also be illegal.

104

Other Fermentables / Re: Gonna do my first cider Saturday.

« on: January 05, 2012, 09:23:00 PM »

I can't speak to the yeast strain, but I'm sure someone can chime in with info on that.

I will say that I've never had to pasteurize my cider.  Once it's fermented, I rack to keg and give it 3 - 6 months of aging in the cellar before putting it on tap.