Topics

1

Ingredients / california select 2 row

« on: May 02, 2013, 11:36:25 PM »

morebeer has it and i'd like to try, mainly because i love the idea of using some malt from the state in which  i live.

has anyone used it?

2

General Homebrew Discussion / amazing brew day

« on: April 21, 2013, 06:12:24 PM »

I just got home from my buddy's place. we brewed 3 5 gallon batches today. his rye cream ale, our big hoppy dark ale(in the vain of sublimely self righteous) and my bubblegum head clone.

we had ups, we had some downs, we missed some numbers and we had lots of fun. we learned lots about his new(used) brewing rig. we had a couple good beers and I killed it grilling some buffalo steaks.

it was a pretty rad day and I just wanted to share the bliss.

have a great week everybody.

3

Ingredients / black hoppy ale hops

« on: April 19, 2013, 07:22:35 PM »

my buddy and I are going to do another collaboration brew on Sunday. not exactly sure of his grain bill as yet but trying to get a sense of hops(I'm the hops guy, he's the grain guy) people like to use in black hoppy ales(bipa/cda I suppose). please share any and all likes, dislikes and grain bills too, if you'd like. I'm not crazy about the few examples I've had of this style but gotta push my brewing boundaries some time. I have a few thoughts but just am not sure.

thanks!

4

Ingredients / how long for dry hop pellets to settle out?

« on: March 26, 2013, 08:57:51 PM »

i dry hopped an ipa with 2 ozs of pellet hops last thursday evening. there is no sign of anything settling out yet. it's just a giant green cover on my beer. fermentation was over. i've never just tossed the hops in to dry hop so i'm curious. i was planning on dropping another couple of ozs in the next day or so before bottling but this weekend but now think i need to wait longer.

or do i? can i just siphon from underneath the floating hops? seems like this would work.

thanks.

5

Ingredients / dubbel with rye

« on: March 17, 2013, 03:08:45 PM »

anyone try brewing one? never brewed a Belgian but the idea, from a bartender friend, sounded intriguing.


cheers.

6

Yeast and Fermentation / pitching on a yeast cake

« on: March 14, 2013, 09:01:26 PM »

is it really what it seems to be? put fresh chilled wort into a fermenter with just previously used yeast? no need to wash the yeast? what is the time frame?

i know it seems like such a simple step, yet, i've not done this. it keeps popping up in some threads so i thought i'd ask about the process.

thanks & cheers!

 

7

Yeast and Fermentation / bucket lids

« on: March 03, 2013, 09:47:57 AM »

anyone just put the lid on a bucket without completely sealing it during fermentation? any trouble/infections by doing this?

cheers.

8

Equipment and Software / deck planter box for hop rhizome

« on: January 12, 2013, 05:04:04 PM »

i have a great deck with my los angeles apartment that gets plenty of sun just about all day. i thought i might try growing some cascade hops this season. it seems the rhizomes need plenty of space for the roots to grow. would a planter box of around 36"l x 16"w x 11"h(interior dimensions) be big enough? or would it be better to have something a bit deeper and wider? i'd probably use this box for just one rhizome so there is plenty of room for it's roots. i want to get something that will work for a while as i don't see myself buying a house in la anytime soon.

thanks!

cheers!

9

Ingredients / rogue farm dare and risk malts

« on: January 05, 2013, 05:57:20 PM »

anyone know what comparable malts these might be?

thanks.

cheers.

10

General Homebrew Discussion / simcoe bittering

« on: October 07, 2012, 07:48:16 PM »

so i'm brewing an imperial brown ale tomorrow and am bittering with simcoe.

anyone bitter a brown ale or anything not an ipa with simcoe? likes/dislikes?

i should say i am not trying to make this a hopped up brown.

i just still have a bunch of simcoe on hand and wanted to take a break from refining my regular plae ale and ipa. figured why the hell not?

thanks. cheers.

ryan

11

All Grain Brewing / first batch sparge in the morning

« on: September 25, 2012, 02:10:51 PM »

i finally got around to building a mash tun and will be taking it for a spin tomorrow. i've been previously doing biab so i have a question about my new mash/sparge volumes.

i am making an ipa and am planning on 1.5qt/lbs for my mash.

am i on target? i feel like i am but just figured a double check wouldn't hurt with a new process for me.

cheers!

ryan

12

Yeast and Fermentation / dunkelweizen yeast

« on: September 10, 2012, 08:52:12 AM »

want to give this style a try but have no idea where to start with yeast selection.

thoughts?

also, when I make a starter do I need to worry about using wheat dme or is regular light dme fine?

cheers!

ryan

13

All Grain Brewing / improving...

« on: August 27, 2012, 03:25:03 PM »

today i brewed my fifth all grain batch(3 gallon biab). it was the third time i brewed what is becoming my standard pale ale. i hit 73% efficiency. this is the highest i've been so far. today was also the first time i used my grain mill(a barley crusher), digital thermometer and o2 system. the crush right out of the box is pretty good. i think it's better than the crushes i've been getting at lhbs.

anyway, just wanted to share a good brew day. i'm super excited about continually dialing in and improving my process.

thanks for all the information everyone provides!

cheers!

ryan

14

All Grain Brewing / clarity/sediment/biab/batch sparging

« on: July 28, 2012, 01:21:28 PM »

so i just brewed my 4th all grain batch.  i am doing biab 3 gallon batches.  my efficiency today was 71% and this is up from the last three of about 68%.

anyway, i find that i'm having of trouble with lots of sediment in my final bottled beers.  I've tried several different ways of transferring to carboys but find i am still getting loads of sediment(while using whirfloc).  is this just inherent in biab?  i'm very close to just jumping to batch sparing because i realized the cooler i want is much smaller for apartment storage than i originally thought.  anyway, does sparging through the grain bed help cut down on lots of sediment?

longer post than i thought but i wanted to provide ample amounts of info.

thanks.

also, i love the 3 gallon batch because, so far, i have brewed 4 different beers.  i am loving variety.  second question: does batch sparging still work with smaller batches in a large cooler that i could still use to do 5 gallon batches?

sorry for the multiple question thread.  i just sort of realized i did this.  but all these things have been in my head at the same time.

thanks for any and all help!

ryan

15

All Grain Brewing / mash temp readings

« on: July 20, 2012, 07:00:01 PM »

how should I be reading these temps?  on Monday I brewed a porter. the thermometer on my kettle read one number while my floating thermometer read almost 10 degrees less. they have both been calibrated recently. I feel like I'm mixing my mash well(I biab 3 gallon batches and don't close off my bag so I can stir well) and have constructed a jacket for my kettle to hold in the heat. I hit 68% efficiency. I'm happy with this number seeing as it's only my 3rd all grain. anyway, wondering if I can gain a few extra points by properly measuring my mash temp.

cheers!

ryan