Messages

1

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: My Water Report

« on: May 19, 2013, 02:43:14 PM »

Thanks guys. A sand separator and 20 micron whole house filter helps... I was originally going to install an RO filter but from what I can tell I might not need it. Seems I can add chemicalls to get most of the water profiles that I might use.

2

General Homebrew Discussion / My Water Report

« on: May 19, 2013, 07:20:32 AM »

Not sure what it means yet but I'm reading up on it. I downloaded the Bru N Water spreadsheet and it shows my cation/anions ratio is .49 and should be lower. Am I misinterpreting my report or can this be possible? My next brew is an IPA. I'm going with the Pale Ale water profile. Is this a good start?

Starting Profile      ppm      
Ca         33   
Mg         2   
Na         8   
SO4         21   
Cl         0   
HCO3      76   

            
Hardness      91   (ppm as CaCO3)
Alkalinity      63   (ppm as CaCO3)
RA          38   
SO4/Cl      0.00   

3

The Pub / Re: RIP Alvin Lee

« on: March 25, 2013, 05:58:33 PM »

Bummer, didn't know he had passed...

4

The Pub / Re: Thanks Joe Bonamassa

« on: March 25, 2013, 05:55:05 PM »

That was a great show. I tried to go to his website to order some albums and most of them are sold out!

5

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Suggestions for Beer for Cinco de Mayo

« on: March 06, 2013, 05:04:27 PM »

Love my Mexican Lager. I'll brew mine next month. WLP940 yeast is a must...

6

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Is my pH OK?

« on: February 25, 2013, 04:18:27 PM »

Thanks guys, I'll leave it be. I have the ambient temp up to 72F. I started at 63F and let the ambient rise to about 68F. I bumped up the temp after racking. I only had 6.2% C-malts and mashed at 131 & 150 so I fully expect to get into the low 20's. I used lactic acid to get my water (for RIMS and sparge) down to a 5.4 pH range before mashing. Probably don't need to do that when I use a good amount of roasted malts. I'll check it a few weeks and pitch some CBC1 if I feel I need to get it any lower...

7

Yeast and Fermentation / Is my pH OK?

« on: February 23, 2013, 07:59:10 PM »

Brewed up 15 gallons of 1.103 Imperial Stout 5 weeks ago. Pitched a good amount of yeast but probably should have used more. Fermentation went well for a week, then died down. I racked after 2.5 weeks and it was only at 1.040. Added a pack of S-05 and it's still fermenting but it's only down to 1.35 at this point. My pH is 4.6. Is this OK? I plan on leaving it for another 2 weeks or so at the minimum but was wondering if the pH was slowing things down. I expected the SG to be much lower after 5 weeks.

8

Beer Recipes / Re: What do you think of this Coffeehouse Porter?

« on: December 24, 2012, 08:56:30 AM »

Kegged this up on Thursday. Didn't use all the steeped coffee. Reserved the rest for kegging but it wasn't needed. We are really enjoying this beer. When I kegged it the coffee was quite powerful. When I sampled on Saturday the coffee had mellowed and the chocolate was faint (still not quite carbonated). Last night we hit it pretty hard! . The chocolate and coffee have blended nicely. The final gravity was 1.061 and the finished gravity was 1.020. Thought it would finish lower but I'm glad it didn't. It could use a little more mouthfeel and/or sweetness to be perfect. I'll do this again next year for sure. Might add a little oats or even replace the kiln malt with some honey malt. Looking like we might hit this again tonite! Merry XMAS to all.....

9

Extract/Partial Mash Brewing / Re: Well...I drank my first homebrew

« on: December 03, 2012, 04:44:55 PM »

Look at it this way, it's sometime painful when your cherry gets popped! 

10

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: pitching temp

« on: November 28, 2012, 06:34:00 AM »

Well said major!

11

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Yeast wsahing... How long is too long?

« on: November 27, 2012, 08:14:52 PM »

Never had the Chimay stall on me. Do you guys oxygenate and use nutrients? The 1338 was REALLY slow back in January. A lot quicker in August. More info:
Irish Batch1: start 1.062, finish 1.013 (start at 62°F. Raised 2°F every 4 days until 68°F)
Irish Batch2: start 1.052, finish 1.013 (start at 64°F and ramped to 70°F over the next 3-4 days)
Chimay1: start 1.093, finish 1.007 (started at 64°F for 3 days then let it rise to 70°F for the duration)
Chimay2: start 1.076, finish 1.012 (started at 64°F for 3 days then let it rise to 70°F for the duration)

12

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Yeast wsahing... How long is too long?

« on: November 27, 2012, 11:12:11 AM »

I gotta think the esters came from the washed (old) yeast. I've used these yeasts before in the same beers, pitched at the same rate and fermented at the same temps. My guess the old yeast was just a bit tired. I wonder if keeping them at fridge temps for so long makes the viable ones throw off these fruity esters? It is possible after I woke them up in the summer that I did not add water for storage. I just don't recall.
BTW I used WY1338 for the Irish and WY1214 for the Tripel...

13

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Yeast wsahing... How long is too long?

« on: November 27, 2012, 07:46:01 AM »

I made yeast starters for the washed and fresh yeast. Didn't combine until I knew that both had taken off. I'm sure cell count was not the issue.

14

Yeast and Fermentation / Yeast wsahing... How long is too long?

« on: November 27, 2012, 06:53:04 AM »

Learned a valuable lesson. I recently made an Irish Red. Used the same recipe as I did back in January. It was good but a bit fruity. This was rather puzzling until I just tapped a Belgian Tripel I brewed in August. It's OK but it's fruity! I went back and looked at both recipes and they had a common denominator... I used some washed yeast. I brewed the Red in August and used some fresh yeast and some washed yeast from earlier in the year. I brewed the Tripel in August and used some fresh yeast and some washed yeast from last year. In June, I removed the washed Irish yeast, decanted and ranched up again. I did the same to the Tripel yeast in March and June. I do not recall if I added water after ranching back up. Don't know if it makes a difference or not. Anyway, If I reuse a yeast cake again it will be no older than 1 month!!!

15

Beer Recipes / Re: What do you think of this Coffeehouse Porter?

« on: November 19, 2012, 06:43:36 AM »

Brewed this one up and it came in at 1.061! Threw the black malts in the mash just before sparge. I put a little coffee in after flameout. Wort temp was about 170ish. I'll add cold steeped coffee in secondary or at kegging. I plan on soaking the nibs in vodka or maybe a little bourbon for a couple days then throwing the whole mess in the secondary. Thanks for the help...

COFFEEHOUSE PORTER
Batch Size: 15.00 gal
Boil Size: 17.50 gal
Boil Time: 60 min

26 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) GW (2.7 SRM) 74.6 %
3 lbs 8.0 oz Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) 10.0 %
2 lbs 4.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) 6.5 %
1 lbs 2.0 oz Kiln Coffee Malt (165.0 SRM) 3.2 %
12.0 oz Chocolate Malt, Pale (225.0 SRM) 2.2 %
12.0 oz Chocolate Malt, Pale (450.0 SRM) 2.2 %
4.0 oz Black (Barley) Malt, (500.0 SRM) 0.7 %
4.0 oz Black Malt, De-Bittered (550.0 SRM) 0.7 %
1.00 oz Magnum [16.40 %] - Boil 60.0 min 24.1 IBUs
0.75 oz Brewer's Gold [8.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min 8.8 IBUs
1.50 oz Willamette [7.80 %] - Boil 10.0 min 3.4 IBUs
6.00 oz Coffee (Steep for 2 minutes) (Wort <180°F)
6.00 oz Cocao Nibs (Ghana) (Secondary 7.0 days)
6.00 oz Coffee, Cold Steeped (Bottling)
3 Pkg SafAle American Ale (Fermentis #S-05)

Original Gravity: 1.061
Est Final Gravity: 1.017
Bitterness: 36.3 IBUs
Est Color: 30.0 SRM
Mash: 60 min @ 154°F