Messages

721

All Grain Brewing / Re: Stale Pale Ale Malt #2

« on: July 13, 2012, 05:55:54 am »

So the humidity is supposed to be 43% this afternoon.  Should I go for a little sun bake of the grain?

722

All Grain Brewing / Re: Stale Pale Ale Malt #2

« on: July 13, 2012, 05:43:50 am »

Yet another good point.  I'm in Philly, but will check weather.com.  I may just leave it as is and make 10G of IPA today and Sunday...

Dave

723

Kegging and Bottling / Re: Bottling Frenzy

« on: July 13, 2012, 04:58:39 am »

Congrats! 

724

All Grain Brewing / Re: Stale Pale Ale Malt #2

« on: July 13, 2012, 04:56:29 am »

If it's picked up a bunch of humidity it's going to be heavier than it used to be - so a pound of humid malt is actually less grain than a pound of dry malt.  You can adjust your recipes to account for it, I think 40 lbs is too much to dry in the oven but that's me.

Tom, that's a great point!  Never occured to me..... 

I was thinking of taking my container outside and leaving it in the sun (or in the shade in 90F heat) for a couple of hours.  Bad idea?

Dave

725

All Grain Brewing / Re: Stale Pale Ale Malt #2

« on: July 12, 2012, 02:35:12 pm »

Soft malt could be damp from humidity, which is fine unless it starts to get mouldy, or soft because insects have been eating it, which, from experience, will cause a drop in efficiency.  Once you use some and find out how the efficiency is, you can adjust your recipes accordingly.

I would say it's soft from humidity not insects.  Just took my refractometer reading for this batch and I'm at 67% off from a consistent 80%.  Looks like I just made my first light beer......

Dave

726

All Grain Brewing / Stale Pale Ale Malt #2

« on: July 12, 2012, 01:20:17 pm »

So, what should I do with the remaining 40 pounds of Pale Ale Malt that is not crunchy?  It's not bad, and I transferred it to my sealed container so it should not get worse, I guess.  Start brewing a ton of double IPA's ASAP?

Dave

727

All Grain Brewing / Stale Pale Ale Malt?

« on: July 12, 2012, 09:16:34 am »

I didn't realize I was out of 2-Row and had a bag of Pale Ale Malt around for about 2 months, so I used 10# of it in lieu of 2-row for my American Lager today.  It was in the sealed bag in my boiler room and I thought just fine, but when I chewed on a few as I am accustomed on brew day, it was, well damp and squishy, not crunchy.  I went ahead and ground it.  It didn't taste bad and it looked fine so I just mashed in. 

Am I screwed or RDWHAHB? 

And did I screw up the lager by using 10 pounds of Pale Malt with 4 pound of 2-row or will the lager just have a little more of a malt backbone?

Dave

728

All Grain Brewing / Re: Does it matter?

« on: July 12, 2012, 04:52:30 am »

Add me to the grain to water list.....

729

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Shipping yeast in the worst heat wave ever

« on: July 11, 2012, 10:28:12 am »

Might not be able to brew this weekend, so I haven't started it yet. The tube is sitting in my fridge now. Glad to hear yours is up and running, hopefully mine will do the same.

I'm sure it will.  Good luck!

Dave

730

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Shipping yeast in the worst heat wave ever

« on: July 11, 2012, 06:51:20 am »

Because sometimes my IQ drops 30 points without warning, I ordered yeast from NB last Sunday in the middle of the worst heat wave in recorded history. It arrived today and I'm wondering if the yeast is still viable. It's WLP830 and I was planning on making a 2-3L starter anyway. Should I do a two step starter just to make sure, or just do what I should have done all along and take my happy ass down to the LHBS and get more yeast?

Sean,

How is your starter coming along?  Did you go 2 stage?  My 1G starter now has a good Krausen line and looks to be very healthy.  Wouldn't have thought it possible on day one. 

Dave

731

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: May seem like a dumb question

« on: July 10, 2012, 01:17:44 pm »

I've had my garden hose for a couple of years and it still tastes like s*#! when I taste it.  Go food grade!

Dave

732

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Shipping yeast in the worst heat wave ever

« on: July 10, 2012, 08:21:00 am »

Nateo,

I feel your pain.  The closest LHBS to me is 45 minutes and a couple of tolls on the Turnpike.  It's cheaper to have it shipped and it arrives next day.  I always get the ice pack, but did not expect the yeast to be almost 3 months old to start with.  I probably ended up with ~10% viability but that is just a guess.

I'm using more US-05 and WB-06, but I really like experimenting with 10G batches split with different yeast.  So this one is an American Lager with 2035 and 2007.  I'll have to see how the next couple of days go as it seems to be picking up steam. 

Dave

733

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Shipping yeast in the worst heat wave ever

« on: July 10, 2012, 07:15:26 am »

But back to your post Nateo.  If I missed the sweet spot, and pitched 33% viable cells (or worse since it was a day in 100F heat from the LHBS), what now?  I guess I have to let this ride out since it's starting to show signs of life after 2 days.  But what will that mean to the end result of the starter?  Will it be ready for a lager in 3-4 days?  Or will I still be short on cells?

Hoping I'm staying within the OP's topic......

Dave

734

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Shipping yeast in the worst heat wave ever

« on: July 10, 2012, 06:24:00 am »

Good info, thanks.  Need to buy that book!

735

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Yeast recommendations for hoppy pale ale split-batch

« on: July 10, 2012, 05:57:11 am »

Thinking about something like this on my next brew. A pale ale malt bill and two different yeasts. I brew 10 gals and two separate fermenters. Considering a San Fran lager for one and a English ale or London ale for the other. All three are past expiration so a starter is required prior to use. Fermentation temps will be the same unless I figure how to keep one bucket in an air conditioned part of the house and the other in the regulated chamber. Looking forward to it whatever the result. I just hope to make a tasty brew.

Have switched to this method myself.  It's truly amazing how different the beers come out.