151
Extract/Partial Mash Brewing / Re: IPA time
« on: December 11, 2012, 05:23:41 pm »
You would want to keep any sugar additions below 10% of the fermentables. I don't if others would recommend this but it seemed to work well for me.
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152
Kegging and Bottling / Re: bottling small amount from full batch
« on: December 11, 2012, 05:21:24 pm »
All good ideas. I can only measure down to whole grams so I am not sure if that would be accurate enough. It looks like it would be about 2.21 g of table sugar per bottle according to what I normally do. I could do 2 g per bottle and just accept that it will be a little off.
153
Kegging and Bottling / Re: bottling small amount from full batch
« on: December 11, 2012, 04:22:32 pm »
Thanks guys. Not sure if I will have time to get any by Thursday night so I may have to go with my original plan.
154
Kegging and Bottling / Re: bottling small amount from full batch
« on: December 11, 2012, 03:12:57 pm »
That is a great idea that I had not considered. I will see if I can track some down
155
Kegging and Bottling / bottling small amount from full batch
« on: December 11, 2012, 02:46:05 pm »
What is the best way to only bottle a six pack or so from a full batch? I am taking the batch to my friends to keg for a New Year's party but want some for myself in order to get good tasting notes, etc.
I am thinking about transferring the full batch to the bottling bucket and adding priming sugar as normal then bottling enough to get the remaining volume to 5 gallons. I will have to clean and sanitize the fermenting bucket then transfer back to it for transportation. I don't have a lid for the bottling bucket... The 5 gallons will be transferred to keg and conditioned in a fridge so I don't think the priming sugar will affect much. Is this a bad idea? I think it will be easier than measuring an amount of priming sugar for such a small amount of beer. I could see having difficulty with the final product's carb.
Any thoughts?
I am thinking about transferring the full batch to the bottling bucket and adding priming sugar as normal then bottling enough to get the remaining volume to 5 gallons. I will have to clean and sanitize the fermenting bucket then transfer back to it for transportation. I don't have a lid for the bottling bucket... The 5 gallons will be transferred to keg and conditioned in a fridge so I don't think the priming sugar will affect much. Is this a bad idea? I think it will be easier than measuring an amount of priming sugar for such a small amount of beer. I could see having difficulty with the final product's carb.
Any thoughts?
156
Extract/Partial Mash Brewing / Re: IPA time
« on: December 11, 2012, 01:43:07 pm »
In my experience with using liquid extract, it was hard to get the attenuation I desired and get my FGs down where they should be. I started subbing in some plain table sugar to increase the fermentability of the wort which helped. Just a thought especially if you are shooting for a higher OG.
Also, I wouldn't use Amarillo as a bittering hop although I am sure it would be good. I like to use higher alpha hops so you don't have to use as much and you can save the really good ones for aroma and flavor. I think Warrior would be a good choice for bittering...
Also, I wouldn't use Amarillo as a bittering hop although I am sure it would be good. I like to use higher alpha hops so you don't have to use as much and you can save the really good ones for aroma and flavor. I think Warrior would be a good choice for bittering...
157
Beer Recipes / Re: Milk Stout
« on: December 11, 2012, 09:46:26 am »
I agree. I love flaked grains, especially oats in a lot of my beers. I don't think you will need more than you have in there but it cannot hurt especially if you are going something more silky and creamy. I think that recipe looks pretty good.
158
Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Unusual beer turnaround after ferment temp spike
« on: December 10, 2012, 09:35:01 am »
Yeah I find that strange. I ferment US05 around 70 frequently and have not had any issues. I prefer to keep it in the mid 60s but luckily it is pretty forgiving.
159
All Grain Brewing / Re: measuring efficency
« on: December 06, 2012, 12:31:42 pm »Is this a decent method to use?
I don't think there's anything wrong with it, but what purpose does it serve? If you've hit the target OG and you have enough volume in the fermenter to net your desired packaging volume after losses, what else matters?
I just like track my efficiency to ensure that it is reasonably consistent. I didn't hit my desired OG. I would have liked a higher OG in the example given but somehow I had less boil off than usual. It was good to know that my lower OG was due to that instead of low efficiency
160
All Grain Brewing / Re: measuring efficency
« on: December 06, 2012, 12:15:49 pm »
The buckets that I use are not calibrated over 5 gallons and I normally get a post boil volume of about 5.5 gallons. Efficiency has been bugging me a lot lately. Since I don't get a very accurate post boil volume reading, I have decided to take pre boil gravity readings since I know what my beginning volume is. If I have accurate grain potentials then my efficiency should be pretty accurate.
I can then use the post boil gravity reading to calculate my post boil volume. For instance, a preboil gravity reading was 1.048 for 6.5 gallons but the post boil reading was only 1.052. I ended up with a post boil volume of 6 gallons which seemed about accurate after looking at the level on the bucket. In the past I would have put 1.052 for 5.5 gallons which would have significantly lowered my efficiency.
Is this a decent method to use?
I can then use the post boil gravity reading to calculate my post boil volume. For instance, a preboil gravity reading was 1.048 for 6.5 gallons but the post boil reading was only 1.052. I ended up with a post boil volume of 6 gallons which seemed about accurate after looking at the level on the bucket. In the past I would have put 1.052 for 5.5 gallons which would have significantly lowered my efficiency.
Is this a decent method to use?
162
All Grain Brewing / Re: Drink IPA's Fresh!
« on: November 27, 2012, 01:45:36 pm »
yeah I would say most of my beer including IPAs are best 6-7 week after brewing. I personally like that the bitterness mellows out a bit in my IPAs. I say this knowing that I probably prefer IPAs that are more balanced and have less bitterness than most. Because of this, the whole "freshness" notion may not apply as much.
163
All Grain Brewing / Re: Drink IPA's Fresh!
« on: November 27, 2012, 01:30:18 pm »
What is everyone's definition of fresh?
I am just curious. I prefer slightly complex and maltier grain bills for my IPAs. It seems to take some time for the flavors to come together. Mine seems to be the best after a month in the keg or bottle although I would assume some of hop character get subdued.
I am just curious. I prefer slightly complex and maltier grain bills for my IPAs. It seems to take some time for the flavors to come together. Mine seems to be the best after a month in the keg or bottle although I would assume some of hop character get subdued.
164
Ingredients / Re: Getting orange!
« on: November 27, 2012, 01:24:46 pm »
Was the pith on the peels when you added them? I have always been advised to stay away from that when adding to the boil. I use orange zest regularly and add with 5 minutes remaining in the boil.
I am curious as to what other have to say about adding actual orange fruit to the fermenter. I have wanted to do this but had the same fear as you. I added juice at the end of a boil once and the beer turned sour after some time though I am not sure if it had to do with this or not.
I am curious as to what other have to say about adding actual orange fruit to the fermenter. I have wanted to do this but had the same fear as you. I added juice at the end of a boil once and the beer turned sour after some time though I am not sure if it had to do with this or not.
165
Yeast and Fermentation / Re: yeast for Shock Top Wheat clone
« on: November 27, 2012, 12:17:54 pm »
I cannot speak to what yeast AnBev uses.
I assumed this beer was created to compete with Molson/Coors' Blue Moon. From what I remember they are very similar but have no real authentic belgian character which is why the masses enjoy it. I think Wyeast American Wheat may be a good idea even though that is not what is used. Also throw in some coriander and orange zest at the end of the boil.
I do an American Wehat with US05, coriander, orange zest and it works great. It is somewhat similar to Blue Moon and Shock Top but a little more crisp
I assumed this beer was created to compete with Molson/Coors' Blue Moon. From what I remember they are very similar but have no real authentic belgian character which is why the masses enjoy it. I think Wyeast American Wheat may be a good idea even though that is not what is used. Also throw in some coriander and orange zest at the end of the boil.
I do an American Wehat with US05, coriander, orange zest and it works great. It is somewhat similar to Blue Moon and Shock Top but a little more crisp