Messages

481

Other Fermentables / Re: Acid in cider

« on: March 15, 2012, 10:27:33 AM »

The other thing is that in most traditional ciders, about 4-6 months after fermentation is complete, there is a secondary malo-lactic fermentation, where malic acid is converted to lactic acid. lactic acid is said to be a smoother tartness, and not quite as harsh as malic acid.

Just my 2 cents.

482

All Things Food / Re: Tony’s Anchor Steam Corned Beef

« on: March 15, 2012, 10:20:50 AM »

Does anyone have a time machine? There isn't 6 days between now and Saturday...

Maybe I will do a late St Patrick's day...

483

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Just tasted my very first brew. Could use some thoughts.

« on: March 14, 2012, 04:11:50 PM »

My next problem is collecting enough bottles to keep brewing while these have time to age. Where to keep them all? 

If you have a Costco membership or know someone with one they sell their own craft beer, 4 different 6 packs for $18. I bought those, drank them, then removed the labels. The beer is pretty good, especially for less than $1 per beer.

Another idea is to go to a local specialty beer shop which serves on-premises. Tell them you are a homebrewer, and ask them if you can take some bottles off of their hands. I have gotten bottles and boxes more than a few times this way.

Dumpster diving can also work, if you are in an area where lots of craft brew is consumed.

484

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Just tasted my very first brew. Could use some thoughts.

« on: March 14, 2012, 12:07:56 PM »

So,

Others on this forum are WAY more experienced than I, so if they give opposite advice, take theirs over mine.

Couple of things I noticed:

1) Never pitch at 80. Most people on this forum recommend pitching at 60, and then letting it rise naturally to 62-65 for fermenting, and no one recommends letting it get over 70 for the first few days of fermenting. That temperature will give you some serious esters and fusel alcohols, which could be part of the issues you are tasting, but I wouldn't describe it as bitter.

2) Over-bittering. The biggest thing I think that may have caused it to be over bittered for your taste, is that you took a long time cooling your wort. If I remember right, above 170* F, Alpha acids (bittering compounds) will still be isomerized and dissolved in wort. If it took as long as you are saying, that may have been your issue. However, in most of my pale ales and IPAs, I use a minimum of 2-3 oz of hops, and if I am looking at something really hoppy, most people are looking at 6-10 oz for a 5 gallon batch. In my Honey Brown Porter (Not a hoppy or bitter beer, only about 34 IBU) I use a full oz of Magnum for the full 60min boil.

3) My recommendation is to go buy How to Brew by John Palmer and/or The complete Joy of Homebrewing by Charlie Papazian. Both of these will give you an overview of how beer works, and a lot of the basic science behind it. It should help you understand your beer a bit better, and help you with more pointed questions for the forum.

4) Keep drinking beer and asking questions, we are always happy to help new people into the obsession.

485

Equipment and Software / Re: Brewing Software App for Droids?

« on: March 13, 2012, 10:03:29 AM »

yeah, I use brewzor for a lot of the calculations I am trying to make when I am at the LHBS or while brewing.

486

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Beer of the Week

« on: March 13, 2012, 09:53:00 AM »

as far as I know, freezing in glass is ok as long as there is somewhere for the expansion to go. also, don't flame the top when you pour out the liquid. I have done it with a growler, and I had no issues.

AFAIK, Freeze concentration is considered legal, and not considered distillation, because you can't really get much above 20% ABV. However, IANAL.

487

Commercial Beer Reviews / Re: Favorite Commerical Breweries

« on: March 09, 2012, 11:14:21 AM »

It's easier if I just stick with my favorite local places (alphabetically).

Big Time
Black Raven
Boundary Bay
Diamond Knot
Elliot Bay
Elysian
Everybody's
Fremont
Maritime Pacific
Naked City
Schooner Exact

I take this list and add

Silver City
Pike

13 you say?
A Baker's dozen of awesome.

488

All Grain Brewing / Re: My one hang-up before going all-grain...

« on: March 09, 2012, 10:53:03 AM »

This is my ghetto-rigged way of doing all grain.

Heat strike water in my 7.5 gallon boil kettle to Strike temp +5.
Pour water into MLT, stir until the water drops to strike temp.
Add grain, confirm temp, close cooler.
Stay inside, teapot full of boiling water, and check every 15 minutes or so, adding boiling water when needed to maintain temp.
with about 40 minutes left in the mash, I put the sparge water in my boil kettle, and heat it to 175.
I pour the sparge water in my SS 5gal pot, and pick up my cooler and move it inside on the kitchen counter.
Then I run my first runnings into my boil kettle, start that heating up, and pour the sparge water into my MLT.
I run my second runnings back into my 5gallon pot, fill up the boil kettle to 6.5 gallons (so I don't boil over) and boil the rest (about a gallon) off on my kitchen stove.

Its not the best plan, but it keeps me inside most of the time, and it works with what I have. My next plan is to get a 15 gallon pot, so I can stop with all the fussing with boil overs.

489

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What's Brewing This Weekend - 3/9 Edition

« on: March 07, 2012, 02:50:21 PM »

No brewing this weekend, but I am bottling an Altbier, and tossing some cascades in my American Amber.

490

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What's Brewing This Weekend - 3/2 Edition

« on: March 03, 2012, 01:54:35 PM »

First attempt at turning my Honey Brown Porter recipe from Extract to All grain. I forgot to grab the recipe before I went to the LHBS, so I just winged it. It will be beer!

491

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What's Brewing This Weekend - 2/24 Edition

« on: February 25, 2012, 09:47:55 AM »

No brewing this weekend. 2 beers fermenting...

I am attending Washington Beer Open House today though, if the weather cooperates!

492

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Brew day Starter?

« on: February 24, 2012, 11:30:47 PM »

I thought I would post my first impressions of the plan.

I felt like it worked really well, actually better than expected. At least for my light to middling ales, I think this is going to be my plan going forward.

I didn't take a pre-boil gravity reading on my second runnings, but based on my pre-boil reading for the total volume, I would say it was about 1.030, so pretty decent for a starter.

I was pitching the yeast into the starter with about 45-50 minutes left in the boil, because that starter wort got to a boil quick, and then cooled quickly as well.

As per usual, my wort chilling gets really sluggish around 75 degrees, so I pulled out the chiller and siphoned into the fermenter, and then put a stopper on it and set it outside to cool the rest of the way.

About 3 hours after siphoning, and 5 or so hours after pitching the starter, I started to see kraeusen building in my starter. 2 hours after that, it was pretty close to high kraeusen, and getting close to bedtime, so I pitched my whole starter into the wort, which was down to about 58 degrees. Moved the fermenter into my closet at 63, put an airlock in, and left it alone. 10 hours later, that yeast was trucking. As of today, still going strong, looks like 2-3 more days and I can add the dry hops, 1 week after that and it will be bottling time. I will report back again when I pull my final gravity sample before bottling to talk about the taste, and any off-flavors I noticed.

493

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Just had my first kolsh...

« on: February 24, 2012, 11:20:22 PM »

I don't have any experience on kolsch, so I am not going to comment on any of the recipes. However, I did just brew a Altbier that was on the light side (more Munich next time). Its currently lagering outside on my back patio, covered in a towel, and sitting in big bucket full of water. As far as I have noticed, the beer is down around 45 degrees or so, and I don't have too many temperature swings with the large amount of liquid (close to 15 gals) creating a lot of thermal mass. YMMV, especially if you live in warm areas.

494

Beer Travel / Orlando, FL

« on: February 19, 2012, 08:21:39 PM »

So the Army, in its infinite wisdom, has decided that the best place for me to go for a physical is Orlando FL. Since it is a free flight and hotel, I am hoping to get some great beer while I am out there. I will be there for 2 nights and 3 days, with really nothing to do after 4:30pm. I won't have a rental car, but I am totally able to walk a mile or so, and I am willing to take any public transportation. Also, some recommendations for good beer from FL that I can't get in WA would be great too, I plan on bringing back 4-5 bottles at least.

495

Extract/Partial Mash Brewing / Re: Coffee Stout - no carbonation

« on: February 18, 2012, 06:33:23 PM »

Since you think some are fine and others don't have enough carb, it sounds like it could likely be a problem with evenly distributing the priming sugar.  Normally, one boils the priming sugar in some water, cools it, dumps it in the bottling bucket, and then racks the beer on top.  This usually mixes the sugar pretty evenly but, depending on the racking, maybe not.  Also, it's a good idea to gently (don't want to oxygenate) give things a little stir while you're bottling.  Is that your process?  or are you doing it a different way?

+1

This sounds like a classic symptom of the priming sugar not being mixed properly. I recommend stirring a bit, for me its the only way to be sure that the sugar is evenly distributed.