Messages

916

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What's Brewing This Weekend - 7/27 Edition

« on: July 25, 2012, 10:41:06 AM »

Belgian Barleywine didn't happen yesterday, but the starter is already cold crashed so I'm hoping to do it in the next couple of days. The only good thing is that that gave me enough time to run to the LHBS to get some Special B, otherwise I probably would have had to make do with some CaraMunich I had on hand.

917

The Pub / Re: song title game

« on: July 25, 2012, 09:11:55 AM »

My Michelle - G'n'R

918

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Sour Worting

« on: July 25, 2012, 08:36:11 AM »

What kind of pH adjustment are you guys doing on your mash/wort with this method? I was thinking that if you use a high percentage of acidulated malt and/or use a big addition of phosphoric or lactic acid to get the pH lower than normal then you may give your lacto bugs a bit of a head start to outcompete any nasties.

919

The Pub / Re: song title game

« on: July 24, 2012, 08:24:56 PM »

Live Undead - Slayer

920

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Fermentation Temps

« on: July 24, 2012, 10:13:17 AM »

I don't think they're talking about temps freely fluctuating. Many brewers will bring the temp up a few degrees after the majority of fermentation is completed. This helps the yeast finish those last few points of fermentation and also helps the yeast clean up some of the less desirable byproducts of fermentation.

921

Beer Recipes / Re: IPA recipe help

« on: July 24, 2012, 10:04:43 AM »

+1 to Columbus or Chinook for bittering. Also, make sure you have enough sulfate in your water. I start with RO water and use ~1 gram of Gypsum per gallon of my finished beer.

922

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Headache City

« on: July 24, 2012, 09:52:32 AM »

There is a beer from a brewery in St. Louis that gives me a headache if I drink more than one.

That's funny, there's one from Milwaukee that does the same to me...

923

Beer Recipes / Re: IPA recipe help

« on: July 24, 2012, 09:13:58 AM »

Sounds like you're in the right ballpark. I'd go with a big flameout addition and at least an ounce of each for dry hops.

924

Ingredients / Re: Big 'old hops

« on: July 24, 2012, 09:09:59 AM »

I planted Cascade, Mt Hood and Willamette this year. Had some bug issues (but not Japanese Beetles amazingly). I have one bine on each that are in the 6-8 foot range and a few on each that are under a foot. No buds yet, and I'm not even sure if I'll end up with any. Just hoping the roots are growing strongly enough to get a good harvest next year.

925

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Stuck Fermentation - Best Course?

« on: July 24, 2012, 09:01:42 AM »

I think rousing the yeast and bumping up the temp a few degrees should pretty much always be the first step with a stuck fermentation. Next step would be US-05, or even better a starter of something fairly clean and attenuative (i.e., WLP001) at high krausen.

926

All Things Food / Re: Growing food - The Garden Thread

« on: July 23, 2012, 06:15:33 PM »

My favorite pesto I've ever made used pistachios. I made it plenty thick too. It was fantastic as a crust on grilled chicken. If you're looking for something different to try with your pesto I highly recommend it.

927

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Sour Worting

« on: July 23, 2012, 09:08:53 AM »

I've been saying to myself "I'm not ready to jump into sour beers quite yet" for a while now, but I think this thread has changed my mind. It sounds like I can use this technique with no further equipment needed. Raspberry Berliner, here I come.

  Ran it off into my kettle, held a temp of 180 F for 15 minutes (thank you Chad from Crooked Stave and the BN), cooled it to 120 F and then ran it into an extra 5 gallon round Igloo I had.  The Igloo is filled to the top, the temp is 117 F.  I pitched the White Labs WLP677.

What is the purpose for bringing the temp up to 180? Do you really need to pasteurize the wort if you're planning on souring it anyways?

My thought was to simply pull the grain bag from my cooler after the mash was finished (I use BIAB in a 5-gallon cooler), add enough cool water to bring the temp to 120, then pitch the lacto. Once it hits the sourness level I like, I'd run off to my brew kettle and boil.

928

The Pub / Re: Re: song title game

« on: July 22, 2012, 04:04:29 PM »

The Morning After-Faith No More

Nice! One of my alltime favorite albums.

After Forever - Black Sabbath

929

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Toasting hops...

« on: July 22, 2012, 12:02:37 PM »

This it?

http://www.examiner.com/article/t-hopping-there-s-more-to-beer-s-hop-mojo-then-meets-the-i

930

Ingredients / Re: Rauch Malt vs Heavy Toast Oak

« on: July 22, 2012, 06:01:41 AM »

Well, an oaked porter would still be nice.  But for smoke character, skip the oak and go with rauch.  And then oak some of it

Yeah, this seems like the way to go. I think I'm still going to oak some of it. Thanks for the advice everybody.

So how low can I go percentage-wise with rauch malt and still get a hint of smoke? Is 3% a good starting point or should I start even lower?