Messages

121

Commercial Beer Reviews / Re: Budweiser Project 12

« on: November 06, 2012, 02:54:37 pm »

I'd slip it into a cooler at a party full of college students. Someone'll think they're getting awesome beer when they pull those bottles out.

I suppose this only works if you're not recognized by everyone there as a bottomless source for delicious homebrew. 

122

Ingredients / Re: RO Water pH

« on: November 06, 2012, 02:30:44 pm »

Has your RO water sat in a container for a while, or is it newly generated? As I understand it, the pH of water in general tends to drop over time after water is distilled, simply due to CO2 from the air going back into solution. RO water probably behaves similarly, though I'm sure the above posters are correct in saying that at least some H2CO3 passes through the filters from the start.

In any case, after RO, the water isn't going to have any buffering capacity to speak of. It'll all be about your grains and what minerals you add to it, not the water itself.

123

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Rehydrating Dry Yeast

« on: November 06, 2012, 02:18:17 pm »

Well, I tried it this time. Rehydrated a pack of US-05 in the Fermentis-recommended 80F water for a while (I know, sounds cool to me too, but I decided to do it their way for a first try), then pitched it. Next morning, the airlock was burbling happily. Usually, I spend the day after brewing anxiety-ridden because I didn't seem much yeast activity before leaving for school.

There's more than one thing changed with this batch vs the previous APA I did, so I don't know what I'll be able to attribute specifically to the rehydrated pitch. (Need to try new things vs need to control experiments -- Argh!) But the peace of mind at seeing such obvious fermentation alone is reason to keep doing it.

124

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Gotta give the Club some love

« on: November 06, 2012, 12:44:30 pm »

Congrats, MX!

Way to go! Cali is a huge state.  That is quite an accomplishment. 

My club won homebrew club of Indiana for this year.  Not quite what your club did!

Well, you beat my club then.

Not sure I was aware of when the competition was, and we've got to be pretty small compared to Foamblowers, but there you have it.

125

Equipment and Software / Re: Pulleys

« on: November 05, 2012, 09:29:24 am »

i used to have hand winches on the boat trailers that were no problem releasing slowly. i would probably still put in a pulley system to modify the angle and reduce the rope tension some. i would also switch to better bottles over glass just in case.

My thinking is that boats aren't being lowered straight downward, and aren't made of glass. Though they are much heavier...  I'd be all for using the winch if I were using better bottles.

126

Equipment and Software / Re: Pulleys

« on: November 05, 2012, 09:12:42 am »

Do those hand winches release slowly? The racheting system I'm envisioning for those (having not actually used one, so I'm picturing something related to those ratcheting tie-downs) would work well for lifting but wouldn't lower in a gentle and controlled manner. Also, I personally wouldn't mess with garage door opener springs.  So honestly, if anything I'd probably stay low-tech and do a simple pulley or a small block and tackle attached to the milk crate or whatever you use to cradle your carboy.

127

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: I'm an idiot

« on: November 05, 2012, 09:02:18 am »

Well, you can send me a bottle or two of that apricot hefe. Sounds like a great flavor combination to me.

128

The Pub / Re: Hurricane broke the house I"m buying D:

« on: November 02, 2012, 11:48:56 am »

To be fair, I've only owned one house to date, and thankfully it was neither a disaster waiting to happen, nor in a hurricane zone.

Instinctively, I'd say that other than making sure the wiring is OK (might have fried a circuit or two if the thing was struck by lightning, rewire as required), is the roof.  You may end up finding that the whole thing doesn't make it much longer and needs replaced, and at that point I'd guess you're looking at 5 figures and a likely equity loan to solve the problem. Which isn't the end of the world, but it could hurt if you're dropping below 20% equity in the house.

Oh, make sure there aren't a ton of shingles underneath the top layer. One place I looked at had 3 roofs on it, and they ALL needed to go.

129

The Pub / Re: Hurricane broke the house I"m buying D:

« on: October 31, 2012, 11:36:42 am »

I wouldn't just tighten the bolts on that toilet if I were you. Do it the right way: drain it, pull it off, put a new wax ring in, and lower the toilet directly into place. (In my experience, having a person or two helping you is good, since you can't see to line everything up while holding the toilet.)  Buy an extra ring just in case you screw up, because you can't reposition the toilet if you messed it up.  The last thing you want is a toilet that's got a poor seal and is leaking sewage at the base.

130

The Pub / Re: Hurricane broke the house I"m buying D:

« on: October 30, 2012, 01:51:20 pm »

At least, presumably, the seller has insurance on the house. You obviously do not, since you aren't the owner.  So the seller probably isn't going to suffer a huge hit on this either, unless they already were playing with fire by not having coverage.

Wonder if you'll have to move back the closing date?

131

The Pub / Re: Painkillers

« on: October 29, 2012, 02:05:25 pm »

It's usually a good first step to make sure you're well-hydrated when headaches crop up. Certainly not the only headache cause, but it's an easy one to solve. A cup or two of coffee help too, for anything migraine-ish.

(Oddly, I don't addict to caffeine. Can drink pots of it per day, then go cold turkey with no symptoms. Have been lead to understand that this isn't normal.)

132

Kegging and Bottling / Re: Naturally carbing, adjust sugar amount for style?

« on: October 25, 2012, 10:59:08 am »

I keg prime often. I've heard you should use 75% of the recommended sugar for priming bottles. To me- this is just one of those wild assertions that you hear but with only vague data to back it up. My suggestion is to use the normal amount that you would use when priming bottles. This is what I do and the beer is just right.

And if the beer is over carbed just vent the keg a few times; bottles would be significantly more difficult to correct.

Even if I were set up for kegging (I'm not), this one would be a no-go. I was asked by a friend to make a bunch of 6-packs of dark beer for groomsmen gifts. This is a test batch for that, make sure that the kit's not totally vile and that there's nothing major I need to change for the real run. As such, I want to bottle these.  My hopes are that a dry stout will be of broad appeal to a number of palates and beer-experience levels.

133

Kegging and Bottling / Naturally carbing, adjust sugar amount for style?

« on: October 24, 2012, 03:18:50 pm »

I've got an Irish stout in the fermenter and am starting to think about bottling it. This one came from a kit from Midwest Supplies. 5 gallon batch.

Said kit came with a 5oz packet of corn sugar for priming. Am I right in thinking that it's too much sugar and the carbonation will make the beer overly harsh?  I'm currently thinking I should reduce it by about half, but I'd appreciate confirmation from someone more experienced with the effects carbonation has on taste and mouthfeel.

134

Equipment and Software / Re: Copper Wort Chiller or SS?

« on: October 24, 2012, 03:13:06 pm »

Copper's the material of choice. Better heat exchange and the yeast appreciate a few extra copper ions, as I understand it. I suspect it's more prone to damage, should it get smashed behind something, but can't say I've actually made the comparison.

135

Extract/Partial Mash Brewing / Re: krausen question

« on: October 24, 2012, 03:08:25 pm »

Relax, kick back, and drink some good store-bought beer for now. You'll get homebrew soon, I promise.

I was in a hurry to bottle and try my first batch (not long ago), too. Bottled after a week. The things took forever (not really, but it felt like it) to clean up their green flavors once bottled. Probably overcompensated by leaving my next two beers on their yeast cakes for a full 4 weeks before bottling those, but they came out much cleaner-tasting, which I largely attribute to patience.

Perhaps I need to acquire a couple smaller containers and divide a single batch among them and bottle one a week once fermentation has stopped, to see how sitting on the yeast affects flavors...