Messages

136

Equipment and Software / Re: Interesting immersion wort chiller design

« on: October 24, 2012, 08:50:44 AM »

you get faster chilling at max flow. I do use the max flow and it works fine. Like I said I use about 15 gallons to chill 5 gallons down to 80*. It's really all about moving the wort past the chiller coils so that the cold wort around the copper moves away and lets hot wort in to cool down. The smaller diameter tube does likely make a big difference though. if you double the surface area of the tube you quadruple the volume inside which means you are pushing 4 times as much water through but only twice as much is making good contact with the heat exchanger

That's along the lines of my thinking. In terms of chilling, it seems to me that you'd be better off with a few more feet of tubing at a smaller diameter than with a larger diameter tube. (To a point anyway. If you get to the point where the water in the tube is practically the same temp as the wort, more length is obviously not going to help much.)

137

Equipment and Software / Interesting immersion wort chiller design

« on: October 23, 2012, 02:22:57 PM »

Now that the weather has turned cool enough that I'm not wishing I had space for a chest freezer/fermentation chamber, I'm thinking my next upgrade has to be a wort chiller.  May yet make my own, but I know copper prices have definitely affected the build cost on these.

Anyway, I came across this contraption on ebay. Curious if anyone's tried something along these lines instead of the standard cylindrical coil design?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-WORT-CHILLER-DESIGN-PEAK-EFFICIENCY-/110841991716

138

Extract/Partial Mash Brewing / Re: First Batch

« on: October 23, 2012, 02:10:34 PM »

Eh, it smells like Grape-Nuts.

I just go with it, since I get the feeling my landlord would pitch a fit if I started a boil out on my patio. Yet another reason to move out of that place.

139

Kegging and Bottling / Re: Labeling bottles

« on: October 22, 2012, 10:23:03 AM »

I've been doing laser-printed paper and milk lately. Seems to work OK, but because I'm lactose-intolerant, milk isn't something I typically have around. I may go the opposite direction and use a glue stick next time.

140

Yeast and Fermentation / Which dry ale yeasts to keep as backup?

« on: October 22, 2012, 09:24:42 AM »

I realize this is an incredibly broad question and varies a lot based on what style I'm trying to brew. The fact is, I'm a beginner messing around with a variety of styles, all ales, and I'd like to be able to have a small stock of dry yeasts in the fridge as backup in case fermentation doesn't start for me for some reason, or in case it gets stuck. Neither has happened to me yet thankfully, but I'm experiencing my typical preoccupation with the fact that the yeast I pitched last night didn't seem to have the airlock going nuts yet by morning. I'd breathe easier knowing I have a few packets in the fridge that will give me a reasonably good-tasting result should I need them.

So what should I get? (I asked the hubby to pick some up for me once before and he returned with a Hefeweizen yeast. I'm not asking him to swing by the homebrew shop near his work again without a few specifics, since clearly the shop was no help to him in choosing something that would be fairly generic.)

141

Beer Recipes / Re: Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Stout

« on: October 09, 2012, 11:19:38 AM »

I tend to think of nutmeg when I think of oatmeal raisin cookies. More so than ginger. Perhaps that would be good in tincture?

Let us know how it turns out! I'm not set up for all-grain yet, nor do I feel experienced enough, but the recipe sounds epic.

142

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Cooling/storing wort

« on: April 20, 2012, 11:02:05 AM »

Well, nearly freezing it wouldn't help much. You want to make those 334 J/g work for you.

I hear you, but getting said water out of the milk jugs once frozen is more difficult.

143

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Cooling/storing wort

« on: April 20, 2012, 10:52:32 AM »

Yes, there's some chill haze, but I consider that to be cosmetic and a side-effect of not yet owning a good chiller.

If you're doing partial boils there really isn't much reason to own a chiller. Just freeze the top-off water in advance and it will come down to pitching temp in a few minutes.

Hm, hadn't considered nearly freezing it.

I still have the problem of having an insanely small freezer, but I'll definitely consider it once I get a spare fridge to convert to a fermentation chamber. My simplified swamp cooler methods aren't likely to work to my satisfaction this summer.

144

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Cooling/storing wort

« on: April 20, 2012, 10:46:26 AM »

Now I'm a complete newbie at brewing, but for the last 2 of my 3 beers, I cooled the wort just enough so that I was comfortable with the idea of carrying it over to the fermenter, then dumped it in and diluted it to the full 5 gallons with store-bought bottled water. (I'd be more comfortable with the whole thing if I could do a full boil, but I don't currently have the pot to do it, and I'm not certain the electric stove could manage it.)  Let it cool overnight to my pitching temperature of 64F, pitched the yeast in the morning.

I've had no problems -- the beer tastes good, oxidation and contamination haven't been issues, nor has DMS.  Yes, there's some chill haze, but I consider that to be cosmetic and a side-effect of not yet owning a good chiller.  However, if your sanitation isn't up to snuff, a long cooling period is risky.

ETA: I cover the hole where the airlock attaches with a piece of sanitized Al foil. You might be OK with an S-shaped airlock, but don't seal your hot wort with a 3-piece, as the liquid will be drawn into your fermenter as the headspace cools.

145

Kegging and Bottling / Re: Beer Cases! Help!

« on: March 26, 2012, 03:46:21 PM »

I use the $5 plastic filing crates from Wally-World.  You need to cut a piece of 1/4 ply to strengthen the base, but they hold 30 bottles (5x6) perfectly, and are just tall enough to stack.  They also hold 20 bombers or wine bottles (5x4) perfectly too, but you cant stack 'em that way.

Thanks for this, that was exactly what I needed. I might eventually go with the CW Crates, but these seem nearly perfect for me as a new brewer, especially in a closet with a blanket thrown over to protect the beer a bit more from the light.

146

Kegging and Bottling / Re: Pretty sure I like flat AIPA

« on: March 22, 2012, 03:10:11 PM »

I just bottled my APA (not sure it has the requisite gravity to make it an AIPA) and definitely enjoyed my test jar of room temperature flat ale. Maybe there's something about those nice citrusy hops flavors that makes it work?

147

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Where is a Homebrew Supply Store Needed?

« on: March 20, 2012, 10:15:37 AM »

My husband and I would love to open a homebrew supply store, but everyplace we think about opening one there is already one there. Does anyone have any insight on where there is a need?

My basement.  That'd be a good place to start. 

Yeah, I could use one in my town!  Nearest place is at least an hour and I don't care for their prices, so I bribe my hubby (with homebrew, of course) to pick stuff up in Cincinnati at Listermann and bring it to me.

148

Kegging and Bottling / Re: Bottling bucket spigot contamination!

« on: March 20, 2012, 10:10:39 AM »

Here you go:  Bottling spigot from Northern Brewer

They're cheap and VERY easy to install.  If you have a hard time cleaning that thing out, don't waste your time over what would cost about $4.00 to replace (plus shipping).

I'm really not interested in having to replace it every time I bottle, though. I'd rather just siphon out of a fermenter if it comes to that, though the spigot seems to introduce a bit less air than my siphon.

149

Kegging and Bottling / Re: Bottling bucket spigot contamination!

« on: March 20, 2012, 07:32:21 AM »

Mine doesn't seem to come apart, and the gunk is between two layers of white plastic, which allow the spigot to be turned so it's vertical or not. Likely it's because I'm not using enough force (I broke many little mechanical contraptions and stripped many screws in my childhood to learn not to force things). Just yank it apart?  If I do, I suspect it'll never be water-tight again.

150

Kegging and Bottling / Bottling bucket spigot contamination!

« on: March 20, 2012, 07:09:14 AM »

Is contamination in the spigot a problem for anyone else? There's definitely some nasty black stuff in mine, which is this model.

I bypassed the problem when I bottled last night by simply racking into a clean fermenter and then bottled using an autosiphon, but I'd really like to figure out how to get the gunk out of the spigot. Otherwise, I've just got a useless bucket with a hole in it, since I clearly don't want to replace the thing after each use.