Messages

46

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Looking for a Good Online Supply Store

« on: January 22, 2013, 11:02:04 am »

For what it's worth, if/when you get to the point where you want to purchase grains or even malt extract in bulk, it's often worth making side trips to any homebrew store that you happen to be driving near to pick up your more massive items.

My "local" homebrew store is maybe an hour's drive away, but in a city where the hubby is regularly. 50lbs of 2-row malt cost $47 there, which hurts a little when I compare to websites like NorthernBrewer offering it for $35. However, I come out better than I would with shipping costs, buying from the local guys. (I still  may make a detour to NB's store next time I'm going through Milwaukee, though.)

47

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Brew ruined??? Vodka drip in wort....

« on: January 22, 2013, 10:36:15 am »

I just use some star san in the airlock. Even if some gets sucked into the carboy, I have never had any problem. Besides, an airlock full of vodka won't hurt your brew whatsoever.

I use star san too. Mainly because I have a spray bottle handy. Makes it pretty easy to top off my airlocks if they start to run dry. I've had some sucked into my fermenter before, but I've never noticed any off flavors.

I've been using it too. Only downside seems to be that instead of simply burbling, the airlock blows actual bubbles.

48

Other Fermentables / Re: Copper does remove sulfur!

« on: January 17, 2013, 04:01:39 pm »

Great to know, and it sounds delicious!

Also, I see you're getting in on this thumbring business.

49

All Grain Brewing / Re: First all-grain, help me make a SMaSH APA recipe?

« on: January 17, 2013, 02:17:39 pm »

Honestly, I'm really hoping I don't have to obsess about water too much, but it might not be possible given the fact that I like IPAs and APAs and live where I do. Diluting with RO and going with it seems a lot more my speed, and requires less hauling than buying all RO and adding back minerals.

Then again, in my experience, locally made stouts and porters tend to taste great, while the paler hoppy stuff comes across as harsh.

50

All Grain Brewing / Re: First all-grain, help me make a SMaSH APA recipe?

« on: January 17, 2013, 01:36:23 pm »

Why kill yourself over a SMaSH (just did one last month) and not do something you may like? I found the SMaSH as a good barometer of getting your system/process right but I have more fun doing beers I actually like.

Honestly, largely because I like APAs a lot, though I've done them before with all store-bought water. (Adding the local water to extract seems... excessive. Also, I've moved to a new rental and I think the water tastes better from the tap at the new place.)

Do you know the pH of your tap water?

The water report says 7.3.  I don't have a pH meter at home yet (perhaps should pick up some strips?), but I can grab a sample and check it tomorrow at school.

51

All Grain Brewing / First all-grain, help me make a SMaSH APA recipe?

« on: January 17, 2013, 01:22:07 pm »

I'm gearing up to go all-grain, have a lot of new equipment, and I'm trying to come up with a basic, easy-to-brew SMaSH recipe that'll also give me an excuse to test out the new grain mill. (Yes, it was a good Christmas.)

I'm thinking that I want to make an APA with Rahr 2-row, Cascade pellets, and US-05. Thinking an OG of roughly 1.050 would be good, and I like the mouthfeel I've gotten from extract batches that came out at about 1.012. I have a 40-quart pot (about 15 inches in diameter), a big cooler with a stainless braid inside that I'll preheat, and I'd like to do a single step infusion. Looking to come out with 5-5.5 gallons of wort.

My local water is very hard, but I haven't had an analysis done on it yet.  Alkalinity is reported as being 240 ppm as CaCO3, hardness as 360 ppm, and sulfates as 61 ppm. (Here's a link to the water report, which is semi-helpful.) I plan to get some out of my faucet filter and throw in a Campden tablet (chloramine, yuck), but I wouldn't be opposed to substantially diluting my water with distilled.

Should I follow Palmer's advice and add a small amount of dark malt just to lower the pH, or consider pH5.2 mash stabilizer?

What else do I need to know?

52

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Apartment Home Brewing

« on: January 16, 2013, 01:08:12 pm »

Just so long as you're OK with being limited with the materials used for your brew kettle.

53

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Shelf Life of Grain

« on: January 16, 2013, 09:49:06 am »

Just a guess here, but I'd expect that your enzymes would be the first thing to suffer as it ages, assuming good storage conditions. Perhaps mixing old and new malt would help older stuff convert?

54

Kegging and Bottling / Re: Tap a Keg system???

« on: January 07, 2013, 11:03:02 am »

There's also the Party Star mini-keg system. Maybe that's what the OP is referring to?
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/party-star-deluxe-tap-system.html

Personally, I'd want a system that allow for more uses of the containers.

55

Equipment and Software / Re: best bottling equipment

« on: January 07, 2013, 10:54:53 am »

I think the vinator, in combination with a bottle tree, is the easiest and fastest way to sanitize a run of bottles. 

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/vinator-bottle-rinser.html

+1  The vinator is so much better than soaking/dunking the bottles. Mine doesn't fit on my bottle tree, but I consider that secondary.

I also spritz the tree down with Starsan as a precaution.

56

All Grain Brewing / Re: What exactly is...

« on: January 07, 2013, 10:23:04 am »

How's it taste?

57

Equipment and Software / Building a Coleman Xtreme mashtun, advice?

« on: January 05, 2013, 04:16:29 pm »

I'm planning on going all-grain in the near future. Planning on sacrificing a Coleman Xtreme cooler that I've had for about the last 10 years. Still works great, but doesn't get much use camping anymore because we rarely use something so big since discovering dried food.  Not quite sure what the size is off-hand, but I'm going to estimate it's a bit over 10 gallons, and I'll have to mark depths inside soon enough. It's silver, so I'll have to live with the reduced efficiency until I get blue paint, I suppose. 

I'm looking at bulkhead kits at Weldlessfittings and Bargainfittings, but it looks like they're all for spigot holes that are 7/8" or smaller. The hole in my cooler is a full inch in diameter, and the wall is 3/4" thick.  Any recommendations for a cooler with a larger hole like this?

Alternatively, I've read of people inserting 3/8" vinyl tubing right through the spigot on these coolers. That seems like a viable option, but the tubing slides in pretty easily. Does it really not leak with a bunch of hot liquor or mash sitting on it? I'd love such a simple solution, if it's really viable.

58

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: left it in the primary for 60 days

« on: January 05, 2013, 10:03:04 am »

Do check to see if you have any sediment on the bottom of your bottles. When I've had bottles that don't seem to want to carbonate well, I've had good luck with inverting each bottle once or twice and raising the room temperature a little bit. If you don't have the yeast there, it won't help of course, but I've had a couple incidents with a cool-ish room and lazy flocculant yeast that just need a wakeup stir.

59

The Pub / Re: PC help - dern wifi won't work

« on: January 02, 2013, 01:04:40 pm »

Is it windows 8?  I'm not as familiar with it.  I assume you are sure it is the computer and not the router itself?

On a related note, make sure you don't have a MAC address filter on your router that's preventing you from connecting.

60

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Christmas Presents

« on: December 26, 2012, 10:46:20 am »

Got some great stuff, really made out this year!

10 gallon aluminum pot, Bayou Classic jet burner, a barley crusher, and a temp controller. All-grain, here I come!