Topics

46

The Pub / Small Brewer Says Budweiser Is Bullying Him About Old Kegs

« on: May 07, 2012, 08:18:21 pm »

http://consumerist.com/2012/05/small-brewer-says-budweiser-is-bullying-him-about-old-kegs.html

A small-time beer operation in Tennessee says it's the subject of some big-time hassling from Budweiser — all of it over a bunch of old empty beer kegs.

In a lengthy post on the Facebook page for Calfkiller Brewing Company, the company explains its side of the story, saying that — like many smaller businesses — it has to save money where it can. Part of that savings comes from buying used kegs that can then be filled up and shipped out full of beer-y goodness.

Calfkiller says it purchased kegs wherever it could: "unclaimed freight auctions, breweries that have closed, or keg companies that sell new, used, and refurbished kegs... Everything from website sales to store fronts in public with huge signs by the road for everyone to see. LEGIT businesses!"

But about a month ago, alleges Calfkiller, things went sour:
“That's when the "Budweiser keg police" began trying to strong arm the little guy... So the big monopoly Budweiser has started walking in to accounts, and simply taking the little guys kegs! FLIRTING WITH SLANDER they have told business owners that Calfkiller had stole the kegs...
[Calfkiller] contacted distribution to try and resolve the issue, but were lied to, ignored, and simply not dealt with.

Budweiser has said they have never sold a keg. Really??? How can they be purchased from places by the truck load then??? They also informed Calfkiller that it had come down from corporate, and was out of the local distributions hands. Although Calfkiller found it flattering that the big dogs even knew who they were they also found it highly unlikely that the beer giant cared that Calfkiller had a few 20 year old kegs of theirs.”

According to the post, when Calfkiller finally got a hold of someone in Budweiser HQ in St. Louis, it was told "we know nothing about this."

Regardless, we hope the buzz surrounding this story gets back to St. Louis and someone at HQ looks into whether or not its regional offices are using the company name to possibly intimidate smaller breweries.

47

General Homebrew Discussion / So good, yet, so bad...

« on: May 07, 2012, 07:21:04 pm »

Here's my belgian blonde (only 3 days in the bottle so it isn't carbonated yet) on the left, and Leffe Blonde on the right:


I'm very happy with the clarity and color.

But...

Dammit its suffering from some acetaldehyde (apple/cidery)...I only gave it 2 weeks at 50F after fermentation was done. I needed to get it bottled for a local competition on 5/12.  I'm keeping the bottles for competition in a room that stays warm (about 75-77) most of the day. *fingers crossed* hoping it will diminish some before Saturday.

When I re-brew this I think I will bump the fermentation temp by 2 degrees F to try to get some more of that spicy/clove phenolic out of the yeast (I pitched at 64F and slowly raised it to 68F over 7 days). Though, maybe it could be the acetaldehyde is hiding some of it? I don't know.

48

Beer Travel / Best SF brewery tour or brewpub?

« on: May 07, 2012, 07:08:58 am »

I'll be in SF for a couple of days in August. I thought I would tour 21st Amendment but it doesn't look like they have brewery tours. Anchor seems to only do tours on weekdays and I'll only be there on a Saturday and Sunday.

If I can't do a tour, are there any suggestions for the best brew pub?

49

Ingredients / Wind Turbine for Capturing Brewing Water

« on: May 04, 2012, 10:15:06 am »

Wind Turbine for Creating Capturing Water

The wind turbine...is in the testing phase in the Abu Dhabi desert (in Mussafah, to be specific). Even from the desert air, it can pull 500 to 800 liters of clean water each day. With some improvements, Eole Water says that could be increased to 1,000 liters. All the wind turbine needs is wind speeds of at least 15 miles per hour.

I wonder what the mineral content of the water would be, if any? Imagine being able to power your brewery AND create capture all your water with this!



[Edited for the pedants!   ]

50

Equipment and Software / Using Sugru on a brew pot

« on: May 01, 2012, 10:25:25 am »

I saw this today and thought it would be good to use on the handles of my brew pot:
http://www.craftypod.com/2011/09/16/heatproofing-a-stockpot-with-sugru/





12 packs for about $20: http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/tools/e976/?cpg=froogle

Not sure how many packs would be needed for 2 pot handles and a lid handle, though.

51

Commercial Beer Reviews / Sweet vomit aroma in Victory Hop Devil?

« on: April 30, 2012, 06:41:13 pm »

The beer tastes fine but if I take a deep whiff I swear I smell a slight sweet baby vomit. Anyone who's had a kid knows what I mean.

What would cause this?

52

Extract/Partial Mash Brewing / How dark should pilsen lme be?

« on: April 22, 2012, 11:03:21 am »

Haven't touched lme since Mr. Beer 10 years ago. I opened some pilsen lme today that came in a brewer's best kit and it was really dark. Is this normal?

53

Equipment and Software / Any netduino/arduino programmers out there?

« on: April 19, 2012, 08:33:14 pm »

My Netduino arrives tomorrow. If you don't know what it is, it's a microcontroller that you can program using the C# language and Microsoft's .Net Micro Framework. It's made to be compatible with hardware designed for the Arduino.

I've also ordered a waterproof digital thermostat and some other odds and ends. I'd like to make a "super" temperature controller for fermentation:
-load fermentation profiles for different styles
-create smooth ramp-up and ramp-down slopes for temperature.
-log temp data
-be able to monitor temp status remotely

A few searches came up with some pre-existing projects that have some of what I want to do already. And this will be an open-source project.

Any other netduino or arduino programmers on this forum?

54

Ingredients / What about smoked oats?

« on: April 16, 2012, 06:00:31 pm »

I love the oatmeal stout recipe in Brewing Classic Styles. Rather than roasting the oats has anyone ever tried putting them in a smoker?  I'm thinking something like oak,  not too strong.  The smoker should give you the same roasted taste plus some smoked character... Right?

55

Other Fermentables / Wine kit questions

« on: April 12, 2012, 07:35:02 pm »

I bought a pinot noir kit from my LHBS today and have a few questions after reading the instructions...

1) Do I need to rehydrate the yeast like I would when brewing a beer with dry yeast?
2) I have a 6.5G glass carboy and a 6G better bottle that I can use for this...is that OK?
3) The instructions don't have me aerating the must prior to pitching the yeast...should I anyway?
3a) If I aerate, is an aquarium pump and stone OK for use in wine like I do when making beer?
4) The instructions have the wine 2 weeks in primary and 2 weeks in secondary. Is that OK or should I alter that for better results?
5) How much of the instructions should I toss and replace with better advice, like those included in some extract beer kits?

This is the kit:

56

Equipment and Software / More refractometer woes

« on: April 09, 2012, 11:34:03 am »

I bought a refractometer because I thought reading the hydrometer was too difficult, but either I have a crappy device or I'm using it wrong because I can't seem to get consistent readings.

I'll calibrate with distilled water...0.0 brix
Take a wort sample...15.5 brix
Hmm...take another sample...16.5...16.0...16.2...
Check distilled water...still 0.0.

WTF?

I finally take a large enough sample for a hydrometer and get 1.065, exactly what it should have been.

I took readings after the wort settled and after it was stirred up, always different. I rinse the surface of the refractometer with a little distilled water between readings and dry it with a clean cloth.

What am I doing wrong?

57

General Homebrew Discussion / Today's brewing disaster...

« on: April 08, 2012, 03:04:27 pm »

Perhaps there should be a running thread where people can post what disaster they had on their brewing day?

Today mine was setting the propane hose on fire...  Maybe it was just old? The burner was over 10 years old.  I walked away for just a moment (how many stories start like that?) and I hear this scary swishing sound and look back to see flames shooting up from the side of my burner. I cut the gas off. The hose is partially melted.  Good excuse to get a new burner, huh? Which I promptly did. Maybe the beer gods didn't want me brewing today?

58

Yeast and Fermentation / Aging question for bottle conditioned belgian blond

« on: April 06, 2012, 10:37:06 am »

Hello all!

I'll be brewing a belgian blond this Sunday and I have a question about fermentation and aging.

Using advice from BCS and Jamil's podcast I'll pitch at 64F then slowly raise the temp over 7 days to 68F.

He then says it should lager for 1 month at 45-50F.

My question is: Do I bottle it and THEN lager it or do I lager it and then bottle it?  I'll be carbonating in the bottles so I was worried that the cold temperature would prevent proper carbonation. I'll have about 5 weeks until May 12th when I'll be entering it in a local competition, so should I let it lager in the primary until a week before the competition and then bottle it and let it carbonate at room temperature?

(I realize this question may actually belong in the bottling section of the forum, but I wasn't sure..soo...)

59

Equipment and Software / Anyone else use Sean Terril's Refractometer Calculator?

« on: April 04, 2012, 12:56:14 pm »

I'm a bit frustrated over differences in ways people convert refractometer readings to specific gravity.

I have a pre-fermentation reading of 12.9 brix which beersmith converted to 1.053 SG.
http://www.fermsoft.com/gravbrix.php lists 12.85 brix as 1.052, so its pretty close to beersmith.

Now I'm trying to use Sean Terril's site to convert a post-ferment brix reading into a final gravity.

I enter:
Original RI (°Bx):   12.9
Final RI (°Bx):   6.4

And it gives me this for results:
Original Gravity:   1.0501 (12.4°P)
Estimated Final Gravity:   1.0118 (3.01°P)
Alcohol by Volume:   4.9% (4% ABW)

Sooo....is 12.9 brix 1.050 or 1.053? I'm confused.    It looks like he divides the brix number by 1.04 to get degrees plato. I think I may have screwed up my configuration in Beersmith as it requires you to calibrate your refractometer...which I sort of fudged... So this may be all my fault.

60

Yeast and Fermentation / Yeast advice for a Belgian Blond (18A)

« on: March 30, 2012, 05:41:56 pm »

JZ suggests WLP500 or wyeast 1214. Reading the descriptions of these and comparing to some of the other Belgian yeasts I really don't know which to try. I was looking at 3522 (ardennes) but Denny mentioned something about a tartness with that one in another thread.

So, I'm open to suggestions...