Messages

61

Ingredients / Re: honey malt

« on: February 11, 2013, 07:55:59 PM »

Anyone ever use Honey malt in a mild? If so, how much would you suggest? I'm planning on brewing a barleywine in a month or two, so that seems like a nice brew to prop up a pitch of yeast on.

With Honey Malt, a little goes a long way.  For a mild, I'd look at 2-4 oz.

62

Equipment and Software / Re: Aeration Systems

« on: February 11, 2013, 11:11:31 AM »

So, I have a few ideas of what it might be:

1. Young / Green beer. I'm going to age it a little bit to see what happens.
2. Unhealthy yeast. I'm going to try to create a yeast starter and increase aeration.
3. Water problems / mash pH problems. I'm going to try different brewing salt additions to my water to see if I can get the pH under control.

I'm would like to do one thing at a time so I can see what the true problem is....

Doing them one at a time is the right idea.  If you're listing them in order, bump number 2 up to number 1 and you may solve your problem in one step.

63

All Grain Brewing / Re: My First Batch Sparge

« on: February 11, 2013, 09:32:10 AM »

So are most of you batch spargers adding your water at higher temps than 168?

The same way you do the calc of your strike water temp to hit you desired mash temp, you can do a similar calc for your batch sparge water to hit as close to 168.  Depending on grain and water quantities and mash temp, sparge water may end up andywhere from 10 or so degrees higher up to boiling.

64

All Grain Brewing / Re: Does mashing for a light or full body beer affect the efficiency?

« on: February 09, 2013, 12:03:04 PM »

Enzymes convert starch to sugar. It makes sense to me that an increase in enzyme activity would increase the efficiency of converting starch to sugar.

Not sure that's the way it works.  The increased activity that happens at lower mash temp is more about converting more of the more complex (unfermentable) sugars into simpler (fermentable) sugars thus a more fermentable wort and lighter body.  But, regardless of whether they are complex or simple sugars, they all count toward gravity and hence efficiency.  That is, 80% efficiency means you got 80% of the potential out of your grain.  It says nothing about how much of that 80% is fermentable and how much is not.

65

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: prepped for the winter

« on: February 08, 2013, 07:26:03 PM »

Dig a little deeper and you've got a righteous lagering cave

66

Homebrewer Bios / Re: Brewer Bio: Dan Curtis

« on: February 08, 2013, 07:25:10 PM »

Welcome to the forum !

67

Equipment and Software / Re: FastRack

« on: February 07, 2013, 12:32:34 PM »

Would it be just as effective to rinse, then store empty bottles upside down in a case box with 6-pack holders in it?

But you can't dry them that way or the cardboard will disintegrate.

Okay fair enough. But what if I rinse, drain/dry, then store?

That's exactly how I do it

68

The Pub / Re: Where are you?

« on: February 07, 2013, 11:37:21 AM »

Thanks Paul.  I sure I will learn s lot here.

If you're into the "homebrew club" thing, James River Homebrewers sounds like a pretty good one in your area.  They run the Dominion Cup competition each year.

69

Classifieds / Re: ATC Refractometer for sale

« on: February 07, 2013, 11:33:49 AM »

I got one for christmas as well.  But it's really only good for OG.  The alcohol in the FG does something to the numbers.  Supposedly there's some sort of calculation to get it right.  I still use the hydrometer for FG.

Sean's site has all you need...  http://seanterrill.com/2012/01/06/refractometer-calculator/

70

All Grain Brewing / Re: Anyone using a 70 quart Maxcold cube cooler for a mash tun?

« on: February 07, 2013, 11:28:18 AM »

Curious to know if anyone is using the 70 Quart Maxcold coolers for a mash tun.  I have a 10 gallon Igloo round I use for smaller beers, but want to make a 10 gallon batch of a big beer, (36lbs of grain).  It would work in the 70 quart, but it has a weird 45 deg shape on the back for the wheels I guess.

We always fly Sparge and I use a Blichmann auto Sparge system that works well. 

That "weird shape" would make a manifold kinda tricky.  If you'd batch sparge, then it wouldn't matter and that cooler would probably work fine.

71

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: How to pour a Black & Tan

« on: February 06, 2013, 07:01:39 PM »

That said, you can use a spoon.  The actual device looks kinda like a turtle.

More than just "kinda like" a turtle...

72

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: age 6 months in bucket, lid won't seal

« on: February 05, 2013, 07:12:30 AM »

As long as there's fairly active fermentation going on, your bucket will be fine as the positive pressure from the fermentation will keep everything going "out", leaky lid an all.  Once the fermentation has settled down a bit, you'll probably want to go ahead an rack to carboy for the remainder of the time.

73

The Pub / Re: song title game

« on: February 03, 2013, 06:07:14 PM »

She Goes Down- Motley Crüe

Lay My Burden Down - Alison Krauss

74

Equipment and Software / Re: Motorized whirlpool?

« on: February 02, 2013, 08:46:05 PM »

I just remove the IC and stir with a sanitized spoon to whirlpool.

But if you want to build something go for it.

I'd actually like to have the whirlpool to speed up the chilling process.  Like you said, for the hop cone, a spoon does just fine.

75

All Grain Brewing / Re: My First Batch Sparge

« on: February 02, 2013, 04:25:42 PM »

Welcome to the religion! 

"Batch Sparge!  It's the only way to fly"...   oh, wait