Messages

61

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Methods to cool a hot fermentation?

« on: September 17, 2012, 09:02:21 AM »

Now the thermometer on the carboy is reading 66-68F, so I'll keep the towel on for now and resoak it once it begins to dry off. I do have large plastic tub, so if the wet towel can't keep the temp down I'll try a nice cool bath.

62

Yeast and Fermentation / Methods to cool a hot fermentation?

« on: September 17, 2012, 07:41:20 AM »

On Saturday I brewed a Belgian-style tripel/golden strong, fermented with WLP545 (Belgian Strong Ale). Last night I went to bed with the thermometer reading 68F, and I woke up this morning and the temp was 73F. Following posts about fermentation temps, I wrapped the carboy in a wet towel and pointed a box fan at it. The ambient temp in our house is usually between 65-70F, and bear in mind I have no electronic means of temperature control.

So my question is, am I risking a stalled/stuck fermentation by trying to drop the temperature 5 or 6 degrees this late in the game? Is there some other cooling method I could/should do instead?

Follow-up question: If I'm shooting for 85%-90%+ attenuation, at what point is it safe for me to try and boost the temp to ferment those last few gravity points? 5 days? 7 days?

63

The Pub / Re: song title game

« on: September 15, 2012, 08:47:29 AM »

Midnight Train to Georgia - Gladys Knight & the Pips

64

All Things Food / Re: Is this food?

« on: September 14, 2012, 07:03:08 PM »

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Styphnolobium_japonicum

It's a Japanese Pagoda Tree.

65

All Things Food / Re: Is this food?

« on: September 14, 2012, 03:45:43 PM »

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabaceae

Something from the fabaceae family. My first thought was a Kentucky coffeetree,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gymnocladus_dioicus

but the pods are too small. It may be edible, but I would wager that it wouldn't taste very good.

66

Extract/Partial Mash Brewing / Re: Re: First Christmas Beer - Got questions!

« on: September 12, 2012, 05:26:36 PM »

Since my LHBS doesn't know the breakdown of their extract, I will  switch to light extract.  Should I switch out the Dark Candi Syrup for the Belgium Dark Hard Candi?

The candi syrup (I've heard/read) is way more flavorful compared the the rock candi, so syrup all the way. Also, you mentioned special B, you could consider replacing some of the crystal 80 with special b (maybe 1/4 to 1/2 lb) if you're looking for something Belgian-style (as it would seem from the choice of yeast and candi syrup).

67

Extract/Partial Mash Brewing / Re: First Christmas Beer - Got questions!

« on: September 11, 2012, 08:28:14 PM »

No matter what style of beer I make, I always use a light extract (pilsner, pale, extra pale, etc) and control all other flavor aspects with specialty malts. I would recommend switching from the amber extract to a light extract, then adding the steeping malts as needed. Also, if you really want to try to hit 10%, consider adding some plain table sugar instead of some of the extract or crystal malt. It's near 100% fermentable, giving you a lower FG, and make the beer (as they say in Belgium) more "digestable".

68

Ingredients / Re: Best time to selectively pick hops

« on: September 10, 2012, 08:08:18 AM »

Those are good indicators, though you might want to try to catch them before they turn brown at all. You should also give them a squeeze, they should be fairly stiff and springy. Maybe a better tact would be to wait until they're very aromatic. Young hops will smell fresh, like new-mown grass, but mature hops should have a potent aroma more similar to what you would expect from the variety. Just pull one off and rip/cut it in half, maybe rub it in your hands, and take a whiff. If it smells ready and looks ready, it is ready.

69

All Things Food / Re: New Sausage Book by Ruhlman and Polcyn

« on: September 09, 2012, 09:46:36 AM »

I started looking into homemade sausage a few weeks ago, and haven't really gotten anywhere. I really love French saucisson sec and wanted to see if I can make something fairly authentic. What's a good resource (book, website, blog, etc.) for someone who's never made sausage before?  This will have to be a long term goal since right now the only equipment I own is a meat grinder (no stuffer) and I don't really have a place to dry cure meats. Maybe I'll try a chorizo for my first time out...

70

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Baltic Porter: Which strain of yeast to use for my first Baltic?

« on: September 08, 2012, 06:31:55 PM »

That seems like it would depend on what your fermentation temperature will be.

71

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Roeselare and secondary fermentation

« on: September 08, 2012, 02:41:11 PM »

Check out this other thread on a similar issue.
http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=12844.0

As I assume that as long as there is active Brett it will form a pellicle, but I would probably wait until the Saccharomyces is done fermenting before transferring.

72

The Pub / Re: song title game

« on: September 08, 2012, 07:38:23 AM »

Man in the Box - Alice in Chains

73

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Tried my first India Black Ale

« on: September 08, 2012, 07:37:44 AM »

I have never had a black IPA that I thought was worth the glass it was served in. Just a style that clashes in every way to my taste buds.

Agreed. I've had a number of commercial black IPAs, some with a schwarzbier-like roastiness and others with a robust stout-like roastiness. If there's not enough roast, I feel like I'm drinking a regular IPA and wondering why it's black, but if there's too much I just taste roast and why wonder it's called an IPA. Not to say that they can't be good beers, I'd much rather have a nice American IPA followed by a nice stout.

74

Equipment and Software / Re: Software Question

« on: September 08, 2012, 07:27:16 AM »

Yeah, if you're satisfied with freeware there's no real reason to switch over. Being commercial software, Beer Smith might have more active development in terms of future features, bug fixes, and those things, whereas freeware might be less active since its essentially volunteers who do the work.

To the first responder, what is the "base of users"?

I would assume that's just referring to Beer Smith forums for advice, troubleshooting, etc.

75

Equipment and Software / Re: Software Question

« on: September 07, 2012, 04:29:43 PM »

I've tried BrewTarget briefly and QBrew (another open source recipe creator), and Beer Smith is definitely more feature rich in terms of extras (e.g. grains from specific maltings). You can download Beer Smith from the website for free and use it for a full month before you have to pay. Try it and see if you like it better than the freeware versions.