Messages

46

Hop Growing / Bamboo Stakes?

« on: March 22, 2013, 07:55:15 pm »

Last year (my first year for hops) I used a tomato plant cones to start my hops up to the twine. I had to bridge the gap between the steel cone to the twine with some kite string. So, I got a plant magezine in the mail today and was looking at options to use to be better. I saw a picture of a tomato plant that grew into three bamboo stakes that were in a teepee shape. Basically the reverse of the cone. Would you think that the hops would stick to the bamboo? I'm thinking about using 4' bamboo stakes in this shape (buried about 6-8") up to the twine. I figure that I could cut back the shooters to the 3 strongest and let them grow up the stakes and then all combine onto the twine that is suspended from the roof of the barn. I'm going for a shape that is shown in the picture below. These appear to be 6' stakes, but same sort of concept of shape. I'm just concerned about the hops gripping to them. What do ya think?

47

All Grain Brewing / Re: Mash-in

« on: March 20, 2013, 06:56:56 pm »

I add grain to water. I'm generally dumping 3-4 gallons of strike water into a 5 gallon round (and orange  ) cooler from my kettle, so this is really the only option for me. Otherwise I'd be afraid to kick up a bunch of dust when I dump in my water. I also think this gives me good control over doughballs since I can add my grain slowly while stirring.

Orange round coolers unite!! 

It doesn't matter what order you use with a blue cooler....No dough balls!

48

Beer Recipes / Re: Looking for piney, earthy character in hops

« on: March 20, 2013, 02:39:57 pm »

I use Styrian Celia quite a bit, and get earthy with a touch of lemon. Otherwise, I was drinking Great Lakes' Alchemy Hour the other day, and it was very earthy with some pine and tropical fruit. The hop combo is apparently Mosaic, Nugget, and Cascade.

This is where I was kinda going with my suggestion. Alchemy Hour is certainly an earthy tasting IPA that is very amber in color. I wasn't aware of the Cascades in it. I thought it was an even blend of Nugget and Mosaic....Then I threw in Simcoe for the piney flavor.

I was surprised their was Cascade in there myself, but I got the info from their website.

http://www.greatlakesbrewing.com/uploads/Beer/2013%20Beer%20Profile%20-%20Alchemy%20Hour.pdf

Well there it is! lol I don't know where I read that it was an "even blend of mosaic and nugget". Nevertheless, it is a very different "earthy" tasting IPA. I like it for it's nice change of pace in taste.

49

Beer Recipes / Re: Looking for piney, earthy character in hops

« on: March 20, 2013, 02:15:49 pm »

I use Styrian Celia quite a bit, and get earthy with a touch of lemon. Otherwise, I was drinking Great Lakes' Alchemy Hour the other day, and it was very earthy with some pine and tropical fruit. The hop combo is apparently Mosaic, Nugget, and Cascade.

This is where I was kinda going with my suggestion. Alchemy Hour is certainly an earthy tasting IPA that is very amber in color. I wasn't aware of the Cascades in it. I thought it was an even blend of Nugget and Mosaic....Then I threw in Simcoe for the piney flavor.

50

All Grain Brewing / Re: Mash-in

« on: March 20, 2013, 11:45:15 am »

I add grain to water

51

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Boil Question

« on: March 20, 2013, 11:43:43 am »

I don't know anything about it, and there aren't any customer reviews, but I saw this on the NB website the other day. Cheap...dunno about quality.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/the-dark-star-burner.html

I looked at that one also along with the Bayou KAB4 AND KAB6.  After reading the reviews and getting an offer from NorthernBrewer.com for a free Porter extract kit with the purchase of $125 or more, I decided to go with the Blichmann burner.  A little over my budget but it should last me a good long time.

A big +1 on the Blichmann, I got mine last week and used it for the first time on Sunday. Definitely a good investment, especially with the leg kit.

Despite my efforts to post the link, I'm glad you went for the higher quality product. This looked kinda cheap to me as well. I don't know much about the Blichmann either since my burner is homemade, but I would imagine it is a superior product. Good choice IMO!

52

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Boil Question

« on: March 19, 2013, 07:10:21 pm »

I don't know anything about it, and there aren't any customer reviews, but I saw this on the NB website the other day. Cheap...dunno about quality.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/the-dark-star-burner.html

53

Beer Recipes / Re: Looking for piney, earthy character in hops

« on: March 19, 2013, 03:26:35 pm »

I say bitter with Nugget and go 40/40/20 with Mosaic, Simcoe, and Nugget for flavor and aroma.....I might actually do this myself. I like the idea! 

54

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Whirlfloc and Fluffy Trub

« on: March 19, 2013, 03:08:32 pm »

This is interesting to me, because I have never not used whirlfloc since ive been all grain brewing. I've always questioned this fluffyness. I'm thinking this explains the reason why I suck at whirlpooling lol. Essentially, I don't suck at it, but the whirfloc could possibly prevent the trub from coning up? Does regular irish moss have this affect on trub too? If so, I'll just continue to use whirlfloc and continue to filter with the sock.

55

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Boil Question

« on: March 19, 2013, 03:00:51 pm »

IDK...Aside from the boil aspect, 8.5 gallons of water is about 70 lbs. That plus the weight of the kettle is a lot of weight to lift up onto the stove unless you have a pump.

56

Ingredients / Re: Columbus hops

« on: March 18, 2013, 04:20:04 pm »

I'm a big fan of Columbus too, but I don't know if I'd try a single hop IPA with them. I think they are great for bittering, flavor, and aroma, but I think they need a companion or two for flavoring and/or aroma. I have bittered exclusively with them, but have mixed them with Centennial and Simcoe in late additions and dry hopping with a 1:1:1 ratio to help round off their "dankness". I have also bittered with them in conjunction with nugget hops. That was a solid combination that I will probably do again. It's a pretty versatile hop, and I think you'll be safe whatever you do with it....except that I'm not sure about using them as the only hop in a beer. But if you do decide to do that, let us know how it tastes...I'm still curious 

57

Hop Growing / Re: Bravo hop rhizomes

« on: March 18, 2013, 02:05:15 pm »

Wow... I was sure this was a proprietary hop that wasn't available. If I had more room, I'd order a rhizome, but at this point, I can't stretch it. I've actually never used it in a brew, but I have heard and read good things about this breed.

58

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Whatcha all drinkin on St Pat's day?

« on: March 17, 2013, 08:19:36 pm »

I ended up drinking an Old Rasputin and a CBC SOhio Imperial Stout....Not a bad combination!

59

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Whatcha all drinkin on St Pat's day?

« on: March 17, 2013, 07:53:06 am »

Probably water most of the day, I have to miter a bunch of trim for the kitchen and living room.  My wife's a nurse and doesn't think I should drink and operate the miter saw at the same time.  But, once I finish I still have half a keg of my rye stout that is pretty damn good.

Since when did nurses become experts in carpentry? 

60

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Carbonation

« on: March 17, 2013, 06:22:49 am »

I bottled a DIPA (extract recipe) 10 days ago.  Last night I opened one and there was little to none carbonation.  When I prepared the 4 oz. of corn sugar I did so by boiling it with 2 cups of water for 5 minutes.  I let it cool and then put it in the racking bucket along with the beer.  The bottles have been sitting at room temperature @ 70 degrees.

So, did I lose this batch or should I just wait another week or two to see if the carbonation happens?

I would say that you should have some carbonation at this point, but be patient. It should carbonate in a week or so. One thing to consider is did you stir the sugar in with the beer? I like to give it a very SLOW and easy stir, to avoid oxidation, with a sanitized spoon about every sixth beer poured. This will keep the sugar suspended more evenly throughout the beer.