Topics

46

Yeast and Fermentation / first time using brett.

« on: May 02, 2010, 05:38:20 AM »

 I brewed a saison on March 2nd. The OG was 1.067 and it fermented down to 1.014 by the 30th. On a whim I pitched the dregs from an Orval when I racked to the secondary. Didn't see much happening so I pitched some more dregs on April 15.
   It developed a oily sheen and now it's starting to develop some white foam around the edges of the carboy.
The SG is down to 1.012.
   Just wondering what now? How long should I or can I leave it in the carboy? I only have 2 kegs so I don't want to dedicate one for long term conditioning.   

47

General Homebrew Discussion / calculating gravity adjustments during boil

« on: March 28, 2010, 12:21:34 PM »

I've been  reading Designing Great Beers, and it gives some formulas for hitting
your target OG by either adjusting your final volume or adding extract, or top off water.
I can follow the math in the book but was wondering if there was an on line
calculator type thing or maybe a spreadsheet to make this easier.
Or maybe a website that lays the math out in a way that's easier to use.
Anyone ever use this Beer Recipe Calculator
 http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/brewing-books/software/beer-recipe-calculator.html
If it does what I want it to, I might buy it if I can find at one of my local shops.

48

Yeast and Fermentation / harvested yeast question (brewing today)

« on: March 21, 2010, 06:41:09 AM »

I took this yeast from the carboy on the 11th of March.
I swirled the yeast cake with some boiled and cooled water
and dumped into sanitized jar, and put it in the fridge. I did not
do any other rinsing of the yeast. It is WLP 007 Dry English.
I was planning on making a small starter to get it activated.
Looking at this sample you can see a small thin layer on top.
Is that the yeast and the rest all trub? If that thin layer is the
yeast it won't be enough and I'll have to use my back up dry
yeast pack.

Thanks
      Dan

49

Yeast and Fermentation / WLP 565 Saison fermenting temp question

« on: March 13, 2010, 07:27:21 AM »

I brewed a Saison from last Mays Zymurgy Magazine

Pilsner (2 Row) Bel Grain 6.250 lb   
    Wheat Malt, Ger Grain 6.250 lb   
         Aromatic Malt Grain 8.000 oz   
                     cara 8 Grain 8.000 oz   
 Sugar, Table  Sugar 1.000 lb   

 

 I know now that ideally one would start off fermenting in high 60's
and slowly raise it up into the 80's. Basically I want to know if fluctuating higher temps are better
them consistent lower temps?
  I don't have real efficient way to ramp up the temps of my fermentor.
The ferment started off real well but has now slowed to a crawl, or stopped all together
It's been about 10 days @ around 68. Went from 1.067 og down to 1.022.
I know I should try and get the temp up into the 80's.
  I have it sitting in a cooler in a water bath.
 If put some warmer water in the cooler
to try and raise the temp it likely will not hold the the temp for vary
long. So the temps will be going up and down,
Am I better off leaving it alone and seeing what happens
I also know about ferm wraps, heating pads and aquarium heaters
I am just trying to avoid buying any of them.

50

All Grain Brewing / figuring out grain bill %'s

« on: February 24, 2010, 05:24:22 PM »

  I know the percentages of grain I want,
but have to adjust them for efficiency.
  I tried using the method in Designing Great Beers to figure out
my grain bill. What this did was screw up my percents by weight.
I believe the book is giving me %'s by gravity per lb. ?
  So what I did was use the gravity per lb of the base malt
for all the other grains, so the weight %'s would stay constant.
  This seemed to work but I'm not sure it's the correct way to
go about it. Are there any easier way to scale grain bills for efficiency?

I can put all #'s up if any one cares???

Thanks

51

General Homebrew Discussion / First Wort Hopping ?

« on: February 08, 2010, 06:09:56 AM »

I brewed a batch that called for first wort hopping.
Do you remove the first wort hops or leave them in
for the whole boil ? ( I left them in)

52

General Homebrew Discussion / dry hop time and taste?

« on: January 04, 2010, 02:42:40 PM »

I dry hopped in the keg with an ounce of fuggles pellets
It tasted pretty good before the dry hop
I know the hops need to sit in there for at least
a few days. But I had to try a sample the next day.
It tastes pretty awful. Is that kind of a standard thing for
dry hopped beers? I will give it some more time but I am really tempted to
get those hops out of that keg

recipe
8 lbs maris otter
8 oz. crystal 10L
0.5 oz northern brewer 10.6 aa @ 60 min
2 oz kent goldings 4.5% aa @ 30 min
1.5 oz kent goldings @ 1 min
1 oz fuggles dry hop in keg

53

All Grain Brewing / wort quality and water ratio question

« on: November 21, 2009, 11:13:24 AM »

I have read / heard that the "first runnings are the highest quality wort".
Which leads me to believe that no sparge brewing would produce the
best wort because essentially you are only using "first runnings"
So that makes me think that if I mash with the most water I can fit
in my tun I will use less sparge water, which would be closer to no sparge
and thus produce better wort.
Does this logic make sense?

54

Yeast and Fermentation / reusing yeast question

« on: November 06, 2009, 04:49:18 AM »

I have a beer ready to keg and I am brewing a new batch either Sunday or Saturday night.
I know people pitch right on top of the old yeast cake but I just don't like the idea of putting a fresh batch of beer
into a crusty carboy. I read some things about rinsing yeast and am thinking of giving it a try.
My plan was to
Boil a some water, with a jar in the water to sanitize it.
chill the water in the jar
pour water onto yeast cake.
transfer back to jar
and let it settle out.
If I do this do I need to make a starter or will there be enough yeast in suspension?
I also am curious if this would lead to over or under pitching.
I am brewing an average gravity stout.