Topics

46

General Homebrew Discussion / Sanitizing bottles in the dishwasher

« on: December 09, 2010, 10:47:32 AM »

Can you?  Should you?  How do you? 

Reason is i have a TON of bottles that need to be sanitized, and I really don't feel like doing it one by one... by one... by... well you get the idea.

47

Beer Recipes / Rye Pale Ale

« on: November 21, 2010, 10:08:55 PM »

So it's been a while since I've brewed anything.  I have a case of pumpkin ale that I've been trying to get rid of, and while it was OK, it wasn't spectacular in my book.  So I need to brew something new.  I have an amber ale kit that's been in my freezer/fridge for a while, but I'd really like to formulate my own.  Recently I was in Indiana and went to the Ram brewpub in Fishers.  I absolutely loved their rye pale ale.  I also recently bought a 6 pack of Terrapin Rye Pale Ale and loved it.  So i need some help formulating my recipe. The malts I want to use: Victory, Crystal, Wheat, Pale and Nugget, ahtanum, and cascade hops.  I want to do this as an extract/grain beer where I do some steeping at the start then adding my extracts.  Where can I use extract and what can I steep at the beginning?  I'm shooting for an IBU of 37 to 41, and by my calcs, with Nugget at 60, ahtanum at 15, and cascade at 5min, I can get right in that range.  Also, how much rye does one typically use? 

48

General Homebrew Discussion / My Witbier was a hit!

« on: September 07, 2010, 07:33:29 PM »

So I brewed a witbier at the request of my fiance, who loves Blue Moon.  I used the kit from norther brewer.  It turned out darker than I expected, but the flavor was perfect.  I ended up bringing it to my friend's party saturday night and it was a hit!  We killed an entire case of it, and learned just how alcoholic it was.  I calculated it around 3.8%, which to me seemed on the low side, but it was still enough to get you drunk.  Now I just have to peel and scrape off 24 labels...  My friends have already requested a pumpkin ale for halloween.  Time to get brewing again.

49

Ingredients / Storing ingredients

« on: August 30, 2010, 10:08:10 AM »

I purchased some ingredients a few weeks ago for another brew I was planning, however I might put it on hold if my friend is having a halloween party and brew a specialty beer just for the party.  How long can I keep the ingredients stored.  It's 6.6lbs liquid malt extract, and some specialty grains and hops that are sealed in bags. 

50

Commercial Beer Reviews / Saranac Pale Ale

« on: August 23, 2010, 09:19:53 AM »

So my fiancee's brother was visiting from north carolina this weekend, and I decided to pick up Beer for the family party we were having yesterday.  I decided to pick up the beer, and he suggested either SA oktoberfest or Saranac Pale Ale.  The liquor stor didn't have SA Oktoberfest, so I went with the Saranac and some Bud for everyone else.  I should've went with my gut and just picked up some Sierra Nevada Pale Ale because this Saranac was... bleh.  Just seemed too fruity/flowery.  Didn't really have a clean finish at all and left a bad after taste in my mouth.  Thankfully I brought some homebrew to her parents house a few weeks ago and it was still in the refridgerator. 

51

Yeast and Fermentation / Time to bottle?

« on: August 16, 2010, 06:00:25 PM »

I brewed up a witbier.  With an overflow still had a gravity of about 1.042.  After primary fermentation I got about 1.013.  Transferred to a secondary a week ago and my gravity is 1.012.  I tasted some of the wort, and i could definitely taste the orange and the coriander.  Should I just go ahead and bottle or let the flavor develop some more in the secondary?  Kit instructions recommend two weeks, but if my gravity is constant, is 2 weeks going to really do much?  I know there's been some debates as to whether secondary is worth it or not, but I figured i'd give it a go.

Thanks.

52

Beer Recipes / Hot Peppers

« on: August 09, 2010, 09:34:50 AM »

What is a good recipie to use roasted Jalapenos (or other peppers) in?  The recipe wiki says a scotch ale, but i'm curious to what style would provide the best base?  Throw them in the boil or secondary like a dry hop or both?

53

General Homebrew Discussion / Batch overflow

« on: August 02, 2010, 05:43:03 AM »

So I was brewing a Witbier yesterday, and i had a pretty good boil going.  I go to add the hops and immediately upon addition of the first package, the wort just got violent and overflowed out of my brewpot.  (Had about 4in space between the top of my pot and the wort, was boiling about 2 gallons).  Long story short, I moved the pot to another burner (electric stove), and tried to salvage the batch.  I lost some wort with some hops, but the rest of the boil went normal.  I checked my gravity and it was about where it should be for OG.  (1.04).

I pitched my yeast after everything cooled off, but no activity in my airlock.  I know airlock activity isn't necessarily indicitive of whats going on, but has me a liitle worried. 

So think it will be a salvageable batch? 

54

Beer Recipes / Irish Red Ale

« on: July 20, 2010, 07:35:25 PM »

With the success of my first brew (Amber Ale), I am gathering some ideas for my next batch.  I'm looking into making an Irish Red Ale, and I'm curious to what sort of recipe would make a good Irish Ale.  I have looked at the recipe on p. 173-174 of the Complete Joy of Homebrewing (3rd ed), which seems similar to the one on Homebrewopedia, and have also found this one that uses Orange Blossom honey. 

6 lbs Pale Malt extract syrup
1.0 lb orange blossom honey
1.0 lb Belgian Special B
3 oz cascade hop pellets (total, added at 45 and 10 and 1 min I believe, the procedure is on my laptop)
1 tsp Irish Moss
Wyeast #1084 Irish Ale

Northern Brewer has all the ingredients, except the honey which is out of stock.  Any thoughts on using regular vs. orange blossom?  Northern brewer also has the kit, but I looked at it and it's totally different than these recipes.  I think I would like to do this without the kit.  I'm shooting for something not too bitter.  As this one is 20-25 IBU and the one in the book is 30 IBU. 

Any thoughts on the appropriate hops for an irish ale?

55

Beer Recipes / Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Clone

« on: July 14, 2010, 09:39:10 AM »

I tried some searching on the forum and didn't come up with much.  I'm looking for an extract recipe for a SNPA clone.  I found this via google: http://www.cornells.com/content.cfm?s=5&p=29

But according to wikipedia, SNPA has caramel malt and different hops.  Which one is right and what extracts would I use?

56

General Homebrew Discussion / Batches <5gal

« on: July 09, 2010, 10:02:45 AM »

Most of the kits i've seen (and recipes for that matter) are at minimum 5 gallon.  Is it possible to brew something less, like a 2 gallon batch?  Obviously I can cut the amounts of the ingredients to corrispond to the size I want, but is it that simple?  Will this affect the flavor if I attempt to scale it up later?

57

General Homebrew Discussion / New to Homebrewing

« on: June 29, 2010, 08:41:08 AM »

Hello,

So i'm about to begin my journey into the world of homebrewing.  I'm a research chemist, and I love beer, so what better way to combine the two things I love, science and beer.  I purchased a starter kit with an ale recipie, now I'm anxiously waiting for it to ship.

So I have a few questions:
Space for me is limited in a 1 bedroom apartment.  I have a walk in closet in my living room that I cleared out a corner for storing my fermenter.  My only concern is that during the summer months in NJ, temperatures have been in the upper high 80s to upper 90s.  My apartment is air conditioned but it's not running all the time.  With a temperature of about 80F, am I going to run into problems during fermentation? 

My second question:  How important is it to boil the amount of water it says to start?  Is it ok to boil less and add the malt to that, and then bring it to volume while cooling it down? 

Is adding ice into the fermenter a viable option for cooling down the batch before you add yeast?

I can't wait to start. 

Thanks,
Tim