151
General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What's Brewing This Weekend - 2/12
« on: February 13, 2010, 02:06:20 PM »
My 3rd attempt at all grain... bock.
And gonna keg my stout.
And gonna keg my stout.
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152
Equipment and Software / Re: How do you clean and reuse your grain and/or hop bags?
« on: February 08, 2010, 05:18:23 PM »
Thanks all - I'm cheap and like to use things until they have holes in.. just my nature 
.
So I chose to relax, rinse and shake the dust out and realize that the minute amount of stuff that may actually cling to these suckers will boil off and not do a dang thing to a 5gal batch. Hey, if it didn't tint nor flavor the lager I made, then not going to impact anything else I make.
. So I chose to relax, rinse and shake the dust out and realize that the minute amount of stuff that may actually cling to these suckers will boil off and not do a dang thing to a 5gal batch. Hey, if it didn't tint nor flavor the lager I made, then not going to impact anything else I make.
153
General Homebrew Discussion / Re: so the debate is
« on: February 08, 2010, 05:05:48 PM »
Fermentation control. I do a mix off all grain and extract brewing and both are impacted by these key items: sanitation, fermentation temp control, and water quality (in my case, get the chlorine out). Once that process is repeatable, then all grain becomes the variable, not the fundamentals.
Good luck!
Good luck!
154
General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What's brewing this weekend 2/5
« on: February 07, 2010, 12:02:12 PM »
Brewed an american lager; was intended to be a lite lager, but when you use the wrong type of DME and overshoot the gravity, RDWHAHB and restate what you are brewing
Racked mead to secondary. Must resist urge to drink as the gravity sample was really nice.
Racked mead to secondary. Must resist urge to drink as the gravity sample was really nice.
155
General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What's brewing this weekend 1/29
« on: January 31, 2010, 08:27:15 AM »
Finished brewing 5g of extract - organic dry stout. House still smells like coffee... wonderful.
156
Ingredients / Corn sugar vs rice syrup
« on: January 27, 2010, 10:56:41 AM »
I'm planning on making a lite lager as a base for some session beer flavor experiments.
I have a lot of corn sugar, but most recipes seem to use rice as the adjunct instead of corn. The BJCP style guide indicates corn ok.
What is the different flavor profile corn vs rice will contribute?
I have a lot of corn sugar, but most recipes seem to use rice as the adjunct instead of corn. The BJCP style guide indicates corn ok.
What is the different flavor profile corn vs rice will contribute?
157
Extract/Partial Mash Brewing / Re: Liquid vs Dry Extract
« on: January 26, 2010, 07:41:20 PM »
I've switched to DME only due to stability shelf life. I could not be sure how well the temperature were maintained at my local homebrew shop (or my basement for that matter).
I mix the DME into the hot water with a whick - a little at a time.. no issues.. I find it just as long to squeeze the liquid from the potch, or scrapping from the can.
I mix the DME into the hot water with a whick - a little at a time.. no issues.. I find it just as long to squeeze the liquid from the potch, or scrapping from the can.
158
General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Brewing less than 5 gallon batches
« on: January 24, 2010, 01:54:59 PM »Has anyone ever brewed in quantities less than 5 gallons? If so, any preferred equipment/methods?
I've only done small batches for extract or partial mash recipes - mostly to experiment - usually 3 gallon batches.
Equipment is generally just smaller versions of the standard equipment: stoppers, pot, and fermentation containers. I use either 3gal carboys or a few 1 gallon wine jugs.
159
Equipment and Software / How do you clean and reuse your grain and/or hop bags?
« on: January 24, 2010, 10:06:20 AM »
I soak mine in PBW and then rinse after use. There is still some "hop green/wort brown" discoloring and a little debris in the seams/stitching.
Does it matter? I'm assuming so miniscule that the reuse in boiling wort makes this all irrelevant, but figured I'd ask as only brewing for 2 years.
Does it matter? I'm assuming so miniscule that the reuse in boiling wort makes this all irrelevant, but figured I'd ask as only brewing for 2 years.
160
General Homebrew Discussion / Re: the bare essentials
« on: January 23, 2010, 03:25:37 PM »
1) Immersion chiller (home made)
2) brew hauler (lessens back issues)
3) ball valve on my brew pot
4) wine thief
2) brew hauler (lessens back issues
)3) ball valve on my brew pot
4) wine thief
161
Equipment and Software / Re: Carboy Hauler
« on: January 23, 2010, 03:08:00 PM »Anyone ever use this product? Is it an assest to your brewery?
http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/brewing-equipment/fermenting-equipment/carboy-accessories/the-brew-hauler.html
My #2 must have brewing devices. This device saved my back and kept me doing 5gal. batches. Else would have been making 3gal. batches or splitting the 5gal between smaller carboys.
162
General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What's Brewing This Weekend - 1/22
« on: January 22, 2010, 08:45:15 PM »
Gonna try my first lager. An organic Santa Cruz Dark Lager .
163
Kegging and Bottling / Re: Beer Gun or Conditioning with priming sugar?
« on: January 19, 2010, 07:20:00 PM »I'm sure this has been asked before, but I couldn't find any history. My question is, When bottling a whole batch of beer is it good to use priming sugar, Or should I force carbonate and use a beer gun. I know for shorter term bottling and comp. beers a beer gun is great. What about long term bottled beers or just the whole batch in general.
I relativity new at kegging. When I tried my home made beer gun (racking cane in the picnic tap) I wasted too much beer and ended up making a mess. So for my last 3 batches, I used a variation of the method than Gordon Strong talks about in his Zymurgy "Think Like a judge" article.
Chill 2 liter bottle, dispense beer from keg into 2 liter. Using a carbonator cap, up the carbonation a few psi to adjust for CO2 loss in the transfers. Pour beer from 2 liter into freezer cold bottles ( pre purges with CO2), cap on the foam.
I am only kegging 2 6-packs, so maybe not good for large scale, but pretty smooth and clean operation for my needs.
164
Equipment and Software / Re: Pump question
« on: January 18, 2010, 05:32:03 PM »
For my needs, I've just been using a small pond pump from Lowes - Tetra 330GPH. It moves the water I need thru my IC and fits nice in the small cooler I use for holding ice water. Have not noticed it producing any heat, but then again it sits in ice water.
That said, given its size, it is a single purpose device. Yours could come in a pinch if the basement flooded.
For my cooling I have found about 2-4lbs of ice in about 1 gallon of water has work in my recirculating set up.
The pump I use:
http://www.lowes.com/pd_206234-70161-19032_0_?productId=3020341&Ntt=tetra%20330&Ntk=i_products&pl=1¤tURL=/pl__0__s?newSearch=true$Ntt=tetra%20330$y=0$x=0
That said, given its size, it is a single purpose device. Yours could come in a pinch if the basement flooded.
For my cooling I have found about 2-4lbs of ice in about 1 gallon of water has work in my recirculating set up.
The pump I use:
http://www.lowes.com/pd_206234-70161-19032_0_?productId=3020341&Ntt=tetra%20330&Ntk=i_products&pl=1¤tURL=/pl__0__s?newSearch=true$Ntt=tetra%20330$y=0$x=0
165
General Homebrew Discussion / Re: brewing....and music
« on: January 18, 2010, 04:21:42 PM »
When inside, my current "brew mix" consists of:
Clash, Manson, Eddie Vetter, vintage beer commercial snippets, Arcade Fire, Springsteen, Flaming Lips, Kansas, Floyd, Richard Thomas, Indigo Girls, Ramones
When outside: I got the squirrel, cardinal, bluejay, crow, and other birds doing the background soundtrack.
Clash, Manson, Eddie Vetter, vintage beer commercial snippets, Arcade Fire, Springsteen, Flaming Lips, Kansas, Floyd, Richard Thomas, Indigo Girls, Ramones
When outside: I got the squirrel, cardinal, bluejay, crow, and other birds doing the background soundtrack.