Topics

31

The Pub / 400

« on: November 06, 2010, 07:21:28 PM »

WE ARE PENN STATE!!!!
Definitely one of the greatest college football games I've ever watched.  Wish I'd been there in State College.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=303100213

32

Equipment and Software / Life after Brett

« on: November 03, 2010, 04:45:30 PM »

I've got a better bottle that had a brett beer in it for about four months that I'd like to use for other, non-brett beers.  It's relatively new, has never had a carboy brush used on it, and is visibly free from any scratches.  I've already put it through a long, double strength oxiclean soak and then a double strength starsan soak.

Should I risk it or put this one on the shelf exclusively for future brett beers?

33

The Pub / Happy Halloween

« on: October 31, 2010, 03:58:05 PM »

The trick or treating has begun here and the doorbell is ringing off the hook.  Hope we stocked up on enough candy.  I'm sure my kid will be back in an hour or so with enough to put him into a diabetic coma.

34

Ingredients / High alpha EKG

« on: October 15, 2010, 06:21:44 PM »

I just got 8 oz of EKG pellets from Northern Brewer and they're listed on the package as 7.2% AA.  That's the highest I've ever seen them.  Anyone ever seen that before?  I'm kinda wondering if it's a typo or something.  I don't know what year they are but I'm guessing 2009.

35

Equipment and Software / Cutting a hole in my kettle

« on: October 06, 2010, 06:55:49 PM »

I have a heavy duty 15 gallon stainless steel stockpot I use as my kettle and I'd like to cut a hole in it to add a ball valve.  What kind of equipment am I looking at here?  Is this something I can do with a special bit for my 18V cordless drill or am I looking at another power tool investment?

36

General Homebrew Discussion / Boil Vigor

« on: October 03, 2010, 11:46:51 AM »

Just how vigorous of a boil is necessary?  My kettle is a pretty wide 15 gallon cooking pot and my boil off rate is pretty high.  In an effort to get that down to something a little bit more reasonable I'm attempting with the brew I'm doing right now to keep the burner as low as I can without it going out and just have the wort very gently boiling.  It's boiling, and there's surface action, but it's not what I would describe as a vigorous boil.

Is that good enough?  Is the boiling action going to be sufficient to get done what needs to be done (hop isomerization, driving off DMS, etc)?

37

The Pub / Brewing by the Full Moon

« on: September 24, 2010, 08:26:27 AM »

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_belgium_beer;_ylt=AnYbK.0juaBMU5ok1Xmj8xWs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNrdWtyM2NrBGFzc2V0A25tLzIwMTAwOTI0L3VzX2JlbGdpdW1fYmVlcgRjY29kZQNtb3N0cG9wdWxhcgRjcG9zAzEwBHBvcwM3BHB0A2hvbWVfY29rZQRzZWMDeW5faGVhZGxpbmVfbGlzdARzbGsDYmVsZ2l1bWV4cGVy

The full moon speeds up the fermentation process, shortening it to five days from seven, which adds extra punch to the beer without making it harsh, according to connoisseurs.

38

Commercial Beer Reviews / Harpoon Octoberfest

« on: September 02, 2010, 09:12:30 PM »

Bought a six pack to try.  Overall, I'm not that impressed.  Not a bad beer just overly caramelly.  Leaves a somewhat sweet taste on the back of your tongue. Kinda an example of the difference between "sweet" and "malty".  It'll be awhile before I get through the six pack.

39

The Pub / Worlds Strongest Beer

« on: July 23, 2010, 08:49:28 AM »

That's a lot of ice.

http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2010/07/22/worlds-strongest-beer-launches-bottle/?test=latestnews

40

General Homebrew Discussion / Lagering Times

« on: June 22, 2010, 06:50:00 PM »

Is there a general rule of thumb for how long to lager for?  I've seen it said that a pilsner is good after about 3 weeks while a marzen should go for 6-8 weeks.  Is that true and if so why?  How do you determine how long a particular lager should sit at lagering temps?

41

Events / NoVA Brewfest

« on: June 04, 2010, 07:13:29 AM »

Just got my tickets for the NoVA Brewfest in Leesburg, VA on June 26th & 27th.  I'll be hitting it up on Saturday.

http://novabrewfest.com/summer/

42

Yeast and Fermentation / Sour(?) Slurry

« on: June 02, 2010, 08:44:07 PM »

Planning on brewing up a batch of the APA in a few weeks when my sister comes down to visit.  Was planning on building up a starter from a blowoff of the last batch and figured I'd be good to go.  But out of an abundance of caution I figured I'd brew up a starter tonight since the slurry was 2 months old and get it chugging to make sure it was good yeast.  

So I did, and when I screwed off the cap on the jar the slurry was in it smelled sour.  Tossed it into the starter anyway since it was there but saved a little liquid.  And then I tasted that liquid and wanted to cleanse my tongue with a blowtorch.  Sour as hell.  I poured a scotch and swished it around in my mouth to kill the taste.

Now, my first thoughts on this was that the slurry was infected.  But then I got to thinking about a previous thread about blowoff collection and how the blowoff was "intensely bitter".   I'm wondering if what I tasted in the liquid was mega bitterness as opposed to an infection.

I guess I'll see what the starter smells/tastes like and will report back.

43

General Homebrew Discussion / HSA Temp

« on: May 31, 2010, 09:55:03 AM »

Sorry, I know this is a controversial topic but I had a little issue with my chill today.  I decided that I had enough ice to chill down my batch but it was hot as hell today and I ran short.  I could only get it down to 82F with my IC/Cooler/Pump setup.  I debated taking the entire kettle to the basement to chill down on its own but ended up transferring it into the carboy instead.  I'm wondering if that was a mistake.

I believe the commonly referenced temp to get under is 80F to avoid HSA so this was borderline.  At this point its done and we'll see what happens.  But anyone have any words of comfort or condemnation on the transfer at 82?

44

Equipment and Software / ATC Refractometers

« on: May 23, 2010, 06:26:00 PM »

Just picked one of these up and the directions say that the automatic temperature correction will handle samples up to 50F - 86F.  Obviously a sample pulled right from the kettle is going to be higher than that.  So how is that handled?  Should I let it cool a little before dropping it on the prism?

It wouldn't take long for a little bit of wort to cool down to below 86 but my impression when reading people describe using these things is that I could take the sample directly out and drop it on.

45

Yeast and Fermentation / Starter Batch

« on: April 02, 2010, 06:20:39 PM »

I'm planning on brewing a 5 gallon batch of Scottish 70/- as a starter for a Wee Heavy.  My primary goal is to have a good yeast cake to pitch the biggun onto but I'm also planning on drinking the starter and am hoping its a decent beer on its own.  What's the best way of going about this?

Ferment the starter in the primary for two weeks then bottle?  If I go this route should I cold crash the beer to flocc the yeast out?  Ferment until primary is done then rack to a secondary?