Messages

31

Yeast and Fermentation / Is Wit Fermentation Sensitive to Pitch Rate?

« on: July 19, 2012, 09:48:57 AM »

I am planning either 15 or 18 gallons of Wit.  Depending on how I grow my starter, using the Wyeast pitch rate calculator:


http://www.wyeastlab.com/hb_pitchrate.cfm
 
I can end up with as low as 8.2 mil/ml or as high as about 15 mil/ml cell count.  Does it matter?

32

Equipment and Software / Re: Conical Fermenters

« on: July 15, 2012, 07:15:46 AM »

Agree.
Beer is low pH and it will "eat" your cooper coil.
[/quote]

Precisely what happens with an immersion chiller.  Hi temps with low pH results in the IC coming out shiny.  Low temps with low pH, such as in the conical, do not damage the beers.

33

Equipment and Software / Re: Keezer and love control TS2

« on: July 11, 2012, 07:22:07 PM »

After reading the OP again, you need to re-install the thermostat to the freezer.  The TS2 does not take its place.

34

Equipment and Software / Re: Keezer and love control TS2

« on: July 11, 2012, 09:59:40 AM »

I have both a TS and a TS2.  Before I broke the TS (by dropping it) I had to have it set on heating for it to cool.

Access your List a Parameters (by pressing SET for 8 seconds).  Then scroll to d0 and change it to the other setting.

Are you sure you are wired to #9 and #10 slots?

35

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Pics of recent brews?

« on: July 01, 2012, 07:42:23 PM »

Dusseldorf Alt in a Free-the-Hops Glass.  Free the Hops is a grassroots effort promoting the legalization of homebrewing in Alabama:




Doppelbock in a German Stein:

36

Beer Recipes / Re: Need a Recipe for Mukgulli

« on: June 28, 2012, 09:27:14 AM »

Makgeoli, or Mukgulli, or whatever you want to call it is a rice beer. Its really not like sake at all, more like some wierd, slightly sour, fermented rice water. I found a korean website for making Makgeoli, and here is the google translate for it. Give me a few days, and I will give you a better translation that you can understand.

The website would be good enough.  I'll make my friend translate.

37

Beer Recipes / Need a Recipe for Mukgulli

« on: June 27, 2012, 02:43:19 PM »

I work with a Korean who I try to educate about beer.  He mentioned to me rice wine in Korea and it sounds intriguing.

38

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Plate Chiller or Whirlpool

« on: June 23, 2012, 07:46:51 PM »

Both have their benes and detractions.  I have both although my CFC is a Chillzilla.  For late addition hops the goal is to cool to below about 120F as soon as possible to preserve hop flavor/aroma.  A CFC does not provide bulk cooling like an IC does.

39

Equipment and Software / Re: Conical Fermenters

« on: June 22, 2012, 09:20:08 AM »

One con is it will not fit in my chest freezer so I cannot make lagers with it.

My conical stands 5 foot tall, thus I do not have a fridge or cooler large enough for it to fit in.  I therefore built a 2' X 2' X 6' insulated surround for it.  I have evolved into having a 40' 1/2" OD copper coil centered in the conical.  I pump chilled water from a chest freezer through the coil to maintain lager temps.

40

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: St. Loius: Home brew illegal at festival

« on: June 14, 2012, 11:42:14 AM »

My club, the Three Rivers Underground Brewers, puts on a benefit every year for Cystic Fibrosis (www.brewingupacure.org).  We feature our homebrew with some commercial beers added.  We are fortunate one member is a lawyer who fully investigated the legality in Pennsylvania.

41

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: one controller, two freezers

« on: June 05, 2012, 09:45:34 AM »

It would be interesting to use an indoor/outdoor temperature device in the second freezer, which would at least show you the temperature extremes.

42

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: one controller, two freezers

« on: June 05, 2012, 09:14:04 AM »

I'm just thinking out loud...  If you are only controlling one freezer, the second freezer will only come on when power is provided to the first.  So, if it warms faster for any reason, but only comes on for as long as the first freezer is running, it may not cool down enough.  Or maybe vise-verse is the case with it cooling faster than the first would.  Thus it may not be as controllable as the first.  It is worth a try.

43

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Temperature controlled fermentation in a Blichmann conical fermenter...

« on: May 26, 2012, 07:47:32 AM »

Anyone use a Coolbot for their AC controller  http://storeitcold.com/index.php  ?  Seems pretty expensive.

Re-route the AC's temperature probe to outside the unit (instead of the air intake area).  It would then always read warmer than inside the chamber, hence your controller would then control the AC.

44

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Temperature controlled fermentation in a Blichmann conical fermenter...

« on: May 25, 2012, 03:31:33 PM »

Hey Harbicide, what was the ambient temperature of the 25 gallons of lager?

Ambient in the room was 62F.  I could keep the beer with minimal freezer run-time at 57F.  Ten gallons of chill water would have helped.  The beer still turned out well and lager like (WLP 830 yeast).

45

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Temperature controlled fermentation in a Blichmann conical fermenter...

« on: May 25, 2012, 09:35:09 AM »

I have been all over the spectrum of trying to cool a conical.  I have a 20 gallon conical that I first built an insulated surround for (2' X 2' X6').  My first attempt was using a room AC unit mounted in the wall of the surround.  This was controlled by an analog controller with the temp probe stuck on the opposite side of the conical.  I needed a fan blowing from the bottom up to keep the AC from freezing up.  This used a lot of electricity.

My next step was I bought a defunct home soda fountain in which I separated the chiller pad and evaporator.  I wrapped the chiller pad around a cornie which was filled with water.  I pumped the chilled water (about 2 gal worth) through a 50' coil of 3/8" copper that was immersed and centered within the conical.  A thermowell centered within the coil controlled both the chiller and the pump.  A 50' coil of copper is a PITA to work with so I upgraded to a 40' coil of 1/2" OD copper.

I now use a chest freezer (set at 28F) for my chill water reservoir (5 gal) and pump a solution of alcohol and water through the 40' coil.  I recently used this for 25 gallons of a lager and it had a hard time holding 50F.  It doesn't have any problems keeping 15 gals at 50F.  This was called 'Chill From Within' in the 5th Zymmurgy gadget issue.