Topics

31

Going Pro / insurance types

« on: June 11, 2012, 02:42:28 PM »

Hey all you lucky suckers who are already 'livin the dream'

What kind of insurance do you carry for your breweries?

What about if you don't own the facility?

What if you DO own the facility?

Does the number/nature of your employees make a difference? (are they all family so you can skimp on Workers Comp? etc)

is there brewery specific insurance products that you must have? some kind of liability?

Just trying to get all these expense items worked out in an orderly way.

32

Yeast and Fermentation / WLP029 how cold can I go?

« on: June 03, 2012, 10:01:57 PM »

Just pitched about 400 ml of fresh harvested slurry to 8 gallons of robust porter. currently sitting at 58 can I go lower? or am I getting over zealous with the cool temps on this yeast? I am in no hurry so if it's just a matter of taking longer it's not a problem.

33

All Things Food / growing pineapples

« on: May 23, 2012, 01:01:44 PM »

Alright, as I suspected the questions just keep popping up so I think it deserves it's own thread.

So, according to puna these guys like a pretty balanced fertilizer he says 16-16-16 twice a year. I tend towards just using compost which does tend to be pretty balanced.




I'm thinking puna is probably right that this one isn't really an eating pineapple but that's okay, it'll still be fun. Might be time to go get myself a pineapple at the store and start a proper one.

questions;

1) if I buy a fruit at the store and start the top it's a clone so I don't have to worry about gene drift correct?
2) if they are flowering in February do I need to hand pollinate? it's gonna have to live inside at that time of year.

34

The Pub / self correction

« on: May 23, 2012, 08:13:45 AM »

In another thread I indicated that Jello Biafra of The Dead Kennedys was a member of the band Green Jelly/Jello. I was incorrect. He has never had anything to do with that band according to wikipedia. ahh well. All these years I was harboring false information. My world is collapsing around me. Next someone will tell me that Hank Williams III did not perform 'I want to Kill everybody'.

35

Yeast and Fermentation / German Ale yeast for a Robust Porter?

« on: May 18, 2012, 08:29:23 AM »

I have a kolsch bubbling away, well at least I assume it's bubbling away, havn't actually looked in a couple days, but my next brew is a robust porter. I was planning on just using US-05 for the porter but then I thought, hey, I'm gonna have a big ol' yeast cake ready right around the time I am ready to brew the porter.

so who thinks a yeast cake of WLP029 would be a good, or at least interesting, choice for a porter?

who thinks it would be a terrible idea?

Stats

Kolsch OG 1.046
Porter OG ~1.061 (my efficiency had been all over the place lately so I don't know for sure, might end up a bit higher, maybe a touch lower but right around 1.061)

36

Beer Recipes / Kolsch

« on: May 04, 2012, 03:13:18 PM »

Okay, so I am starting to think about brewing lagers because I finally have real temp control. but I am going to start slow, with a pseudo lager, I ahve been doing some research and it seems like the standard ingredients for this style are pretty basic, which I like.

Pils (or pale)
maybe a little wheat
maybe a little munich
some noble hops at 60
maybe a little noble hops at 30

I assume the wheat is there mostly for head formation/retention am I wrong?
I love munich but I want to keep this to style as much as possible so I am thinking, at least for a first stab;

100% pils
25 IBU of... I am thinking of trying mt hood as I prefer to use more local ingredients when possible. any other nobleish hops grown on the west coast of north america?

So, tell me why I should use some wheat, or munich, or why I really can't brew this without some german hops.

37

Beer Recipes / Brewing 'to the comp'

« on: April 30, 2012, 12:07:15 AM »

Well, I got my scores from the world cup. not to disapointed. got a 35+ on the scottish 60/- in prelim, although only a 27 in second round. (sad face). The comment that stuck out was from the second
round where the 1 national rank judge suggested more malt and more hops.

I don't want to dig to hard on a hard working BJCP judge but I gotta say, if I had used more malt and more hops it would have been a 70/- or 80/-.

Still 32 on the rye IPA and a respectable 28 on the barley wine. It really wasn't ready for prime time anyway. still got 7 bottles so maybe I'll enter it again later in the year.

So this was my first comp and I feel alright about it. actually makes me want to enter more. I am going to try 'brewing to the comp' on a couple of beers, any general suggestions?

I'm thinking I will follow the AHA club only comp schedule and try to brew something for each comp. Next up, scottish and irish, if I can get it done in time! brewed on friday, split 8 gallons into 2 fermentors one 5.5 and the other 2.5 (no difference between the two, just worked out that way).

Recipe was
97% crisp pale ale
3% roasted barley
17 IBU goldings at 60

After that porter so here's what I have so far.
Robust Porter 30 liters
13 lbs pale malt (US this time as I don't see the point in spending the extra money and fuel to get British, open to argument)
3 lbs Munich 10L, (love this stuff for malty delicious maltiness)
1 lbs chocolate malt
1 lbs crystal 60
haven't pinned down hops, yeast at all yet. I am open to using a lager yeast or a super cold tolerant ale yeast. and wide open on hops. folks with more comp experience can perhaps enlighten me as to what judges tend to look for in this style. The BJCP guidelines are pretty open with both british and american hops acceptable. I am aiming for the higher end of the OG scale and the IBU scale , given that it seems
like that's what the judges want.

I don't mean to sound cynical, I am really not! but if your goal is to win comps, you gotta think about this stuff. I will still brew things just because I want to drink them but if I am gonna enter, I want to win!

38

Ingredients / a question about pickling lime v. chalk

« on: April 28, 2012, 11:03:48 PM »

I am using Bru'n water to build out my water from RO. Right now I am working on a robust porter recipe and I can hit my numbers on the sheet by adding the following minerals,

13.5 g gypsum
9.1 g calcium chloride
12.6 g chalk (to the mash, I actually mixed it in with my grain before mashing in last time)
or
9.8 g pickling lime.

so the first question is why would one choose to use pickling lime over chalk or vice versa?

If it helps, here is the VERY ROUGH draft of the grain bill.
13 lbs US pale malt
3 lbs munich 10L
1 lbs crystal 60
1 lbs chocolate

39

General Homebrew Discussion / Okay Princess Bride fans...

« on: April 03, 2012, 07:39:39 AM »

Is this to obscure a reference for a beer name?

I have a rye IPA recipe that I am really digging and want to brew again. The name just came to me...

I brew all grain (AG) and this is a Rye (R) IPA (IPA) so it's an AGRIPA...

Princess Bride is one of my very favorite movies of all time so this beer will, henceforth, be known as...

Inigo Montoya

think about it... maybe go watch the movie again.

(hint) It's in the first sword fight scene between inigo and 'The Man in Black'

40

All Grain Brewing / Unusually high FG, but not in a bad way

« on: March 25, 2012, 11:24:29 PM »

So I brewed a rye stout about a week ago. grain bill was, for 11 gallons

10 lbs pale ale malt
6 lbs flaked rye
1.75 lbs roasted barley
.75 lbs carafa II

I intended to mash for 60 minutes at 154 for a medium bodied brew but over shot my strike temp by a fair amount and stirred like crazy and added ice and finally got it down to about 162ish.

so I pulled off 11 gallons post boil at 1.041 which is 70% eff which is pretty standard for me. no worries.

I made a 1 quart starter with a vial of WLP007 about 1.5 weeks ahead of time and stepped it up to another 3 pints about 4 days before brew day, all went well and I pitched about 250ml of thick yeast slurry split between the two 5.5 gallon buckets.

stuck it in the temp controled fridge at 62-64 (controller set to 60 fermometers reading 62-64)

so here I am a week later, krausen has dropped, the sample I pulled is pretty clear. It looks like the yeast has more or less dropped. and the SG? 1.018. Wow! I figured it would be done by now. I added nutrient, aerated with mix stir etc. oh well. I guess I'll give it another week.

But I can't just dump the sample, so I try it. It's good! not to sweet at all, very full bodied but not sweet.

so I guess my question is can a mash temp of 162+ really result in that high a FG? WLP007 is a beast of an attenuator, at least when it comes to english yeasts. but it tasted done.

I know I know RDWHAHB (well a rayon vert actually but...) but I am wondering if I should try pitching a packet of rehydrated us05 or if I should just suck it up and keg this 2.9% wonder. tastes really quite good.

41

The Pub / JZ is a nice guy

« on: March 20, 2012, 11:00:56 PM »

just got back from monthly brew club meeting. A bit drunk as Jamil brought a few cases with him. Northern Cali is not a bad place to live.

42

Beer Recipes / Rye stout

« on: March 12, 2012, 09:31:32 PM »

Hey all,

I am planning to brew a 10 gallon batch of rye stout because I over ordered so why the heck not.

The recipe

10 lbs gambrinus pale malt
6 lbs flaked rye
.75 lbs Carafa II
.5 lbs black patent malt
.5 lbs c120

1.1 oz belgian goldings pellets at 60 (or FWH)
1 oz centennial pellets at 30
1 oz ivanhoe whole at 10 minutes

growing stage one of a two stage starter of WLP007.

"so what's the question jonathan?" you may be asking

okay here're the questions.

I have an additional .25 lbs of black patent malt should I use it?

I already have the goldings and ivanhoe but I have not yet picked up the centennial. I was thinking it's earthy spicey character would go well with the earthy spicey from the goldings and it's citrus and spicey would go nicely with the tropical fruit from the ivanhoe. and I am planting a couple rhyzomes of centennial this spring so I figured I should get to know it. I should buy like a lb of it and make a smash but for now...

"okay... okay what IS you second questions already jonathan?"

Right... sorry... so how's the hop bill look?


wow that was easy.

43

General Homebrew Discussion / Entered my first contest

« on: March 04, 2012, 01:11:54 AM »

Wish me luck!

3 beers entered into the World Cup of Beer. fingers crossed! next year maybe NHC.

44

Yeast and Fermentation / Advice on making a beer with staying power

« on: March 04, 2012, 01:09:16 AM »

Hey all,

I am planning (mostly planned, working out the last details let's say) the second annual celebratory brew for my son's birth which was back in november so I am late.

The idea behind the project is to brew something each year that will stand the test of time and be at least drinkable in 15 or so years when I decide it is okay for the boy to taste them.

Year 1 was a giant 12% barley wine.

Year 2 is a proper lambicesque beer that, while lower in alcohol will still be interesting (maybe even more interesting) after a long time in the bottle.

Now I want the beer to be actually good and I am keeping the recipe simple

5 lbs pils
4.5 lb flaked wheat
4 lb wheat malt

some tiny amount of ancient saaz at 60 minutes

Gonna mix it up a bit by adding some dehydrated lemons in secondary. Hoping the dehydration helps reduce some acidity in the lemons.

SO after all that, the question, for the three folks that stuck in there to the end.

How should I progress with the yeast/bugs in this plan?

I can see a couple routes

1) pitch neutral yeast to ferment mostly to completion then add bugs (either commercial yeast or dregs from some lambic, rayon vert, jolly pumpkin etc.)
2) pitch a pure culture of brett (commerical yeast or dregs from rayon vert etc.) right at the begining and let it be an 'all brett' beer.
3) pitch lambic blend (either commercial or dregs) right up front and let it go 'wild'
4) (and I'll tell you right at the start I am not doing this one) Set the wort out over night in my backyard.

**edited to mention that I will not be wearing pants regardless of the answer )

45

Beer Recipes / Dry hopping advice

« on: February 24, 2012, 10:38:57 AM »

So I have an IPA in primary. heading into week two I will likely keg this weekend or early next week. I want to keg hop to get that fresh aroma in there. Here is the recipe

10lbs pale malt
2lbs rye malt
1lbs red wheat malt
2lbs flaked rye

mashed at 150 for 60 minutes

.5 oz Ivanhoe @ FWH
1 oz ivanhoe @ 30
1.5 oz ivanhoe @ 15 (I think or 1 @ 15 and 1.5 at 10...)
1 oz ivanhoe @ 10 min (I think or 1.5 @ 10 and 1 at 15...)
1 oz ivanhoe @ 5 min
1 oz ivanhoe @ 0 min

So that took care of my 6 oz of ivanhoe. I do have about 1 oz of belgian goldings. so I could dry hop with that.

The ivanhoe is an heirloom cluster hop frm northern california. It has lots of tropical fruit, pineapple flavour and aroma. do you think the goldings would work? or clash?