Topics

1

Yeast and Fermentation / Banking Yeast

« on: November 17, 2016, 01:00:57 AM »

Has anyone had experience with propagating and banking yeast cultures for future use?  I would like to have an alternative to always buying a pack of yeast for each brew day.  I generally use the same yeast strains for my beers.
I have read a few articles on doing this.  I have extensive experience in banking bacteria, but do not know if yeast behave differently when grown in culture, aliquoted into several sterile conical tubes, and then stored in a home freezer for several months (frost free). 
I came across this article on HomeBrew Talk.  http://www.homebrewtalk.com/freezing-yeast.html
I was used to using 50% glycerin final concentration, but this article states that 10% works better.

Any suggestions?  Any experience with doing this?

2

All Grain Brewing / Calculating Efficiency

« on: March 07, 2016, 12:09:39 AM »

Trying to calculate my mash efficiency from my first all-grain batch.  Using a recipe I found on-line for an Anchor Steam clone:
9.0 lbs German pils malt
1.0 lbs 40L Crystal Malt
0.5 lbs Special Roast
Mashed at 148F, batch sparged at 160F.
Calculated the expected gravity units to be 372 for 100% efficiency (used tables from Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels), using extract potential of 1.036, 1.034, and 1.027 for each grain respectively.
I collected 6.5 gallons of wort from the mash tun after final sparge (batch sparged), and gravity at 60F was 1.042.  Boiled, and was able to get around 5.25 gallons into fermentor, with SG of 1.049 at 60F.

Calculated either 73.5% or 69% efficiency.  Am I correct?

3

General Homebrew Discussion / New Aluminum Brew Pot

« on: March 02, 2016, 02:27:12 AM »

I went back and searched this forum for discussions about aluminum vs stainless steel.  Found several advocates for aluminum.

I have been brewing in aluminum for years making beers from extract.  I bought a 10 gallon aluminum heavy duty pot for boiling since I am embarking on all grain brews.  My question is:  do I need to do anything to "season" my new pot before boiling in it? Manufacturer states that I should heat it up and add cooking oil to it, cool it down, heat it up and add cooking oil to it again.

wingnut stated:

I think the oil thing is more for conventional cooking.  Not really desireable for brewing I dont think.
I never did this to my pots, and no known issues.

I woud clean it with soap and water.  Possibly boil a pot of water just to make sure nothing from machining is left over in the flavor... and brew beer.

Any further advice out there?

4

All Grain Brewing / New Aluminum Brew Pot

« on: March 02, 2016, 01:39:01 AM »

I went back and searched this forum for discussions about aluminum vs stainless steel.  Found several advocates for aluminum.

I have been brewing in aluminum for years making beers from extract.  I bought a 10 gallon aluminum heavy duty pot for boiling since I am embarking on all grain brews.  My question is:  do I need to do anything to "season" my new pot before boiling in it? Manufacturer states that I should heat it up and add cooking oil to it, cool it down, heat it up and add cooking oil to it again.

5

General Homebrew Discussion / Water Questions

« on: February 25, 2016, 02:20:50 AM »

I am sure this has been addressed many times, looking for a short answer:

I am getting ready to do my first all grain brew.  My water is from my well, and it is softened.
I have ran some tests on it in my lab.  Al, Cu, Pb, Sn, Ag, Zn, Ca, Mg, Si, P, B, and K are zero.  Na is at 19 ppm.  TDS =   355.  Specific Conductance is 670.

My main concern is that my pH is 7.8.  I think I need a pH of around 5.4 for mashing, and I plan to only mash grains for simple, basic recipes (simple ales, lagers, to start with) until I get a grip on all-grain. 

What do I need to do , if anything, to treat my strike and sparge water (plan on batch sparging)?

6

General Homebrew Discussion / Beers Climbing Out of My Bottles

« on: February 01, 2016, 03:57:03 AM »

I am new to AHA.  I started home brewing in 1992, brewed for a few years, got married + kids, put equipment away, but started brewing again 4 years ago.  I recently have had severe issues with my beers foaming out of my bottles when opened.  I quit adding clarifiers to my fermenter, I open and drink my beers at "basement" temp (65F, which I think exposes the taste profile much better than cold beers).  I use the typical 3/4 cup of table sugar at bottling time for 5 gallons. 

Any suggestions?