Messages

2206

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: New FDA Rules For Breweries Selling Spent Grains For Animal Feed.

« on: February 04, 2014, 11:07:39 PM »

I've seen the neighborhood cats horking down my spent grain after dumping it on the compost-pile. They are still around. Mostly.

Please be careful if you mash hop. I have read that hops are as bad for cats as they are for dogs. If it is anything like chocolate, could be worse.

Hmm, I might have to pull some old hops out of the freezer for my cat

Or pull some old cats out of the freezer for your hops...

2207

Ingredients / Re: corn or rice

« on: February 04, 2014, 04:37:47 PM »

One point: Corn has a better flavor to me than rice.

I agree.  Though it may be more that the rice addition doesn't add much flavor at all.

It's been years, but I did side by side batches with the only variation being rice or corn.  The corn batch tasted better hands down.

FWIW, I've never done the cereal mash route.  I've always used flaked maize or minute rice.

2208

Beer Recipes / Re: Inspired By (clone) Names

« on: February 04, 2014, 04:31:23 PM »

My Chimay is Shewill.  I stole that from someone else, though.

2209

Kegging and Bottling / Re: First kegging attempt, Explosion

« on: February 03, 2014, 10:09:25 PM »

Gaskets are cheap.  You can buy them by the 100 from McMaster Carr (lid gaskets come in packs of 10).

If you need to replace posts, it gets a bit pricier and you'd want to consider if it's cost effective at that point to pay whatever they are charging.  Poppets are not too bad, but I think posts are about $15 each.

2210

Kegging and Bottling / Re: First kegging attempt, Explosion

« on: February 03, 2014, 09:37:21 PM »

No worries. 

If you want to try force carbing them, there is a long thread on another forum regarding building taps.  IIRC a 1/2 inch hose barb fits perfectly in the rubber bung and you can attach a schraeder valve or even a cornie QD if you get the correct parts.  I made up a bunch of carbonators with schraeder valves.  They work pretty well, but you can get some leaks.  At the end of the day, you don't save much over moving to cornies, though.  Of course, cornies are not getting any cheaper.

2211

Kegging and Bottling / Re: First kegging attempt, Explosion

« on: February 03, 2014, 06:08:46 PM »

I don't use secondaries unless I'm dry hopping or something like that. 30 days in primary is pretty standard for me.

You'll need some priming sugar to get carbonation in the beer.  If you stick with the 1/3 of what you need for bottling, you should be fine (assuming the beer is at a stable final gravity).  Best to weigh the sugar and not measure it by volume.

2212

Ingredients / Re: playing with limited ingredients

« on: February 03, 2014, 06:06:13 PM »

You could also look at building the Son of a Fermentation Chiller (or whatever it's called).  Basically a two chamber box that uses ice bottles and a small fan to circulate the cool air.

You would need access to rigid foam insulation and also a temp controller, but if ambient is 80 this would give you better control over fermentation temps.

There are tons of "how to" videos and instructions if you google it.

2213

Commercial Beer Reviews / Re: The Sixth Glass Quadrupel ale

« on: February 03, 2014, 04:37:20 PM »

I agree.  Love this beer.  Boulevard does a great job.

2214

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Shocked at Price! really?

« on: February 01, 2014, 11:55:46 PM »

Farmhouse Brewing Supply is the place I talked to (I searched my old e-mails).

He had rum barrels at the time that were $110 for a 5gal and 150 for a 10 gal.  $17 to ship to Chicago for a 5.

This was 2012, so maybe $150 is fair these days.

The Balcones barrels are supposed to be a good deal.  If you can work out a pallet shipment to Chicago, I'm in.  I've never had a good response from them (or from my LHBS) but others have.

2215

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Shocked at Price! really?

« on: February 01, 2014, 11:44:09 PM »

I think $150 is a little high, particularly for pick up.

There's a guy in Milwaukee or Madison who had some he'd ship that came in around that price.  Last time I checked was maybe a year ago.

For the price, I'm sticking with chips and plan to use some cubes or maybe a spiral as well.

Koval is walking distance from me, but they only have much larger barrels than I could use.

15 gallons is not to much to fill if you try.  Double batch it with a concentrated wort and then top up.

2216

The Pub / Re: I guess I have pms

« on: February 01, 2014, 05:20:18 PM »

My first Harley was a Suzuki Marauder. People were always telling me how they loved my Harley...

I need to put a new battery in my Katana and turn it over; its been in the garage covered for quite a while and I've been thinking about getting it running again.

The landscape in those pics are pretty awesome.

That photo is in Custer State Park. Maybe 2005. I. Ant remember for sure. I don't know if you can see clearly but there is a small herd of buffalo crossing in the background.

Don't feel bad about a Sporty. I have a 92 Suzuki GS500E that my uncle calls a "Hon-derrr". I pretend it is a term of endearment. Never mind that I rebuilt the engine and tranny and repainted the entire bike... still ain't good enough!

I definitely don't feel bad about it but the abuse gets ingrained. A couple friends traded up over the years and when they'd give me the business I'd tell them to keep making their payments. The sporty has been free and clear since the day I brought it home.  Of course it needs a new battery and has a small leak from the trans but it's also 17 years old. Definitely should go in for an overhaul.

2217

The Pub / Re: I guess I have pms

« on: February 01, 2014, 03:45:29 AM »

My first bike was a Honda CB400F.  The same guys how busted on the sporty busted on the Honda.  I rode off and left them, cuz they had no bikes at the time.

That Honda was fun.  Got my girl hooked on bikes.  She likes the sporty a lot more.  She won't let me sell it even though we don't go out on it much since we've had kids.

2218

The Pub / Re: I guess I have pms

« on: February 01, 2014, 12:50:41 AM »

Thanks, both of you.  I don't get much crap about it these days, but I don't hang out with those guys anymore.

I just about lost my handlebars in the Black Hills.  Bushings failed and I had about at least a half inch of play coming down from Mt. Rushmore.  Of course, it wasn't sudden but much more noticeable in the hills.

Thankfully, new bushings were in stock.

2219

The Pub / Re: I guess I have pms

« on: February 01, 2014, 12:29:19 AM »

Wish I was here:



And no, it's not my wife's bike.  Can't wait until summer when the kids are out of school so I can ride it to work every day.

2220

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Acetaldehyde

« on: January 30, 2014, 04:31:58 PM »

A ring around the neck of the bottle is often a sign of some form of infection in the bottle.  That along with gushing.  Could be the bottles weren't as clean as you had thought.