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Author Topic: Trippin' about my dry hopped IPA  (Read 6982 times)

Offline Frankenbrew

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Re: Trippin' about my dry hopped IPA
« Reply #15 on: July 02, 2015, 04:59:21 pm »
In this month's Zymurgy, a brewer did a cost analysis of brewing including equipment, consumables (such as propane) and incidentals (hoses, etc.) and it still came in below the cost of  purchasing craft beer in the bottle.

Of course, if you're going out for a pint, yeah, it's going to cost you $6 a pint.

So as long as you don't have to have the latest, newest, shiniest toys, you can still make beer cheaper than you can buy it.

Frank C.

And thereof comes the proverb: 'Blessing of your
heart, you brew good ale.'

Offline SeymoureButts

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Re: Trippin' about my dry hopped IPA
« Reply #16 on: July 07, 2015, 01:22:43 pm »
Alright guys, just added my dry hops to the fermenter about 9 days after pitching my yeast. I had a long fermentation, around 4 days of activity in the air lock, so I think 9 days isn't too late.

I put my hop bag in boiling water and washed my hands with star san solution before adding hops to the hop bag. When I was putting my dry hops into the fermenter though, the bag rubbed against the lip of the lid. How easy is it to get an infection in your beer? The lid is definitely not sanitary. I've read that getting an infection in your beer isn't as easy as you would think, but I've also seen some nasty pictures of infected beer.

I hope I dodged a bullet here. The closet I store my fermenter in has been smelling really good this past week of fermentation. Can't wait to try the West Coast IPA inside.
El Gringo Borracho

Offline metron-brewer

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Re: Trippin' about my dry hopped IPA
« Reply #17 on: July 09, 2015, 10:45:19 am »
Alright guys, just added my dry hops to the fermenter about 9 days after pitching my yeast. I had a long fermentation, around 4 days of activity in the air lock, so I think 9 days isn't too late.

I put my hop bag in boiling water and washed my hands with star san solution before adding hops to the hop bag. When I was putting my dry hops into the fermenter though, the bag rubbed against the lip of the lid. How easy is it to get an infection in your beer? The lid is definitely not sanitary. I've read that getting an infection in your beer isn't as easy as you would think, but I've also seen some nasty pictures of infected beer.

I hope I dodged a bullet here. The closet I store my fermenter in has been smelling really good this past week of fermentation. Can't wait to try the West Coast IPA inside.

I'm sure you'll be fine. For what it's worth, I use a spray bottle filled with Star San and spray my fermenter before opening them. I also try to minimize skin contact with Star San and use a 3M hand sanitizer instead as Star San really dries my skin.
Ron B.
White Bear Lake, MN

Offline bboy9000

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Re: Trippin' about my dry hopped IPA
« Reply #18 on: July 09, 2015, 02:37:35 pm »
I agree with everything that's been said, but I add my hop pellets directly to the primary without using a sack.  All-grain can be cheaper as long as you don't go crazy with fancy equipment.  My first mash tun cost me $6.  A friend found a 10 gallon Igloo cooler at a flea market for $1 and I spent $5 on a plastic ball valve and made my own false bottom with cheap plumbing supplies.  I've since "upgraded" to a SS bulkhead/ball valve and bazooka screen but I figure after brewing a few times a month the cost has spread out.  Also,  I look at it as a hobby, not necessarily a way  to save money.  If you want to go all grain on the cheap refer to Denny Conn's website www.dennybrew.com and try to find a cooler at garage sales, flea markets, Craigslist, etc.

Oh, and to respond to the employee at the LHBS, yes you can make better wort than the brewers that make the malt extracts.
Brian
mobrewer

Offline HoosierBrew

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Re: Trippin' about my dry hopped IPA
« Reply #19 on: July 09, 2015, 03:14:52 pm »
Oh, and to respond to the employee at the LHBS, yes you can make better wort than the brewers that make the malt extracts.

This.  Not just matched to the color you're after, but the right fermentability and exact water chemistry for the beer you're making as well.
Jon H.

Offline 69franx

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Re: Trippin' about my dry hopped IPA
« Reply #20 on: July 09, 2015, 04:02:14 pm »
Oh, and to respond to the employee at the LHBS, yes you can make better wort than the brewers that make the malt extracts.

This.  Not just matched to the color you're after, but the right fermentability and exact water chemistry for the beer you're making as well.
+1
Frank L.
Fermenting: Nothing (ugh!)
Conditioning: Nothing (UGH!)
In keg: Nothing (Double UGH!)
In the works:  House IPA, Dark Mild, Ballantine Ale clone(still trying to work this one into the schedule)

Offline reverseapachemaster

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Re: Trippin' about my dry hopped IPA
« Reply #21 on: July 11, 2015, 10:47:56 am »
I'm not sure whether the LHBS employee had your interests in mind or the store's interests in mind. On your second batch maybe it's too early to start looking at preboil techniques when you probably have some work you could do on the postboil side. OTOH, I've heard of so many HBS encouraging people to brew with extract for all sorts of demeaning reasons because extract sells at a premium and it's harder to go online and buy a drum of extract than it is to buy a sack of grain. If you're hearing more of this advice to stay on extract then maybe it's time to find a new shop.
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Offline SeymoureButts

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Re: Trippin' about my dry hopped IPA
« Reply #22 on: July 11, 2015, 04:26:47 pm »
Not sure what happened. I took a FG reading today and fermentation seems done. I hit the FG number on the box perfectly, but the beer tasted terrible. When fermentation began it was letting off delicious aromas, what I tasted today didn't even taste like an IPA. I didn't get a big taste as I added my sanitized hydrometer right to my beer in the fermenter but it didn't even smell appealing.

Should I continue to bottling or just toss it?

I took so many steps to ensure sanitation, what happened?!
El Gringo Borracho

Offline klickitat jim

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Re: Trippin' about my dry hopped IPA
« Reply #23 on: July 11, 2015, 09:18:17 pm »
One FG reading? Or was this the second one? You need two separate readings at least 3 days apart that are the same number. Don't trust suggested final gravity from a recipe.

I wouldnt trust fementer aroma as a true indication of what the beer really smells and tastes like, especially dry hopped. The ring of dried up yeast and schmutz can be quite deceiving.

Offline SeymoureButts

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Re: Trippin' about my dry hopped IPA
« Reply #24 on: July 11, 2015, 10:07:18 pm »
One FG reading? Or was this the second one? You need two separate readings at least 3 days apart that are the same number. Don't trust suggested final gravity from a recipe.

I wouldnt trust fementer aroma as a true indication of what the beer really smells and tastes like, especially dry hopped. The ring of dried up yeast and schmutz can be quite deceiving.

This was only my first FG reading, I will take another in a couple days and proceed to bottle. The aroma really threw me off, what you said really eased my mind.

I hope it tastes like I imagine!
El Gringo Borracho

Offline klickitat jim

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Re: Trippin' about my dry hopped IPA
« Reply #25 on: July 11, 2015, 11:33:45 pm »
No guarantees but what the heck, right?

Offline SeymoureButts

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Re: Trippin' about my dry hopped IPA
« Reply #26 on: July 14, 2015, 10:37:03 pm »
No guarantees but what the heck, right?

I bottled it after taking my second FG reading today. I made a number of mistakes. First, I forgot to add the priming sugar solution to the bottling bucket before siphoning the beer. So after the beer was in the bottling bucket I added the priming sugar dissolved in a pint of water. Secondly, I added a bit of the priming sugar solution straight from the boiling pot it was in to the beer. It was over 140°! I didn't add a lot before I realized my mistake, thank God. Lastly, I forgot that the bottling bucket had a spigot so I took the siphon from the fermenter and plopped it into the bottling bucket. My 11 year old neighbor reminded me the bottling bucket had a spigot when she came over to see what I was doing.

I also tasted the beer from a bottle that didn't fill enough to bother capping it. It tasted God-awful. It was not a very good taste. Saying it tasted like ass would be giving it a compliment. Do you think it is infected?
El Gringo Borracho

Offline klickitat jim

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Re: Trippin' about my dry hopped IPA
« Reply #27 on: July 15, 2015, 01:15:30 pm »
Its really hard to say from a distance but probably.

Offline SeymoureButts

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Re: Trippin' about my dry hopped IPA
« Reply #28 on: July 15, 2015, 06:46:18 pm »
Its really hard to say from a distance but probably.

Could it be from my fermentation temperature? I have absolutely no control over it and live in sunny San Diego. I put my fermenter in a closet with a thermometer attached to the wall. The thermometer is regularly over 80°. Or was it something I did; wasn't clean enough, let something get into the wort, etc?
El Gringo Borracho

Offline denny

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Re: Trippin' about my dry hopped IPA
« Reply #29 on: July 16, 2015, 10:12:03 am »
Its really hard to say from a distance but probably.

Could it be from my fermentation temperature? I have absolutely no control over it and live in sunny San Diego. I put my fermenter in a closet with a thermometer attached to the wall. The thermometer is regularly over 80°. Or was it something I did; wasn't clean enough, let something get into the wort, etc?

That kind of temp can definitely be a problem.
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