Beer Feeds

Post eating monster strikes again.

Anyways my question was whether there is a ratio of gravity to IBUs that I can use to create balanced beers.
I have only created one recipe and it was way too cloyingly sweet, almost undrinkable. That was a while ago and I have learned a lot since then, but I’m still a little gun shy about diverging too far from a known recipe.
But I still kind of have the urge to formulate my own recipe.
Is there some sort of formula that I can use to create a balanced beer?

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I am working up some numbers for a FAQ on fermentation and storage time vs. oxidation timeframe of beer in plastic vessels. Thanks to BobH, Braindead, and RogueBrewer, they are giving me the info needed on 3gallon PET (non better bottle), 15gal HDPE conical, and 5 gal PVC vessel. Original thread is here

Since I brew in all glass, I don’t have any info on these listed below.

1) 5gal PET Better bottle
2) 5 gallon fermentation bucket
3) 6 gallon fermentation bucket

Also hit me with any other random plastic vessels you guys use. I’ve seen some larger HDPE containers that LME came in…others I have seen is HDPE food safe ‘trash can’ looking thingys. Any other sizes of plasic conicals being used? I need these 5 pieces of information below.

1) Vessel shape/type of plastic and brief description. Since surface area is part of this equation, I need to know if it has ribs, molded in handle, strange contours, etc.

2) OFC - overflow volume of the container (not advertized volume). Most accurate way to do this is in grams….weigh empty and then full. +/- 100g is close enough. If you have to do volumetric measuring, try to be within 1 to 2 cups of water.

3) Dry weight of the vessel. Include the lid, but remove any metal fittings or any other non functional items. Need as accurate as you can get +/- 10g or so.

4) Average wall thickness. This one is not completely necessary since I can calcuate from #2 and #3, but good to have a double check. Best way to do it is a magna-mic, but you can also do this if you have a set of micrometers or calipers. Remember that using mircometers will be tricky to measure a curved surface.

5) physical dimensions of the vessel. Diameter, total height, height from the base the ’shoulder’, etc. If it is tapered, I need to know how much. Plus any additional info relevant to figuring surface area.

Thanks in advance

MB

Edit….added #5 to info needed.

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Thought I would post a couple of pictures from my latest project.

I attached a 6′ SS coil to the Fermenator lid and use an aquarium pump to run glycol through it. Temperature is monitored by a Johnson A419 controller with the probe going into a homemade thermowell.

Here is a pic of the system:

Here is a pic of the coil:

The coil is attached to the lid with Yor-Lok compression fittings.

and here is a pic of the glycol bath:

It is a mix of 5 gallons of glycol and 5 gallons of distilled water, which rates it to -27F. The tubing on the outlet of this picture came disconnected while I was taking it, but it attaches to the hole on the top of the pump.

I have my first batch in it now. The wort from the chiller into the Fermenator was 73 and I dropped it down to 64 in about 20 minutes. Got a nice cold break dump from it before I pitched the yeast.

Down the road I will add insulation to the Fermenator, but this time of year I don’t think I’ll really need it. Otherwise, it seems to be working as I had hoped.

–Brian

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I think I might brew up one of Denny’s RyePA’s for my next batch. While Denny’s recipe calls for Mt Hood & Columbus, I have a ton of Amarillo & Cascade that are over a year old, been vacuum sealed & in the freezer so they should still be ok. I was wondering if these hops would go well with this recipe to produce as tasty a beer as the original & what amounts would sound good.

Thanks,
Danno

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