Beer Feeds

I’m going to be making a pale ale with some wheat and rye, with a little honey and orange flavor. What is the best way to get a good orange flavor?

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This is a common theme with most of my beers. I bottle condition and I don’t store them in the fridge until a day or so before I’m ready to enjoy them. After a few months (3+) stored at room temperature they start to go bad. It’s a slow gradual thing, but starts with a more acidic taste and a BIG head. What’s going on, and how do I stop it? Or is this just the shelf life of homebrew? Should I try and store as many in the fridge as possible?

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I see lots of clone requests in the recipe forum. Not to come down too hard on people - I have a number of commercial beer favorites and I understand the thought (I think) - but do you really want to try and copy someone else’s work? It’s rare that clones really come out indistinguishable from the real for one thing, but more importantly, wouldn’t you much rather identify the “sorts” of things you like about that beer and make your very own beer that embodies those qualities in their own way? I really like NBB’s Bier de Mars, e.g., but so much about it is simply the light and refreshing quality, the subtle spiciness and big Brett character. I don’t need their recipe to get that. And their recipe would probably only get me as close to their beer as me making up what I thought their recipe was.
I’m all for knowing what you like in a beer, and if you can find a great commercial example that strikes a chord, that’s a great starting point. But to really make, say, Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown come out of a homebrew tap - although impressive from a certain point - is somewhat gimmicky compared to making an awesome brown that might throw a nod to SS, but is simply a great beer in its own right.
Am I wrong? Down with cloning!!!

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I’ve seen a couple other threads about wits lately, and I based my recipe roughly off of those. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

3# 6-row
3# wheat malt
2.5# LME (late addition)
0.75 oz Sterling (7.8%) at 60 min
0.5 oz ground coriander at 5 min
1.0 oz fresh orange peel at 5 min
WY3944

I’ve also read about adding a tablespoon of flour into the boil to give some hazyness, though it seems that not using irish moss would cause enough chill haze to make it unnecessary.

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This past weekend, Flying Dog Brewery helped Mod Livin’ (a very cool mid-century furniture shop on Colfax in Denver) raise almost $8000 for the Downtown Animal Care Foundation at their 2nd Annual Best in Show event.

This is a really cool event where local businesses and artists create works of art out of blank, dog-shaped molds. […]

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Gang: I used to save yeast and reuse it but I was having an issue with my stored lager yeast. It appears (after much troubleshooting) that I wasn’t storing it cool enough and the yeast wasn’t really shutting down. I was getting some funky off-flavors in my lagers (where I reused the stored yeast) and I stopped storing yeast for awhile. But I’d like to get back into saving some of my favorite strains like 2124, 2206, 2112, WLP800, WLP830, WLP802 and WLP840. Have any of you lager brewers (who save your yeast) concluded that saved lager yeast should be stored at a certain temp to assure that the yeast has gone dormant? I’m thinking that anywhere from 34° to maybe 38° would be cool enough. I was storing it warmer than that when I was actively storing yeast. Thoughts?

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I’m an extract brewer so it doesn’t really make much sense for me to get a mill. I’ve tried cracking small amounts of grain by rolling a wine bottle over the grains with just about all of my body weight. This resulted in a few cracked kernels but most of them were still intact after 10 minutes of effort.

If i order some cracked specialty malts how long will they stay good for? Is there some way that is should store them? Refrigeration?

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Posted: by cfh64 (14 hours ago)

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Posted: by Chinon01 (20 hours ago)

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What do you do to maintain your kegs? - I usually just fill with oxyclean and hot water after a keg has kicked. Then let it sit filled with iodophor. I jump the iodophor from keg to keg (for a couple kegs). I empty, fill with gas and store.

How often do you replace your o-rings? I usually replace when i realize there is a leak (after I replace my 20# tank ’cause I’m a dumbass)

Do you use silicon spray and if so which ones ? I use keglube but would like to get other’s ideas….

And last but not least….do you have the part numbers for mcmaster corny orings?? I don’t….

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Pegasus News reviews the new Hunter S. Thompson Bio Pic, Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson.
So far, the movie seems to be making the rounds of the independent film festivals, debuting earlier at Sundance earlier this year. No mass release information is available as of yet, but since the Executive […]

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Two weeks ago I pitched WLP 001 straight from the tube to a PA with an OG of 1.062. The yeast was slow to start, took over 24 hours however once it did it rocked, I needed to attach a one inch blow off tube.

14 days later there is a lot of airlock activity and still krausen on top of a cloudy wort.

I’ve never had krausen last quite that long, is that unusual?

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I always go to the LHBS for my ingredients, but something occurred to me last week. I buy most everything in bulk, sacks of grain and cleaner from the LHBS, hops online. The only thing I really don’t get is yeast.

I rarely buy yeast online, but I had an order into NB and didn’t think I could get out to the LHBS last week to make my starter for tonight. So, I ordered my two tubes of WLP833. I think it’s kind of silly to pay $8 shipping for $6 yeast, plus $1 for a couple cold packs. But then it got me thinking… NB gets here in two days, which is pretty fast. The yeast is very fresh (this time, LBHS = 9 weeks old, NB = 2 weeks). A starter tonight for that fresh yeast is 2x less than the starter for the old yeast. DME is expensive. LHBS is about 40 miles round trip, gas today was $3.3x a gallon. So, it costs about $4.75 to drive to the LHBS! For less than 2x that, I can have it delivered to my door and be super fresh, plus buy whatever else I need for no additional shipping. Finally, it’s not unusual for the LHBS to not have the yeast I want anyway, making me sub or think about driving another 40 miles to the other LHBS.

Granted though, I enjoy hanging out talking BSing and drinking homebrew after work or on a Saturday, but 50% of the time I run out there is just for yeast.
If I don’t have to go to that end of town, it’s getting tough justifying running to the LHBS for yeast.

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I will try to grow some malting barley this spring. I purchased 50# of robust seed. I am going to plant 1/2 this coming wek and then trying some in a fall planting. Probably wont work but what the hey it will look cool hops trellis,s in a barley field! I have wheat the grows and comes back every year from the roots. I plan to expand that also!
Any hints as to growing barley?

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Slothrob and myself brewed a BSG that will go through the Methode Champenoise. Recipe is here: http://www.brewboard.com/index.php?showtopic=89819
Mash came in a little low, the heat stick got us up to 150 in a few minutes:

First runnings:

Spent grains:

Boil:

Draining into carboy:

Aeration:

Blowoff tube in place:

Fermentation this morning:

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My buddy read of this in his varied readings. Supposedly aroma and flavor hops can be put into the mash tun during the mash.

We’ve been doing step mashes at 144 and 158. The hops are in there the entire hour. The aroma and flavor are supposed to be retained throughout the boil… somehow.

We’ve been using half the flavor and aroma additions in the tun and the rest at the normal times. These are lagers. While I’ve learned to be very patient I cannot help but to wonder if the hops are better utilized in the conventional schedule.

Does anyone have any thoughts, experience, or links on this?

Brews to date using this method:

Vienna Lager
Urquell Clones
Bitburger Clone

Does anyone have any thoughts, experience, or links on this?

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Slothrob and I brewed this yesterday, the sugar will be added during primary in stages.

Type: All Grain
Date: 3/29/2008
Batch Size: 5.40 gal
Brewer: Cavman
Boil Size: 7 gal Asst Brewer: Slothrob
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: Brew Pot (8.5 gal) and Coleman Extreme Cooler (13 Gal)

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
12 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 80.00 %
8.0 oz Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 3.33 %
1.50 oz Tettnang [5.50 %] (60 min) Hops 21.5 IBU
0.50 oz Saaz [3.60 %] (20 min) Hops 2.8 IBU
2 lbs 8.0 oz Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (1.0 SRM) Sugar 16.67 %
2 Pkgs Belgian Strong Ale (Wyeast Labs #1388) Yeast-Ale

Beer Profile

Measured Original Gravity: 1.063 SG (before sugar additions)
Bitterness: 24.4 IBU
Est Color: 5.8 SRM

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I brewed yesterday morning….
8lbs 2 row
1 pound crystal
1 pound vienna
1/2 pound munich
1/2 pound pils
1 ounce N. Brewer 60 min
1/2 ounce casc 15 min
1/2 casc 5 min

I need to check promash to see what woul hapen if I only used 6 lbs instead (I had all three kids screaming so I question if I forgot the last two pounds.

Interestingly enough pre boil came in at 11 brix and at 80 degrees still 11 brinx (after boiling off 1.5 gallons).

This was the first time recirculating….but how could I have lost eff points? Gives me about 50% eff versus 75% for the past 90 batches?

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Bill

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I am not sure if I placed this in the right column. I just need some advice. I have 4 bottles of Stone AB Oaked from a 6er that was given to me by in laws. Now I will say this is a great version of an American Strong Ale and you can taste the Oak as well. With that being said this beer is not available to purchase in my area (North Carolina) anyone out there where this is available, can you tell me what a trade value might be for this. I am thinking of trading my last 4 bottles for say hops or grain at my next homebrew club meeting. I would appreciate any assistance or advice, or even so if you are near Raleigh NC I am willing to trade to you too. Thanks again!!

Mike

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Posted: by ngoins200 (16 hours ago)

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I am curious how i can guage my efficience and if its poor, improve it.

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Posted: by bluegrassbrew (17 hours ago)

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Posted: by HBang (19 hours ago)

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Now that sooo many people are moving over to electric, I have thought about doing the same. I really wanted to bring in a couple PIDs to control mash and HLT, but in order for me to do so with gas I’ll need to solenoid valves, pilot light, etc. With electric, element, proper waterproof mounting DONE!

So my question is if you were going to spend $500+ on a new setup would you go electric or brutus 10?

I’m really excited to hear everyones opinions.

Squeeky

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So my step-dad came home and asked for a brew i go downstairs to pour him a pint and nothing comes out. I then peek at the regulator, and its all dropped out. I make sure the screw is in, and it is. I dont understand, I went through a whole keg with no problems. then i hooked these 2 kegs up, and they worked for a week just fine. i went a couple days without a pint, go downstairs and boom no co2.

should the clamps be tightened weekly or what? I assumed the initial tighten was enough.

whats the easiest way to figure out where the leak came from? everything is still connected. I would think if one of the clamps became loose enough for a little co2 to come out the whole thing would fly off…..

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Pizza Beer

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My goal here is to brew a high-ish gravity, dry golden ale that should be pleasing to a general audience, but interesting enough to be thought provoking and conversation worthy. My idea was an American take on a BSGA.

OG 1.063 FG 1.012
6.7% ABV
20 IBUs

11 Lbs. 2 row
1 Lb. Crystal 10
1 lb Corn Sugar

Mash at 151

2 oz Saaz @ 60 Minutes

.5oz sweet orange peel, .4oz coriander, .2oz ginger and whirlfloc @ 15 minutes.

WLP001

My questions:

1) I don’t have lots of experience with spices and I’m not sure of the taste threshold. My goal is to hint at spice flavor without it being front and center in the taste profile. I took the spice schedule for Liquid Stupid and cut it in a third. Am I under doing it?

2) Too much crystal malt?

3) General impressions? Anything I’m missing?

Thanks gang!!!!!!

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Does anybody out there know what the highest efficiency ever recorded is? Certainly, there are bound to be some dubious claims out there by homebrewers re: their efficiency.

I would think that the big commercial breweries would probably have the highest (consistently and probably ever), seeing as how they put millions of dollars into having the most efficient (i.e. profitable) system possible.

I want to know the number though. Is 100% efficiency possible?

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I have an ESB with an OG of around 1.054. It’s been in primary for a week.

-Safale S-04
- 62-64 degrees ambient temp
- 63-68 degrees on the fermenter depending on activity level
- after 2-3 days airlock activity more or less stopped (was very vigorous for the first couple days)

Seems like it’s around 1.018 right now. Is that an acceptable FG or should I expect it to keep dropping for a few days? I’m just hoping the temps haven’t been too low for this yeast. This is the first time I’ve used it.

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