Beer Feeds

About 35 of us from SNBC are going for the camp-out and festival.

Any Green Boarders going to be there.

BrewBasser

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Been using a 50′ 1/2″ copper immersion chiller forever in my keggle. Works fantastic for me.

I just added a false bottom to my keggle. Now my chiller will obviously not reach to the bottom now. Will losing an extra 4″ of coverage drastically effect the cooling of my chiller now?

I really don’t want to switch to counterflow or anything. But if I just killed my chiller’s colling efficiency then I may not have a choice.

Thanks.

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Got a recipe for a dark lager that has a whole bunch of different grains in it. We’ve figured out what most of them are, but one of them is listed simply as “dark malt”. Is there a specific type of malt called “dark”? It’s also got Crystal 150, Cara-amber, Cara-aroma, Carafa Sp., Rye, and Chocolate, so it can’t be any of those. It makes up about 7% of the grist, which seems high for something added just for color. Anyone know what this might be?

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Knowing that many already have a brew stand and some in the process of building… what would you recommend for your first build?

I like the simplicity of the single tier, but I and also concerned that only running 1 March pump may be a regret in the future (simply solution… build another one). I’m curious as to why you may have chosen the stand you did. This may help figure out what I will be building this coming week.

Thanks for your input and comments

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Today is Arbor Day, so get outside and plant a tree.  Grad a 6-pack of your favorite Flying Dog style, someone to help dig a hole and make an event of it.  Get them to do the digging and you do the drinking.
Did you know that every state has their own date for Arbor Day?  […]

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What is the effect of iodophor that was sucked backed into beer? After fermentation was complete my iodophor solution got sucked back into the carboy. Is this beer ruined? What off flavors would it produce if any? Thanks for the help.

Jeff

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I’ve got 5 gallons of Russian Imperial Stout in a carboy that’s been sitting in my pantry for 3 years. I bulk aged it intending to bottle after a year, but then….well, it was more about being lazy than being patient. I hate bottling. I keg most of my beers, but have to say that I’ve never been really pleased with the way my high gravity beers carbonate in my kegging system (especially those Belgian beers that need to be so carbonated that they practically leap out of your glass).

So, I want to (finally) bottle this soon and know that after 3 years, I cannot count on any live yeast in the bottom of the carboy. I’ve considered creating a big starter, pour it into my sanitized bottling bucket with some corn sugar, rack the stout off the dead yeast and bottle. My questions are:

1. What yeast should I use? It needs to be alcohol-tolerant. The OG was about 1.095 and the FG (if memory serves), was about 1.025, but if it’s too alcohol tolerant it could consume the corn sugar, then continue on into any remaining fermentable sugars…. and I’ll end up with Russian Imperial bottle bombs. Or…
2. Should I create the starter, add it to my carboy and give it a little time, then rack it into the corn sugar and bottle? I tried this approach with a bulk-aged Belgian Dark Strong and got a lot of variability in the end product. After a year, some bottles are perfectly carbonated and some are flat.

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Posted: by beermebeerman (16 hours ago)

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pushed their stopper straight through the carboy RIGHT after finally pitching their yeast? I of course do not have another stopper, so instead of using my usual blow-off tube, i grabbed my bubbler. What i did was i covered the mouth of the carboy with cling-wrap, then punched the bubbler through it, then wrapped the top of the carboy and sides of the bubbler with more cling-wrap…

Now my question - do you guys think i just messed everything up by having my stopper floating at the top of my new beer? (of course i sanitized everything first.. so im guessing everything will be alright?) Tomorrow after work i’ll go get a new stopper and plug it in.. but for now, cling wrap will have to do.. tell me your thoughts on this?

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I started my first fermentation process on my second batch of beer. The style is an Indian Pale Ale and I am just wondering about a problem I might have. I finished brewing the beer and placed it into the first fermentation bucket and placed the air cork thing in the lid…….I later noticed that the o-ring that secures a tight fit was messed up and was allowing air out about 5 hours later…….I pulled out the air pump thing and rigged up a piece of foam to air-lock the air pump and it is pumping air out now…..I am just wondering if the little air that may have entered when I made the new air seal would mess up the fermentation process? I am very new to home brewing…however my first batch of and American Micro style Pale Ale turned out very nice and is very tasty…..so I am convinced that this is a hobby I can handle and hopefully perfect! Thanks for any help you can offer!

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I have a Duvel clone that had an O.G. of 1.080. It was in a primary for 1 week and has been in secondary for 2 and a half weeks. I checked it last week. The hydrometer read 1.034 or something like that. Tonight I checked again, assuming it was gonna be ready to bottle, and it was around the same. I know that this is a high reading, but it hasn’t changed any really. Is this beer done?

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So I have made a saison a couple times with great success. I have also added Lemon Zest and the juice of a few lemons to one batch with even greater success! It was amazing what a little sour note did to that saison! So, it got me thinking, what if I made a classic saison, then in secondary added oak cubes that have been soaking in a chardonnay for about 3 weeks to get ride of the big oak flavor, and also added the wyeast lambic blend for sourness and let it sit for months? Any first impressions? What do you guys think of this idea? It sounds and taste good in my head but could be a disaster in real life, please comment and give me your thoughts.

Cheers

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Posted: by timtim (7 hours ago)

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Hey, guys–

I’m working on motorizing my JSP Maltmill; I’ve got a 110VAC/220VAC motor (runs on either voltage), 1750RPM (I’ve got the necessary sheaves for speed reduction), 1/3hp. What I don’t have is a good handle on how to wire this thing up…

I’ve seen the one (from Walt’s Lama Brewery?) for wiring a Bodine motor through two switches (one on/off, the other a 3-way switch for reversibility). While I’d like to go that route, my motor doesn’t have all of the same wires. Here’s what I’ve got:

(from the wiring diagram on the nameplate): Blue, Red, Orange, Black, White, Yellow (plus green/ground). For 110VAC operation, wire together Blue/Red/Orange, and Black/White/Yellow. To reverse direction, swap Black and Red.

Can anybody advise on how to equate this to Walt’s diagram? Or else, how to wire this up similarly?

Thanks for any help!

–Misha

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I really fell in love with the Cambridge Brewing Company’s “Saison Noire”, which was available during the past winter. I’ve been trying to put together a recipe (not a clone) for a black saison by taking the recipe I did last year for a lower strength Saison and including some dark grains and mixing in a few aspects of other recipes. This is what I have so far.

Batch Size: 3 Gallons
Boil Volume: 3.5 Gallons

6lb Pilsner Malt
8oz Wheat Malt
6oz Special B
6oz Carafa II
4oz Chocolate Wheat
8oz Light brown sugar

.2oz Pacific Gem pellets (16.6%AA) 60 minutes
.5oz Saaz pellets (3.2%AA) 20 minutes

2 grams Grains of Paradise 1 Minute

WLP568 Belgian Saison Blend

Mash @150F 90 Minutes

I’m assuming 60% efficiency, giving:
Est. O.G. 1.059
Est F.G. 1.010
Est IBU 29
Est SRM 30

Any thoughts? I would just try for Drew Beechum’s Saison d’Hiver, but I’m not ready for a beer that big.

I feel like I have too much Special B.

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Just purchased the kit from NB that has the SS air stone and CO2 tank, etc.

What is the prefered way to use this in my cooled WORT.

Do I want to blast for a few seconds until the bubbles come to the top. Or do I want just a slow stream that last for a few minutes? Basically how to get the most air into the liquid.

Thanks again.

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Just curious, if you only brewed three beers for each season. What would they be?

Spring
1)
2)
3)

Summer
1)
2)
3)

Fall
1)
2)
3)

Winter
1)
2)
3)

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My last 3 batches I have missed by FG by 3-4 points each time.

Is there a general reason for this to occur, or is it a combination of many things?

My first thought is that maybe I did not have enough yeast?

Any general comments would be appreciated.

Thanks.

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I recently bought a deep freezer and i have a Johnson control in for temp control but i seam to have a lot of condensation on my co2 bottle. my kegs and tubbing wondering if there is a way to stop this or am i doing something wrong ?

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So, I’ve been putting together a 4-tap kegerator, as a chest freezer w/ collar. Everything’s going swimmingly until I attached all the liquid-side stuff last night. Very, very slow leaks coming from each shank, specifically from where the tailpiece attaches to the shank. On 3 out of the 4 I absolutely crushed the gasket trying to tighten down to stop the leak, but the 4th I didn’t, and that was leaking, too. The gaskets look like they’ve separated into two smaller gaskets, one smaller than the other- is this intentional or just a byproduct of the crushing? Are you supposed to wrap the shank in teflon tape before attaching the tailpiece? This can’t be as difficult as I’m making it.

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I was wondering if it would be an acceptable substitute in a California Common to use Magnum 1oz 60 mins and 1oz Perle 5 mins as substitute for Northern Brewer hops. I am working on my grain bill for this recipe something like this

9 lb. American 2-row
1 lb. American Munich
1 lb. American crystal 60L
8 oz. Special Roast

Mash at 154 degrees

0G around 1.058-1.060

Projected IBU around 46-48

Would this hop addition be a possible sub for NB I am not necessarily cloning Anchor Steam but more or less a Cal Common beer. I don’t really have any other hop choices to use maybe some Cascades though 8-9%.

MIke

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I has my 5 pound co2 tank filled for the first time today. I’m wondering, did the guy do it right.

1. Hooked up a 20# to my 5#.

2. Put gas in it.

3. Let some out.

4. Put some more in.

To be safe, I let a little out just in case it was filled up too much. So does this sound safe to you all?

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Posted: by eLMsITYbUM (1 hour ago)

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Posted: by Redrover (1 hour ago)

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I’d like to fabricate a customized corny lid with a dip tube that has a larger internal diameter than the standard corny dip tube. I’d like to find some rigid tubing about 3/8″ ID that could be flared like the regular dip tube and inserted into a corny lid which I’d modify for the purpose. (I already have ideas for the lid modification to make this work.) The reason for this is that I’d like to have a wider ID tubing for serving through a beer engine. The beer engine gives a much better pour when not pulling through smaller sized tubing such as standard corny dip tubes.

It doesn’t have to be stainless tubing (actually, “pipe” is probably the more accurate term). It could be some kind of food/beverage-safe plastic material but it needs to be pretty rigid as well. Does anyone have a suggestion for where I can source something like this?

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Made some root beer. Carbed it 2 weeks ago at 28 psi.

When I draw some from the tap, I get tons of foam (which is fine and its root beer). The problem is the foam disappears after about 15 seconds and the soda is flat. Tastes flat and no more bubbles at all. Even the foam tastes flat. Any ideas?

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My lhbs just started carrying fermentis’ line of dry yeasts and i’ve been pretty happy with the end results, and the ease of not having to build up a starter (I hear this yeast doesn’t work well if with a starter anyway).

I was thinking about using the US-05 on something bigger than my previous two batches… probably in the ball park of a 1.080 og. I consulted JZ’s pitching rate calculator and found that i’d want to shoot for 287 billion cells — Anyone know what 1 packet of US-05 might contain?

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My son-in-law brewing his first ever batch ESB added the hops at the last 10 mins of the boil. Beer is now in the secondary and tastes as you might imagine. Can this beer be made more interesting at this stage by adding herbs, or will he just have to knock it back and try again.

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Posted: by Goldorak (15 hours ago)

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I am planning on mashing about 3 pounds of grain to create 3 gallons of starter wort to get some starters going for the big brew. My question is how do I store the extra wort til I need it for the starter? I mean I don’t need all 3 gallons at the same time. I don’t have access to a pressure canner yet so that option is out. Would I be able to put it in gallon water jugs and store it in the fridge til needed? then just boil it to sanitise it before using it?

And before anyone suggests DME I am going this route for several reasons. First of all 3 pounds of grain is less than $3. The equal amount of DME would be FAR more than $3 LOL Also I don’t want to wait for the DME to get here to make the starter.

Thanks for any and all suggestions

Greg

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