Beer Feeds

Pretty smooth. Better then I expected. What did you think of it? For those that have tried it. I wanted to see why it was so popular and pricey.

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Brewed it all, and was well enjoyed by all.

Definitely worth all the work.

http://picasaweb.google.com/greatfookin/OurScottishWedding02

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I broke my racking cane f(auto syphon number 2) portion of the auto syphon on my last transfer and I was trying to take off the black plastic tip but it was glued too tight. I have a 1/2 tube bender and was wanting to make a stainless racking cane and find some sort of tip that would work the same and continue to use the outer piece of the auto syphon. Does anyone know what the little black part is called on the racking cane portion or where I could purchase? Option 2 is to buy a different type of syphon. Any suggestions?

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I’m headin’ off for the afternoon session tomorrow.. anyone else going? Lookin’ forward to the Jolly Pumpkin setup, myself.. Hope it comes off good and get’s bigger from here. I’m in CT and we could surely use a good big fest out here, sorta like GABF. GABF was awesome last year but the trip was a killer for me…

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I’ll start.

I’m brewing an american wheat friday night. I usually brew during the day so this nighttime brew will be a first for me. I got most of my equipment ready last night so I’m looking forward to knocking the foam off of a couple of homebrews during my brew.

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I had this beer when a buddy from WI brought me a New Glarus sampler box. I cannot get it in IL so it’s been awhile since I had it. The brewery calls it a Farmhouse Ale but most people just call it a cream ale or a blonde. I swore that I tasted a slightly sour profile (Farmhouse-like) but I do remember it being very clean all the way around… sort of like an American Saison if there is such a thing. Some have said that NG only calls it a Farmhouse because they get all of the ingredients for the beer from local farms. Has anyone tried to brew it or does anyone have a feel for what yeast to use? I think it would be a good summer beer.

EDIT: I see that their site shows 4.8% ABV and some corn used in the grain bill… that’s it.

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Long story short, I got a great deal on a small front loading freezer on craigslist. When I got to the place to pick it up it was still plugged in and frozen solid. I opened it up and it was going to be the perfect size! The shelves were covered in snow/ice. After I got it home and started to defrost it I realized the coils were mounted as part of the shelves! I had thought this was a front loading “chest” style freezer!

Here are some pictures of the freezer. Has anyone tried bending the racks and coils to make room for a carboy? I really want to try and convert this for a fermentation chamber if possible. Any ideas?? Or will any attempt to bend, move them just break the lines?

The top rack is fine, the bottom and middle rack would need to be bent if possible. Worst case scenario I have a new freezer or can make a nice wine cooler out of it.

Freezer

Bottom Rack

Middle Rack

Any hopes to bend this to make room for a carboy?

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back story:
These rhizomes are in their 3 year, however, they have had a tough time and have been (unfortunately) nomadic. They have been planted, uprooted, potted, planted uprooted numerous times. However they keep coming back. Hearty buggers. But they have never reached their potential. Not a single cone in the 3 years.

This year I have left them in pots (since I know I am moving in just over a month to Denver).

I noticed the other day when doing some maintence on them, growths that I haven’t seen before.
Are these the formation of cones, or some type of lateral growth?

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Posted: by b3playr (3 hours ago)

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so this is a very simple question. I’ve googled it and not found much on the topic. I did say malkore wanted to make a chalkboard pain on the side of a keg. I don’t know how that worked tho.

don’t they make chalkboard wallpaper?

also I wonder if they make big labels so u could make kind of like a beer label but make it big and stick it on the side of a corny keg? that would be fun. cause I always wanted to make labels but I don’t bottle.

(btw I use picnic taps I don’t have faucets so those are out of the question)

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Hey guys,

in preperation for my first AG, Ive been doing alot of reading and making sure I got some of the details down. I encountered liquor to grist ratio and am not finding any clarification out there. I realize that different ratios can likely effect fermentability, but which way does that go? Is there a general ratio people out there use, or is it per style and fermentability desires?

Also, how much do you expect to lauter out of the mash, i.e, how much is the grain going to absorb? Im trying to figure out pre-boil gravity, etc.

All help is appreciated!!

B.C.

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I brewed a Bavarian Hefeweizen for my first batch, and I was reading this morning that I might have made a mistake. When I poured into the primary, I forgot to use the strainer. The whole process ended up taking a lot longer then I was expecting becuase the stove just coudln’t get the wart hot enough to boil. That’s my first lesson learned, but as a result I got done at 3 am and was so tired I forgot the strainer.

The fermentation looks good, but now and I go back to retrace my steps, I realised my mistake. I plan on using a secondary fermenter, doing the transfer this weekend. Will the batch be ok?

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I know Alaskan brewing Co uses Cascade to bitter and Saaz to finish their Amber, and a mix of light and dark crystal with their 2-row. I’m working with what I have in stock. My question is about the hop bill. Looking to produce something with a clean bitterness and nice and strong noble aroma/flavor. Would you change this hop bill at all. I have a lot more of everything listed and I’m willing to rework from the ground floor if need be on the hop bill. The reason for the Hallertau and Mount Hood combo is because I think they will compliment each other. I know they are similar in a lot of respects, but it is my opinion that they will play off each other nicely. Any thoughts?

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I had a request to post this recipe. It’s a dark saison using the Wyeast Farmhouse Ale yeast.

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Rather than hijack the thread on Your Best beer making techniques, I figured I’d start a new one. The most common response was “temperature control” and I’m not sure I understand the reasons. Is it mainly the ability to reproduce the beer? Or is it something more than that?

For the most part I just ferment at the ambient temperature of my house in the winter, which is 62-70 and in the basement in the summertime which is relatively consistent at 70-72. What kinds of improvements does it make to control the temperature better?

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Hello fine people; I think I really screwed up.

I was introducing a buddy to homebrewing and coming from the school of “hands-on” learning, allowed him to participate in some of the activities. Turns out I learned that introductions should be limited to “observation” only.

Beer: Kolsh Ale; partial mash; WLP029 yeast, whole leaf Tettnanger hops.

After boil, we used a wort chiller - after he read the the thermometer at 64 Degrees, we 1) poured the wort through filter funnel into a 5 gal carboy w/ of 2 gal H20 already in. 2) he filled to 5 gal .5 gal at a time.

The Problems: 1) After he filled “to make 5 gal . . ” it came up to the very top of the car boy . . Opps - he filled to 5.5 Gal . 2) My thermometer read was 84 Degrees . . . F. He was reading initially at the Celsius!!! Meaning we pulled the wort at 147 Degrees F and filtered it - thereby aerating the wort (I am sure) as it fell into the fresh 2 gal H20 at the bottom of the carboy.

The yeast was pitched at 82 Degrees F. OG was 1.040 (supposed to shoot for 1.059 but the 1/2 gal H20 added to it diluted that!).

It is sitting in the dark under the stairs with bow-off tube inserted. 18 hours later it is quiet.

Okay, take your shots . . . How bad did I screw this batch and is there anyone out there with any remedies?

Thanks to all

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My kegerator is up and running all three of its taps. I have not added my drip tray yet and was not sure where I would get one from too. I found this drip tray on barproducts.com and I know its more for a bar top but here is my question. Do you think you could drill through the back of the bottom tray and attach this to the wood collar on the kegerator and use that. I think for the price and the length this would fit on my kegerator really well. The drip tray pic is a similar model the website that its on has copyright on pics so I can’t post it on here for you to see it is 19 inches in length and has the bottom piece that would fit under the tray in the pic. Thanks for the imput.

drip tray

rgs-sheetmetal.co.uk/home/images/IM000358.JPG

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Ok I just got the latest issue of BYO and was looking through it and what should I find on page 7 but a HUGE full page ad for Anheuser Busch and Budweiser. Umm. I dunno about others but that was the LAST thing I would expect to find in an issue of BREW YOUR OWN. I mean is BYO hurting for money that they are accepting ads from the macroswill companies? Ok folks. Am I the only one to be a bit offended by finding this in BYO or what?

Greg

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is there such a thing as too long of a time to dry hop? i am aging a batch right now that i don’t plan on touching until the end of summer/ early fall. i have it in secondary now and dry hopped with .5 oz of spaltz (i believe). so, headed down a path of destruction or am i ok?

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Our QC Assistant, Jake Knill recently competed in the 72 Hour Film Festival with a movie he calls “Humanity vs. Nature and the Agricultural Revolution”.  Take a look at his flick.  I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s pretty good, especially considering Jake and his partner only had 72 to produce it - start to […]

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We had the extreme pleasure of meeting up with a fan of the show, Bernie. He made the long drive to the legendary beer bars in Muncie to hang out with the GBS. He brought the beer, recorded a show at “The Fickle Peach”, pounded a few at “The Heorot” and watched Mikey […]

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So I took the yeast sediment from the bottom of my secondary and put it in a quart bottle and capped it with my beer bottle capper and put it in my fridge two weeks ago. The yeast was Wyeast Irish Ale. Two days ago I made a half gallon wort from LME and water (SG 1.032) and pitched the bottle of sediment into it half of it. I left it for 24 hours, shaking every hour for the first evening. There was a nice krausen subsiding the next day so I poured the other quarter gallon into the jug (sanitizing thoroughly) and shook it hard a few times. It was fermenting actively for 7 hours and then I pitched the whole half gallon into my Irish Red wort. There was activity in only one hour and now it is going crazy fermenting with a big thick krausen on top. Just curious if this method of making a starter has any flaws I am not seeing or if it seems ok to those of you who know such things.

This is the second batch of beer for this yeast, the amount in the bottle I saved from the previous batch was miniscule so I wanted to step it up slowly.

Anyways, advice/criticism?

I plan to use this same method but in one stage for the full quart of sludge I bottled from my last batch. This next will be its third beer, the second was pitched right onto a yeast cake.

thanks

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I bought a zester last year and have been faithfully zesting only the orange skin, but the pith smells so good. So as an inquiring mind, I dropped one of the oranges that I had zested into the boil pot after flame out. I let is sizzle and float for about 10 minutes as I cooled, then removed.

Kinda had a deep fryed orange when i was done! It wasn’t cooked per se but it was warm and didn’t smell as good anymore so I think that I got the goodness out of it. Time will tell what I did or shouldn’t have done.

Any thoughts on the orange boil of sorts?

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Posted: by RobinLawrence123 (22 hours ago)

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I was excited to get my copy of Real Ale from Camra as I am a huge fan of real ale in the UK. I started putting some of the recipes in Beersmith just to simplify shopping and brewday and noticd some problems with conversions.

Specifically, the first recipe I tried indicated a final EBU of 18 and SRM of 61

After plugging it into Beersmith I get an IBU of 29.7 and an SRM of 27.7

What’s going on here? I had heard that EBU and IBU were the same. I know that the book says they assume a 20% hop extraction efficiency. That’s on the low side, but I’m not sure what Beersmith has as a default. Couldn’t find that config setting.

I have attached the text export from Beersmith:

Style: Mild

Recipe Specifications
————————–
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 7.37 gal
Estimated OG: 1.036 SG
Estimated Color: 27.7 SRM
Estimated IBU: 29.7 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
————
Amount Item Type % or IBU
4 lbs 15.2 oz Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 82.16 %
9.7 oz Crystal Malt - 60L (Thomas Fawcett) (60.0 Grain 10.06 %
5.3 oz Chocolate (Crisp) (630.0 SRM) Grain 5.50 %
2.2 oz Black (Crisp) (680.0 SRM) Grain 2.28 %
0.80 oz Challenger [7.70 %] (90 min) Hops 27.9 IBU
0.16 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.30 %] (15 min) Hops 1.8 IBU

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Here are a few recent blog entries and videos about our new iteration of the Open Source Beer Project. We sweetened the deal in our newsletter last week. Anyone who comes up with the direction we ultimately proceed in will receive a Ralph Steadman-signed bottle of the 2005 release of Gonzo Imperial Porter. But just […]

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Hey folks,

I made a couple of pretty good Old Ales and they have sparked an interest in making an English Barleywine.

My Yeast Preference
I like to use the less attenuative yeast strains like 1968 and London Ale III. I tend to use these on all my English beers as I find the yeast character very desirable. If my choice of yeast does not attenuate a BIG BEER to my liking…..I can always add a fresh dose of US 05 to help attenuation after the english yeast has stopped doing it’s thing. I’ve done this before on an Old Ale with success.

Some things I’ve learned about my grist bill

Flaked Corn
Due to the less attenuative yeast strains….I usually add about 10% flaked corn to my grist to assist in getting the beers to attenuate. I know some may think adding some flaked corn is blasphemy….but I get very malty ESBs and Old Ales with this in the grist….so this is why I felt it best to continue with what I know works.

Dark Crystal
I also like using a light touch of very dark crystal malt as they seem to get me the awesome dark fruit flavors. (Simpsons 75L and Simpsons 150L)

I looked at designing great beers and the style guidelines and both talk about “a lot” of crystal malt in the grist. “Judicious” quantities of crystal malt concern me as I don’t know if this would be the right approach when using the yeast strains I would want to use.

What do you all think of my recipe? Am I on the right track?
English Barleywine

A ProMash Recipe Report
Recipe Specifics
—————-

Batch Size (Gal): 5.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 24.00
Anticipated OG: 1.110
Anticipated SRM: 13.8
Anticipated IBU: 71.3
Brewhouse Efficiency: 60 %
Wort Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Pre-Boil Amounts
—————-
Evaporation Rate: 1.38 Gallons Per Hour
Pre-Boil Wort Size: 7.06 Gal
Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.078 SG 18.79 Plato

Grain/Extract/Sugar
% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
—————————————————————————–
83.3 20.00 lbs. Maris Otter Great Britain 1.038 2
12.5 3.00 lbs. Flaked Corn (Maize) America 1.040 1
1.4 0.33 lbs. CaraMunich I Germany 1.034 35
1.4 0.33 lbs. Crystal 75L Great Britian 1.034 75
1.4 0.33 lbs. Crystal 150L Great Britain 1.033 150

Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
—————————————————————————–
3.33 oz. Goldings - E.K. Pellet 4.50 56.9 60 min.
1.00 oz. Goldings - E.K. Pellet 4.50 8.7 30 min.
0.67 oz. Goldings - E.K. Pellet 4.50 3.8 20 min.
0.67 oz. Goldings - E.K. Pellet 4.50 1.9 5 min.

WYeast 1968 London Extra Special Bitter

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If you haven’t tried our Barrel Aged Gonzo, or BAG as we lovingly refer to it as, you might get your chance soon. 35 barrels of this rare Flying Dog release will be packaged for select accounts in the coming weeks. These are pictures from our most recent barreling last Friday the 13th. Some might […]

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Last weekend while brewing I forgot to add my last hop addition. Luckily I was brewing a Saison so hopefully the mistake won’t cost me too much as far as the quality of the beer. To avoid having this happen again, I downloaded a popular brew timer as well as dug around for an old one I’ve used in the past (but could not find). After playing around, I decided to build my own since I tend to brew a little differently. Long story short, I spent a few afternoons building a timer I call the BreweryTimer.

I have yet to use it for an actual brew day so I consider it in the very early Beta stages of development. Anyone is welcome to play around with it. I will try make updates as needed (to fix bugs or add features when time permits). If anything else, I now have something I can use to avoid making mistakes.

There’s more info on a quick page I threw up - BreweryTimer - enjoy.

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