Beer Feeds

Posted: by egy (21 hours ago)

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Posted: by Traquairlover (24 hours ago)

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Posted: by phishockey (42 minutes ago)

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Posted: by 1ofakynd (3 hours ago)

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Posted: by skawars1 (3 hours ago)

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Hi All,

I am a new extract brewer trying to put together my first ESB recipe. This is what I came up with so far:

6 lbs Pale LME (76.2%)
1.5 lb Amber DME (19.1%)
6 oz Biscuit (4.7%)

.8 oz (10AA) Target for 60
.5 oz (6AA) Bramling Cross for 15
.5 oz (8AA) Challenger for 15
.5 oz (6AA) Bramling Cross for 5
.5 oz (8AA) Challenger for 5

It would turn out a beer projected at:

OG: 1.055
FG: 1.013
SRM: 10.76
IBU: 40.7
ABV: 5.6%

I started out using some 60L (about the same as the Biscuit) but then thought that perhaps the Amber DME would provide more complexity since it contains 60L and Munich. Am I incorrect in thinking that the Amber extract could be subbed for the 60L? Would 1.5 lbs of the Amber be too much and just make it a sweet mess since it seems that its suggested that Crystal be kept to a small percentage of your recipe? If so, would I want to use about 4-5 oz of the Crystal 60L to balance out the Biscuit and Pale (assuming I would sub additional Pale to make up the difference)?

The other question I had was on yeasts. I have easy access to the WLPs. I’d like a yeast that attenuates pretty well to dry out some of the extract sweetness. I was leaning toward WLP-007 but I know folks generally seem to go with the WLP-013 London strain. Any thoughts on which works better with extract? Other strains that folks really like in an ESB?

I’m looking for this to be a bready, lightly fruity, drinkable brew.

Any suggestions on how to get thre would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

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So I don’t normally do starters but my last few batches have finished higher than expected so I’m thinking its time to jump into the game. I have a 1 gal carboy and I plan on doing a 1.2 gal starter. My question is, how much DME will be appropriate for this size? I was thiking 1lb for the half gal, but that may be way to high gravity. By the way this is a starter of WL300.

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So I was reading the George and Laurie Fix book about Viennas, Marzens, and Fest Biers, and got a good understanding of what is needed for these styles. In order to pull it off, I need some advice about how to know do the practical part of this theory I just learned. What am I going to need for a basic Mexican Vienna Style Lager? I really like the water profile in Pacifico and wondered if something like that would be appropriate. How should I measure these salts to use in distilled water? This is new turf for me so the more you can tell me the better!

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Posted: by Cfahooligan (18 hours ago)

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so here’s my recipe. just tossed her in the primary.

2-row 7.5lbs
special B .25lb
crystal 60*L 0.5 lb
black patent malt 1.25oz
12.5oz elderberry concentrate into secondary.
cascade 0.75oz 60min boil 22.7IBUs
1764 pacman yeast

OG 1.048

not too sure this bottle of elderberry concentrate will effect the beer the way i want. i’m looking for a light berry charector in my simple mild ale. feel free to judge

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Posted: by ncrossman (20 hours ago)

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Posted: by eagles22 (1 hour ago)

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Posted: by anchorsteamfan (18 hours ago)

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I had a friend weld a keg for me, but he didnt do a sanitary weld on the inside of the keg.
The outside port is welded very nicely, but there isnt a weld inside the keg - is this a big probelm?
Should I ask him to weld the inside, too?

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Kegged my ipa and it has been sitting since Satyrday with 12psi at 40 degrees and is still rather flat… does it normally take longer?

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This is for all of the yeast ranchers out there. Is anyone interested in trading slants to increase both of our selections? I have 25 strains that I maintain for my club, and I’d like have more of a variety as well as get some of the hard to find seasonal strains. PM me if you are interested.

Cheers

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Can anybody tell me if one of those funnels with the screen will filter out the cold break and other stuff from my kettle when I pour it into my primary?

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Has anyone considered using a plate chiller as a heat exchanger in a HERMS setup? I’m a big fan of plate chillers, as they are compact heat exchangers, because of there efficiency. I’ve been considering submerging my plate chiller in my HTL to perform the heat exchanging duties that a copper coil would otherwise be responsible for. Perhaps externally mounted with an additional pump.

Any thoughts?

Felix.

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I have, what I consider, an off-taste that is best described as “papery.” It gives the beer a thin/watery/oxidized taste. This is pretty consistent from batch to batch (extract and partial grain). After a brief hiatus, I’m starting the brew kettle back up and would like to eliminate this off-flavor. The two things that I am doing to attempt to remedy this problem are:

1. Using a wort chiller. I do get a bit fidgety when waiting for the wort to cool below 85. Maybe I’m mishandling the wort in that brief time frame and introducing some excess O2.

2. Campden tablets (not in a sanitizing dose). I’ve read a lot about adding them to the water before the boil (even the night before) to rid excess chlorine/chloramine. Does anybody add them to primary or secondary in small quantities?

Thanks!

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My strike temp of my water is damn near boiling due to the huge amount of grain I use. I make 10 gallons beer per batch, and use a lot of grain. I worry that my strike temp is too high. None the less, the end temp is perfect for the mashing for a about an hour.

Here’s the question: Adding the grain to almost boiling water to the point where it cools to the proper temp (fairly rapidly), will that cause any undesired effects?

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I have been given a few kegs that are still pressurized with some really old beer (the kegs have been passed off to 2 people in at least 4 years) but they are going to become brew pots for me. so the question is how do I depressurize them without a tap and without killing my self.

Thanks
Steve

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I’m planning on brewing an IPA in the next day or so using only Simcoe hops (trying for something similar to the Weyerbacher Simcoe IPA), and was curious if anyone has tried this before and how it turned out.

I’ll likely stick to a typical extract brewing schedule with the following:

7 lbs light DME
1 lb Crystal 40L (steeped)
1/4 lb light Munich (steeped)

I have 5.5 oz of Simcoe hop pellets (11.9% AA) and am mostly interested in hearing what sort of hop additions (times and amounts) folks have used and their results. Of the 5.5 oz, I plan on using 1.0 - 1.5 for dry hopping 3 days or so in the secondary.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

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If anyone is from the arlington area or has shopped at Dr. Jekyll’s Beer Lab can you let me know if you have their store hours. I cant find a website for them and nobody is answering the number on Yahoo Locals but they dont always have the best contact information. I am visiting family in Dallas and dont want to waste the 45 minute trip to check out the store just to find out that it is closed on mondays. If you are nearby the store or have a business card with their store number or hours could you send it my way. Thanks all.

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My brew stuff is undergoing a through cleaning right now.
My kettles are disassembled and all the fittings are de-taped and being boiled. I even disassembled all the transfer lines in the system and their fittings. Everything is in the boil kettle.
After the boil, I will reassemble everything and fill every nook and cranny with sanitization solution and let it sit until next brew (Saturday).
I have an indoor setup which doesn’t normally get taken down between brews.

My boil kettle through fermenter run is all sanitary (tri-clover) so I take that stuff apart everytime.
But my mash tun and HLT all have threaded connections (NPT, etc…) These connections are a pain in the ass to clean/sanitize.
Disassembly and de-taping the fittings takes many hours. Thus, I keep my MT hooked up for a couple brews in a row. After each, I clean the kettles and cycle cleaning solution and sanitization solution (for hours, but it is essentially automated). The HLT is connected for even more brews and in fact, I don’t even disassemble the pump which moves water from the HLT to the MT.

So my basic cleaning cycle is:
BK
BK, MT
BK,
BK, MT, HLT
BK…

I was just wondering if this fits in with what others are doing?

For instance, how often do you actually disassembly the lines and remove their fittings. All my line fittings have a 1/2″ barb connected to a SS quick disconnect. I noticed that small amounts of gunk can build up around those barbs and around the teflon tape separating the two SS pieces.

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Going to make up a starter tomorrow using my new stir plate. Any tips?

1. Do you boil the starter with the stir bar in the wort already, or should I sanitize and add it after I’ve reduced the heat?
2. Any tips on getting the bar out of the flask before I pitch?

Anything else I should think about?

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I drank alot of this recently in Groningen and loved it. I cannot seem to find a recipe for it. Any help would be appreciated.

Here’s a pic of one in my hand at De Drie Gezusters “The Three Sisters” in Groningen. It’s the arm from the lower left. MMMMmmmm.

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I picked up the makings for a scottish ale the other day and the local store did not have peated malt so I picked up some smoked and plan to use a little in the recipe (extract).

Here is the original recipe:
1 lb 60 l
1/8 lb black barley
1/4 lb peated
12 lb amber LME
1 oz northdown
1/2 oz fuggle
1/2 oz fuggle

Should I forget about the smoked and wait to get the peated or should I go forward but reduce the smoked amount?

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Good morning all, I have a few herbs on hand, and am itching to use them. Here they are in alphabetical order:
Yarrow 1 oz.
Wormwood 1 oz.
Nettles 1 oz.
Mugwort 1 oz.
Juniper Berries 1 oz.
Heather Tips 1 oz.
Dandelion Root 1 oz.

I picked these up just because they are unusual (for me) and they are organic.

Thanks for any input.

Felix.

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Posted: by Hanger (12 hours ago)

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I experimented and found out my on demand water heater will reach 170 degrees. I don’t have an all grain system yet, but I’m thinking of incorporating this into my system. This heater only fires at full flow so sparging may be tricky. I was thinking a bucket with many small holes in it, filling it up 1 gallon at a time, or maybe just a batch sparge. Any thoughts?

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