Beer Feeds

Posted: by ChadQuest (10 hours ago)

Read the rest of this entry »

So I need to build a 2 tier brew sculpture. Something handle keggles, for 10 gallon batches. I am trying to figure out what would be the best steel to use. Is any mild steel more user friendly than another? (angle iron v.s. square tubing)
What is most cost effective?
What sizing of steel?
Any advice is welcome.
As you can tell, this welding thing is new to me. Just trying to make it work….
Cheers!!!

Iam thinking of something like this, from Slo Brewer

Read the rest of this entry »

OK…Force carbed a keg of ordinary Bitters…out of room in my fridge…it’s carbed & pressurized…how long can I keep it at room temp?
Thanks

Read the rest of this entry »

I’m looking for larger a storage tanks for my RO filter system. I’ve got the Whirlpool system that you can pick up at lowes just because I like being able to pick up filters and things locally. My current tank has a 1/4″ MPT. I found a 14gal tank online that has compatible fittings, but I’m not sure if these tanks are generally interchangeable between brands. 14gal would be perfect because that’s a bit more than I typically need on a brewday.
What is everyone else doing? Just living with the small stock tanks that come with these things or upgrading?

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: by rwf08 (12 hours ago)

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: by mlyford83 (16 hours ago)

Read the rest of this entry »

I made a milk stout as a base to build on with chipotle peppers and some Ghirardelli chocolate…..but I didn’t read this board before making it. It appears that most people added the chocolate and peppers to the boil. I still haven’t added them and am about ot transfer the beer to a secondary tomorrow.

I was going to make a small tea with the peppers and melt the chocolate down and add them both to the secondary to try and limit losing those flavors earlier in the process.

Is this just going to ruin a good milk stout or is there a key to it? (I.E use less of the additions than you might normally, use more, etc.)

Read the rest of this entry »

OK, so my brew buddy and I have now attempted two separate batches with Wheat as a significant ingredient. First, the SWMBO slayer here: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f71/swmbo-slay…n-blonde-26599/. Second, a well-regarded Hoegaarden clone here: http://www.beertools.com/html/recipe.php?view=3019.

Both times, OG and FG were in the range expected. With the first, I used WY1214, and I can’t remember what my buddy used, although I thin it was 1099. With the Hoegaarden clone, we both used WY3944.

Both are absolutely disgusting. Very dry, stale, bready, and bit of formaldehyde is the best way to describe the flavor. I cannot drink it, and there are very few things indeed that I cannot drink.

We’ve made some outstanding brews in the short period we’ve been brewing. He even won an award with a DFH clone. But these problems with wheat beers are driving me nuts. We are at the point where we suspect that our LHBS has some kind of problem with their wheat (although we used primarily malted wheat in the first recipe, and primarily flaked in the second).

You guys have any troubleshooting tips at all with this problem of ours?

Many thanks in advance.

Read the rest of this entry »

I use a Gott 10 gallon cooler for my mash tun and I have traditionally just mixed the mash on strike and let it sit for the allotted time before starting to sparge.

I was recently given a laboratory mixer and a large stainless steel paddle that would give me the ability to stir the mash constantly.

Every professional brewer I work with doesn’t bother with this step and I haven’t heard of anybody doing this.

Is this recommended? I assume it will raise my efficiency. Am I facing problems with astringency or anything if I try this?

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: by BetweenTheLions (12 hours ago)

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: by BetweenTheLions (13 hours ago)

Read the rest of this entry »

Hello all,

After a prolonged absence from brewing,6 months. I’m getting ready to jump back in head first. My question, I have a batch which was brew with US-05 that has been in secondary for 6 months. the air temp on the room it is stored in is about 65 deg. I will be bottling this batch, Will I need to add yeast to the priming solution
Thanks

Tom

Read the rest of this entry »

I have made the Chocalte Jitters (minus coffee) and have had it in the secondary for two weeks and a day now. I was going to bottle yesterday but have been too busy and no extra hands. I plan to bottle now next weekend. Will just proceeding as usual be ok or do I need to take an extra step so the priming sugar can carbinate?

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: by earthboundagain (2 hours ago)

Read the rest of this entry »

http://www.washingtonbeer.com/cbf.htm

sorry i dont know how to do the fancy link thing…

ill be there with my Girfriend. she bought me the tickets anyone els going?

Read the rest of this entry »

I just finished a kegerator project and I’ve got 3 Corney Kegs and they have the typical soda type aroma to them yet.

What’s the best way to get the aroma out? I don’t want to use soap due to the negative affect it has on head retention. Was thinking about using some TSP rinsing them out.

Any suggestions?

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: by tiffanya (20 hours ago)

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: by gnemesis (44 minutes ago)

Read the rest of this entry »

Not sure if it is me or the recipe, could a couple of you guys take a look?

9.00 lb of UK Pale Ale Malt
1.00 lb of German CaraMunich I
0.50 lb of German Melanoidin Malt

1.5 oz of Cascade and .5 oz of Saaz hops

1 vial of WLP002 English Ale yeast

I mash and let rest at 154 for 60 and mash out at 170. I boil and add 1 oz of Cascade at 60, then .5 oz of Cascade and .5 of Saaz at 15. I add 1 oz of Irish Moss and 1 capsule of Servomyces. I let it go 2 weeks in the primary and 2 weeks in secondary - it sits at 70 degrees. I use Arrowhead Mountain Spring water and measure the PH at 5.4. I add pure oxygen for a minute to minute and a half before pitching yeast. Pretty sure my sanitation is OK.

It ALWAYS has a bike tire, rubber smell and I can’t deal with that. Recipe calls for WLP009 Australian Ale but I can never find it and was advised that English Ale was a good substitute.

Thanks for any advice!!!

Read the rest of this entry »

I only can tell a handful of flavors. Any reference on how to tell others or signs of others? Hoping I don’t have to attend a class on it, but I would if it would help! Thanks guys!

Read the rest of this entry »

I just recently graduated with a B.S. in Applied Engineering. I’ve been thinking for the last few years that when I had the time and the money, that I would like to design and build my own vending systems that would sell something other than the usual sodas and snacks, but I haven’t really decided yet what I would like to sell.

In the last year or so, the only LHBS in town closed up shop due to the fact that the owner felt he wasn’t making enough money for it to be worth his time, and I guess hiring one or more employees wasn’t a practical option either. An automated system would have a few advantages here:

1.) No one has to be present during hours of operation, only re-stocking and maintenance.
2.) The novelty of it may draw attention and get people interested.
3.) I could operate several of them by myself within, say, a 100 mile radius. This could be expanded by hiring part-time interns from local colleges and universities with an engineering program to re-stock and perform maintenance.

There are also some disadvantages:

1.) There will be no one there to up-sell, or give advice.
2.) Unless I take special measures (verified membership accounts), the machine won’t be able to tell a 9 year old from a 90 year old.
3.) The machine needs to be reliable, and any breakdowns will need to be repaired quickly.

I thought I’d run the idea by you guys and see what you thought. One thing I’m trying to decide is what items I would carry in my starting inventory. I don’t want to go too crazy starting out. I’m thinking (retail value) maybe $3k worth of stuff. I should probably carry at least the basic equipment, say, a typical starter kit (e.g. I have a true Brew Gold Kit) and all the items in the kit sold separately. Also, the most common malts, extracts, yeasts and hops. These all have a limited shelf life, so I’m thinking it would be best to just refrigerate all ingredients. I’ll also need an automated system for cracking grains.

I’m no expert brewer myself, but my brother has quite a bit of experience, and has read several books, and done a few all-grain recipes.

So anyway, whaddaya think?

Good idea? Bad idea?

Comments? Suggestions?

Read the rest of this entry »

Hi all,

my new house is about to be build and i’ll be converting part of my 12′x24′ garage to a brewery. I have some concerned regarding ventilation. I don’t want to brew with any door open. There must be someone brewing electric who could give some pointers regarding what to buy. I’ll be doing 5g batch mainly but I will soon switch to a 10g system.

Anyone can help ? Pictures are more than welcome !

Jo

Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve written many times about a winy flavor/aroma in some of my beers of late.
I think I figured it out the cause with help from this forum.

About a month ago, a suggestion was made for me to krausen a “sour” keg.
I had saved two sour kegs for experimentation.
I figured I’d just remove one of them from the kegerator, let it warm up to ambient temp (70 deg F), and see if the yeast would rouse and referment the beer. If that didn’t work, I was going to krausen it.

So I removed one keg from the kegerator and kept the other one as a control (they both tasted the same 1 month ago–same problem).
During the month, I vented the warm keg every few days. About 4 days ago, there was less pressure, so I put the keg in the kegerator and hooked it up to CO2. Last night I tasted the beer. It is awesome. Rich and delicious. It has some diacetyl that wasn’t there before, but the off-flavor is completely gone. It tastes like a lightly green beer that will age to greatness.

So, this is my theory:

The off flavor is aldehyde, which can add a sherry-like flavor to beer. This is the flavor that tasted winy to me.
It is in the beer because I wasn’t fermentating it out all the way. I made two mistakes: 1) improper rousing of the yeast, 2) fermentation at too cold a temerature.

Improper rousing: I hydrated 1 package of US-05 per 5 gallons of wort (usually 15, so 3 packs). I would boil a flask of water, then cool it to 60 deg F before adding the yeast. I did this up to 4 hours before pitching into the wort. I read recently on this forum that I should be hydrating for 15 minutes at 80 deg F. My procedure essentially killed off most of the yeast that I put into the flask. So in effect, I was underpitching by the time the yeast were pitched.

Then I fermented at too low a temerature, mostly because I could. I got my current system about 2 years ago. I have progressively been lowering the temp batch after batch. I did this in an effort to reduce ester production. So I’ve evolved to fermenting at 63-64 deg F. My conical can keep this temp under any ambient conditions.

I now believe this low temperature coupled with under pitching resulted in lethargic yeast that ended up going to sleep before completing their job, leaving the aldehyde behind.

The ferment would continue for 3-4 days, then peter off. Then I kept the beer in the fermenter for a couple weeks, thinking that it was cleaning up. After that, I racked and immediately put the keg in the kegerator. The beer never had a chance to warm up at all from the boil kettle to the serving keg.

By removing the keg from the kegerator and letting it warm up last month, I roused the remaining yeast. They scrubbed the beer and fixed the issue. I’m hoping the diactyl is a result of the closed second fermenation?

Ultimately, the change will be to slowly raise the temperature, in the fermenter, after fermentation subsides. I’ll probably raise it to 72 deg F over a couple of days. Then I’ll hold it there for an additional week. I’ll dump the trub before beginning the temperature ramp.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: by cheezdawg (20 hours ago)

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: by JohnCLT (22 hours ago)

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: by AshPiper (15 hours ago)

Read the rest of this entry »

I usually always do a full boil. I boiled a Scaldis Noel clone however that had a recipe that directed me to do a partial boil and then add the partially cooled wort to cold water to make 5 gallons. When i took my OG measurement it was only 1.082 vs the 1.10 or so I expected. Would doing a partial boil and adding to cold water vs a full boil have any effect on the original gravity? Thanks

Read the rest of this entry »

Who’s competing? Any successes/surprises? I just submitted four entries to my first competition. One of the beers I don’t even like, but other people love it…I guess we’ll see.

Read the rest of this entry »

I was looking at the local H2O report a few days ago and it read as follows…

Calcium - 28
Sulfates - 58
Magnesium - 12
Sodium - 61
chloride - 75

It seems like a softer version of Dortmund…any suggestions on how to simply alter the H2O profile to better fit other style profiles?

I was thinking about starting to use bottled spring water again….

Read the rest of this entry »

I have never done a yeast starter before but someone picked up a bunch of stuff from the LHBS and instead of getting me 2 three lb bags of Light DME they got me 2 one lb bags so I figure I may as well just get the 2 three lb bags on Friday and brew everything up Monday since I will not have the kids around and the Irish red will be ready to bottle in about 2 weeks from today so i figure brew it up on Friday and leave it in the primary for about 10 days then l can bottle the Red and drop the Taphouse in the secondary for about 3 weeks and i will have way to much beer in the house, but then I am holding a get together on the 10th so i should be back down to a reasonable level of beer soon.

So on with the question how much DME should I use and how much water should I boil to make about 3/4 of a gallon starter. I am using a WY001 American ale yeast for this brew. Then what do i do to keep it viable for the next beer. Thanks
Steve

Read the rest of this entry »