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Just got two 7.75 gallon SS slim sanke’s as primaries for fermetation.
I have always used 6.5 gallon glass cayboys and shook the heck out
of them for aeration. With the sanke’s I will be using filtered O2 with
a SS stone instaid of shaking (better oxygenation). Should I do this
in the kettle after cooling then transfer or after transfer in the sanke?
Does it really matter? Thanks in advance.
ehines
I just bought a small chest freezer at Costco (Frigidare). I thought 4 cornies would fit in it. Only 3. Just a little more room…
What about pushing on the sides a little to make 4 fit. How would that affect the freon lines?
Should I just settle for 3 kegs or go for the modification?
Thanks
Rory
I’ve heard people talk about controlling their chilling temps by adjusting the water flow rate, but how exactly does it work?
Will I get to lower temps if I slow down the water flow? I seems like slowing the flow down a little would mean that the water is in contact with the wort longer and greater heat transfer could take place. Is that correct?
I don’t do lagers (so far) so I only need to get my wort to Ale pitching temps. It’s no problem at all right now, but when It gets hot out it gets more difficult.
I’m fairly new to brewing and was needing some info from some experienced brewers. I have never brewed an oatmeal porter or stout and would greatly appreciate some info on it. I am an ectract brewer currently,so keep that in mind. Also, does it have to be lagered or can I do it like I do my ales? Thanks for any input.
Last week I was excited to be entering a pale ale into my first homebrew competition. Not knowing it was illegal to mail beer I proudly anounced the contents of my package at the post office and was quicky told I wasn’t allowed. I went to UPS and not being one to think quickly when asked about what I was mailing I said “clothes.” I got a call from UPS a couple days later saying my package was damaged and bottles had broken and they wern’t going to reimburse me for the beer because it’s illegal to ship beer.
Dissapointed I’m hoping my Choc Stout will be ready to send off to NHC at the end of the month.
What do you guys tell the post office when shipping beer? I’ve heard olives, pickles, pottery etc. so they are alittle more careful with the packages. I was thinking of telling them it was a stool sample so I know it would be handled with care, not sure if it’s legal to ship that though.
I’m brewing a ginger saison, which would work best crystallized or fresh ginger root?
I’ve got 1 beer left in my current plan, then after that I need to figure out what I am going to do with the new yeasts I have just got.
I have Thames II (Wyeast 1882), and Essex (WLP022) and a Belgium (WLP550).
I would like to start a run of 5 or 6 beers with each of the Belgium and one of the British Yeasts. I haven’t put any thought into it yet, and thought I would ask for ideas. I do partial mash, but have no problem mashing 6 lbs of grains for a batch, and get better than 80% efficiency. I have a pretty good selection of grains and can get others. I use Briess light LME or Briess Wheat LME to make up the balance.
Off the top of head, I’d probably do a regular ale/bitter, followed by a Pale Ale, IPA, and then go dark, stout and porter, and then higher gravity to maybe an RIS to finish off. Just got to fill in the details.
I really haven’t found a Barley wine thatr I like, but not averse to trying anything.
Any suggestions for beers that go well with these yeasts?
Legislation dealing with homebrewing beer has been introduced. As in every state, the La. Alcohol and Tobacco Control Law states that you cannot manufacture or distribute alcohol without a license or paying taxes. However, most states have language listing homebrewing up to a certain level (usually the federally approved level) as an exception. Unfortunately, the Louisiana law has no such exception. Our only protection has been a State Supreme Court case from 1944 that overturned a conviction dealing with 4 bottles of homebrew.
HB503 (http://www.legis.state.la.us/billdata/stre….asp?did=684299) has been filed and this bill makes homebrewing explicitly legal up to 100 gallons for a single adult or 200 gallons per year for a two adult household. This bill also makes it legal to transport and serve homebrewed beer up to certain levels at festivals, conferences, competitions, club meetings, and even just going to a friends house. We feel that this legislation is vital to create an environment where the hobby can grow in this state.
The legislative session begins on Monday, March 29th, and the bill has been assigned to the Judiciary Committee. What we need to do now is to let the members of the Committee know that residents of the state feel that this bill is important and should be read by the Committee and approved for a full House vote. To do this, we all need to contact the Judiciary Committee chair, Rep. Cedric Richmond, and recommend that HB503 be added to the Committee agenda at their earliest meeting. Of secondary importance, contacting other members of the Committee will also be helpful by letting them know that we support this bill. Phone calls to the Representatives secretary during normal business hours are most effective. The phone calls are quick and easy, and should include a statement in your own words mentioning that you would like to see the bill on the agenda at the Committees earliest meeting and that you support approval of the bill for a floor vote. I will keep everyone updated about our progress as well as when to contact their representatives for the next step.
It is up to us to help move HB503 through the process, so please take a few minutes to place these calls and encourage anyone who you think would be supportive to do the same. Out of state calls are not effective, so lets limit this to voters in Louisiana.
Judiciary Committee Members
Cedric Richmond (504)242-4198, larep101@legis.state.la.us
Neil Abramson (504)275-8051, abramson@legis.state.la.us
Patrick Connick (504)371-0240, connickp@legis.state.la.us
John Bel Edwards (985)748-2245, edwardsj@legis.state.la.us
Franklin Foil (225)342-6777, foilf@legis.state.la.us
A B Franklin (337)491-2320, franklina@legis.state.la.us
Rickey Hardy (337)262-2598, hardyr@legis.state.la.us
Joe Harrison (800)935-2081, harrisoj@legis.state.la.us
Walker Hines (504)756-4675, hinesw@legis.state.la.us
Rosalind Jones (318)362-5476, jonesr@legis.state.la.us
Walt Leger III (504)556-9970, legerw@legis.state.la.us
Nick Lorusso (504)483-4711, larep094@legis.state.la.us
Nickie Monica (985)652-1228, monican@legis.state.la.us
M.J. “Mert” Smiley, Jr. (225)698-9694, larep088@legis.state.la.us
Ledricka Johnson Thierry (337)948-0369, thierryl@legis.state.la.us
Mack “Bodi” White, Jr. (800)408-9764, larep064@legis.state.la.us
Just wanted to hear some input from you guys on fermentation times for an Oktoberfest ale. Times and methods 
Posted: by earthboundagain (23 hours ago)
Okay, me again…new to brewing.
On my second batch (summer wheat…getting ready for mowing season) and I’m looking for input on how long to leave my beer in the primary. Papazian says to get it off the yeast cake within one to two weeks while Palmer says that two weeks should be the standard. Any other willing to chime in?
I’m new to homebrewing and my first batch “Scotch Ale” was bottled into 12 oz bottles. On opening after a couple of weeks of bottle conditioning, the carbonation seems to be inconsistent from bottle to bottle. I primed in the bottling bucket prior to adding the beer. Did I do something wrong or is this a normal issue?
I’m brewing a Belgian Tripel and listened to the Jamil Show podcast on brewing this style. The show recommended that I add the cane sugar (my recipe calls for 3 lbs.) a few days into fermentation to allow the yeast to consume the more complex sugars first. I’ve also heard that adding large quantities of sugar to a fermentation all at once can increase osmotic pressure and bring fermentation to a halt.
Thus, my question is whether to add all three pounds of cane sugar at once or dose it incrementally over a few days? If so, what sort of increments would you recommend?
Thanks in advance.
Im in the process of purchasing an aquarium pump for aeration. Do I need to use a Stainless Steel diffusion stone such as the ones northern brewer sells, or can I just use a standard aquarium diffuser and inline filter that I know fits the smaller size tubing that the aquarium pumps use.
Do the SS diffusion stones fit the standard aquarium filter hosing?
I’m planning on brewing 10 gallons of american barleywine on friday. I have a yeast cake of wlp004 from an irish red. What are thoughts on using the yeast cake for the barleywine?
I’m thinking of upgrading my stuff as its kindof chinsy, is this pot large enough for full boils 5 gallons? Seems like a good deal for $60.
7.5 (30 Qt) Gallon Stainless Steel Stock Pot with Lid
7.5 gallon stainless steel kettle with lid. This is the perfect size for extract brewing and intermediate brewing and is made of heavier and thicker stainless steel than most smaller stock pots. Plus, receive a gift certificate for 50% off Learn To Brew’s Recipe Formulation Computer Program with the purchase of this stock pot. This computer program will allow you to take creativity into your own hands and help you design beer sure to impress any enthusiast.
or I also saw this one:
Bayou Classic 1044 44-Quart Stainless-Steel Stockpot with Vented Lid for $87.80 with free shipping?
Which one do you think is best? Thanks.
Posted: by firkinhophead (19 hours ago)
Posted: by jneiswender (21 hours ago)
Posted: by Beertotable (1 day ago)
I am getting ready to build a counterflow wort chiller, but I’m not sure if I should use 20-25′ of either 3/8″ or 1/2″ O.D. copper tubing.
Is there an advantage of using one size over the other?
If using 1/2″, would it be best to use 3/4″ rubber hose rather than 5/8″?
My keggle has a 1/2″ full port ball valve that I would connect the CFC. I have yet to purchase a march pump and I’m concerned that the flow volume would be restricted using the 3/8″OD tubing.
Thanks in advance,
Normand
Note:
Copper tubing dimensions
3/8″ O.D. has a 1/4″ I.D.
1/2″ O.D. has a 3/8″ I.D.
Brewing a couple of kits today - Raspberry Wheat and Dark Cherry Stout. They both come with fruit extract to be added at bottling. Anyone have an idea of what would be a good amount for a standard 5 gallon batch. Both are all grain if that makes a difference. Thanks for any tips!
Been busy with life and just haven’t had time to brew. My girlfriend was out of town and I wasn’t feeling like yard work 
so I called up a buddy and we decided to do a 10 gallon batch and split it. To get me in the mood, I picked a very easy recipe that always turns out great. I call it an Orange Cherry Hefe, but it’s really just a modification of the Blood Orange Hefe from Extreme Brewing.
Anyway, just thought I’d share 
Edit: was going to add a pic
I am a farirly new brewer switching to all grain. So I decided to start by getting my water analyzed. Here it is:
pH 8.7
TDS 185
Electrical Conductivity .31
Cations/Anions 2.8/2.7
Na 17
K 3
Ca 25
Mg 9
Total Hardness 100
No3 Safe
SO4 9
Cl 32
CO3 6
HCO3 59
Total Alkalinity
Now I know this is not everyone’s favor topic but I am really hoping that somebody with some good knowledge chimes in here because I am totally confused by a couple things.
At first glance it is like OK I have pretty reasonably soft water - pretty well balanced with not really a ton of anything in it.
I think I can adjust this to just about anything with some salts. Chloride to Sulfate is a little high more most (if not all) styles but that can be fixed too.
The pH has me completely baffled and worried. Doesn’t pH normally correlate with total hardness? Now I know it is maybe not a direct, predictable relationship but I expected it to make some sense together. I would have expected a pH of 7.5 - 7.8 given the rest of the water profile.
Anyone have any thoughts on this specifically or guidance for me in general as I start to adjust my water for all grain.
Also, I am in Crystal, MN in case anyone else is around there and wants to comment on if there water profile looks anything like this or if there is something just blatently wrong here.
Thanks!
Just made my first very own CFC and couldn’t be more pleased. Although I must say I’m thinking of adding a pump rather than use gravity as it does not run very fast took about half an hour to drain 10 gal. I used 3/8″ copper and a rubber garden hose 20′. Got it down to 70F. I was previously using a s.s. 25′ immersion chiller I had purchased which worked ok in the middle of winter but now that the temps are moving up I needed something a bit better. I think I’m going to use the Immersion chiller inline with the CFC and do an ice bath and see if that doesn’t help!
Posted: by rawhydes1 (4 hours ago)
I was able to convince the SWMBO that the prospect of buying a 20g Blichmann BoilerMaker would be an incentive for me to get rid of all my obsolete/unused brewing equipment I’ve accumulated since starting as a kitchen extract brewer in the mid-90s through partial mashing to now, 10g all-grain batches. Besides, selling off the old stuff would also generate the money necessary to buy this expensive toy.
Anyway, today is the first brew session, and I’ve got to say that it has really improved my brew day, making it easier and quicker. Easier because I can use the sight glass/level guage to allow pushing my brewing water through my filter and directly into the kettle rather than pouring into a bucket, multiple times to get the necessary mash and then sparge water. Much easier on this old man’s back, and probably more accurate. The level guage will probably be the biggest improvement as I have been too lazy to create a way in my old keggle to measure volumes accurately. So that’s something I like. I now know I have 13 7/8 gallons of India Pale Ale boiling AND I can measure my evaporation loss so I can do a better job on recipe formulaton (I use BeerSmith).
I also believe that the pot heats faster than my keggle. There’s more surface area on the bottom, so I believe I’m reaching temps much faster.
The BoilerMaker is much easier to clean than my keggle AND it’s able to drain much more liquid before drawing air.
So far, I’m real happy with my purchase. Yes, it’s expensive, but aren’t we worth it?
I was just wondering what everyone has as their house brews. What is your personal favorite recipe to brew, either to keep always on hand, or as a seasonal favorite? I’m just wondering what styles and adjuncts people tend to like in their home brews.
The beer line is leaking at the connection to the shank. Any suggestions? My wife will not be happy with a sticky extra fridge. Will keg lube help? The system is currently running at 10 psi but I have not put everything back in the fridge.
Thanks
about to take the plunge into AG and was wondering about hi temp hose for sparging? is it needed? should it be food grade? and where do you guys get yours from? my LHBS doesnt sell any and didnt have much in the way of advice.
So my first lager came it at 1.035 I fermented at 52 f with WLP840 American Lager Yeast. I let it go for two weeks and bumped it up 64 for another week. After which I slowly brought it down to 33 over the course of another week. I am just starting to smell it throwing off sulfur, and there is definitely still activity. Should I have primaried longer, will this effect my FG much?
