Beer Feeds

I am thinking about putting together a HERMS system and I was considering how to build a heat exchange unit for infusing heat into my mash. (I know using the HLT is a simple way to do it but id like to have tighter control than I would have managing the temp on that amount of water.)

Then it dawned on me....... I already have such a unit. Is there any reason my plate chiller cant pull double duty? Can I cirulate hot water, instead of tap, using it to heat up my wort as it recirculates thru the plate chiller and back into my mash.

~Hait.

Just getting back into brewing after a 5 year hiatus and I brewed my first batch in 5 years this past weekend using some new equipment (15 gallon polarware pot and a banjo low profile propane burner).

In the past I was just doing stove top full extract recipes. This most recent one was a partial mash (just used my boil kettle). The problem was that I blew through a full tank of propane and then 1/4 of another tank before the brewing was done. Any suggestions on what I'm doing wrong with this burner? My experience with propane burners is rather non-existant.

Wow.

brewskee

Hello everyone. If there are any homebrewers out there in the Lambertville/New Hope area, please check out the google group that I created:

http://groups.google.com/group/the-annihilated

I know that there are some homebrewers around and I thought it would be fun to get a club together to meet up, share homebrew, talk beer, etc... You know, do the things that a homebrew club does. If we can get a handful of people together who are interested I'm sure we can find a spot to meet up.

I know that there are some of you out there - the guys at River Horse told me that I'm not the first person to hit them up for yeast!

Thanks,

Tom

For sale in Lawrence, KS. 7 gallon mashtun with false bottom, NO SPIGOT. Asking $70.

So I've got my oatmeal stout sitting here and I don't have AC...it's in the 80's to 90's consistently and I'm concerned about aging it in temperatures that high. Any thoughts?

brewskee

OK, trying to get back into brewing, or at least more than I've done in the last 3 years, which was only 2 batches. I've been checking out another forum, since this one is pretty much a ghost town. Something has really caught my attention, so I thought I'd come back here, where I got so much help starting out and just see what kind of response I could get.

Back a few years ago, when I was very active here, everyone was saying that it was so much better to get the beers off of the yeast cake and trub and let them clarify and condition in a secondary. It was also my understanding that the sooner that you could transfer after primary fermentation the better. I've made some pretty darn good beers this way. Now reading on the other (much more active) forum, everyone there is preaching it's so much better not to secondary at all and if you do, it's better to let the beer sit in primary for at least a couple weeks after fermentation is pretty much complete.

Has something changed in the last few years that I missed in my absence, is it just opinion that has changed? I know I like going to secondary and then a bottling bucket because it let's the beer clear much better and makes it much easier to bottle without losing much beer and not tranferring much, if any of the trub and primary yeast to bottles/kegs. I don't have a full keg setup, but I usually use two pigs and then bottle the remainder. Maybe that's the difference, does it make much difference in the process if you're kegging or bottling?

To all,
Along with our July 4th weekend 5% sale AND $7.99 flat rate shipping, the California heat has gotton to us!

FREE CONICAL FERMENTER CONTEST!

Some lucky person is going to win a 5 gallon S/S Conical fermenter.
This is a used once demo unit we brought in from overseas, to much interest.

Conditions:
1. Place an order with a goods value in excess of $100 between July 1st and Monday, July 4th, 11:59pm pst.
2. Winner pays actual UPS ground shipping for the fermenter.

We will have a sunburned, burned out from the weekend individual that can't focus due to severe hangover, pick one of those customers at random to win the fermenter.

Complaints for not winning constitutes whining and offenders will be forced to drink a 12 pack of buttwater........ehem.....budweeser!

Matt
www.chicompany.net

You can see a pic of the fermenter here:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f41/free-s-s-c...rmenter-254580/

Tragic and heartbreaking news. For those that didn't know Ray, he was a great guy, full of life, and a strong ally of craft beer.

http://dieseldrafts.com/journal/2011/07/go...a-great-friend/

hypothetically, you are brewing a beer at OG 1.150. Sort of a how many licks does it take, kind of question.

I would like to hear the thoughts of others (you guys) before I share my guess on this. thanks

A couple of weeks ago I made a barley wine that had an OG > 1.1. After 1 week in the primary and 1 week in the secondary, the gravity is 1.074. The yeast I used was Wyeast 1968 London ESB. The other day I added a packet of dry Red Star Pasteur Champagne to the secondary in hopes of kickstarting the fermentation again. However, nothing visually is happening. What can I do to kickstart this fermentation again (assuming it is not)? Obviously it has quite a ways to go. Should I make another starter using some Champagne Yeast?

FYI, I added honey to this batch at peak krausen and I expect that may have haulted primary fermentation.

First harvest of Nugget, A and B stock.

I was buying the ingredients for an oatmeal stout and on a whim I picked up a 1oz package of Chicory Root.



I'm thinking the best way to use this would be to cold brew the chicory and add to the primary or secondary.

Any advice for how to do it or, how much to brew?

Like I said I have a 1oz package so I can probably only brew about 1 to 1.5 cups, but I could double that size after cold brewing by adding an equal volume of water to it.

The chicory is in small pieces (roughly 1/8 to 1/4" in length). Do I need to crush it smaller for the brew to work well. I could go over it with a rolling pin or put in in a baggie and hit it with a hammer.)

Thanks.

I plan on converting a Blichmann floor standing burner to NG and need a hose from the gas stub to the burner. It is 3/8 hose.

Will a Char-Broil Natural Gas Connect Kit work for this burner?



It's here at Lowes:
http://www.lowes.com/pd_206469-451-4384203...oductId=1058699

Is there a better / cheaper solution? Can I use another type of hose to feed the NG to the burner? Must I use a NG specific hose or ?

I read an article a few years ago about energy saving brewing… well now that I have a few kids under my belt, it has been harder to find the time to brew as I used to. Some of the ideas were to do a short boil and just do a two gallon wort (like most kit recipes say).

What about steeping the grains, bringing to a boil, going through the hop schedule and then at the end adding the malt? Most malt is sterile since it is in a can so could you add it at the end and not boil at all? I know this would change the sugar content but are there other things to be concerned about?

I recently started making seltzer. I noticed that when I use my tap water straight, I don't like the flavor of the seltzer.
So I started using a Britta filter. Now my seltzer tastes great--though it takes a really long time to fill a keg from a drip filter.

This got me to thinking and I bought a filter canister and a carbon filter (hopefully, this is equivalent to a Britta filter).
This is installed between my tap and my hot liquor tank.
I have a very low TDS, but I was wondering what, if any, will happen next brew when I use this filtered water?

I expect better tasting beer, but can I also expect a raise or lowering of my mash pH?

I know that water has a minimal impact on mash pH, but I will be removing *something* from the water and it might have an effect on the mash, no?

I had been getting used to salt additions in the mash given the darkness of the grains as pretty much the only factor. Do I have to start over now and recalibrate all my salt procedures?

Thanks.

I made two batches of a Sierra Pale Ale clone, with a recipe that my local brew store gave me, I bottled and let them sit in a cool dark basement for 3 weeks, the first batch-every bottle foamed like mad! It was like a geyser in every bottle! The second batch was better but still extremely foamy and over carbonated? I used 5 ounces of priming sugar in both like I always do-what happened? Any ideas? The beer itself once you could get to it, was very good and tasted like Sierra Pale...

West Coast vs East Coast brew offWest Coast vs East Coast

Ocean City Homebrew Club invites you to enter your beers in the 1st ever West Coast East Coast brew off this BJCP-sanctioned homebrew competition taking place on Sunday, November 27 2011.

(OCMHBC) Brew Week is one of the first week-long events devoted to beer, and it takes place in Ocean City Maryland. prizes will be give to Best of Show and the top (6) 1st place finishers. the best of show will win a nice engraved tear drop trophy sample showen here.

Below is for the top (6) first place winners.

Entering, Judging, Stewarding
We are on the lookout for anyone wishing to help judge or be a steward at the competition. Hotel rooms will be provided free on a first-come, first-serve basis to BJCP-certified judges. Details about the competition, including registering as a judge or steward or entering beers, are available here: http://westcoastvseastcoast.brewcompetition.com/index.php
OCEAN CITY, MD

So I was having a good brew day when my in-line aerater got clogged up. No big deal I just took my water hose and flushed it out and set the hose down... Oh wait that was my cold water for my cfc. I had about 2 gallons, of a 10 gallon batch, in the fermenter when I stopped chilling it and I'd guess about 2 gallons of 190 F wort went in the fermenter on top of the yeast cake. When I noticed it I hooked up the chiller and got it going. I put my hand on the fermenter and felt that it was still very cool at the bottom but hot as heck on top. It is a conical and I fill it from the racking port on the bottom but the temps still stratified. The temp read 120 F when it was all there but there was still a huge difference from the bottom of the vessel to the top. i decided to see if the yeast survived in the cold zone and by the next morning it was fermenting well. however, the temp was about 90 F. I guess I am about to get a solid understanding of what hot fermentations taste like.

Everyone,

If you haven't heard, Beersmith 2.0 is now available for download. Enjoy.

Here's the link:
http://www.beersmith.com

I have fermented out a black IPA. The recipe includes some dry hops. They are pellets.
I have a connical fermenter. I don't plan on transferring to a secondary fermenter.
I was wondering if I could just sprinkle the pellets into the beer in the fermenter.
Or should I use a bag? Does it matter?

Hey,
This has been one of my favorite beers to date, and thusly since it is impossible to find in RI anymore I would like to try making a clone of it. I know it is a variation of DFH 90 min IPA. Is the bottle priming the only difference between the two? What would a good recipe variation be for this brew? Hop types? Yeast strand? Can it be done?
Thanks,
Tom

Does anyone know of a good substitute for Simcoe?

Iodophor

We compare ball lock kegs and pin lock kegs and look at some of the off flavors and odors of our home brews and how to avoid them. Plus two beers tasted in the Tasting Room.

www.homebrewerTV.com

Gary

Article from the WPBA website

May 27, 2011



Taking away Wisconsin's small and medium sized breweries is like removing small farmers from this great state.

In one word - STUPID. So why is Walker letting Miller/Coors write legislation into the state budget that would tap out our delicious micro brews? The answer, and the reason why he's attacking almost every type of small and local business, is that large corporations gave mega campaign contributions.

According to the Wisconsin Brewers Guild, Wisconsin Beer brings 588,000 visitors annually, and invests millions in jobs and local communities. Local breweries purchase local grain from Wisconsin farmers, and raw materials such as; boxes, labels, cans, and glass from Wisconsin companies.

Here are the changes to Chapter 125; “Branch Legislation” Miller/Coors wants that completely overhaul the business model for a small brewer
of today, and deeply restricts the ability to operate competitively in the State of Wisconsin:

· All Wisconsin Breweries and Brewpubs will be negatively affected by losing their Wholesale and retail
licenses and the benefits those licenses provide.
· Eliminates the current option of a brewer choosing to self distribute or starting a Wholesale
distribution company.
· Eliminates a Brewers current right to have ownership in two restaurants.
· Protects (Grandfather Clause) currents Wholesalers retail licenses, while eliminating that benefit for
new start up Wholesalers.
· Unfairly burdens new Wholesalers and breweries with a requirement of 25 separate independent
retail customers before a Wholesale license can be granted.
· Eliminates the ability of Brewers to sell existing retail or wholesale operations separately from the
brewing operation.
· Eliminates current Wholesale investment in privately held Wisconsin Breweries while allowing
investment in out of state and foreign and publicly traded breweries.

The WPBA is working with local breweries to make sure Wisconsin leads the nation in micro brewing for years to come.

So I have been working on a recipe, but I am not sure what something like this would be called. The Recipe is simple, 33.333% each mead, beer, and wine.

27# Riesling Ice Wine Concentrate
27# Local Wildflower Honey
27# Pilsner

This is to be a 15 gallon batch. The basic concept was to use a common gold bar weight, 400 troy ounces (27.4285714 lbs), worth of each ingredient.

OG is estimated at 1.156.

Posted: by Cisco619 (2 days ago)

Anyone make labels for their Bottles... Probably quite a few ways to do it... Just looking for ideas... Thanks

Posted: by Blanco (5 days ago)