Been a nice past few weeks! Brewed a 4.5% Oatmeal Stout last weekend and got the materials to brew a NEIPA with Azacca, Centenntial and Comet (what I had on hand) for this weekend. Also, ordered the remaining two faucets and shanks today with two used kegs i found on sale.
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Last: 3 mo ago by Chipotlemonger
Planning on brewing tomorrow at some point. Can't decide morning or after kids go to bed
tell you what, I've started just buying kegs new. Two retailers have them for $75 online, and Black Friday they get down to $60. People want $45-$50 for used so it's a no brainer for me.Moxie said:
Also, ordered the remaining two faucets and shanks today with two used kegs i found on sale.
I got 2 in 2017 Black Friday and two in 2018. In the next few years I'll eventually replace all my used with new. It's nice having clean shiny new ones.
Got rained out halfway through tonight. Was able to finish mashing and just took the BK inside. Will boil and finish in the morning. Water volumes were dead on so far. My recipe has a late addition of a pound of honey, is there a way I can get brewers friend to account for the late addition? Right now it is saying my pre boil efficiency is 42% because it's calculating the estimated OG which has all the sugars in it. Not a big deal I guess but I need to see if I need to plan on adding some DME or not.
I also had some time this morning so I acid etched some water lines inside my kettles. It turned out well enough. It's a simple process. I will absolutely be doing it again.
Another interesting tidbit. My creamale using a second generation S05 cranked all the way down to 1.003. I was very surprised to see it that low. I didn't add anything else to it. I've read that sometimes the dry yeast will be stronger the following few generations, I also over pitched the yeast a bit because it had been in the fridge for a while.
I also had some time this morning so I acid etched some water lines inside my kettles. It turned out well enough. It's a simple process. I will absolutely be doing it again.
Another interesting tidbit. My creamale using a second generation S05 cranked all the way down to 1.003. I was very surprised to see it that low. I didn't add anything else to it. I've read that sometimes the dry yeast will be stronger the following few generations, I also over pitched the yeast a bit because it had been in the fridge for a while.
Finished up this morning. Maybe this grain wasn't crushed well? I ended up having to add 3 pounds of DME to hit my expected OG. Last beer was slightly low but I know why, this time I corrected for that but I was WAY low. Any ideas?
I didn't double check the mash temp but had the RIMS set and could hear the thermostat kicking on and off. Any ideas?
I didn't double check the mash temp but had the RIMS set and could hear the thermostat kicking on and off. Any ideas?
i've heard from pro brewers that us-05 takes a couple generations to really get going.
you've hit on the most common possibilities already. The one you haven't mentioned is the actual quantity of grain.
I'd love to understand that, because I assumed that the product in the packet is already many, many generations in the making? I may have to start saving yeast. I've resisted because my cold storage space has been limited.
9.25 pounds pale ale malt 1.25 pounds combined biscuit and crystal 20 1 pound of honey 5 gallon batch. Expected OG 1.057 actual 1.034 before I added DME. And I waited until I had completed the boil and had added the honey to take my reading and it was that low. So I added the DME to more water and boiled and added it on top and it came out where it was supposed to
I know maris otter can have crush issues sometimes. I ordered from Austin home brew and never had that much issue with their crush.
I get that I'm partly learning a new rig but I'm getting frustrated having massive swings in efficiency. Maybe I should bite the bullet buy my own mill.
I know maris otter can have crush issues sometimes. I ordered from Austin home brew and never had that much issue with their crush.
I get that I'm partly learning a new rig but I'm getting frustrated having massive swings in efficiency. Maybe I should bite the bullet buy my own mill.
Ya, that is low for that grain bill. Like you, I would be tempted to conclude the milling was inadequate. Grain mills aren't too expensive, and they can be turned with an electric or good battery powered drill. If there was a way to check the mash temp independently- but unless it's way low.....
Seven said:
is there a way I can get brewers friend to account for the late addition?
No. Brewers friend isn't sophisticated enought to handle that.
Cold crashing cream ale
Honey ale bubbling away and looking good
Birthday is this week so I bought a grain mill
Austin homebrew doing a $20 gift card on $100 dollar order
Ordered the mill and a Texas Kolsh that was one sale to get my gift card
Honey ale bubbling away and looking good
Birthday is this week so I bought a grain mill
Austin homebrew doing a $20 gift card on $100 dollar order
Ordered the mill and a Texas Kolsh that was one sale to get my gift card
awesome. It's nice to mill at home, now you can buy base grain in bulk. 50lb bags are $1/lb.Seven said:
Birthday is this week so I bought a grain mill
Austin homebrew doing a $20 gift card on $100 dollar order
Mount that mill on a cheap table with a hole in it and get yourself a motor man, make life easy
Any recommendations for gap setting on the mill? I've read the width of a credit card is about right.
Just set it large, put a few ounces of grain through, check it and close gap if needed. It needs to be crushed, but not turned in to flour.Seven said:
Any recommendations for gap setting on the mill? I've read the width of a credit card is about right.
Depends on the grain. Rye, for instance, is a lot smaller than 2 row. Always bag that separate so you can close the gap and run it through.
Mill at my LHBS is 0.038". I think I have mine set to 0.030". Go to the auto parts store and grab a set of feeler-guages that are long...these work perfect.
If your Mill is single aide adjustable find out that gap so you know if you close the other side tighter, it may be worth the effort to double le crush since part of the mill may not be tight enough. Esp if rye.
On that note, I have a JSP single sided adjustable 2 roller mill and rolling box it's mounted to for sale in Houston. I upgraded to a double adjustable mill. Has a hopper too, but it needs to be finished being built.
$50.
Mill at my LHBS is 0.038". I think I have mine set to 0.030". Go to the auto parts store and grab a set of feeler-guages that are long...these work perfect.
If your Mill is single aide adjustable find out that gap so you know if you close the other side tighter, it may be worth the effort to double le crush since part of the mill may not be tight enough. Esp if rye.
On that note, I have a JSP single sided adjustable 2 roller mill and rolling box it's mounted to for sale in Houston. I upgraded to a double adjustable mill. Has a hopper too, but it needs to be finished being built.
$50.
aTm '99
Alright, time to brew again. I'm going to brew a Velvet Hammer clone, will be my 5th attempt at it. Each time it gets closer but not close enough yet. I need some help with the malt selection.
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/769359/velvet-hammer-clone-imperial-irish-red-v5
My target ABV is about 9% - OG 1.080, FG 1.015, and last time it was too dark and too cloying (it had a toffee note I didn't like). Last time I did 3lb crystal 10L, 1.5lb crystal 20L, 6oz crystal 80L, and 6oz of roasted barley. This time I think I want to do some CaraRed to get the color. I think I finally got the hops right tho.
Some questions:
Lastly, the yeast. S-04 isn't the right yeast for this; it just needs to be a couple points drier but the estery-ness is close. Based on drinking a bunch over the year I want to say it has a decently-high attenuation, maybe 75-78%. It's also moderately-high in esters. I tweeted at Peticolas to see if they'll give me a hint, but no answer yet.
What about something like WLP 540?
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/769359/velvet-hammer-clone-imperial-irish-red-v5
My target ABV is about 9% - OG 1.080, FG 1.015, and last time it was too dark and too cloying (it had a toffee note I didn't like). Last time I did 3lb crystal 10L, 1.5lb crystal 20L, 6oz crystal 80L, and 6oz of roasted barley. This time I think I want to do some CaraRed to get the color. I think I finally got the hops right tho.
Some questions:
- Should I split the base malt into 50/50 mix of domestic 2-row pale and Irish stout malt? Not sure if the irish stout malt is at all typical for irish reds, or if it even contributes significant flavor.
- Which crystal malt to use? I'm currently leaning toward doing a mix of 10L and 40L. I think the 80L was the source of the last brew's toffee flavor.
- I'm also thinking of upping the adjunct (brown) sugar and adding some carapils to get the body. 30 pounds of grain is about all my mashtun will hold. I heard a Come and Brew It episode where Stubby said he does this on a lot of his high-gravity beers. How much carapils should I add to offset replacing 6 pounds of basemalt with 3 pounds of brown sugar? Like 3%?
Lastly, the yeast. S-04 isn't the right yeast for this; it just needs to be a couple points drier but the estery-ness is close. Based on drinking a bunch over the year I want to say it has a decently-high attenuation, maybe 75-78%. It's also moderately-high in esters. I tweeted at Peticolas to see if they'll give me a hint, but no answer yet.
What about something like WLP 540?
I always wondered if breweries just use the yeasts that we have available to us as home brewers. But the big guys have their own house yeasts?
Those white labs belgian strains are legit. Most are clones of Orval, rochefort, etc.
Those white labs belgian strains are legit. Most are clones of Orval, rochefort, etc.
That question is answered alot in podcasts. Some breweries (left hand, Rahr, Guadalupe, etc) buy new commercially-prpduced yeast for each batch, and do no re-used yeast at all. The strain may be custom or may be available on the shelf. Fermentis, White Labs, etc all contract with breweries to do this.
Other breweries (Karbach, New Belgium, Jester King) grow a fresh batch of yeast from re-used yeast for each batch. Takes a few people working full time to do this, but can be proffitable if your brewery is running 5+ 200 barrel fermenters at the same time. Has to include a quality-controll program to watch out for infections too.
I have no idea which method Peticolas uses.
Other breweries (Karbach, New Belgium, Jester King) grow a fresh batch of yeast from re-used yeast for each batch. Takes a few people working full time to do this, but can be proffitable if your brewery is running 5+ 200 barrel fermenters at the same time. Has to include a quality-controll program to watch out for infections too.
I have no idea which method Peticolas uses.
When I was at Tupps, we used Wyeast 1056 for almost everything until we switched to White Labs WLP001 (same yeast), and would reuse for 6 batches or so. You can harvest several "batches" of yeast from one tank, called yeast brinks. Basically a modified 15.5 gallon keg fitted with brewing hardware. We would usually get 1-3 brinks from each batch before you got to just beer. We would try to use them within a week. It helps to harvest when the yeast flocculates well. They do this to try and make money back on the yeast purchase.62strat said:
I always wondered if breweries just use the yeasts that we have available to us as home brewers. But the big guys have their own house yeasts?
Those white labs belgian strains are legit. Most are clones of Orval, rochefort, etc.
For the DDH series (NEIPA), they use White Labs London Fog WLP066. This yeast does NOT flocculate, at all, so we would have to get a fresh pitch of yeast every 30 bbl batch, which is part of the reason why it is $13.99 a six pack. Not to mention they dry hop at 40-50% attenuation, so the yeast would be unusable anyway.
Cool information
Honey ale to cold crash today. Texas Kolsch to brew maybe tonight or tomorrow. Cream ale ready for the tap. About to order next IPA for personal and another cream ale for a friend.
Ornlu said:
Alright, time to brew again. I'm going to brew a Velvet Hammer clone, will be my 5th attempt at it. Each time it gets closer but not close enough yet. I need some help with the malt selection.
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/769359/velvet-hammer-clone-imperial-irish-red-v5
My target ABV is about 9% - OG 1.080, FG 1.015, and last time it was too dark and too cloying (it had a toffee note I didn't like). Last time I did 3lb crystal 10L, 1.5lb crystal 20L, 6oz crystal 80L, and 6oz of roasted barley. This time I think I want to do some CaraRed to get the color. I think I finally got the hops right tho.
Some questions:
- Should I split the base malt into 50/50 mix of domestic 2-row pale and Irish stout malt? Not sure if the irish stout malt is at all typical for irish reds, or if it even contributes significant flavor.
- Which crystal malt to use? I'm currently leaning toward doing a mix of 10L and 40L. I think the 80L was the source of the last brew's toffee flavor.
- I'm also thinking of upping the adjunct (brown) sugar and adding some carapils to get the body. 30 pounds of grain is about all my mashtun will hold. I heard a Come and Brew It episode where Stubby said he does this on a lot of his high-gravity beers. How much carapils should I add to offset replacing 6 pounds of basemalt with 3 pounds of brown sugar? Like 3%?
Lastly, the yeast. S-04 isn't the right yeast for this; it just needs to be a couple points drier but the estery-ness is close. Based on drinking a bunch over the year I want to say it has a decently-high attenuation, maybe 75-78%. It's also moderately-high in esters. I tweeted at Peticolas to see if they'll give me a hint, but no answer yet.
What about something like WLP 540?
How is your fermentation temp control?
Pretty good. I ferment in buckets so it's easily portable. I move it indoors (room temp is 68F for me in february) but mostly it's in a fridge in my garage. If I need it hotter than 70F right now, ive got a barell heater but I hate using it.
Keep an eye on the temp. While it's not super boozy, at 9% the yeast could be putting off more heat than usual with a vigorous fermentation. If the temp is a little high, it could be adding some off flavors.
I remember doing a measurement early on in my homebrewing and found ambient temp at one point was like 6-7 degrees cooler than wort temp, just fyi.Ornlu said:
Pretty good. I ferment in buckets so it's easily portable. I move it indoors (room temp is 68F for me in february) but mostly it's in a fridge in my garage. If I need it hotter than 70F right now, ive got a barell heater but I hate using it.
Always good to have a means to know the temp of the wort.
Even one of these sticky thermometer strips would be better than assuming ambient.
https://www.homebrewing.org/Stick-On-Thermometer-Strip_p_7532.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=shopping&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIrpbtk-uV4AIVAp6fCh0chg1hEAQYAiABEgJfyPD_BwE
To make sure you give big beers a chance to attenuate properly make sure you're hitting it with pure O2 and possibly add some servomyces
https://www.northernbrewer.com/products/white-labs-servomyces?variant=8488337702956&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIxqDpnfSV4AIVTEwNCh0oqASLEAQYAiABEgLfYvD_BwE
This is the required zinc the yeast will need.
And I agree with the 80L, 6oz is a lot.
I'm firing up the kettles for the first time in 9+ months for a WCIPA Sat. Be interesting to see how much I've forgotten on how a brewday runs.
https://www.northernbrewer.com/products/white-labs-servomyces?variant=8488337702956&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIxqDpnfSV4AIVTEwNCh0oqASLEAQYAiABEgLfYvD_BwE
This is the required zinc the yeast will need.
And I agree with the 80L, 6oz is a lot.
I'm firing up the kettles for the first time in 9+ months for a WCIPA Sat. Be interesting to see how much I've forgotten on how a brewday runs.
aTm '99
My buckets all have those termometers on them. The original beer I'm trying to clone is a little boozy in itself. It's not noticable enough that my wife picks up on it, but all my craft-beer friends agree it's got a minor boozy flavor (or maybe it's just a smell). WLP says that 530 is best at 66 - 72.
I usually start out in the fridge, roughly 3 or 4 degrees colder than I want the fermentation to occur. After activity dies down, I may move them inside or I may leave in fridge depending on what the garage temp is. If garage is in the 40's, I'm gonna move inside. If it's in the upper 70's (as is predicted for this weekend
) I'll leave in the fridge.
Unlike some of ya'll here, I'm not convinced that a high degree of accuracy in fermentation temp is necessary, or even noticeable, to get good finished product. I've read dozens of exBEERiment articles where 10+ degrees of difference in fermentation temps is statistically undetectable in the finished beer, even by experienced beer taster. A few degrees just isn't that important. 68 plus/minus 2 degrees is good enough for me. There are just other variables I think are more important (yeast nutrition, mash temp, hop proportioning, water chemistry, etc) so I choose not to obsess over this one.
ETA: Did you know Texags doesn't parse the plus/minus symbol?
I usually start out in the fridge, roughly 3 or 4 degrees colder than I want the fermentation to occur. After activity dies down, I may move them inside or I may leave in fridge depending on what the garage temp is. If garage is in the 40's, I'm gonna move inside. If it's in the upper 70's (as is predicted for this weekend
) I'll leave in the fridge.Unlike some of ya'll here, I'm not convinced that a high degree of accuracy in fermentation temp is necessary, or even noticeable, to get good finished product. I've read dozens of exBEERiment articles where 10+ degrees of difference in fermentation temps is statistically undetectable in the finished beer, even by experienced beer taster. A few degrees just isn't that important. 68 plus/minus 2 degrees is good enough for me. There are just other variables I think are more important (yeast nutrition, mash temp, hop proportioning, water chemistry, etc) so I choose not to obsess over this one.
ETA: Did you know Texags doesn't parse the plus/minus symbol?
One of the reasons to control the variables as much as possible is so you can eliminate changes in process to accomplish two things;
Repeatability (which is much harder at the Homebrew scale)
And tweak recipies to hit deaired goal
From cleaning/sanitizing, water, yeast, temp (mash/ferment) the more stable the process is the more can be focused on recipe and hitting the desired outcome and to understand how ingredients impact final flavor.
If not that concerned, then no, precision isn't needed. I find this more true for intro Brewers who then gain more equipment over time. Beer is pretty forgiving as a whole.
Repeatability (which is much harder at the Homebrew scale)
And tweak recipies to hit deaired goal
From cleaning/sanitizing, water, yeast, temp (mash/ferment) the more stable the process is the more can be focused on recipe and hitting the desired outcome and to understand how ingredients impact final flavor.
If not that concerned, then no, precision isn't needed. I find this more true for intro Brewers who then gain more equipment over time. Beer is pretty forgiving as a whole.
aTm '99
There's no doubt you can have two different equally as good beers from different ferment temps.
But that's just it, they are different, no doubt. Temp absolutely affects flavors, but it won't give you a bad product as you seemed to imply (other than something like diacetyl, etc)
Brewers wouldn't spend such big money on temp control if temp didn't effect their final product, which they want consistent.
But that's just it, they are different, no doubt. Temp absolutely affects flavors, but it won't give you a bad product as you seemed to imply (other than something like diacetyl, etc)
Brewers wouldn't spend such big money on temp control if temp didn't effect their final product, which they want consistent.
I hear your argument constantly from other homebrewers, but then I read exBEERiment and see article after article that fail to reach statistical significance. If highly-experienced beer tasters cannot tell the difference between two beers that are fermented at 62F and 72F, I'm just not convinced that it's worth trying to dial it in to a fraction of a degree. Anything between 66 and 70 is okay with me. I've got good enough temp control to get to the center of the manufacturer's recommended range. My time (and your time too!) is better spent on concentrating on yeast nutrition and other variables that have been experimentally proven to more significantly affect final product quality.62strat said:
There's no doubt you can have two different equally as good beers from different ferment temps.
But that's just it, they are different, no doubt. Temp absolutely affects flavors, but it won't give you a bad product as you seemed to imply (other than something like diacetyl, etc)
Brewers wouldn't spend such big money on temp control if temp didn't effect their final product, which they want consistent.
That's the best part of brewing, use whatever method tastes best to you.y Ranco controllers keep it within 2F, that's good enough for me.
aTm '99
Anyone have a recommendation for my first all grain batch? Next batch I brew I will be trying all grain for the first time (I don't count my kitchen 1-gallon all grain batch in this).
I was thinking of a couple different beers, I'm not beholden to any one style of beer though: brown ale, ESB, or some good spring seasonal.
Also, I've only used liquid yeast once on a beer. When I try all grain for the first time, what's the best yeast idea: rehydrate dry yeast as I normally do, pitch some liquid yeast without a starter (I realize this is style of beer-dependent...I don't have starter equipment yet).
I was thinking of a couple different beers, I'm not beholden to any one style of beer though: brown ale, ESB, or some good spring seasonal.
Also, I've only used liquid yeast once on a beer. When I try all grain for the first time, what's the best yeast idea: rehydrate dry yeast as I normally do, pitch some liquid yeast without a starter (I realize this is style of beer-dependent...I don't have starter equipment yet).
I would stick to a basic style of beer. Definitely do a yeast starter about 3-5 days ahead of your brew day.
The only extra equipment you need for a yeast starter is an erlenmeyer flask that is at least 1.5 L to ferment your mini beer.
The only extra equipment you need for a yeast starter is an erlenmeyer flask that is at least 1.5 L to ferment your mini beer.
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