4

7/16/2008 11:39:17 PM

it's a damn good 311 song.

7/17/2008 5:30:41 AM

this is one of those threads where i'm interested in the subject matter but don't understand a word that's being said

[Edited on July 17, 2008 at 5:34 PM. Reason : .]

7/17/2008 5:33:48 PM

^ I seriously think we've found our next hobby

7/17/2008 7:39:06 PM

^^check out american brewmaster just off of capital blvd. they'll explain it all well and help you get started.

in the meantime: http://www.howtobrew.com

[Edited on July 17, 2008 at 7:42 PM. Reason : .]

7/17/2008 7:42:22 PM

^ we're both located in Gboro

is there any place around here that has the same type of goodies?

7/17/2008 7:43:55 PM

http://www.homebrew-supply.com/

Never been there, but might as well check it out.

7/17/2008 9:19:25 PM

Don't know if anyone has posted it yet but....

http://www.hbd.org/brewery/cm3/CatsMeow3.html

various different recipes for all grain, all extract, or a mixture of the two...

7/18/2008 3:48:14 PM

^^ i figured out why i've never seen this place. its in this dumpy little one story building that has "state farm insurance" written all over it.

7/19/2008 10:46:50 PM

does anyone have a wort chiller they're looking to sell or would be willing to let me borrow? yes, i do realize i could go buy one, and will probably end up doing so, but i'd much rather pick one up used or utilize the generosity of strangers

in return, i'll give you some of my beer! this will be my first batch (i've only done wine and mead before), but i'm going half/half with a coworker who's brewed a number of times (though he always used the ice bath method)

8/20/2008 4:20:45 PM

What do you all think about a plastic wort chiller?

Not ideal, for sure, but it'd be much cheaper, and I'd be able to snake it into the carboy if the temperatures are off after the pour.


Oh, and I just did a secondary fermentation for the first time tonight on some porter. Should there be any gases being released? I don't see anything.

[Edited on September 14, 2008 at 12:31 AM. Reason : ]

9/14/2008 12:28:55 AM

the secondary was probably a waste of time and effort, but I have and have not seen gas release after racking

not sure I'd want to immerse plastic tubing into my boiling hot wort...anyway, copper is much more efficient and if you're even mildly serious about brewing it's probably worth the extra expense, as your chiller should last awhile

9/14/2008 12:47:43 AM

Just opened my first bottle from a Two Hearted Ale clone.

Can't say it was very successful . Still good, though.

9/14/2008 9:44:30 AM

what do you guys think of this super (double) immersion chiller? i'm going to break down and get one, and i've heard a lot of good things about using a double (it ends up being almost exactly $100 after shipping and taxes since the place is in charlotte)

http://www.ebrew.com/wort_chillers/super_immersion_wort_chiller.htm

their hoses and connects look like they're nicer than the ones i've seen on ebay and such...i'm going half/half with a coworker, so we're thinking about the double so that if we ever decide to go do our own, we'll just cut the middle hose (so each chiller is only $50 after everything)

9/14/2008 10:08:08 AM

I bottled my first batch of ale yesterday. Hopefully it will be good. I've got some wheat beer still in primary fermentation now. I'm probably going to make some wheat beer from local grain this fall. I have made wine from local muscadines several times, and I have a few gallons of that fermenting also. Last year's wine was good, so maybe it will be good this year also.

9/15/2008 8:58:33 PM

Quote :

"I bottled my first batch of ale yesterday. Hopefully it will be good. I've got some wheat beer still in primary fermentation now. I'm probably going to make some wheat beer from local grain this fall. I have made wine from local muscadines several times, and I have a few gallons of that fermenting also. Last year's wine was good, so maybe it will be good this year also."

be careful if you are using unmalted grains in your beer as you could en up with wanted starches which are not fermentable by brewers yeast and will be a feast for bacteria.

9/15/2008 11:22:41 PM

^ a simple ^ would have been fine

9/16/2008 1:53:37 PM

^^^^I built one of those a year or so ago. It worked ok...well, pretty shitty when you compare the price. It's is much more effective to get a submersible pump and recirculate ice water through the immersion chiller in your brew kettle. Now, when you recirculate your wort and create a whirlpool as well, that's when you can chill REALLY fast. I get 6 gallons from boiling to 44 F in about 15-20 min.

9/18/2008 1:56:44 AM

What needs to get to 44 degrees?

9/18/2008 8:31:13 PM

gonna say a lager

9/18/2008 8:41:06 PM

my first ale turned out all right, and I made my second batch of wine of the year today. hopefully it will be as good as last year's wine.

9/18/2008 8:46:15 PM

home distilleries would make a better hobby for me.

9/18/2008 9:11:31 PM

I'm moving from extract to a full-mash process, anybody have any advice on a big (5 gallon batches) brew-pot that won't break the bank?

9/19/2008 10:52:52 AM

I found one of these minus all the canning supplies for $19 at Walmart.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=8033241

It's the cheapest 5+ gallon pot I could find.

9/19/2008 3:47:58 PM

any of you tried using olive oil instead of (or in addition to) aeration?

http://www.thebrewguide.com/?p=210

the thesis PDF: http://www.brewcrazy.com/hull-olive-oil-thesis.pdf

9/19/2008 3:58:02 PM

I used a big canner for my brew pot and it worked fine. The book I have says stainless or enamel is fine, but aluminum can create off flavors.

9/19/2008 4:13:24 PM

The aluminum pot issue has been argued over and over. I have brewed with Aluminum and Stainless, there really is no difference; just the price of the pot. Just take care of your equipment and you will be fine either way.

^^^^ Converted half barrel, you will most likely go to 10 gallon in the future, get something you will grow into.


I had planned to brew a pumpkin ale this weekend, but as the powers at hand would have it ... I can't find any damn pumpkin (canned or fresh) anywhere in Northern Cuba.

[Edited on September 20, 2008 at 11:55 AM. Reason : ]

9/20/2008 11:51:38 AM

we've only done one brew ... a lighter-ABV IPA with a good amount of hops. fermented for 10 days or so and then bottled and let that run its course for 2-3 weeks. turned out great. used a second plastic bucket (ale pail type) after our first to bottle.

my friend (who has been doing this awhile) recommended we secondary ferment this go-round, because our IPA this time has a lot higher gravity (we're thinking 7.5-8% ABV), and today is day 12 of primary. bubbling is few- and far-between at this point, but ...

I know the secondary fermentation debate has already happened in this thread (racking, etc) ... but we do want to move it to the second ale pail regardless - even if only to bottle tomorrow or the day after.

the problem, of course, was that after our first bottling, we kind of neglected the ale pale for a day or two. We are in the process of trying to decide, after thorough clorox treatments (3-4 ... and then a couple rinses .. doesn't smell at all) ... whether the few small stains left behind are contaminant-prone. They won't scrub off without abrasion, but they don't seem to be indentations either. Just ... stains.

My aluminum pot for boiling has semi-permanent stains, and they didnt come off in my beer or my friend's brew the first go-rounds, but I know that fermentation is a different monster.

Advice?

9/30/2008 10:12:10 PM

What are the possible negative effects of moving my brew into the secondary fermenter too soon?

It's day ~3.5, and there's still motion inside, but the bubbling is definitely slowing down. I just don't want to wait too long and pick up a bunch of off flavors.

10/15/2008 9:01:20 PM

^incomplete fermentation. acetaldehyde and other yeast by products that normally get cleaned up after fermentation.

Don't worry, leave it in there. I like to leave my beers in the primary for a week or two after the fermentation is complete to allow the yeast to finish cleaning up fermentation by products and settle out some.

You won't start to see detrimental effects from yeast autolysis that shortly. With healthy yeast, I wouldn't hesitate to leave a beer in the primary for 3-4 weeks, and I have done it.

Anyways, I'm brewing a smoked altbier tonight:

6 gallons
OG: 1.050
42.6 IBUs
15.7 SRM

5 lb rauchmalt
3 lb munich type II
3 lb vienna
0.5 lb caramunich III
0.25 lb carafa special II

Mash @ 149 F

0.9 oz Horizon (10.9 AA) - 60 min
0.5 oz Hallertauer Mittelfruh (4.4 AA) - 15 min
0.5 oz Hallertauer Mittelfruh (4.4 AA) - 0 min

Wyeast 1007 @ 59 F

10/16/2008 8:13:10 PM

Moving into a secondary to early won't do anything to your beer, it will continue to ferment if there are still fermentable sugars (provided you don't cold crash it).

Kind if negates the use of the secondary however as all you are doing is moving the beer off the initial trub. If fermentation is still occurring you will have another layer of trub in the secondary instead of just yeast falling out of suspension.

Don't rely on the activity in the airlock to determine when to move to secondary, rely on gravity readings.

[Edited on October 17, 2008 at 5:55 PM. Reason : ]

10/17/2008 5:50:21 PM

yeah. I should have waited

I racked it just before I read ^^, and lo and behold, there's already an inch of yeast in the bottom of the carboy.

I guess I'll do it over again in a week.

[Edited on October 17, 2008 at 9:37 PM. Reason : ]

10/17/2008 9:37:22 PM

I wouldn't even bother racking it again, just give it another two weeks in the secondary before bottling/kegging. Plenty of people leave it in primary for 3-4 weeks with no secondary and don't have problems with yeast autolysis. If anything you're going to have to worry more about off flavors from racking it too early and not giving the yeast time to clean up than you will waiting 2+ weeks to move to secondary or bottle.

10/18/2008 12:03:30 AM

bttt

1/12/2010 10:42:54 PM