haha awesome i love it.

what are recommendations for introducing oxygen into the carboy during racking the wort in the carboy? i've read that pouring it and letting it violently splash inside really doesnt do a good job of getting the oxygen needed for yeast cell reproduction.

i have seen some with fish tank pump (airstone) that is used during that racking process. is this a valid technique?

11/9/2010 3:45:44 PM

You don't need to go to all that trouble. Just swirl the carboy for a minute or so. Rough splashing is not good for the wort, but swirling and gently introducing oxygen into the wort is ok. There are some people though that go to the trouble of using pure oxygen instead of regular air to somehow insure no wild yeast is introduced, but I've never had problems with off-flavors. ^although both methods will work, the only real benefit is the fermentation will finish sooner

Quote :

"RDWHAHB. Relax Don't Worry, Have A Homebrew."

THE home-brewing motto.

[Edited on November 9, 2010 at 3:57 PM. Reason : .]

11/9/2010 3:51:03 PM

^^yeah i wouldn't worry about introducing oxygen at this point. especially if you are doing a partial boil and topping off with water at the end. Adding oxygen really comes into play with all-grain or extract full boils because the entire volume of wort is boiled and depleted of it's oxygen. with partial boil extract brewing that cold water you are topping off with has oxygen in it. Top off, swirl or splash around for a minute or so and you are good to go.

11/9/2010 4:23:32 PM

quick question...i have a 30quart pot to boil the wort in...it is steel but i dont know if it is stainless or not. it is brand new. can i use this?

11/9/2010 8:24:19 PM

yeah, you can brew with that

regarding aeration, for years I've been doing nothing but roughly agitating the cooled wort once in the carboy for a couple minutes, in various boil volumes, with no issues so far

Then again, I haven't brewed anything over about 8 percent ABV - proper oxygenation becomes much more important with higher ABV beers. And from what I've read, in certain circumstances insufficient aeration can stress the yeast and cause production of off-flavors.

introducing oxygen is typically considered to be bad on the hot side (before cooling the wort post-boil) and post primary fermentation

[Edited on November 9, 2010 at 9:12 PM. Reason : a]

11/9/2010 9:00:13 PM

Recipe of the Month from the Brew Hut:

Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout
6 lbs. Light LME
3/4 lbs. Flaked Oats
(Toasted on a cookie sheet at 325 dF for 75 minutes, turning every 15 minutes, prior to steeping)
1/2 lb. English Medium Crystal 55-60
1/2 lb. English Chocolate
1/4 lb. English Roast
1&1/2 oz. Kent Goldings (60 minutes)
Irish Ale Yeast: WLP004, Wyeast 1084, Windsor, Safale S-04

11/10/2010 1:18:30 AM

i am in my primary fermentation stage now. here's a couple of things that i ran into when i did my 1st run:

1) I boiled the water at 212F, took of heat and added malt extract and pellet hops. I dissolved and then returned to boil and reduced foaming.

2) (and this is where i fucked up because i can't read directions lol)...Instead of letting it boil for 30 mins, i added the 2nd can of malt extract and 1oz hops pellets about 7 minutes after the 1st boil. Repeated process for reducing foaming.

3) I let this boil for 33 minutes, while stirring occasionally

4) When my carboy was prepared with 2.5gal cool water inside, I essentially racked my wort into the carboy and gently stirred around to introduce oxygen. I also let tubing sit about 3" above water level to create some splashing. There was residual hops inside the brewpot that had not dissolved fully. I think this is called the "trub", and i decided not to pour it into the fermenter. I know this could some kind of effect, but I'll just learn as I go and figure it out.

5) I took temperature reading of 80F and took hydrometer reading of 1.05OG by siphoning a small volume of liquid into container, making sure to sterilize siphon. This matched up pretty well to what my target OG was.

6) After sprinkling in yeast, i let it sit for about 8 minutes, until I and swirled around and splashed and capped the carboy with the airlock.

Right now, i have fermentation at approximately 120bubbles/min. I don't know how this compares but as long as I'm fermenting, i am happy!!! Temperature inside my closet is 70F.

Couple of "what the hell's" but, hey...RDWHAHB.

[Edited on November 10, 2010 at 8:58 AM. Reason : .]

11/10/2010 8:33:57 AM

sounds like you did pretty well. your hop addition schedule may cause a different taste, but you already have evidence that you've successfully made beer with hitting your starting gravity and fermentation has begun.

Just remember, bubbles are a sign the yeast is active but don't assume that's always the case. Some yeast strains are showoffs, blowing big krausen and making the airlock go to work. Other strains are more subtle and you may think they are sluggish because they aren't filling the top of your fermenter with krausen but trust me, if your temps are consistent and you pitched correctly they are fast at work. It's fun to watch the fermentation happen but trust me on this, don't go tinkering with anything for at least 2 weeks. just watch it and let it do it's thing (unless you have a spill then of course clean it up) but after two weeks primary fermentation should be complete and you can take a gravity reading. don't rush this part!





Add. I know i said i was gonna start trying to develop my own recipes but I think i'm going to buy Jamil's book "Brewing Classic Styles" which has some 80 recipes based on the recognized BJCP style guidelines. I've read tons of stories of people who have won homebrew competitions from this book because the recipes are dialed in on what that particular style of beer is supposed to look, smell, and taste like. I think i'll like this path better, being able to gain an understanding of the traits of the different styles and what ingredients cause those traits instead of just saying "oh i think i'll brew random stout A. next time"

11/10/2010 9:28:51 AM

^you think i should let it sit in primary for 2 weeks?

per the instructions, it reads

Quote :

" Over the next 24 hours fermentation should begin, and you’ll see bubbling through the airlock. Fermentation should continue for 48-72 hours, and then cease as settling begins. · Allow the beer to settle for 3-4 days after fermentation ceases (no more bubbles in the airlock). Generally, you’ll be ready to bottle a week after beginning fermentation."

what do you recommend? an extra week to settle?

[Edited on November 10, 2010 at 10:10 AM. Reason : .]

11/10/2010 10:10:02 AM

it's not going to make a big difference, really...leaving it sit on the trub for a long time will give it off flavors, but the difference between 1 and 2 weeks won't matter overmuch

that said, if it calls for a week and you have time, rack into secondary after a week

11/10/2010 10:21:27 AM

i say two weeks in the primary at the least. long periods on the yeast cake will introduce amylase, but we're talking months here. an extra week will only allow the yeast to settle more, to continue their work and fight off-flavors, and clear the beer.


this goes back to what I mentioned earlier, secondaries over the last year or so have began to be considered old school thinking and not as necessary as they once were (unless adding extra ingredients after primary of course). I will in no way say that i am the authority on this, but i've pretty much taken this hobby and ran with it over the last 10 months and have spent a lot of time reading. For some great info just go to homebrewtalk.com and search. you'll find enough discussions on any topic to fill a day of reading.

My most recent batch went 2 full weeks in the primary, 1 full week in a secondary carboy (added vanilla bean extract here), then bottle.

11/10/2010 10:38:40 AM

well it completely depends on the recipe on time, you can't really say 1 week will work for every brew, or 2 weeks. the reason for the instructions saying after bubbles stop, is because that's really the only sign you have that fermentation is nearing completion. and in terms of secondary i find it important for lighter ales even if you don't add anything because i believe it does help clear it more, if the style of course calls for it.

Quote :

"Jamil's book "Brewing Classic Styles""

a homebrewers "must have" in their library

11/10/2010 10:50:52 AM

secondaries are much more necessary for making homemade wine since the amount of must is generally more than the amount of trub in making beer

i like racking to a secondary if for no other reason than it gives me a cleaner, clearer beer without requiring the addition of clarifiers...my last pale ale, after sitting for a month in the bottles, was almost entirely clear with very little sediment

it's certainly not necessary, though

11/10/2010 10:55:01 AM

I want to brew a recipe I found, but its an all grain. I want to do an extract.
Grain: 4.00 lb. American 2-row
5.8 oz. Wheat malt
2.9 oz. American crystal 40L
1.09 oz. Roasted barley
add 5.8oz honey, 2 teaspoons ground ginger, 4 cinnamon sticks, and Irish moss ten minutes before flame out.
Then it has .37 oz cascade hops (6% at 60 min)
and .06 oz cascade hops (6% at 15 min)

I was wondering if I could use
American Classic light malt extract 3.3 pounds from American brew master as the base grain.
Then add American Classic Malted Wheat extract 1.65 pounds from American Brew Master

Use 3 gallons of water mixed with both these extracts and bring to a boil, right when it boils at .3 oz cascade hopes, and boil 15 minutes, then add .06 oz hops and boil 5 minutes, then add the honey ginger cinnamon and Irish moss and boil for 10 minutes equaling a total of 30 minutes. Then let that cool down to 80 degrees, and add it to my Mr. Beer Keg. Then add US-05 American Ale Yeast. Leave it in Primary for 2 weeks, then bottle it, and let it carbonate/condition for at least 3 weeks. I'm hoping this would make a good Christmas beer and be able to drink it by then. Any tips would be great, this will only be my second time brewing.

11/10/2010 11:43:44 AM

http://www.beersmith.com/blog/2008/06/03/converting-all-grain-recipes-to-malt-extract/

11/10/2010 11:47:35 AM

I read that article, and downloaded the free trial of beer smith, but it doesn't give the cool calculators without me purchasing it. Any help would be great

11/10/2010 11:52:26 AM

I linked to these a couple pages ago:

http://www.brewersfriend.com/srm-calculator/
http://www.brewersfriend.com/ibu-calculator/

Malt conversions:
1lb malt to .75 LME
1lb malt to .6 DME

^^^what is the OG & FG? and what's the anticipated IBU's?

Without brewing with specialty malts, a couple things, it will taste more flat and artificial and the color will be a LOT lighter than anticipated. You CAN brew the beer as you have listed, but it'll taste a lot better if you can pick up the roasted barley & crystal malts.

Quote :

"American Classic light malt extract 3.3 pounds from American brew master as the base grain. Then add American Classic Malted Wheat extract 1.65 pounds from American Brew Master "

This calculates right, but you won't get any of the nice red hints of color without the Crystal 40L and lose a bit of body without the roasted barley.

Based on the recipe you posted, I'm showing an SRM of 10, I would just swap out the 4lbs. of Pale 2-row with Light LME. It will bump the SRM to 12-13 but I think having it a bit darker for a Christmas Ale is suitable and keep the rest as is.

Also check your boil time, there's no way 3 gallons will boil down to 2 gallons in 30-minutes. Either due a full 60-min boil, or drop your water down to 2.5 gallons for your boil.

[Edited on November 10, 2010 at 12:15 PM. Reason : .]

11/10/2010 11:55:21 AM

try this

http://www.hbd.org/recipator/

11/10/2010 11:58:08 AM

Og is 1.076 FG is 1.020 Bitterness is 28 IBU.

If somoene has an extract recipe that has a nice cinnamon/ginger flavor that would be better I'd love to have it.

11/10/2010 12:10:10 PM

Ok, so the recipe you posted looks fine as is, I'd just be concerned about boil time and having too much wort for the 2-gallon Mr. Beer container with only 30min.

11/10/2010 12:13:09 PM

So what about bumping the initial boil from 20 to 45, and keeping the rest the same? I'm just going off what American brewmasters has in there ingredient list online, can i just go in there with this all grain recipe, and have them tell me the right ingredients?

[Edited on November 10, 2010 at 12:23 PM. Reason : ]

11/10/2010 12:18:25 PM

Well I'd just start with 2.5 gallons instead of 3, without specialty grains, there's really no reason to boil more than 30 minutes, but if you do it this way drop your hops just a tad so it's not so bitter.

So either go with 100% extract like you posted and do 2.5 gallons for 30-minutes OR do the original recipe including the specialty grains (steeped @ 155'F-165'F for 60-minutes before boil) then do a full 3-gallon 60-minute boil. It's up to you. The all extract method is easier because there's no steeping of grains.

Your recipe is probably just right for your system.

[Edited on November 10, 2010 at 12:33 PM. Reason : temp & time]

11/10/2010 12:30:25 PM

Prospero, thanks for all the help, I just have one last question.
I was just looking at prices, and I can pretty much get all the grains, hops, and yeast for the price of the one base extract, and I've ultimately wanted to all grain anyway, so I might just attempt to now. He has it listed as Mashing the grain with 14 quartz water and hold at 150 for 45 minutes.
Then boiling 90 minutes with 3 gallons adding
.37 oz of hopps at 60 minutes,
.06 at 15 min,
then the honey etc. at 10 minutes.

Does this sound like a good timeline? and when Mashing, do i just put all the grains into a Muslin bag, then when its done remove the bag, then add the leftover liquid to 3 gallons of water?

11/10/2010 12:44:45 PM

All-grain recipes are always cheaper than extract, but harder and more complex to brew. I would not recommend it to start out and it requires special equipment like a cooler with a false bottom to keep and maintain at a certain temperature that's suitable for the enzymes to convert the complex sugars to simple sugars. Basically the equivalent of what extract is.

Steeping does not equal mashing.

Steeping adds flavor and color to the beer. Mashing converts sugars.
http://www.beersmith.com/blog/2009/03/22/steeping-grains-for-extract-beer-brewing/

Certain grains have to be mashed, you can use the chart below to see which one's have to be mashed. If you are not doing all-grain, those grains have to be substituted with extract to ensure the simple sugars get in the beer. If you notice the prime malts that must be mash are pale malts, amber malt, and wheat malt, hence why we have Light, Amber, Dark, & Wheat extracts.
http://www.beersmith.com/GrainList.htm

The problem with your original recipe is that the specialty grains consist of only 4oz. which is hardly enough to steep (but you could if you wanted to).

So either stick with the 100% extract recipe you posted, or reduce the wheat extract a bit and steep the Crystal 40L & Roasted Barley in 2-3 quarts of water for 60-minutes before boiling. Then add water up to 2.5 gallons total and add extract, boil for 60min.

But here's what to do if you go 100% extract:

1) Bring 2.5 gallons of water up to a boil.
2) Add 3.3 lbs. of Light LME at boil, at 60-min. (add slowly to reduce risk of overflow)
---Add 1.65 lbs. of Wheat LME at boil, at 60-min. (add slowly to reduce risk of overflow)
---Add 0.37 oz. of Cascade hops at boil, at 60-min remaining in boil
3) Add 0.06 oz. of Cascade hops at 15-min remaining in boil.
4) Add Honey, Ginger, Cinnamon, Irish Moss at 10-min. remaining in boil.
5) Ice bath to get it down to 75'F as quickly as possible
6) Pour into Mr. Beer Keg
7) Pitch US-05 American Ale Yeast

Primary 2 weeks, bottle condition 2-3 weeks.

You could use 3 gallons instead of 2.5 gallons, but you'd need a pretty aggressive rolling boil to evaporate 1 gallon in an hour.

[Edited on November 10, 2010 at 1:32 PM. Reason : .]

11/10/2010 1:06:07 PM

i am interested in doing a clone of the Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale. i find this beer to be absolutely delicious, but i would like to raise the gravity on it (SN states 6.8%) while retaining similar taste and body.

has anyone done one before? if so, please share your recipe! i would like to get this going as my 2nd brew attempt, but I have only done malt extract thus far...i know i will need to steep grains for this one...

11/11/2010 2:52:18 PM

well, if you increase the alcohol, it's not really the same thing anymore, is it? you'll have to tweak the recipe in a way that will likely change the flavor

11/11/2010 2:59:11 PM

^^two options, go with something like this:
http://ebrew.com/amber_ales/high_sierra_celebration_ale.htm

Or convert this:
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/jamil-show-tastys-sn-celebration-clone-176201/

It'll probably cost $60 just because of all the hops.

Here's my simple conversion, this should get you close:

5 gallon batch, 3 gallon boil

1.068 OG
1.015 FG
15.38 SRM
63 IBU

9 lbs. Pale LME
1.6 lbs. Crystal 60L

1.25 oz. Chinook @ 60 (pellet)
2.5 oz. Cascade @ 15 (pellet)
1.25 oz. Centennial @ 15 (pellet)
0.75 oz. Centennial @ 0 
1.25 oz. Cascade @ 0 

White Labs WLP001 Yeast Ale

1 oz. Cascade Dry Hop 3-days
0.5 oz. Centennial Dry Hop 3-days

11/11/2010 3:03:22 PM

^yep that second link is very similar to the Recipe that i posted a few pages back...

Quote :

"For any of you SN Celebration Ale lovers out there, I was listening to TBN's Sunday Session from a few weeks back with the head brewmaster of Sierra Nevada. At the end he gave out the basic recipe for Celebration Ale that they use at the brewery for people to use and make their own. His recipe basically came down to this for a 5 gal batch.. Celebration Ale Clone 68-IBUs 6.5%ABV 13 lbs: Pale Malt 2-row 1 lb: C-60 Caramel Chrystal Malt .75 oz: Chinook Hops (60 Min for Bittering) 1.5 oz: Centennial Hops (15 Min) .75 oz: Cascade Hops (15 Min) 1.5 oz: Centennial Hops (flame out) .75 oz: Cascade Hops (flame out) 1 oz: Cascade Hops (Dry Hop) .5 oz: Centennial Hops (Dry Hops) White Labs WLP001 California Ale Yeast "

11/11/2010 3:23:52 PM

^yup, spot on for a 6-gallon boil & 5-gallon batch. i posted my conversion for a 3 gallon boil above.

11/11/2010 3:33:48 PM

getting anxious to brew again.

11/16/2010 10:20:33 AM

just set up a 1-gallon batch of ancient orange mead (so i end up with about 3 750ml bottles of wine)

11/16/2010 11:17:12 AM

Sup guys, thought i'd finally post in here after a week of lurking. I'm pretty new to home brewing but i've got a co-worker that's been doing it for a while to lean on. I've got 5 gallons of an octoberfest lager in secondary fermentation right now and we gave making 10 gallons of oatmeal stout a shot this weekend.

Sadly right after transferring the wort the keg toppled off of it's rig and we spent the next 4 hours cleaning 10 gallons of deliciousness out of his shed. Hopefully we can get over the pain and give it another shot in the next few weeks.

11/16/2010 4:33:17 PM

that is teh suck

11/16/2010 4:37:36 PM

Look at it this way, at least the shed will smell good j/k.

That does suck, I remember my first boil over... not good.

11/16/2010 4:41:46 PM

lol jesus that sucks bad. I hope he got that floor cleaned up before it becomes an ant haven. Poor delicious beer.

11/16/2010 4:55:29 PM

damn, that is an expensive spill.


i am going to go ahead and bottle tonight, i think. any tips?

[Edited on November 16, 2010 at 4:57 PM. Reason : .]

11/16/2010 4:57:23 PM

^first thing, make sure it's done fermenting. you can't just bottle whenever, make sure either using a hydrometer to measure the gravity (it should be really close to the recipe's final gravity (FG). if you don't have a hydrometer, the next best way to tell is by measuring the amount of CO2 being released. If you can't see any movement in the air-stop, within 2-3 minutes, it could be close. If you bottle and the beer isn't ready you could risk losing the beer after you bottle it, if the yeast is too active still it will burst your bottles.

Boil 3/4 cup dextrose + just enough water to dissolve all the sugar. Once it reaches boiling let it cool back down to room temperature or close to it. Do not add more than 3/4 cup of dextrose as you risk bottle bombs.

Sanitize all your bottles. Some use StarSan and let the bottles dry on a tree. I use my dishwasher's sanitize feature + added heat dry. I usually run this the night before and just don't open the dishwasher until I'm ready to bottle so air doesn't get in.

Sanitize all your tubing, funnel or siphon, bottling bucket, bottle caps (make sure you have enough for the number of bottles you anticipate, plus a dozen or so extra, just in case), spring-tip bottle filler.

Siphon or pour beer into bottling bucket. Add the dextrose/water to the beer. Give it a good couple swirls. Open spigot. Start filling bottles & capping.

One tip: I usually quarter-turn my bottle to essentially double-clamp the cap. So clamp once, turn bottle 90 degrees and clamp again, this ensures a good seal.

[Edited on November 16, 2010 at 5:30 PM. Reason : .]

11/16/2010 5:21:51 PM

^^ definitely siphon into the bottling bucket to minimize how much oxygen you introduce to the beer, and I like to add the dissolved dextrose (corn sugar) before siphoning in to aid in mixing

and instead of measuring by volume, using a scale would be far more accurate to nail the proper carbonation for whatever style you've brewed - I like this calculator: http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator/carbonation.html

and as was said above, gravity is the only way to know whether you're done fermenting...you can compare to the expected final gravity, or to be even more certain look for the same reading on consecutive days

side note: gravity readings will vary with temperature, so be sure to apply a correction if you're outside of the temperature to which your hydrometer was calibrated

11/16/2010 6:18:25 PM

i think the calculator is more important for kegging, just my opinion. bottling you gotta have the sugar to carbonate or you risk losing the entire batch, from my experience, you don't want to under carbonate a homebrew again, just an opinion.

also in terms of pouring or siphoning, you need to reintroduce some oxygen for the yeast to react to the sugar. you don't want to vigorously shake the bucket, but pouring isn't likely to introduce wild yeast, it's the same method you use once the wort is cooled so i don't see why pouring it would make any difference at this stage. siphoning is helpful just to clear the beer, if you siphon you still need to swirl. i always siphon from primary to secondary for this reason. once you leave the initial yeast cake in primary, you shouldn't have much sediment when you go from secondary to bottling bucket. if you do have sediment than i'd recommend siphoning as well.

[Edited on November 16, 2010 at 6:35 PM. Reason : .]

11/16/2010 6:29:40 PM

you brewed what, 6 days ago? It's too early to bottle. relax and give it a few more days.

11/16/2010 6:31:27 PM

^^the calculator just allows greater control - I can give heavy carbonation to a saison or lower carbonation for a brown, or whatever - maybe a personal thing but I like it

Agreed that a siphon is important when racking off the sediment, but limiting aeration here is definitely a good thing. Oxygen is important primarily in the early phases of the yeast life cycle that involve lots of growth and reproduction, which is why you aerate your cooled wort before pitching. Actual fermentation begins in earnest after the oxygen has been consumed, so adding more when priming is unnecessary, and may oxidize beer constituents.

[Edited on November 16, 2010 at 7:02 PM. Reason : f]

11/16/2010 6:57:46 PM

Do any of you guys have experience with two stage yeast starters? I've calculated that i'll need about 250 billion yeast cells for this oatmeal stout when we try it again. Without the stir plate my standard growler starter will yield maybe about 180-200 cells. I found this, which is very helpful: http://www.northernbrewer.com/documentation/YeastPitchingRates.pdf

What doesn't make sense to me is why the 2nd volume in the chart in the bottom right of page two is smaller than the 1st volume... is that normal or am i reading this wrong? Shouldn't the 2nd volume of starter be bigger than the 1st? It doesn't make sense that cramming a lot more yeast into a smaller volume is a good thing...

11/16/2010 9:19:47 PM

never done a two-step, I always do single step starters...but from the example given on page two it seems that any sequence that gives the same total volume would be acceptable

so a first step of 0.5 L and a second step of 0.25 L would produce the same yeast count as a first step of 0.25 L and a second step of 0.5 L...the yeast from the first step remain viable, while the second step brings you to the desired pitching rate - no idea of that's correct, just how I read it

11/16/2010 10:46:12 PM

^^the more you dilute the starter the longer it takes for the yeast to increase, so they just are giving multiple volume options based on how large of a container you may have. whether the first stage or second stage is larger/smaller doesn't matter too much. for example the 300 billion range you can either use 1L for first stage and 0.5L for second, or you can do 0.5 for first and 0.75 for second. if you do the 1L/0.5L the yeast in primary isn't as efficient as increasing thus needing 0.5L making a 1.5L batch, if you go 0.5L the yeast is closer in proximity to each other being more efficient only needs 0.75L for the second stage equating to only 1.25L for a batch. they are just giving you different options.

the basic concept here is higher gravity of beer (higher sugar content) needs higher yeast count, so once you reach a gravity that goes beyond the yeast count in your starter, then you need to do a two-stage yeast starter

[Edited on November 16, 2010 at 11:18 PM. Reason : ,]

11/16/2010 11:12:28 PM

fermentation was done, and the beer tasted pretty good. i bottled last night after a week. could've waited longer, but i am not going to be in town/have the time the next 7 days or so, so i went ahead and did it.

i poured dissolved, warm, corn sugar (dextrose) into the bottling bucket as i was siphoning, to create a mixing effect. i think it worked out pretty well.

cutting about 1" tubing and connecting it to spout on bottling bucket, and the other end to the bottling tip definitely was the way to go. didnt take too much time at all to bottle my 50 beers.

i'll taste a beer in 2 weeks and see what its like, and likely leave it for 3. i bottled 1 beer into a clear bottle to see how the color would change over time.

11/17/2010 9:51:00 AM

^^Thanks a for the help guys, that was super helpful, i'm officially hooked on this thread. So i'm reading this right for 234 billion cells i'd have a 1L starter, then i'd decant leaving only the yeast cake at the bottom, and then add .25L of wort. Smaller space, but easier for yeast to multiply... makes sense.

11/17/2010 5:44:36 PM

Correct.

11/17/2010 6:08:43 PM

I know some of you have used vanilla bean in the past...

I've got 3 gallons a plummy winter warmer that I'm going to flavor with vanilla and nutmeg steeped in 150 mL bourbon. I want the vanilla mild but easily noticeable...thinking 1-2 inches of bean, any thoughts?

11/17/2010 7:45:51 PM

at the moment have 2" vanilla bean, small amounts of nutmeg and allspice, and 1/4 oz juniper steeping in 100 mL bourbon, we'll see how it goes

11/17/2010 9:09:15 PM

1 vanilla bean for 5 gallons is mild and barely noticeable. entirely depends on how fresh the vanilla bean is, but i'd say at least a half a bean, probably closer to 4" would be better. also the bourbon will probably mask it more than vodka, so it'll be mild for sure.

11/17/2010 9:26:35 PM