FYI....Groupon today is for 50% off homebrew equipment.

12/16/2010 10:58:23 AM

^^ what kind of yeast are you using? as mentioned above, some lag time is not unusual, especially when using liquid yeast without a starter

12/16/2010 11:00:44 AM

^^Link?

http://www.groupon.com/deals/fifth-season-gardening-raleigh-durham ?

[Edited on December 16, 2010 at 11:10 AM. Reason : .]

12/16/2010 11:03:53 AM

^^California Ale WLP001.

with my efficiency being lower than i expected, due to a lower mash temp, i am thinking that this beer will end up more like an American Pale Ale 4.5-6% rather than a true A IPA between 5.5-7.5%. if i can hit somewhere between 5.5-6, i think i'd be very happy at this point.

I put a bit of nutmeg and cinnamon in my boil in the last 5 mins for the fuck of it. Should be interesting and add a little bit of complexity to the pale ale. I figured, why not!?

haha.

Ps: How does one judge a beer by tasting the wort post boil!? I tasted mine and was like, hmm...sweet, hint of cinnamon...bitter finish.... but i cannot really tell if its going to be good or not when all said and done. I would think it SHOULD be, but i think i wont know until i have that first pint glass of finished product.

[Edited on December 16, 2010 at 11:40 AM. Reason : .]

12/16/2010 11:35:10 AM

Ok fellas...I'm reallly wanting to go with a keg setup.

I have a deep freezer with an external Johnson temp controller already wired up...been using it as a beer fridge for a few months now.

I want to go ahead and buy my corny-kegs and co2, tubing, taps, etc.

Anyone know where the cheapest place to find these materials are? I'm pretty sure it's not going to be cheapest at American Brewmaster.

12/16/2010 11:55:09 AM

^^Well the ABV doesn't make it a Pale vs. IPA, the biggest difference is IBU's, if you're over 45 IBU's, that's more of an indicator when it comes to taste & aroma than the alcohol content.

And with an OG of 1.048, there's no way you're gonna get 5.5%, 5% if you're really lucky....

Typically when tasting post boil you'll only taste the raw malt sugar and hops & spices. Without any fermentation (alcohol), carbonation, and no yeast, there's really not much to judge except for the balance of the flavors, the level of toasted/roasted malts... that's about it. Pretty much every aspect of the beer changes during fermentation.

^See if a local brewery or distributor will sell you a couple used kegs. Or look on craigslist. But you'll need to cut & weld yourself.

[Edited on December 16, 2010 at 11:56 AM. Reason : .]

12/16/2010 11:55:41 AM

^spot on regarding post boil tastings.


^^try http://www.kegconnection.com

12/16/2010 12:04:00 PM

Sweet, thanks guys.

Does this look like a decent price for this kit?

I'll eventually want to upgrade to a nice tap/handle on top of my freezer, but this should get me started.

http://stores.kegconnection.com/Detail.bok?no=524

12/16/2010 12:13:53 PM

I have done some cursory searching in the past and kegconnection seems to have the most competitive pricing that i've found. The guys at Homebrew Talk stand behind them so that always makes me feel better about it.

12/16/2010 1:27:22 PM

from the groupon site...i did not know there was a homebrew store on hillsborough st

http://fifthseasongardening.com/stores.php?id=4

12/16/2010 10:03:37 PM

my sierra nevada is rocking in fermentation now it smells goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood

12/17/2010 10:41:54 AM

So i kegged for the first time today, and i was wondering how much time would you guys expect it to take to carbonate about three gallons of beer? (it's an octoberfest lager btw, a friend took the other 2 gallons)

The keggerator is at a steady 42 degrees and i've got the regulator set to 12 pounds. I feel uncomfortable cranking up the pressure to 30 or 40 lbs and shaking the corny since it starts making a lot of weird sounds, it makes me wonder whether or not i may have a leak in the release valve up top or whether this is normal. I figure if i just leave it at 12 psi and maybe shake it once in a while it SHOULD carbonate and maybe take a little longer... maybe 4 to 5 days or so?

12 psi should work fine for serving pressure too right, or is it best to turn it down more?

[Edited on December 19, 2010 at 9:31 PM. Reason : .]

12/19/2010 9:29:47 PM

I don't keg - but from what I understand, it will carbonate just fine if a little more slowly. Shaking will speed things up but isn't necessary. Guessing you already purged out all the oxygen?

Quote :

"12 psi should work fine for serving pressure too right, or is it best to turn it down more?"

looks about right... http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php

[Edited on December 19, 2010 at 9:53 PM. Reason : ']

12/19/2010 9:51:02 PM

30psi, shake with foot on side for 5mins. profit?


that's how the dude at the homebrew demo did it. worked fine.

12/20/2010 9:59:37 AM

Question: My sierra nevada clone will have been in fermentation for a week tomorrow...i want to put it into secondary, but i am going to be out of town thursday the 23rd-jan1st. can i put it into secondary by putting it into my gasketed & air locked bottling bucket, and leave it in there until i come back in town to bottle it?

12/20/2010 10:01:48 AM

I dont see why not. You might have some yeast settled in the bottom of your bottling bucket, but otherwise I'd say it should be fine.

12/20/2010 10:08:52 AM

as long as the bucket is sanitized and the temperature stays consistent while you are gone then you shouldn't have any issues.

12/20/2010 10:37:53 AM

good deal. i will do that. thanks!

12/20/2010 10:41:04 AM

Quote :

"Question: My sierra nevada clone will have been in fermentation for a week tomorrow...i want to put it into secondary, but i am going to be out of town thursday the 23rd-jan1st. can i put it into secondary by putting it into my gasketed & air locked bottling bucket, and leave it in there until i come back in town to bottle it?"

I'm sure I'll get some disagreement here, but I think you're rushing things. Not only should fermentation be allowed to finish before racking, but the yeast could use some time to "clean up" after themselves as well.

For me at least, a slight gain in clarity for this style isn't worth it - and if you're gonna bottle straight from the bottling bucket you secondary in, you'll end up re-suspending the settled yeast anyway.

Personally, I'd let if finish out about 3 weeks, rack, and bottle/keg. If you get good flocculation and rack carefully, you shouldn't transfer much yeast anyway.

[Edited on December 20, 2010 at 11:40 AM. Reason : ;]

12/20/2010 11:35:41 AM

so just leave it as is and not bother with putting it into secondary? i am in no rush with it.

12/20/2010 12:04:38 PM

that's definitely what I'd do

Secondary is certainly useful in styles that really benefit from extra clarity, high abv beers, or if you're racking onto fruit or something - but for the vast majority of my ales, I don't feel that a slightly clearer beer is worth the oxidation/infection risk, however low it might be, from those two extra racking steps. The extra time spent with all that viable yeast can allow them to clean up any intermediary fermentation compounds that may have been produced.

You don't want to leave a beer on that primary trub for TOO long, but the conventional wisdom is that you're good for at least a month before any autolysis or the like occurs.

[Edited on December 20, 2010 at 12:21 PM. Reason : ;]

12/20/2010 12:16:39 PM

^^^There are only some yeast strains that call for a diacetyl rest, but it's not needed in all cases, and when you do it it's supposed to be 2-3 days after primary is complete, not 2 weeks. California Ale yeast is not a high diacetyl yeast and doesn't create a lot of off-flavors, like the London Ale yeast can... Now there's nothing wrong IMHO with an extended primary, but don't confuse an extended primary with a diacetyl rest. I would agree to keep it in primary for 3 weeks, then to rack into your bottling bucket and bottle from that. It will suspend the yeast and the settlement will be right at the spigot.

There's not that much risk of oxidation or contamination in secondary. No more than in primary, in fact I'd say you have a HIGHER chance of spoiling the beer having it sit in primary too long on the trub. But in this case 3 weeks isn't long enough for that to happen. But if you don't have a secondary carboy and only a bottling bucket, I'd keep it in primary.

Just don't confuse the issues here.

[Edited on December 20, 2010 at 12:20 PM. Reason : .]

12/20/2010 12:18:34 PM

ok- i'll do that. like i said, it's been in primary for only 6 days as of today...I'll just rack it and bottle when i come back after new years. maybe i'll have some new kegging equipment

hopefully this will also allow the yeast to convert any and all remaining sugars...i want to get this as high ABV% as possible since i already didn't get a great efficiency in steeping. (first all grain brew)

i hope it doesnt come out TOO bitter...i followed that recipie on page 13 (i think) pretty closely.

12/20/2010 12:22:56 PM

doesn't the celebration clone require 2 weeks of dry-hopping in primary anyhow?

dry hopping = 0 bitterness, so no worries, it just affects aroma.

[Edited on December 20, 2010 at 12:27 PM. Reason : .]

12/20/2010 12:27:06 PM

well, yes...but i haven't dry hopped. i was worried that it would make it too bitter, but i may reconsider now that i know it would only affect aroma. can one dry hop at any time?

12/20/2010 12:30:04 PM

yea. it's just relevant to the amount of time it sits in the beer. typically done in primary so when you rack to secondary you remove the hops... in the case you don't use a muslin bag.

but it's $$$ just for aroma, so it's up to you.

[Edited on December 20, 2010 at 12:47 PM. Reason : .]

12/20/2010 12:46:21 PM

Quote :

"but don't confuse an extended primary with a diacetyl rest"

I might have been vague, but didn't intend to refer specifically to a diacetyl rest.

Even in a low production yeast, an abundance of intermediaries like diacetyl and acetaldehyde can still occur if conditions aren't right (ie fermenting too high, underpitching...), and some extra time would help clean those up. Kev - weren't you fermenting at room temp earlier in the thread?

Quote :

"There's not that much risk of oxidation or contamination in secondary."

I was referring to oxidation by the act of transferring, but you're right, it's minimal.

12/20/2010 1:06:34 PM

^yes...fermenting right around 68F (closet)

12/20/2010 2:53:47 PM

Quote :

"yea. it's just relevant to the amount of time it sits in the beer. typically done in primary so when you rack to secondary you remove the hops... in the case you don't use a muslin bag. "

i've always been told to dry hop in secondary after primary fermentation is complete and the ale is moved away from the yeast bed. I don't see there being an issue of dry hopping in primary, but I always feel more comfortable keeping these stages seperate.

12/21/2010 8:57:13 AM

Yea, like I said, it's really not that big of a deal when you do it. Some people say you may not get all the oils in primary, but it's so much better IMHO to do it in primary where you can rack it twice to clear the hops, and allow the aroma to balance out some before bottling, plus you have a lot more control over how long the hops sit when in primary vs. secondary, unless you want to rack to tertiary. If you don't want the hops up front you could dry-hop towards the end of primary and just not put them in right away... it really just comes down to how long they sit in the beer, not necessarily so much as to when you do it.

I just had one of my dry-hopped Indian Brown Ales last night and it was freakin' awesome. The aroma of dry-hopping in general is just incredible.

[Edited on December 21, 2010 at 11:37 AM. Reason : .]

12/21/2010 11:32:06 AM

thinkin about dry hopping in primary on Thursday, before i go out of town until jan 1st. That would give me about 2.5 weeks of primary with just over a week of dry hopping.

this sound ok? i can of course allow the dry hops to sit longer before i rack to bottling. i think i will probably allow it to dry hop for close to 2 weeks.

i am thinking about using Amarillo Gold for this to give a flowery aroma

12/22/2010 10:59:05 AM

sounds good

12/22/2010 11:13:02 AM

The octoberfest is finally ready, i guess next year we'll start in march! It was just a standard octoberfest kit from american brewmaster but we swapped the dry yeast packet out for a liquid lager yeast. We did a diacetyl rest as well although i don't think it was really necessary, it definitely didn't hurt. It tastes delicious, can't wait to keg the oatmeal stout in the next week or so.


[Edited on December 24, 2010 at 9:54 AM. Reason : pics]

12/24/2010 9:50:09 AM

On a piece of glass on a wheel, interesting. Great picture.

Color & clarity look great as well as the head, looks like a perfect pour.

12/24/2010 1:10:32 PM

^^ wow that looks fantastic.

How did you get that clarity? Irish moss? Doesn't it also have something to do with cooling the wort down as fast as possible?

12/24/2010 2:39:13 PM

Thanks guys, i wasn't really happy with the head at first. I dropped the freezer temperature by a few degrees and pumped up the co2 pressure a bit and after 2 days or so it was perfect: http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/4778/octoberfest.jpg


We did use Irish moss as well as a pair of those copper wort chillers on brewday,although honestly i didn't know it contributed to clarity. I think the big contributors were the fact that we were extremely careful when racking, we went with the lager yeast which flocculates well, and we had the beer in secondary for a long time - probably about two months and a half total. The very first pour out of the keg had a few floaties in it but every glass after that has been super clean and clear.

12/24/2010 5:45:13 PM

Diacetyl rest and long secondary is key for lagers.

You've inspired me, here's my Indian Brown Ale, bottle conditioned:



[Edited on December 24, 2010 at 6:01 PM. Reason : .]

12/24/2010 6:01:22 PM

That looks great This thread seriously needs more pictures.

12/24/2010 8:46:05 PM

I'll take a couple snaps of my Holiday Beer and load them up. I don't know if my iPhone camera will do it justice however.

12/25/2010 2:18:12 PM

This is the christmas beer i've discussed over the past few pages. It was a hit with family at both gatherings this year. I took the last 4 pack to my gf's last night and we drank them while watching xmas movies. I only have this one bottle and a couple bombers left. Pic quality isn't great but hell, pics are better than no pics.

This was my first time using grolsch bottles as well. They sealed great. I was scared from some of the horror stories i'd read but not anymore.

12/25/2010 2:40:24 PM

looks good - i've used swing-tops a few times, with only one failure - the beer was still fine, just flat, not immediately traceable to a gasket leak but that seems most likely

trying to be patient with my winter ale and give it at least 3 weeks before opening one, pretty tough

got "Radical Brewing" and "Brew Like a Monk" as gifts, pretty happy about those

12/25/2010 5:13:12 PM

Mmmmm, beer.

[Edited on December 27, 2010 at 6:32 PM. Reason : PS. I just got that "How to Brew" book for my birthday not too long ago, nice read!]

12/27/2010 6:32:02 PM

Tapped a Vienna SMaSH ale last night that was brewed on November 11th. It accidentally froze during cold crash, which resulted in it being crystal clear. Nice medium red color, good hop aroma, good malty flavor, overall delicious. Will probably be crushed by the end of the week.

12/29/2010 3:30:24 PM

Nice, what hop did you go with?

12/29/2010 3:43:50 PM

i've got my brew on day 11 of dry hopping in primary. probably will rack it thursday into a secondary, and then rack it to bottling bucket friday. should i stick it in my beer cooler and cold crash it in secondary?

1/3/2011 11:16:17 AM

that's a really quick secondary, and to see any benefit to clarity I'd think you'd want to leave it in there for about a week, or at least 3+ days

never cold crashed, personally - but it could help you get clearer faster while preserving your dry-hop aromatics/flavors

1/3/2011 12:35:18 PM

bottled my apfelwein a couple of days ago...final ABV of 7.5%, did half flat and half carbed with pomegranate cherry juice

initial thoughts: first taste was a bit hot, but that's to be expected...not quite as dry as i expected given the montrachet yeast, but i've made some crazy dry wine before, so it's all relative

cleared on its own (as everyone said it would!) right around the 2-month mark...i got 28 bottles out of the batch, so i'll probably open a bottle of each per month (starting in february) and document how it mellows over time

my ancient orange is ready to bottle...it's downright purdy in its carboy

used my first (of two) groupons at fifth season a couple of days ago, as well...they really don't care that much in the store on jones franklin (or hillsborough, i guess it is), but they said they can order whatever...i needed a few things and didn't want to waste the time or money to NOT use the coupon, so i rounded out my in-store purchase with an irish red kit

[Edited on January 3, 2011 at 12:54 PM. Reason : .]

1/3/2011 12:52:08 PM

^im about to bottle my persimmon honey as well. Its been about two months.

Describe your bottling procedure? When you say half falt, did you just bottle the brew from the cane and cap it?

1/3/2011 1:11:27 PM

1.) sterilize/sanitize bottles and equipment
2.) rack into bottling bucket
3.) using bottle filler, fill half the bottles and cork
4.) add appropriate amount of carbing sugar to remainder
5.) fill remaining bottles and cork

1/3/2011 1:16:36 PM

LOL - thanks

1/3/2011 1:40:28 PM