Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Brewed up a Kolsch today.
At a little more than 3 hours in the fermentor, I can already see bubbling and krausen developing! Yay for starters!


3 out of 4 have something in them now:
Kolsch - Fresh into the fermentor today
Session IPA - On the dry hops (four more days)
California Common - Chilling (Ready to keg, looking for time)

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Transferred all my batches of "NuptiAle," a session ale my boss is serving at his daughter's wedding, into secondaries before leaving for vacation. While I'm here at the beach, dreaming up what to brew when I get back :hm Thinking about getting my 2011 Christmas beer going--working up a sweet stout recipe using some Lindt's chocolate (99% cocoa) I bought for my wife but she didn't like. Can't let it go to waste!

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I brewed a Watermelon wheat and a Bourbon Barrel Porter this weekend.
I am still trying to decide what Bourbon to use with the Porter. Im kind of thinking about using the new Jack Daniels Honey.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Just FYI, Jack is not a bourbon but that doesn't mean it won't be good. If you like the taste of it then use it. Matt and I used 1792 in ours because it was the only bottle in one of our collections we didn't mind sacrificing. It turned out pretty good.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Brewed up the AG Centennial Blonde from HBT this weekend. Used Maris Otter as my base for the first time, and bumped the IBUs ever so slightly. I wanted something a bit 'chewyer' than what the original recipe had going on. I've got an ounce of citra for dry hopping...never met a citra dry hop I didn't like, but also never have tried it with MO...:sh

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I just made a marris/simcoe smash that tasted great going into bottles. So did the last pale i made with only two row though :2

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Question for you guys:

When the hop aroma fades from an Imperial IPA, what does the beer become? An old ale? Barleywine?

I have two beers that have been in the bottle for 6+ months or so--both started life as an IIPA, but have lost some of their initial aromas and are more malty on the nose now. Details--

#1 = 1.087 OG, 75 IBU, 9% ABV, Centennial/Citra/Simcoe/Amarillo
#2 = 1.084 OG, 101 IBU, 8.5% ABV, Amarillo/Nugget/Simcoe/Warrior

Thinking about entering a couple upcoming contests. I know taste would probably dictate your decisions, just wondering what you would choose "on paper." Thanks!

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I have thought that a few DIPAs I've aged tastes like Barleywine. However is American Strong Ale a category? Its kind of a catch all if I remember correctly.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Old Ale is 19A & Barleywine is 19B. I guess I'm asking more about the flavor differences between those two styles, what I should be looking at to put the beer in the right category. Some competitions will lump all the sub categories into the same flight.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Double batch today. Belgian strong that I didn't sparge. Added 5 pounds of pearl into the mash tun and ran off a second batch. The belgian is already bubbling after adding a big starter of wyeasts rochefort strain. The second is cooling now but will be getting a starter from DFH squall dregs.

Anyone used the squall dregs? My last batch with the yeast went from 1.055 to 1.005 and was still bubbling every two minutes when I bottled. Needless to say I added less priming sugar than I normally would.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Hey guys.
Just getting started, and my first batch is bubbling away.
I already got a ton of help from Albert and Tim, but I don't want to be burdensome.
I have a few questions and I was wondering if anybody can help.

I plan on doing 2 more 5 gallon extract batches tomorrow.
How much water should I start with.
My first batch I started with 5 but finished with a bit under 4 gallons of wort.
I thought about adding water after the fact but didn't want to screw up, so I left it alone.

another question.
The other day I unpacked my 5 gallon carboy from the box.
It bears a striking resemblance to an empty 5 gallon water jug.
I have access to plenty of these jugs, about 25 a week to choose from.
Could I use them as a disposable secondary?

Thanks in advance fellas! :tu

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Dom, always happy to help another homebrewer, so you wouldn't be a burden at all. Feel free to ask away!

For water, it sounds like you're doing full-volume boils. In order to end up with 5 gallons after a 60 minute boil, I usually start with about 6 gallons of water. Once you transfer the wort from your kettle to the fermenter, you can also top off with enough distilled or spring water to bring the total to 5 gallons. I usually start with more than 5 gallons in the primary anyway, since you'll lose some volume to trub when you transfer.

There's been a lot of debate about using those Poland Springs type jugs as a fermenter. I think most of the issues were around the #7 jugs--typically, people said if you were using #1 or #2 plastic, it was better than the #7. Had to do with O2 permeability or the acidic beer causing some kind of chemical reaction that would affect the outcome. I think some manufacturers are now making PET carboys, which are supposed to be better. In any case, if you're using them as disposables for just one batch, I wouldn't think you'd have many problems. Just make sure they're clean.

What did you brew for your first batch, and what are you planning?

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Thanks Gerard! :tu

I'll check the bottles and see what # plastic they are.
And yes, I would only use them for one batch and toss them.

My first batch I made an amber ale
Here's the recipe I used
http://www.brewapp.com/recipefiles/R...%205%20GAL.pdf

I want to do a Porter or stout and perhaps a brown ale.
I will talk with my local home brew store and see what they recommend.
Some of the porter recipes I looked at use Lager yeast and they told me not to attempt a lager until Oct or Nov.

Many thanks!
I hope to be a regular here! :tu

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I'm a new home brewer myself. Don't worry about adding water to your post-boil wort to bring it up to 5 gallons. As long as the water is sanitary and you followed your recipe directions, it shouldn't be a problem. My first all-grain recipe I was nervous I didn't hit my SG so I did not add the extra gallon to my wort...but now that I know my efficiency I can adjust my brewing so that I can top off without issue.

Welcome to home brewing...it's fun as hell

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Got a starter going now for a 12 gal batch of Bavarian Hefeweizen on Sunday.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

How big is the start for a 12 gal batch? And what all went into it?

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

It's actually a two-step starter... I made a 1.75 liter and will decant it tomorrow and make a 2 liter out of that.
All-in-all, it's only one package of yeast and 8 oz. of wheat DME for the first step and 8 oz. of wheat DME for the second step.
The first step is ~2.25 quarts of water and the second ~2.5 quarts. Bring to a boil, add DME, boil for 15 minutes, cool, add yeast.

Otherwise, 'they' say you can do a one-step 3.5 liter starter for this particular size and starting gravity of a batch.

They being a combination of sources... Chris White, and Jamil Z. among my most trusted.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I read through this thread twice.
It really reads like Chinese to a noob like me!

I guess it will all come with time! :tu

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Brewed up a robust porter this weekend, currently sitting in the primary, happily bubbling away. Hoping to make this my Christmas beer, it uses a few ounces of high-grade Lindt chocolate and will be blended with some Sumatra coffee in the secondary. Recipe in case you are interested:

4# 2-row
8oz crystal 60L
6oz chocolate malt
4oz roasted barley 300L
Single step infusion mash at 150-156, 45 minutes. Sparged, brought volume up to 6.5 gallons & started cooking.

Made some late addition malt extracts at 30 minutes:
2# LME
1# amber DME
1# dark DME
8oz maltodextrin

Hop Schedule
1.0 oz Willamette (4.8%) 60min
½ oz Willamette 45min
½ oz Willamette 30min
¼ oz Willamette 10min

At 5 minutes left in the boil, I added some melted Lindt’s dark chocolate: 1½ oz 99% cocoa + 3½ oz 90% cocoa. Cooled the wort, strained, skimmed some fat that was coagulating, pitched about a pint of Irish Ale yeast at 72dg. Temp slowly dropped over 12 hours to about 68. Fermentation has been steady since Monday morning. I’ll rack to secondary for a few weeks, and then a few days before bottling, I’ll add 24oz of cold-pressed, triple filtered coffee.

The sample I pulled before pitching had a nice chocolatey flavor and a good hop balance, but was pretty oily from the chocolate. I’m hoping the maltodextrin & crystal will help with head retention. We’ll see. Smells great while it’s bubbling away.

OG 1.063, 40 IBUs, target FG = 1.016

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Sounds delicious...

So...I gotta ask...anyone ever mess with a pumpkin/rumpkin/spiced sort of brew before?

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Another question for the brewers:

I've got a chocolate stout in primary and was thinking of adding a little bourbon and toasted oak chips.

I love Founder's KBS (and I know this won't be as "imperial" as that) but is it possible to add bourbon and oak in secondary to get, maybe, a KBS-lite beer in the end?

My concern is that since it's a relatively standard ABV stout (partial mash kit), it won't stand up to the addition of bourbon and oak ...

I did order some medium-toast American oak chips a while back, and have a secondary open to use, but would need to pick up some bourbon.

Any advice whether this is doable or not?

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I just ordered a pumpkin ale kit from Midwest Supplies to try. My girlfriend really wanted a pumpkin beer for fall/winter.

I picked up some extra 6-row and read to mash the pumpkin with a couple of pounds before starting the boil process. Also, I'm going to "roast" the pumpkin ahead of time in the oven to add a little caramelized flavor to it.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Got 10 gal of AHS Citra Pale Ale in the primary now. Will keg on Sunday on dry hop with 1 more oz of citra in each of the kegs ;o) The fermenting closet smells like a hop bomb went off lol (6 oz of citra went into the boil)

I love AHB Pumpkin kit. We brew 10 gal of it every fall season. It doesn't last too long thats for sure.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Good to know guys...thanks

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

5 gallon cider batch going...very simple. Apple juice, brown sugar and honey. Will be splitting the batch up a few ways to do some experimental infusions and different carbonating techniques once it dries out.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Breakfast stout- Founders clone with liberties taken to result in a lower gravity brew. Wound up hitting 1.084
10.0lb American Two-row Pale
1.25lb Flaked Oats
0.75lb American Chocolate
0.5lb Roasted Barley
0.37lb Crystal 120L
0.37lb Black Patent Malt
0.3lb Coffee @5minutes
0.25lb Bakers Chocolate @15minutes
0.75oz Columbus @60minutes
1.0oz Willamette @15minutes

Also brewed an Old Foghorn clone that had an OG of 1.128. That ones going down for a loooooong nap.

Anyone using hopville as a recipe calculator? If so I'm brewing under the same screen-name.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

So I bottled my first batch the other night.
Not sure if this is what it is supposed to look like when I opened the fermenter?

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/462aaf9a.jpg

I didn't expect to see so much crud floating on the top.
My first batch yielded 37 bottles.
I dumped about 1/2 a gallon plus down the sink.
I was too nervous about getting the gunk on the bottom of the bucket in my beer.
I think until I get the hang of the auto siphon, I will use a secondary.
I figure it will allow me to get more of the beer from the bucket.
If I get some gunk in the secondary, it will settle before I siphon to the bottling bucket.

Tasting the beer, it was a little bitter on the finish.
Not too bitter, just more than I was expecting.
I'm sure once it's cold and carbed it will be better.

I currently have a Baltic Porter fermenting in another bucket for a week.
http://www.brewapp.com/recipefiles/S...%205%20GAL.pdf



I also managed to snag 2 - 23 liter glass carboys from amazon.
$30 free shipping.
Can I ferment in these or are they just for clearing?

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Congrats Dom on your first batch! Is this the one I think it is?
Keep the pics coming, I hope to get into brewing by next year.

I didn't expect the bucket to look like that either, glad you posted this pic before I found it in my bucket and thought I screwed something up.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Just because I posted a pic, doesn't mean I didn't screw up! ;)
Waiting to hear back from some of the experts here!
I did expect crud on the sides of the bucket, just not floating on top.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Oh I see. Chime in experts I'm dying here!:sh

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Dom, It looks completly normal. Congrats on your first brew!
Here is a great tutorial on bottling, that makes things alot easier

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/bott...ebrewer-94812/

To get the most beer out of your bottling bucket, you can go to the hardware store and buy a threaded PVC elbow that screws onto the inside of your spigot. Here is a pic

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/new-...er-way-191323/

Let me know if you have any questions. I bottled about 6 batches before I switched to kegging.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Thanks, Travis!
I got most of the beer out of the bucket, it was the fermenter that I dumped the excess out of.
I still will grab the elbow.
Thanks for the link!
I already mentioned Kegging equipment to my wife for Christmas. :D

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

When you put your siphon in the fermenter be sure that it doesnt touch the very bottom. Keep it about an inch from the bottom. When the level starts getting low, tilt your bucket while still keeping the siphon from the bottom.
You should look into upgrading to a glass carboy or even the plastic "Better Bottles".
I hated using buckets. I have brewed close to a 100 batches and have only got 1 infection and that was with a bucket. The smallest scratch will harbor an infection.
Sanitize, Sanitize, Sanitize!!!!

Best place for kegging Equipment is: www.kegconnection.com

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Like I said, I was terrified of getting that gunk into my bottling bucket.
Didn't even think to tilt the bucket. :td
At least I won't make the same mistake twice!

I have 1 - 5 gallon better bottle and now 2 - 23 liter glass carboys.
Can I ferment in them or should I get 6.5 gallon carboys?

Thanks again

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I would use the 6.5. More room for when it bubbles.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Hey Dom, another little trick is to prop one side of your fermenter up with a wedge, book, something of that nature. You can then put the bottom of your auto siphon on the high side of the bucket. Everything will settle to opposite side and you will be good to go!:tu
By the way, did you use a hop sock? Sometimes that will help with most of the "sludge".

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

You can ferment in the 5gallon but you will need to put a blowoff tube on the airlock. Its just a plastic tube that goes onto the post of the airlock and runs into an empty jug or growler filled with sanitzer.
I only use 6.5 gallon carboys for fermenting and 5 gallon for secondary aging.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

+1

Dom, congrats on the first brew :banger The bucket looks normal, and I'll suggest that the bitterness may have been from the hops still floating around? Your krausen (that crud around the rim & floating) appears green--mine is usually brownish, so I'm just wondering if you filtered it all out after brewing, or if you dry hopped while the primary was still bubbling away?

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Thanks, Gerard!
You are the second person to comment on the green, and I'm a bit lost.
The hops that the homebrew store gave me were little green pellets that resembled rabbit poop.
I tossed the poop directly into the boil.
I did not use a bag, nor did I filter anything.
What went into the boil went into the bucket, minus the sock of grains I steeped before I boiled.
Should I have done something different.
The directions that came with the recipe, or the other 2 I brewed since then, made no mention of additional steps.
Did I miss something?

Fwiw the brew is a perfect amber ale color, no hint of green in it.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

This cider is drying right out...the champange yeast is still chomping away. I am going to need a low gravity range hydrometer I think...unless there are any tricks to using my ~.090 one?

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I've left the hop material behind in the brew kettle and dumped it all in the fermenter, too. They all have turned out fine.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Okay, that's what I expected happened. I always filter my wort from the brew kettle going to the primary, I find it makes transferring the beer easier if they're not around to clog the racking cane/autosiphon. But there's nothing wrong with leaving them in, I'm sure your beer will be fine!

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Thanks fellas! :banger

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Nothing yet... Just ordered a Pumpkin Ale for the upcoming holidays.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I just transferred a Big Porter to secondary with 2ounces of oak cubes.
I am trying to decide what kind of bourbon to add. I am thinking about changing it up a bit and using some Evan Williams Honey!

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Brewed up a DIPA yesterday, pitched with one of my last batches of Hopslam yeast. Used a burst hop technique with Simcoe, Amarillo & Citra, got around 85 IBUs. My efficiency on the mash was only about 60% :( so OG was a bit light at 1.071. Will add some honey to the primary after a few days.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

sounds like yummmmmm

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I enjoyed my first bottles of homebrew while watching football yesterday!
Perhaps too many, as I passed out before the Jet game! :al
I found the first 3 overly bitter on the finish, after that it didn't matter, and the rest went down smooth.

I decided to call myself the "Nail The Whale Brewery", to honor the loving embrace of all the fat chicks beer has lead me to.
I also made labels for my bottles, and had a buddy design a logo for me.
What do you guys think?

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6132/...4b38e68ac5.jpg

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1315406810

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

ha that's awesome! and congrats!

Citra Otter Blonde went into bottles this weekend...I'm very excited for this one, it's my best tasting brew out of the carboy so far.

Half of my super dry cider goes on peaches later this week.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?