Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Whoa!!!! Never seen that site before....Lots of great recipes there omg ;o)

thanks kaisersozei

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

where the hell would one get bells liquid yeast?

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

You would harvest it from the bottle.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Checked the gravity last night and I'm about 1.012 so it looks like fermentation is about done. I think another two weeks in the primary to let it clear a little and I'll bottle it. I tasted the sample I pulled to test the gravity and it tastes like beer! Woo hoo!

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Once I get out of the lab today I'm brewing 10 gallons of German Pils.

% LB OZ Malt or Fermentable ppg °L
96% 20 0 Best Malz Pilsner 35 2 ~
4% 0 13 Weyermann CaraFoam 34 1 ~

use time oz variety form aa
boil 60 mins 2.75 Hallertau pellet 4.3
boil 15 mins 2.0 Hallertau pellet 4.3
boil 1 min 1.0 Hallertau pellet 4.3

The recipe (not mine) won best in show at last years homebrew comp up here and was in one of the latest BYO's. Let's see how bad I can mess it up...

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Today I took some time to learn about washing yeast. That would save a significant amount of money over time.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Yep, that's exactly what I did. Bell's uses the same yeast for just about all of their beers, I've read where it might be a California V strain. Not sure. Anyway, last year I salvaged some Hopslam yeast from a bottle that newcigarz sent me and propagated it up to an adequate amount. I pitched it into an IPA where it performed pretty well, and then salvaged more from the secondary. I now have about a half dozen mason jars of Bell's yeast in my frig.

Since then I've used it in a porter, IPA, IIPA, and a brown ale, all to good results.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Another thing I like to do is to pitch ontop of a yeast cake; if I am brewing a similar beer. It not only saves a little money, but fermentation starts faster.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I am debating doing just that with the irish dry stout I have in the fermenter right now, then washing the yeast after that batch and storing it until the next time for a stout batch called for in a few months.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I've always worried about overpitching when racking directly onto the yeast cake.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I have never had any problems

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Tried another one of my blonde ales last night. Wow what an improvment after just another week in the bottle. Started another brew yesterday. Kind of a tweaked Oktoberfest. Dry hopping with some Tettnager hops i had. This is my first "experiment" so we'll see how it turns out.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Found a kit listed locally on craigslist that is claimed to have only been used once. If all is in good shape, what is your opinion if I offered $100 for it? The place they bought it from locally sells it for $190 + tax. Listed since early December for $125. Don't know how it really compares to kits selling new in that range.

http://www.greatfermentations.com/De...uctinfo/GF020/

Thanks!

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

That kit has everything you'd need. Be a good grab for $100

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Great deal. I started with a similar kit from Midwestbrewing.
Glass carboys are the way to go. I hate plastic buckets!

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I hate plastic buckets as well, except when dry hopping. I like the 6 gal better bottles.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

The above kit I found is really just the Brewer's Best Deluxe kit. I can get it shiped new for under $100 here: https://bellsbeer.com/store/products...r-Bottle®.html

Is there a better kit out there for the price?

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

You're getting glass instead of plastic. I like the glass because I can see the fermentation better.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I only use the plastic when bottling. I have a 2 glass carboys. Love them.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Brewing a Belgian Dubbel this weekend.:tu Partial mash.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

bottled furious clone last night.
gearing up to start the ruination clone.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Ok, not hearing back from the craigslist ad.

So, if you were buying a kit today(knowing what you know now), what would you buy? Not looking for an extravagant kit by any means, but something that makes me wish I had splurged for something nicer for an extra $25 type of kit. Let's say I want to keep this around $200 with the pot.

Some things I'm considering thus far:
http://www.homebrewit.com/beer-brewing-kit.php (Deluxe kit)

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/homeb...ent-kit-2.html

http://morebeer.com/view_product/159...ottling_Deluxe

Thanks!

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Brewed a 10.50 gallon robust porter today. It was a long brew day but I'm sure in 4 weeks it will worth it.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

The Midwest kit is the way to go. Thats what I started with and I still use most of. Minus the buckets.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

It seems like it was the most complete kit out there for the money. Only change I might make though is get the kit without the pot included. Their shipping brings this kit to around $230 I think. For around $185 shipped, I can get the same kit with 2 carboys(minus bottles) and pick up a 5 gal pot like on amazon or BB&B for probably the same price.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I'd go the route you mention, and put some thought into a larger pot if you think you might ever want to move to full boils.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

So, let me ask you this-what's the difference between a foil boil and a half boil I guess?

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

You get better hop utilization, you can brew all grain if you choose to, some say you don't get an extract twang. FWIW Zainashef mentions full boils being a key to making great beer, along with pitching the right amount of healthy yeast.

Very big con: You're going to want a wort chiller.

If you save $50 by not getting a 5 gallon pot with the kit you can get an 8 gallon pot from Amazon for about that much. It'd just be a part of your system that you didn't need to upgrade if you decided to fall further down the homebrewing slope. You can always do a partial boil in an 8 gallon pot, you can't do a full boil in a 5 gallon pot. You can make good homebrew so many ways though, tons of people make great homebrew doing partial boils including my pal Jamie who's beers I'm always jealous of :2

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Extra pale ale in tonight.
Dryhopped my Black IPA today, and hopefully those Cascades will make a happy tasty beverage in about 5 days.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

As in I'm going to WANT or I'm going to NEED a wort chiller? :r

I've inquired on substituting the 7.5 gal pot they sell in lieu of the 4 gal pot. I'll see what they say. I'm also wanting to substitute the Hank's Hefeweizen kit in place of the 3 kits they offer with it.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

You should see if they honor any competitors coupons.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I chilled with the lid on the pot in an ice bath for a long time before I finally got a wort chiller. The chiller just makes the process a whole lot faster. I got my chiller on craigslist for $15. It's something you could hold out on until you found a good deal.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Blew my first stopper and airlock during the night. Made quite a mess in the chest freezer. I keep telling myself that I should use a blowoff tube for the 1st week with every batch to be safe. Lesson learned.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Well, the damage is done. Order placed.

I went with this kit: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/every...ent-kit-8.html. I decided I'd learn what I'm doing with this kit before getting into it even more so.

$223.27 shipped to my door.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Looking like I should get my bottles this week, so my first brew should get bottled this weekend. Then I'll be brewing a vanilla bourbon stout.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Found out my thermometer I have been using is off around 10-20 degrees! So I have been way over on my mash temps. No wonder the last few beers have not reached FG and tasted awfully sweet. Hope I caught it soon enough and cooled it down on the honey nut brown I made yesterday.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Does anyone have experience dealing with treating water for brewing?

I found my city's water quality report online (PDF) but I'm no chemist, and am not really sure what I should be looking for as far as if my tap water is OK for mashing/brewing or not ...

I've noticed some off flavors in my lighter recipes, but am not sure if it's my water or something else.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Here's a really good assessment of brewing water profiles:

http://www.howtobrew.com/section3/chapter15-2.html

As far as the mash is concerned, you're looking for things that will impact your pH. It appears that you have very soft water.

I use tap water quite a bit and don't worry too much about my water chemistry, although I do pay attention to the chlorine level so I typically boil my water or let it sit for awhile before using it.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I have a bottling related question. Im about to bottle my second batch and got my hands on a bunch of 1 liter glass fliptop bottles.these glass bottles are bigger than the liter plastic bottles the kit came with. Now my set up makes exactly 8 liters of beer in the plastic bottles with almost nothing left. Should i A. fill up the glass bottles and adujust the priming sugar making fewer bottles or B. make the full 8 bottles with less beer in each bottle. i would prefer to have 8 bottles but im not sure if the extra air space would cause any issues with carbonation or oxidation. any suggestions?

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Extra air space in the bottles will cause "bottle bombs" and they will explode.
You want to fill the bottles up and leave about an inch of head space.
I found out the hard way the first time I bottled.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

My kit is scheduled to arrive. I think I'll try to put it to use Sunday.

This is going to be my first brew: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/revie.../list/id/1276/

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Duane, Try the Hanks Hefe kit from Midwest, next.
I think its the best one they make!

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

That was the plan. Hefe is really the reason why I decided to get into making it myself and is typically a $2.50+ purchase for a decent one it seems. I really wanted to make Hefe, but I almost seemed to be a bit intimidated to try it for my first batch. Seems some of the stuff I read talked about holding it closer to 62 degrees than I could maintain at room temp like most other stuff out there. If holding a temp closer to the 62 degree range was the requirement, I wanted to see how the stuff might possibly fit in my vinotemp or small fridge. That said, when I do get around to ordering it, what is your recommendation for the yeast?

Also, I want to make some kristallweizen, which to my understanding is just a filtered version of the hefeweizen. What would I need to do in the process to do the filtration?

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

The type of yeast you use for a Hefe is very important. Its almost what makes it a Hefe.
I always use the WhiteLabs 300 Hefeweizen.
In the summer time I brew two batches of this back to back and just rack the 2nd batch onto the yeat cake of the 1st batch.
Regarding the fermenting temp: The higher temp = more banana flavor; the lower the temp = more clove flavor
But I ferment in my basement and never really payed that much attention to the temp and it always turned out great, so dont worry too much unless you wait and make it in the heat of summer and do not have a cool place to put your fermenter

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

+1

It also ferments well in the 68-72 range. Not sure how it would do at lower temps, Zymurgy had an article on this topic last issue, I think.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

This has pushed the cap of the carboy, twice. We have a blowoff tube on this, also. Belgian yeast is aggressive!!!!

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I made a belgian strong that pushed yeast through the blowoff tube for 4 days straight. The Belgians have definitely perfected aggressive yeasts that attenuate well!

Just bottled up a scottish that wound up being more of a 90 than a wee heavy. Added some yeast at bottling. First time doing this, hope they don't blow.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I'm kinda disappointed with my order from Midwest. If I had known this was just a standard Brewers Best Deluxe kit with 2 cases of bottles and a cheapo kettle, I would have ordered the kit/bottles/ingredients kit from Bell's General Store for $156.29 shipped and then gotten this kettle http://www.amazon.com/Winware-Stainl...7712164&sr=8-1 (which I'm sure is much better than this one http://www.midwestsupplies.com/homeb...-5-gallon.html ) for just $2 more.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Shoulda used a coupon.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Didn't have any current codes. I tried.