Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?

[BeerAdvocate]

I didnt brew this weekend. But I did defrost the kegerator and replaced the beer lines.
I need to get my CO2 filled today then I will be hooking up new kegs of American Rye Ale and a Rum Barrel Stout.

[Salvelinus]

Went with an APA hopped with citra, amarillo, and centennial instead of the wee heavy. Nice to be able to do ten gallons. Going to dry hop half and leave the other alone.

Anyone made hard cider before? Just poured my first one off the keg. It was from a 5 gallon batch, one pound brown sugar, and 32oz of all natural tart cherry juice. It tastes great, but it smells terrible. Is that normal for a cider?

[Mikey202]

Bottling the IBA tonight.

[cricky101]

Kegged an all-amarillo IPA over the weekend and took the first glass last night. It still needs more time to carb, but tastes nice. I really like the flavor of Amarillo hops. I think I had 8 ounces in this 5-gallon batch, between the boil and dry-hopping.

[kaisersozei]

Originally Posted by cricky101

Kegged an all-amarillo IPA over the weekend and took the first glass last night. It still needs more time to carb, but tastes nice. I really like the flavor of Amarillo hops. I think I had 8 ounces in this 5-gallon batch, between the boil and dry-hopping.

Holy crap, that's a lot of hops! I agree, I love Amarillo as an IPA hop although it's hard to find at times. I'm really partial to a Centennial/Amarillo/Citra mix, one of my favorites.

[cricky101]

Originally Posted by kaisersozei

Holy crap, that's a lot of hops! I agree, I love Amarillo as an IPA hop although it's hard to find at times. I'm really partial to a Centennial/Amarillo/Citra mix, one of my favorites.

I had a bunch of Amarillo I bought in bulk in the freezer, and since they're a relatively low AA, it took quite a bit to get to the bitterness I wanted. Had I been purchasing all of them at once, I would DEFINITELY have used less of a higher AA hop to get the IBUs and used the Amarillo only for the flavor/aroma late in the boil.

But I like it

[Mikes]

I just did back to back 10 gal batches of an all citra apa/ipa and love it. was thinking baout moving on to another type of all hop ipa but not sure which one. Sounds like the Amirillo and or Centennial/Amarillo/Citra mix might be a winner. I am assuming that the c/a/c mix is in the order of hop additions kaiser?

Yall done any other all 1 type of hops ipa or apas?

I just kegged yesterday 10 gal of AHS Oatmeal Stout and 10 gal of Kicked up blue moon clone. Have a gas leak in the new keezer i have to get sealed up today....and more co2 in the tank ;o(

[cricky101]

Originally Posted by Mikes

I just did back to back 10 gal batches of an all citra apa/ipa and love it. was thinking baout moving on to another type of all hop ipa but not sure which one. Sounds like the Amirillo and or Centennial/Amarillo/Citra mix might be a winner. I am assuming that the c/a/c mix is in the order of hop additions kaiser?

Yall done any other all 1 type of hops ipa or apas?

I just kegged yesterday 10 gal of AHS Oatmeal Stout and 10 gal of Kicked up blue moon clone. Have a gas leak in the new keezer i have to get sealed up today....and more co2 in the tank ;o(

I made an all-centennial IPA which was really good. I think Bell's Two-Hearted is all-centennial too. Can't go wrong with that.

[kaisersozei]

Originally Posted by Mikes

I just did back to back 10 gal batches of an all citra apa/ipa and love it. was thinking baout moving on to another type of all hop ipa but not sure which one. Sounds like the Amirillo and or Centennial/Amarillo/Citra mix might be a winner. I am assuming that the c/a/c mix is in the order of hop additions kaiser?

Yes, I would do Centennial as bittering, and then alternate amarillo & citra as late additions, and then dry hop with either all amarillo or all citra. I also like using a burst hop technique with these, but that requires more hops & $$

Originally Posted by Mikes

Yall done any other all 1 type of hops ipa or apas?

I have an all-Cascades planned using this year's homegrown crop. It's actually a Single Malt Single Hop recipe using all Marris Otter.

Originally Posted by cricky101

I made an all-centennial IPA which was really good. I think Bell's Two-Hearted is all-centennial too. Can't go wrong with that.

Yes, THA is all Centennial

[Mikes]

Thanks Kaiser....

Update on my air leak....After spraying all 8 fittings on the dist air bar and the regulator on the tank I found nothing...yet I was still leaking gas. So I took all of the gas outlets to the popits on the kegs. Unscrewed the air dist block and took the whole damn thing tank and all upstairs and placed it in a full bathtub. STILL NO LEAKS! I was like wtf? Gave up for a bit and then came back later and reconnected the gas setup. All of a sudden some of the soap solution spray I had used earlier dripped ontop of the corney kegs by the pressure relief valve and was bubbling away....Well I sprayed the other 6 kegs and found yet another faulty pressure relief valve! OMG, So sick of these pos refurbed kegs.

So I went on AHS website and saw that if I wanted to rebuild my kegs it would cost roughly 45$ to replace everything but the shell. A brand new keg is $120. Refurb kegs that we got were 50$ (not on their site anymore). So 95$ for a completely rebuilt 'old' keg....as apposed to $120 for a new one. That 50$ price tag for a refurb sure seems nice at first but it seems like the old adage you get what you pay for in the end.

I'm thinking I should have not bought the 7 kegs I have...but should have slowly bought new units? What are yalls thoughts on this? I don't mind doing the work to make the old kegs 'new'. And can just replace what needs replacing when the time comes as far as parts. Or just replace everything all at once on the kegs as they are emptied. What would you do? What have you done?

Just frustrated.

[BeerAdvocate]

I have bought 6 refurb. kegs from www.kegconnection.com and they all have worked great for years. Kegconnection replaces all the seals and even sends replacement seals.
All are tested before sent and they run around $35 for the "B" grade kegs.
B grade just means tiny dents and a little loose rubber.
Wait for around Black Friday and they are $25 ea.
I have been very happy will all my purchases from kegconnection

[cricky101]

Originally Posted by BeerAdvocate

I have bought 6 refurb. kegs from www.kegconnection.com and they all have worked great for years. Kegconnection replaces all the seals and even sends replacement seals.
All are tested before sent and they run around $35 for the "B" grade kegs.
B grade just means tiny dents and a little loose rubber.
Wait for around Black Friday and they are $25 ea.
I have been very happy will all my purchases from kegconnection

I just bought (got them Monday) two of the $35 "B" grade kegs from kegconnection. One is missing half of a handle, and the other one has loose rubber all-around, but some gorilla glue should take care of that just fine. They're a little banged up, but I don't care what they look like as long as they hold presure.

They both arrived pressurized and came with replacement O-rings too.

[SteelCityBoy]

Here is my recently brewed black lager that is 24 hours into fermentation. It will be a while till ready as I intend to fully lager this brew.

[rack04]

Cold crashing a Belgian Pale Ale that was brewed at my clubs last brewday. Hopefully I'll get it on gas in a couple days. Next weekend (time permitting) I will brew an all centennial IPA.

unfortunately, nothing at the moment. Last brew was a pumpkin ale. Next up an Imperial stout.

[Salvelinus]

Originally Posted by Mikes

Yall done any other all 1 type of hops ipa or apas?

I did an all Columbus APA this year that I really liked. Simple grain bill of marris otter and little C60 to back it up.

I did two batches of a marris otter/simcoe SMASH that was good, but it took a big flavor leap for me when I added some chinook to the hop schedule.

Kegging my Citra/Amarillo/Centennial APA today. Did 20, 5, and dry hop additions, each addition was 0.5oz Citra, 0.5oz Amarillo, and 0.25oz Centennial.

Brewing a black lager from a friends recipe today. It took second at a local home brew contest so I guess it's my fault if it winds up tasting like hell.

[cricky101]

I brewed a couple recipes from homebrewtalk.com. A belgian wit and a cream ale with corn and rice adjuncts.

I'm preparing for a party my girlfriend and I are planning and want plenty of beer on tap the crowd will like. I thought the light cream ale and Belgian wit (Blue Moon-ish) would work well. I plan to have a cream stout and a hoppy IPA on tap, too. Along with the contents of the liquor cabinet, hopefully I'll have everyone covered!

I plan on brewing up a batch of brown ale this saturday.

[rack04]

Originally Posted by cricky101

I brewed a couple recipes from homebrewtalk.com. A belgian wit and a cream ale with corn and rice adjuncts.

I'm preparing for a party my girlfriend and I are planning and want plenty of beer on tap the crowd will like. I thought the light cream ale and Belgian wit (Blue Moon-ish) would work well. I plan to have a cream stout and a hoppy IPA on tap, too. Along with the contents of the liquor cabinet, hopefully I'll have everyone covered!

Did you brew the cream of three crops? I just kicked a keg of it and it was fantastic. My efficiency was a lot higher than I plan and I had great attenuation. Therefore, it had a pretty high ABV.

My two keg brewing system is almost complete. I'm still acquiring all the fittings for the HLT (i.e. sight glass, ball valve, center pickup, thermometer) but the BK is compete. Next I have to figure out if I'm going full blown with the single tier double burner stand with pump or two individual burners and heavy lifting.

[kaisersozei]

Originally Posted by kaisersozei

I have an all-Cascades planned using this year's homegrown crop. It's actually a Single Malt Single Hop recipe using all Marris Otter.

Finally got around to brewing this up on Sunday. Got about 80% efficiency out of the Marris Otter mash, and I was pleased to use my entire crop of Cascades to put the IBU's right around 45. Split into two fermenters, one with Burton Ale yeast and the other with California V--both bubbling away happily at about 68⁰. My fermentation closet is kinda smelly, not sure which one of those yeasts is throwing off the sulphur.