Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?

[BeerAdvocate]

That is a good starter set from NB. I think its best to start out with 2 carboys.
I bought my starter kit from Midwest, they are a little cheaper.
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/brewi...s-carboys.html
It comes with 2 glass carboys, but for $20 less you can get 2 better bottles. I prefer glass.
The only other thing you need is a big pot. If you are doing all grain, I suggest getting a turkey fryer setup. If you are going to do extract on the stove, get a pot that is big enough to hold 2-3 gallons.

A braggot I call "BarleyMead"

1 lb Belgian Munich
1 lb Belgian CaraMunich
8 oz Belgian Special B
8 oz British crystal 50-60L
4 oz British crystal 70-80L
12 oz Belgian chocolate
4 oz Flaked barley
1 lb Flaked oats
18 lbs Honey
Wyeast 1098
Lalvin EC-1118
1 tspn Irish Moss
5 oz Corn sugar for bottle priming.

Mashed the malt & flake in 12 quarts water; 30 minute protein rest @ 122 F, 30 minute Alpha Rest @ 158 F, brought the water to 162 F add the roast and steeped for 30 minutes before doing a 6 quart batch sparge @ 170 F.

Boil the wort for 60 minutes, chill and blend with 6lb honey and pitched the Wyeast. O.G. was 1.086.

When fermentation has ended I’ll blend 12lb of honey into the beer, pitch the Lalvin yeast and let it ferment until the completion. Starting gravity last batch was 1.140, the batch finished at 1.018.

Near as I could figure the braggot was 24%-25% ABV, 5% from the grain 19% - 20% from the second addition of honey.



http://hbd.org/recipator/

[Mark C]

Originally Posted by BeerAdvocate

If you are going to do extract on the stove, get a pot that is big enough to hold 2-3 gallons.

Walmart sells a 22 qt stainless pot for $40, just grabbed one myself.

Anyone here keg soda? I'm having trouble with carbing my first root beer. I can't seem to get it to pour without foam. I originally tried force carb @40 psig, served at 30psig/38 F through 30 ft of 3/16" line and a cobra tap and all I get is foam. I thought I had a diptube leak, so I changed the o-ring, not much better. It looks like I've got CO2 coming out of solution in the lines, way too many bubbles. If I let it sit overnight, the lines are solid in the morning and the first pour (what was left in the line) is great. After that it goes downhill. Now I'm thinking I overcarbed it, so I'm purging the keg and plan to start over a little lower, maybe around 20 psig and work up from there. I was also thinking maybe I hadn't let the CO2 truly dissolve well into the root beer? I only left it under pressure for a day before I tried to pour, could it be CO2 is merely 'mixed' in the root beer, rather than dissolved, causing it to come out of solution faster? Though I was under the impression not enough time under pressure would give you a flat beer, not a ton of foam. Any thoughts?

[cricky101]

Originally Posted by BeerAdvocate

That is a good starter set from NB. I think its best to start out with 2 carboys.
I bought my starter kit from Midwest, they are a little cheaper.
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/brewi...s-carboys.html
It comes with 2 glass carboys, but for $20 less you can get 2 better bottles. I prefer glass.
The only other thing you need is a big pot. If you are doing all grain, I suggest getting a turkey fryer setup. If you are going to do extract on the stove, get a pot that is big enough to hold 2-3 gallons.

Thanks! That looks like a good way to go. I'm going to try to drive over there this week and check it out.

Originally Posted by BeerAdvocate

That is a good starter set from NB. I think its best to start out with 2 carboys.

I'm of the opposite opinion. One fermenting bucket and one bottling bucket is perfect 90% of the time. I have a glass carboy, but I only use it for bulk aging, an don't even do that anymore now that I keg.