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dadshomebrewing said:
hey, i'm getting ready to do my first porter.

can anybody think of any value, either way, of using Irish Moss in a porter to clear it?

either yes, or no?

TIA

Irish moss or whirlfloc...unless you enter a comp or care about cloudy beer... Forgeddaboutit!
 
I think I heard a few here mention the Brooklyn brew shop kits? Just went into Bevmo to grab a hard cider and they had bourbon dubbel recipe kits on sale here for $5 so I picked one up. But if you guys say you tried one and its good, I may swing back by.
 
I pitched mine cold:cross:


i'm way too OCD... I saved one of my old yeast tubes, boiled it, and sanitized it.

at the very start of brew day, i put whatever percentage, of whatever yeast, in there and let it sit out until it goes into the fermenter. this way it is at, or pretty close, to room temperature by then.

then, i wash, rinse, and re-sanitize, the yeast tube.

another thing i did, is i weighed an empty white labs tube (51g), and a full white labs tube (90g), giving the net weight of the content (39g).

so, i know that when mrmalty says I need .3 or .4 of a tube of yeast, what the total net weight of the yeast and tube i'm pitching will be.

so, if i want .4 (40%) of a tube, then it's (3.9g * 4) + 51 = 66.6 g (rounded up to 67g).

much more precise, at least for me, than using the old eyeballs.
 
Irish moss or whirlfloc...unless you enter a comp or care about cloudy beer... Forgeddaboutit!

This.. absolutely this
I have not had any luck with fining agents an this small of a batch. just let her sit a week and clear. The yeast also seem to keep working and clean up after themselves this way, leaving a "cleaner" taste

Someone was talking about SMaSH brews? Has anyone extensively played with marris otter? I have done a couple of smash brews with it and a couple of beers, I really love the results. Really considering lagering it sometimes soom.
 
Brooklyn Brew Shop was mentioned, I'm ready to bottle my forth and fifth batch; drinking my second. Tasty stuff.

image-2014245045.jpg
 
TreadmillAce said:
Brooklyn Brew Shop was mentioned, I'm ready to bottle my forth and fifth batch; drinking my second. Tasty stuff.

bmwmunk said:
Used them for our first brew, IPA. Turned out great!

You guys try the bourbon dubbel?
 
dadshomebrewing said:
i'm way too OCD... I saved one of my old yeast tubes, boiled it, and sanitized it.

at the very start of brew day, i put whatever percentage, of whatever yeast, in there and let it sit out until it goes into the fermenter. this way it is at, or pretty close, to room temperature by then.

then, i wash, rinse, and re-sanitize, the yeast tube.

another thing i did, is i weighed an empty white labs tube (51g), and a full white labs tube (90g), giving the net weight of the content (39g).

so, i know that when mrmalty says I need .3 or .4 of a tube of yeast, what the total net weight of the yeast and tube i'm pitching will be.

so, if i want .4 (40%) of a tube, then it's (3.9g * 4) + 51 = 66.6 g (rounded up to 67g).

much more precise, at least for me, than using the old eyeballs.

I may do this now. I used dry yeast up until last night but that was a 25 Plato barleywine so one vial was the proper pitching rate haha.
 
huntingohio said:
This.. absolutely this
I have not had any luck with fining agents an this small of a batch. just let her sit a week and clear. The yeast also seem to keep working and clean up after themselves this way, leaving a "cleaner" taste

Someone was talking about SMaSH brews? Has anyone extensively played with marris otter? I have done a couple of smash brews with it and a couple of beers, I really love the results. Really considering lagering it sometimes soom.

I can't say extensive but Maris tastes great. If I make a beer where I want the malt to be the star, I'll go with Maris. In my IPA IIPA RIS or Cascadian I'd stick with 2-row. But in a nice mellow bitter or brown ale, Maris!
 
I ate some golden promise malt at a hbs.. tasted great never used it yet. homefully the barleywine turn out for oyu
 
After having some great English IPAs which IMO are far more balanced than American IPAs which tend to be massive hop bombs, I think I'm going to have that as a brew after I bottle 6 gallons' worth of American IPAs..
 
TreadmillAce said:
Brooklyn Brew Shop was mentioned, I'm ready to bottle my forth and fifth batch; drinking my second. Tasty stuff.

For some reason I didn't notice this Until now. Are you leaving your fermenters out the whole time it's fermenting?
 
Hi guys. I've done a couple of 5 gallon all grain brews and I've now decided I want to do a couple of 1 gallon brews for more experimental stuff.

I use those smack packets of yeast. If I do a 1 gallon brew can I still use one of these packets?
 
mikegee said:
Hi guys. I've done a couple of 5 gallon all grain brews and I've now decided I want to do a couple of 1 gallon brews for more experimental stuff.

I use those smack packets of yeast. If I do a 1 gallon brew can I still use one of these packets?

You could Check mrmalty pitching rate calculator to see how far over you may be. If its a basic ale can you save it and use dry yeast?
 
^^^ +1

Use dry yeast, or if you really want liquid, see if you can acquire a yeast in a vial. Of course, that is not to say that you absolutely cannot use the smack packs. It'll be easier to maintain accuracy with dry or vialed yeast.
 
Hi guys. I've done a couple of 5 gallon all grain brews and I've now decided I want to do a couple of 1 gallon brews for more experimental stuff.

I use those smack packets of yeast. If I do a 1 gallon brew can I still use one of these packets?

yes, but you won't use the whole packet.

that's why i have to "convert down". the big batch boys just toss in the whole packet of yeast.

i use white labs yeast in tubes, which can be closed. i don't know how it would work with the wyeast packets.
 
Hi guys. I've done a couple of 5 gallon all grain brews and I've now decided I want to do a couple of 1 gallon brews for more experimental stuff.

I use those smack packets of yeast. If I do a 1 gallon brew can I still use one of these packets?


the issue is that depending upon the beer, and the O.G, you will use either 0.3 or 0.4 of a vial or packet of liquid yeast, which means that you need to be able to store up to 70% of a packet of yeast for later use.


if you aren't using yeast in a reclosable vial, i would think dry yeast is probably better.
 
With yeast vials I'd need to make a started though wouldn't I? I've read you're supposed to do this 48hrs before you actually add it to your beer.

Is that the same for dry yeasts?
 
With yeast vials I'd need to make a started though wouldn't I? I've read you're supposed to do this 48hrs before you actually add it to your beer.

Is that the same for dry yeasts?

i don't do a starter. never have, and i haven't seen a single reference that suggests it for small batches.

all you have to do is pour the amount you need into a sanitized container, and bring it up to room temp, then pitch it into your fermenter and shake, right before you put your blow off tube in.
 
No starters here. i highly recommend dry yeast for your 1 gal. Batches much easier and cheaper.

Has anyone had success in using leftover dry yeast after you have opened it?

I dont like to throw out the leftover. I may make a starter and save the yeast that way.
 
@flipfloptan: I'm a baker by trade, and if the yeasts we use for brewing are even remotely simliar to the yeast we use to make bread, it should be fine stored well closed in either the fridge or freezer for quite awhile. A few cells may die, but for us one-gallon brewers it shouldn't make a huge difference, IMHO.
 
...Has anyone had success in using leftover dry yeast after you have opened it?...
Sure. Fold the packet over and stick some tape over it so it stays closed. Then stick it in the fridge.

I've got a 1lb package I keep in a freezer bag in my fridge for brewing. It's been in there for about 4 months and I haven't noticed a difference from when I first got it. If it's cold, it can take it an extra 30 minutes to an hour to really get moving. That hasn't varied since I got it though. If I let it warm on the counter before proofing or adding to the starter it's a little faster.

With yeast vials I'd need to make a started though wouldn't I? I've read you're supposed to do this 48hrs before you actually add it to your beer.

Is that the same for dry yeasts?
I've made starters for 1 gallon batches. Only when the OG was extremely high though. Up to about 1.1000 I wouldn't bother. Between 1.1000 and 1.1200 it's really a matter of personal preference. Over 1.1200 I'd make a starter. Though I did pitch a batch with an OG of 1.1320 with 4 grams of dry yeast and it did just fine. It did take the full 48 hours to really get going, but it didn't pick up any off flavors or anything.
 
Yup the dry yeast is soooo easy with small batches. I use 1/3 of a pack per batch. Tape it up and put it in one of those vacuum sealed zipper bags. The handheld kind. I use it for hops, yeast, DME and corn sugar.
 
Sure. Fold the packet over and stick some tape over it so it stays closed. Then stick it in the fridge.

I've got a 1lb package I keep in a freezer bag in my fridge for brewing. It's been in there for about 4 months and I haven't noticed a difference from when I first got it. If it's cold, it can take it an extra 30 minutes to an hour to really get moving. That hasn't varied since I got it though. If I let it warm on the counter before proofing or adding to the starter it's a little faster.


I've made starters for 1 gallon batches. Only when the OG was extremely high though. Up to about 1.1000 I wouldn't bother. Between 1.1000 and 1.1200 it's really a matter of personal preference. Over 1.1200 I'd make a starter. Though I did pitch a batch with an OG of 1.1320 with 4 grams of dry yeast and it did just fine. It did take the full 48 hours to really get going, but it didn't pick up any off flavors or anything.

I just did a 1.106 barleywine and pitched a full vial in a 1.1 gallon batch. If you get much higher than that I would check with mr malty(seriously, I doubted the need for pitching rates for a long time, but wouldn't do anything over 1.060 without it now).
 
Hey All. My kegs are full so it is time to start working on my spring brews. I have scaled down 3 recipes if anyone is interested. Below is the Northern Brewer Wheat, BCS Wheat and Dead Ringer IPA. I'm not a fan of wheat but the wife and her friends are big fans. Chicks dig wheat, I guess. Need to keep them happy and if wheat beer is the trick that is ok with me.

All are AG at 75% eff. and all use s05 yeast

Dead Ringer IPA OG 1.065 FG 1.016 Ibu 57 Srm 8 ABV 6.5%

2 row malt 2lb 3 oz
C40 3oz

Centennial 11.65 AA .15oz 60 minutes
Centennial .2oz 20 minutes
centennial .4oz 5 minutes
centennial .2 dry hop


Northern Brewer Wheat OG 1.046 FG 1.012 Ibu 25 SRM 5 ABV 4.45

White Wheat 13oz
Pale Ale malt 13oz

Williamette 4.7% .2oz 60 min
Cascade 5.6% .2oz 15 min


BCS Wheat OG 1.046 FG 1.012 IBU 23 SRM 6 ABV 4.45

2 row malt 13oz
Dark Wheat 13oz

Williamette 4.7% .3 60min
Williamette .1 0 min
Centennial .1 0 min
 
Hey All. My kegs are full so it is time to start working on my spring brews. I have scaled down 3 recipes if anyone is interested. Below is the Northern Brewer Wheat, BCS Wheat and Dead Ringer IPA. I'm not a fan of wheat but the wife and her friends are big fans. Chicks dig wheat, I guess. Need to keep them happy and if wheat beer is the trick that is ok with me.

All are AG at 75% eff. and all use s05 yeast

Dead Ringer IPA OG 1.065 FG 1.016 Ibu 57 Srm 8 ABV 6.5%

2 row malt 2lb 3 oz
C40 3oz

Centennial 11.65 AA .15oz 60 minutes
Centennial .2oz 20 minutes
centennial .4oz 5 minutes
centennial .2 dry hop


Northern Brewer Wheat OG 1.046 FG 1.012 Ibu 25 SRM 5 ABV 4.45

White Wheat 13oz
Pale Ale malt 13oz

Williamette 4.7% .2oz 60 min
Cascade 5.6% .2oz 15 min


BCS Wheat OG 1.046 FG 1.012 IBU 23 SRM 6 ABV 4.45

2 row malt 13oz
Dark Wheat 13oz

Williamette 4.7% .3 60min
Williamette .1 0 min
Centennial .1 0 min

The only suggestion I would make is that, unless you have a very accurate scale, you convert that recipe to grams.

An ounce is 29.34 grams, so your .1 oz is 3 grams, which is a little easier to manage on a scale, and if you miss, you don't miss by as much.
 
Hey dadshomebrewing

Good catch. i do have them in grams when i brew but i have to use ounces when i order. i copied recipes from my order sheet.
 
Tried two 1 gallon batches this weekend. Like the idea of doing a lot more brewing with new ideas and recipes. However not excited that it takes roughly the same time and same clean up. For 1 gallon. Still thinks the pros win. And nice to do it all in the kitchen. Thanks for the idea! Never occurred to me before reading this thread. As a promiscuous brewer without adequate craft beer loving friends, this may prove the perfect solution.
 
FINALLY getting a chance to brew tomorrow. I've got all the equipment in a bucket waiting for sanitizer, found a nice spot for my fermenter, and have all my grain weighed out and ready.

Man, this whole "learning to brew" thing is nervewracking! But it's gonna be a good time. I have two quick questions though:

1. My hydrometer came with a little slip of paper that describes how to use it. In the bit that describes how to correct for readings taken from a sample that's not 60 degrees, there's a little chart that looks like this:

Wort Temp. Correction
52.2 -0.001
60 none
66.6 +0.001
72.4 +0.002
Am I correct in understanding this to mean that as long as my sample is within 52.3 - 66.5 degrees, I don't actually have to make any correction in order to ascertain my OG? I know it sounds like a stupid question, but I have a pretty gnarly math learning disability, so I want to make sure I get this right.

2. When fermenting, roughly how many degrees outside of my target temp can I get without risking off flavors? My target temp for the beer I'm making (a stout) is 68F. The spot I'll be keeping the fermenter hangs out at about 71-73F. I was planning on setting the fermenter in a tub of water with a towel over it to help knock off a few degrees - but if this isn't gonna be enough to knock it down to a reasonable range, I may be able to relocate the fermenter to a somewhat cooler area.

So yeah - sorry for the huge post! Just making sure everything is on track for the A.M. :ban:
 
BattleGoat said:
My target temp for the beer I'm making (a stout) is 68F. The spot I'll be keeping the fermenter hangs out at about 71-73F. I was planning on setting the fermenter in a tub of water with a towel over it to help knock off a few degrees

My swamp cooler drops the temp about 3F without a fan and 7F with a fan. I use the tub year round to provide a more stable temp but I only add the towel and fan in the summer. There are a lot of variables though, like humidity, so YMMV.

My "fermentation room" is a tiled walk-in shower that only gets used when we have guests stay with us. The tile seems to suck the heat right out and if there are any spills or bottle bombs (I stack my finished cases in there too), they go right down the drain. Any guests will just have to wait for another shower to free up. :ban:
 
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