What did you learn this week?

Toadsticker said:

Actually, no. I didn't think of it. The way the wind direction kept shifting, foil would have blown away, too. Winds were around 18 gusting to 25.

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I'd be concerned more with the cold side end of brewing out in the wind. There's tons of dust/pollen etc kicking around and that's bound to get into your wort and infect it.
Just make sure you keep a lid on it after flame out, and take it indoors before opening.

I had a huge boiloff, ended up closer to soup than wort. Was cooled to 70° in 15 minutes. Topped off to 5 gal with cold spring water, pitched at 43°. Current results, at 63°:



To the many who have helped me improve here, I thank you.

Toadsticker said:

I had a huge boiloff, ended up closer to soup than wort. Was cooled to 70° in 15 minutes. Topped off to 5 gal with cold spring water, pitched at 43°. Current results, at 63°:

To the many who have helped me improve here, I thank you.

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A couple other things that might help you get some improvements on your next batch:

43f is too cold to pitch. Generally, lager yeast is pitched cooler than ale yeast, but your best bet it to follow the yeast suppliers pitch range for that particular strain. They can vary.
Your beer isn't necessarily ruined because of that, but the yeast will produce some off flavors, and/or may not fully attenuate leaving you with a sweeter/lower alcohol beer than you intended.

If you are going to top off with cold water, it's best that it's been pre-boiled and cooled before doing so. Also, seems lime you may know this already, but don't use tap water if you're on city water as the chlorine causes fermentation problems.

Cheers!

I learned just how satisfying it is to throw away a whole bunch of empty bottles because your loving wife gave you three corny kegs for an early xmas present.

NOOOOO!!! I NEED those bottles! Did you already toss em?

but grats on the kegs...lucky baastad

I learned today that if you close the refrigerator door and the picnic tap is pinched between the door and the keg, the rest of the beer in the keg will begin flowing out the bottom of the frige AND the Co2 bottle will frost up as it dumps all it's contents into an empty keg and right out the open tap.

Good thing for me there was only abut 2 pints left in the keg, however I did lose about 4 lbs of Co2 before i got back out there to pour another glass and found it.

Watch where the taps are at when you close the door

Toy4Rick

i learned that even when you are standing there looking at it, a boilover can go really quick, so you need something in your hand, like a squirt bottle, or spoon.

if not you will have something else in your hand to clean up the mess on the wife's stove.

dadshomebrewing said:

i learned that even when you are standing there looking at it, a boilover can go really quick, so you need something in your hand, like a squirt bottle, or spoon.

if not you will have something else in your hand to clean up the mess on the wife's stove.

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Fermcap S. Once I started using it I never stopped. I don't have to worry about boilovers now.

On to the learning part. I learned the hard way that once hops get old enough you really have to take the degradation into account and adjust your recipe. I had several really under-hoppy batches. Bitterness was OK, just not the flavor I was hoping for. Today I brewed and adjusted my recipe using this, a hops aging calculator a member put together. I am crossing my fingers!

I learned that when doing a 1.5 l starter in a 2 l flask the krausen will over flow. What I need to know is how fast to run the stir plate. I just had it going enough to keep the yeast in suspension but I have lost a lot of yeast. The krausen is mostly yeast it looks like.

What I really learned was that if you put 1c dme in 1.5 l for a starter it's too much. The question now is is this useable?

I learned that getting a 5gal bucket and using that for the sanitizer mixture makes everything easier. I also learned that my LHBS, while small and fugly from the outside, actually has a nice selection of hops!

That I forgot to refill my LP tank. Also, that my miserable apt stove won't boil 2 1/2 gallons of wort hard enough to Get a boilover even when bridging 2 burners. (Elect.)

Seems every week I learn something. I have only brewed 6 batches. I read the Yeast/Fermentation section everyday.
I learned my Grandma was right "patience is a virtue". My Christmas Ale is good, after 2 months in the bottle.
I discovered using frozen granite samples placed under my hot pot help with my wort chiller to cool it down even faster.

I am learning how to use a stir plate...and started reading the book Yeast. Seems like we do not give yeast enough credit for the taste of the final product, so I see a lot of yeast experimentation in the future.

When you open a bottle that has only been bottled a week prior make sure to do it over the sink

I want to taste one per week just to see how the beer changes so I cracked one open tonight. Unfortunately it over flowed onto the counter. After doing searching on here I learned that this is fairly common and is probably because all the CO2 was in the head of the beer and was not absorbed into the liquid yet. Beer was still flat but tasted okay!

I Spend WAY to much on commercial beer...

Johnnyhitch1 said:

I Spend WAY to much on commercial beer...

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+1
I always do that too..

Even though the side burner on my out door grill is rated the same as the cook top in the kitchen there is a big difference in how well they work. The cook top inside is way better.

I learned that chinook hops are some powerfully bitter hops!!!

I learned that it IS POSSIBLE to get through a brew day without an emergency run to the grocery store, LHBS, or hardware store (or in some cases, all three). First time that's ever happened for me, only took about 8 frantic brewdays.

I learned that drilling a small hole in a SS keg is not as easy as it would first appear.

I´ve learn that if you are going to bed late at nigth and your SWMBO is asleep, it´s always better to turn on a ligth and have a disagrement that blasting your face against a door frame, that´s going to leave a mark...

I learned that all grain is not as hard as I thought it would be )

I learned when direct heating an Erlenmeyer flask on the stove for a starter to not have it too full and watch the heat like a hawk! Bad sticky boilover!

Also learned that I didn't allow for enough head space in my carboy for shaking up airation once I pitched. I have a stuck fermentation and need to repitch now. I think the purchase of some oxygen and SS diffuser might be a good idea.

I learned that I can get an AG brew day done, from getting equipment out to having everything cleaned and put away, in about 4 hours...

Hopefully that can be routine.

i learned how much i miss it when i don't get to brew on a weekend, and what a complete butthead i turn into.

I learned that I should mark the gallon amounts on my brewing spoon.

And that carbonation will make this weak beer I bottled taste way better

I learned that I can get 5 or 6 more efficiency points and end up with lots more wort with brew in a bag by undertaking some very rudimentary lautering. I managed 70% rather than the 65% I was expecting.

I learned that you need to make sure all water is out of your IC before puttig it in your boiling wort. Hot steamy water shooting out at you and your new hardwood floor is not a fun time.

grem135 said:

I learned that you need to make sure all water is out of your IC before puttig it in your boiling wort. Hot steamy water shooting out at you and your new hardwood floor is not a fun time.

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Haha I learned the same thing this weekend. Luckily I was outside in the garage though.

philly224 said:

Haha I learned the same thing this weekend. Luckily I was outside in the garage though.

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Wish I had a garage. I would rather clean that then SWMBO's kitchen

Rig a blowoff tube for all beers for now on

BansheeRider said:

Rig a blowoff tube for all beers for now on

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Funny, I learned that today too.

I learned that if you're not paying attention... the bottom of a corny keg, especially when wet, can leave nasty, hard-as-hell to clean, SWMBO pissing-off ring shaped stains on carpet...

I learned to remember that all this brewing equipment has different cleaning needs. My thrumometer is trash cause I've cleaned it carelessly and now it's starting to corrode

jakeperks said:

Funny, I learned that today too.

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I started using them when I switched to better bottles

I learned that you should take your mash tun size into consideration when deciding to do a large party-gyle brew w/ 26lbs of grain! (luckily I discovered this before starting my mash so I could adjust the recipe for a regular mash)