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brewski09
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^what he said.
IMHO, if it's not recently posted (last 10 pages or so should be fairly current) then I feel it's fair game for discussion as there are more members now and more points of view
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IMHO, if it's not recently posted (last 10 pages or so should be fairly current) then I feel it's fair game for discussion as there are more members now and more points of view
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ericbw
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you'll probably end up commenting on something that's 5 years old. Not worth reading it all. There are new posts here all.the.time. You'll never be lacking something to read. Why waste time on the old stuff?
Winepharm
Well-Known Member
Picked up some Stella Artois today and it's in the fridge chilling. Tomorrow afternoon gonna boil some shrimp and do some chilling myself. Weather is absolutely perfect right now. Cold beer, good friends, good food, and perfect weather = one hell of a good time.
Tbruml
Member
Picked up my Mr.Beer at Tuesday morning for just $20. I can split a 5 gal ingredient kit into two batches with my Mr.Beer. And use different yeasts or add sugar or extra hops on the second batch. So even though I'm just a jr hobby brewer, I'm liking it so far. And SWMBO doesn't fuss about the small equipment stashed on top the kitchen cabinet. Pretty much out of sight. Not the case with my 5 & 6 gallon carboys with the comment of "your wine is taking over the house!"
Is the conical Brew Demon fermenter better than the Mr Beer barrel?
Any Brew Demon conical experience? Don't plan to use their ingredient kits.
Is the conical Brew Demon fermenter better than the Mr Beer barrel?
Any Brew Demon conical experience? Don't plan to use their ingredient kits.
Tbruml
Member
It's OK, vaulted ceiling and we just recently turned off the A/C here in Kentucky.
Have it sitting in a pan. I had a spigot break and dump an entire batch.
Conical from Brew Demon is great but takes up lots more space than a lbk. It has more room, little chance for a blow out, and more room for trub. But, I can fit two lbks in my brew fridge so I stick with using them.
brewshki
Well-Known Member
does anyone know what the OGs and FGs should be for the various recipes?
i have so far only brewed one batch and it came out not great. there is no head and the flavor is champagney at best and really nothing to write home about. I'm banking on the fact that the temperatures it brewed at were way to high. i have since built myself a nice little brew chamber that has been working very well so far.
as soon as i can find a few hours, i am going to make a mexican cervesa refill that i have on hand. I'm planning on just following traditional techniques of sanitizing well boiling up my water then adding the LME. I'm then going to cool that down in some ice until it hits about 70 F which is about what it will ferment at. after that, i was going to take a hydrometer reading but i don't really know what i am looking for. what should it be? i know i can just probably leave it for a few weeks and call it good but i really want to get into this and do it right. additionally, I'm going to follow the Mr beer instructions and fill up the LBk to a certain extent with coldish water. should this water be boiled first? thanks!
i have so far only brewed one batch and it came out not great. there is no head and the flavor is champagney at best and really nothing to write home about. I'm banking on the fact that the temperatures it brewed at were way to high. i have since built myself a nice little brew chamber that has been working very well so far.
as soon as i can find a few hours, i am going to make a mexican cervesa refill that i have on hand. I'm planning on just following traditional techniques of sanitizing well boiling up my water then adding the LME. I'm then going to cool that down in some ice until it hits about 70 F which is about what it will ferment at. after that, i was going to take a hydrometer reading but i don't really know what i am looking for. what should it be? i know i can just probably leave it for a few weeks and call it good but i really want to get into this and do it right. additionally, I'm going to follow the Mr beer instructions and fill up the LBk to a certain extent with coldish water. should this water be boiled first? thanks!
No need to boil top off water if using something other than tap. I buy the 3.gallon spring water from the grocery. Also no need to cool off your wort too much if your top off water is chilled. Just pitch under 80 and lower temp to lower 70s to upper 60s quickly. Tips for better results, use better,more yeast. Keep temps down first 3 days. And, up the recipe with dme, hops, and some steeping grains. Most of the basic kits are just ok.
I don't know what the gravity readings should be, but if you download Qbrew (free) and add the me beer database updates from Screwy Brewer's web site, you should be able to get a pretty good idea.
If your planning on fermenting the next one at 70, does that mean you brewed the first one even warmer? In my opinion, 70 is too warm. Especially if that's the ambient temperature, because the fermentation will kick the temperatures in the fermenter up 5 degrees or more.
How long did you leave it in the fermenter? How long in the bottles at room temperature? How long in the fridge?
brewshki
Well-Known Member
the first one was definitely warmer. i live in southern california and we had a heat wave in mid september. the ambient temp in the house ranged from 75-83 ish. it stayed in the fermenter 2 weeks and is till bottled. i had my first on after 3 weeks of bottle conditioning and just 3 days in the fridge. a second one maybe a week later after 4 days in the fridge.
I'm hoping to get the fermenting temp to 70. i built a ferm chamber out of an old chest freezer and an stc 1000. I'm going to tape the temp probe to the LBK to try and get the most accurate reading.
the package says anywhere from 68-74. would you recommend lower?
brewshki
Well-Known Member
my plan was just to use tap water. it should be boiled then ya?
68-74 seems high to me, but may be OK for the yeast they're using. I haven't brewed with one of the kits since coopers bought them, so I don't know for sure.
I usually like to ferment in the low 60s (or even mid to high 50s with Nottingham).
You're probably OK for fermentation and warm conditioning time, but if you have space in the fridge, they'll benefit from a week or two in the fridge.
I keg most batches these days, but when I bottled, I built up enough of a pipeline that is usually give them three months at room temperature and at least three weeks in the fridge.
brewshki
Well-Known Member
thats the plan eventually, having enough to let them age and maybe a little kegging, but right now i have so little, its not easy and i need to taste them to learn. I've been reading about different fermentation temps and i was just going to go off of what the package said but maybe ill let it go a little cooler. the only downside is that it may take a little longer right? no off flavors are common?
Cooler temperatures generally lead to a "cleaner" fermentation, where the yeast doesn't lend much to the flavor. As you noted, it can lead to longer fermentation times. If the range for the yeast is 68-74, you should be fine at 70, assuming that's the temperature in the fermenter, not ambient temperature. If it's ambient, is try to do it, if possible.
brewshki
Well-Known Member
the worst that could happen is that it would be the ambient temp of the chest freezer
Then take the ambient down to 63 or so to start with. Make sure you have a way to take readings of the temp of the keg as well. I use an infrared no touch gun type of thermometer, or you could use fermometer type stick on. Start low for the first few days, then ramp it up to 70.
The worry with using tap water is that you never know what's coming out. How much chlorine or such. Chlorimine wont boil off, you'll need to add a campden tablet to get rid of that. Check with your local water provider to see what is used.
You'll hear lots on here say, if it smells good and tastes good, go ahead and use it. Water is almost your entire beer, a little off taste, or a little chlorine in the batch can have a large effect on taste.
Devilsnight
Well-Known Member
What yeast are you using? If you have temp control, I'd drop it down to 66 or so myself.
I am having the same problem with the last two batches. Brewing IPA full mash method. After the boil 1hr 10 mins chilled the wort and took the reading and tasted spot on. transferred to the fermenter and checked reading in 8-9 days and again spot on however when I tasted the fermented beer it was awful, tasted like ash/burned cigarettes. I noticed that the kettle prongs were black and cleaned them before starting our next brew a week later. All the processes were great until trying the fermented beer and got the same result of ash flavoured beer. Not using DME or LME so cant think of anything that will burn but the hops? not too sure what the actual cause is or how to fix this. Very annoying especially since my first two brews turned out fantastic. Help please
brewski09
Well-Known Member
It sounds like you are using an electric element in the kettle. Is that right? If so, there is an equipment section of the forums that would be a better place to post because of the specialized nature of this question (I don't personally know anyone with this setup). Maybe someone on this thread will know the answer though. Fwiw, the sugars from the malt can and do scorch in the brewpot with stovetop/outdoor burners.
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Aloha !
Hi there, we are brand new to the brewing world (although, hubby has made wine before). I hope your sitting down... but, I don't even drink >>> GASP <<< (Celiac disease) however, my hubby does and we both really enjoy making things from scratch, and fiddling around in the kitchen.
I bought my hubby a kit similar to Mr. Beer's at a great value from Macy's. However, it only came with 1 bag of hops to brew 1 gallon of Pale Ale. Hubby returned from deployment this year and I'm really trying to make this Christmas present special.
Where can I buy additional bags of hops/grains (small bags like stocking stuffers) to make 1 gallon brews? I need an internet resource as it is hard to get such things on the island.
I would like to get him a handbook via amazon that is simple and straight to the point. Since I don't know yet if he is really going to get into this as a hobby.
I would be really grateful for any information, pointers, suggestions....
Mahalo (thank you) ! As they say here.
Cami
PS. Forgive me if I'm not sure what I am doing on here ! lol.
Hi there, we are brand new to the brewing world (although, hubby has made wine before). I hope your sitting down... but, I don't even drink >>> GASP <<< (Celiac disease) however, my hubby does and we both really enjoy making things from scratch, and fiddling around in the kitchen.
I bought my hubby a kit similar to Mr. Beer's at a great value from Macy's. However, it only came with 1 bag of hops to brew 1 gallon of Pale Ale. Hubby returned from deployment this year and I'm really trying to make this Christmas present special.
Where can I buy additional bags of hops/grains (small bags like stocking stuffers) to make 1 gallon brews? I need an internet resource as it is hard to get such things on the island.
I would like to get him a handbook via amazon that is simple and straight to the point. Since I don't know yet if he is really going to get into this as a hobby.
I would be really grateful for any information, pointers, suggestions....
Mahalo (thank you) ! As they say here.
Cami
PS. Forgive me if I'm not sure what I am doing on here ! lol.
brewski09
Well-Known Member
There are a ton of online suppliers (northern brewer comes to mind as a sponsor of the can you brew it show but I've never ordered from them due to a great local homebrew shop). Also look up homebrew in paradise in Honolulu (found via the brew your own magazine).
As for brewing instructions, I look at is more as a theory. I like the complete joy of homebrewing (you can easily get it on amazon). It goes from simple to moderate to highly dedicated brewing techniques and explains it all well.
There are also ways to brew gluten free once he gets the craft down but I'd put them In a more advanced technique category.
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As for brewing instructions, I look at is more as a theory. I like the complete joy of homebrewing (you can easily get it on amazon). It goes from simple to moderate to highly dedicated brewing techniques and explains it all well.
There are also ways to brew gluten free once he gets the craft down but I'd put them In a more advanced technique category.
Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
The_Professor
Well-Known Member
Bigarcherynut
Well-Known Member
Back to doing some Mr. Beer recipes for the winter months. I'm doing a Belgium Spiced Ale. It's been fermenting for 15 days. My OG was 1.062. I checked it on Sunday and it was 1.025 (13 days). Checked it today and it appears to be 1.020 (15 days). Been at about 63-65 degrees the entire time. Yeast package says 59-73 degrees. How low will or should I expect the FG to get? Still have a lot of yeast on top. No visible sign of fermentation after watching for a few minutes but that's not uncommon and like my other kits.
Thanks for your comments.
Thanks for your comments.
A general rule of thumb is that you can take the decimal portion and divide by 4 to get a rough guess of the expected FG. So in your case, 62/4 is 15.5, so you should probably get down to about 1.015-1.016. There are things that affect this (some yeast strains attenuate more than others, the ingredients may be more fermentable, etc), but this gives you a ballpark expected FG.
Bigarcherynut
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the info. I did shake it up a bit last night and moved it to where it will be about 68 degrees. I'll give it a couple of days and see if it drops any then if it doesn't will bottle.
Why did you shake it up? Generally, you want to just let it sit. The fermentation creates a layer of CO2 on top that keeps the oxygen away. Shaking it could expose it to the air. Oxygen is needed in the early stages, but later on, it can lead to earlier staling. Shaking could also disturb the trub layer and you really want that to settle as much as possible before bottling.
Bigarcherynut
Well-Known Member
Ok. Guess I said that wrong. I did a very gentle swirl of the LBJ not a shake. I was told to do that on another batch I had to raise up the yeast a little. Oops. I guess if this creates a problem I won't do that again. Well time will tell.
A gentle swirl is very different from a shake.
So this may be a dumb question but i just started using mr beer 2 gallons and i know you have to keep it at a certain temp and oxygen can be bad for the fermentation after the initial start. So my ''newb'' quetion i guess you could say is how do you test the temp with out exposing your fermentation to oxygen and contamination?
Use a stick-on thermometer. Ambient temperature doesn't work, since fermentation creates heat.
I think they have them at mrbeer.com or other online brew stores. You can also find them at pet stores in the aquarium section (note: these usually have a smaller range than the ones at beer stores but will probably suffice until you get more advanced).
bigbadbrewer330
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Just got a Mr. Beer kit for Christmas. Need some help with it all. Just starting need help to create extract recipes (don't really like what they offer for refills) I downloaded a calculator to help me create said recipes but need help to understand phrases and ect. and any advice.
brewski09
Well-Known Member
The best place to start is by reading a book. I recommend the complete joy of Homebrewing. Then start making beer styles you love (don't start with lagers, they require extra technique And are a lot less forgiving)
bigbadbrewer330
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I was thinking of doing a brown porter
The_Professor
Well-Known Member
Nothing wrong with finding a recipe and giving it a try.
An easy way to get instructions is to find an online store with a Beer Recipe Kit. The one trouble is that they are usually 5 gallon recipes so it works better if you have 2 Mr. Beer kegs.
Some recipe calculators will resize a 5 gallon recipe to whatever you want (2.12, 2.5).
Scotts7
New Member
Hi all,
I received a Mr. Beer LBK Kit for Christmas. I started my first batch of the supplied Grand Bohemian Czech Pilsner yesterday when I got back home. I don't have a temp strip but I do have a I/R temp gun. I have aquariums and use the temp gun for more accurate readings of temps. My question is it ok to use a I/R temp gun with a laser pointer on it to check the temp of the little keg? Thanks in advance.
I received a Mr. Beer LBK Kit for Christmas. I started my first batch of the supplied Grand Bohemian Czech Pilsner yesterday when I got back home. I don't have a temp strip but I do have a I/R temp gun. I have aquariums and use the temp gun for more accurate readings of temps. My question is it ok to use a I/R temp gun with a laser pointer on it to check the temp of the little keg? Thanks in advance.
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