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When imputing the temperature data into the priming sugar calculator, do I go with the average ambient temperature?
 
muleskinner90 said:
When imputing the temperature data into the priming sugar calculator, do I go with the average ambient temperature?
Click to expand...

I would. But how much is your ambient temperature changing? You should try to make sure that you're fermenting someplace with a more or less stable temperature suitable for your yeast. It's *really* important that you do this.
 
Thunder_Chicken said:
I would. But how much is your ambient temperature changing? You should try to make sure that you're fermenting someplace with a more or less stable temperature suitable for your yeast. It's *really* important that you do this.
Click to expand...

From 67 to 70, but stays at 67 mostly.
 
muleskinner90 said:
When imputing the temperature data into the priming sugar calculator, do I go with the average ambient temperature?
Click to expand...

I think you want to go with the highest temperature at which the beer spent a significant amount of time post-fermentation.

You don't need to be super precise. The difference between 67 and 70 is negligible (0.894 oz vs 0.872 oz for one test, 2.5% difference). It's more important if your beer was kept at 50° vs 70°F. (only 0.7 oz, 22% difference)

Physically, the question is whether the CO2 in the beer had time to come to equilibrium with its environment. In your case, the room may have varied from 67-70, but the beer would have held pretty steadily at the average, so you are correct to use that.
 
zeg said:
I think you want to go with the highest temperature at which the beer spent a significant amount of time post-fermentation.

You don't need to be super precise. The difference between 67 and 70 is negligible (0.894 oz vs 0.872 oz for one test, 2.5% difference). It's more important if your beer was kept at 50° vs 70°F. (only 0.7 oz, 22% difference)

Physically, the question is whether the CO2 in the beer had time to come to equilibrium with its environment. In your case, the room may have varied from 67-70, but the beer would have held pretty steadily at the average, so you are correct to use that.
Click to expand...

Awesomeness!
 
lumpy5oh said:
I would like to do up a small batch of Caribou Slobber; but Northern doesn't ship to Canada. I have found a recipe for a Moose Slobber clone 5gal batch. My question is when scaling a recipe is everything scaled evenly? It seems like the hops and grain amounts would be pretty small.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Here is a version that I have made if that helps....cariboo-slobber-1-gallon I think the ratios are about right.
 
boomguy said:
Here is a version that I have made if that helps....cariboo-slobber-1-gallon I think the ratios are about right.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the recipe. I might try this as my first batch that did not come with the BBS kit or their recipe book (Chocolate Maple Porter with the kit, and currently an Everyday IPA and a Smoked Cherry (Ale) in the fermenters.

If I do this, would I essentially follow the same kinds of instructions (assuming you are familiar with these - I can elaborate if needed).

Sounds like a nice addition for my fourth batch.
 
lumpy5oh said:
I would like to do up a small batch of Caribou Slobber; but Northern doesn't ship to Canada. I have found a recipe for a Moose Slobber clone 5gal batch. My question is when scaling a recipe is everything scaled evenly? It seems like the hops and grain amounts would be pretty small.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Yes, and they are.
 
Looking for some help on this. I made a 1G batch if nut brown, and I'm not sure why the FG is so high. Details:

2lb 2-row
2oz crystal 80
2oz victory
1oz chocolate malt

[.125 Goldings at 60 and 30 min]

Used 1/2 packet of muntons dry yeast and fermented 4 weeks at about 63ish.

There was a LOT if grub and the whirlfloc didn't seem to work at all. I got 7 bottles from the gallon.

Starting gravity was 1.060
Final gravity was 1.028

Tasted a little sweet and nutty. Sorta like Malta - the Latin American soda (which I love, so all is not lost).

Any ideas? Muntons yeast is weak?
 
ericbw said:
Any ideas? Muntons yeast is weak?
Click to expand...

All yeast is weak if it has been in the package too long. What were the dates on it?

Also, if your beer was 1.060 OG, then textbooks would tell you to make a starter. Although, many of us on here will pitch dry if the yeast is healthy
(Myself included).

So I imagine your problem is a combination of the two factors. Maybe old, or mistreated yeast, coupled with a > 1.050 OG.
 
dadshomebrewing said:
I wouldn't do that.

We're I doing multiple batches I would make different, but similar, beers using similar ingredients.

Like a brown, a porter, and a stout.

Something like that.
Click to expand...

Dads, he's just talking about splitting a larger brew into smaller brews then back to one fermenter,
 
jwalk4 said:
All yeast is weak if it has been in the package too long. What were the dates on it?

Also, if your beer was 1.060 OG, then textbooks would tell you to make a starter. Although, many of us on here will pitch dry if the yeast is healthy
(Myself included).

So I imagine your problem is a combination of the two factors. Maybe old, or mistreated yeast, coupled with a > 1.050 OG.
Click to expand...

I don't think you realized you were posting on the 1-gallon thread. Regardless, you should NEVER make a starter with a dry yeast, even on a 5-gal batch.

Dry yeast are packaged so they are primed for reproduction. Making a starter will just loose that boost. IF you need more than 1 pack, just pitching a second pack is both cheaper and more effective.
 
bleme said:
I don't think you realized you were posting on the 1-gallon thread.
Click to expand...

True, lapse in judgement. Starter for 1 gallon would be dumb. :drunk:

However, I will still stand up for myself and say you could at least rehydrate it. How else would you know if your yeast package was a dud before you pitched?

Packaged yeast can, and will go bad. I pitched some dud Coopers ale yeast 3 weeks ago on my brown ale. After a week of no action I went to another store and bought another pack. Rehydrated it to make sure it was good, and took off like a shot.

On a side note, had a few of my pale ales last night. OH MY GOD was it ever good. I just wanted to brag a lil.
 
jwalk4 said:
All yeast is weak if it has been in the package too long. What were the dates on it?

Also, if your beer was 1.060 OG, then textbooks would tell you to make a starter. Although, many of us on here will pitch dry if the yeast is healthy
(Myself included).

So I imagine your problem is a combination of the two factors. Maybe old, or mistreated yeast, coupled with a > 1.050 OG.
Click to expand...

I don't remember checking the date. In the store, it is on a shelf, not refrigerated. At home, I keep it in the freezer and take it out when I get ready to start.

I wasn't expecting the OG to be so high. Got better efficiency than I expected (first time with all grain).

I did rehydrate, and it got off to a good start within hours, used a blowoff for 1 day then switched to an airlock. It bubbled about a day.

Sounds like you might be right about mishandled yeast or old yeast. I should check that to be sure.

This was also the first time I have used Muntons. Never had a problem with Coopers except a sour taste (not sure if that's yeast or a specialty grain or something worse).

For a beer with >1.050, should I just pitch the whole packet? (For a gallon).
 
ericbw said:
For a beer with >1.050, should I just pitch the whole packet? (For a gallon).
Click to expand...

No, to be honest, it kind of sounds like a one off. If Mrmalty recommends 2 grams of dry yeast, then pitch accordingly. Also, enter the production date if you can find it. That way you'll know the viability of your yeast.

It is odd that the fermentation began and then stopped. What temps did you mash at? What temp was the beer fermented at?
 
Okay. My math is VERY rusty. I've found some recipes I want to try, but they all are 5 gal recipes. Does the ibrewmaster app break down recipes to smaller ones? Is it best/easiest just to weigh each ingredient then divide that by five to get proper weight?
 
Best before 4 2014. Should be pretty new?


I mashed at 155 for an hour. Temps fluctuated some between 155-160. That will make it sweeter and attenuate less, right? That could be part of it, too, maybe?
 
Yeah, that's fine yeast. Unless it was mistreated in shipping / at the store or something. But if the fermentation started well, then I suspect the yeast is not to blame.

And yes, as I understand it, the higher you mash then the sweeter the beer will be because higher temperatures will result in less starch conversion and leave the beer with more unfermentable dextrines. Now, that being said, I still don't think that would cause a beer to wrap up at 1.028.
 
muleskinner90 said:
Okay. My math is VERY rusty. I've found some recipes I want to try, but they all are 5 gal recipes. Does the ibrewmaster app break down recipes to smaller ones? Is it best/easiest just to weigh each ingredient then divide that by five to get proper weight?
Click to expand...

The description says it will.

I use the google docs spreadsheet. In column A I list the ingredient. The column B is the ounces needed for a 5 gallon batch. Column C multiplies B by 28.349 to get grams. Column D divides C by 5 for a 1 gallon batch. PM me and I can send you a link when I get home.
 
So I keep not hitting my OG. I can't say exactly what it is but I should be hitting a 1.081 and I'm hitting more a 1.05 or 06 can't 100% tell but I'm hitting normal beer levels not IIPA.

What woudl be some suggestions for improving my brewhouse efficiency. Currently I just mash in my kettle and then throw it in the oven on warm. when it drops below 150. So I'm fairly certain the issue isn't my mash temps, but could temp variability be an issue? I need to go replace test tube beaker to be sure my hydro is working right but I am gonna assume it is working right enough.
 
hoppyhoppyhippo said:
So I keep not hitting my OG. I can't say exactly what it is but I should be hitting a 1.081 and I'm hitting more a 1.05 or 06 can't 100% tell but I'm hitting normal beer levels not IIPA.

What woudl be some suggestions for improving my brewhouse efficiency. Currently I just mash in my kettle and then throw it in the oven on warm. when it drops below 150. So I'm fairly certain the issue isn't my mash temps, but could temp variability be an issue? I need to go replace test tube beaker to be sure my hydro is working right but I am gonna assume it is working right enough.
Click to expand...

Give us some more info. Assuming you are brewing quite a bit, have you been missing or hitting consistently? How about your crush? 30 points is pretty significant and if your mash was supposed to be 152 and you hit 154 and let it drop to 150 then it's probably not your mash. Have you changed crushing at your LHBS Or picked up a grain mill?

Are you mashing for the full 60 or 75 minutes? How about your scale? You sure you weighing your grain correctly and maybe not have a correct reading on your scale? Hard to guess without more info. Let us know and we'll try to help!
 
I got it crushed at the LHBS. It looked well crushed, maybe next time I'll ask for a more fine crush or double crush since the paint bag did a great drop containing my trub at the bottom of the kettle.

They did the weighing for me as well. Separated it into 2 bags for me as well. I checked the grand total weight and it's pretty much the same. Scale I just purchased this week and it's really accurate.

I mashed for 75 and then did a 10 minute mashout at 168. Think I could maybe boil more off to get better efficiencies?
 
boomguy said:
Thought maybe you were using a hydrometer, in which case could explain what is happening.
Click to expand...

Do tell. You think the reading is inaccurate?
 
When I started in the 1 gallon arena I aquired a refractometer which is great for us since you only need a couple of drops to determine gravity. What I didn't know was you need to adjust your fg reading due to the alcohol in the wort. I thought I had a stuck stout at 1.026 for a couple of weeks, really it was at 1.012 or so. Lesson learned.:eek:
 
hoppyhoppyhippo said:
I got it crushed at the LHBS. It looked well crushed, maybe next time I'll ask for a more fine crush or double crush since the paint bag did a great drop containing my trub at the bottom of the kettle.

They did the weighing for me as well. Separated it into 2 bags for me as well. I checked the grand total weight and it's pretty much the same. Scale I just purchased this week and it's really accurate.

I mashed for 75 and then did a 10 minute mashout at 168. Think I could maybe boil more off to get better efficiencies?
Click to expand...

That's a great place to look. If you were supposed to end up with say 1gallon of wort post boil and you ended up with about 1.35 gallons that could easily throw your numbers off because that's such a big difference in a small batch.
 
divrguy said:
That's a great place to look. If you were supposed to end up with say 1gallon of wort post boil and you ended up with about 1.35 gallons that could easily throw your numbers off because that's such a big difference in a small batch.
Click to expand...

Edit: are you using software? Beersmith always tells me how much to start with, end up with post boil and end up in the bottle. Assuming my equipment profile is correct, my numbers are pretty darn close.
 

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