What did you learn this week?

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I got an idea for this fat green straw I got with a smoothy last year. It's about the size of the bean shooter straws we used as kids in the 50's/60's. I thought if I could get it to fit the airlock grommet,I'd cut off a piece to fit in one end of a 3/8" blow off tube,& use the other end to stick in the grommet. It's slightly larger diameter would allow for more blow off & less blockage. Guess another video might be in order.
 
I learned that although it's best to transfer the cool wort and pitch the yeast quickly, it isn't a race against the clock. With a little more patience and less rushing I get more beer and less hot/cold break material in the fermenter and it's easier to clean up afterwards.

I also learned that it's useful to have a kitchen whisk and a spray bottle of Star San to hand when you forget to aerate the wort.
 
I learned that if someone doesn't make it... You should make it your self. I brew one gallon batches so a 5 gallon bottling bucket is overkill.... Soooo..



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I made my own 2 gallon bottling bucket!
 
I learned a lot this week....basically, never assume anything

Never assume that cider won't kreusen....it will when just when you decide that headspace isn't needed
Never assume you can fit 16 pounds of grain in an 8 gallon brew kettle...you can't
Never assume that two partially filled propane tanks will get you through a brew day

Not a good week. I named my brew FUBAR...although it was a Stone Ruination clone with only a 20 minute boil, so the name is fitting.

Off to go clean burnt grain from the bottom of my brew kettle....ughh
 
I learned I don't have a ber belly,I have a wheat belly. Need more protiens & less grain carbs. Thanks to yooper for this one! :mug:
 
twalte said:
I learned a lot this week....basically, never assume anything

Never assume that cider won't kreusen....it will when just when you decide that headspace isn't needed
Never assume you can fit 16 pounds of grain in an 8 gallon brew kettle...you can't
Never assume that two partially filled propane tanks will get you through a brew day

Not a good week. I named my brew FUBAR...although it was a Stone Ruination clone with only a 20 minute boil, so the name is fitting.

Off to go clean burnt grain from the bottom of my brew kettle....ughh
Click to expand...

Had that happen. Settled with a simmer on the stove, and somehow all the hops went to bittering. Don't ask me how, I don't know. Still decent though. I just dry hopped it and use it as a bitterness shot on my other maltier IPA when I dont feel like drinking it by itself. Always have a FULL spare.
 
I learned that a small amount of water trapped in ball valve turns to steam and when you open the valve to get some water out, it is best to not have any exposed arm in the line of flight. Missed my arm but singed the hair right off and left a tiny red spot the size of a quarter. Could have been so much worse and possibly ended the brew day early.
 
I learned not to stir wort with a glass thermometer.. Yeah, the batch was dumped and I immediately started a new one.

And, I've learned not to drink a 12'er before brewing (sounded like a good idea at the time). The brew notes taken were hilarious!


:mug:
 
I learned that one large marble is not heavy enough to weigh down a bagful of hops, which is now floating on top of the beer in my bucket. Guess I'll have to turn the bag over occasionally so all the hops get contact with the liquid.
 
twalte said:
I learned a lot this week....basically, never assume anything

Never assume that cider won't kreusen....it will when just when you decide that headspace isn't needed
Never assume you can fit 16 pounds of grain in an 8 gallon brew kettle...you can't
Never assume that two partially filled propane tanks will get you through a brew day

Not a good week. I named my brew FUBAR...although it was a Stone Ruination clone with only a 20 minute boil, so the name is fitting.

Off to go clean burnt grain from the bottom of my brew kettle....ughh
Click to expand...

20 minute boil ??
 
ifearnothing0 said:
20 minute boil ??
Click to expand...

Oh yeah. By the time i finished the mash, i was almost out of propane...fermenting like crazy (i did not have time to boil off much liquid, so my 6.5 gallon carboy had very little space), but curious if it will have enough bitterness. i had a 2.5 liter yeast starter, so hopefully the yeast come to the rescue.

Like i said, it was a bad day. I now have two full propane tanks and i ordered a 20 gallon brew kettle from spike brewing. I will win this fight.

If this batch turns out, it is proof that it is hard to screw up a batch of beer.
 
I made my first liquid yeast starter for brew day tomorrow using a 2 liter bottle for a 1 liter starter. As a nervous noob I did plenty of reading on how to do this. One suggestion was to leave the bottle on the kitchen counter and just "shake it like hell" whenever you walk by. I learned that shaking it like hell creates a yeast volcano. :/ rdwhahb
 
I learned it's fun to brew alone...but it's A LOT more fun to brew with a friend.

I also learned I suck a math and overestimated how much water would boil-off. My ice-block wort cooling technique doesn't work when I only can add 1/2gallon of ice.
 
twalte said:
Oh yeah. By the time i finished the mash, i was almost out of propane...fermenting like crazy (i did not have time to boil off much liquid, so my 6.5 gallon carboy had very little space), but curious if it will have enough bitterness. i had a 2.5 liter yeast starter, so hopefully the yeast come to the rescue.

Like i said, it was a bad day. I now have two full propane tanks and i ordered a 20 gallon brew kettle from spike brewing. I will win this fight.

If this batch turns out, it is proof that it is hard to screw up a batch of beer.[/QUOTE.... I'm still new at brewing ( batch 12-13 ) but I've read Alot and never new you could get away with a 20 minute boil haha , that's pretty awesome bro ... Tell how it comes out
Click to expand...
 
I lernt on Sunday while half way though bottling a batch of stout (my first stout) that if I held the syphon against the inside of the bottle it wont foam up as much :)
 
BigEggy said:
I lernt on Sunday while half way though bottling a batch of stout (my first stout) that if I held the syphon against the inside of the bottle it wont foam up as much :)
Click to expand...

A bottling wand will help a lot also.
 
I learned how to properly wash yeast, as well as the methods/tools required to capture/isolate them.
 
I brewed my first batch this week and learned a few things.
1. Hops really does smell great
2. The boiling wort smells way good.
3. Most important lesson is shake the smack pack before pitching( I didn't, lesson learned early :cross:. The batch started burping the air lock at 40 hours.
4. Developing a relax and see what happens attitude!
5. The folks on this forum are ready to help out.
cheers!!
 
I learned once again how I hate winter storms. It's takin a bit longer for my ingredients get here from midwest. But the cooler temps part is cool. Just have to ride it out,I guess. Riders on the storm lager,anyone?:mug:
 
I learned that when using a new brew pot for the first time (especially one you put together yourself) it would be best to fill it up with water and let it set for a few minutes to check for leaks... That way you won't have ~7gal of wort in you pot at about 190F when you notice a slow but steady trickle coming from around the thermometer bulkhead! :eek:
 
I learned that my first all grain batch (after 20+ extracts) was much more straight foward than I thought. It may have been beginners luck, but I hit my temps dead on and hit my FG almost on the nose.

I really encourage those extract brewers who are considering making the leap to all grain to study some of the stickies on this forum and go for it...
 

If it turns out, it will be a miracle brew. The 20 minute stone ruination;-). I am not optimistic, but the money is sunk so let's wait it out. So far, so good!
 
I learned that it's a good idea to have a brew schedule. I only have 6 AG's under my belt and thought I could wing it but man I fumble and stumble all through it yesterday! I wrote a schedule today to use for future brews. At least until I really get the hang of it!
 
MattSFT said:
I learned how to properly wash yeast, as well as the methods/tools required to capture/isolate them.
Click to expand...

I learned that I probably screwed up my first attempt at yeast washing.


I decanted the top, kept the "middle layer", and tossed the "bottom layer"


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The guy I was talking to this weekend said the bottom layer is the yeast, then the trub, then the top layer is beer/water.


The yeast I washed is currently fermenting my next brew, so I DID get yeast, I just may have thrown out a TON of viable yeast and kept the layer that was mostly trub.


I also learned that even a cheap DIY immersion chiller helps a ton with cooling your wort. I made a simple "closed loop" chiller using 20 feet of 3/8 in copper tubing ($15), twisted into shape by hand (it isn't the prettiest cooler out there), 10 feet of 3/8 in ID hose ($5), and a cheap fountain pump ($10). The pump then sits in a bucket of ice water, and the return line goes back into the bucket. I made more ice than was needed to cool 5+ gallons of wort, but I was able to cool my wort from 215 to 75 degrees in 20 minutes. My first batch took over 45 minutes, and I only did a 2.5 gallon partial boil for that one. Second batch was done with an 8 gallon kettle, so it was a full boil (got the volume perfect, didn't need to top up my fermentor at all).

20130203122928.jpg
 
With yeast washing,just like in the fermenter,the trub settles out first from what I've seen. It's the brown layer whereas the yeast layer is the white to off white layer if you let it sit long enough. You want it to sit just long enough to see a thin wispy layer of the lighter colored yeast settling on top of the trub. Then pour it off into sanitized jars.
 
unionrdr said:
With yeast washing,just like in the fermenter,the trub settles out first from what I've seen. It's the brown layer whereas the yeast layer is the white to off white layer if you let it sit long enough. You want it to sit just long enough to see a thin wispy layer of the lighter colored yeast settling on top of the trub. Then pour it off into sanitized jars.
Click to expand...

That is what I thought.

So I kept most of the yeast and discarded most of trub. I wasn't too concerned since as I said, the fermentor is happily bubbling away using the yeast I washed.
 
one of my favorite lessons is about making a starter: don't try to add the DME to 1.5L of boiling water in a 2L flask unless you want to show your kids how to make a volcano. Same goes for the stir bar. Put it all in their before it boils! and add some fermcap-s foam inhibitor before boiling!
 
I re-learned this weekend to be sure brain is engaged before putting mouth in gear! Not to mention hands...gotta go make some shredded beef sammiches with apple whiskey bbq sauce! :cross:
 

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