Central NJ - Learn how to All Grain

I'll probably be trying mine by this weekend. So when's the next brew day? With my new setup we could do 20 gallons again at the same time :rockin:

Man, the ESB tastes pretty awful so far. I think batch two's mash temp was too high because it tastes cloying. I just checked the FG and it's 1.015. Maybe it's just young.. I hope so. It's not clear or fully carbed yet but... eh.

Soulive said:

I'll probably be trying mine by this weekend. So when's the next brew day? With my new setup we could do 20 gallons again at the same time :rockin:

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I'm down for another batch. I'd like to start gathering the equipment for my AG setup as well. First step is to pick up that 70qt (or the 50qt) Coleman from Walmart...

Bobby_M said:

Man, the ESB tastes pretty awful so far. I think batch two's mash temp was too high because it tastes cloying. I just checked the FG and it's 1.015. Maybe it's just young.. I hope so. It's not clear or fully carbed yet but... eh.

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Hmmmm.... That sucks. It tasted pretty good when we transferred it. I'll be bottling it on Sunday and will try it then.

In other news, I almost have all the supplies for AG. Last month I got a 9 gallon SS pot, and I still have to build the mash tun (flyguy's design Ace hardware), and a wort chiller (50 foot 3/8" copper). I got all the parts, except for the copper.

Overall I think I got some pretty good deals especially on the copper. I plan on hooking up the wort chiller to a pump in the summer similiar to Ed Wort's setup. Apparently this gives better performance and cheaper than building a pre-chiller.

I probably could have saved a bit on the mash tun. A 10 gallon rubbermaid beverage cooler is overkill, but storage space is limited at my brother-in-laws.

Maybe we can do 25 gallons at the same time!

Bobby_M said:

Put it out on the porch/deck for two hours or as long as you can before it freezes (covered with a box to stop it from getting light damaged) and then put it up on the counter and let it settle again for an hour before racking.

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I'm not risking injury by bringing that glass carboy up and down the stairs again! Heh. All that talk about broken glass carboys scared the crap out of me!

Bobby_M said:

Man, the ESB tastes pretty awful so far. I think batch two's mash temp was too high because it tastes cloying. I just checked the FG and it's 1.015. Maybe it's just young.. I hope so. It's not clear or fully carbed yet but... eh.

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Oh boy! I bottled it, then I tasted it. I hate to say this, Bobby... But it isn't very good. It tasted like sugar water.

No big deal. If it doesn't get any better in a month, I'll dump it.

njnear76 said:

Oh boy! I bottled it, then I tasted it. I hate to say this, Bobby... But it isn't very good. It tasted like sugar water.

No big deal. If it doesn't get any better in a month, I'll dump it.

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You probably still had priming sugar in solution. That would've been the sugariness you tasted. I think batch #1 rocks :rockin:

Soulive said:

You probably still had priming sugar in solution. That would've been the sugariness you tasted. I think batch #1 rocks :rockin:

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Hmmm... that's possible. I usually do porters and stouts, and taste after I'm done bottling. Maybe, those types of beer mask the priming sugar better. I dunno. We'll see.

No matter how many batches I get through, I ALWAYS make the mistake of judging these beers too early. I posted that it wasn't so great what, two days ago. After another 2 days on the gas, the carbonation is coming along and it's tasting a LOT better now. If I had to do it over, I'd drop the mash temp down like 1-2ºF to get the FG down near 1.012 instead of the 1.015 where it's at now. However, I'm confident it's going to be a decent ESB and certainly not a dumper. It's literally 3 weeks old and way too early to judge a brew like this... I just can't help myself. I'm always anxious.

Bobby_M said:

No matter how many batches I get through, I ALWAYS make the mistake of judging these beers too early. I posted that it wasn't so great what, two days ago. After another 2 days on the gas, the carbonation is coming along and it's tasting a LOT better now. If I had to do it over, I'd drop the mash temp down like 1-2ºF to get the FG down near 1.012 instead of the 1.015 where it's at now. However, I'm confident it's going to be a decent ESB and certainly not a dumper. It's literally 3 weeks old and way too early to judge a brew like this... I just can't help myself. I'm always anxious.

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Cool. I will wait it out. I usually don't crack one open until 4 weeks after bottling day.

njnear76 said:

Cool. I will wait it out. I usually don't crack one open until 4 weeks after bottling day.

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I can't speak for your batch, but either way it will be much better after 4 weeks. I drank more of mine last night and its slightly better than 5 days ago...

Soulive said:

I can't speak for your batch, but either way it will be much better after 4 weeks. I drank more of mine last night and its slightly better than 5 days ago...

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I agree. Patience pays off in this hobby. I don't usually drink my brews until it's 8 weeks from the day it was brewed. Twelve weeks seems to be the magic time period.

The oatmeal stout I brewed September 29th is just about awesome now. Thanksgiving it was pretty good (on par with Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout). Now it has accumulated a roasty goodness, which far exceed Smiths.

Bobby_M said:

yeah, it will clear nicely if you wait as long as you can but I know how hard it is. You'll also benefit from getting it nice and cold before you rack to your bottling bucket. We have the benefit of nice cold weather outside so crash cooling is no exageration. Put it out on the porch/deck for two hours or as long as you can before it freezes (covered with a box to stop it from getting light damaged) and then put it up on the counter and let it settle again for an hour before racking. Forget everything I said if your basement is already 50F or less.

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I plan on bottling today. I tasted it before I moved it to my garashed (bigger than a shed, smaller than a detached garage) and I thought it was pretty good. I'll cold crash it for a few hours (It appears to be 39 degrees in Old Bridge right now, so I'll keep an eye on the carboy) and hopefully bottle this afternoon.

My keg is about 75% full now. I'm bringing a growler of it to a holiday lunch tomorrow. Hopefully it won't kick for a couple weeks...

Bobby,

How much splenda did you add to you 5 gallon batch of apfelwein?

1 cup on the batch you tasted. Give it a shot dry though. As I taste dry ciders in the homebrewclub, I'm starting to find backsweetened ciders a little annoying.

joejaz said:

Bobby,

How much splenda did you add to you 5 gallon batch of apfelwein?

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I just finished mine and did not use the splenda. It tasted great without it.:rockin: Make sure you carbonate it.

you guys talked me into it, I'm going to try it without the Splenda. It still has tiny bubbles rising to the top after a month, is that normal? I'm anxious to try it but I don't want to rush it.

It won't start to clear until that bubbling stops. It's just taking its time. Go ahead and sanitize a turkey baster if you have one and pull some out for a gravity sample. Then you can taste it afterwards. It will have a slight sour taste and a mild sulfer aroma if it's still fermenting. If I had to guess, you'll probably read about 1.002 on the hydrometer by now.

Hey Bobby,

I tasted the ESB yesterday. It was pretty darn good. I'm very happy with this beer. Thanks again for everything.

Mike

Mike

when did you bottle yours?

Bobby

Working on my keggle, i watched your videeo a few times and i'm happy to say i cut the top off without losing any fingers. I cut it with the grinder attachment on the roto zip, had to make a different kind of jig of than yours. I u-bolted a block of wood to the handle of the roto zip and it fit over the rim of the keg, took about ten minutes to cut.

joejaz said:

Mike

when did you bottle yours?

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I bottled the ESB about 2 weeks a go. I let the Appfelwein ferment for 5 weeks and then bottled it.

Yeah Mike, it shaped up pretty well. It's not perfect by any means as I wished it fermented out 2-3 more points but you can't win them all. I know the batch #1 guys are going to like theirs plenty. Soulive said it got down to 1.012 or something. It just goes to show how mash temps change everything.

My portion kicked last week. I was pretty happy with it, as were my friends. I actually had a commercial ESB the other day that tasted just like ours

tasted batch #1 today, only a week in the bottle, -- fantastic! Thanks Bobby.

Bobby_M said:

Yeah Mike, it shaped up pretty well. It's not perfect by any means as I wished it fermented out 2-3 more points but you can't win them all. I know the batch #1 guys are going to like theirs plenty. Soulive said it got down to 1.012 or something. It just goes to show how mash temps change everything.

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True that. Unfortunately, I think I screwed up the mash temperature on my first AG due to using a crappy dairy thermometer. Oh well. Live and learn. I bought a digital thermometer this past weekend.