For gravity readings I use a refractometer and Saun Terrill's sight to get decent ABV #s.
Craig - If you look in my sig you'll see all the experiments that are currently bottled. Doing a quick bottle count, it looks like 24 bottled to drink, not including the 3 big bottles (1L) of cider for the SWMBO or the 28 bottles that are conditioning (AZB will be done this weekend and ready to serve, OOA will be ready in two weeks). I usually try to keep 36 bottles of varying beers in the crate downstairs, then put six into a old sixpack carton and put it in the main fridge up stairs. When the carton gets low, I grab a new mix of beers.
On the pipeline side, I usually have 3 carboys running (this is an odd week, so only two running right now) and have bottling day on Sat to collect the yeast slurry, then brew on Sun and repitch that slurry into the new beer. Because of that, I try to time it out so a beer that uses US05 will be made after I bottle a beer made with US05. That allows me to not really worry about conditioning time in the carboy, and get a few uses out of my yeast.
Bottles I'm standardized on Sierra Nevada/Alaskan/Summit style bottles (shorties). I like the looks of them, no real reason. I did run into issues trying to put them into a milkcrate for storage, they don't fit well. If I was starting out, I'd choose a standard sized bottle (tall/skinny) with a good lip on it (like Sam Adams) for the bottler. Oh who am I kidding, I should have skipped the wing capper and gotten a bench capper right from the start. It's on my purchase list as soon as I find one of those oldschool metal bench cappers.
I'm not sure what the lifespan of a bottle is - like anything I figure there's got to be a limit to the number of times you can cap a glass bottle before it starts to develop issues. When that happens I'll like migrate over to the tall bottles. To get them I just bought a 12pack of SN or Alaskan while my pipeline was filling. Alaskan's were MUCH EASIER to delable and clean. If you go this route, pick a bottle that's got only one label on it, instead of a top/bottom/back labels. Less to clean off after an Oxyclean soak.
I've never used the Grolsch style bottles, so I'm of no help - I usually just buy the cheap gold caps (like 3 bucks for 144 caps) and have not had a problem one.
Eventually I want to get a couple cases of 16oz bottles (likely from Hinterland), so I can do bigger ABV beers in them for one and done nights. I'm not a fan of bombers - heresy I know, but I don't drink them fast enough to keep them nice and cold, and I don't like leaving an open bottle in the fridge.
I brewed my first ever batch last night (Northern Brewer's Smashing Pumpkin). I made mead for years in 1 gallon batches so I have the equipment for that set up.
I went to the local brew store for the first time yesterday to pick up some sanitizer. I mentioned to the guy that I was going to be doing 1 gallon batches and he pretty much sneered at me saying that small batches like that are really only for experimenting. That I should do 5 gallons if I really want to brew.
That was the first and last time I will go to that store.
I'm planning my brewing cycle. Got supplies for at least 3 batches probably 5, potentially 6. I'm gonna start with a belgian dark strong that's gonna murder someone which should be ready by Christmas time. Then i'm gonna make an IPA
I got some nice yeast so I'm gonna experiment with yeast washing so I can keep my yeast and keep my costs down.
That kinda attitude wears thin real quick. Hopefully you have another local brewshop? If not, Morebeer.com offers good prices and free shipping, helpful when you are buying ingredients in smaller increments.
Have a question about strike temperature for mashing in a cooler. I've been heating my water to about 168 before dumping it into the grain, and the temperature always seems to drop about 20 degrees by the time I've mixed it. I've been heating the cooler first by letting some hot water sit in it for 20 min or so.
So if I want my mash temp to be a little higher than 150, is it okay to do a strike temp above 170? Will that add tannins or other bad flavors to the brew?
Have a question about strike temperature for mashing in a cooler. I've been heating my water to about 168 before dumping it into the grain, and the temperature always seems to drop about 20 degrees by the time I've mixed it. I've been heating the cooler first by letting some hot water sit in it for 20 min or so.
So if I want my mash temp to be a little higher than 150, is it okay to do a strike temp above 170? Will that add tannins or other bad flavors to the brew?
One thing I love about 1 gallon jugs, so much easier and less sketchy to dry than larger carboys.
Question for 1gallon batches. When doing all grain, are 2.4 L (2.5qts) of water for mash, then 3.8 L (4qts) for sparge the norm?
I was dead on with these numbers on my first batch, but had to top off with water on my second one.
Anyone have any links for 1 gallon recipes?
Doctor recently put me on medication that restricts me to 3 "drinks" per week....
Doctor recently put me on medication that restricts me to 3 "drinks" per week.
Time to pull out that 40oz mug!
Anyone have any links for 1 gallon recipes?
Anyone have any links for 1 gallon recipes?
I wrote my own convertor. Not all recipes are 5 gallons and I don't always brew 5 gallons. I have done 1gal, 2gal, 3gal, and 5.5gal. Plus, nearly every recipe is in ounces and my scale is in grams. Feel free to use it.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AsJukKCXJXsEdFNpNC1Wc3hMYkVReUhVS0tCaVplenc&usp=sharing
Thinking about doing a SMaSH this afternoon with Styrian Goldings and maybe MO. Anybody ever scaled down a Styrian Stunner variation?
I figure 2lbs of base grain and 3 additions of 5.5g hops sounds about right.
While I'm really new to this, I'm operating under the assumption of around 70%. Last 2 beers I brewed came in nearly where I wanted them, assuming that rate, and the last one came in a little higher.Burninator - what's your typical effeciency?
Most of the Styrian Stunner recipes I've seen have a large bittering addition, mid flavor, and lighter aroma. Sort of a 4/2/1 ratio, so if you're using 16g of hops, you'd be looking at like 8g@60min/5g@15min/3g@5min. Any english pale base malt would work - MO's always good, Golden Promise might be a fun substitute.
You going to use S04 or Notty?
Thanks for the reassurance! I really wasn't planning on winging it tonight, but I guess that's how it goes. I love Saaz, too. Went pretty light with it. MyBrewCo has me right above 30IBU, which is straight down the middle. Should give me a good idea of what I'm doing with both the hops and the malt.Styrian Goldings is supposed to be a Czech Fuggles, if memory serves - or is it EKG? It's one of them, and for some reason my brain's foggy.
Saaz is a different animal - but in my opinion, I love Saaz - almost more than Fuggles/EKG. If you did a Vienna/Saaz smash, it'll be great. I did a Vienna SMASH with Northern Brewer and it was awesome, I'd be the subtle Saaz addition with Vienna would be perfect.
Definitely US05 over Belle, but those are both great yeasts.
Sounds like you have some GREAT beers to brew here soon!
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