Calichusetts
Well-Known Member
I still prefer the honey to sugar. You can really add some interesting aromas/flavors with different honey. I even use 4 tablespoons and not three to get it slightly more carbed
Calichusetts said:I still prefer the honey to sugar. You can really add some interesting aromas/flavors with different honey. I even use 4 tablespoons and not three to get it slightly more carbed
kc1123 said:Blake, I have my Grapefruit Honey Ale fermenting right now. Hell of a krausen the first day!
Not sure. I don't think they label the yeast in their kits. In the book they recommend Safale S-05 for the Everyday IPA and Safale S-04 for the Grapefruit Honey Ale. I think the krausen was caused by the added honey and Belgian candi sugar.
Incidentally, I've started a Tumblr page about my one gallon brews: http://onegallon.tumblr.com/
This was the yeast that came in my Everyday IPA Kit.
I like the idea of your Tumblr page and I'll be following it since I plan on doing 1 gallon batches for awhile.
Not a fan of the Munton's.
fwiw, i highly recommend Nottingham Ale Yeast. You can get 4 or 5 1-gallon batches out of a single packet. Just fold it over a couple times and tape it shut, throw it back in the fridge. It'll be fine.
Takes off running in hours, ferments clean, and the trub is like a layer of pudding on the bottom of the fermenter.
I got my start with BBS kits and still do 1 gal batches pretty regularly to test recipes and do comparisons (large batch split up to ferment with different yeast strains, with or without dry-hopping, etc). The only other thing I would recommend that hasn't been recommended is a good digital scale. It allows you to pitch the correct amount of dry yeast (I usually 3g or so, depending on the OG - the Mr Malty pitch calculator can help you). When I used the half packet like the BBS directions recommend, I lost a lot of beer through the blow off tube due to vigorous ferment. When I started weighing out the correct amount of yeast, this problem essentially disappeared - still get good fermentation and good beer, but I don't waste a half-bottle to a whole bottle to a fermentation volcano (I still use a blow-off tube for the first three days, though, just in case).
I defiantly need to buy a more precise scale. I tried to measure out my hops for the Everyday IPA kit but it just wouldn't pick up the small amount that I needed. Any recommendation for a scale and digital thermometer?
I think I bottled according to the directions (after a week?) and all of my bottles would gush foam, leaving about 2/3 of a beer. Also, I would recommend getting priming sugar over honey, it costs like 40 cents.
How much priming sugar for the 1Gallon IPA did you use?
I used 25g.
Looks good but I would stay away from clear bottles they can skunk the beer brown is better. I alway bottle atleast one beer in a clear bottle just to be able to see it. Congratulations on making beer.
TimpanogosSlim said:Eh, it's not like he's going to put the beer on display in an open-front refrigerator. He'll be fine. Assuming he does actually keep them out of the light most of the time.
fwiw i disagree with the practice of filling a racking cane with sanitizer solution. Just use hot tap water.
A failed siphon start with sanitizer has a fairly high potential of ruining the beer depending on what you sanitized with. A failed siphon start with hot tap water has a very low potential of ruining the beer.
Better yet, just get an autosiphon. So easy to use.
jnalpak said:Thanks for everyone's help through these initial steps. I MADE BEER! :rocking:
I used 16oz bottles so it only made 6, actually works out b/c I have the grapefruit ale ready in the wings so i'll kick that off tomorrow after everything is dry.
re: priming sugar - I did the following using the 25g quote above from BlakeL -
[*]25g of priming sugar
[*]100ML of water
[*]11min boil
[*]Let it cool in the sink with running water around it (don't let water get into it, put a lid on top), should be around 80 degrees.
[*]I then funneled directly into the 1Gallon container and stirred it up for a few minutes. I tried not to disturb the yeast.
[*]let it sit for 30minutes and then SIPHON (have partner stir slowly w/ the rack to mix the sugar around again, a little agitation, don't oxygenate it!
This link was helpful throughout the bottling stage. http://www.beertools.com/html/tutorial/phase03/step02.php
re: siphon - i did not invest in auto siphon since I want to move to 5G batches and purchase a nice starter kit (w/ all the fix ins) once I am completed with my next 2x 1G batch. With that said, this video was super helpful in regular siphon skills - Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTHr-Yd49Xc
I see you have a captain Lawrence taster glass. They are right up the street from me.
**Question - my funnel has a very fine filter on it, when I completed the chill to 70deg and start to dump the wort into the primary it starts to backup due to CLOG. I have to "scrape" the mesh-filter with a sterile spoon to get the wort flowing....The BBS uses pellets so i feel there is no easy way around this, I tried using my new "fine-mesh lauter" and the funnel-filter but it didn't work.
My wife bought me this kit for my birthday and we finally started a batch on Sunday. I just replaced the blow-off tube with the airlock yesterday.
Question on sweetener for bottling: I noticed the instruction PDF you can download for this kit from BBS mentions using honey, then a sentence or two later refers to agave. Is using agave nectar an option anyone would recommend? I actually like using that as a sweetener in cocktails, but have no idea what effect using it versus honey would have on beer. Also what about using a real brown sugar (like demarara or sucanat)? I won't touch white sugar or corn syrup.
Thanks!
Jeff
Hi All,
Received the Brooklyn kit as a gift this past weekend and can't wait to begin brewing. Silly question though, are the hops and yeast included in separate packages inside the large "ingredient mix" bag? I can't see them in there, and don't want to open the grain bag until I'm ready to brew. I'm 95% certain I'm an idiot, but just want to be sure
1.My kit did come with C-Bright cleanser and instructions say rinse is required, how well must I rinse to get that stuff off the equipment?
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