My Picobrew Thread

[sbartelski]

.....For chilling- some people use the Jaded corny immersion chiller, some hook up their plate chiller (adapters needed), I just use a big black plastic tub full of ice water......

Take a look at YouTube (or PicoBrew.com) videos. Annie suggested using a coil chiller "inside-out", i.e. sending the wort through the coil, while it stands in a bucket of ice. I just switched to that method, reduced chilling from 45-75 minutes standing the keg in ice water to 20-35 minutes! I have some pictures on the PB forum, search for "chiller"



Stefan

 

[Baja_Brewer]

You are going to love it. Order a stainless hop cage for dry hopping and start with the Fresh Squeezed receive. Gl.

I purchased one of these and used it for about 2.5oz of Dry Hops in a Wheat IPA I made a little while back. It is pretty easy to use, and can go in the dishwasher which is awesome!

Despite this I've still yet to make a hoppy brew I'm completely happy with, with a major caveat being that I use bottled spring water without any additional adjustments - which I reading more and more as important features of making the hops "pop" a la New England IPAs.

 

[Anyhowe]

I purchased one of these and used it for about 2.5oz of Dry Hops in a Wheat IPA I made a little while back. It is pretty easy to use, and can go in the dishwasher which is awesome!

Despite this I've still yet to make a hoppy brew I'm completely happy with, with a major caveat being that I use bottled spring water without any additional adjustments - which I reading more and more as important features of making the hops "pop" a la New England IPAs.

Welcome to the neverending conveyor belt of home brew learning and tweaking. Most every brew is an evolution (with the occasional step back). I like your attitude. GL!

 

[Anyhowe]

I purchased one of these and used it for about 2.5oz of Dry Hops in a Wheat IPA I made a little while back. It is pretty easy to use, and can go in the dishwasher which is awesome!

Despite this I've still yet to make a hoppy brew I'm completely happy with, with a major caveat being that I use bottled spring water without any additional adjustments - which I reading more and more as important features of making the hops "pop" a la New England IPAs.

East coast IPA is a function of the yeast as well. Read on...

 

[Baja_Brewer]

Welcome to the neverending conveyor belt of home brew learning and tweaking. Most every brew is an evolution (with the occasional step back). I like your attitude. GL!

East coast IPA is a function of the yeast as well. Read on...

I've used Conan, etc.- the water adjustments are the line I haven't crossed. I'm curious if anyone has successfully made an E. Coast IPA in the Z? Looking for suggestions. Not opposed to making hop additions to the keg in my SS hooper, if necessary!

 

[Anyhowe]

I've used Conan, etc.- the water adjustments are the line I haven't crossed. I'm curious if anyone has successfully made an E. Coast IPA in the Z? Looking for suggestions. Not opposed to making hop additions to the keg in my SS hooper, if necessary!

Just kicked a keg full of hoppy chopper. Go for it with gusto.

 

[Baja_Brewer]

I owe this thread a serious update, but I don't have many pictures so it will be pretty boring:

1. I've ditched my plate chiller in favor of a bucket and ice or no-chill. Winter is easiest - I can scoop snow into a tub, back fill with water, and chill in 30 minutes or so.
2. The mini-fridge I have for my brewPi (I think its an Avanti) is 7 years old and has mostly **** the bed - it can drop the temp about 10 degrees over a few days. Since the fridge is generally in the garage (sub 60F) I need to rig it with a fan to pump in cool air when cooling is needed. The heating pad still works gang busters. The brewPi is kick-asS for fermentation control. Get/build one!
3. I have too much beer on hand!

Back in April/May, I made a bunch of Belgians. Previously, I made 2 Belgian Blondes and tried different yeasts. They both came out great, and I'm not good enough at flavor profiles to provide much more feedback (aside from the fact that the sulfur smell from Safale Abbey Ale yeast does fade after fermentation.) I also made a couple batches that should have like Leffe Brun - they were also good, but didn't have the same flavor or mouthfeel as the Leffe Brun's I buy at the store. In another note, my acquaintances have told me that I'm a terrible salesman when it comes to getting them to try my beer. Undersell, over deliver.

Anyway, I used a recipe from CIS and another from AIH when trying to make Chimay Premiere. Its pretty exciting to brew these against one another. I used the same yeast and fermentation profile for them, and the recipes are fairly different, with CIS having Belgian Pils, Cara-Malt, Torrified Wheat & Belgian Candi Sugar Amber while the AIH having Belgian Pils, Belgian CaraMunich, Belgian Aromatic, German Carafa & Belgian Candi Sugar Dark.

I like the CIS better.

CIS

AIH

I also made an attempt at an Ommegang Art of Darkness clone, using cultured Ommegang yeast. Oh man, its good. Not even close to what I remember AoD being, but good.

I bottled these back in November after aging them for ~6 months and it was well worth it - age your brews that deserve it, you'll be happy you did.

 

[Anyhowe]

Baja. Thank you for sharing. Most excellent.

 

[sbartelski]

Baja,
Thanks for sharing. A quick question, in the pictures below of the PB RC, it shows that you are using the Z High Efficiency mash. But the RC print function does not show the actual Advanced Editor vales, just the default. Are you using different values?

Stefan

I owe this thread a serious update, but I don't have many pictures so it will be pretty boring:

Back in April/May, I made a bunch of Belgians. Previously, I made 2 Belgian Blondes and tried different yeasts. They both came out great, and I'm not good enough at flavor profiles to provide much more feedback (aside from the fact that the sulfur smell from Safale Abbey Ale yeast does fade after fermentation.) I also made a couple batches that should have like Leffe Brun - they were also good, but didn't have the same flavor or mouthfeel as the Leffe Brun's I buy at the store. In another note, my acquaintances have told me that I'm a terrible salesman when it comes to getting them to try my beer. Undersell, over deliver.

Anyway, I used a recipe from CIS and another from AIH when trying to make Chimay Premiere. Its pretty exciting to brew these against one another. I used the same yeast and fermentation profile for them, and the recipes are fairly different, with CIS having Belgian Pils, Cara-Malt, Torrified Wheat & Belgian Candi Sugar Amber while the AIH having Belgian Pils, Belgian CaraMunich, Belgian Aromatic, German Carafa & Belgian Candi Sugar Dark.

I like the CIS better.

CIS

AIH

I also made an attempt at an Ommegang Art of Darkness clone, using cultured Ommegang yeast. Oh man, its good. Not even close to what I remember AoD being, but good.

I bottled these back in November after aging them for ~6 months and it was well worth it - age your brews that deserve it, you'll be happy you did.

 

[Pelikan11]

Yes. I use bottled water as well and when I started adding a tablespoon of gypsum it made a big difference in bring to hops to the front

 

[Lbarouf]

Courage les garçons, et patience, vos femmes vont finir par apprécier la bière !

Ha ha.. apres combien de temps au juste? Du coup, on a juste le temps de virer debile. ;-)
Je suis chanceux, la mienne travaillais dans une brasserie.