Recent content by jmccraney

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  1. jmccraney

    DIY Carboy/Keg Cleaner

    Supposedly pbw doesn't foam up over, like 110F (details on their website). You can also try a different type of cleaner, my friend who owns a winery recommends alconox. Personally I just mix up a big batch of oxi clean and let it foam, so I haven't tried these suggestions myself.
  2. jmccraney

    DIY Carboy/Keg Cleaner

    I got around this just by cutting holes in the bucket kid so the disconnects drop right through. It's not as elegant, as the toilet flange but worked for me.
  3. jmccraney

    Designing an easy to clean brewing system

    Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. Any design recommendations? Just trying to avoid having that one crevice or joint that never gets cleaned right. I know the pros use caustic, but is pbw sufficient? I've never used it in this context
  4. jmccraney

    Designing an easy to clean brewing system

    True, that works for sterilization of the chiller, but I think my bigger concern design-wise is how to first get everything clean.
  5. jmccraney

    Designing an easy to clean brewing system

    Oh, forgot to mention I'm looking at using butterfly valves on the kettles. A) because if they're running to pumps they'll always be open and B) because it seems like I could clean them with a good cleaner recirc vs ball valves which you're supposed to disassemble. Any help would be appreciated.
  6. jmccraney

    Designing an easy to clean brewing system

    After puttering along on my 5 gal cooler and keggle system, I'm looking to upgrade to a shiny new single-tier half-barrel direct-fire RIMS brewhouse. One of my biggest complaints with the old system is that it has been a major PITA to clean. All the nooks and crannies of the patchwork keggle...
  7. jmccraney

    How does wild fermented cider age?

    Sounds good to me. If you wait 24 hrs, the sulfite clears and you can safely pitch your yeast. Here's an interesting read on sulfite, especially in the context of cider: http://www.cider.org.uk/sulphite.html Hmm, not sure, but I think most beer yeasts are kill factor sensitive? There's...
  8. jmccraney

    Brett and Spanish cider split batch

    Cool! I got a deal on some pear/apple cider that had just started fermenting naturally, so I just went with it. I've got 5 gal assisted by Nottingham and the other 5 gal is getting a starter dosed with various dregs from asturias...
  9. jmccraney

    How does wild fermented cider age?

    I just got my hands on some raw cider, but it had already begun to ferment before I got my hands on it. I knocked the wild yeast back w campden tablets before pitching some Nottingham yeast to ensure a safer flavor, but this is still very much a wild fermentation. What is the best practice for...
  10. jmccraney

    All-Grain BDSA - Tastes "smoky", not fruity

    So let's start with the obvious: 1. don't burn your grain 2. don't boil your grain. Both of those can lead to off flavors if you don't know what you're doing, but it never should happen in a basic infusion mash anyway. I trust you have that under control now, so no need to beat a dead...
  11. jmccraney

    Importance of a "rolling boil"?

    First, about the boil: its very important to keep a rolling boil so volatiles in the wort can be driven off. The one I'm familiar with is SMM, the DMS precursor. I'll let you Google that one if you're curious, but its an off flavor described as cooked corn. A rolling boil also helps...
  12. jmccraney

    Blackberry wine - correcting high OG

    Ugh, post from my phone didn't go through. If it ever shows up I apologize in advance for doubling up. Yes, 1.180 isn't on my hydrometer either, it only goes to 1.160. When I said off the charts I really meant it, the hydrometer was floating up almost to the bulb, so the 1.18+ was just an...
  13. jmccraney

    Blackberry wine - correcting high OG

    I started a batch of blackberry wine using Jack Keller's heavy bodied blackberry wine recipe. Unfortunately I scaled up the recipe to 5gal and blindly dumped in ingredients (including yeast) before testing the SG. With 30lbs of berries and 10 lbs of sugar, the OG measurement was of the charts...
  14. jmccraney

    Bottle conditioning - fact check

    Cool, thanks for the feedback. After going back to the priming section I see what you mean. I ended up changing it to "simple sugars" since I wanted to refer to the general principle as priming sugar can come from many sources--corn sugar, honey, extract, wort, etc. Hmm aging. I touched on...
  15. jmccraney

    Bottle conditioning - fact check

    Hi guys. I recently put together an article on bottle conditioned beer for my homebrew blog aimed to teach craft beer drinkers what bottle conditioned means, why it's different from filtered/force carbed beer, and how it should be handled. The idea is if I hand somebody a homebrew who has...
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