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  1. Schmutzli

    Olive Oil - Testing

    I made the previous post because I hadn't heard of this idea, and wanted to see if the ratios being thrown about had any validity based on what was known about yeast metabolism. For my job, I've done some engineering of fatty acid production in microorganisms (to make biofuels) so I had a...
  2. Schmutzli

    Olive Oil - Testing

    You can think of it this way. Imagine the olive oil is corn starch and the wort is hot soup. Maybe you've encountered this during cooking: if you plop a tablespoon of corn starch in the soup, you are going to get a ball of cornstarch floating in soup. If you break it up it will still be dry in...
  3. Schmutzli

    Mercury problem

    A 30cm thermometer like you described could easily have upwards of 3 grams of mercury - maybe even double that. Had you spilled it into 800 gallons of beer, it would still be above the legal limit for mercury in drinking water, at least in the USA (didnt check Europe). Depending on where you...
  4. Schmutzli

    Bad Taste please HELP

    what do you clean your equipment with? insufficient rinsing of bleach and other chemicals can make flavors like you describe- acrid, hot, caustic.
  5. Schmutzli

    Pickle Recipe?

    The grape leaves and oak leaves supply tannin (same tannin as in red wine) which inhibit the enzymes which break down the cucumbers' structure. I'm curious whether a pinch of purified tannin from the homebrew store would do the same... I think I will try it soon. I just need to find a good...
  6. Schmutzli

    The stupidest comment on your beer

    That reminds me of a question I saw on the internet the other day... "is TSP (trisodium phosphate) vegan?"
  7. Schmutzli

    No-chill brewing & cold break

    I was forced to no-chill on my last batch due to inopportune plumbing issues. I drained onto a gallon of water (I thankfully had set aside) to accelerate the cooling and then wrapped the fermenter in a wet towel swamp cooler style. Even with that, it was >90F 8 hours later (5.5gals). Figure...
  8. Schmutzli

    What are you drinking now?

    Well, I haven't brewed since the summer since it's been too hot in my apartment. So lately I've been staring down these two mediocre batches I made earlier in spring-- a witbier I racked on top of Gala apples and an experimental amber flavored with blackstrap molasses. The molasses one was too...
  9. Schmutzli

    Never been so discouraged about homebrew (need some encouragement)

    I saw you use starsan, do you use any cleaners like bbrite or onesstep? Or anything else to clean/sterilize? Do you sterilize bottles in the dishwasher? Residuals from these have caused flavors like you describe in my beers and brew pals'.
  10. Schmutzli

    What are some of the mistakes you made...where your beer still turned out great!

    I know this post is a few months old but I wanted to chime in and say I do this all the time. Also, I never clean my bottles, I just rinse and sanitize. Never had a gusher or a spoiled bottle. Also, I never aerate before pitch, nor do I worry about splashing when bottling. I figure let the...
  11. Schmutzli

    Sterling 514 Yeast

    I ordered this yeast on a whim and gave it a test with an extract batch I was trying. The recipe is a very pale ale, lots of easy fermantables like rice syrup solids. I pitched a whole packet into 3.5 gal. Took off like crazy in 2.5 hours (~74F). Next day it was done, visually at least. I...
  12. Schmutzli

    skunking from brewing outside?

    think of the timescales: a couple hours is what fraction of a month or more in sunlight after bottling?
  13. Schmutzli

    Overcarbed/Twang Taste

    I had a similar taste when I would clean my bottles and fermentor. Now I just rinse and Starsan, skipping the cleaners. Never had contamination and the taste went away. I would try leaving out the B-brite just to see what happens. Since you rinse/dry right after use you should be fine with just...
  14. Schmutzli

    Creating A Cider Item in BeerSmith

    One addition I would have is that if your apple cider is >1.046 Beersmith will not tolerate the value, and reduces it to 1.046. I do it the same as you, only I set the fermentability as 106% to make up for limitation and give accurate lb=gal for my local cider. Do not know why Beersmith...
  15. Schmutzli

    You know you're a home brewer when?

    when you have a permanent saltwater cooling bath in your freezer
  16. Schmutzli

    You know you're a home brewer when?

    When you're happy to give all your friends beer, but if they forget to return the bottles, they are no longer your friends When the waiter at the BYOB takes your empty homebrew bottle and its takes your whole force of will not to interrupt polite conversation to demand your bottle back... When...
  17. Schmutzli

    Using Sparkolloid to fine beer

    It looks like a few people use it with beer, even though it is more associated with wine. Every mention indicates that it is used in secondary only. Sparkolloid carries a positive charge and yeast is negative, so it will speed up the flocculation of yeast. Because it is used for removing yeast...
  18. Schmutzli

    How many gallons of Homebrew in 2012?

    Finally set up in my new (old) apartment! 5245 +5 Sweet stout +5 California Pale Ale 5255
  19. Schmutzli

    Who's my Chicago homebrewers?

    Edgewater. Second post, so hello!
  20. Schmutzli

    What are you drinking now?

    Bitch Creek ESB
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