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Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

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  1. J

    Cold secondary for German Ale

    Apparently Wyeast 1007 is one of the most difficult yeasts to clear. It doesn't flocculate well. I've read somewhere that the only sure-fire way to clear a 1007 beer perfectly is to filter it. However I would have thought that cold conditioning it in a fridge close to freezing would do a...
  2. J

    Hop Pellets - Strain the Wort?

    I've used women's stockings (managed to steal a pair of wifeys). Tie knots in the legs as high as possible, and cut the legs off below the knot. Stretch the waist band over your fermenter and hey presto, one hop strainer. It works OK, but probably doesn't remove all the small stuff. Just...
  3. J

    Mistake

    I think you might have trouble getting it to ferment right out. This might leave unfermented sugars in the bottles and cause them to explode. Just check your final gravity. If it is normal then you might get away with it. The problem is that normal brewing yeasts don't like too much alcohol...
  4. J

    Checking brew during fermentation

    I use plastic "cling wrap" held on with a large rubber band, instead of a lid and airlock. I just put a small pin hole in it to let the gas escape. This way you can just look in and see what is going on. While it is fermenting there is no easy way for anything to get inside because the...
  5. J

    Spent Grain

    Can you form it into small blocks, dry it and burn it in your fire place? (Assuming you have a fire place or wood stove?) Portland's a cold place right?
  6. J

    Really active fermentation

    In terms of exposing the beer to oxygen and bacteria, it should be OK if it was fermenting that hard. The CO2 should have been pouring out of the carboy keeping everything at bay. However I'm not sure why it was fermenting that hard, unless the temperature is too high and the yeast is having...
  7. J

    Ale yeast instead of lager

    I use ale yeast almost exclusively (DCL Saf Ale) because it's always warm over here. I tried a genuine lager yeast (DCL Saf Lager) once and fermented it in a fridge, but it was difficult to tell the difference (it was when I was first starting out so I probably didn't know the difference...
  8. J

    honey in beer

    I've read that you should just put it in with the boil, but don't use too much because it gives very strong flavours.
  9. J

    "wort" or "wert"

    OK maybe Arachnyd's got a point there. Just think "word". Word, word, word, word......wert. There....I did it!
  10. J

    My First Batch/Bottle

    Only problem is we export all the good stuff over to you guys and they sell all the cheap stuff in the supermarket.
  11. J

    My First Batch/Bottle

    It depends on the yeast, but the better quality ones will settle nice and firm in the bottle and shouldn't get too stirred up when you pour. How long did you ferment it for? Sounds like you could have done with a bit more time in the fermenter before bottling (and/or racking to secondary...
  12. J

    Question about Alch. content

    I don't know much about rice sugars as they are not popular over here. If you don't want an all malt beer, maybe try something simple such as three quarters malt extract and a quarter dextrose (corn sugar for you guys). This is really easy to measure out and there are plenty of books and...
  13. J

    Glass primary?

    I have a book called "Brew Ware" by Lutzen and Stevens and it talks extensively about using a carboy for a primary fermenter. They even use one upside down with a special cap and 2 vent tubes which enable you to drain away the yeast sediment from the neck after primary fermentation (ie avoiding...
  14. J

    "wort" or "wert"

    I'm with you mate. Yes the right way is "wert" but that just sounds plain silly! Sorry to the purists but "wort" it is for me too.
  15. J

    Cooling the wart?

    I built a PVC pipe counter flow chiller and don't get me wrong it worked really well, but it was a real pain to clean and sanitise because you can't see the inside of the copper pipe. In hindsight I think the immersion chiller is easier to build and easier to use.
  16. J

    How many of these have you heard about your homebrew

    A lot of people seem to be still remembering the 70's and 80's when some home brews were crap, so there are still a lot of non-believers around who run a mile when I offer them home brew. But stuff them ... and all the more for me....
  17. J

    Skimming the Krausen

    Thanks guys, sounds like good advice. Time to throw away the book that says "skim"!!
  18. J

    Skimming the Krausen

    I've read that it is a good idea to skim the patches of gunk off the top of the krausen during primary fermentation as these can give off flavours. I've also read that you shouldn't do this as you upset the CO2 layer and might also introduce an infection. I'm interested to hear what others do?
  19. J

    Beer Drinking Culture

    Here is a thread about different pub culture. Unfortunately some of these traditions are dying out, but in some small country towns, you still see them. In some states in Australia if you place your empty glass right way up on the bar, you'll get a re-fill, when you are finished drinking...
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