bottlebomber
Well-Known Member
lemy said:
I think he said he wasn't going to carbonate... I don't think there's anyway to avoid the syrupyness though. By the time half the waters been drained out of it you could probably drizzle it on your pancakes.
Attempting 40%+ ABV beer... "Barley Brandy"
- Thread starter Cape Brewing
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Help Support Homebrew Talk:
I think he said he wasn't going to carbonate... I don't think there's anyway to avoid the syrupyness though. By the time half the waters been drained out of it you could probably drizzle it on your pancakes.
Subscribed. I've been cooking up something similar (freezing down three big beers and blending after some barrel and oak cube time)
paulthenurse
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[ame]http://youtu.be/zH46SmVv8SU[/ame]
Somebody please fix that for me. I'd ask my boy but he's too busy trying to be me.
What you gonna do next, Brian? Pack on 20 pounds and dye your hair grey?
PTN
Somebody please fix that for me. I'd ask my boy but he's too busy trying to be me.
What you gonna do next, Brian? Pack on 20 pounds and dye your hair grey?
PTN
DakotaRules
Well-Known Member
PTN finally found this thread, there goes the hood.
OP
OP
ah crap... welp... it was nice while it lasted.
and... I think you missed a "2" in front of that "20". and lastly, no, I'm not trying to be you, I'm trying to actually get a beer to ferment.
OP
OP
I ended up with about 3.5 gallons in the carboy on top of a massive yeast cake that I had washed from the IIIPA.
I poured off a sample before racking it on the yeast but haven't had time to take a damn gravity reading (was at that cookout until pretty late).
When I get home tonight I'll have to cut that sample in half with water and then take a reading since I'll be off the scale of my hydrometer.
The carboy was churning and blowing off CO2 like a freight train this morning when I went down and checked on it.
I poured off a sample before racking it on the yeast but haven't had time to take a damn gravity reading (was at that cookout until pretty late).
When I get home tonight I'll have to cut that sample in half with water and then take a reading since I'll be off the scale of my hydrometer.
The carboy was churning and blowing off CO2 like a freight train this morning when I went down and checked on it.
SkinnyShamrock
Well-Known Member
If I can do a 12% stout without a starter or an airstone and only some WLP001 (it finished CLEAN, too), I'm sure you can pull this off. You seem to have it all thought out. Best way to make a good beer.
OP
OP
We'll see. Hopefully it goes according to plan.
I am going to see how this massive US-05 cake chomps away and then I'll probably cold crash it out... and rack it all into another carboy with a huge 099 cake in it (building that up now).
I am going to give the 05 some time and when I rack off of it, I'll certainly let folks know where the gravity is.
I am going to see how this massive US-05 cake chomps away and then I'll probably cold crash it out... and rack it all into another carboy with a huge 099 cake in it (building that up now).
I am going to give the 05 some time and when I rack off of it, I'll certainly let folks know where the gravity is.
BMan1029
Well-Known Member
Subscribed. Looking forward to the updates.
Don't forget the hat. You can't pretend to be Paulie unless you're also pretending to be Indiana Jones.
BrewN00b
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[Short Round] You call him Doctor Jones! [/Short Round]
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paulthenurse
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I'm no doctor, I work for a living.
mikelikesit2000
Well-Known Member
Only on page 7, still reading. Hope this goes well. Subscribded
OP
OP
MINOR FAIL!!!!
The Fail Boat just docked temporarily at my place.
OG is only 1126. SONOFA!!!!!!
There are only two possible reasons:
1) my pre-boil gravity reading was wrong
2) my volumes were off
I am positive my pre-boil was correct. I took a sample, chilled it and read the OG. 1060. I even let it sit out over night so it could get to room temp and settle down. I got up the next morning and it was 1061.
HAD to be volumes. I had to have had a little less than I thought in terms of volume when I started my boil and ended up with more than I wanted volume-wise. And now that I am looking at the carboy... it is holding a bit more than I thought I was supposed to have.
Not the end of the world though and I'm not sure it changes much. I haven't added any maple syrup yet and the pound I am going to add will add another 7 pts of gravity to bring it up to 1133.
I have always planned on doing TWO batches and slowly feeding the first with the second so... I will simply OVER boil on the second batch and basically make an extract. I'll have to boil 11-12 gallons down to nuthin' just to get the pure sugar of the average OG up to where I wanted it (a hair north of 1200).
Lesson learned: take a freakin' gravity reading BEFORE I start chillin' and don't take my eagle eye for volume at its word.
In the end, not a big deal and I'll fix it but I wanted to at least have full disclosure here.
The Fail Boat just docked temporarily at my place.
OG is only 1126. SONOFA!!!!!!
There are only two possible reasons:
1) my pre-boil gravity reading was wrong
2) my volumes were off
I am positive my pre-boil was correct. I took a sample, chilled it and read the OG. 1060. I even let it sit out over night so it could get to room temp and settle down. I got up the next morning and it was 1061.
HAD to be volumes. I had to have had a little less than I thought in terms of volume when I started my boil and ended up with more than I wanted volume-wise. And now that I am looking at the carboy... it is holding a bit more than I thought I was supposed to have.
Not the end of the world though and I'm not sure it changes much. I haven't added any maple syrup yet and the pound I am going to add will add another 7 pts of gravity to bring it up to 1133.
I have always planned on doing TWO batches and slowly feeding the first with the second so... I will simply OVER boil on the second batch and basically make an extract. I'll have to boil 11-12 gallons down to nuthin' just to get the pure sugar of the average OG up to where I wanted it (a hair north of 1200).
Lesson learned: take a freakin' gravity reading BEFORE I start chillin' and don't take my eagle eye for volume at its word.
In the end, not a big deal and I'll fix it but I wanted to at least have full disclosure here.
Hex
Well-Known Member
I am convinced that if you let wort settle, it will stratify, and then it will give you inaccurate readings depending on where you take the sample (top, middle, bottom).
OP
OP
I whirlpool my wort and took it straight from that so I don't think it was stratified. I think I just ended up with a lot more volume then I intended.
... and when you're working with the small volumes and high gravities I'm playing with, on a percentage basis, it makes a huge difference.
I THOUGHT I had about 11.5 gallons and boiled down to 3.5...
But... mathematically... if I only had 10.5 and boiled down to 5... that's a 1128 OG right there. Which... is almost dead on where I am.
I just needed another half an hour of boil time.
Like I was saying, on my second "feeder" batch, I'll just overshoot even the 1200 to make up for it. I'm already over on volume and under on gravity so it won't be a big deal.
I'm not overly concerned about it
... and when you're working with the small volumes and high gravities I'm playing with, on a percentage basis, it makes a huge difference.
I THOUGHT I had about 11.5 gallons and boiled down to 3.5...
But... mathematically... if I only had 10.5 and boiled down to 5... that's a 1128 OG right there. Which... is almost dead on where I am.
I just needed another half an hour of boil time.
Like I was saying, on my second "feeder" batch, I'll just overshoot even the 1200 to make up for it. I'm already over on volume and under on gravity so it won't be a big deal.
I'm not overly concerned about it
OP
OP
Yeah I know...
Rookie mistake and now I feel shame..
Easily fixed though.
Hey... at least I ADMIT my errors... I know someone who's been withholding gravity numbers for weeks.
Rookie mistake and now I feel shame..
Easily fixed though.
Hey... at least I ADMIT my errors... I know someone who's been withholding gravity numbers for weeks.
.... you could always take dramatic action.
DME.
I've had so many issues with my efficiency, I've added extract (at the end of the boil) just to make up some of the difference. You COULD just boil up some DME, cool it, and add it to the fermenter along with the maple syrup.
As you said, this beer is all about the fermentation (and in this case, the freeze concentration). Actually producing the wort is a distant third in whether this beer is "successful" or not. So, just fix it the easiest way.
DME.
I've had so many issues with my efficiency, I've added extract (at the end of the boil) just to make up some of the difference. You COULD just boil up some DME, cool it, and add it to the fermenter along with the maple syrup.
As you said, this beer is all about the fermentation (and in this case, the freeze concentration). Actually producing the wort is a distant third in whether this beer is "successful" or not. So, just fix it the easiest way.
OP
OP
Just did some quick math and the only thing I have to do on the next batch is basically pull one extra gallon out through the boil and the average will get me back to the 1200 target I was shooting for.
That wort will be like syrup but I don't think it is a big deal since I'll be diluting it significantly with the first batch that is fermenting now.
(hard core chugging away still by the way)
I am putting together an DME starter now for another shot of building up the 099 cake I have going.
One minor side note: I am also using some of that DME starter for a wild yeast sample I was able to get. Maybe two weeks ago, I took a gravity reading and then left the tube sitting in my garage near my rig on purpose. Surer than sh!t, three days later the tube was fermenting. I have fed it once and now have a small cake of wild yeast. I'm going to build it up one more time, wash it and freeze it. I'm actually kind of interested to make a wild beer from it now.
That wort will be like syrup but I don't think it is a big deal since I'll be diluting it significantly with the first batch that is fermenting now.
(hard core chugging away still by the way)
I am putting together an DME starter now for another shot of building up the 099 cake I have going.
One minor side note: I am also using some of that DME starter for a wild yeast sample I was able to get. Maybe two weeks ago, I took a gravity reading and then left the tube sitting in my garage near my rig on purpose. Surer than sh!t, three days later the tube was fermenting. I have fed it once and now have a small cake of wild yeast. I'm going to build it up one more time, wash it and freeze it. I'm actually kind of interested to make a wild beer from it now.
OP
OP
BAH!!! I openly mock your DME suggestion!!! How dare you!?!?!
It wasn't an efficiency problem. I got the sugar out of the grain no problem. I just didn't concentrate it enough through the boil. I basically put together 11 gallons of 1060... not rocket science, nor is it that tough. Like I was saying, I just didn't boil long enough.
It wasn't an efficiency problem. I got the sugar out of the grain no problem. I just didn't concentrate it enough through the boil. I basically put together 11 gallons of 1060... not rocket science, nor is it that tough. Like I was saying, I just didn't boil long enough.
I'm not saying it was an efficiency problem, I'm saying that *I* have had efficiency issues.
I'm just sayin'... you've got too much water and relatively too little sugar because you prematurely stopped boiling. Since you can't take any more water out, why not just add more sugar?
I'm just sayin'... you've got too much water and relatively too little sugar because you prematurely stopped boiling. Since you can't take any more water out, why not just add more sugar?
OP
OP
I will... when I do the next batch.
I was doing the second batch anyway.
I was doing the second batch anyway.
ComcastWineRookie
Well-Known Member
Interesting how PTN took so long to get in on the thread but didnt have much to say at all...
Kegcowboy
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OP
OP
I think he's just being mildly respectful and not nuking a thread that has some resemblance of actual information.
Let's not poke the sleeping bear.
He'll have three wine coolers and the next thing you know the mods will be shutting the thread down.
Let's not poke the sleeping bear.
He'll have three wine coolers and the next thing you know the mods will be shutting the thread down.
ComcastWineRookie
Well-Known Member
Yes cape, your right, maybe I should take down the post as to not wake the sleeping nurse
iaefebs
Well-Known Member
I hope this thread stay's on topic. I have to admit I thought originally this was a talking out the A** thread. I now think it is one of the more interesting and look forward to the conclusion.
