Homebrewing myths that need to die

[CreamyGoodness]

So what Im hearing is use table sugar. Same .7 ounces you would use for a gallon?

 

[Varmintman]

That is what I use but I like lots of bubbles in my beer and use one OZ per gallon

 

[thadius856]

Table sugar has been reported to leave a "cidery" contribution when used in larger quantities (not priming). I haven't tested it yet myself.

Priming with table sugar uninverted is fine as well.

To make things super easy, you can pre-can priming sugar in a little water. For dextrose, just go to town. For table sugar, just add a little lemon juice (or cream of tartar?) And pressure can away.

 

[CreamyGoodness]

I've noticed that Brooklyn Brew Shop's kits suggest using honey or maple syrup to prime depending on the beer. Thoughts?

 

[homebrewdad]

Use about 10% less table sugar compared to corn sugar to get the same level of carbonation.

The cidery flavor is a myth, at least on the priming sugar scale. Many Belgian beers use a LOT of table sugar with no cidery flavor. You have to be talking about a very large percentage of your overall fermentables before this is a concern.

Honey and maple syrup both work well to prime with, and both give you some flavor contributions. I have primed successfully with maple syrup before.

Honey is a bit tougher, as different batches of honey can vary in terms of fermentability.

Check my signature for a nice priming sugar calculator that takes most of the guesswork out of priming... also gives you a ton of different sugars to use.

 

[thadius856]

The cidery flavor is a myth, at least on the priming sugar scale. Many Belgian beers use a LOT of table sugar with no cidery flavor. You have to be talking about a very large percentage of your overall fermentables before this is a concern.

I am specifically talking about large amounts in primary, such as replacing the dextrose in Apfelwein (2#) or using table sugar inverted as called for in Skeeter Pee (7#).

 

[TANSTAAFB]

I am specifically talking about large amounts in primary, such as replacing the dextrose in Apfelwein (2#) or using table sugar inverted as called for in Skeeter Pee (7#).

I use table sugar in my Apfelwein. It's MUCH cheaper and I figure, how in hell am I going to detect a cidery off flavor in my cider! IIRC this information about cidery tastes in beer comes from a time when brewers were throwing in a ton of sugar and any other cheap fermentables they could get their hands on into their beer. Pretty sure it was England and something to do with taxes. My understanding is, like the Belgians, you can use basic sugar for a pretty large quantity of the fermentables before getting that cidery twang.

 

[thadius856]

I use table sugar in my Apfelwein. It's MUCH cheaper and I figure, how in hell am I going to detect a cidery off flavor in my cider! IIRC this information about cidery tastes in beer comes from a time when brewers were throwing in a ton of sugar and any other cheap fermentables they could get their hands on into their beer. Pretty sure it was England and something to do with taxes. My understanding is, like the Belgians, you can use basic sugar for a pretty large quantity of the fermentables before getting that cidery twang.

I think that apfelwein is on the wine side of the house when fermented with a champagne yeast as most do, but that's coming down to semantics.

Have you done a side-by-side between corn and table sugar using the same recipe otherwise? That's what I'd be particularly interested in.

Have a 16g cider planned (with hef yeast), split 4-ways for these sorts of comparisons:

1- 2# dextrose
2- 2# table sugar
3- 1# table sugar, 1# brown sugar
4- 2# brown sugar

 

[rexbanner]

No, table sugar doesn't add cidery flavor. I use 20% table sugar in my tripel. No cidery flavor. I have also used dextrose, can't tell the difference, but haven't done a side-by-side.

 

[TANSTAAFB]

I think that apfelwein is on the wine side of the house when fermented with a champagne yeast as most do, but that's coming down to semantics.

Have you done a side-by-side between corn and table sugar using the same recipe otherwise? That's what I'd be particularly interested in.

Have a 16g cider planned (with hef yeast), split 4-ways for these sorts of comparisons:

1- 2# dextrose
2- 2# table sugar
3- 1# table sugar, 1# brown sugar
4- 2# brown sugar

I brew my Apfelwein with Chico strain ale yeast. I find that after a couple generations it is plenty dry, it isn't harsh when young, and still gets better with age. I haven't really noticed a difference since switching to table sugar. It was a side by side that convinced me I was just pissing money away. I'd love to hear how this experiment turns out, please keep us up to date. Where would you post the thread so I can look for it? Cider forum?

 

[thadius856]

Yep. Cider forum.

My local WinCo also stocks fructose by the pound, but at several times the cost of table sugar. I was going to add it to the test, but cant find any reason to.

 

[branman]

And maybe "Homebrewing will save you money." Ha!

That's a myth for sure.. always upgrading and just plain out drinking more haha

 

[TNGabe]

That's a myth for sure.. always upgrading and just plain out drinking more haha

It is if you drink a lot of saisons and sours. Don't cost anymore to brew, but sure cost a lot more at the store. Maybe the economists will disagree because sours tie up fermenter and basement space and I'm not factoring in the fermenter opportunity cost.

 

[branman]

^^^ true. But I myself am a gadget whore... So for me, it is not my economic route but I don't do it to save money. I do it cause I like it and the end result is usually rewarding

 

[Monster Mash]

If I were to drink as much as I do of the styles I brew it would cost me more to buy it then to brew it. I buy everything in bulk so a 30 gallon batch costs me about $40, a 15.5 gallon keg of craft beer runs about $175. I built my brewery for $1500 9 years ago and it has pretty much paid for itself.

 

[whitehause]

Don't know if they have been mentioned, but.....

Alluminum pots will give you alzheimers.
Plastic brew buckets (food grade) will leech toxins(still in debate)
you need a 5gal bucket of star-san every brew day to properly sanitize.
every beer but hefe's need to be perfectly clear.
you need to sanitize everything pre-boil

 

[savannahbrew]

myth: you can learn a lot reading hombrewtalk forums about myths at 1230 in the morning.

 

[Calichusetts]

I've noticed that Brooklyn Brew Shop's kits suggest using honey or maple syrup to prime depending on the beer. Thoughts?

I only use honey...sometimes maple syrup. NEVER any issues with uneven carbonation or anything. I just crossed the 100 batches brewed mark and I'd say 80 have been with honey. I've tried sugar but I guess I'm a creature of habit.

 

[msa8967]

In order for a homebrewer to become a successful professional brewer the homebrewer must be a fan of either the Boston Red Sox or the Chicago Cubs.

 

[CreamyGoodness]

In order for a homebrewer to become a successful professional brewer the homebrewer must be a fan of either the Boston Red Sox or the Chicago Cubs.

Is that a thing?

 

[homebrewdad]

As a die hard Cubs fan, I can honestly state that while Cubs fandom should give you a karmic edge in brewing success (Lord knows, we suffer enough otherwise, so we deserve some thing to go our way), I have never heard the Cubs/Red Sox thing.

I don't think this qualifies as a myth that needs killing.

 

[Jayhem]

Homebrewing myths:

1. Kegging is superior to bottling and/or kegging makes better beer

2. bottling beer is overly time consuming (you are doing it wrong)

3. If your yeast pitching rate isn't perfect you can forget about making good beer! You need to get a digital microscope and start yeast counting!

4. Don't use dish soap to clean your brewing equipment or you'll get off flavors! (Never once has dishsoap given me an off flavor in almost 2 years of brewing...it's called RINSING WELL. If dishsoap contributed off flavors your food would all taste off now wouldn't it?).

 

[GrogNerd]

In order for a homebrewer to become a successful professional brewer the homebrewer must be a fan of either the Boston Red Sox or the Chicago Cubs.

Is that a thing?

if it were true, I would eat a bullet

 

[QuercusMax]

Homebrewing myths:

1. Kegging is superior to bottling and/or kegging makes better beer

2. bottling beer is overly time consuming (you are doing it wrong)

Amen to both of these. The most annoying thing about bottling is cleaning and removing labels. Cleaning is way easier with a jet bottle rinser. Even horrible moldy ones come clean easily - I cleaned 4 cases of nasty bottles in an afternoon when I got my washer.

Removing labels is optional, but I find soaking them in a bucket of hot water for an hour makes them come off easily.

Other than that the only annoying thing to me about bottling is waiting thru two dishwasher cycles before starting. First one to do all the dishes that were left in the sink, and then one to sanitize the bottles. I either will convince SWMBO to do dishes while I'm at work, or I'll buy a Vinator... Not sure which is cheaper.

Once the bottles are clean, just have to boil priming sugar, dump into bottling bucket, rack to bucket, then fill, cap, and write label in sharpie on cap. I can be done in 45 minutes. Kegging sounds like a hassle and a half.

Best thing about bottling is taking it with you, and having lots of variety! I'm on
Vacation in vermont this week, and brought 2 cases comprising 10 different kinds! Do that with a keg!

 

[homebrewdad]

Other than that the only annoying thing to me about bottling is waiting thru two dishwasher cycles before starting. First one to do all the dishes that were left in the sink, and then one to sanitize the bottles. I either will convince SWMBO to do dishes while I'm at work, or I'll buy a Vinator... Not sure which is cheaper.

Vinator by far. Fifteen bucks well worth it. Combined with my bottle tree, the Vinator cuts a solid hour of labor off of bottling for me (I used to do the dishwasher thing, too). This does not count the time waiting for the bottles to cycle in the dishwasher.

 

[day_trippr]

In order for a homebrewer to become a successful professional brewer the homebrewer must be a fan of either the Boston Red Sox or the Chicago Cubs.

^ Relevant Fact

BOOM!!! << sound of GrogNerd offing himself

Sorry...

Cheers!

 

[Jayhem]

Amen to both of these. The most annoying thing about bottling is cleaning and removing labels. Cleaning is way easier with a jet bottle rinser. Even horrible moldy ones come clean easily - I cleaned 4 cases of nasty bottles in an afternoon when I got my washer.

Removing labels is optional, but I find soaking them in a bucket of hot water for an hour makes them come off easily.

Other than that the only annoying thing to me about bottling is waiting thru two dishwasher cycles before starting. First one to do all the dishes that were left in the sink, and then one to sanitize the bottles. I either will convince SWMBO to do dishes while I'm at work, or I'll buy a Vinator... Not sure which is cheaper.

Once the bottles are clean, just have to boil priming sugar, dump into bottling bucket, rack to bucket, then fill, cap, and write label in sharpie on cap. I can be done in 45 minutes. Kegging sounds like a hassle and a half.

Best thing about bottling is taking it with you, and having lots of variety! I'm on
Vacation in vermont this week, and brought 2 cases comprising 10 different kinds! Do that with a keg!

My bottling method is so easy I have to share it with you because the dishwasher method is simply too much work.

1. always double/triple rinse your bottles after pouring a beer, let them drip dry on a rack or bottle tree, case them up for next time!

2. The day before you plan to bottle, soak all your bottles in a solution of warm water and Oxiclean! This is key to making bottle cleaning a snap!

3. On bottling day simply rinse your bottles, drain them on a tree or dish rack

4. Turn on your oven to 200F, put the rack as low as it goes. Stand the bottles vertical (my oven holds about 54 bottles!). Heat bottles for 20 minutes to sanitize

5. Turn off oven, leave door open, remove bottles as soon as they are cool enough to touch, being careful not to touch the rims.

6. I do 11 gallon batches so I use 2 bottling buckets at once! I fill 2 bottles at once, my wife or brewing helper caps! We can bottle 11 gallons in about 25 minutes once we start filling.

Bottling allows us to take our beer with us places easily, to give beer samples to friends/family and to age some beer longer than others.

 

[Effingbeer]

Sounds like the myth that you need to sterilize bottles with heat has reared its ugly head.
1. Clean the bottle mechanically and with PBW.
2. Soak for a few minutes in Starsan.
3. Drain. Preferably on a bottle tree.
4. Fill bottle with beer. It doesn't need to be completely dry

 

[Jayhem]

Sounds like the myth that you need to sterilize bottles with heat has reared its ugly head.
1. Clean the bottle mechanically and with PBW.
2. Soak for a few minutes in Starsan.
3. Drain. Preferably on a bottle tree.
4. Fill bottle with beer. It doesn't need to be completely dry

Simply a preferred method.

Sanitizing with heat results in a 100% dry bottle that is much easier to handle than a slippery sanitizer soaked bottle.

I've bottled probably 1,800 bottles in my short brewing career and never once have a dropped a bottle while bottling. Quite a feat considering I'm always handling bottles with one hand and usually enjoying 1 or 3 homebrews while bottling.

 

[homebrewdad]

Duplicate post. Ignore!