I like this time at night on HBT

[Stauffbier]

I have no idea about such things, being a keg noob. But I can tell you that it pours nicely from a 3' long 5/16" poly line hooked up to a cobra tap as long as you open it full throttle at 25psi

So, you actually serve at that high of pressure? I was thinking I'd carb like I do with beer (40lbs for about 36 hours), then drop down to about 15lbs to serve.

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

Grain won't be straight lacto. It's lacto and who knows what else. I think the newer fruity hops go well with soured beers. Nelson, mosaic, and galaxy have all been tasty for me. I think cascade could be good with the right beer though. Crystal is another good one that is largely ignored.

Yep, I know the grain is a mess of stuff. Too interesting of an experiment to pass up. Will the "good" bugs beat the "bad" bugs out eventually, or will I have to boil the resulting product? Once you get a "good" batch, can you just keep repitching on it (like sourdough starter)?

I have a friend who grows cascade, but I really want to sample the straight beers first, fermented on the grain and fermented with the Brett. I was also thinking of bottling a 6-pack of each before I blend.

 

[Stauffbier]

All you lambic, sour brewers would call me a cheating wanna-be for sure. I don't ever use bugs when I brew something sour. I just do sour mashes. I don't really want to dedicate the time and space to the "true" process.... Plus, I'm just not a huge fan of sours. I get all I want out of a short sour mash. I don't necessarily brew anything exactly to style, with that said.

 

[TNGabe]

I've had good luck grain souring, I think the key is to create and maintain an anaerobic environment. You'd said 'all lact so I wasn't sure you knew what youd get from grain. You can certainly repitch trub, rinsed trub, or a portion of the beer in future batches if you like what you get. Waiting to taste before dry hopping is the best bet for sure. Have you used his hops before?

 

[TNGabe]

All you lambic, sour brewers would call me a cheating wanna-be for sure. I don't ever use bugs when I brew something sour. I just do sour mashes. I don't really want to dedicate the time and space to the "true" process.... Plus, I'm just not a huge fan of sours. I get all I want out of a short sour mash. I don't necessarily brew anything exactly to style, with that said.

What is this style you speak of? I pretty much hate the bjcp. I also love sour mash beers. Gives me something to drink while I'm waiting on the long term wilds. Brett does a nice job of cleaning up any off flavors from the sour mash.

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

This sour is an experiment. When blended my dream is that it will come out like a slightly high gravity fruity Berliner weisse, but I'm not sure how everything is going to play together. It really is just a chance to isolate and taste the different contributions separately. I think splitting the batch between the souring and the Brett is a good idea, as if one or the other is horrible I might be able to do something with the remaining half to recover something nice.

I might also walk into my shed tomorrow and get smacked by the smell of freshly-baked dog puke and diaper casserole. I have a composter, just in case.

 

[Leadgolem]

They dry out pretty quickly. I think a vacuum sealer bag is a great way to store them. I have a tall sealed jar I keep them in, but they did dry out in there.

I made the same mistake. I put a number of them in a jar with a rubber seal that I felt confident would keep them fresh, and they still turned into crispy critters in a few weeks. Now I just reseal them whenever I use one. It's kind of a pain, it keeps them well.

That's what I'm afraid of. That's why I'm planning on getting them in the alcohol pretty quickly. The ones that aren't going into an extract I will want to use relatively quickly.

They came today, and so did my stir bar.

I used to drink too much rum. My favorite is matusalem! Great stuff. Matusalem and Mexican coke. Hell yeah.

Have you ever had a Panamanian rum and coke.

Good to have you back Vman. I hope that finger is healing up!

So, since I'm planning on making some of BB's vanilla soda I'm wondering.... Do you all think that my 12ft liquid lines will be long enough for soda? I really don't want to buy more tubing right now...

So, you actually serve at that high of pressure? I was thinking I'd carb like I do with beer (40lbs for about 36 hours), then drop down to about 15lbs to serve.

The reading I've been doing says, yes you serve at 25-30 psi for soda. If you don't maintain that pressure your soda will slowly go flat in the keg.

To keep the soda from foaming to much when it's poured, most people recommended 18-20' of 3/16th ID line. If it foams a lot you lose a lot of the co2 and it's a little flat in the glass.

If you wanted to turn down the pressure just before serving for an event or something, that would work fine. You just can't maintain it at the lower psi. If you want it ready all the time, then you kinda have to maintain the pressure.

This is from the northern brewer forum.

The proper carbonation level of soda at 40˚F would be obtained with a pressure between 25-30 psi. You also need to balance the system with the proper length of 3/16" ID beverage tubing to get a proper pour. Just reducing the pressure to serve will work to some degree, but is a PITA, and if the pressure is not turned back up after each session, the volume of CO2 in solution will reach equilibrium with the new lower pressure in the head space and the soda will have less carbonation.

I always have a keg of root beer on tap for my boys. I have it at 28 psi and serve it through 20' of 3/16" ID beverage line, coiled in the back of my kegerator, to a perlick faucet. This set up achieves a perfect pour, no foam and a perfect carbonation level.

With regard to carbonating sugary soda, I have read, and found in my experience that sugary sodas are more resistant to accepting the CO2 into solution than beer is at the same pressure and temperature. My solution to this is to chill and carbonate the majority of the water first for a day or two. Plain water readily accepts CO2 into solution. I then heat up the remaining water to dissolve the sugars and extract in, cool it down overnight in the fridge, add it to the already carbonated water in the keg, mix it thoroughly and put it back on the gas at my serving pressure of 28 psi.

 

[TNGabe]

I know I eat better than most people just by looking at what's in other carts at the grocery store, but I've been on a 'real food' kick lately. I didn't realize how much crap I was eating until I tried to stop. Not that I was eating much frozen or canned that I didn't freeze or can myself, but trying not to buy things with ingredients is really cutting back on my snacking. Good news is I lost 5 lbs the first week. Bad news is I really want some dag jimmit chips right now.

 

[Stauffbier]

Thanks for doing my homework for me LG. That's all good info. I'm going to try it with my 12' line and see how it works. I actually wouldn't mind serving at around 20lbs and also staying a tiny bit low on volumes of co2. I had an apple cider in the keg that was very fizzy like a soda, and it was at 20lbs. If I can duplicate that with my soda I'll be happy with it.

 

[Leadgolem]

Thanks for doing my homework for me LG. That's all good info. I'm going to try it with my 12' line and see how it works. I actually wouldn't mind serving at around 20lbs and also staying a tiny bit low on volumes of co2. I had an apple cider in the keg that was very fizzy like a soda, and it was at 20lbs. If I can duplicate that with my soda I'll be happy with it.

That's the thing though. Sugary soda liquid doesn't take co2 very easily. That's why you need so much pressure. You just aren't going to get the volumes of co2 in soda that you would with beer or wine at the same pressure. If you're happy with the carbonation you get at 20 psi, that's fine. It's just going to be kinda low for soda.

 

[beaksnbeer]

The wife was talking about adding soda to my little keezer just don't know where to add a 13th tap

 

[Stauffbier]

That's the thing though. Sugary soda liquid doesn't take co2 very easily. That's why you need so much pressure. You just aren't going to get the volumes of co2 in soda that you would with beer or wine at the same pressure. If you're happy with the carbonation you get at 20 psi, that's fine. It's just going to be kinda low for soda.

I do agree with what you're saying. The only reason I'm coming to this conclusion is the fact that my apple cider was heavily back sweetened and was only 6% ABV. As a matter of fact a lot of people said it tasted more like an apple soda than it did apple cider, so I'm hoping there will be some similarity there with soda.

 

[Leadgolem]

I do agree with what you're saying. The only reason I'm coming to this conclusion is the fact that my apple cider was heavily back sweetened and was only 6% ABV. As a matter of fact a lot of people said it tasted more like an apple soda than it did apple cider, so I'm hoping there will be some similarity there with soda.

Oooh, apple soda sounds good. I can't stand the apple "flavored" soda, but some sparking apple juice sounds nice...

 

[Stauffbier]

Oooh, apple soda sounds good. I can't stand the apple "flavored" soda, but some sparking apple juice sounds nice...

It's funny. A lot of people (including myself) said that my cider tasted a lot like a very popular Mexican apple soda that is commonly consumed here. Being on the border we get a lot of imported goods that you just don't see in other parts of the country. There's nothing like a good Mexican apple soda with an authentic chile relleno burrito!

 

[TNGabe]

Chile relleno burrito? Is that just a couple of chile relleno wrapped in a tortilla for easy consumption?

 

[Stauffbier]

Chile relleno burrito? Is that just a couple of chile relleno wrapped in a tortilla for easy consumption?

Pretty much, yes, but they will usually have a thin layer of refried beans slathered on the tortilla before adding the chile relleno. Not to mention that a true chile relleno made in Mexico will likely have been fried in lard. The lard is definitely a very important flavor component if you're looking for authenticity.

 

[TNGabe]

Pretty much, yes, but they will usually have a thin layer of refried beans slathered on the tortilla before adding the chile relleno. Not to mention that a true chile relleno made in Mexico will likely have been fried in lard. The lard is definitely a very important flavor component if you're looking for authenticity.

You can fry in oil other than lard?

 

[Varmintman]

I think I must be slacking when it comes to brewing after listening to you guys. During the summer I make one style of beer a low alcohol yellow fizzy beer and during the winter I might make three styles of a darker beer yet again low alcohol.

I did bottle my mead though and taste it....I really hope it gets better with age

 

[Leadgolem]

You can fry in oil other than lard?

Apparently one can also fry in peanut oil, or even canola oil...

 

[Leadgolem]

I think I must be slacking when it comes to brewing after listening to you guys. During the summer I make one style of beer a low alcohol yellow fizzy beer and during the winter I might make three styles of a darker beer yet again low alcohol.

I did bottle my mead though and taste it....I really hope it gets better with age

If it makes you feel better, every mead I've tasted was some degree of nasty when it was less then six months old. Most aren't good till around a year or more.

 

[Leadgolem]

Haha! I just posted a picture of a dessert in a glass in the "What are you drinking" thread.

 

[reinstone]

Just wondering wtf happened to my ipa. Great then 1 day dry hopping it tastes like an ipa hydrometer sample.

 

[Leadgolem]

Just wondering wtf happened to my ipa. Great then 1 day dry hopping it tastes like an ipa hydrometer sample.

Did it get stirred up? Something like bottle shock maybe?

 

[BobbiLynn]

A Mexican place in the nearby town has the best chilli rellenos I have ever tasted. I haven't been to Mexico. The owner doesn't even speak English, but his kids do, 6 sons and 2 daughters. We hardly ever go out to dinner, but most of the time, if we do, it's to the mexican place.

Anyway, the chickens are laying lots of eggs and the lake is teeming with fish and one alligator, still. They put the bait on the wrong side of the lake but no one will listen to me. Bait it where it lives, not on the other side of the lake. Whatever. When these goof balls fail to catch it, maybe I'll get my say on where to put the bait.

 

[Leadgolem]

A Mexican place in the nearby town has the best chilli rellenos I have ever tasted. I haven't been to Mexico. The owner doesn't even speak English, but his kids do, 6 sons and 2 daughters. We hardly ever go out to dinner, but most of the time, if we do, it's to the mexican place.

Anyway, the chickens are laying lots of eggs and the lake is teeming with fish and one alligator, still. They put the bait on the wrong side of the lake but no one will listen to me. Bait it where it lives, not on the other side of the lake. Whatever. When these goof balls fail to catch it, maybe I'll get my say on where to put the bait.

Maybe make something from the gators? I seem to remember the skins being worth a fair amount.

 

[reinstone]

Something funny. I'm eating treet(like spam) on fat free cracker. Define irony. It's what I do.

 

[LabRatBrewer]

The wife was talking about adding soda to my little keezer just don't know where to add a 13th tap

Add it to the new keezer she just asked you to buy

 

[Leadgolem]

I couldn't go to bed without testing my stir plate with an actual stir bar. It pulled 3 inches of vortex in a 1 gallon sample, on low. On high it was pulling air down to the stir bar and throwing bubbles all over the place. The only draw back, it's kinda loud. Not the stir plate, the stir bar spinning on the bottom of the container.

Goodnight all.

 

[LabRatBrewer]

I couldn't go to bed without testing my stir plate with an actual stir bar. It pulled 3 inches of vortex in a 1 gallon sample, on low. On high it was pulling air down to the stir bar and throwing bubbles all over the place. The only draw back, it's kinda loud. Not the stir plate, the stir bar spinning on the bottom of the container.

Goodnight all.

Put little o-rings on the stir bar. No more clanking

 

[BobbiLynn]

I think I'm up early enough that it's still late night in some areas. Wassup?