I'm a noob with general questions. Also, ready for a habanero beer!

[501irishred]

Looks like you are well on your way to being hopelessly hooked on a great hobby!! I’m sure it’s been mentioned (sorry, haven’t read cover to cover) but next batch you might leave yourself a little more head space. In the mean time, make sure you have plenty of volume for the blowoff if it happens and continue to enjoy the process! Remember the always helpful RDWHAHB.......(Relax, don’t worry, have a home brew).


Ps- and yes, an infant medicine syringe or dropper works great for test infusions of your pepper solution.

 

[fendersrule]

Sweet! About when should I expect blow-off to occur if it does? Tomorrow is day 3, is that basically home-free at that point? I feel that tomorrow night I could put my burp caps on...definitely on the right one.

Seems like I filled it up just about darn right unless I should expect the foam to grow greater on day 3. We'll find out!

Yes, I love the "relax, have a homebrew" line. I have the book and I've read the first half!

Already planning my third beer. How does a chocolate blueberry porter sound?

Would it be relatively accurate to just try my tincture in over-the-counter IPA's (of relatively similarly) rather than pulling some out of the carboys?

 

[ncbrewer]

Yes, I love the "relax, have a homebrew" line. I have the book and I've read the first half!

Another really good book is How to Brew by Palmer. Paper or on-line, but the on-line version is the First Edition - still a good read.

 

[501irishred]

About when should I expect blow-off to occur if it does? Tomorrow is day 3, is that basically home-free at that point? I feel that tomorrow night I could put my burp caps on...definitely on the right one.

Yep, typically you'll peak somewhere between 24 and 48 hours in, but can vary greatly depending on a ton of variables. By now you should be safe, but that saying RDWHAHB? Part of that is encouraging you to err on the side of wait another day if there is any doubt.

Already planning my third beer. How does a chocolate blueberry porter sound?

Sounds absolutely horrible, and I would love have one with you! Part of what got me into homebrew, and certainly what kept me there, was the prospect of making something different, if not better, than what I could buy at the store.

Would it be relatively accurate to just try my tincture in over-the-counter IPA's (of relatively similarly) rather than pulling some out of the carboys?

Its actually a great way! It obviously wont be exact in regards to flavor, but a fully carbonated beer is important to accurately gauge the heat level and where the heat is perceived.

 

[fendersrule]

Thanks all for the great answers. I've got shirts over the carboys now. The one on the right is looking golden in color...looks yummy. The one on the left is just a bit slower, but it's getting there! I'll continue to post updates, especially will capture the bottling/tincturing procedure which I will also improve upon since the first time I brewed.

btw, a local place here makes chocolate blueberry porter, and it's super good! It's not a "i'll just have one" beer either! The blueberry and chocolate are just distant hints.

I'm starting to think ahead on saving money. Steeping 6lbs of grain in a 15 gallon pot was not too bad. It seems like a 15 gallon pot can support 9lbs of grain if I wanted to cut back on my extract some whilst still using the "pour over" method for mash-out. Not sure of the cost difference of going that route. Probably not much.

It's quite simple. Extract is the most expensive part in brewing. It really isn't the hops. Hops can add up, but they'll never add up to what 16lbs of extract costs @ $4ish a lb.

For sure if I went all grain, I'd have to get some new equipment. That's many poundage of grain. More time, too, to assure you're actually efficient at removing as much sugars as possible.

As always, finding way to use more grain and less extract is probably like a bell-shape curve. This last batch was pretty close to the "peak" as far as usability is concerned.

 

[ncbrewer]

Extract is the most expensive part in brewing. It really isn't the hops. Hops can add up, but they'll never add up to what 16lbs of extract costs @ $4ish a lb.

It doesn't have to cost that much. Williams Brewing sells 8 lbs of light extract for $18.99. Orders over $99.99 get free shipping.

 

[fendersrule]

That's actually a pretty good price. $38 for 16 lbs of extract is pretty darn decent and is cheaper than $64 which is what I've been paying locally. Hell, I could have made this IPA for $80 instead of $110.

How does extract store? Assuming it comes sealed in a package. Does it need to be refrigerated? How long does it store? Definitely would need to buy in bulk and store for a period of months. That means I should be planning my next few batches so I know what extract to buy!

A lot of my equipment is actually William's stuff.

btw, both carboys are the same golden color now. I'll put the burp caps on them tonight. It's all downhill from here.

 

[fendersrule]

Time to forget about them for about 2 weeks. The saddest part of brewing.

THe one on the right (pitched 4 hours sooner) is starting to cool down a little to 70F. Still active.

The one on the left is still "in heat". But activity is steady.

Tincture is just soaking away.

I feel like making beer again.

I deviated quite a bit from how my mentor made beer. I NEVER smelt any aroma from my first batch (Amber ale). While it definitely fermented, the activity was also slower. Do you guys find that with more OG = more fermentation smell/activity?

 

[FatDragon]

Waiting becomes a lot easier when you've got a pipeline established. Get your next brew going long before you finish drinking this one and you'll be on your way.

I definitely feel you on the extract issue. As the father of a toddler and husband of a busy woman, I'd love to make an extract brew every once in a while to get some beer in the fermenters without the time commitment of an all-grain brew day, which is hard to swing, but with extract costing 5-6 times the price of grain per gravity point here in China, it would easily triple or quadruple the price of a batch.

 

[ncbrewer]

How does extract store? Assuming it comes sealed in a package. Does it need to be refrigerated? How long does it store? Definitely would need to buy in bulk and store for a period of months. That means I should be planning my next few batches so I know what extract to buy!

I normally use it within 3 months. I think 6 months is not bad, but probably better to brew your pale brews when it's fresher. I think a year is ok, but it would definitely be darker. I've read both ways as far as refrigerating it. As far as what to stock up on, most of your brews could probably be done with light, and add specialty grains. It would simplify things to some extent.

 

[fendersrule]

Final gravity is 1.020.

 

[fendersrule]

I checked FG today at it's at 1.020. It's been nearly 3 weeks since it came in the fermentor.

I decided to forgo bottling since I've been reading that IPAs should be below 1.020. Something like 1.017 or 1.018 would be much better.

I "swirled" the carboys. I'm seeing some burping now every 30 seconds. I think there's still some fermentation left.

When can I plan on checking again? 3 days?

Do you guys think I should double pitch yeast at this point?

 

[FatDragon]

That bubbling is probably just CO2 that was dissolved in the beer. After 3 weeks you're almost certainly done. You have three options that I can see:

First and probably best: just bottle it.
Second: add some sugar. It will ferment out completely and drop the FG, but it will also increase the ABV and possibly throw off the balance of the beer.
Third: choose a high-attenuating yeast strain like WLP-099 and repitch yeast. It *may* ferment the beer a bit further (but not particularly likely).

I'd probably just bottle it as is and look into your process (especially the mash that you did with the grain) to diagnose why it finished high this time.

 

[fendersrule]

Is it possible it’s still fermenting? The caps are burping 30 seconds apart next day.

 

[FatDragon]

It could be, but three weeks is a long time to ferment actively, and slow bubbles are often the result of off-gassing CO2. It can't hurt to give them another day or two and then check the gravity again to be sure.

 

[fendersrule]

Cool.

I also moved the carboys near the vent and turned up the heat to 72. This will raise the carboys 4 degrees to see if that helps.

I tested my hyrodometer and it’s dead accurate. Good to be sure.

My recipe calls for 1.017. So I’m not terribly far off. But it would be nice to gain another point or so.

Beer seemed to taste pretty good without being too malty.

I’ll recheck on Monday or Tuesday.

Assuming that I shouldn’t alter the bottling sugar amount. Keep with 3/4 cup in 2 cups of water?

 

[FatDragon]

A temp bump might help, but it's more likely to help if you do it after a week or so in the fermenter, by three weeks it's more likely to be done regardless.

What kind of sugar are you priming with? If it's table sugar, 3/4 cup is about right, maybe a bit on the high side. If you have a kitchen scale, I'd aim for about 120-150 grams of table sugar, depending if you want it moderately carbed or highly carbed.

 

[rodwha]

Pepper beers! I’ve been making variations of cream ale and blondes with jalapeños. I was helped by a fellow on this forum many years ago and had just always followed his instructions. 1/2 roasted @ 350* for 30 mins, sliced, and saved until brew day and placed in the boil w/10 mins left. The other 1/2 sliced thin and placed in enough vodka to cover them well. This sits for several weeks and is poured into the fermenter a week before bottling leaving the peppers in there too.

Later I asked if anyone knew what each operation provided but found no answers. That meant I had to make 2 side by side test batches. In one just roasted peppers added to the boil and the other as I mentioned above.

What I found was that the roasted jalapeños didn’t add much heat at all but did have a nice flavor. The other was certainly spicy and still had a good flavor, though not quite as upfront as the other.

To make sure it was a fair comparison I split each jalapeño in half.

I had attempted a habanero strong ale years ago. Figuring the heat level being many times higher (Scoville scale) that I should cut the number down from 10-14 jalapeños in a 5.25 gal batch to 4. It was hardly spicy. I’m making the 2nd attempt soon and have decided to try 10 and to use all in an extract.

14 good jalapeños is great for me, but too hot for many others.

The way I “dry pepper” (and dry hop) is to use large tea baskets I found at World Market for $7/ea. I don’t see it on their site but Amazon has it:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004X4LGIO/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[fendersrule]

A temp bump might help, but it's more likely to help if you do it after a week or so in the fermenter, by three weeks it's more likely to be done regardless.

What kind of sugar are you priming with? If it's table sugar, 3/4 cup is about right, maybe a bit on the high side. If you have a kitchen scale, I'd aim for about 120-150 grams of table sugar, depending if you want it moderately carbed or highly carbed.

I use the corn sugar that’s at the home brew store. I believe it’s still 3/4 cup?

 

[FatDragon]

I use the corn sugar that’s at the home brew store. I believe it’s still 3/4 cup?

In my experience, corn sugar is usually really powdery, like powdered sugar, right? In that case, you'll get less weight by volume than granulated sugar so you might need more, and the table sugar has a slightly higher potential gravity by weight anyway, so usually you use about 10% more corn sugar than you would table sugar. If you can't go by weight, I'd see if your LHBS owner can tell you how much the corn sugar weighs by cup and aim for 120-150 grams.

 

[Henbrew]

I've used habenaro and scotch bonnet peppers in my beers. Every time I've done it I just freeze the peppers in a vacuum seal bag and then add them straight to the bottle or keg. I've added as much as a quarter of a scotch bonnet to a 12oz bottle and really enjoyed it. I've added 4 scotch bonnets to a 2.5 gallon batch of saison recently and it was plenty. It will be an individual preference of course as most people think it's too hot.

 

[ncbrewer]

I use the corn sugar that’s at the home brew store. I believe it’s still 3/4 cup?

There are several on-line calculators. This one includes measurements in cups: https://www.northernbrewer.com/pages/priming-sugar-calculator
Using weight is recommended, since bulk density can vary.

Edit: Use the volume going to the bottling bucket - not what was in the fermenter. It will have to be an estimate. I generally use 0.2 gallons for trub. Figure in the additional volume from the priming sugar syrup, and reduce by the samples taken.

 

[fendersrule]

Great! Estimating I'd have about 4.5 gallons coming out of the bottling bucket to the bottles per each carboy. That's about a 1/2 cup of sugar, or 3.67 Oz according to the calculator.

Do you guys find it good to boil the sugar first? Is there a ratio to how much water to use for boiling based on the sugar amount (in this case, 1/2 cup). I'm thinking about 2 cups of water should be plentiful, or even 1 3/4 cup.

Last time I didn't boil the sugar and just tossed/mixed it in. It's really powdery and seemed to mix instantly when I did it that way. That seemed to work out OK, but I know you're supposed to boil now for consistency and sanitary reasons.

 

[501irishred]

The less you have to stir, the better as it adds oxygen to your beer. Boiling your sugar in a small amount of water will help keep bugs down, and makes the solution ready to mix with the beer using as little agitation as possible. Add it to your bottleing bucket before racking, and it will mix during the transfer.

 

[fendersrule]

Thanks! Yep, Add that first.

I also learned that I didn't degas my sample for hydrometer testing. I will do that tonight and report back. It probably was reading falsely a little high.

 

[501irishred]

I've added as much as a quarter of a scotch bonnet to a 12oz bottle and really enjoyed it

That sounds awesome! Like finding the worm in a bottle of mezcal! I wonder if there’s a way to get a whole pepper in a beer bottle (think 7th grade science class pulling a boiled egg into a coke bottle)?

 

[501irishred]

Thanks! Yep, Add that first.

I also learned that I didn't degas my sample for hydrometer testing. I will do that tonight and report back. It probably was reading falsely a little high.

You won’t need to degas the entire sample, just give the hydrometer a good spin to release any bubbles that are current stuck on.

 

[fendersrule]

Well, degassing did NOT change the gravity. My IPA finished at 1.020. Guys at the brew store said for partial extract brewing that's not necessarily a bad thing.

The beer tastes good. Mosaic floral notes are definitely there. Bottled last night.

On to the next thing now! I'm thinking a hard cider in one carboy, and a simple porter in another. Anyone have a simple porter partial mash recipe that's circa ~6%? I'd like to give partial extract a few more tries before going to full grain. I've already wished for an outdoor propane stove for Christmas, so this opens me up to doing all-grain or using DME. I'd like to gain experience in all ways to brew.

At my local brew store, there was a "brew day" going on. Some guy outside was doing all grain using the "brew in a bag" technique and it looked dead simple and easy. That's probably what I'd eventually like to do, but it's definitely an outside thing, especially when you are doing a double batch!

 

[ncbrewer]

Do you guys find it good to boil the sugar first? Is there a ratio to how much water to use for boiling based on the sugar amount (in this case, 1/2 cup). I'm thinking about 2 cups of water should be plentiful, or even 1 3/4 cup.

Two cups of water is pretty much a standard for a 5 gallon batch. Sugar can be dissolved in much less, but why tamper with what works?

 

[fendersrule]

I used one cup based on the directions that were printed on the sugar bag in the link.