South Carolina SC midlands area brewers

[carpathia]

Any thoughts? Criticism?

Pffft, that ain't complicated. If He~brew can do 10 malts and 10 hops for the Jewbuillation 20 and have it not suck, i'm confident 9 is doable! That looks like a nice blend of roasty malts in the old rasputin sense. The extra hops also are firmly in the OR realm as well. Looks good!

I'm about 75% of the way through the mash; working on ramping up to 160 at the moment. I should probably start figuring out my hop schedule...

 

[SHAIV]

I think im gonna check out angry fish tonight

 

[SHAIV]

Picked my two chinook plants today. It took forever! Lol

 

[TravelingLight]

Pffft, that ain't complicated. If He~brew can do 10 malts and 10 hops for the Jewbuillation 20 and have it not suck, i'm confident 9 is doable! That looks like a nice blend of roasty malts in the old rasputin sense. The extra hops also are firmly in the OR realm as well. Looks good!

I'm about 75% of the way through the mash; working on ramping up to 160 at the moment. I should probably start figuring out my hop schedule...

I definitely want to come check out your setup one brew day. Hate I couldn’t make it today. We spent most of the day looking at houses. Insert FML.gif.

 

[carpathia]

No worries; it was another hot garage day. I need to do a better job figuring out how to collect an accurate pre-boil volume while maintaining good efficiencies. I harvested something stupid like 10.5 gallons to boil down to get ~7 to hit close to my numbers (had more boiloff than expected, but that means it's a 1.099 instead of a 1.093, based on a 5 point rise from another pound of dark candi). I'd probably have a 6 hour brew day, including cleaning if I didn't need a 2 hour boil at the end of everyone. But the beer is good, so I guess I can't complain!

 

[TravelingLight]

No worries; it was another hot garage day. I need to do a better job figuring out how to collect an accurate pre-boil volume while maintaining good efficiencies. I harvested something stupid like 10.5 gallons to boil down to get ~7 to hit close to my numbers (had more boiloff than expected, but that means it's a 1.099 instead of a 1.093, based on a 5 point rise from another pound of dark candi). I'd probably have a 6 hour brew day, including cleaning if I didn't need a 2 hour boil at the end of everyone. But the beer is good, so I guess I can't complain!

Do you keep dark candi syrup/sugar on hand? I had a massive brain fart this weekend and missed my OG on my imperial stout by about 36 points. Now I'm trying to decide what to do: just roll with it and learn from the fuhck up, or add something to the fermenter to boost the gravity. I was considering candi syrup or sugar. But I've never worked with those before. And I didn't want it to dry the beer out too much, ya know? Thoughts? I just pitched last night. So if I am adding anything to the fermenter I'd like to do it tonight or tomorrow, but all the LHBSs are closed today.

 

[carpathia]

You're in luck, Kevin ordered some D-240 for me, so he should have that. I bought out all his 160.

It looks like a 5 gallon batch will go up by 6 points for each pound of D-180. The Belgians use up to 20% of the total weight with Sugar. I can't imagine that 15% will dry out a heavy beer too terribly, as you aren't shooting for the 90% attenuation you'd expect to get with Belgian yeast. I think you were on the Mexican Cake Stout clone from ages back; they use a fair amount of D-2/D-160 (different manufacturer, roughly same SRM) in their stout. You could always counter balance with lactose if you wanted it to be a bit heavier.

You're also good with waiting; too much sugar too quick will make the yeast burn out. I mixed 3 pounds in at flame out, and i'm keeping the last pound to help eek my quad along when it hits ~75* in the fermenter.

 

[TravelingLight]

You're in luck, Kevin ordered some D-240 for me, so he should have that. I bought out all his 160.

It looks like a 5 gallon batch will go up by 6 points for each pound of D-180. The Belgians use up to 20% of the total weight with Sugar. I can't imagine that 15% will dry out a heavy beer too terribly, as you aren't shooting for the 90% attenuation you'd expect to get with Belgian yeast. I think you were on the Mexican Cake Stout clone from ages back; they use a fair amount of D-2/D-160 (different manufacturer, roughly same SRM) in their stout. You could always counter balance with lactose if you wanted it to be a bit heavier.

You're also good with waiting; too much sugar too quick will make the yeast burn out. I mixed 3 pounds in at flame out, and i'm keeping the last pound to help eek my quad along when it hits ~75* in the fermenter.

Thanks dude, great advice here. I think I've decided to just leave this one alone and let it ride. But I'm still pissed, and strongly considering rebrewing this in the next week or two. Flipside is that I need to brew as much as possible right now, because I think we found a house and will be packing and moving with any free time I have. Flipside to that is the house I think/hope we got doesn't have a backyard shed, so I get to build one woohoo! Already got my rough plans in my head, once we close I can get the concrete poured and start building. I am SO freaking excited to have a new shed with a level, even concrete floor and no carpenter ants and spiders getting all over my shiit.

 

[carpathia]

What do you think made you miss your target so bad?

 

[TravelingLight]

What do you think made you miss your target so bad?

Oh, I know exactly what happened. I was using Kevin's keggle mash tun so I could do a full volume no sparge mash. And I had a brain fart and did not account for the drop in efficiency. Ergo, my recipe was calculated at 69% efficiency, but in actuality I was only about 50%.

 

[carpathia]

Odd; what was your liquor to grist ratio? I do no sparge and with my last few batches hit around 80% efficiency (though a bit less with the last one from some extra trub loss). I shoot for 2.5 q/lb (though, again, that's required a lot of boil off) with a fine mesh bag and a good, hard bag squeeze.

Could be the ph was off, mill was too coarse, or insufficient mash length (i.e. conversion not complete)?

 

[TravelingLight]

Odd; what was your liquor to grist ratio? I do no sparge and with my last few batches hit around 80% efficiency (though a bit less with the last one from some extra trub loss). I shoot for 2.5 q/lb (though, again, that's required a lot of boil off) with a fine mesh bag and a good, hard bag squeeze.

Could be the ph was off, mill was too coarse, or insufficient mash length (i.e. conversion not complete)?

Per BS3, 1.57 qt/lb. I kept my gap setting the same because I was still using a false bottom. I'm also sure the high amount of roast grains affected the efficiency some too.

 

[SHAIV]

Hey guys im in the process of building my keg and carboy washer. I got a few things for it and prepared my bucket. My question is how do you attach the pvc to the pump? I think travelinglight has the same pump i got. I got a stainless 1/2” adapter at lowes yesterday but it actually wouldnt screw into my pump. Maybe it was a different style. I have a brass hose barb that fits fine and its a 1/2” but thats for recirculating ice water for chiling. I saw a video online of a guy who attached the pvc directly to a hose barb it looked like. I guess if it works it works but i dunno how much i like that idea. I guess i just need to go back and look but im also still trying to figure out how to attach my keg connections. I got a pvc cross to attach to it and figured i could put one keg connection out each side of the cross but still got to figure out how to get that hooked up too

 

[TravelingLight]

Hey guys im in the process of building my keg and carboy washer. I got a few things for it and prepared my bucket. My question is how do you attach the pvc to the pump? I think travelinglight has the same pump i got. I got a stainless 1/2” adapter at lowes yesterday but it actually wouldnt screw into my pump. Maybe it was a different style. I have a brass hose barb that fits fine and its a 1/2” but thats for recirculating ice water for chiling. I saw a video online of a guy who attached the pvc directly to a hose barb it looked like. I guess if it works it works but i dunno how much i like that idea. I guess i just need to go back and look but im also still trying to figure out how to attach my keg connections. I got a pvc cross to attach to it and figured i could put one keg connection out each side of the cross but still got to figure out how to get that hooked up too

I got a brass fitting from Lowes for mine. It wasn't the exact size (because I think the pump uses metric thread sizes), but it was close enough that it gives me a nice tight seal with teflon tape on the threads. 1/2" threaded to 3/4" garden hose adapter, IIRC. Then I used a 3/4" threaded PVC coupler to connect the PVC "spray wand" to the pump. You're right, pretty sure we have the exact same pump. So that fitting should work for yours. I just used some pliers to crank it down in there. I won't ever remove that fitting, I'll just connect whatever I need to it.

 

[SHAIV]

So i went back to lowes today. I got a brass nipple this time and it still doesnt fit. The brass fitting with a hose barb fits great! Why doesnt this fit? Its the same size! It does seem a bit smaller than that stainless piece i had yesterday also the same size. Like what are these manufacturers measuring with? Lol

Edit. Its so weird that three pieces all the same size could be so different. One piece wont even get to touch threads. One piece will kind of thread barely and one will thread all the way by hand

 

[SHAIV]

So i got a pvc fitting that fits better than any if those other fittings other than the one with the hose barb. It works like a charm too!

 

[SHAIV]

Its alive!

 

[carpathia]

Whats this do that an oxy or PBW soak doesn't? I get that sankes need this because of beerstone build up and that no one can manually clean build up through the narrow opening (or even see it), but for clear or wideouthed vessels, what is the main benefit?

 

[SHAIV]

Using less product and not lifting or transferring large amounts of liquid. It sprays and coats the entire vessel using only 2 gallons of pbw mix instead of, in this case, 6.5 gallons

 

[Lifer59]

I've had some cask ales here, but not across the pond. I have to be in the right mood for them. Some of the best I had was at a beer dinner Matt Rodgers did a couple years back. He partnered with Conquest and Swamp Cabbage and did some neat stuff in gin barrels and some other ones. They're definitely different.

I’m back from vacation and have changed my mind on cask ales. I tried not to repeat any of the beers I found on the trail. My perception is that the ales in the villages and towns may not have been the best examples or handled correctly. Once we got into the larger towns and then London, the ales were definitely worthy of a second pint. Fullers London Pride from the cask is great and completely different from the bottles I find here.

 

[TravelingLight]

Whats this do that an oxy or PBW soak doesn't? I get that sankes need this because of beerstone build up and that no one can manually clean build up through the narrow opening (or even see it), but for clear or wideouthed vessels, what is the main benefit?

Using less product and not lifting or transferring large amounts of liquid. It sprays and coats the entire vessel using only 2 gallons of pbw mix instead of, in this case, 6.5 gallons

Yeah, I agree with SHAIV about the water volume. But also for me, I have a bad habit of filling a fermenter/keg to soak, and then it ends up sitting there for days. With this, I wait until I have 4 or 5 kegs that needs cleaning, and I just setup an assembly line and run each keg for about 15 minutes on the cleaner, and get through all the kegs, then rinse them out. I can also use the pump to recirc cleaner through my keg lines. And of course I also use the same pump to run ice water through my immersion chiller.

 

[TravelingLight]

I’m back from vacation and have changed my mind on cask ales. I tried not to repeat any of the beers I found on the trail. My perception is that the ales in the villages and towns may not have been the best examples or handled correctly. Once we got into the larger towns and then London, the ales were definitely worthy of a second pint. Fullers London Pride from the cask is great and completely different from the bottles I find here.

Welcome back, friend. You didn't miss much. I think it's time for me to pay my yearly dues. Do we still have paypal on the website or should I just bring you cash next Monday?

 

[Lifer59]

Welcome back, friend. You didn't miss much. I think it's time for me to pay my yearly dues. Do we still have paypal on the website or should I just bring you cash next Monday?

Prefer PayPal. The bank we use is closed when I go to work and closed when I come home. No branches where I work so it’s a big pain with cash.

 

[TravelingLight]

Prefer PayPal. The bank we use is closed when I go to work and closed when I come home. No branches where I work so it’s a big pain with cash.

No problem at all. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[SHAIV]

Omg im so sick of facebook! All i see is people talking about nike, some rappers and sharing fake pictures of fake news. Who cares! Get a life and grab a homebrew. I think im done with facebook for real

 

[TravelingLight]

Omg im so sick of facebook! All i see is people talking about nike, some rappers and sharing fake pictures of fake news. Who cares! Get a life and grab a homebrew. I think im done with facebook for real

Hahah no kidding. Honestly, if it wasn't for the PSB group on FB, I would absolutely be off that shiit. Prior to that, the only benefit was Tinder but I found a wife so I don't need Tinder either!

 

[carpathia]

Yeah, I agree with SHAIV about the water volume. But also for me, I have a bad habit of filling a fermenter/keg to soak, and then it ends up sitting there for days. With this, I wait until I have 4 or 5 kegs that needs cleaning, and I just setup an assembly line and run each keg for about 15 minutes on the cleaner, and get through all the kegs, then rinse them out. I can also use the pump to recirc cleaner through my keg lines. And of course I also use the same pump to run ice water through my immersion chiller.

Wait, I shouldn't keep my buckets full of acidic cleaner? Guess i'll have to dump it...

 

[SHAIV]

Is cleaner acidic? Idk but i used to keep a bucket of acidic sanitizer. They say oxygen cleaner (such as pbw) doesnt keep i usually rinse out my kegs as soon as i can after they are empty ill leave em in the keezer till i can rinse them. That way hopefully nothing sticks. The pbw does say on it depending on the load to be cleaned. So i figure if they are already rinsed itll take some of the work away from the cleaner and itll do more. So ill clean 3 or more vessels at a time if i can but once my grapefruit ipa is done fermenting i can just clean the one vessel with 2 gallons and dump it instead of making 5-6 gallons for one vessel. Although i used to keep the cleaner afterwards in my large cooler for cleaning labels off of bottles back when i used to bottle. Soak bottles in pbw cleaned the inside and got the labels off the outside like a charm

 

[carpathia]

Edit: should have been clear; I meant sanitizer rather than cleaner, though I'm keeping some of my stuff soaking in sanitizer for... reasons.

Well... Starsan is an acid. I don't tend to have buckets of PBW lining around; I use it more as a one-time soak.

Got a question for the group. My Christmas quad finished up at 1.0155 (~84% AA, 11% ABV; hair sweeter than I wanted but whatever), and this will be the first time I rack a beer into the bottling bucket/keg with a spigot. As there is a lot of fermenter crap that will get sucked in, what do you do? Drain and dump? When I took a gravity sample from the bottom, the hydrometer cylinder settled out to be roughly 20% trub, 80% beer. Seems like a waste to open and dump if that's the case. What's the best way to use the spigot to draw clear beer (and no, I don't have a racking arm) with minimal losses from trub?

 

[SHAIV]

Edit: should have been clear; I meant sanitizer rather than cleaner, though I'm keeping some of my stuff soaking in sanitizer for... reasons.

Well... Starsan is an acid. I don't tend to have buckets of PBW lining around; I use it more as a one-time soak.

Got a question for the group. My Christmas quad finished up at 1.0155 (~84% AA, 11% ABV; hair sweeter than I wanted but whatever), and this will be the first time I rack a beer into the bottling bucket/keg with a spigot. As there is a lot of fermenter crap that will get sucked in, what do you do? Drain and dump? When I took a gravity sample from the bottom, the hydrometer cylinder settled out to be roughly 20% trub, 80% beer. Seems like a waste to open and dump if that's the case. What's the best way to use the spigot to draw clear beer (and no, I don't have a racking arm) with minimal losses from trub?

Right. Just saying i made my washer so that even if i only have one vessel to clean im not making 6 gallons of pbw then dumping it just to clean my fermenter. I can make 2 gallons and clean one vessel or i can clean 5 or whatever i have to clean i can clean with 2 gallons and dump it rather than making 5-6 gallons. Should make my 4 lbs of pbw last a long time! I dont mind making 5 gallons of star san at a time (with distilled water) since that will keep for a few months.
I dont like to let things soak too long. One time i left my keg full of pbw water for a few days and it started rusting the bottom so i had to clean that up. Also the metal on my carboy brush started rusting at the end. I guess you arent supposed to use pbw while using a carboy brush? Idk

As for the quad, are you saying the trub/yeast stuff at the bottom is above/inside the spigot? If so can you just siphon it out from the top? Or maybe tilt the fermenter a bit the opposite way and try to get the stuff to move away from the spigot then let it settle before transferring? Not quite sure if i answered question right maybe I misunderstood