SE Nebraska Group Buy Round 2

[Stovetop535]

I realize everyone most likely already spent their allowance on grain but I will bring it up anyway.....I would really like to try and get something together on kegs if people are interested. The 3 I currently have just are not cutting it. Maybe I will call Midwest and see if they are planning in running any promotions in the near future for their kegs. I got my last round from them for 25 per keg plus shipping.

 

[BSDrews]

I have been following this thread and would love to get some kegs in the $30-$40 range. Also, how often do you all do group buys? Finally, are there ever any in Omaha? Thanks for the info and let me know what people can get on keg deals too.

 

[dpatrickv]

I have been following this thread and would love to get some kegs in the $30-$40 range. Also, how often do you all do group buys? Finally, are there ever any in Omaha? Thanks for the info and let me know what people can get on keg deals too.

We had a number of Omaha guys in on this group buy. I think it happens a couple times a year.

 

[tre9er]

I realize everyone most likely already spent their allowance on grain but I will bring it up anyway.....I would really like to try and get something together on kegs if people are interested. The 3 I currently have just are not cutting it. Maybe I will call Midwest and see if they are planning in running any promotions in the near future for their kegs. I got my last round from them for 25 per keg plus shipping.

Feel free to do some homework. I emailed McEver and got some hemming and hawing. Here's what I got:

Shipping 20 tanks to your location will cost $130. Let me know what you think and have a great day! We have A grade ball locks that start out at $40 and we are waiting to see if we will have B grade ball locks which would start out at $32.99. We also have pin locks in stock for $28.99 or pin locks with a manual release valve for $32. We can work a little on the pricing if your doing 20 and take off about $1 off each tank price.

So the "A Grade" tanks would come out to $45.50 shipped for 20 tank order. I asked some more questions, but as has been my experience in the past, if you reply to the same email more than about twice, they stop replying back for some reason.

What frustrates me is that I got two tanks for $91 shipped off McEver in the past. These prices should be cheaper at 20 tanks. Maybe we need to do 30 tanks, IDK. I know they double-stack kegs on pallets, but how many will fit on a pallet? Most pallets are 40x48. Kegs are what, 8" diameter? that's 5x6, so 30 per layer. I'll try a new email today.

 

[Stovetop535]

I called a few places, best I got was we could help a little on shipping. Well at $50-55 per keg, I would rather go to the lhbs. I think they charge about $65 for their kegs. You would think places would be willing to help out a little on a larger order like that.

I sent a couple emails out as well, we will see if it goes anywhere.

 

[Chriso]

I mean, I *guess* 44.50 each isn't bad.

We can already get $50/keg prices from places like this, no waiting or planning needed: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002KI118K/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20 - even this Refurbished 4-Pack goes for less than $60/keg before shipping - http://www.beveragefactory.com/draftbeer/empty_kegs/refurbished_kegs/4X-KEG-RE5-BL-PV.shtml - basically, as the customer, If I go through the effort to buy as part of a group, I'm expecting the group will receive a stellar discount, not just a buck or two.

Used kegs are getting to be expensive enough that I'm considering buying some of these instead - http://www.beveragefactory.com/draftbeer/home_brew/kegs/KEG-5GAL-NSH_ball_lock_keg.html - if you buy a 2-Pack or 4-Pack, they drop the price accordingly. The 4 pack goes for 324.99 right now for brand new kegs... only $81.24 each before shipping...

Bah... I should stop being a grouch today... it's just inflation... should've picked more up when I had the chance to do it cheaply. At least I got the ones I did.

 

[tre9er]

McEver says they're out of ball-locks right now but mentioned "single handle" ball-locks. As usual, I replied and didn't get a response. I'll send ANOTHER new email today about the single handle ones (might be like the ones that have been for sale on other sites, usually for $30 or cheaper). I could care less how many handles they have, if any, at this point. I just need it to hold pressure. I have 3 tanks with handles already, but I need more storage ability.

 

[BSDrews]

I don't care as long as the dimensions are similar and the parts are compatible. If it means I would need to buy new parts then I would most likely be out but thanks for checking and keep us posted!

 

[agentEhrman]

Moving back to that saving yeast conversation...

I tried that today and I got what looks to be almost all trub in my jars. Maybe I picked a bad batch, or did something a little wrong.

For starters, I used a batch of lager yeast that I re-pitched on already. I dump everything from the kettle right into my fermenter. I don't whirlpool, and don't use anything to seperate my hop pellets.

I followed the insructions on the site Tre listed, immediately after siphoning, I swirled the cake/trub around, and then poured it into 3 of the smaller mason jars. This was roughly half of the trub in the bucket, it was very thick and greenish brown. It doesn't appear to be seperating much at all after a couple hours in the refrigerator.

I'm wondering where I went wrong here. Did I siphon too much liquid out of my fermenter to get seperation? I tend to be pretty efficient at this, I would say I never leave more than about 2-3 ounces of beer behind. Or, did I get such a thick trub because I don't whirlpool and leave behind the gunk in the kettle? Or is it simply because I had 2 batches worth of trub in the fermenter? Maybe a combo of all these reasons, lol.

I was hoping someone with experience using this method could give me a little insight. Tre?

A noteworthy detail might be that my original pitch was 2 packages of rehydrated Saflager 34/70 into 1.057 Marzen. After a couple weeks and fermentation died, I pitched a Dopplebock of 1.080 directly in after siphoning out the Marzen.

Should I even keep the jars of sludge?

 

[tre9er]

There is yeast in there. You probably DO have a lot of trub/hop gunk because of the aforementioned "dumping straight into fermenter" method, but that doesn't mean you don't have healthy yeast, too. Settling into layers takes quite some time for thick trub-y yeast cakes. I have some that haven't really separated much, either, but you can tell the white/off-white color indicates yeast, green specks are hops and brown or darker specks are grain trub.

The presence of trub has very little, if any, effect on the next beer. The hops have served their purpose and have nothing really left to contribute, so I doubt you'll notice them in the next beer. The trub has nutrients and such that the yeast will not mind.

The key here is knowing that you have a lot of non-yeast. That means you need to use a tool like Mr. Malty and slide the non-yeast % to a high number. It will then tell you (in the repitch from slurry tab) how much of the thick slurry (not the beer-colored liquid) you need for a new batch of beer. I'd pitch slightly more than it recommends though because you came from a big beer where the higher ABV likely killed some yeast.

At any rate if you oxygenate properly and pitch enough of the harvested yeast, you'll be fine, and really, I've yet to have any real issues with off flavors even when I think I've underpitched, under oxygenated, etc. I think getting close or slightly over is the key, you just don't want to severely under/over pitch.

 

[agentEhrman]

Thanks Tre!

 

[Stovetop535]

Bringing this thread full circle again...few places got back to me and once again said no discounts on kegs, only shipping on a large order. All were right at 50 per keg.

I dont really want to spend that much, but if people want too look into it more at 50 plus group shipping I will, otherwise the Mcever route seems like a better option. I dont care if it only has one handle. I would probably just break the other handle off and clean it up that way.

 

[BigRedHopHead]

So you are saving yeast from a 1.080 beer Ehrman? If I am reading things correctly that is what you said. From all my research into this subject and experience I have always been under the impression that yeast from high gravity brews is very stressed out, prone to mutations, and has a larger percentage of dead cells. I think you are better served washing and saving yeasts from below 1.060 range.

 

[tre9er]

Yes, high gravity brews have a higher percentage of dead yeast, but they're not completely non-viable. That's why I said to increase the pitch rate a bit. an 8% abv beer will be at 50% viability 14 days after reaching final FG, generally speaking. If you hit FG, then immediately pull the yeast, the viability is close 100% of what you'll get on Mr. Malty, based on your non-yeast percentage and a compact, thick slurry (after crashing for a few days).

I don't long-primary very often, so even the higher ABV brews I assume have a high viability. I'd prefer to let the beer age in the keg, off the yeast, so long as it's cleaned itself up and had no significant off flavors going into the keg. Now if a beer is displaying some unpleasant characteristics I feel could benefit from more time on the yeast, I'll rouse, increase temp slightly, and wait another week or two. This is all just my anecdotal experience, of course, but the figures in the first paragraph come from here (which is a great blog regarding yeast)

http://woodlandbrew.blogspot.com/2013/01/abv-effects-on-yeast.html

 

[agentEhrman]

So you are saving yeast from a 1.080 beer Ehrman? If I am reading things correctly that is what you said. From all my research into this subject and experience I have always been under the impression that yeast from high gravity brews is very stressed out, prone to mutations, and has a larger percentage of dead cells. I think you are better served washing and saving yeasts from below 1.060 range.

Yeah, not to mention it was a repitched cake before I saved it. Lol, maybe I picked a bad time to save it. I may try it out on a small, or atleast cheap batch of beer to test my results..

Are there any known negative effects of pitching significant amounts of dead yeast? Since I have so much of the yeast, I would still be able to pitch an adequate amount of viable cells, along with the other half or more of dead cells..

 

[tre9er]

Yeah, not to mention it was a repitched cake before I saved it. Lol, maybe I picked a bad time to save it. I may try it out on a small, or atleast cheap batch of beer to test my results..

Are there any known negative effects of pitching significant amounts of dead yeast? Since I have so much of the yeast, I would still be able to pitch an adequate amount of viable cells, along with the other half or more of dead cells..

Yes, you just have less living cells due to high alcohol content, BUT you also made more cells due to higher gravity/more sugars available, so...really it depends on how much time the yeast sat in the alcohol.

 

[BigRedHopHead]

Yes, you just have less living cells due to high alcohol content, BUT you also made more cells due to higher gravity/more sugars available, so...really it depends on how much time the yeast sat in the alcohol.

Which is why you should avoid using higher gravity brews for washing/saving yeast. Not to get preachy! but it is just how I see the subject. AVOID high gravity brews for saving yeast!!

 

[BigRedHopHead]

all i am saying is that repitching from a slurry has a lot of variability. Using yeast from lower gravity brews reduces some of that variance.

 

[tre9er]

I agree, and the risk of autolysis flavors would be present. I suppose if you washed the yeast and felt that dead cells settled quicker, you could alleviate some of those concerns. Still, the best bet is to harvest yeast from lower gravity beers that didn't sit on the cake for an extended period of time, as exposure to alcohol definitely affects viability. I tend to only leave a beer in primary if it exhibits off flavors that can be cleaned up by it's own yeast. If it doesn't have any, I immediately rack to keg (if not secondarying on fruit/other) and cold condition it until serving. It's better for the beer and the yeast if you're saving it.

 

[agentEhrman]

So what's everybody brewin up with your discounted grains?

I just brewed up a vienna lager that I need to do a diacetyl rest on, then move lager. (Since this was a smaller beer, I'm discard the lager yeast I saved from the dopplebock, and save this yeast instead.)

Next up, an imperial sweet stout with Creme Brulee from southern tier in mind.

 

[bbrim]

Next weekend I will brew a pale ale, black saison and big hoppy witbier.

 

[Stovetop535]

I have been in the recipe section on here lately. Every time I spend an evening reading through threads I end up with a handfull of beers I want to make.

Yesterday I made the Cream of Three Crops Recipe. Last week I made the Strawberry Alarm Clock V3.0. Next week I am planning on making an American Wheat.

I am making beer for a graduation party in may. I also have a Blegian Golden Strong that I need to bottle next week. Hopefully it will carb up by May.

Links to the recipes...
https://www.google.com/url?sa=f&rct=j&url=https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f62/all-grain-cream-three-crops-cream-ale-66503/&q=&esrc=s&ei=b0lGUbSFGIeE2QWvkYAo&usg=AFQjCNGz17-EHZUoNHm4AeVsQ23vgAktqw

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f75/strawberry-alarm-clock-v3-0-strawberry-blonde-132129/.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f70/american-wheat-beer-2nd-place-best-show-2011-hbt-bjcp-competition-238940/

 

[distributistdad]

Hello all -- since many of you are fellow Lincolnites, I have a couple of first generation jars of saved yeast / slurry WLP 500 that I'd love to trade somebody for and neutral English or American Ale yeast.

The WLP500 was in a 1.048 witbier that chewed her down to about 1.009 in 10 days with no starter. I collected this on Friday night, so it's quite fresh.

Any takers?

 

[tre9er]

I would but I have about 6 jars (over 1.5L) of that WLP500 yeast that I'M trying to get rid of. I've made so many belgian beers I'm quite sick of them! I also have about 1.5L of US-05 slurry, too.

 

[tre9er]

I brewed a Honey Cascade beer seat-of-my-pants last weekend. Hoping for big honey aroma/flavor from the malt (have used before but never got enough of it) as I used 2lbs. in 9g batch. The cascades were whole-hops form Rhynalds in Prague, NE. I'll also be dry-hopping it with them next week.

I think it's time for me to get back to basic beers. I've done the belgians, the fruit beers, the weird banana-muffin-vanilla-such-and-such beeers...What I really enjoy is a good PA, IPA, and dark-ish lagers like Marzens. I've also been trying to source some 1+g glass containers (pickle jars, old carlo rossi wine jugs, anything) for small-batches brewed on the stove-top. That way I can experiment quickly and without having two kegs of beer to drink that may not have turned out how I wanted (anyone want some Belgian blonde? I'm so tired of belgian beers...have I mentioned that yet??!?!)

 

[dpatrickv]

I brewed a Honey Cascade beer seat-of-my-pants last weekend. Hoping for big honey aroma/flavor from the malt (have used before but never got enough of it) as I used 2lbs. in 9g batch. The cascades were whole-hops form Rhynalds in Prague, NE. I'll also be dry-hopping it with them next week.

I think it's time for me to get back to basic beers. I've done the belgians, the fruit beers, the weird banana-muffin-vanilla-such-and-such beeers...What I really enjoy is a good PA, IPA, and dark-ish lagers like Marzens. I've also been trying to source some 1+g glass containers (pickle jars, old carlo rossi wine jugs, anything) for small-batches brewed on the stove-top. That way I can experiment quickly and without having two kegs of beer to drink that may not have turned out how I wanted (anyone want some Belgian blonde? I'm so tired of belgian beers...have I mentioned that yet??!?!)

I'll steal a couple bottles from ya tonight when I pick up my grain!

 

[tre9er]

I'll steal a couple bottles from ya tonight when I pick up my grain!

OK, I might be bottling them when you get there, in fact. They're in the keg now.

 

[BSDrews]

The cascades were whole-hops form Rhynalds in Prague, NE. I'll also be dry-hopping it with them next week.

)

Have you used their hops before? I talked with them and they said $20/pound for cascade. A little higher than I might be able to find, but I feel supporting local growers would be worth it.

 

[tre9er]

Have you used their hops before? I talked with them and they said $20/pound for cascade. A little higher than I might be able to find, but I feel supporting local growers would be worth it.

This is first time, but I know that Blue Blood and Empyrean breweries both have used them (Blue Blood uses them exclusively, or did at one time). For fresh local hops that's really not a bad price, though. You can also buy them by the ounce and one of their guys will meet you in Lincoln (Two of them work for BNSF), which is cool (no shipping).

 

[davebstock]

I will be doing a vanilla creme ale and the Odell's easy street wheat beer this weekend. Going to split the wheat and make a citrus and a raspberry wheat in secondary.