What I did for beer today

[McMullan]

what's the kill rate?

Depends on the condition of the yeast cells and how good you are at promoting deadly ice crystals in the cell membranes. Obviously, you'll need some water and a freezer. Freezing fast and thawing slow usually does the trick. As much 40% or more per cycle. Mitochondrial membranes are particularly vulnerable, which is why the petit phenotype becomes common, so even if they look alive they're too inefficient, metabolically, for fermenting wort. They might look normal under a microscope. Easiest way to detect them is to plate out on agar. Bit of a sidetrack, but the frequency of the petit mutation itself often increases in stored slurry, due to environmental stress and the inability of cells to metabolise ROS. Again, mitochondria are at a higher risk, but this time due to being more exposed with a relatively vulnerable (unfolded) genome. Kind of what's described as 'genetic drift'. Trick to recovery is to select healthy looking colonies from agar plates. Or, more straightforward, culture up from just a drop of old slurry, in, say, 10ml, then step up. There's a good chance natural selection restores things. By the time the final step's done you'll have some very pitchable yeast. Harvest and repitch fresh a few times or so and you'll be using the best yeast possible for free. Obviously, I'm not selling yeast so I can tell the truth. The best possible yeast to pitch are actually free, but don't tell anyone.

 

[bwible]

Brewed a blonde ale for summer. Planning to add some lime flavors at packaging.

I mixed up a 3 gallon keg of seltzer. Basically a 1.75l vodka, the rest water, and a whole 2 oz bottle of flavoring from Apex. I used their margarita flavoring in this one. Or you could buy a flavored vodka. Just force carbed. Its pretty good. The alcohol dilution calculator puts it about 4.4%

1.76 liters of alcohol with 30.00 %vol
mixed with 10.24 liters of water produce
12.00 liters of alcohol with 4.40 %vol.

I got some of the cheap vodka for this that was 60 proof.

 

[bwible]

That's my Dad's favorite term for beer he doesn't like, which is most beers that don't come from Munich.

Your 2lbs of corn and 1lb of rice is the ratio that I settled on (in a 10lb grist). It's really good! You get plenty of corn flavor and the rice is there to dry it out and keep it refreshing...all the way up to 1.074. Yeah, it's like a N. American Tripple.

I don't think boiling the rice was necessary. I did so because I think Asahi Super Dry is one of the dumbest and funniest beer names out there. I don't know why, but I think "super dry" is funny. So I made everything as super dry as possible yesterday...and yuck, yuck, yucked the whole way to the fermenter.

Was the boiled rice worth it? Not really. Beersmith says I scored 97% mash efficiency. I normally hit 92% on my 60min/30min step mashed adjunct lagers. Five percent mash efficiency is jack squat, in terms of OG into the fermenter. There's lots of ways to get way more efficient, boiling your flaked rice isn't one of them...unless you want your beer to be ***SUPER DRY!!!!!!!***

Snicker, snort.

There was a Panther Brewing Company maybe 20 years ago making Three Stooges Beer.

 

[bracconiere]

Bit of a sidetrack,

not really, due to another thread. i was going to get a golden oyster syringe culture, and pull the ol' sterile air box out of moth balls...

(maybe i can kill the yeast, and bring them back! now about those brain cells? )

well here's what they look like after a night in the fridge and a thaw at room temp...i interpret that mostly dead with a couple still alive? little blurry

"the big white things are the led lights this thing has.....i'll try to get a better, still don't even know how to do that the best way...

black circle living, red dead? (for a $15 dollar microscope i think about the best i'm going to get..which for $15, i think is still impressive)

 

[grampamark]

Declared my C02 leak fixed. With the gas shut off and everything else pressurized there was no pressure loss overnight. So, went to the local (15 miles away) farm supply place and swapped my 20lb tank for a full one. When loading it in my pickup the owner commented that it seemed really heavy (steel tank). I weighed it when I got home and, according to my scale, it has 22lbs in it.

After that I put together a couple of recipe kits to take to the city house. We’ll be there for almost 3 weeks so I should probably plan to brew something. Blonde Ale and Amber Ale.

 

[bracconiere]

when I got home and, according to my scale, it has 22lbs in it.

so it weighed 60+lbs? what was the TW stamp?

 

[grampamark]

so it weighed 60+lbs? what was the TW stamp?

25lbs, weighed 57.

 

[bracconiere]

25lbs, weighed 57.

you sure it wasn't just an ugly aluminum tank? but still score on the 22lbs! time to start purging kegs and doing closed transfers! (if you don't already i forget)

hell maybe people will start purging their kegerators to bump the EVA tubing to 11!

 

[grampamark]

Actually, upon further review, it is a really grungy aluminum tank.

 

[seatazzz]

Tapped the Helles Bock that was kegged a couple weeks ago today; perfectly carbed, quite malty and very tasty. Still disappointed that I haven't overcarbed anything to the point I get to use my cute new spunding valve setup yet. Next up will be the Galaxy Pale I brewed 2 weeks ago; maybe THAT one I'll get to do the trick on. Hefeweizen continues to slowly bubble away; quick sniff of it today revealed a bit of sour that may be 1) co2, and/or 2) sulfur from the yeast and my nose is confused. Going to let it go a few more days then taste it; if it's gone south, as I suspect, will dump and brew another one this weekend, after I procure more yeast. Or maybe I got lucky. Yes, I could let it go become a sour; but I don't like sours.

 

[vtmikko]

Already yesterday: Brewed a patch of pale ale and bottled a patch of kölsch. Also got some more grains and other stuff

 

[Immocles]

Packaged a cream ale. Full 2.5G keg and a six pack of bottles. Tastes fantastic.
Also brewed a rye IPA. Trying something new and I racked the wort straight onto the yeast cake from the cream ale. Hopefully it works out the way I want it to haha.

 

[Bramling Cross]

Depends on the condition of the yeast cells and how good you are at promoting deadly ice crystals in the cell membranes. Obviously, you'll need some water and a freezer. Freezing fast and thawing slow usually does the trick. As much 40% or more per cycle. Mitochondrial membranes are particularly vulnerable, which is why the petit phenotype becomes common, so even if they look alive they're too inefficient, metabolically, for fermenting wort. They might look normal under a microscope. Easiest way to detect them is to plate out on agar. Bit of a sidetrack, but the frequency of the petit mutation itself often increases in stored slurry, due to environmental stress and the inability of cells to metabolise ROS. Again, mitochondria are at a higher risk, but this time due to being more exposed with a relatively vulnerable (unfolded) genome. Kind of what's described as 'genetic drift'. Trick to recovery is to select healthy looking colonies from agar plates. Or, more straightforward, culture up from just a drop of old slurry, in, say, 10ml, then step up. There's a good chance natural selection restores things. By the time the final step's done you'll have some very pitchable yeast. Harvest and repitch fresh a few times or so and you'll be using the best yeast possible for free. Obviously, I'm not selling yeast so I can tell the truth. The best possible yeast to pitch are actually free, but don't tell anyone.

Amazing post, sir.

Thanks very much!

 

[Bramling Cross]

Tapped the Helles Bock that was kegged a couple weeks ago today; perfectly carbed, quite malty and very tasty. Still disappointed that I haven't overcarbed anything to the point I get to use my cute new spunding valve setup yet. Next up will be the Galaxy Pale I brewed 2 weeks ago; maybe THAT one I'll get to do the trick on. Hefeweizen continues to slowly bubble away; quick sniff of it today revealed a bit of sour that may be 1) co2, and/or 2) sulfur from the yeast and my nose is confused. Going to let it go a few more days then taste it; if it's gone south, as I suspect, will dump and brew another one this weekend, after I procure more yeast. Or maybe I got lucky. Yes, I could let it go become a sour; but I don't like sours.

I wouldn't give up on it too early. I brew a couple hefes a year, at most, so I'm hardly an expert, but I've found that hefes kinda go through a "sick" phase just before or after kegging. They straighten up and fly right after a week in the keg. Some of my best hefes were nearly dumpers on kegging day. I have no idea why this is the case. I've kegged them at TG, given them an extra week in the fermenter to clean up, I've even given them a full three weeks. They always seem to need a week in the keg to get their act together. No clue why.

They're strange beers and I don't really understand them.

 

[Bramling Cross]

I got mad at my TILT for beer today.

The 30% rice insult to Ninkasi that I brewed on Sunday has a TILT that refuses to calibrate. It keeps registering about .007 SG too high. I pulled the TILT today, cleaned it, sanitized it, then dumped it back into the fermenter. Now it's reading .010 too high. I'm currently running a calibration on the blasted thing.

 

[bracconiere]

I got mad at my TILT for beer today.

everyone gets mad at brat hyrdometers! doesn't matter what kind they are...i got sick of a 1-3 chance it showed me what i want with a triple scale, so i got a 'plain form' one that just has SG on it, unfortunately it still has a single digit side opposite...so you'd think hell 50/50%...but no, always just the ones....



it's like spinning a roulette table, you know you're going to lose... apparently try to get the brat to lay down.....

 

[Bramling Cross]

everyone gets mad at brat hyrdometers! doesn't matter what kind they are...i got sick of a 1-3 chance it showed me what i want with a triple scale, so i got a 'plain form' one that just has SG on it, unfortunately it still has a single digit side opposite...so you'd think hell 50/50%...but no, always just the ones....



it's like spinning a roulette table, you know you're going to lose... apparently try to get the brat to lay down.....

So true.

I love my TILTS, but I've learned how to work around them as much as trust them. The problem with them is that you can calibrate the damned things on your phone until the cows come home, but they refuse to listen. They'll make a small initial adjustment, but after that, piss off!

Your wort is 1.061.

Actually, Mr. TILT, it's 1.052.

No, it's 1.061.

Really, Mr. TILT, I checked twice with the refractometer, then broke out the hydrometer. I'm quite certain it's 1.052.

Fine! If you want to be that way...1.060.

Let's try this again, TILT. 1.052. I really mean that.

1.060.

Please?

1.060.

I'm begging you.

1.060.

I hate you.

They're as stubborn as a mule.

 

[bracconiere]

So true.

I love my TILTS, but I've learned how to work around them as much as trust them. The problem with them is that you can calibrate the damned things on your phone until the cows come home, but they refuse to listen. They'll make a small initial adjustment, but after that, piss off!

Your wort is 1.061.

Actually, Mr. TILT, it's 1.052.

No, it's 1.061.

Really, Mr. TILT, I checked twice with the refractometer, then broke out the hydrometer. I'm quite certain it's 1.052.

Fine! If you want to be that way...1.060.

Let's try this again, TILT. 1.052. I really mean that.

1.060.

Please?

1.060.

I'm begging you.

1.060.

I hate you.

They're as stubborn as a mule.

 

[wetmk]

I love my TILTS, but...

They're as stubborn as a mule.

And cheap too!

 

[Immocles]

So true.

I love my TILTS, but I've learned how to work around them as much as trust them. The problem with them is that you can calibrate the damned things on your phone until the cows come home, but they refuse to listen. They'll make a small initial adjustment, but after that, piss off!

Your wort is 1.061.

Actually, Mr. TILT, it's 1.052.

No, it's 1.061.

I feel the same way about mine. I have two tilts. And I absolutely love them and completely hate them. I honestly only used them to know if I should start to ramp temp up, or if its time to dry hop with some points left, but otherwise its completely in that category of just liking information.


And as an update to my own transferring wort onto a fresh cake....wow. I might need to try and do this more often. Maybe not as much in the summer with the warmer weather, but when the ground water temp drops, I really might take advantage of scheduling beers this way. Unless, of course, this one ends up a complete shitshow. But I dont think Ive ever had a beer chugging away this quickly.

 

[JP_BeerFan]

Love the name "panther piss."

Hehehe... yes!

To me, it has a bit of a different twist to it, after an event here last March...
Panther, not pissing
I wasn't the guy sitting in the Left Coast Brewery back patio taking this video, but I believe I've had a beer or two at that table! Nice Kitty!

 

[MaxStout]

I thought you only let them inside during the cold months.

 

[ba-brewer]

This was my failed attempt at a catty beer, not even a hint of cat box.
Panther piss IPA

Amt​	Name​	Type​	#​	%/IBU​	Volume​
6 lbs​	Pale Malt, cali2row,US (2.0 SRM)​	Grain​	1​	57.1 %​	0.47 gal​
4 lbs​	Maris Otter (Crisp) (4.0 SRM)​	Grain​	2​	38.1 %​	0.31 gal​
8.0 oz​	Corn Sugar (Dextrose) [Boil] (0.0 SRM)​	Sugar​	3​	4.8 %​	0.04 gal​
14.00 g​	Columbus (Tomahawk) [16.20 %] - Boil 60.0 min​	Hop​	4​	26.4 IBUs​	-​
28.00 g​	Summit [16.80 %] - Boil 10.0 min​	Hop​	5​	19.8 IBUs​	-​
14.00 g​	Chinook [11.60 %] - Boil 10.0 min​	Hop​	6​	6.9 IBUs​	-​
14.00 g​	Simcoe [13.30 %] - Boil 10.0 min​	Hop​	7​	7.9 IBUs​	-​
112.00 g​	Simcoe [13.30 %] - Boil 0.0 min​	Hop​	8​	0.0 IBUs​	-​
42.00 g​	Chinook [11.60 %] - Boil 0.0 min​	Hop​	9​	0.0 IBUs​	-​
42.00 g​	Simcoe [13.30 %] - Boil 0.0 min​	Hop​	10​	0.0 IBUs​	-​
14.00 g​	Summit [16.80 %] - Boil 0.0 min​	Hop​	11​	0.0 IBUs​	-​
1.0 pkg​	Hansen Ale Blend (White Labs #WLP075) [35.49 ml]​	Yeast​	12​	-​	-​
84.00 g​	Chinook [11.60 %] - 3.0 Days Before Bottling for 0.0 Days​	Hop​	13​	0.0 IBUs​	-​

​

 

[siilviil]

I just started to carbonate my Golden ale.

 

[doctor strangebrew]

Not exactly on topic (but I got an e-mail asking why I haven't been around) I love home brewing, and the cooler weather in the off months would have been ideal (just that I'm unemployed and have no funds) Now, even if I could afford to order some stuff, it way too hot (predicted 104 deg F today) Keep on brewing, keep on making recipes... maybe I can chime in on recipes (even if I can't brew) I also do hard apple cider (but it's too hot for that too) It really sucks because I have a good brew kettle, a 3 gallon glass carboy and a 2.5 gallon "keg" (and many years of experience from long ago) If anyone is interested, my best homebrew was a German Bavarian dark beer with Hallertauer hersbrucker fresh hops, dark malt (did the darker malts in a separate pan) and use authentic German liquid yeast. I was so proud of that (tried a few each week but managed to save 10 for over 6 weeks... so good!) I will try to pop in once in a while just to talk about homebrewing and specifically recipes.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Milled grain for a brew day tomorrow.

 

[leedspointbrew]

Not exactly on topic (but I got an e-mail asking why I haven't been around) I love home brewing, and the cooler weather in the off months would have been ideal (just that I'm unemployed and have no funds) Now, even if I could afford to order some stuff, it way too hot (predicted 104 deg F today) Keep on brewing, keep on making recipes... maybe I can chime in on recipes (even if I can't brew) I also do hard apple cider (but it's too hot for that too) It really sucks because I have a good brew kettle, a 3 gallon glass carboy and a 2.5 gallon "keg" (and many years of experience from long ago) If anyone is interested, my best homebrew was a German Bavarian dark beer with Hallertauer hersbrucker fresh hops, dark malt (did the darker malts in a separate pan) and use authentic German liquid yeast. I was so proud of that (tried a few each week but managed to save 10 for over 6 weeks... so good!) I will try to pop in once in a while just to talk about homebrewing and specifically recipes.

Try Kveik yeasts. They love the heat.

 

[Bramling Cross]

I feel the same way about mine. I have two tilts. And I absolutely love them and completely hate them. I honestly only used them to know if I should start to ramp temp up, or if its time to dry hop with some points left, but otherwise its completely in that category of just liking information.


And as an update to my own transferring wort onto a fresh cake....wow. I might need to try and do this more often. Maybe not as much in the summer with the warmer weather, but when the ground water temp drops, I really might take advantage of scheduling beers this way. Unless, of course, this one ends up a complete ********. But I dont think Ive ever had a beer chugging away this quickly.

Yeah, I'm with you regarding the TILTs, the only thing you can really rely on them for is determining when you've flat-lined at TG. In that respect, they're not much better than bubble counting.

I must confess that I do not recall our discussion regarding pitching onto fresh cakes. Please tell me that you're pitching a large beer onto a much smaller beer's cake? I may owe you an apology, but I'm pretty good at telling Otter's Brewing Story #361 "How I learned that there is no 'Rule of 10'" whenever I talk about pitching onto cakes.

Gulp!

Fingers crossed.

 

[grampamark]

I “built” a keezer.

Five cu. ft. chest freezer from the orange box and an Inkbird. Add keg, C02 bottle and regulator, and-Shazam!-a keezer. Room for a keg and a 12-pack. In theory, just barely enough room for a second keg (minus the 12-pack. As quick and dirty as a serving appliance can get. Total cost, for the freezer and the Inkbird, was $202. I already had the rest.

 

[Bramling Cross]

Milled grain for a brew day tomorrow.

Got my water measured out, about to do the same.

I'm geeked! I'm doing a bunch of things I haven't done in a good long while tomorrow: 1) Cream Ale; 2) sucrose in the boil; 3) Nottingham yeast.

Also, I'm using Lemondrop hops for the first time.

Tomorrow is going to be a wild day in my brewery. Typically, I like to stick to a single variable, but tomorrow I'm throwing a big wad of stuff at the wall. I'm trying to break out of the highly regimented and systematic mindset that I enforced upon myself during the Panther Piss project.

I'm not brewing to learn or understand anything tomorrow, I'm brewing for the pure joy of the process.

Tomorrow is going to be a great day.