What I did for beer today

[Saunassa]

I decided I needed a break from telecommuting so at lunch Wednesday I decided to brew up a small 2.5 gal batch of Amber. Used one ounce of Cascade pellets and 1.25 oz of homegrown Willamette. Sample tasted smooth. Now to wait.

 

[BrewMan13]

Got everything ready for brewing tomorrow including stepping up the starter and double crushing the grain (got crappy efficiency last time since mill is dying, so not taking any chances).

 

[jswillbrewforbeer]

Brewed an old school American IPA today. Targeting 6% ABV, mostly 'Merican pale malt with a dash of Special B for color, (in these trying times, I find it prudent to use whatever's on hand.) 90 IBUs worth of Magnum at 60, a 1-2-3 punch of Cascade, Centennial and Columbus in the hopstand with an identical twin charge to be added for dry hops after dropping it to FG with a slug of propagated Chico ale yeast. Nothing like the nearly white, mildy bitter, fruit-forward hop bombs which look like a lake effect blizzard in a glass that the kids drink these days. Don't get me wrong, she'll be a hop bomb but more like those of the days of yore: A Captain Ahab-bitter beer, reminiscient of a Ruby Red grapefruit-zested, stanky armpit-rubbed, sap-sticky pine cone taped to a suspicious paper cylinder that doesn't look quite as innocent as a cigarette, (don't worry, I'm from Michigan, I can say it.) Also, I started drinking earlier than usual.

 

[user 263363]

Cleaned up my brew station. It was getting out of hand after a few brew days. This is my little corner of heaven lol.

 

[Dave Sarber]

Rewired my CO2 system for 3 kegs.

 

[dnr]

View attachment 673845
My freezer is full of carbonating kegs, so I had to cold crash the next batch in 1 gallon water bottles. Did a little online shopping last night for another 7 cu ft chest freezer, nobody within 100 miles has one in stock.

If I cold crash in 1 gallon jugs like that, will I be able to bottle? Are you force carbonating into kegs?

 

[Dave Sarber]

If I cold crash in 1 gallon jugs like that, will I be able to bottle? Are you force carbonating into kegs?

Yes, you could still bottle, there is not much chance all the yeast will settle out. It kind of depends on the carbonation level you're looking for. I'm usually making Belgian tripels and pales, and looking for 3-3.5 volumes of CO2. In that case, I make a guesstimate of remaining yeast viability, and may decide to add fresh yeast (CBC-1) and priming sugar before bottling.

 

[Dave Sarber]

BTW, I decanted 6 gallons back into fermenter a little while ago. I'm going to let it warm up overnight, and pitch a fresh batch of temperature resistant yeast tomorrow.
This is a tripel, experimenting with Neo-1 hops. Arrested first fermentation at 1.020 gravity.

 

[dnr]

BTW, I decanted 6 gallons back into fermenter a little while ago. I'm going to let it warm up overnight, and pitch a fresh batch of temperature resistant yeast tomorrow.
This is a tripel, experimenting with Neo-1 hops. Arrested first fermentation at 1.020 gravity.

That sounds pretty nice. What was OG,?
I have a batch stuck at 1.020, but the half of it I've bottled worked out. Would you recommend adding priming sugar and pitching more yeast? I am probably going to bottle in 1 lt Seltzer bottles due to lack of glass bottles.

 

[Dave Sarber]

That sounds pretty nice. What was OG,?
I have a batch stuck at 1.020, but the half of it I've bottled worked out. Would you recommend adding priming sugar and pitching more yeast? I am probably going to bottle in 1 lt Seltzer bottles due to lack of glass bottles.

OG was 1.085. I can't work with the info provided. How much beer are we talking about? What is the FG now, and what is the target FG? What style of beer? How long has it been fermenting and at what temp? What yeast are you using?

 

[dnr]

OG was 1.085. I can't work with the info provided. How much beer are we talking about? What is the FG now, and what is the target FG? What style of beer? How long has it been fermenting and at what temp? What yeast are you using?

Originally 5 gallons, but I bottled 2.25 gallons. Probably about 2.5 gallons left minus sediment.

FG 1.020, OG was 1.055. first Brew, so I didn't have a target FG. I'm just happy I made alcohol.
I used 7 year old wheat LME and UK gold hop pellets that came in the same kit.
It's been fermenting for 2 weeks at ~68°. I bottled the first half, then added a fruit slurry to the second half for secondary, but haven't seen any activity in about 5 days.
I had the ale yeast from the kit which was also 7 years old. And because of this pandemic, all Homebrew shops are closed. I improvised and grabbed Fleischmann's Instant Yeast. I read up on it before pitching to make sure it would work.
Knowing it would be my first time, it was an old kit and I like to test before I go hard...I just experimented.
I've got a maple strawberry wine/mead going right now with this yeast to test its limits and happiness factor.

 

[Dave Sarber]

Ok, you're ABV right now is 4.59, a refreshing light beer if it tastes good. Use a priming calculator for added sugar, and bottle away.


BTW: Before a mod jumps in, this is not the proper thread for this discussion. Check out the kegging and bottling forum, and the yeast and fermentation forum.

 

[JAReeves]

Yesterday: brewed a PA with Dr. Rudy and Taiheke from New Zealand. Moved the imperial stout to a keg to carb up, and bottled the last of the DIPA to make room in the keezer.

 

[wetmk]

Put together an Ardennes starter for a Belgian Blonde.

 

[seatazzz]

Besides brewing a Czech lager this morning, dropped 1oz Citra in the IPA I brewed yesterday; recipe calls for that to be dropped at high krausen, and the damn thing is going crazy this morning. Gonna be a good one.

 

[user 263363]

Just took a sample of my Monk’s Beer. WLP-530 took it all the way down to 1.006 from 1.045. I pitched at 70f and have been raising it a degree every 12ish hours. It’s at 78 right now and I’ll probably let it ride there for a couple days before cold crashing.

The sample was green of course, but the Belgian character was certainly there. Should be a nice dry Belgian at around 5% abv. Can’t wait to get it bottled and conditioned.

 

[Brewbuzzard]

Assembled my LiquaGen 5 stage RO system, back flushed and tested the output. I'm happy.

 

[grampamark]

I’m brewing some. A Bullwinkle Brown Ale.

 

[OnePlate]

Since we have an abundance of rice, I'm running low on base grain and the wife said beer is more important than eating (I love her priorities) I brewed a sort of ultra-light kolsch/pilsner hybrid with the rice and a mix of pilsner and 2-row. Pitched some slurry from the kolsch I bottled last week. I hope it turns out well.

 

[ba-brewer]

Dry hopped my APA, did half with 3oz of hops and the other with 5oz.

Started a starter from a slant of wlp845 fast lager yeast.

 

[bracconiere]

I got you all beat, i did a two day brew! started at 8pm 4-5-20, finish at 4-6-20 at 5:30am a minute ago....(got 90% efficiency on it too, yea!)

 

[BrewMan13]

Did my latest IPA yesterday. Only mosaic in the kettle, will dryhop with Idaho Gem. Glad I double crushed, as I was only .001 point off target gravity.

 

[Dave Sarber]

Fabricating a hopper extension for my mill. Didn't get enough screws, another Home Depot run in a few.
Yesterday I built a rolling cabinet for the mill, @mongoose33 's suggestion, I used a Harbor Freight furniture dolly for the base. Since I was planning the hopper extension, I wanted to use something other than a 5 gallon bucket....

so, I found this 105 qt storage bin at wallyworld for 8 bucks. So far, I'm into it for 8 bucks, plus about 30 bucks for the sheet metal and hardware. Next project is cutting the hole in the top, and I'm planning on hinging the mill so it can be swung open from the base for inspection or maintenance.

 

[mongoose33]

View attachment 674506

Fabricating a hopper extension for my mill. Didn't get enough screws, another Home Depot run in a few.
Yesterday I built a rolling cabinet for the mill, @mongoose33 's suggestion, I used a Harbor Freight furniture dolly for the base. Since I was planning the hopper extension, I wanted to use something other than a 5 gallon bucket....
View attachment 674508
so, I found this 105 qt storage bin at wallyworld for 8 bucks. So far, I'm into it for 8 bucks, plus about 30 bucks for the sheet metal and hardware. Next project is cutting the hole in the top, and I'm planning on hinging the mill so it can be swung open from the base for inspection or maintenance.

Mine is set up that way as well. One word of warning: be careful as to how much you open that lid without being able to secure it. On mine, with the heavy All American Aleworks motor plus the mill, if I open it too far, the cart will go all squiggly on me. I have a wooden stick I use to prop it open at a height where things don't go wonky.

 

[Brewbuzzard]

I got you all beat, i did a two day brew! started at 8pm 4-5-20, finish at 4-6-20 at 5:30am a minute ago....(got 90% efficiency on it too, yea!)

What the hell did you brew

 

[seanjwalker1]

Pitched 2 pks Saf 34/70 into the Helles after cold crashing 2 days to 40°. 6 weeks till my first kegging ever!

 

[Brewbuzzard]

View attachment 674532Pitched 2 pks Saf 34/70 into the Helles after cold crashing 2 days to 40°. 6 weeks till my first kegging ever!

I think 40° might be a bit low. Try 48° F.

 

[seanjwalker1]

Already did. Just pitched at 40, let it rise over several hours to 45, will raise by 2-3° every day till I hit 49/50°

 

[Dave Sarber]

Mine is set up that way as well. One word of warning: be careful as to how much you open that lid without being able to secure it. On mine, with the heavy All American Aleworks motor plus the mill, if I open it too far, the cart will go all squiggly on me. I have a wooden stick I use to prop it open at a height where things don't go wonky.

View attachment 674521

I did mine a little different, and I'm using a drill instead of a motor.

This is closed, attached the "bucket adapter" upside down on the mill, then drilled holes in flange, and screwed it to a hinged block of wood.

And this is open, with weatherstripping to fight dust. The whole base "floats" on the foam.

 

[orionol73]

Brewed a batch of porter and bottled a batch of Sour NEIPA