What I did for beer today

[grampamark]

Bottled the Altbier I brewed at the city house on 4/9. 28 bottles, 2.65 gallons.

 

[bracconiere]

It was only supposed to be 4%, but efficiency was really good and it will be over 4.5%; the struggle is real.

yeah i hate that too!, i'd throw a kombucha scoby on it to get that ABV down!

wish i could say i did something out of the oridinary, just got some barley soaking. i wouldn't mind if it's 9%, but probably only 8%...

 

[aharri1]

First time using the unitank to ferment! American lager with tettnanger, saaz, hallertau mittelfrueh, and Mandarina Bavaria at flameout.

 

[fourfarthing]

Delivered 4 entries for a competition in a couple weeks.

Shipped mine that day too

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Cutting it close

 

[seatazzz]

Stopped at LHBS to drop off three of the five entries for upcoming competition; last two need bottles, which I am working on providing right now (burp). Bought grain, and a few small things I needed like some hop bags, CaCl, starsan, a fermonster lid wrench, and a new spray bottle. He no longer carries the exact 15g kettle I have, so I bought something else that I've wanted for a while; a 2.5g corny keg. First brand new keg I've ever bought, all of my 5g kegs are pre-owned (and look it). I want to start making smaller test batches, hate bottle-carbing, and I also don't like having 5g of cider tying up a keg for months. And it is adorable, so short and squat. Still looking online for another 15g kettle; morebeer has one that might work since it will only be used as an HLT. Don't need a thick one for that, their cheap $169 one will do just fine.

 

[Beermeister32]

Finished building another keg top tap.

 

[friarsmith]

I assume, since you are sterilizing everything, you don't need to refrigerate the wort?

I wonder if it would be feasible to:

1) Make a higher gravity wort and later dilute with distilled water when making a yeast starter (eg 1.080 1quart jar diluted with equal-ish amount of distilled to have a 2qt starter between 1.036-1.040). Hey, I just invented “Propper” Starters

2) Waterbath process the jars (like canning tomatoes, etc) instead of using a pressure cooker. SWMBO would be none too plussed w/ another kitchen contraption filling the cabinets.

Also curious about shelf life. Might have to do a smell test

Cheers and thx for the idea!

 

[rock_n_herm]

Yesterday I brewed an American wheat beer, hopped with Azacca, also with an impromptu addition of some tangerine rind in the late boil. I missed my OG on the low side, but this morning the fermenter is happily bubbling. It will be beer.

 

[ba-brewer]

I wonder if it would be feasible to:

1) Make a higher gravity wort and later dilute with distilled water when making a yeast starter (eg 1.080 1quart jar diluted with equal-ish amount of distilled to have a 2qt starter between 1.036-1.040). Hey, I just invented “Propper” Starters

2) Waterbath process the jars (like canning tomatoes, etc) instead of using a pressure cooker. SWMBO would be none too plussed w/ another kitchen contraption filling the cabinets.

Also curious about shelf life. Might have to do a smell test

Cheers and thx for the idea!

I believe you really need to pressure can it to get the wort up to 245 to kill botulism spores.

I did some stronger wort and diluted it down with spring water and that worked fine. It is easier for me to can at the desired gravity than to mess around with diluting wort.

 

[friarsmith]

I believe you really need to pressure can it to get the wort up to 245 to kill botulism spores.

I did some stronger wort and diluted it down with spring water and that worked fine. It is easier for me to can at the desired gravity than to mess around with diluting wort.

What about water bath canning then refrigeration til use? I tend to brew in condensed windows of time, like 5-6 times in as many weeks then go on hiatus for a few months, so the jars wouldn’t sit more than 6 weeks.

I would probably clean, then dip jars in boiling water for a few mins, then fill w/ near-boiling starter solution before a boiling water bath for 15 mins. Then refrigerate once the lids “pop” shut.

The above method is how I process tomato sauce and salsa, and those are good for 2yrs plus. I understand the acidity of those foods plus addition of lemon or other acids helps prevent botulism. USDA indicates botulism is more apt to thrive w/ pH > 4.6

Perhaps acidify the condensed starter wort to this level w/ lactic then the dilution later on would raise the pH and be an ok environment for yeast?

Found this link re: canning wort: How To Can Wort For Easy Premade Yeast Starters In 2022.

Just spitballing here

 

[fourfarthing]

Cutting it close

Received timely. Got my green check

 

[ba-brewer]

@friarsmith I cant comment on how safe a water bath is and how long it would be safe to use.

I do know I have seen the idea of adding acid to make it safer but I dont recall where that ended. I have a pressure canner that gets to 15psi so it was more of curiosity.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Received timely. Got my green check

Good luck, may the best beers win!

 

[grampamark]

Cleaned a couple of kegs and kegged an Irish Red Ale.

 

[ba-brewer]

Kegged my Admiral pilsner today. I had the keg connected to the fermentor the entire time to purge oxygen so no cleaning. I had some issues with a duo-tight fitting so might not be completely purged. Next time I do a fermentation purged keg I am going to swedge the beer line on to a barbed disconnect. Much more cloudy than brew day but that is the yeast this time.

 

[seatazzz]

Stopped at LHBS to drop off last two entries for competition, exchanged 5lb co2 tank and bought some oak cubes. Politely requested husband to buy some bourbon on his way home to soak them, totally forgot we talked about using BSB (brown sugar bourbon) for this one and he's got a fifth winging it's way home now. And currently boiling out shiny new 14g SS kettle from morebeer that arrived today, that will replace old keggle. The only downside is I don't need to brew for at least a week or two. Plenty of time to decide what I'm brewing next!

 

[Erik the Anglophile]

Had a glass of McChouffe and tinkered a bit on my to-be kegerator.
Almost ready for action, just have to attach the gas manifold, a small fan and a piece of 2x4 behind the taps to get them out a bit from the fridge wall.
Gonna oil the wood tap handles and the piece of wood that will sit behind them, then paint the fridge black sometime in the future.

 

[pshankstar]

Thursday night I racked my beer to the serving keg and cleaned all the equipment. I’m happy with the hydrometer sample of my DH American Pilsner.
Yesterday I picked up some malt from a local malt company. They buy all NYS grains & their prices are the same as anything I would buy from the only LHBS which is a 30 minute drive. This malt company is less than 10 minutes away.
25lbs of flaked wheat
50lbs of Pilsner

 

[Rudeoso]

Yesterday, cleaned a fermentor and brewed a Morehaze NEDIPA

 

[2row]

Last night I made starter for Imperial A31 Tartan Yeast. First time with this strain. Preparing to brew a new recipe I made. 1.074 OG amber ale with some Special B malt and a bunch of late addition hops...

 

[crazyjake19]

Prepped to brew an NEIPA tomorrow. Not my standard recipe, but I wanted to use up some grain and hops to cycle through my inventory. Just received a MoreBeer order this afternoon.

 

[grampamark]

Sniffed a couple of airlocks.

 

[jwill911]

Closed xfered my first lager “India Pressurized Lager”, it’s in the kegerator crashing.

 

[seatazzz]

Did an impromptu (read: husband was not home) batch of lager yesterday, because reasons (read: I was bored). Going to breakfast with friends this morning, got a nice roast in the fridge that will be pot roast later for Sunday dinner, and might keg off my Strong tonight. Oak cubes aren't ready for it yet, but they will be in a few days.

 

[JAReeves]

Finally installed my @Buckeye_Hydro RO System that I bought back in October. Life has been...busy. After testing, I ran the waste water hose out the garage into the rain barrels, so all waste water will be dutifully poured out onto the hops and grapes (and the rest of the garden).

 

[Bramling Cross]

I did nothing productive for beer today. In fact, I write this to bring to your attention the fact that I am a mouth-breathing moron.

I kegged an APA off of the fermenter and into the dry hops keg. While wrapping up I congratulated myself on the painless execution of the task.

That's when it hit me...

You know what I forgot, right?

I'm a moron's moron.

 

[Rish]

Checked SG on a Berliner Weisse. Will bottle this week.
Juiced cantaloupes to get a gallon that I'll use for a cantaloupe wheat beer I'll do this week. Added a Campden tab and will set it aside for a couple of days, then add after initial fermentation.

 

[ba-brewer]

I did nothing productive for beer today. In fact, I write this to bring to your attention the fact that I am a mouth-breathing moron.

I kegged an APA off of the fermenter and into the dry hops keg. While wrapping up I congratulated myself on the painless execution of the task.

That's when it hit me...

You know what I forgot, right?

I'm a moron's moron.

Ok, Assuming you left off the dry hops but need to ask, what did you forget?

Completely unrelated but I am curious to know if you use 6row in your CAPs and if there is a particular brand you prefer. I know in the past the domestic 6row had a higher protein content but the few times I looked at the 6row available now it seems more in line with 2row.

 

[Bramling Cross]

Ok, Assuming you left off the dry hops but need to ask, what did you forget?

Completely unrelated but I am curious to know if you use 6row in your CAPs and if there is a particular brand you prefer. I know in the past the domestic 6row had a higher protein content but the few times I looked at the 6row available now it seems more in line with 2row.

Yeah, I left the lousy dry hops out of the dry hops keg. I've got them in there now...and a bit of oxygen. Oh, well, these things happen. I've been brewing for 30 years, I suppose that perfect keg of beer is just around the corner

Regarding 6-row, I do not believe that the enzymatic power of 6-row is necessary in a CAP. Pretty much all 2-row, domestic or Continental, is hot enough to do the heavy lifting on an adjunct heavy mash. I've brewed 30% adjunct (20% corn/10% rice) CAPs with Avengard, Weyermann Pils, and Wyermann Barke. All hit the expected TG quickly.

I do prefer the flavor of 6-row in a CAP, however. So that's why I tend to include it in my recipes. Depending upon the sub-recipe within my Panther Piss series, 6-row may be the only only barley, the majority of the barely, or riding shotgun when Munich, Vienna, or a combination of the two is taking the drivers seat.

Regarding brand, I brew all-grain 6-gallon batches in an apartment in Washington, DC. I wish I could buy 6-row by the 55lb sack, but I just don't have the room. I use a lot of it, so I find it useful to buy it by 5lb increments online as a way of making my latest purchase eligible for free shipping. The only information I have about the 6-row that I use is what all the major websites say, "6-row, American." I'm assuming it's Briess or Rhar, maybe Great Western? I have no clue. It is actual 6-row, I always verify that, by eye.

Regarding protein...There *is* some difference. I don't get to look at the data sheets, but I do see the results. I take some pride in the fact that I brew stupidly clear beers w/o filtration--my crap photography skills likely don't capture that. Most of my 6-row beers clear as quickly and completely as my 2-row beers. Nevertheless, I sometimes get a couple of 6-row sacks that refuse to fall brilliant. A good example of this is a CAP that I brewed in December. I bought something from Williams Bros and I hit the free shipping cap with a bunch of 1lb bags of their 6-row. The beer I made with that stuff dropped very clear, but it refused to go brilliant. I have no idea who the maltster was. That happens sometimes with 6-row and it's not Williams' fault. It also happens with 2-row in drought years. Despite all our knowledge and our mastery of chemistry, the barley gets to have its say.

I like that.

Given that you've expressed some interest in my Panther Piss project, this is the current recipe that I'm brewing as Panther Piss Classic LODO. I brew in DC, so all water adjustments are made to the DC tap water preset in the current release of Beersmith. If you use that preset, you'll find that I use a lot more acid than necessary, that is because actual DC tap water has a much higher RA than Beersmith thinks. If you're starting from RO, maybe use a gram more calcium chloride....I'm not sure how to spit ball the gypsum. Maybe 2g, more? And a lot less acid.

Anyway, here's the recipe that I've developed over....nuts, I guess it's nearly three years now.

Volume: 6gal
OG: 1.055
FG: 1.010

9.5 gallons total of Washington, DC tap, four gallons of which is in the HLT.
1 campden tablet divided between strike and HLT
4g of Gypsum (Mash)
2gm Calcium Chloride (Mash)
3ml Phosphoric acid at 85% (target mash pH of 5.3 to get a solid 5.0 post boil, adjust in the last 10min with 1ml of acid, if necessary).
5lb of Barke
3lb of 6-row (you can cereal mash if you want, but the cost of grits at the grocery store is currently higher than the cost of flaked corn and rice from online shops. Personally, I think the LODO, non-cereal mashed approach makes a better beer...but both are good.)
2lb corn
1lb rice
1.8g of Trifecta (LODO thing)
4ml Phosphoric in HLT
1g gypsum (boil)
1g calcium chloride (boil)
1g non-iodized salt, 2g will make a slightly softer beer, good for colder weather (boil)
.25oz Clusters for 90
.5oz Clusters at 20
.5oz Cluster at 10 (Finings of your choice, too)
1.4g Trifect at 10 (LODO thing)
1oz Hallertauer Mittelfrueh at 5
2-3oz Hallertauer Mettelfrueh at KO

Ferment with S-189 at 50F for 1/4 of gravity, then bump to 52F until half gravity, then bump to 54F at 3/4 gravity, then bump to 58 for the final quarter. Do not D-rest unless you have a fool proof anti-oxygen suck-back rig. Primary should take about 5-6 days, then crash for a week. Closed oxygen transfer and keg with 2g Ascorbic Acid the keg fining of your choice.

That's all I know about CAPs for right now. But I'm pushing forward and I'm getting better.