What I did for beer today

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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
 
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@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.
 
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.
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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!
 
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.
 

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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
 
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.
 
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).
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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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
Thanks for the information and sharing your recipe. I rotate thru a few different lagers, German pilsner, Munich Helles and Dortmunder Export but I do a CAPish lager from time to time. I usually target the lower end of the CAP gravity but shift the IBU to the upper end. I normally use either rice or corn but not both in my CAPs, I will have to give that a try next time.

I have used the 6row from this place a few years back but I don't know if it was any better than the generic stuff you can get from most online sources. It had been a while since I looked at their malts, some of the under-modified malts look interesting.
Sugar Creek Base Malts
 
Not much, Covid and flu rampaging in my county and neck of the woods in S.E Michigan, spent last night in ER for 12 hours with a sick wife in one hospital while juggling the phone with a sick brother in another hospital. Geeeeesh ! 😕. People were crammed like sardines in the ER hallway and 10/12 hours without ever seeing a doctor. I'm glad I'm a retired nurse. I did manage between minute brief moments of sanity in my trip through ER hell on Earth to catch this awesome kegerator sale in my email. It may have been the one piece of saving grace that kept me grounded last night. May it serve someone well. My kegerator is only 2 years old so if I tried to get this my life would end at dawn in a hail of bullets at my execution from the wife.
 

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Not much, Covid and flu rampaging in my county and neck of the woods in S.E Michigan, spent last night in ER for 12 hours with a sick wife in one hospital while juggling the phone with a sick brother in another hospital. Geeeeesh ! 😕. People were crammed like sardines in the ER hallway and 10/12 hours without ever seeing a doctor. I'm glad I'm a retired nurse. I did manage between minute brief moments of sanity in my trip through ER hell on Earth to catch this awesome kegerator sale in my email. It may have been the one piece of saving grace that kept me grounded last night. May it serve someone well. My kegerator is only 2 years old so if I tried to get this my life would end at dawn in a hail of bullets at my execution from the wife.


I feel ya and sorry to hear about that I hope everybody gets better soon. Both me and my wife are trying to get over the covid we got from her brother that showed up sick to the house. Also the brain fog thing is a real thing and it sucks.

That's quite the coupon on those kegerators.
 
Not much, Covid and flu rampaging in my county and neck of the woods in S.E Michigan, spent last night in ER for 12 hours with a sick wife in one hospital while juggling the phone with a sick brother in another hospital. Geeeeesh ! 😕. People were crammed like sardines in the ER hallway and 10/12 hours without ever seeing a doctor. I'm glad I'm a retired nurse. I did manage between minute brief moments of sanity in my trip through ER hell on Earth to catch this awesome kegerator sale in my email. It may have been the one piece of saving grace that kept me grounded last night. May it serve someone well. My kegerator is only 2 years old so if I tried to get this my life would end at dawn in a hail of bullets at my execution from the wife.
Blessings and fast healing for your family!
 
Not much, Covid and flu rampaging in my county and neck of the woods in S.E Michigan, spent last night in ER for 12 hours with a sick wife in one hospital while juggling the phone with a sick brother in another hospital. Geeeeesh ! 😕. People were crammed like sardines in the ER hallway and 10/12 hours without ever seeing a doctor. I'm glad I'm a retired nurse. I did manage between minute brief moments of sanity in my trip through ER hell on Earth to catch this awesome kegerator sale in my email. It may have been the one piece of saving grace that kept me grounded last night. May it serve someone well. My kegerator is only 2 years old so if I tried to get this my life would end at dawn in a hail of bullets at my execution from the wife.
Be well! Sorry it’s all happening at once. Take care of yourself too! Trust your loved ones are feeling better soon.
 
Thanks for the information and sharing your recipe. I rotate thru a few different lagers, German pilsner, Munich Helles and Dortmunder Export but I do a CAPish lager from time to time. I usually target the lower end of the CAP gravity but shift the IBU to the upper end. I normally use either rice or corn but not both in my CAPs, I will have to give that a try next time.

I have used the 6row from this place a few years back but I don't know if it was any better than the generic stuff you can get from most online sources. It had been a while since I looked at their malts, some of the under-modified malts look interesting.
Sugar Creek Base Malts
Oh, wow....

My jaw is on the floor. A six row that they say is good for dark lagers? Man, that seems like a complete sea change! A constant frustration during the Panther Piss project was the giant 64-Crayon box of Pils malts that were available and the one generic version of 6-row available to me. I'm going to need to give them unfettered access to my wallet. There is some amazing stuff there...I want to brew some mild ales with their stuff.

Regarding the corn+rice thing, it was really easy to nail down the corn contribution. I started at 15% and quickly found that 20% yields an assertive, but not over-bearing, "corn is in this beer, and it is absolutely a N. American lager" flavor. Eighty-percent pils and 20% corn made an excellent beer, but it wasn't bone dry enough for DC in August.

I initially fell back on my UK and Belgian knowledge and thought, "Sucrose solves everything!" But this is supposed to be a N. American beer, so I introduced the rice--problem solved. In this recipe, the rice behaves a lot like sucrose. In fact, despite the fact that I was thinking last Fall that the Panther Piss project was officially finished, I'll likely be brewing the above recipe with 10% sucrose next month. Rice doesn't have a lot of residual body, but it does have some... Sugar doesn't, so it should be fun to play with. I'm hoping that sugar will further amplify the core aspects of the grist. I'll be surprised if I find out that the rice is bringing anything tangible to the party.

Thanks again for the great link!
 
Making my first batch of RO water mineral water to see exactly how long it takes to fill a 5.25G keg. Then I know for when it matters, like filling up a HLT!
How warm your water is will change how long it takes to collect a given amount. Warmer is faster for me but it seems like the mineral content goes up a little.
 
Spent a couple of hours, without success, trying to read about the use of KVIEK yeast in fermenting a Doppelbock. Not much out there. Anybody tried this wonder yeast in a Doppelbock yet and if so how successful was it ? What strain ? I'm leaning toward Omega Voss..kind of blindly. Just a 3 gallon so if it goes South the loss won't be too bad. And yes I've searched HBT for KVIEK/Doppelbock but not much on here either. 🍻
 
Spent a couple of hours, without success, trying to read about the use of KVIEK yeast in fermenting a Doppelbock. Not much out there. Anybody tried this wonder yeast in a Doppelbock yet and if so how successful was it ? What strain ? I'm leaning toward Omega Voss..kind of blindly. Just a 3 gallon so if it goes South the loss won't be too bad. And yes I've searched HBT for KVIEK/Doppelbock but not much on here either. 🍻
I’ve only used Kveik yeast on a lawnmower beer and it was in a kit from Craft A Brew. It worked out amazingly well.
 
I’ve only used Kveik yeast on a lawnmower beer and it was in a kit from Craft A Brew. It worked out amazingly well.
Yeah almost everything I could find about kviek was in neipa's, Helles, lighter summer type ales. Just wondering about the darker ales if the malt profile and lager cleaness is affected. Be wonderful to brew a Doppelbock without the lagering and in a tenth of the time. I'm gonna try it soon. If it doesn't work, lesson learned and back to the kegerator we go for the slow but tried and true lagering.
 
Been busy. Have a batch of Japanese style rice lager and a Mexican style corn lager fermenting at the moment. Next up will be an attempt at orange orange shock top.
With all the people drinking my beer I can’t keep up doing 5 gal batches. Brewing about 10 gallons per month at the moment so
 

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Spent a couple of hours, without success, trying to read about the use of KVIEK yeast in fermenting a Doppelbock. Not much out there. Anybody tried this wonder yeast in a Doppelbock yet and if so how successful was it ? What strain ? I'm leaning toward Omega Voss..kind of blindly. Just a 3 gallon so if it goes South the loss won't be too bad. And yes I've searched HBT for KVIEK/Doppelbock but not much on here either. 🍻
I have only used Lutra and Voss, but only in lighter type beers(kolsch, Helles and IPAs). Lutra is quite clean, very similar to a kolsch yeast and would be my first choice. I believe most of the Kviek where originally used in fairly strong beers so no issues with the gravity of a Doppelbock.
 
I have only used Lutra and Voss, but only in lighter type beers(kolsch, Helles and IPAs). Lutra is quite clean, very similar to a kolsch yeast and would be my first choice. I believe most of the Kviek where originally used in fairly strong beers so no issues with the gravity of a Doppelbock.
I've used Lutra in both a Blonde and an IPA; the IPA was just meh, but the blonde was spectacular. Thinking it's because Lutra ferments so much cleaner than the Voss or Hornindal; no esters whatsoever, fermented hot or at ale temperatures. Doing another one today as a matter of fact; it's great if you need a beer done fairly quickly and don't care about lagering it. I've also gotten it pretty darned clear with just gelatin and a good hard crash.
 
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