Whats up from Texas

[deuc224]

El Paso specifically.

Never brewed a single day in my life but decided I wanted to start. Will end up learning a lot on the fly and im sure will make a lot of undrinkable beer but whats learning without trial and error. Got a grainfather conical fermenter a month ago and am receiving my Brewtools B80 pro today. Hoping to eventually turn out some good beer for myself, family, and friends. Cheers y'all.

 

[rburrelli]

Welcome to the obsession. You will learn a lot from this forum. Mostly good. Occasionally bad. And remember it takes time. Making beer is not that hard. Making good beer is a little harder.

 

[Zuljin]

The best state on the internet.

 

[Willie66]

Welcome to the hobby. There is a ton of folks that have paved the way before us, and a ton of material available to learn without having to experience all the mistake yourself.

From a fellow Texan, way north and east of you.

 

[AkTom]

Welcome. I’m almost from Big Spring. Hopefully this summer. You found a great place to learn.
Cheers

 

[Nagorg]

Welcome neighbor!

 

[wallyLOZ]

Welcome from Missouri. Enjoy the obsession.

 

[Staestc]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Tidwellc]

Welcome from Dallas!

Super rewarding hobby, and you're on the right forum. Lots of helpful folks on here. Honestly, if you're careful about sanitation and follow the recipe, you shouldn't ever make anything undrinkable. Like others have said, it's making truly excellent beer that gets trickier.

Welcome aboard!

 

[bracconiere]

The best state on the internet.

??? lol, what state are you referring to? the state of drunkeness or texas?


And Welcome! There's a lot of BBQ threads here also, i hear you Texans like that sorta thing,

 

[deuc224]

Thanks everyone. Is there a beer I should start with that isnt too difficult?

 

[Cyclman]

Welcome to the hobby, and the group, from Colorado

 

[Tidwellc]

Thanks everyone. Is there a beer I should start with that isnt too difficult?

I started with wheat beers. Most people like them and they're pretty hard to mess up. Plus, higher fermentation temps and a little fluctuation really doesn't hurt them too much (at least not like other styles), so I'd say they're pretty forgiving. I would say look for some simple extract hefeweizen recipes.

 

[deuc224]

Thanks TidwellC, ill look into that.

 

[NobleNewt]

Thanks everyone. Is there a beer I should start with that isnt too difficult?

You might also consider using a kveik yeast strain. Kveiks are easy to manage and make great beers at high temperatures (for summer brewing). I use Omega's Voss Kveik and have made a stout, American wheat, and amber. All 3 have been excellent.

 

[Labrat]

How is the B80Pro? I have started looking at the Brewtools equipment. They look very nice. I most brew 5 gallon but I am seriously considering the B80Pro. I like to split 10 gallon batches with different yeast strains.

 

[burntgraphite]

You might also consider using a kveik yeast strain. Kveiks are easy to manage and make great beers at high temperatures (for summer brewing). I use Omega's Voss Kveik and have made a stout, American wheat, and amber. All 3 have been excellent.

This. I dig making my temperature-controlled fermentations, but I've been getting dried kveik packets from TX Brewing in Ft Worth for no-temp-control low stress beers.

Welcome from Garland (east of Dallas)!

 

[Nagorg]

dried kveik packets from TX Brewing in Ft Worth for no-temp-control low stress beers.

I wonder how that would do in my "beer barn" during peak summer temps approaching 120 degrees (in the beer barn)...

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Whats up from Texas

Oklahoma

El Paso specifically.

In that case, New Mexico.

 

[burntgraphite]

I wonder how that would do in my "beer barn" during peak summer temps approaching 120 degrees (in the beer barn)...

Good question? I've done 104f so far as the max. After this week my garage will be at about 110 for a couple months, so I'll give it a try. From what I understand, 120f damages normal yeast and 140f kills it. I haven't found a white paper on the viability of kveik at different temperatures, I just know that it seems to do great from 80-104, and probably fine a little above and below that.

 

[Nagorg]

120f damages normal yeast

FWIW, 120 damn near kills me!

 

[deuc224]

How is the B80Pro? I have started looking at the Brewtools equipment. They look very nice. I most brew 5 gallon but I am seriously considering the B80Pro. I like to split 10 gallon batches with different yeast strains.

Hey Labrat, Its a very nice unit to work with. There is some things that need to be said about it before I dive into how much i love it. One is the consistent upgrades they offer, while this is a good thing, I feel like they could have just released it right the first time. While its good they offer them at least, I kinda feel like a, well, labrat lol. 2 is the price, some will shy away from it because of the price but the fact that every single thing on that device is replaceable makes it extremely attractive, even me who bought the 120V version is able to upgrade to the 240V version if desired, just replace the elements and you are off, all for about 200 bucks. I

I got the B80 because I really only brew 5 gallon batches, but didnt want to be limited when i decide to brew a high gravity beer. Splitting batches like you said has always intrigued me also. Might do that in the future. Hope this helps.

 

[Labrat]

Thanks for the update. I think I will buy a Brewtools unit when they are back in stock. I just can't decide on a B40Pro or B80pro. I really would like a B60Pro, but Brewtools indicated that they were not going to make a B60Pro since it would ~cost the same as the other units.

Are you getting decent efficiencies brewing 5-6 gallon batches on the B80Pro? I would probably target 26-27 Liter batches (~7 gallon) so that I easily fill my CF5s after losses in deadspace, sampling and yeast/trub draining.

Have you ever scorched the elements, or come close to it, with the reduced batch size?

Sorry for all of the questions but there is not much out there on Brewtools, besides the owners group on FB.

 

[Jayjay1976]

I think its going to be awkward brewing 5 gallon batches in a 20 gallon kettle.

 

[NobleNewt]

This. I dig making my temperature-controlled fermentations, but I've been getting dried kveik packets from TX Brewing in Ft Worth for no-temp-control low stress beers.

Welcome from Garland (east of Dallas)!

Stubby's has dried kveik? That's my "LHBS" (as close as they come).

 

[burntgraphite]

Stubby's has dried kveik? That's my "LHBS" (as close as they come).

https://www.txbrewing.com/lalbrew-voss-kveik-ale-yeast-11g-sachet.htmlOut of stock at the moment. I bought a handful of packs when they were in, about 2 weeks ago.

 

[NobleNewt]

https://www.txbrewing.com/lalbrew-voss-kveik-ale-yeast-11g-sachet.htmlOut of stock at the moment. I bought a handful of packs when they were in, about 2 weeks ago.

I've been using and re-using the Omega Voss Kveik. Any idea how the dried version compares? I literally make a vitality starter every once and again and pitch a little splash of the stuff into my wort.

 

[burntgraphite]

I've been using and re-using the Omega Voss Kveik. Any idea how the dried version compares? I literally make a vitality starter every once and again and pitch a little splash of the stuff into my wort.

So far I've only tried hothead and Lalbrew Voss, but I'm more than willing to do an a/b with a different isolate. I'll get some Omega Voss and report back.

 

[NobleNewt]

So far I've only tried hothead and Lalbrew Voss, but I'm more than willing to do an a/b with a different isolate. I'll get some Omega Voss and report back.

That'd be great. Stubby's told me that hothead was the most temperature tolerant, but my research indicated that Voss may be the cleanest which is why I went with Voss in the first place. I haven't gotten the fruity notes that many report no matter how much I've over or under pitched the yeast. Seems to me to be very consistent from batch to batch regardless of pitch rate or temperature.

Definitely reply back or PM me with any results you may have. I might consider doing a different kveik strain next time I order from Stubby's.

 

[burntgraphite]

Cool, got some Hornindal and some Voss on the way, should have some results relatively soon.

 

[NobleNewt]

Cool, got some Hornindal and some Voss on the way, should have some results relatively soon.

Excellent! I just brewed BierMuncher's Centennial Blonde with Voss. I'm starting to think that the yeast flavor from kveik strains has much more to do with the hops in the brew than the yeast itself. I tasted a sample after 48 hours of fermentation and it had a distinctly tropical character to it. Used 100% Centennial hops in the brew which is slightly different than BM's recipe.. (I also pitched at around 106*F........ Not. A. Problem.)

I also brewed an Anchor Steam clone a while back using the same Voss and it had a noticeable soapy character, presumably from the Northern Brewer hops, that I didn't care for all that much. My hope was to get a little more fruit out of that brew than what ended up coming out.

We'll see if those characteristics fade over the course of the week and through bottling on the blonde.