You guys lied to me..........

[HBKidJr]

All this time I've heard about how important sanitation is, and how your beer can become infected. I've even posted the typical newbie questions showing concern for my batches. You guys lied to me!

No, actually I'm just really lucky...two beers ago, my immersion chiller basically fell apart in my wort. Hoses came off, water from the unsanitized inside went into the beer. Thought it was surely a goner. It wasn't. It turned out to be a terrific brown ale. Finished a new beer Saturday night and had about three drops of water from an "unwanted source" fell into the wort. With my luck, that'll be what infects the beer.

On another note, I stopped brewing for a while because all my beers tasted the same. My first brew was an imperial IPA, second was a cranberry cream ale, third was a kolsch; they all tasted nearly the same with subtle differences (mainly hops). I asked you guys what the problem could be, and none of us came up with definitive resolutions.

I lost interest. A few months ago though, I moved from my stove to an outdoor propane cooker and achieved a "rolling boil", and it appears to be what was missing. My comeback beer was an Irish ale, and it was absolutely fantastic. I'm addicted to brewing again, and I'm even working up a recipe to serve at my wedding. That'll be a difficult task; alot of people there don't like beer. So any suggestions are more than welcome on what I should make. I'm leaning toward an easy going fruit wheat beer.

Thanks again guys!

 

[ericbw]

All this time I've heard about how important sanitation is, and how your beer can become infected. I've even posted the typical newbie questions showing concern for my batches. You guys lied to me!

No, actually I'm just really lucky...two beers ago, my immersion chiller basically fell apart in my wort. Hoses came off, water from the unsanitized inside went into the beer. Thought it was surely a goner. It wasn't. It turned out to be a terrific brown ale. Finished a new beer Saturday night and had about three drops of water from an "unwanted source" fell into the wort. With my luck, that'll be what infects the beer.

On another note, I stopped brewing for a while because all my beers tasted the same. My first brew was an imperial IPA, second was a cranberry cream ale, third was a kolsch; they all tasted nearly the same with subtle differences (mainly hops). I asked you guys what the problem could be, and none of us came up with definitive resolutions.

I lost interest. A few months ago though, I moved from my stove to an outdoor propane cooker and achieved a "rolling boil", and it appears to be what was missing. My comeback beer was an Irish ale, and it was absolutely fantastic. I'm addicted to brewing again, and I'm even working up a recipe to serve at my wedding. That'll be a difficult task; alot of people there don't like beer. So any suggestions are more than welcome on what I should make. I'm leaning toward an easy going fruit wheat beer.

Thanks again guys!

Beer only gets infected if there is something to infect it. So even unsanitized stuff might not have anything in it that will take over. The other good thing is that if you pitch enough yeast and it takes off, other things that might have grown end up dying off.

It's best to sanitize, but sometimes it doesn't make a difference. Last batch, I cleaned my fermenter but forgot to sanitize. It's in bottles now, but it was fine when it came out of the fermenter. Hopefully nothing got in the bottles.

I think a fruit wheat is a great choice for a summer wedding, especially among non-beer drinkers. Blueberry or raspberry are good choices.

Do you do all grain or extract?

 

[HBKidJr]

I'm doing partial mash and extract. I haven't quite worked up the bravery to attempt an all grain.

 

[fuzzy2133]

Do not let the grain scare you. If you are partial mashing you are not far from all grain. Could even keep the extract on hand if a brew needs a bit of a boost.

 

[MarshmallowBlue]

Also don't forget that any infection that may have gotten in, could have been beat out by alcoholic fermentation, or is only growing so slowly and wouldn't show up unless it was a beer that you'd be aging like a barleywine or RIS.

 

[hunter_le five]

When I first started brewing I "cleaned" everything, but did not "sanitize" anything (I was a dummy and did not really grasp the distinction on my cleaning chemicals). I was fortunate to never have an infection. My point is that just because you don't sanitize or you allow something unsanitary to contact the wort does not necessarily mean you WILL get an infection - you've just increased the odds of an infection occurring dramatically.

I've also had the occasional incident where things unsanitized things fell in the wort or a chiller sprang a leak and dumped unboiled water into wort.... still no infections, but man was I nervous about it.

I have long since changed my practices to include rigorous sanitation for anything that contacts the wort. Just because it hasn't happened to me yet, doesn't mean it won't eventually, and $0.50 worth of Star San is worth putting the odds in my favor and not putting $20-$40 worth of ingredients in jeopardy.

 

[G3RG]

I'm doing partial mash and extract. I haven't quite worked up the bravery to attempt an all grain.

If you're partial mashing, you already know how to BIAB (brew in a bag). I'd recommend playing around with BIAB before buying any expensive equipment.

 

[Summerland]

I agree on everything said, and do find that wheat beers are my go-to for non beer loving folks. There is a Kiwi Wit recipe in the book Extreme Brewing, and it is perfect for summer evenings.

 

[AnOldUR]

The other good thing is that if you pitch enough yeast and it takes off, other things that might have grown end up dying off.

Possible, but the other scenario is that they survive but are beaten to the sugars by the Saccharomyces. The trouble with this is that beer yeast will not consume all the sugars. We want some to remain to balance the beer. Wild yeast can slowly eat through them leaving you with gushers or bottle bombs down the road.

The takeaway, drink your beer!

 

[ericbw]

I think if you follow any basic wheat recipe, you can add the fruit you want and you'll have what you're looking for. If it's extract, just use wheat LME/DME, and steep some crystal. I think the caramel flavor goes with the fruitiness, along with more body. It might also appeal to the non-beer drinkers more.

You could also try a hard lemonade - there are some recipes here. Basically a light beer with lemonade added.

 

[fuelish]

I think a fruit wheat is a great choice for a summer wedding, especially among non-beer drinkers. Blueberry or raspberry are good choices.

Or cranberry

 

[ericbw]

Or cranberry

Brooklyn Brew Shop has a cranberry wheat that could be scaled up.

 

[BigFloyd]

I'm even working up a recipe to serve at my wedding. That'll be a difficult task; alot of people there don't like beer. So any suggestions are more than welcome on what I should make. I'm leaning toward an easy going fruit wheat beer.

Thanks again guys!

Make a cider. Lots of folks (especially of the female variety) that don't care much for beer love a good cider. They're also ridiculously easy to make. 5 gallons of Mott's apple juice from Walmart, 2lbs table sugar, yeast nutrient and a packet of Nottingham (rehydrated).

Check out this thread - https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/caramel-apple-hard-cider-292770/ I do mine with 3 cans of frozen concentrate on the back end (after a one-week cold crash and hitting it with potassium sorbate) and the stovetop caramel syrup. It's excellent served "still" (not carbonated).

 

[RussPDX]

You are getting married...dude...buy the beer or get a beer geek friend to brew it for you. Last thing to want to worry about on that day is the clarity or carbonation of your homebrew......just my 2cents, but if you are a glutton.....then maybe a golden with some fruit in secondary?


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

 

[fuzzy2133]

You are getting married...dude...buy the beer or get a beer geek friend to brew it for you. Last thing to want to worry about on that day is the clarity or carbonation of your homebrew......just my 2cents, but if you are a glutton.....then maybe a golden with some fruit in secondary?

Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

+1 Enjoy the day and let the bar staff worry about serving beer.
Wedding day: Stay sober for the ceremony (seen too many get cold feet drinking too early), get buzzed at the party, sober up (if driving to hotel) and enjoy the wedding night/morning.

 

[HBKidJr]

+1 Enjoy the day and let the bar staff worry about serving beer.
Wedding day: Stay sober for the ceremony (seen too many get cold feet drinking too early), get buzzed at the party, sober up (if driving to hotel) and enjoy the wedding night/morning.

Haha, yeah, I get what you're saying. It's more of a celebration type thing for myself and to my groomsmen. And my best man, who helps me when I brew, isn't exactly..experienced...enough for me to say "Here, take the reigns and make everybody a good beer." The bar will still be open to anybody else.

But yeah, I'll be sober for the wedding day, and I've already decided I'm not the young man I once was; I can't drink all night and wake up the next day and go have a big, greasy plate from Huddle House. The bachelor party will be two nights before.

I like the cider idea BigFloyd mentioned. I may make a 2.5 gallon batch of that for people who don't want the beer and a 2.5 gallon batch of beer for people that want beer.

The kiwi wit any good? I love me some kiwi, but I'm not sure how well the liquid form would go over.

I'm pretty anal about my cleanliness and sanitation. It's when something unexpected happens that I even consider my brew may end up infected, such as the exploding chiller.

Thanks for all the replies so far!

 

[MarshmallowBlue]

+1 Enjoy the day and let the bar staff worry about serving beer.
Wedding day: Stay sober for the ceremony (seen too many get cold feet drinking too early), get buzzed at the party, sober up (if driving to hotel) and enjoy the wedding night/morning.

Before my ceremony, I split a 750 of Oude Geuz with 2 other people. I agree that you should pace yourself and really not go beyond that line for your wedding. Let the guests make asses of themselves and not vice versa, (but that also doesn't mean you cant have fun

I was pretty nervous through most of the night anyways so I think it helped me at least feel sober. In fact I didn't even get sick from drinking a bunch of mixed drinks, wine, more mixed drinks, and chimays to finish the night off.

Have fun and congrats by the way.

 

[frankjones]

When I was bottling my last batch I saw a dog hair in the bucket and couldn't get it out. Tried to catch in a specific bottle... I did then set it on the table next to the rest meaning to dump it and forgot. I wonder who drank the dig hair beer? Lol

 

[HBKidJr]

I was pretty nervous through most of the night anyways so I think it helped me at least feel sober. In fact I didn't even get sick from drinking a bunch of mixed drinks, wine, more mixed drinks, and chimays to finish the night off.

Have fun and congrats by the way.

Oh my god if I made an evening of wine and mixed drinks, I wouldn't be able to show up until the week after.

We're getting married on the beach. I've seen way too many people get stressed out over what they're wearing, what the venue looks like, what their hair looks like. Not us. We decided a long time ago we weren't going through that. I'm standing on the beach, barefoot, with my best man to the left (honorary groomsmen nearby), and she's walking out. Boom. Done. Let mother nature decorate the venue. It's kinda funny, people keep asking "What about rehearsal?" or "What do I need to wear?" My responses are "No." and "Don't be naked."

 

[HBKidJr]

When I was bottling my last batch I saw a dog hair in the bucket and couldn't get it out. Tried to catch in a specific bottle... I did then set it on the table next to the rest meaning to dump it and forgot. I wonder who drank the dig hair beer? Lol

I've got two cats. I know that feeling. My thinking is that if it makes it through the fermentation, makes it through my siphon, makes it through my bottle filler, and makes into a glass, it deserved its fate.

 

[k1ngl1ves]

Damn. We were all hoping you'd quit brewing so we could buy your equipment cheap!!!

 

[hunter_le five]

*unnecessary bump, because HBT keeps telling me there are new posts in this thread when in fact there are not*

 

[HBKidJr]

Damn. We were all hoping you'd quit brewing so we could buy your equipment cheap!!!

Haha, no such luck. Only expanding from here.