i've never pitched that yeast, but i'm reading quite a few reviews of people saying they had the same experience.

I'd bet you're fine.

3/19/2011 10:21:12 PM

if it's a top cropping yeast it'll be a little slower to drop out. You can proceed with your next step or give it another couple days. as long as your temps are consistent waiting will only improve your beer, it won't hurt. My hefe with Wyeast 1010 had a huge top crop that is just finally starting to settle. My SG has been consistent but im going to give it another day or two to let the top dissipate and then rack to secondary.


also, you can store your bottled california common at room temp. You do not have to maintain lager temps

3/20/2011 3:09:32 PM

for those of you who ordered the Austin Homebrew $20 kits i posted, do they come with a fining such as irish moss or whirlfloc?

3/22/2011 1:49:38 PM

My kits are supposed to be delivered tomorrow. I was wondering this myself.

3/22/2011 2:00:55 PM

I PM'd the guy via Homebrew Talk, so i will copy his response when I get one.

EDIT. his response:

Quote :

"All of our kits do not come with irish moss or whirlfloc automatically."

I plan to do the 20th anniversary IPA, ordered a few more ounces of cascade and falconer's flight to dry hop it and think I'm going to try AHS's Greenbelt yeast.

3/22/2011 2:45:37 PM

going to run by the homebrew store today and grab another carboy and also stop and get a stainless steel strainer. i need to clear up the beer before i put it into oak aging. the beer seems to have lots of junk suspended in the carboy due to its high specific gravity.

i plan on using the strainer into tertiary, and then cold crashing it after aging it and before bottling.

anyone have a better idea to clear up the beer? i know a lot of people use gelatin, however i am unfamiliar with doing so.

3/22/2011 2:51:17 PM

why not just cold crash in it's current state? adding a strainer will aerate/oxidate the beer which you absolutely do not want. and that and a tertiary leave the beer open for more chances of infection.


need to decide...
english brown or amber ale?

3/22/2011 2:54:51 PM

is it not possible to strain it when putting into secondary without oxidation occuring? i was thinking i could do this carefully...

3/22/2011 3:16:58 PM

3^^i'd do english brown, save the amber for closer to summer

^oxidation is rare, it takes a lot of specifics to occur, and since the yeast is active and with a high-pitch rate and high gravity, the risk is very low.

i wouldn't use a strainer per say, but i'd use a filter on a funnel, this allows a gentler flow of the wort, pouring into the funnel, then just letting it gravity flow through the filter in the funnel vs. pouring directly on a strainer.

be patient, i wouldn't cold crash now as you are introducing oak into the beer for aging, you want to cold crash it before bottling. just wait to do it then to ensure the best clarity. it may be hazy for a while longer, but it will clear. you'll need to wait a week for cold-crashing to obtain the best clarity.

[Edited on March 22, 2011 at 3:26 PM. Reason : .]

3/22/2011 3:19:44 PM

i could use 1 or 2 coffee filters in my funnel...i may do that

^yea, im not cold crashing until im ready to bottle

[Edited on March 22, 2011 at 3:28 PM. Reason : .]

3/22/2011 3:28:12 PM

whatever you use will need to be sanitized, not sure a coffee filter would work, and considering how long it takes to strain 12 cups of coffee, that could take FOREVER! that also may be too fine of a filtration...

i'd say if the strainer is the only method, just pour extremely slowly over it.

[Edited on March 22, 2011 at 3:32 PM. Reason : sanitized, not sterile]

3/22/2011 3:30:36 PM

hmmmmmm....

well i was considering sanitizing the coffee filters by soaking them in the sanitation bath and then rinsing them. could be more trouble than its worth. i just dont want to carry over a bunch of junk into secondary and have off-flavors as a result of aging. i may just be worrying too much.


update: im not filtering it. i dont want to take away from the flavor of the beer. it will clear up if i am patient. also dont want to filter out yeast necessary to carb it.

glad i could talk it out on TWW hahah


update 2: now that i think about it, i dont see any reason that i even need to go get another carboy. I can soak the oak chips in bourbon and add them to primary just the same. no transfer hassle, no risk, and then i can cold crash from there before bottling.

if i decide i want to do another brew, i'll get another carboy. but I plan on letting this puppy hang out for at least a month and a half.

[Edited on March 22, 2011 at 3:56 PM. Reason : .]

3/22/2011 3:36:07 PM

Jeepin - maybe it's early but i'd go for the amber ale. Here's a pic of mine taken last week. It only lasted 2 weeks in the keggerator, i may have a drinking problem It's the northern brewer extract kit and it really turned out delicious. The only things i changed from the recipe was boiling a bit over 6 gallons instead of just 2.5 and added a week of cold conditioning.



With regards to the funnel strainer discussions, i've started to really hate mine. The mesh is so fine it really catches everything. That's great for clarifying the beer i guess, but it's always super tedius because you often end up pouring out a gallon and having to stop, clean the filter in sanitizer, and go at it again. It's doable but just tedius, i'm going to get a stainless strainer myself just to grab the big stuff from here on out. I don't mind a few floaties.

On another note, I've got the northern brewer kolsch and sinistral warrior ipa ale kit beers sitting in primary right now, the IPA smells pretty good but the kolsch smells... interesting. I'm wondering if fermenting 8 degrees higher than recommended is going to be responsible for quite a few off flavors on this one. I've also got all grain pilsner lager in secondary. Waiting is hard sometimes...

[Edited on March 23, 2011 at 8:23 PM. Reason : .]

3/23/2011 8:23:16 PM

SoundBoy4, nice picture, but you need to just link to it or use another provider, all I ever see is the frog in an ice cube saying "This domain violates ImageShack's TOS"

With regards to the strainer, I just throw in a spatula in sanitizer along with everything else and just occasionally scrap the hops off to the side when pouring into the primary, works wonders and flows just fine after that when transferring into secondary, etc.

3/24/2011 1:04:38 AM

Picture shows up perfectly for me...just sayin'.

3/24/2011 2:02:18 AM

Quote :

"Picture shows up perfectly for me...just sayin'. "

and it's a gorgeous beer on top of that.




racked my hefe onto a bed of peach puree tuesday night. fermentation kicked back up again. This thing has already dropped from 1054 to 1011 and this might make it drop another point or two. Planning to only keep it on the puree for about 10 days before bottling. I only want it to impart a hint of peach.

3/24/2011 8:02:26 AM

Racking my porter onto vanilla beans that have been soaking in bourbon later today. Will probably let it sit in secondary for a couple weeks, then kegging it up. I'm really excited about this one.

[Edited on March 24, 2011 at 8:21 AM. Reason : f]

3/24/2011 8:21:14 AM

how many vanilla beans did you use? I brewed a christmas spiced ale last winter and only used 1 and it imparted a faint aroma and very little taste. that's what i wanted for this particular beer, but if you want a true vanilla porter you may need more.

3/24/2011 8:36:00 AM

Split and scraped 3 madagascar beans, should do the trick

I'm even considering adding some powdered extract when I keg... don't want to over do it though. I'll be tasting it frequently while it's in secondary

3/24/2011 10:03:56 AM

Can you post the recipe? I'm always looking for good recipes.

3/24/2011 12:34:16 PM

sure, this was ripped from a thread on homebrewtalk.com. It's a fairly old and popular recipe:

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056)
Batch Size (Gallons): 5.5
Original Gravity: 1.078
Final Gravity: 1.018
IBU: 32
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Color: 30.8 SRM

Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU
11.00 lb Brewers Malt 2-Row (Briess) (1.8 SRM) Grain 64.7 %
2.50 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 14.7 %
1.50 lb Brown Malt (65.0 SRM) Grain 8.8 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 5.9 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 2.9 %
0.50 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 2.9 %
0.75 oz Magnum [14.00%] (60 min) Hops 29.1 IBU
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00%] (10 min) Hops 5.0 IBU
2.00 items Vanilla Bean (Secondary 14.0 days) Misc
1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) Yeast-Ale


Mash Profile
Name: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge
Mash Grain Weight: 17.00 lb
Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F
Sparge Water: 3.6 gal

Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Mash In Add 21.25 qt of water at 161.4 F 150.0 F 75 min

Notes:
After primary, slit open 2 vanilla beans. Scrape the insides, chop the pods into quarters, add to secondary fermenter, rack beer onto vanilla. Taste periodically for the correct balance.

Rack to bottling bucket and add 1.5-2.5 oz/gal of Maker's Mark (to your taste). Original recipe called for 10 ml/pint.



I'm probably going to be skipping the bourbon, though I have been soaking the beans in a minimal amount for a few days now.

[Edited on March 24, 2011 at 12:50 PM. Reason : xs]

3/24/2011 12:49:35 PM

today's groupon in Greensboro!

$25 for $50 worth of homebrew supplies

http://www.groupon.com/deals/fifth-season-gardening-greensboro?post_purchase=true

3/25/2011 8:27:21 AM

^nice, wish i was in G'boro more often.



well i was hoping my AHS order would have been delivered today but the damn thing hasn't even shipped! There goes my hopes to brew another batch this weekend. Guess i'll start packing instead.

3/25/2011 9:59:10 AM

i got mine "overnight", with the free shipping

granted i live like <200 miles from austin though

although ups pissed me off, hence the "overnight"

it shipped on monday, and was to be delivered tuesday. ups online tracking showed it as having been delivered at 730pm, but no package.

wednesday morning, i put out the sprinklers to water the grass in the front yard. when i went out to turn off the water, there was the box, in the front door alcove.

only got a little wet, and after inspection everything seemed fine and couldnt find any indications of puncture in the vacuum bags the grains were in, so i think we're good.

but srsly, put the box like 12 inches deeper in the alcove and there was no chance of it getting wet. and i still think it was probably delivered to the wrong house. idk.

[Edited on March 25, 2011 at 10:16 AM. Reason : going to brew the blonde rye and the wit this weekend i think]

3/25/2011 10:12:07 AM

jesus, i really want to post the inside sales meme on this thread....

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/bell-s-brewery-sends-cease-desist-letter-northern-brewer-234393/index2.html#post2769732

3/25/2011 10:32:56 AM

I really really want to start homebrewing

should I pull the trigger on the groupon?

and should I bottle or keg the beer that I make?

3/25/2011 10:57:55 AM

Not homebrew releated, but twice already this year.

Dry Dock changing "Seven Seas" name...
http://beernews.org/2011/03/disputes-arise-over-dry-dock-epic-labels/

Oskar Blues changing "Gordon" name... (after 7 years)
http://beernews.org/2011/01/gordon-biersch-clobbers-oskar-blues-for-using-gordon/

^^depends if you want to share

[Edited on March 25, 2011 at 11:21 AM. Reason : ,]

3/25/2011 11:19:21 AM

I'm brewing the AHS 20th Anniversary Hefeweisen at the moment. Even though i'm committed to all-grain brewing, I got the extract hefeweisen kit just so I could brew this quickly and get it in the fermenter. This should be a great warm weather beer!

3/25/2011 2:46:09 PM

Brewing the Black IPA recipe I posted earlier tomorrow.

Probably a hefeweizen or belgian wit in 2 weeks.

3/25/2011 3:26:37 PM

Quote :

"I really really want to start homebrewing should I pull the trigger on the groupon? and should I bottle or keg the beer that I make? "

Not sure what they sell, but i'd personally recommend getting a nice starter kit with or without the groupon. You can order some nice kits from tons of sites, morebeer.com and northernbrewer.com have been pretty good to me. I really like the starter kits with glass carboys instead of the buckets so you can see what your beer is doing and it's arguably better for flavor, but a bit more expensive.

Bottling is a bit more of a pain since there is a lot of cleaning and sanitizing to do, but is the cheapest. If you've got a spare fridge or keggerator already then may as well start kegging.





Question:
My Kolsch is fermenting at 70 degrees and wyeast recommended something like 54-64 max. the beer is starting to smell juuuuust a little bit off after a week in primary. Do any of you guys have any experience making a kolsch? Is this beer doomed to have an off flavor/smell or is that how it's supposed to be?

3/25/2011 6:35:49 PM

did it ferment the entire time at 70? Referencing BCP real fast it appears that Kolschs have to be fermented in the 58-60 range to minimize the amount of fruity esters produced my the yeast. In fact, it states a good Kolsch needs roughly 4 weeks sitting at those lagering temps. Fruity or sulfur type esters may be present due to cold fermentation but must be very minimal to maintain style guidelines.


I've never brewed a Kolsch, but it sounds like there may be some unwanted flavors present due to the high ferm temps. I wouldn't dump it, but may want to think about adding some fruit or something to "save" it if the taste isn't what you're wanting.

3/25/2011 8:12:06 PM

Yeah it's been hovering beteen 68 and 72 degrees for the last week in primary. The smell just had a tiny sulfury hint in it but it's actually gotten a bit better. I'll take an SG reading before racking and i'll taste it, if it tastes off i'll definitely consider adding something to secondary to save the beer though, good call i hadn't considered that.

3/26/2011 4:40:58 PM

*question*

I brewed the extract AHS Hefeweisen kit on friday. Pitched Wyeast 3056 (64-74 degree temp range). I got tons of airlock activity yesterday, and it's still going fairly strong today, but I just checked the temperature and it's sitting right at 62 degrees. A bit lower than I expected it to be. There's still tons of krausen on top and good airlock activity (bubbling every 2-3 seconds)

I took the carboy out of the water bath, hopefully raising the temp to about 64-65 degrees. Should I consider stirring the yeast up in case they have begun to go dormant in the low temps? Or is it likely that they're still going strong and will be fine once the temp raises a few degrees?

I'd really like to keep the temps at the low end of the range to avoid a banana flavor. Not a huge fan of that and would rather have spicy notes.

[Edited on March 28, 2011 at 3:41 AM. Reason : .]

3/28/2011 3:39:57 AM

I say let it ride. The yeast activity probably has the wort ~2 degrees warmer at it's core. but warming another degree or two won't hurt. I think I kept mine in the 64-66 range via my fermometer, and now have it at 66-68 in secondary over fruit.

3/28/2011 8:18:57 AM

Quote :

"My Kolsch is fermenting at 70 degrees and wyeast recommended something like 54-64 max. the beer is starting to smell juuuuust a little bit off after a week in primary. Do any of you guys have any experience making a kolsch? Is this beer doomed to have an off flavor/smell or is that how it's supposed to be?"

I did a lager recently that fermented in the mid-to-high 60's (didn't have a system for temperature control, really). It smelled horrid (sulfur), and I never did get it to clean up even after lagering at 40 degrees for almost 2 months. Tastes fine, mind you, but it still smells. I'm now using a dorm fridge on a timer when I use lager yeast.

3/28/2011 9:02:09 AM

Was anyone else at the All-Grain brewing class this past weekend that was put on by American Brewmaster?

3/28/2011 10:44:04 AM

Quote :

"I did a lager recently that fermented in the mid-to-high 60's (didn't have a system for temperature control, really). It smelled horrid (sulfur), and I never did get it to clean up even after lagering at 40 degrees for almost 2 months. Tastes fine, mind you, but it still smells. I'm now using a dorm fridge on a timer when I use lager yeast."

Thanks for sharing that, glad i'm not the only one with a kolsch that smelled like a fart. I'll admit after one week it actually smells a TON better. i'm hoping most if not all will go away after conditioning, we'll see.

3/28/2011 8:37:40 PM

Black IPA steeping:

3/28/2011 11:20:43 PM

is this a mini-mash recipe?

3/29/2011 8:30:28 AM

Yea, that's pretty much all I do are partial mash recipes.

3/29/2011 10:57:26 AM

i did my first partial mash this past weekend and it was a good experience.

i dont think ill do full extract again.

just a tun short of a full grain setup, but for some reason the transition makes me anxious.

ahs blonde rye is bubblin' away.

3/29/2011 11:46:29 AM

So do you just use a big kettle and put some insulation on it for the partial mash kits?

3/29/2011 4:55:10 PM

Pretty much, except you don't really need to as most (95%) of the sugar is coming from the extract anyhow (particularly in a Black Ale), it's really just important in wheat or pale lagers where there's a high-level of base grains and no steeping grains to add texture and color. If you don't do a partial-mash with pilsners & wheats, it's pretty much all extract and tastes.... well like syrup.

10k post!

[Edited on March 29, 2011 at 5:11 PM. Reason : .]

3/29/2011 5:09:18 PM

Brewed up the AHS 20th Anniversary IPA last night. Pretty psyched, as it's my first IPA (even though IPAs are one of my favs).
I've never tried a black IPA... might have to add that to the list.

I decided during my brew session last night that I need to upgrade my chilling and filtering mechanisms. Right now I'm just using a paint strainer type mesh to filter (fits around my 5 gallon bucket). It works just fine, but it's a PITA to clean. Any better alternatives? Also, my fridge does not make enough ice for an effective ice bath (takes me about 30 minutes to cool a partial boil), so what's everyone thoughts on that? Plate/immersion chiller? My kitchen faucet is one of those pull-down types, so I don't think I can hook it up to one of those, and I'm not too keen on taking this operation outside.

[Edited on March 30, 2011 at 8:02 AM. Reason : f]

3/30/2011 7:59:45 AM

man, taking my operation outside has been one of the best things ever. No more sweating around the hot stove. I have an immersion chiller i hook up to my hose and can cool down to around 80-90 in about 10 minutes. I plan to add a second leg to that when i move to full boils and have one IC in an icebath and another in the wort to cool down much faster. not to mention the outdoor burner heats so much faster.


If you want to stay indoors the only real option you may have is to plan ahead and buy 3-4 bags of ice on brew day.

PS, how are those Falconer's Flight hops that came with the IPA? I bought more to dry hop when mine comes in but have no idea how they smell. I know they're a hybrid of some NW hops like cascade, chinook, and simcoe.

3/30/2011 8:45:49 AM

no deep sink? i just use the deep side of my sink, it's big enough for the brew kettle, and use 4 (6lbs) bags of ice and some water to help cool, and only takes 15 min. max for an ice bath to cool 3.5 gal of wort, then i pour into primary and add purified water to it to the 5 gal mark.

[Edited on March 30, 2011 at 11:00 AM. Reason : .]

3/30/2011 10:59:39 AM

Yea, I've got a deep enough sink. I was just hoping I could avoid having to plan ahead (buy extra ice), but I guess that's really my only option short of taking it outside. Is there any reason I shouldn't mix cold water directly into the wort to help cool it down some? I've thought about doing it, just didn't know if there would be any downsides.

The Falconer's Flight hops smelled pretty damn good.. Don't know what else to say, really... I just got into this hobby and by no means am I a hop connoisseur. I'll let you know how they taste in a few weeks

As far as filtering mechanisms, is there anything that's easier to clean than what I'm using? I'm thinking someone has to make a plastic/stainless steel strainer that fits on those 5 gallon buckets, no?

[Edited on March 30, 2011 at 1:02 PM. Reason : d]

3/30/2011 1:00:26 PM

The problem with adding cold water is that it's too difficult to calculate the amount of water you need vs. the amount of temperature it's going to change. I wasn't suggesting adding cold water to cool the wort, I add water to the ice in the ice bath (to make an ice/water bath) around the brew kettle to help the surface area on the exterior of the pot. I have a conv. store like a block away so I just go get the bags of ice during the boil while my friend watches the wort. The 1.5 gallon of water I add to the wort is room-temperature purified water.


[Edited on March 30, 2011 at 1:17 PM. Reason : .]

3/30/2011 1:13:11 PM

Yea I understood you, that's what I'm currently doing. The idea just occurred to me while I was doing that... Why not use a little of that cold water to cool the wort directly. I don't think I could physically put enough in there to drop it below 80 anyway. I just use tap water so it only comes out so cold.

[Edited on March 30, 2011 at 1:16 PM. Reason : d]

3/30/2011 1:15:17 PM

Quote :

"Why not use a little of that cold water to cool the wort directly."

because it's not purified. the point at which it's cooled to 70'F until the point in which the yeast has started aggressively fermenting is the most critical stage to keep the beer free of containments and the lowest amount of air as other yeast and/or bacteria could take over.

some cities have chlorine in their tap water, if you don't boil off the chlorine, you risk killing the yeast you pitch, if you fill with tap water.

[Edited on March 30, 2011 at 1:20 PM. Reason : .]

3/30/2011 1:17:46 PM