so after nearly 2 months in secondary, and a 24 day primary, bottled up my chocolate / serrano chilli porter last night.

drew a sample, and jesus christ it's amazing.

brewed up a holiday spice ale also.

6.6 lbs amber malt extract
3 lbs light dme
0.5 oz hallertauer (60 min)
3/4 lb honey (40)
6 fresh orange rhinds (40)
5 cinnamon sticks (40)
1 tspn cloves (40)
2 tspn allspice (40)
6oz fresh ginger (coarsely grated) (10)
0.5 oz hallertauer (5)

strained all the orange, cinnamon, ginger and as much of the cloves out as i could while putting in the bucket.

white labs german ale yeast

no specialty grains, 1.075 o.g.

i keep blasting up these high gravity brews. ehe


smelled glorious during the boil

[Edited on November 9, 2009 at 3:12 PM. Reason : e]

11/9/2009 3:09:05 PM

That ridiculously delicious recipe started the new page, so I'll repost from the last page:

When my wort chills, I end up with a lot of sediment at the bottom of the kettle. Do I want to stir the wort and pour it all into the carboy, or do I want to avoid pouring the sludge? I've always poured all of it in.

11/9/2009 4:46:47 PM

^I usually pour everything in. Its going to settle out in the carboy anyway, and probably has a lot of flavors in there.

11/9/2009 5:15:11 PM

I believe I've read somewhere that you ideally don't want to pour in the sludge from the bottom of the brew kettle, but I can't remember exactly why. In any case, I'm pretty sure it was followed up with, "but if you do pour some in it's really not a big deal." I think it mostly had to do with keeping remnants of the spent grain and the compounds they hold out of the fermenting beer. Sorry I couldn't give a more concrete answer.

11/9/2009 5:38:59 PM

Boone - the sediment or sludge you're referring to is called "trub" and should NOT be poured in to your primary fermenter. It can cause harsh flavors and/or bad head in your beer because it binds to the yeast cells and doesn't allow them to effectively do what they do.

Read more here (this is a very interesting read on the topic):
http://brewingtechniques.com/library/backissues/issue1.4/barchet.html

There are two ways I use to avoid getting trub in your fermenter. The article above has another suggestion which I have not tried, but may do once I step up to a larger system.

1st (assumes you're using finings, such as isinglass, whirfloc, or irish moss during the boil) - after the boil has completed, whirlpool your wort quickly by just spinning the wort with a big spoon or paddle, let it sit for 15-20 minutes - the trub will ideally form a cone in the center of the whirlpool at the bottom of the kettle and should settle properly in that 15-20 minutes - then just make sure you rack from the edge of the kettle.

2nd (just as easy, but more time consuming, and not always fool-proof) - once racking the wort and trub out of the kettle, allow it to sit covered, with airlock (prior to pitching the yeast) for 6-12 hours. The trub should settle at the bottom of the fermenter, then just rack off the good wort to your primary fermenter and pitch the yeast.

11/9/2009 8:05:13 PM

I usually just strain my wort with a fine meshed strainer I got from target.... Gets most everything including hop petals if your using plug/whole.

11/15/2009 5:47:30 PM

That's a really surprising answer. I can't wait to see what results doing it right yield.

11/15/2009 7:06:56 PM

Brewing class tonight...

http://www.facebook.com/#/event.php?eid=201423777753&index=1

Host: American Brewmaster
Type: Education - Class
Network: Global
Date: Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Time: 7:00pm - 9:15pm
Location: Tir-Na-Nog Irish Pub
Street: 218 S. Blount St.
City/Town: Raleigh, NC

Description: Come learn about the origins of American beer styles! We will delve into all styles that are considered to be American in both origin and technique and talk about the history of them and how to taste and brew them.

Styles like IPA, American Brown, California Common, and even some historical styles like Pennsylvania Swankey will be discussed. Expect an extensive tasting of these full-flavored American beers as well.

Our technical topic for this style class will be dry-hopping and how to add plenty of hop aroma and flavor to your brews.

Hope to see you there! It starts at 7pm sharp and tickets are $25 each.

11/17/2009 9:46:35 AM

Just started two batches... Pumpkin Ale from American Brewmasters, and a friend's custom Honey Ale recipe.

We've got a Porter kit we're going to do as well, so between the two of us we'll have fifteen gallons of tasty, tasty beer for Christmas.

11/19/2009 3:49:19 PM

Anyone doing hard cider?

I just got a gallon of organic cider (pasteurized, no preservatives, aka no potassium sorbate), added 1 gram of champagne yeast and a little yeast nutrient.

11/23/2009 11:08:46 AM

My wife has made cider. It was "eh." I've never had hard cider that wasn't, though.

It's as American as it gets, though!

http://www.slate.com/id/2231001/pagenum/all/



FTA:

Quote :

"George Washington brewed with inexpensive imported molasses, and Benjamin Franklin tried spruce. Others attempted pumpkin-, parsnip-, and corn-based beers."

11/23/2009 11:46:50 AM

so i bottled my two hearted ale clone last night. tasted ok flat, but i didnt get the ABV I was looking for. It came out a little light at 4.9%

11/23/2009 5:46:47 PM

just broke the 3 week mark after bottling my all-grain amber ale ... recipe started from something touted as a fat tire clone and modified slightly to drop the ibu's and darken it up a bit with a touch of special b malt and a little more caramel/crystal malt. i wanted something similar with the familiar biscuit/caramel taste. regarding hops, for bittering used northern brewer, aroma used williamette. used a white labs california ale yeast (wlp001).

came out pretty good, i think i could have really benefited from a secondary fermentation this time around. i ended up with a little more trub than i really wanted, and you can see it as the beer is a little cloudier than i'd like it to be. this batch was the first time i used regular cane sugar instead of corn sugar for priming, and like i've read, it didn't appear to make much difference (and is cheaper).

mouthfeel was definitely a little thicker than a fat tire and it ended up with some great head retention and nice lacing on the glass. definitely had a warm biscuit/malty taste to it.

can't wait to finish up my keggle by adding a valve and sight glass ... ended up siphoning from the brew kettle this time since i didn't have the valve yet.

11/23/2009 7:49:55 PM

Anywhere besides american brewmaster locally that'll sell a standard US keg faucet?

mine seems to be fux0red.

Need it by saturday, so online is out... not paying $20 for express shipping.

11/25/2009 4:42:36 PM

well, guess it's a little late now. i have one you could have used or had in exchange for ordering me a new one

anyways. any suggestions on a first beer for me to brew?

11/29/2009 7:08:21 PM

I'm brewing a Fat Tire clone at the moment. My parents gave me an outdoor burner/turkey fryer last week, so I'm doing my boil outdoors for the first time

11/29/2009 8:33:58 PM

Dammit...ran out of propane, lol. Had to transfer it back to the stove to finish boiling.

11/29/2009 9:47:48 PM

^^want to post that Fat Tire clone? I want to brew one tomorrow and give out as Christmas presents. I figure its a beer a lot of people can drink (ie-My dad, who's favorite beer is "Ying-len")

12/2/2009 11:13:43 PM

I got my recipe from the book "Clonebrews", but I think this recipe would be a little better than mine:

http://www.brewboard.com/index.php?showtopic=20726

12/3/2009 8:31:29 AM

getting equipment for going all grain and a wort chiller for christmas.

12/3/2009 9:01:26 AM

oh a wort chiller would be perfect for christmas!

12/3/2009 1:43:02 PM

The recipe I used is almost identical to the link posted, except for the replacement of special b for the special roast to add a little more of a caramel flavor. It turned out a little bit more flavorful than a fat tire. The reduction in hops was more because of buying hops in 1oz quantities and to drop the IBUs for the recipe a bit. Overall, a pretty solid tasting beer. It's mellowed out a bit more with time - I'm a little past 4 weeks now after bottling.

Grain
7.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3.0 SRM)
2.00 lb Amber Malt (22.0 SRM)
1.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM)
0.25 lb Special B Malt (180.0 SRM)
0.25 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM)
0.25 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM)

Hops
60 min 0.66 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] (60 min)
30 min 0.33 oz Williamette [5.50 %] (30 min)
15 min 0.33 oz Williamette [5.50 %] (15 min)
5 min 0.33 oz Williamette [5.50 %] (5 min)

Yeast
1 Pkg - California Ale (White Labs #WLP001)

Regarding buying a wort chiller - are you going for a plate chiller or a coil? If you're doing a coil, I found it pretty cheap to just build one. Came out to be about 45 bucks with fittings, hose, and the 50' copper (3/8"OD) ... you can go a bigger diameter and pump more water, but found the 3/8" to work pretty good in my setup.

12/3/2009 9:38:19 PM

hey pilgrimshoes, what kind of equipment are you getting? getting into all-grain is a pretty cheap endeavor if you're willing to build your own stuff...

12/3/2009 9:40:18 PM

yeah that's the plan.. basically listed off materials

12/3/2009 11:00:14 PM

^^^if you play your cards right, you can get one for the same price or even cheaper on ebay, including shipping costs

http://cgi.ebay.com/Awesome-hanging-wort-chiller_W0QQitemZ200399292270QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2ea8ba876e#ht_644wt_921

12/4/2009 1:04:37 AM

Bottled my Holiday brew last night.

What's the preferred length in primary/secondary? (I realize this depends on the brew, but are there limitations?)

I've always waited until primary slowed down sometimes up to 2-3 weeks before putting in secondary, then letting it set in secondary another 2-3 weeks before bottling when fermentation finally stops.

12/10/2009 3:05:04 PM

My pale ale turned out fairly wretched. It has a strong soapy flavor-- I'm assuming I left it in the primary for too long.

What are the odds of it getting better with further conditioning?

12/10/2009 3:46:02 PM

^i doubt it was from being in the primary too long. Brew Your Own did a study and found that, besides clarity, racking to the secondary doesnt make a whole lot of difference on taste. that doesn't mean i dont do it (i'm actually about to go rack my fat tire clone to secondary right now).

I would say give it a while to condition. My pale ale really improved with age.

12/10/2009 4:15:06 PM

My pale ale has sort of a burnt taste....I have problems with the malt caramelizing on the bottom of the pot....also with keeping the temperature at a constant 150degrees while steeping the grains.

I also racked my Fat Tire clone to a secondary 2 nights ago. I'll give it a few weeks and bottle. Should be good to drink by the new year!

[Edited on December 10, 2009 at 4:16 PM. Reason : .]

12/10/2009 4:15:24 PM

fixin' to bottle up that holiday ale at the top of the page, left it in a bit longer than anticipated, been busy.

hopefully it'll be ready for when i go home for christmas!

12/10/2009 6:50:36 PM

Prospero
"Preferred time" is a little suspect terminology - you need to watch the bubbling, but generally speaking you can safely do it in the times below based on different conditions...
Ale fermenting between 60-75 degrees:
Primary 7 days; secondary 3 to 7 days (longer if you used spices)
Lager:
Primary @ 48-60 degrees for 7-21 days
Secondary @ 38-50 degrees for 14 days to 2 months
Conditioning:
This can be done at room or lagering temperatures (ie: fridge temps), and it can be in the bottle or keg.
For normal beers: 1 week minimum for carbonation to occur, and you'll see a change in flavor/balance sometimes over the next 4-8 weeks depending on the style (sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes it's not, it just depends on what you're going for)
For spiced or high alcohol beers: I recommend 4 weeks minimum, and can last anywhere up to a year depending on the amount of spice or alcohol

Boone
It's likely your fermentation occurred at temps that were higher than the ideal range of the yeast (this just happened with one of my batches again)...that's diacetyl, which can clean up a little over time while conditioning in the bottle.

Once again, I agree with MovieGuru23, let it condition and taste a bottle once a week or every other week to see how it works out. You'd be surprised to see how well a beer can do after it's aged for a while.

Bobby Light
I assume you're still doing extract brewing (whether straight from the can or using liquid malt extract)?

If so, you need to make sure you are stirring the mixture (not violently, just constantly) while slowly adding all the LME - other wise it will stick to the bottom and it will burn, ruining the entire batch. It's critical you keep it moving after adding until all the LME has dissolved into the water.

For steeping grains, you should bring it to 150degrees, take it off the stove and wrap it in a handful of old towels, it might hold the temperature better. You really only need to hold it at 150 for 45 minutes to an hour, and adding a little heat to maintain the temp shouldn't be that difficult. Keep at it.

[Edited on December 10, 2009 at 7:22 PM. Reason : conditioning]

12/10/2009 7:18:54 PM

after tasting the new beer while bottling, i really wish i would have bottled up the holiday spice ale much much earlier and had been able to let it sit for like, 4 weeks instead of 2.

it's intense.

12/11/2009 11:01:26 AM

Quote :

"I decided to take the Goat Scrotum Ale recipe"

LOL

1/2/2010 1:37:42 AM

this sounds like something you have to really love doing, because it's sounds like a huge headache to try and undertake

1/2/2010 2:52:01 PM

Quote :

"try and"

1/2/2010 3:07:02 PM

just brewed last night for the first time, followed the recipe, not too complicated. I am brewing an american ipa kit from american brewmaster. I will be bottling from the fermenter. I have a few questions: what kind of bubbles am I looking for in the air lock? Also, directions say to let ferment for 3-7 days and bottle after hydrometer readings are the same two days in a row. How long should I leave aging in the bottles before drinking?

1/3/2010 11:38:12 AM

You should have a steady bubbling today. It will go down a little bit, but still be pretty aggressive over the next few days. I would let it stay in the fermenter for more than 3-7 days (i'm guessing you arent racking into a secondary). Bottle for at least 10 days before chilling. Do you have a 2nd bucket for bottling? If not, you are probably going to be getting a lot of the yeast byproduct when you bottle. If you didnt get one, I would highly recommend it. They are about 12-13 dollars at AB. Or, i would try and borrow one for your bottling. If you live in raleigh, I would be willing to lend you one for the day. Good luck on future brewing, and welcome to the thread!

1/3/2010 1:25:01 PM

I second the idea of getting a 2nd bucket for bottling.

You'll end up with MUCH less yeast, etc. in your bottles.

1/3/2010 5:30:22 PM

do you guys use a racking cane to siphon to the bottling bucket? i got the basic kit from AB where you bottle from the fermenting bucket and add a little bit of the sugar mixture per bottle before capping.

1/4/2010 6:09:12 PM

Do yourself a HUGE favor and dont add the sugar to each bottle. That's a definite waste of time and a pain in the ass.

I use an autosiphon (racking cane) to siphon from fermenter to my bottling bucket.

THEN I boil the half cup of corn sugar in about 8 ounces of water for about 10 minutes.

I add this hot sugary syrup to my bottling bucket and gently stir it, so as not to add air bubbles to the beer.

Then I bottle. This saves a lot of trouble and is what pretty much all homebrewers will tell you to do.



Sometimes, I'll add the syrup to my bottling bucket first, and then siphon my beer on top of that, to ensure that it gets a good mix. Havent had a problem either way though.

[Edited on January 4, 2010 at 6:18 PM. Reason : .]

1/4/2010 6:17:12 PM

So psyched to be going all grain this weekend. Probably going to do a Pale Ale or something else pretty simple. I think I managed to get my whole all grain setup for about $250!

1/13/2010 12:15:23 AM

I made a mash tun for an all-grain recipe out of a styrofoam cooler, some window screen mesh, and some poly tubing.

Poked some holes a the bottom of one side of the cooler, ran three pieces of tubing through, caulked the holes watertight, then cut a big piece of screen that covered the whole inside surface of the cooler. The tubing was long enough that I just ran it above the top of the cooler and taped it to the side to keep the fluid in, and when it came time to drain just took it and held the ends lower than the cooler. It seemed to work pretty well.


Maybe $10 all told.

1/13/2010 8:43:53 AM

yeah 250 is exorbitant

1/13/2010 10:05:22 AM

Well, when I say $250, I was talking about building a MLT, but also buying a 35 qt Stainless Steel pot, turkey cooker, propane tank, badass digital probe thermometer and a wort chiller.

1/13/2010 6:24:14 PM

My soapy-tasting pale ale is still soapy tasting after two or three months in the bottles.

Should I wait longer, or dump it in the sink?

1/13/2010 6:45:54 PM

My "Fat Tire" clone turned out wayyy too sweet. I dont think my yeast did very well....

1/13/2010 6:50:30 PM

Bobby Light, having fermentation temps too high could also cause it ... also, what was your final gravity?

regarding soapy tasting beer, how long did you leave it in fermentation? leaving it in well after it stops can lead to a breakdown of fats in the trub ... also, how did you clean/sanitize? after 2-3 months in the bottle, if the soapy taste hasn't mellowed out, it's probably not going to.

[Edited on January 13, 2010 at 7:34 PM. Reason : user]

1/13/2010 7:33:44 PM

If my second stage brew was 5G, would it make any difference if I used a 7.5G carboy as opposed to a 6G carboy

1/27/2010 10:43:03 AM

bttt.

i'm going with a friend of mine to pick up a kit this weekend. Has anyone ever been to/bought from Alternative Beverage in Charlotte? Their website is ebrew.com



also, any cons to setting everything up in an unheated garage? Only a few more weeks till spring so it shouldn't be too bad.

2/19/2010 10:36:18 AM

The south Blvd location or the Belmont location - i go to both, depends on where i am. But since I work uptown, i go to the South location. been there twice in the last two weeks.

It would be hard to maintain the fermenteing temperature in an unheated garage. I wouldnt recommend it unless the temperature is stable and the fermenting temps are low. You may want to see if it is at a stable temperature for a few days first.

2/19/2010 11:15:40 AM