^^ i use one of these, so i never swap out anything



also, i assume your blow-off tube ends in a beaker or something full of water to create an airlock?

7/15/2010 12:45:43 PM

Quote :

"Do any of you switch out the blow off for an air lock after a few days?"

yes. the blow-off tube is really only necessary the first 3-4 days of primary fermentation when the reactions are really strong and there is a ton of CO2 and Krausen getting produced. After that the reactions are still happening, but the by product is a lot less.

Airlock after that is all you'll need. ala

7/15/2010 12:52:23 PM

^^Yeah, I filled a gallon carboy with star san solution

7/15/2010 4:06:58 PM

i use vodka, you don't want to use a sanitizing agent because if it backflows it will kill the yeast, you want something sanitary, just not the sanitizing agent, purified water would work too assuming you use something to keep it airtight

[Edited on July 15, 2010 at 5:34 PM. Reason : .]

7/15/2010 5:33:33 PM

yeah, i just run the tube from the cap into 250mL beaker full of tap water that i took from ncsu a couple of years ago (it was set out in the hall for free, so it's not like i stole it)

7/15/2010 9:12:15 PM

any idea whether alcohol increases in any significant amount after bottling (considering the sugar primer)?

bottled my wyeast pale ale today over lunch and measured about 4.9% ABV (1.058 - 1.0215 * 131)

EDIT: actually, looks like the addition of sugar at bottling adds .3-.4% during conditioning (which makes sense, i suppose, given that it carbonates the bottle, which can only happen if it ferments)

so after conditioning, it's probably closer to 5.2-5.3%

woot

[Edited on July 19, 2010 at 2:06 PM. Reason : http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/does-alcohol-increase-during-bottle-conditioning-146189/]

7/19/2010 1:46:56 PM

the brew above and this one are the same recipe, but the one above used the wyeast strain

bottled my safale strain this morning: 1.054 - 1.01 * 131 = 5.8% for a total of 6.1-6.2% ABV

i'm not sure why i got different OG readings between the two carboys...i suppose i could have read it wrong, but even if i did, this is the lower of the two OG values and so this ABV is likely pretty accurate

crazy how the yeast strain can make a difference of 1+%

7/20/2010 8:27:16 AM

got a gallon batch of saison that's been sitting around in 90 degree heat while I was away on vacation

just hit it with a couple pounds of pureed peaches, will finish with a few sprigs of thyme for a few days, and see what happens

not sure how I'll bottle such a small batch - not really worth the trouble of a bottling bucket and all - maybe add the sugar to each bottle and siphon directly from the fermenter, and drink it quickly

7/21/2010 6:20:47 PM

what are some good hops for dry hopping? I need some good aroma hops. I've heard amarillo is always a good choice.

7/22/2010 9:15:27 AM

Centennial is good for aroma. I used them to dry hop an IPA once and everybody commented on the aroma specifically. Leave it in secondary ferment longer for extra win

7/22/2010 10:18:18 AM

^^ fuggle is extremely popular and i've actually used cascade

check out the beer advocate hop guide: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/101/hops

7/22/2010 10:50:26 AM

Simcoe hops

7/26/2010 8:50:26 AM

i've been completely obsessed with all grain lately. I've read through charlie papazian's book cover to cover in less than a week and have scoured the internets watching and reading everything i possibly can. I haven't had a hobby envelop me this way in a long time. I definitely plan to do an AG brew as soon as the season shifts into cooler temps.

7/27/2010 1:43:20 PM

3-weeks into the Saison and it's still cranking, the 3711 is a powerhouse, it's also cleared up a LOT.

On a side note, I've spent the summer visiting all the microbreweries in and around Denver, here's my list so far of visited:

Breweries:
-Great Divide
-Avery
-Twisted Pine
-Wynkoop
-Breckenridge

Brewpubs:
-Bull & Bush
-Vine St. & Mountain Sun (sister brewpubs)
-Rock Bottom (16th St)

Hopefully I can hit the Sandlot, Left Hand, Boulder Brewery, New Belgium and Oskar Blues in the near future.

7/27/2010 2:11:10 PM

^^ more power to you...my first brew was all-grain and while i like the purity associated with doing it all myself, it was a PITA compared to partial grain...i'll likely not do it again unless i have the proper (read: expensive) equipment

not to say you can't do it without the equipment, because you certainly can...but false bottoms and proper filtration makes a huge difference in the ease with which its done and the whopping $6 difference between AG and PG/extract isn't worth my time or the cost of the additional equipment

just my two cents, of course...like i said, i love the idea, not such a huge fan of the execution

7/27/2010 2:22:13 PM

^^yeah you definitely need to hit the rest of that list soon. I've read in numerous brewing publications that New Belgium has one of the best corporate cultures so i'm sure the brew tour experience is a fun one. Oskar Blues would be a lot of fun just to see a canning assembly line as opposed to bottles.



^ I can definitely see it being a PITA for a first batch. There are a lot of things not even related to the mash and sparge process that I didn't know or realize about the rest of the brew process 2-3 extract batches in. Adding grist, mash, and sparge to that can be intimidating.

7/27/2010 2:39:03 PM

Oh I guess I should also mention I got my tickets for the GABF in Sept.

462 breweries
2,238 beers

http://www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com/

7/27/2010 2:50:59 PM

wait, your saison has been fermenting for 3 weeks? it hasn't subsided?

7/27/2010 3:12:50 PM

95% has subsided, but beer never really stops fermenting until it's chilled. hence why I said it's cleared a lot, but it's still fermenting, it's more in the conditioning phase, I'll probably bottle it at the end of the week, down to about one bubble every 10-15 seconds which is more than I've ever had at 3 weeks. Most of my beers stop around 10-14 days and bubble once every minute or two.

[Edited on July 27, 2010 at 3:40 PM. Reason : .]

7/27/2010 3:39:41 PM

?

beer stops fermenting once all fermentable sugar has been consumed and the gravity ceases to drop, or the yeast craps out, whichever comes first

7/27/2010 5:36:58 PM

true it does, but so long as there's sugar it doesn't really stop. i guess what i mean is that in primary it stalls, not stops, then in conditioning it gets a small amount of new oxygen, then in bottling you add sugar which keeps it going until it runs out of sugar in the bottle, then it stops and then it spoils.

7/27/2010 7:28:00 PM

Hop Head Porter had a FG of 1.015 and an ABV of 4.8%. That hit right between the marks for both so we were happy. The dry hopped Simcoe hops gave it a much more woodsy aroma, which i knew going in. Some of the others present on bottling day I think expected something more floral.


I've somewhat realized going through this last brew process that this has really become my show with each person's, who was present and a part of the initial brewing session, interest waning with each following batch. Of the two who are still interested, one is moving away in two weeks and the other prefers to talk about what we are brewing instead of brewing it.

8/2/2010 2:24:25 PM

speaking of fermentation, subsiding, and chilling...walked into the room i'm storing my bottles in and noticed a fragrant aroma

BOTTLE BOMB!

sonofa...i KNEW i shouldn't have listened when my friend (who has significantly more experience brewing than i do) said "sure, 2 weeks is fine, i'm sure it's done, you can bottle)...i felt deep in my bones that another week would be a good idea, but did i listen to myself? of course not...i was as anxious to bottle as he was

what i don't get, though, is the bomb was a safale, which was at 1.01 at the time of bottling, which is certainly low enough to have thought it was finished...the wyeast was at 1.0215, so if either were going to explode, i'd have bet on that one

on a whim, i opened a bottle of safale while still at room temperature and poured it into a frosted glass...it definitely foamed out of the bottle, but the carbonation in the glass itself was as normal as anything else...'twas damn tasty

i cleared out the fridge (boy, my fiancée is going to be thrilled to come home and see half the fridge filled with bottles of beer ) and put as many bottles in as i could, which was most of them...it's my understanding that chilling stops fermentation (though it doesn't necessarily kill the yeast) and chilled beer has a greater capacity to hold CO2, so it should relieve some of the pressure

i have one bottle of the wyeast sitting out at room temperature, which i will pour after i finish mowing and see if it's as carbonated as the safale...i'm nervous about serving these to guests at my rehearsal dinner, since i don't want a bottle blowing up

8/2/2010 2:51:25 PM

Moved my "pumpkin" ale to secondary today. Had a FG of ~1.023. It smells fucking awesome. Going to skip the vanilla bean and just see how it plays out.

8/5/2010 4:53:00 PM

I bottled the Saison on Monday after 4 week in primary. OG 1.072. FG 1.010
Alcohol By Weight: 6.6 %
Alcohol By Volume: 8.3 %

8/5/2010 5:41:03 PM

Anyone ever use Polyclar?

8/5/2010 6:03:13 PM

Nope, only Irish Moss / Whirlfloc

8/5/2010 6:37:48 PM

actually bottled on 8/1/10.

8/13/2010 9:45:37 AM

a porter in a tulip, interesting.... j/k... i'll have to take a picture of my Saison tonight, it turned out perfect

8/13/2010 10:08:31 AM

heck yeah, that's actually the 30th anniversary glass for the Sierra Nevada Stout they made back in the winter/spring.


i used the tulip to really get a sense of how strong the dry hopped simcoe was. and it was very pleasant. Definitely proud of this beer even if it is an extract.

8/13/2010 10:25:32 AM

if it's an aromic dark beer i'd think it be a stout and less porter, i think of porters being more malt less hops, hence I'm teasing you about the glass. sounds good though, can you share the recipe?

also i'm looking for a good Brown Ale recipe, I could go either way, American-style (Avery Ellie's Brown) or Northern English style (Samuel Smith's Nut Brown).

[Edited on August 13, 2010 at 1:55 PM. Reason : .]

8/13/2010 1:39:58 PM

So GABF is around the corner....

Any good Southeast regional breweries I should hit? What's your favorite local/regional SE brewery?

My parents are coming to visit Colorado and while I know plenty of good breweries here I'm looking for some they can visit around Charlotte/NC/SC/GA area... Come to think of it, my aunt/uncle are coming too so if you know any in the MI/OH area too, let me know.

The one's that come to mind near northern OH would be Goose Island in Chicago and Great Lakes Brewing Co. in Cleveland. For Charlotte I'm thinking Carolina Beer (although only open Sat 12-3), Pisgah Brewing in Black Mountain, at least this is a list of my favorites in these areas.

8/26/2010 1:27:27 PM

so do you want smaller breweries or just breweries they can check out when they head back home? i ask because Bells is in Kalamazoo, MI and Founders is in Grand Rapids. Both great. And New Holland is up there too i believe.

Ohio has Hoppin' Frog, Thirsty Dog, and Great Lakes like you mentioned just to name a few

Then there are several like Terrapin and Sweetwater in GA, or if they wanted to visit an up and coming one they could check out Cigar City in Tampa, FL.

I honestly wouldn't waste much of my time with Carolina Brewing. I'd send them to western NC to check out the Asheville breweries. I won't list all of the NC brewery options, search for the Local Booze thread in the Lounge and you'll find everything you need.

8/26/2010 1:37:19 PM

^good recommendations, although I mentioned Carolina Beer (Moorseville, NC), not Carolina Brewery.

just any brewery that has a tap/tasting room and if they do tours even better. yea, Asheville does have a lot

[Edited on August 26, 2010 at 3:37 PM. Reason : .]

8/26/2010 3:36:41 PM

yeah, i meant carolina beer. I just wasn't too thrilled with the visit. though i do enjoy most of the Cottonwood offerings

8/26/2010 4:44:00 PM

ok, good to know, i too like the Cottonwood ales. have you been to Olde Mecklenburg Brewery?

8/26/2010 4:47:23 PM

surprisingly no. my friends and i always ask ourselves why we haven't yet. The brewery is just south of uptown so i imagine it'd be a fun thing to do one afternoon.

8/26/2010 4:55:40 PM

if you do let me know what you think.

i emailed them a couple weeks ago asking if they were coming to GABF, they said maybe next year.

8/26/2010 5:34:08 PM

I am a Craft Beer Drinker

http://www.craftbeer.com/pages/stories/videos/show?title=i-am-a-craft-beer-drinker

9/11/2010 1:49:02 AM

served the pale ale on friday night for our rehearsal dinner...apparently, 30 days in the fridge calmed it down and the beers were all "normal"...no fizzing, no more bottle bombs

and, i must say, the beer was VERY good...i definitely like the wyeast over the safale, but i'd happily drink the safale were it offered

9/12/2010 5:33:22 PM

^^i would love to know where those sexy craft beer babes hang out.

9/12/2010 8:21:30 PM

Going to crack a bottle of my Pumpkin Ale next week

9/15/2010 4:07:12 PM

I know it's not home brewing per say, but craft beer in general related.... (i'm still drinking my Saison homebrew too)

I got some premo beers in the fridge for this week leading up to Oktoberfest & GABF... some of the top beers in the world:

Russian River Pliny The Elder (#2 overall on BA) - Double IPA *rare*
Dupont Saisson (#7 in style on BA) - Saisson / Farmhouse Ale
Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier (#1 in style on BA) - Hefeweizen
Stone Levitation Ale (2007 Gold Medal at GABF) - American Amber/Red Ale

Also, Westword (Denver's version of Creative Loafing) listed 12 non-Colorado breweries to try, a couple nods to North Carolina, but not from where you'd expect: http://blogs.westword.com/cafesociety/2010/09/great_american_beer_festival_a.php

#7 - Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery, Farmville, North Carolina
#5 - Foothills Brewing, Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Denver added 100 new taps to craft beers downtown in the last six weeks!
http://blogs.westword.com/cafesociety/2010/09/denver_adds_nearly_100_craft_b.php

Another 136 new taps to beer coming w/ our own Yard House (yes, this will trump Falling Rock which only has 100)
THIS IS RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET FROM WHERE I WORK!

-

9/15/2010 4:28:41 PM

^fyi, the "this is the beer thread" in Chit Chat is almost solely devoted to craft beer. And gets a lot more activity than this one.

but fuck i envy where you live when it comes to beer.

9/15/2010 6:15:17 PM

ok cool thanks.

i'm still shopping for a good American Brown Ale recipe if y'all got any.... otherwise i'll make my own.

9/15/2010 10:05:56 PM

any tips or thoughts on a good holiday ale recipe? I think i'm ready to branch out a little bit.

9/16/2010 7:58:56 AM

It's extract, but it turned out pretty darn good last year:

Quote :

"Holiday Cheer Beer II 6 lbs. Light Malt Extract 1/2 lb. English Medium Crystal 1/4 lb. Victory 2 oz. Cascade Hops (60min.) 1/2 oz. Sterling Hops (5min.) 1 lb. Honey (5min.) 1/4 tsp. All Spice (5min.) 6 inch Cinnamon Stick (5min.) 1 oz. Sweet Orange Peel (5min.) 1 Vanilla Bean (Secondary) London Ale Yeast (WLP013 or WYEAST 1028)"

9/16/2010 11:43:14 AM

I've got a cascade vine in my backyard up in North Raleigh if anyone wants to come and pick some hops.

9/16/2010 12:18:41 PM

that does sound good Prospero!

9/16/2010 2:26:03 PM

i got the recipe from "The Brew Hut" they are partner homebrew store owned by the same people that own "Dry Dock Brewery", which won small brewery of the year last year at GABF

9/16/2010 5:02:04 PM