FrankRizzo Posted March 28, 2008 Posted March 28, 2008 There's a product you can buy called Fermcap-S that controls foaming and lets you boil and and ferment in tight containers without making a mess. It's ~$5-6 for a few ounces, but you only use a few drops per 5gal. I've heard that it's great stuff and doesn't give any problems with head retention after fermentation has finished...in fact, it supposedly helps. I've been meaning to pick-up a bottle and try it out. Email away, man! I'd love to have your recipes. I'll send you mine too. Now, if only we could email an actual bottle... EDIT: I just noticed that Beer Smith and ProMash have slightly different pppG values for some of the base malts, and they also seem to use different formulas for hop degradation. I'll have to do a bit of research and figure out which one is right.
tentacles Posted March 28, 2008 Posted March 28, 2008 I'm pretty sure you can actually select which formulas you want beersmith to use. There are a TON of options buried inside. The hops have a hop stability index for each type, dunno if promash does it that way. In the Tools > Options there's a selection for different bitterness fomulas, three different ways to calculate I guess. I really like the fact that my brew setup is already programmed in there. (Brew pot (6+gal) and Igloo/Gott cooler (5 gal) I've been wondering since I customized my malts, where the malt specs come from - I assume the manufacturer gives out the specs to their malts somewhere? Fermcap-S sounds like a great product, I shall see if I can obtain this holy hand grenade to use in the war against limited boil kettle size.
Mumbles Posted March 28, 2008 Posted March 28, 2008 Midwest supplies has product sheet for most of their grains. I'm sure te programmers of promash or beersmith have access to something similar. Now, I have no idea what several of the numbers mean, but they are presented none the less. http://www.midwestsupplies.com/products/Pr...px?Cat=237&fd=1 Generally on the first listing based on weight.
FrankRizzo Posted March 28, 2008 Posted March 28, 2008 There's a real neat page out there somewhere which shows you how to read a malt analysis sheet. I've got it saved on my HD. I'll attach it when I get back home in a few hrs. EDIT: Found it! http://brewingtechniques.com/bmg/noonan.html
FrankRizzo Posted March 28, 2008 Posted March 28, 2008 Rhizomes have arrived. Planting now. You lucky SOB; mine came yesterday but I can't plant for at least another 3 weeks.
asilentbob Posted March 29, 2008 Posted March 29, 2008 I only ended up planting one of them, I don't have enough good soil right now for the other one.
Mumbles Posted March 29, 2008 Posted March 29, 2008 Darn you and your lack of concern for frost. I believe it is still supposed to snow yet here. Also I have no where suitible to plant them as I move out in middle of August, about a month too early. Perhaps I can get my mom to grow them for me. She is a much better gardener than I. Plus I can go home to "check" often, right about the time dinner is Maybe I'll try to bribe her and tell her I'll make her a miller lite clone.
asilentbob Posted March 29, 2008 Posted March 29, 2008 I planted in a very big bucket. I am ready for frost, but I'm in texas, so it isn't all that likely.
tentacles Posted March 29, 2008 Posted March 29, 2008 Heh, in Texas, frost is something people have heard of but don't believe in. Lucky bastard! I wish I had somewhere I could grow some hops. EDIT: My MIL has offered me some space in her yard where she's been wanting some vines growing anyways. Now I just have to decide on what varieties, and fork out. The extra shipping is bad enough, but there's a $15 certification I have to pay as well to get it into Canada. Any ideas on what to get? I was thinking maybe Cascade (or Centennial) and something noble - Goldings perhaps.
Mumbles Posted April 1, 2008 Posted April 1, 2008 I just racked the maibock into the secondary tonight. Of course there was a little taste test. Holy crap is that stuff tasty. All my roomates agree (even the male that preferentially drinks Mikes hard lemonade)***. Still a tad sweet and could use to lose 3 or 4 gravity points. We shall see. It still seems to be fermenting a bit, and the yeast is still suspended. Right now it is coming in at 1.022. I will probably check again in two weeks, and if it is still significantly cloudy perhaps add some gelatin. I am aiming for it to be ready about the end of school, which is the middle of may. Should be a tasty way to kick the summer off. In related news there was a ton of protein in the bottom of the fermenter. I really should have had my roomate skim it off. As far as growing hops, if I were to do it, I would grow a vine or two of Mt. Hood, and a vine or two of Cascades. I find I use those two the most, and are some of my favorites. *** - Yes, he might be gay. He is also a male cheerleader.
Richtee Posted April 3, 2008 Posted April 3, 2008 Usually a racking will kick off another secondary ferment... sounds like yer right on with it! Never did a Maibock... used to brew alot in the late 80's, but have gotten away from it. Seems I'm picking up another old love these days.. :{) Brew on!
Frozentech Posted April 3, 2008 Posted April 3, 2008 Just bottled 5 gal of Czech Pilsner, and racked a generic ale onto 3.2 lb of Raspberry Puree ( Oregon Fruit brand, easier than dealing with fresh fruit ) night before last. That one has started up a mild secondary ferment. The Raspberry Ale is for the wife, if she can beat me to them, that is I am curious to see what effect on F.G. will be. The ale was 1.052 OG and 1.011 when I racked it onto the fruit, but I forgot to recheck the gravity at that point.
Mumbles Posted April 3, 2008 Posted April 3, 2008 I racked up a little bit of the yeast sediment just in case to give a bit of a jump start that I have heard is sometimes neccesary to do. It all gets racked off at bottling time anyway. At bottling time, assuming the beer has clarified and such from the secondary, should I pitch a second batch of yeast in order for the bottles to carbonate properly? I've heard of this being done before, but not sure if it's neccesary. I obviously don't want all the yeast to have settled out and there not be any left to bottle condition it, though I really do not forsee all the yeast being dead.
Richtee Posted April 3, 2008 Posted April 3, 2008 At bottling time, assuming the beer has clarified and such from the secondary, should I pitch a second batch of yeast in order for the bottles to carbonate properly? A batch of priming sugar is used at bottling. Don't have an exact amount, depends on your batch size. 4 or so gallons I'd use 1 cup corn sugar to prime as I recall. Then a ferment in the bottle develops the carbonation. Use GOOD bottles...heh.
Mumbles Posted April 3, 2008 Posted April 3, 2008 Yes yes, I know. Of course I will add priming sugar. I was asking if additional yeast at bottling time, in addition to the sugar, would be required for the bottles to carbonate properly.
Richtee Posted April 3, 2008 Posted April 3, 2008 oops..my bad. I have never had to add any yeast. Enough should be still viable to get the job done. :{)
FrankRizzo Posted April 3, 2008 Posted April 3, 2008 Yes yes, I know. Of course I will add priming sugar. I was asking if additional yeast at bottling time, in addition to the sugar, would be required for the bottles to carbonate properly.Nope. Unless you filter or pasteurize your beer, there's enough yeast left in suspension for bottle conditioning.
asilentbob Posted April 3, 2008 Posted April 3, 2008 The brewers gold "bines" are breaking the surface ... Still havn't planted the sterling rhizome...
tentacles Posted April 3, 2008 Posted April 3, 2008 Nice! I faxed my order in today. I got some of the brew club guys in too, cuts my shipping cost in half anyways. I'm getting 1 Magnum and 1 Cascade. I considered getting one to grow in a pot indoors, but the trouble wouldn't be worth it, most likely. Hops flower based on day length, and also won't flower unless the roots are cold for 3-6 weeks. edit: Working on another beer recipe, this time for a red ale, or red lager if I get some styro sheet to make The Box. Here's kind of what I'm thinking: 9 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt - 2 Row (Cargill) (2.0 SRM) Grain 91.0 % 12.0 oz Crystal Extra Dark - 120L (Crisp) (120.0 SRM) Grain 7.2 % 3.0 oz Chocolate (Dingemans) (340.0 SRM) Grain 1.8 % 1.00 oz Cascade [7.80%] (60 min) (First Wort Hop) Hops 27.7 IBU 0.25 oz Tettnang [4.20%] (5 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops - 0.50 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc 1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) Yeast-Ale Est Original Gravity: 1.055 SGEst Final Gravity: 1.013 SGEstimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.5 % Bitterness: 27.7 IBUEst Color: 15.9 SRM Thoughts, suggestions? The IBUs are a bit high for the style, perhaps, but within guidelines. Maybe I should swap out some aromatic or biscuit for a pound or two of pale? I came up with this standing at the LHBS tasting the various grains, and the Crystal 120L just tasted too damn good. The 60L is perhaps more appropriate color-wise to the style, but the taste of the 120L....
tentacles Posted April 5, 2008 Posted April 5, 2008 Picked up some foam yesterday, I have the thermostat and a relay, going to work on the lagering box today. I'm using a household a/c thermostat, digital. The relay in it is only 1A so I'm going to use that to fire my 12V relay (I'll run it off the fan PSU) to kick the compressor on. Temp range is 41F-100+. 41F is a bit warm for lagering, but I can always lager in a keg. No comments on the recipe, or no one saw my edit? more editing goodness: Finished the lagering box, more or less. I need to work out a hinge or something for the door, and some sort of door seal. For now, I tape it shut with strips of masking tape. To build it, I just took a bunch of 1.5" extruded polystyrene sheet insulation and built a box, glued it together with ordinary vinyl caulk. I considered using epoxy or something beefier, but don't see any need. The bottom sheet is a few inches longer to provide a platform for the compressor and 12v power supply. The inside is a big enough to hold 4 corny kegs, or one bucket, or one carboy. I could probably fit a bucket and a corny, I haven't really tried yet. Pictured ensued!http://www.apcforum.net/files/DCP_2521.JPG http://www.apcforum.net/files/DCP_2518.JPG http://www.apcforum.net/files/DCP_2517.JPG http://www.apcforum.net/files/DCP_2515.JPG
TheSidewinder Posted April 6, 2008 Posted April 6, 2008 Oh, I saw it, but it may as well have been written in Hebrew. I have no more idea than the man in the moon what it meant, but it sure sounds delicious!
Mumbles Posted April 6, 2008 Posted April 6, 2008 It's hard to really say with the recipe tentacles. Having never made an irish red(though it is very close I feel), it's hard to critique a recipe. I can only really go off of other recipies and compare. Most of the recipies I saw used about 2oz of roasted barley. It seems it helps with the color and flavor. I also saw several with special roast malt. There was one article on melanoidin malt which wasn't to descriptive but said it gave some red color and a roundness and fullness to beers, specially irish and scottish ales.
Frozentech Posted April 7, 2008 Posted April 7, 2008 Well... my hops planting is on hold, waiting for winter to actually get over. I did get an order of hops in the mail yesterday at least. Saaz, Hallertauer, and Tettnanger, for some Pilsner experimentation. I really want to recreate a beer that I drank in Germany, called Bischoff. It was a local small town brew, and that stuff left a permanent imprint in my subconscious or something. I still find myself comparing every beer to it. On another note, has anyone tried growing Pacman yeast out of Dead Guy Ale yet ? I might give it a shot. That's another real good beer
Mumbles Posted April 7, 2008 Posted April 7, 2008 mmmmmmmmmmm, dead guy ale. I am waiting for D2 at the moment, a double deadguy ale. Supposedly out this spring. Hopefully making it to wisconsin. The normal is somewhat what I based by maibock off of. Anyway now that I've wiped my keyboard free of drool, back on topic. I've heard that it can only be cultured from certain types of the bottles. The mocha porter stands out as one that it can be done with. I think most of the beers are pasteurized and filtered. I am currently looking at hop varieties to try to grow. Centenial, Mt. Hood, and Cascade are looking pretty good. Might throw in some tettnang. I've had quite a taste for IPA's lately.
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