All Questions
9
votes
1answer
305 views
What are the primary causes of Acetaldehyde?
I'm a bit confused about this.
In my own experience, I'm no longer experiencing acetaldehyde flavours in my beer after improving my aeration methods and at the same time starting to use yeast ...
3
votes
4answers
617 views
Measuring specific gravity without sampling
Is there any way, I can measure SG with a sensor of some kind?
I guess I'm not REALLY after SG, but rather a way to determine that fermantation is done, without sampling.
I would very much like hook ...
1
vote
3answers
78 views
Partial Mash Extract twang
The off flavor i am tasting is sweet, and actually tastes malty/caramel. It's supposed to be an IPA but this sweet flavor is disconnected form the hops. Will leaving it in the bottle longer help ...
2
votes
1answer
80 views
Temp swings and forced carbonation
Like some, my chest freezer is my fermentation chamber, lagering chamber, and in cases where I keg, my serving chamber. I have a keg of Oktoberfest in it now lagering and carbing up at 12psi and 35 ...
0
votes
2answers
187 views
Should I be disappointed?
Just started, so my question is very basic.
I got Coopers Lager Kit, did everything by instructions, temperature has been stable at 22-24C but gravity doesn't go down. OG was 1.039, dropped to 1.020 ...
1
vote
2answers
295 views
Can I use liquid nitrogen to cool my wort?
Basically what the title says. I'd like to switch to all grain at some point but the volume of water required to cool a decent sized wort down scares me.
Assuming I have access to liquid nitrogen, ...
0
votes
4answers
160 views
Cleaning Fermenter [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Cleaning difficult krausen ring off Better Bottle
I just finished my first batch of beer from a Brooklyn Brew Kit, and noticed a film in my fermenter. This film is ...
3
votes
1answer
208 views
How do you harvest yeast from a commercial beer?
I've done yeast starters and I've re-used yeast beds but I have never previously harvested or captured yeast from a commercial beer. I tried it last night, inventing my process as I went but I'm ...
3
votes
1answer
75 views
Interruption of Lagering
Does an interruption in lagering, or swing in temperature effect a beer? My issue is, I only have one fridge available for lagering, which doubles as my fermentation fridge. Asked differently, if I ...
1
vote
3answers
158 views
A way get scum out when making mead without boiling?
Is there a way to get the scum out of the must when making mead without boiling? I used to vigorously boil the must and it would produce a lot of scum which was easily removed. I've since read that ...
1
vote
2answers
180 views
Kill yeast in keg
I've got a batch of cider that I've kegged. I did so at about 1.011 (OG was 1.052 IIRC). While the yeast activity will decline as the keg chills, I'd like to stop it completely so that I can bottle ...
3
votes
2answers
126 views
Do I need to rack to a new vessel for a secondary (fruit) fermentation
Planning on adding 5 lbs of frozen, thawed cranberries to a saison. Can I just dump them (gently) into the primary? I was planning on some sort of tertiary/bright vessel afterward for clearing it up ...
1
vote
1answer
223 views
Batch not carbonated/off flavor a week after bottling
What does a home brew taste like if it is contaminated? I just bought a home brew kit about a month ago that came with a recipe for an Irish Red Ale. My beer has been bottled now for a week and upon ...
1
vote
0answers
37 views
When to add salts to RO brewing water [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How can I put minerals back into distilled or reverse osmosis water?
This weekend I'll be brewing a recipe from Mitch Steele's 'IPA' book. The recipe has a very exact ...
1
vote
2answers
513 views
Back Sweetening Naturally Carbonated Cider
I plan to keg my cider at 0.7 baume (approx 12g/l) residual sugar to carbonate my cider to 3 volumes of CO2.
If I add pasteurized apple juice to sweeten my cider after kegging, will this ferment out? ...
3
votes
3answers
124 views
Stuck Mash — New LHBS
I recently found that there was a home brew store much closer to my house than the one that I had been visiting. The new store has a larger selection of grains, yeast, and hops; but I've been having a ...
1
vote
1answer
81 views
Is hop harvesting before first frost necessary?
Still relatively new to hop growing and this year is my first viable yield worth harvesting. My cones are seemingly ready and some cool weather is on the way. Do I need to get the cones off the vine ...
1
vote
2answers
121 views
Slow temperature rising vs equivalent fluctuations
I've read a few accounts of brewers using slow temperature increments to bring out particular flavours from the yeast that they're using. For example, stepping up 1C or so every day over a few days.
...
1
vote
1answer
123 views
LHBS Got my grain bill wrong. Suggestions?
I went to my LHBS today and there was a guy there who I've never had service with (been going to this place about 3mo now). He ended up giving me the wrong grains, and I'm wondering what I can do with ...
2
votes
2answers
185 views
Can weighting dry hop bag with metal objects impact the flavor?
Used socket wrench attachments (like these) to weigh down two dry hop bags. They are a coated steel material, so I thought they would be easy to sanitize. Then after I put them in, I found that one ...
3
votes
1answer
79 views
Benefits of 'resting' home-roasted grains
In "Radical Brewing", Mosher endorses home-roasting grains, but suggests that after roasting, you store the grains for 2 weeks or so to let some of the acrid flavors subside.
Specifically, I ...
2
votes
1answer
207 views
What will too much Caramunich do to my beer
Making Jamil's saison today:
10.5# pilsner
.75# wheat malt
.75# munich
it is supposed to have 2oz of caramunich, but instead I measured, milled, and then MIXED with the rest of the grain .75 LBS ...
2
votes
2answers
229 views
How does bottling in a half bottle effect taste
I just finished my first batch, a Brooklyn Brew 1gal kit, and was unable to split the batch evenly over 8 bottles so I ended up with 7.5. When I went to taste the beers after two weeks in the bottles ...
2
votes
3answers
222 views
Any reason not to boil for longer?
I've been looking at ways to improve my brew efficiency, and one method that I've not seen much discussion of is increasing the boil duration.
Usually when I finish lautering, the wort coming out is ...
1
vote
1answer
82 views
750 ml sparking water bottle for wine?
I've brewed a half dozen batches of beer, and I am thinking of trying my hand at making some wine for the first time. Most likely a Red. We go through a lot of 750 mL glass water bottles. I would ...
2
votes
2answers
242 views
How much light is too much light?
I generally like to let my fermented beer sit in the primary fermenter for a couple of hours in the kitchen (where I bottle) to give any sediment a chance to settle to the bottom of the carboy. I ...
2
votes
1answer
138 views
Use of servomyces in a yeast starter
1 servomyces capsule is the correct dose for 5 galons of wort. If I want to add servomyces to my 1.5 litre yeast starter should i break open the capsule and use only part of it? or is it safe to add ...
4
votes
1answer
113 views
Can I “boil” off acetaldehyde?
This is something interesting I noticed over the weekend. One of my beers has that distinct green apple smell to it. (I had to keg it early because I needed the fermentor. LHBS accidentally sold me a ...
0
votes
2answers
196 views
High 'finished' gravity
I pitched about a cup of decanted starter S-04 slurry into a 1.061 OG American IPA 8 days ago at 65 degrees. The gravity has been stuck at about 1.028 since pitch day + 48 hours, when the krausen ...
1
vote
2answers
155 views
How to clean the CO2 line?
I had a tiny bit of backflow when I put the gasline back on the keg after force carbonation. It just flowed a tiny bit into the connector - nothing got inside the line itself.
I read Backflow into ...
2
votes
3answers
287 views
When using a drill whip to degas, how do I ensure I will not aerate the wine/mead?
Some my wine/meads have been a bit bubbly after bottling. I'm thinking the problem is I have not be degassing. If I use a drill whip, how do I ensure I will not bruise or aerate the brew?
1
vote
1answer
77 views
Should the starter volume be included in the overall batch size?
I'm giving my first starter a go: a 2.4L starter for a 21L batch overall. Since this looks like it will account for over 11% of the total volume, should I recalc for a 23L / 19L batch? Or should I ...
1
vote
1answer
276 views
What can I substitute for Carabelge?
I'm brewing a saison from a recipe (extract+grains) that calls for Carabelge, which my LHBS doesn't stock.
The bill is 50/50 wheat & light extract (2kg each) plus 500g of Vienna and Carabelge.
...
3
votes
1answer
53 views
What are possible causes of a vegetal flavor in mead?
I recently entered my first mead into a BJCP-judged competition (mostly to get feedback), and all three judges reported a vegetal off-flavor in the mead. What could be the cause of this? The mead was ...
4
votes
1answer
171 views
How much does gravity typically drop after high krausen
I have two fermenters going with about a cup of slurry of S-04. Pitched Sunday morning at 61 degrees ambient, they were showing activity within 5 hours, vigorous activity within 12 hours. Went to ...
0
votes
0answers
33 views
Reusing vs using new yeast [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How many times can yeast be reused?
I have read in a couple of places that you should only reuse yeast a couple of times - most say up to 5 times because you would get ...
3
votes
1answer
197 views
What is the largest percentage of grain bill for steeping?
I've recently moved from extract-only to extract + steeping grains. I'm making a recipe now and wondering if there is a max limit for steeping grains as part of the total grain bill? For a double ...
3
votes
3answers
894 views
How do I make my ginger beer SPICY?
I've made tons of ginger beer (often just like this http://ieatfood.net/2009/12/18/real-ginger-ale/ ), I've tried various different recipes, and they all come out quite nicely. Unfortunately. I want a ...
3
votes
5answers
230 views
What are the possible consequences of putting dry yeast straight into the wort?
I always put my dry yeast directly into the wort, even though the packaging says to rehydrate it first. I've never had (noticed?) any problems with fermentation.
What could this habit cause to go ...
1
vote
2answers
224 views
Priming Sugar problem
I'm an extract brewing beginner. My first batch, an Irish Red, had decent head, decent retention, decent mouthfeel. I bottled after 2 weeks in fermentation, and bottle conditioned for the following ...
2
votes
3answers
149 views
How to control temp between two fermenters in the same chamber
I have room for 2 5-gallon fermenters (ale pails) in my fermentation chest, and would like to conduct two fermentations at once. Typically, I insulate my temp controller's probe against a fermenter, ...
1
vote
1answer
64 views
Bottling/Corking
Here is the run down: I have a 6 gallon batch of pinot grigio that I have fermenting and a 6 gallon batch of summer saison that is also nearing completion. I am looking to upgrade my bottling process ...
2
votes
2answers
167 views
How quickly do i need to drink my beer?
I've somehow managed to brew a bloody lovely bitter (for my first time) in a pressurised keg but now i've started drinking it, is there any kind of best before? Or do I literally need to drink 10 ...
2
votes
4answers
208 views
Fermenter Headspace; Suitable (and cheap!) Containers for Split Batches
After Denny's article in the spring issue of Zymurgy, I'm anxious to experiment and split batches for experimentation with yeast pitching rates, strains, fermentation temps, and adjuncts.
I had ...
2
votes
2answers
425 views
Yeast Starter with Dry Yeast (S-04)
I know the common wisdom is you shouldn't do this, but I am brewing two mid-to-high gravity beers on Saturday (1.065 and 1.072), and only have one packet. I am now chilling a 2L starter that I was ...
2
votes
2answers
381 views
Could non-alkalized cocoa powder cause astringency in a chocolate stout?
I made a chocolate stout a while back that's kind of astrigent. I'm not sure I would call it sour, but it makes you pucker a bit. It had 8 oz of Trader Joe's Tumaco cocoa powder added in primary, no ...
2
votes
2answers
167 views
Lead in primary fermentation
So, my floating thermometer broke while cooling off my wort and I didn't realize it until about an hour after I had pitched the yeast and fermentation had definitely already started.
At first I ...
1
vote
3answers
117 views
Wyeast Activator Swelling Expiration time
I intended on brewing tonight so I broke the activator on my Wyeast 1450 last night. Only today did I realize I'm missing a fermenting bucket to actually ferment with (d'oh, big mistake!), so I'll ...
2
votes
2answers
179 views
3 Piece Airlock without Liquid
I was talking with a fellow brewer who has been brewing for many years and found out that he does not put any liquid in his 3 piece airlocks. He claims that next to nothing can get in even without the ...
3
votes
3answers
210 views
Lowering to Lagering Temp, how will the beer taste different after lagering
First lager (Oktoberfest, Wyeast 2206), just took a sample after 3 weeks in the primary, and it tasted great (my friend said he picked up some candylike sweetness (diacetyl), but it could be because I ...
