I've been so lame the last 10 years on the brewing front. My grain mill is with a friend, my big kettle and chiller is with another, my fridge and kegs are dusty, warm, and stanky. I need to regroup and get on a spring brewing run.
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The Beer Home Brewers Thread
- Thread starter capnsandwich
- Start date
Just placed an order to Northern Brewer. Picked up a honey kolsh, saison, and California common. That'll be my first lager. Haven't done one before simply because I much prefer British and the wild Belgian strains. A California common would make an exceptional lawnmower beer.
Indeed.
I almost made a purchase there last week, but I waited too long and the deal had expired.
I hope to make a big Northern Brewer order during the next big sale. For now, I just ordered a few lawnmower beers.
I homebrew a bit, but not beer, I make mead, so far it suits my schedule, but beer would be nice to get into as well, especially all-grain.
Here is what I have going on.
This summer I brewed a saison and a dark saison. Both are bottled and yummy.
I have an old ale that I bottled about 3 weeks ago and I might taste 1 in a month or so.
I just bottled a belgian golden strong 2 weeks ago. Carbonation was a little weak, but I'm not too surprised the yeast is taking a while to wake up after 2 months in the secondary.
I just put a Rochefort 8 clone in the secondary and it'll be there for about a month.
I have a barley wine in the primary for another week or two. The recipe card suggests a 4-5 month time in the secondary. Not sure if I'll keep it in the secondary for that long since I might need it for another beer or two. I was planning on a really long bottle conditioning phase for that one.
I'm hoping to brew a dark mild on Wednesday and maybe a California common this weekend. After those are done, I hope to brew a Belgian IPA and a honey kolsh. Will probably brew another saison and dark saison this summer.
This summer I brewed a saison and a dark saison. Both are bottled and yummy.
I have an old ale that I bottled about 3 weeks ago and I might taste 1 in a month or so.
I just bottled a belgian golden strong 2 weeks ago. Carbonation was a little weak, but I'm not too surprised the yeast is taking a while to wake up after 2 months in the secondary.
I just put a Rochefort 8 clone in the secondary and it'll be there for about a month.
I have a barley wine in the primary for another week or two. The recipe card suggests a 4-5 month time in the secondary. Not sure if I'll keep it in the secondary for that long since I might need it for another beer or two. I was planning on a really long bottle conditioning phase for that one.
I'm hoping to brew a dark mild on Wednesday and maybe a California common this weekend. After those are done, I hope to brew a Belgian IPA and a honey kolsh. Will probably brew another saison and dark saison this summer.
I just bought another 5 sacks of grain to restock after moving recently. I would like to get some hops growing here at the new place this year too.
I just made a batch of chipotle chocolate porter. Unfortunately I don't think it turned out. I tasted it frequently while it was in the primary and secondary (1 week in primary and 2 in second), and it tasted fine. However once I bottled it now tastes like vinegar. Now from what I can understand this means there is a sanitation issue with the bottles.
When I sanitize them I soak them in bleach/ oxy clean to get rid of the labels, then put some dishwashing soap in there, shake it then rinse thoroughly. they sit in a beer case til I am ready to bottle when I dunk them in sanitizer and let them sit on a drying rack til I use the bottle (like 5-15 mins from when I put them on the rack).
All caps are sitting in sanitizer and the bottling bucket/siphon each have a gallon of sanitizer run through them.
Anyone know how I can fix this?
When I sanitize them I soak them in bleach/ oxy clean to get rid of the labels, then put some dishwashing soap in there, shake it then rinse thoroughly. they sit in a beer case til I am ready to bottle when I dunk them in sanitizer and let them sit on a drying rack til I use the bottle (like 5-15 mins from when I put them on the rack).
All caps are sitting in sanitizer and the bottling bucket/siphon each have a gallon of sanitizer run through them.
Anyone know how I can fix this?
Awesome! I just checked out, thank you much!
I ended up getting the kit (with the Irish Red Ale) and two cases of bottles, delivered, for $62.85.
Are you sanitizing your racking cane? How are you getting the beer from the fermenter into the bottles?
My quick fix - KEG! Bottles are the big pain in the ass in the brewing process.
Not a bad deal.
After a few batches, wouldn't be a bad idea to get an immersion wort chiller, which cools down the beer quicker and I think helps clean up the flavor a bit.
A secondary fermenter might also be a worthwhile piece of equipment.
After a few batches, wouldn't be a bad idea to get an immersion wort chiller, which cools down the beer quicker and I think helps clean up the flavor a bit.
A secondary fermenter might also be a worthwhile piece of equipment.
Kegging is alright, but not without hassles and other logistics. I keg every now and then, but tend to bottle my high gravity beers that will need to age a long time. I also don't drink enough to make good use of kegs.
My usual strategy for bottles is to run them through the dish washer after I used them and get them spotless inside and out. Prior to bottling them, I'll wash and use a sanitizing rinse in the dishwasher. I'll bottle once they're no longer molten hot.
I'm already looking at carboys. I figure instead of getting ahead of myself I'll try my hand at my first brew and see how it comes out. After that I'll probably expand.
Any tips for a first-time brewer (i.e. knucklehead) like myself?
Yes I run sanitizer over it the put it in the tube and run a galling of sanitizer through the assembled siphon.
I have the same Midwest kit that was just posted. I attach a bottling wand to the spigot.
I wish I could just use a damn dishwasher unfortunately I don't have one. Kegs are out too, I don't have the space.
Sounds like you are well aware of the importance of sanitizing everything, so I have no idea where you got funked. Hopefully it's just a bottle or a few bottles.
Prior to brewing, try to find a spot or two in your house that you can keep your beer about 68 degrees.
For the first brew, just make sure you plan way ahead and have all your stuff sanitized.
I'd assume your kit will have crushed grains for steeping. I like to fill my pot with hot water from the bath tub. It seems a few degrees hotter than my tap. It's not important, but allows the water to be brought up to the desired steeping temperature a little quicker.
Keep stirring. Keep stirring. Do NOT let it boil over. Do not let it boil over. Once you have a good boil going, you can dial back the burner a little bit.
When you're done, fill your sink with ice to try to cool the pot down soon.
I like to use a big strainer to catch the hop sludge before it gets to my fermenter. Try to keep your fermenter around the desired temperature range. If it's a little warm, I tend to put a cooling block or two wedged to the side to help drop the temp a shade.
Awesome, thank you!
I'll be storing everything in my basement, which is a very constant temp of mid-60's, which seems to be perfect.
For the water, I'm going to buy filtered water, as my tap water isn't the greatest. I'll have it room temp to start. I already saw some videos/warnings on boil-overs, so I'll keep my eye on it.
