Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I got a hold of some non-pastuerized, non chemical added cider (illegal to sell in NY) and added campden pills let it sit over night. Boiled up a pound of Brown sugar and mixed it up, sprinkled some star wine yeast and it's fermenting a day later. 2 weeks later I'll have some cider. First time and I don't know if it will clarify but I'm guessing it will. Talk about easy.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Love to do a Scotch cask-aged brew similar to Innes&Gunn. Just have to find the cask :)

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I transferred a Porter to secondary today and added a pint of Makers Mark and 2 ounces of Oak cubes. Hopefully this will be semi-ready for Christmas!

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

sounds delicious

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Cider is essentially done all fermented. Took a sample or two or three ;) and it basically tastes like white wine to me anyway. Any suggestions on how to sweeten it? or If I should?

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

In addition to the Cider I have a Chocolate Porter/Stout brewing. It started as a porter but with an OG of 1.1 apprx and has pounds of Grains, 2 cans LME, 2 LBS of DME and 1 oz of hops. Plus 1/2 Lb of Carapills for mouthfeel. I am thinking it'll be more like a Imperial Stout when done. It's bubbling like a mad man. I imagine it will take a good 4 months before I want to drink it (at least) and will age nicely but I will certainly "sample" some along the way!

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

You planning on natural carbonation? If not, kill off the yeast and add some apple juice concentrate to sweeten it slightly.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

It's a toss up between having a sweet cider and having carbonation. I am thinking of splitting it and doing some of both. For the sweet I was going to crash it and simply add some sort of sugar (concentrate is a great idea BTW) and just use priming sugar for the carbonated stuff.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I started Northern Brewers Fat Tire clone today!

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I also order two kits from morebeer.com. it was the first order and an hour after I paid for it I got an email saying they were out of stock on something :( I wasn't so sure about them at that point. So I called the next day at 9 but they are cali time so I had to wait until 1200. :( when I finally got through they had the product back in stock :) they shipped it later that day. :) So all's well that ends well. We'll see how the kits are. Free shipping for orders of 60 beans. Which for this order was 20 lbs :O



Scottish Export 80/- (Extract)
(Makes 5 gallons) This Scottish Export has a rich malty character balanced by a firm Glacier bittering hop. Bready toasted notes will come through as you drink it. Scottish Exports are great session beers and are meant for bulk consumption. The 80/- represents the original tax applied to the beer style in Scotland. The beer style is pronounced eighty schilling. This kit includes our dry yeast Safale US-05.

Estimated Original Gravity:1.045-49
SRM (Color Range: 17
IBU's: 28-37 Estimated Alcohol Percentage: 4%





Extra Special Bitter- Extract

(Makes 5 gallons) Big, smooth malt flavor and the mellow aroma of Vanguard hops. In the English draft style, with a firm hop bitterness and mellow hop flavor. The extract for this kit is made entirely from Marris Otter Pale Malt, which lends a great flavor to this beer.

Estimated Original Gravity:1.045-49
SRM (Color Range: 11
IBU's: 39-42 Estimated Alcohol Percentage: 4.5%

Color Chart

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I just bottled my American Brown Ale. Next week a nice Stout will be started. :dr

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

excellent choices

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

:dr

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Kits get delivered tomorrow. :)

After brewing my own, I find it hard to drink off the shelf stuff.

Is this wrong?

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

2 kits from Northern Brewer:

Phat Tyre
Patersbier

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I was checking their site and notice they mention using white ordinary table sugar for priming. Is this recommended? I kind of like the idea as it's cheap and readily available. Although I would probably not be inclined to use it, What about using DME?


Here's a link on the subject but doesn't really say if there are any downsides to them.

http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter11-4.html

Also heres a chart I found on the matter also.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

The only downside to using table sugar is that sucrose is a disaccharide of fructose and glucose that the yeast has to break apart, then convert the fructose into glucose before it can metabolize it. That's why most people use corn sugar, being pure glucose it can be metabolized without any extra work. You can use DME, but it takes more of it since it's less fermentable, as well as being more expensive to start with.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Am I understanding this the only down side is time? No flavor difference?

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Since you're working the yeast a bit harder, there's a potential for there to be a flavor difference, but since we're only talking about a few ounces for priming, you'll never taste it. Using DME could certainly change the flavor since you're adding unfermentables as well. There are people that claim DME gives them "finer" carbonation, as in smaller bubbles, but there's nothing to back that up, and many others that tried it and claim no difference.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

THanks for the INFO BRO!!

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Any time. Just make sure you use the correct calculation for whatever type of sugar you end up using!

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

It could be worse than that, glass bottles tend to explode if overcarbed too much. That would take quite a bit, but it's happened over and over again.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I never had a bottle explode (thankfully). I assumed that the caps would blow off. The actual glass blow apart?

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Yep, they generally call them "bottle bombs". It's usually from bottling before fermentation is done, but way too much priming sugar could do the same thing.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Is Northern Brewer a pretty good site to order from?

Also, what are "prime" conditions for aging beer?

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

darrell pretty much the same conditions for wine; cellar temperature 55- 60 degrees and try to keep the temperature as constant as you can

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Is beer even worth aging?

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

And yes, Northern Brewer is a good site, but being in Cali, I would suggest MoreBeer.com. In fact, they have a retail outlet pretty close to you from the looks of it.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Depends on the beer. Generally beers like barleywines and imperial stouts age well, while hoppy or ligher beers don't.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I agree, although I would say hoppy beers age pretty well if they are higher in alcohol (10% and up) Actually anything above 10% could spend some time in the bottle as long as they are bottle conditioned

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

check out a review on thomas hard's rare english ale, they say it can age 20 + years I have had one from the 2005 vintage and one from 2007 and I can say there is a noticeable difference.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Depends on what you're looking for, I guess. The hop character and bitterness will fade over time. IPA, DIPAs, etc are meant to be drunk young.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I have an American Pale Ale and Kentucky Common in the fermenters that I will be kegging and taking to family Thanksgiving. I have a big family and we like to drink. Brewing my Foreign Extra Stout this weekend, then probably an Imperial IPA.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

My recent order was from Morebeer.com and I am pleased. I haven't made the kit's yet but I received my order right on cue and have heard many good things about them from homebrewtalk.com forums.
:2

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Leaving too much headspace in the bottle can cause bottle bombs also.
I learned this the hard way on my 2nd beer I brewed. It was the last amount of beer in my bottling bucket and I didnt want to waste it so I bottled it and it only filled the bottle half way. I went ahead and capped.
Two weeks later, at about 4am I hear glasses shattering. Im still finding little pieces of glass in my brewing room in the basement.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

The only time I've ever had bottles explode was when I was storing a case of homebrew in my girlfriend's townhouse. She kept them close to a heat register in the winter, which likely pissed the yeast off and some of the bottles broke apart at the shoulder (right where the bottle neck starts.) Fortunately they were still in the box, but I lost about half my beer onto her carpet. She ended up marrying me anyway.

The right kind of beer is, as others have pointed out. I have some holiday spiced beer and other high alcohol content homebrew from 1996/1997 timeframe, that I crack open on special occasions. Gets better and better.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

How long does No Rinse last in a spray bottle or any other container?

Also what are the other options for sanitation and the pros/cons of them?

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I would definitely get some Star San. It should last you a lifetime. Get a nice sturdy bucket (I use an Ale Pail) and 5 gallons of Distilled Water. Use 1oz of Star San per 5gal of water. By using distilled water it will last months, maybe even years. You can use tap water, but it won't work as well for as long due to the minerals in it.

I kegged my Kentucky Common earlier and sampled it. Tastes great. 6.75lbs of grain resulted in 5.2% abv, at about $10. I love it.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Depends on which "No Rinse" sanitizer you're using. The most common are Iodophor, Star-San, and One-Step. One-Step isn't really a sanitizer, more of a cleaner with a little bit of sanitizing ability. Even then, since it's bicarbonate based, it won't last long, a few hours would be it. Iodophor will last a bit longer, but it does break down, a couple of days would be stretching it IMO. Star-San, as mentioned, will last a long time, especially if you use distilled water. It's significantly more expensive, but it's much more convenient than Iodophor since you can keep it around, and it won't stain your equipment. You also don't have to worry about tasting iodine in your beer. Really, we're talking about pennies per batch, so even significantly more expensive doesn't have much effect in the end.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Great Story Gerard. "she married me anyway" :tu

Thanks for the thoughts on sanitizer. I have been using one-step for the last 10 batches w/out incident but will look into the others.

I bottled my cider and used ordinary table sugar (boiled of course) for priming. I "sampled" a bottle today on a hike and am over all pleased, just a slight carbonation at this point but will develop. There's slight "odor" to it and I am hoping it will die with age. ABV is around 8% and it has some kick.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

One-Step is basically the same thing as OxiClean, just with a different base material to make it easier to work with. Sodium Percarbonate becomes a weak hydrogen peroxide solution in water. This does well with cleaning and but only OK with sanitization.

If you look at the packaging, One-Step never actually claims to be a sanitizer. They can't since they have never proved that they meet the FDA required levels of sanitization. I got some One-Step with my first equipment kit, so I used it for cleaning until it was gone, but always followed up with Star-San as a sanitizer. After it was gone, I just used OxiClean Free. One benefit to this is that you're using an alkaline cleaner, then following up with an acid sanitizer, so it's a more complete system.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

One-step also does a great job of removing labels from bottles. Just soak the bottles for a few hours in a bucket with about a Tbsp or two, and the labels slide right off.

Bottled the OktoberFast Ale last night that icantbejon and JohnnyKay helped me brew a few weeks ago. Extremely clear coming out of the secondary, and tasted just right. I plan on salvaging the Irish Stout yeast that I used, but will get around to that later this week. Intend to use it in one of my stout recipes later this month.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I've got some cider in a primary right now. Started it on 11/12. Didn't think to by a hydrometer while at brew store so I don't have OG and will only be able to estimate my ABV based on the recipe I sort of followed.

Recipe as follows:
5 gal freshly pressed cider from local orchard (unpasteurized no preservative)
4lbs dark brown sugar
1.5lbs table sugar
WLP775 English Cider yeast

The orchard will do handshake type transactions on cider for unpasteurized and preservative free. Back in 2002ish PA passed the pasteurization/preservative laws. You leave them a bottle with a big enough opening for the tank nozzle and you get the stuff for $3 a gal.

While I was working at the cigar shop saturday the wife complained about the smell (didn't use yeast nutrient) and so I stuck a nato threaded gas mask filter on top of my vapor lock. No more fart smell. I was able to take blame for the fart smell the first couple days with my regular flatulence but while I was gone she figured it out. Should be racking to a secondary around thanksgiving and then bottling mid december. This is my first batch of cider I hope it doesn't taste like white wine. When I go to my secondary I will add some currently frozen cider to the mix which will start a bit more fermentation and I will attempt to crash it in the garage (cold in december) after two weeks, let it clear up and then bottle. I'll be going for slightly sweet with carbonation.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I have another fermenter going as of saturday. It's a recipe I got from homebrewtalk.com. It's called Graff and here is the recipe. http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f81/graf...-cider-117117/

Will bottle in about two weeks and drinking by Christmas. Hopefully.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I am waiting on the secondary process right now, which is going to end up driving me crazy. I would definitely prefer to get this stuff in bottles and then drink. UGH! But it's ok, I guess this stuff will be ready just in time for my parents to get in town for Christmas.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Technically, you could go straight from the primary to bottling as long as fermentation has completed. Take a hydrometer reading to make sure you've reached the final specific gravity you anticipated. The beer will take a little longer to clarify in the bottles, and you may have more sediment to decant, but otherwise it will be fine.

I use a secondary on every batch I brew now, but not when I first started out.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I don't buy it. 1 week in primary + 2 weeks in "secondary" vs 3 weeks in primary, I don't think you'll see differences like that.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I'm gonna wait a week I think. No real hurry, other than my own impatience. I'm just anxious to try my own beer. In the mean time, I'll just continue to drink Sam Winter Lager and wait. Might even go back to The Weekend Brewer and get stuff to make a new batch. That could be fun.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Differences like what? Jon's beer was about 7 days in the primary.