iain

Anyone know where I can buy bottle caps in NYC? Seems silly to pay $7 shipping on $1.50 worth of caps.

Anyone bottle yet? I would have by now, but I have no caps. I'm ordering now, though, and will bottle when they arrive.

Thanks, I will post something more comprehensive ASAP...sometime this weekend for sure. That said, I didn't have a recipe. I was just improvising and I'd never made them before but here's the basic gist of what I did... {snip} Thanks! Sounds great. I'm going to give it a whirl.

Ronnie, That stuffed cabbage does look good. Can you post your method?

Looking good, CDH. Has anyone thought about naming their brew?

I've been racking mostly because I like to think it gives the beer a chance to clarify a little. I also never know when I'm likely to have time to bottle, so this gives me a little insurance against it sitting around in it's own waste. This isn't much of a problem lately, though, as I work from home and can make the time to bottle. Truth be told, I do it because I've heard it can help and I figure it can't hurt.

Great pics, CDH. I especially like the custom-built wort chiller. I need to work on something like that for my apartment. I also like the use of the hand blender for aeration and incorporation. Maybe I'll give that a try next time out. I racked to the carboy for secondary fermentation yesterday and the brew is now mellowing in the office. I'm pretty sure that fermentation is finished, but I'm going to let it sit a week or two to clarify. I have pictures of the racking process, but they're so similar to theakston's that I won't post them unless someone really wants me to.

I should probably say that I used hop pellets. My understanding, which may well be incorrect, is that these are more easily soluble that whole hops. Next time, I'm going to do it without a bag for hops and see if I can tell any difference. I have a lot of ingredients left over from this brewing, so I might brew another batch pretty soon after this one's bottled. It'll likely be the same beer, but with a few subtle technique tweaks.

A question: Does anyone think there's a difference in the final brew if you steep grains and hops loose in the brew pot and then sparge, vs. steeping in muslin grain bags with no sparge? I've done it both ways and haven't really noticed much difference, but the brews were pretty far apart in time.

I actually just logged on to say that mine's about ready to be racked (as the pictures below show) but I can't yet because I don't actually own the carboy. A friend of mine is lending me one, but he's not around. Once I get if from him - probably in the next day or so - I'll be racking into the secondary. Pictures as of last night: Looking good Smelling good

I always assumed, actually, that the baby was already drunk. Hence the falling in.

I'm interested in knowing if people use grades other than EV for cooking. I've been told by numerous people that EVOO can be too overpowering when used for sautéing, etc. I disagree. I should note, however, that I don't use the fancy stuff. Right now I have a bottle of Bertoli, I think. I do use a more neutral oil for sautéing as well - usually canola - for situations where I just don't want the EVOO flavor. edited to add canola

I assume that you include food rations beyond what's expected to be used on a typical shuttle mission. Is this true? If so, how many days beyond the expected mission duration do you provide for?

I like the idea of drinking the flat murky sludge. I'm going to try that this time around. I think I'm going to rack into a bottling bucket in an attempt to get my beer as clear as possible. I think the tablet won't really be any more time consuming to use than powdered corn sugar and might actually save a little time and effort (mostly in cleaning, stirring, etc). Plus, I'd always read that aerating the brew while bottling is bad. I'm not sure why that is, though.

I bought them from Northern Brewer with the rest of the ingredients. I was going to get corn sugar, but noticed these and figured why not give them a try. They're called "Prime Tab" and are made by Venezia & Company. According to the label, 3 tablets per 12 oz. bottle approximates 1/2 cup corn sugar in 5 gallons (~50 bottles). edited to add link to sugar page on NB and to fix a bad ampersand

Yeah...three tablets into each 12 oz. bottle. When I've used corn sugar or malt extract in the past, I've boiled it in water to dissolve first then put it in bottom of bottling bucket, then siphon, then bottle. The tablets are sanitary and supposedly I can bottle right from the carboy, eliminating the need for sanitizing (and dirtying) my bottling bucket. That said, racking from the carboy to the bottling buckets leaves some muck behind - a benefit I'd be losing by bottling directly from the secondary fermenter. Hmmm.

This time around, I'm using sugar tablets for bottle carbonation. In the past, I've used corn sugar or powdered malt for priming. Does anyone else have any experience with these tablets? It seems easier than priming sugar. I'd be interested in moving to all-grain for the next brew - but I don't really have the space (or the money) to acquire any more equipment. Think this will be a problem? It seems to me that this batch of brewers have all brewed in the past. Maybe for the next round, we should make a point to get as many first-timers as possible on board and do another extract brew. Then we could move on to the more complicated stuff. Or maybe someone could lead and eGCI course on simple brewing? Thoughts? EDIT: Cross-post on the extract vs. full mash. I'd be up for a partial mash, but again, space is a premium around here.

Never mind...I just found the answers here.

What's the difference between the regular Maestro and the Plus?

I have this same Capresso unit and for some time really liked it. Lately though, it's really disappointing me. The grind is inconsistent (some fine powder, some at the right level of coarseness, some huge chunks) and the coarseness level is hard to adjust. I've had the machine and have used it on an almost daily basis for over two years now - probably closer to three. Maybe I've just reached the end of the useful life for this kind of thing. If it weren't over $100, I'd probably get a Solis Maestro.

Silly question perhaps: is the bucket with lid and airlock considered an open fermenter or closed? I always thought open was truly open - with nothing between the beer and the air but the Krausen head.

The temp fluctuations are from the fermenting vessel itself. I have one of those little strip thermometers stuck on the side of the bucket (which you can see in the top photo - it's at 70 right now).

I just opened up the fermenter to see how the foam was forming and was greeted by a truly excellent smell and a beautiful brown, crusty Krausen head. Since I forgot pictures on Saturday, I figured I'd try to make up for that here: The primary fermenter - sitting on the floor right next to my computer desk. The lid is slightly ajar here, b/c I just opened it up. Crusty brown foam. Mmm. And a little closer. If anyone else thought to take pictures, please post them! If anyone is still to brew, try to take some.

I brewed on Saturday but didn't have time to post until now. I meant to take photos during the process but forgot to charge the camera. Sorry about that. Grain / extract bill: 6.6 lb Munton's Amber Malt Extract 10 oz Simpson's Medium Crystal 50-60°L 8 oz Dingemans Caravienne 21°L 8 oz Dingemans Biscuit Malt 24.5°L 2 oz Crisp Chocolate 625-635°L Hops: 1.5 oz Kent Golding UK Hops (bittering) 60 min boil 1 oz Fuggles Hops (finishing) 2 min boil Process Used: Brought 2.5 gal. spring water to boil, with grains (cracked at store) steeping in muslin bags ~30 min At 170° F, removed grain bags At boil, added extract, previously soaked in hot water from tap to increase viscosity When fully dissolved and boiling again, added bittering hops (in muslin bag) and boiled 58 min Added finishing hops (in muslin bag) and boiled 2 minutes longer Chilled in ice bath, discarded hops Racked into 2.5 gallons cold water in primary fermenter (plastic 6 gallon bucket) Agitated well to aerate Pitched Wyeast #1098 British Ale Yeast Sealed bucket with lid and airlock Some notes: I broke my hydrometer as I was unpacking my gear, so I was unable to take an OG reading. I would have preferred to use a glass carboy as the primary fermentation vessel, but I don't have one. I'll be borrowing one from a friend for the secondary, though. Right now, two days later, the brew is fermenting nicely. The airlock is perking quite quickly. My biggest concern, though, is temperature control. Basically I have none. Living in a NYC apartment means I have to deal with crazy temperature swings. On the high side, it often gets up to ~74°F. It gets as low as 60°F. I'm not so worried about the low, but the high does bother me. According to Wyeast, 1098 does well from 64°F to 72°F. Do you guys think the extra few degrees will make a big difference or contribute to off flavors? Wyeast also recommends limiting night and day temperature fluctuations. Again, I simply can't do this. I've made beer here in the past with no problems, but I don't think it got quite this hot those other times. Thoughts? I'm looking forward to hearing everyone else's accounts. More to the point, I'm looking forward to drinking five gallons of delicious brown ale.

CDH - do you have a set of instructions you're working from for this recipe? I don't necesarily need one, but it might be helpful.