Q&A: Homebrewing

[Matty]

Chris,

Thanks for your thoughts on that.

Re the second shot - I decided to play with the yeast. I've been baking sourdough for 3 yrs so felt reasonably happy to try a trickier yeast and have a crack with some Wyeast - I used the Czech Pilsner. Just bottled it this week and it tastes quite different. I'll report back once its ready to drink.

I've definitely got the bug now!

Best,

Matt

Edited June 8, 2006 by Matty (log)

[cdh]

Re the second shot - I decided to play with the yeast. I've been baking sourdough for 3 yrs so felt reasonably happy to try a trickier yeast and have a crack with some Wyeast - I used the Czech Pilsner. Just bottled it this week and it tastes quite different. I'll report back once its ready to drink.

←

Hmmm... that Czech Pilsner is a lager yeast, rather than an ale yeast... lagers play by different rules, generally. They like to ferment at refrigerator temperatures, and over long periods of time, so if you fermented it at room temperature, it won't come out like you're expecting. I've never played with lager yeast at room temperatures, or lager yeast at all, for that matter. Could you describe the flavors you got from it?

[Msk]

Ok, I couldn't hold out any longer, I ordered my stuff and it should be here tomorrow. I know I am late to the party but what the heck. Thanks to eGullet I bake my own sourdough bread and I roast my own coffee so why shouldn't I brew my own beer.

Curse you!

All your successes have motivated me.

Chris,

I really like the approach you took here, very inviting for the newbie like myself.

Msk

[cdh]

Welcome MSK!

There is no late to this party... I'm still here, and will be. You just get the benefit of the accumulated wisdom of those who have gone before you.

Edited June 8, 2006 by cdh (log)

[Matty]

Yep. A Newbie goof there but I only understood the difference after I had ordered it up, so decided to try it anyway - to have another chance to do a boil and to see how the 'smack packs' (is that right?) work. I fermented it the coolest cupboard I could find.

I'm not great at describing flavours but the taste at bottling stage was simpler (smoother) and more mellow than the previous batch. Rather like the difference between a lager and an ale, if you pardon the sweeping generalisation.

Time will tell. I'll post up some comments in a couple of weeks once its ready.

There's always one or two students in a class that screw around a bit … but come good at exam time. That's me Chris

Best,

Matt

[FoodMan]

Well, this thoroughly sucks!!! I was getting ready to bottle my beer about an hour ago and here's what I have :

Yes I am very miffed pissed and frustrated, and yes it tastes as bad as it looks and all 4.5 gallons or so went down the drain. It tasted like rotten vinegar mixed with mud!

I am almost positive the whole thing went bad right after dry hopping it last weekend. I know that because I tasted it then and it was wonderful with no hint of murkiness or sour/rotten taste and it was pretty much clear. The problem is I am not sure how the damn thing got contaminated. I made sure the hop bag and the shot glass I put in it to weigh it down were boiled and sanitized as well as the spoon I used to taste the beer with. I never touched the beer with my hands. Here is what I observed after dry hopping and what gave me some worries early on in the week:

- The weighed hop bag sunk like a rock when I put it in, but a couple of days later it popped back up

- Around that same time I noticed the re-appearance of "foam" and a few bubbles. I attributed those to some last yeast activity when it was stirred by the hop bag.

- A couple of days ago I noticed the smell was not nice and hoppy anymore, but more sour.

I am frustrated but looking forward to our next beer Chris (hopefully soon). I am also planning on buying a bucket with and airlock on it to keep the whole thing sealed and hopefully avoid such mishaps in the future.

Any other ideas why this might've happened?

[cdh]

Terrible news, Elie...

You've got the sourdough cultures still in the kitchen? If you're getting vinegar-y tastes, I think those may be the culprit. Have you baked recently? Did you have a fan running, circulating air near the beer when you opened it to dry hop? Something may have taken a ride on those air currents.

I couldn't tell from the picture, but was there a slimy jellyfish-like thing in there? That would be a colony of acetobacter, which turn alcohol into vinegar in the presence of oxygen. A sealing lid and airlock would help with that, insofar as it would keep the oxygen away.

[FoodMan]

Jelly-like? not sure. There was a thin thin membrane like thing around the hop bag that was floating on the surface. Actually next time I dry hop I will just throw the hops in there with no pag or anyhting since I am not using plugs. BTW, I did not dry hop in my kitchen, but in the spare bathroom where the beer was at.

[Msk]

So I got my equipment and did my boil last night and pitched my yeast. The airlock on my glass carboy was gurgling away today so something is alive in there eating the malt, I sure hope its the good yeast!

My wort looks like apple cider. I tried to be as strict as possible with the sanitization stuff. The place where I bought my equipment threw in some of that no rinse sanitizer so I used that. I had such a strong urge to rinse stuff anyway after pulling the equipment out of the sanitizing bucket.

I guess I'll know in two week if I screwed something up.

Sorry to hear about the bad luck Foodman

Chris,

Everything took me about 3 and a half hours last night from start to clean kitchen, how long does it take a seasoned brewer like you Chris?

Msk

[Rombot]

hi All

Uni is over and it is now time to brew .

I did the second recipe on the weekend and all is looking good. The beer is fermenting away and I hope I don’t have any problems. Sad to see your bad luck foodman , better luck next time.

On the equipment from, I have had one of those Coopers beer kits in my garage for ages , so I have been using a sealed plastic tub with the airlock thing all along. The good news is that I have also been given more brewing equipment from someone who bought it and never used it. So now I have two brewing tubs, a bench top bottle capper and loads of bottles . So multiple brews I can do, which is good news as I can catch up easily when the next lesson comes along.

One question. How do we tell the alcohol content of our beers?

Regards

Rom

[Rombot]

Hello again

Chris, I was wondering how long will cracked grain retain its freshness? I could only buy it in 1kg bags and had the shop crack it for me. So now I still have the majority of it sealed up with tape sitting in my cupboard, should I move it to a fridge/freezer, use it asap or will it be fine?

Oh msk, not that I am the expert you wanted to hear from, but 3 1/2 hours is about how long it takes me.

Thanks

rom

[Rombot]

Oh

Msk, welcome !!!

I going now......

Bye

[Msk]

Does anyone have any good sources on the mechanics of a concentrated boil? I would very much like to make a double batch next time around but would prefer not to buy a turkey fryer just yet .

Do you just double the ingredients then add additional water to the fermentor before pitching your yeast?

I am such a sucker for equipment so if anyone has bought something that has made this much easier (or faster) for them please, do tell.

I am an immediate gratification sort of guy so 2 weeks of suspense is killing me.

Msk

[cdh]

Hmmmm...

Time it takes me? The only time I really count is the boil, which is around an hour or so. I can sanitize my fermentor during that hour, and little goes on before everything is tossed in to boil... and after it boils, I drop my brew pot into the pond and come back to it in a couple of hours during which I did something else. So, I'd say a brew takes as long as it takes to get the water to boiling, plus one hour, plus the five minutes it takes to pour the beer from the pot into the fermentor and hit it with the whisk.

Crushed grains should be good for months. I think the oldest stuff in my collection at the moment is 7 month old American crystal 20, which still seems fine. Grain is not something that will go off unless it is in a really hot, wet environment, then it will stale and might grow mold.

As to alcohol content, you need to take two readings with an hydrometer. One at the beginning, right as you add the yeast, and one at the end, right before you bottle. Subtract the second number from the first and multiply it by 131, and that will tell you what percentage alcohol by volume your beer is. See http://beeradvocate.com/news/stories_read/518/

As to concentrated boils, you need to up the the hops. The bittering hops will be less effective in a more concentrated boil, so you need more of them. Use the beer recipator at http://www.hbd.org/recipator, enter the recipe as it is given, then use the resize button to enter the new boil volume and final volume, and it will calculate how to keep the hops consistent.

Edited June 13, 2006 by cdh (log)

[tim]

Chris,

Could this be the very best brewing kettle at a great price.

Eurodib 27.5qt. stock pot

I do have some experience with Eurodib having owned one of their stockpots for about a dozen years. The make a good product and this seems to be an excellent price.

The product is not exactly as stated:

The base is really 3/8" thick

The handles are welded, not rivited

Nevertheless, a marmite shaped brew kettle with a 3/8" disk base for a great price.

Tim

ps: I have no experience with Galasource so, be careful.

[FoodMan]

I stopped by the brew shop yesterday and picked up a plastic (with some cool print on it), an air tight top for it and an airlock. I brewed up a double batch of the rish red ale again and by this morning it is happily clicking away. Hopefully no contamination this time around.

Although since I was burned once, I am a little worried about dry-hopping. I am thinking of just cracking the top open in a week, and quickly pitching in the loose hops and putting the top back on so exposure to air is minimal.

About the airlock. What do you normally fill it with? I heard to keep it sanitized, some cheap vodka or grain alcohol is better than using water. So that is what I used.

[cdh]

Tim,

Looks to be a fine fine deal. The thing that appeals most from that description, if accurate, is "induction ready". Induction seems to be the most time and energy efficient method of heating a pot up, so an induction capable brewpot would great thing indeed... provided you had an induction element... which go for around $125 last time I looked.

[cdh]

Airlock contents? I have always used water, and had no problems as a result.

[Msk]

Chris

What are your thoughts on the Better Bottle plastic carboys. I have a glass one but hate the weight and danger of breakage. I know you are partial to buckets but I like the idea of watching my beer ferment, for me its hard enough waiting the two weeks let alone staring at a plastic bucket.

They seem pretty cool with spigots to make the siphoning and beer transfer easier.

Better Bottle Webpage

Thanks,

Msk.

[cdh]

1. Bad idea keeping the beer in something clear so you can watch it. Too much light exposure will skunk the hops, damaging your beer's aroma.

2. If you want to take that risk, the better bottles seem a much better path than old glass carboys. But they cost. Figure out if it is worth it to you.

[tim]

Chris,

I would appreciate a clarification. In the five years that I have brewed I never heard that a clear glass carboy would allow the hops to "skunk" the beer. I do not remember Miller or Papazian(s?) discussing this issue. Is this a new finding.

In any case, I usually drape my carboy with a wet towel to drop the temp a few degees.

Tim

[cdh]

Certainly not a new finding. It has been common knowledge for at least a decade that clear bottles (and green bottles) + UV light == skunked beer. What is a carboy but a large clear bottle? See, e.g. http://www.byo.com/feature/487.html (at 17), a 7 year old admonition in the same spirit as mine.

[Matty]

Chris,

Just tasted my lager yeasted batch - all fine. The caramel/malty taste is less obvious and the citrusy hop flavours are slightly more distinct and last longer in the mouth. Tastes great.

The closet I fermented in was actually at 12°C so it was fermented in the right range … half of the process was right anyway.

I've been researching boiling vessels and there seems to be a divide - US brewers using pots and burners and UK brewers using plastic brewing bins with an element at the bottom. It seems the bins have been around for 20+ years over here.

Looking forward to tasting the red ale.

Best,

Matt

Edited June 20, 2006 by Matty (log)

[FoodMan]

plastic brewing bins with an element at the bottom

huh?? Did I misunderstand you or are you saying that the bins for boiling are made of plastic??

[cdh]

plastic brewing bins with an element at the bottom

huh?? Did I misunderstand you or are you saying that the bins for boiling are made of plastic??

←

Sounds wack to me too... but if they're using them over there, they can't be all wrong. Maybe the 240V current standard allows for really super fast heating elements or such that our 110V current over here can't match. I'm still wary of boiling anything in a plstic container, since I don't know that boiling won't make some funky petrochemical hydrocarbon in the plastic react with something else that I don't want it to. The comfort zone for some petrochemicals is not too much over water's boiling point.

If I were going to buy a boiling rig today, I'd drop $130 on a portable induction hob, get an induction ready pot and have the best of both worlds. Runs on electric power so I don't have to buy gas at whatever price it is selling for, I don't have to store a gas burner and tank, and I get the adjustability of gas, AND it puts more energy into the boil and wastes less power radiating excess heat everywhere. An energy efficient way to boil.

Edited June 21, 2006 by cdh (log)