Home Brew

I brewed for years in a system that was almost entirely plastic (though I always fermented in glass carboys). Since I am starting from scratch, I've been looking for something easier to clean & maintain with less risk of getting an infected batch, especially since I may be upgrading to 10-15 gallon batches (to get more out of the occasional brewday).

Not sure I'm sold on RIMS, though the concept looks cool. I was looking at BrewMagic systems before I settled on Blichmann (you want to talk $$$ go look at a Sabco BrewMagic. It'll curl your hair!)

And kegging is absolutely a must. If I want or need to bottle, I'll use a counterpressure bottler to do it. No more bottle-conditioning for me, unless there's a good, compelling reason to do so and even then, I'll probably only bottle-condition a portion of the batch and keg the rest.

Interestingly, the one piece of hardware I held onto is my beer engine. It's an Angram and from the look of the wooden base, it actually spent time in a pub somewhere in the UK. I also have a 3-gallon corny keg with a shortened tube that I use to "cask-condition" my English ales so that I can get as close to the Real Ale experience as a Yank can.

Ohhhh boy... BrewMagic....... I've been reading a lot about brewing automation lately and have been looking at that system. Definitely big bucks.

One thing I've yet to get into is cask conditioning/dispensing. I've been thinking about trying it. Maybe a project for later this year. That beer engine sounds pretty neat too!

Kegging is fantastic. So much less trouble than bottling. That was the part of brewing I dreaded... cleaning/sterilizing bottles.

I also see 10-15 gallon batches in my future, and will be sizing up my gear accordingly. I'll need some more Corny's though. I've also been looking for an economical conical fermenter, but I'm not sure economical and conical go in the same phrase when talking homebrew haha...

So, I'm getting ready to keg my first attempt at a Belgian Blond this weekend, and while I'm doing that I plan on either starting another blond or a triple on the yeast cake, or more likely harvesting the the cake and making a couple of starters (and storing some of it).

Has anyone done this sort of thing here? I plan on sterilizing some mason jars and washing the yeast, then keeping some in the fridge for future use. Any tips?

Also, anyone know good places to pick up corny kegs (or 1/4 barrel sankeys - I could convert to those) in Canada? I scored my first 4 for free, and I don't think I'll be so lucky this time.

Also, I'm picking up my first 55lb sack of grain in town tomorrow. Exciting times!

Ben

Hi fdben,
I have experience harvesting yeast from the leftovers and also fermenting a second beer on top of a previously used cake. Both are very easy to do. Sanitation is key here. The problem is that it's been a while since I've had a chance to brew so my the techniques are a little foggy in my mind. If you haven't already, you need to join homebrewtalk.com. Those guys are to brewing what this site is to straight razors. They are amazingly helpful as well. For harvesting yeast, I use very small mason jars. You don't need a ton of yeast. You just need to read up on washing the yeast. You want to make sure you clean off the old beer and keep it nice and cold in the fridge. As far as corny kegs, I've never used them but I'm sure you can get them off of ebay.

Any opinions on my first all grain for this weekend?

2250g pale ale
500g carabohemian
250g whiskey

7g 14,2% nugget 60 min
10g 7,78 challenger 5 min

yeast nottingham(have safale s-04 and us-05 if any of those seem better suited)

total water 17l ending about 12l, i think

Oh while im asking
can wheat and oath malt be used as base malt?

Give it a try! I've done it for a few years now. In the long run its actually cheaper and really lets you brew the beer you want. Certainly go by your local brewing supplier, I bet they're pretty friendly. I have to budget my time wisely when I go to get advice because I usually end up talking for at least a half hour.

Good Luck!

problem is that my local brew supply is 3 hours away:p
So far im only missing the kettle but i have hope for the shops ill be hitting tomorrow:)

oh it would be +-30ibu depending on amount and effichensy

Ok it ended as a BIAB(brew in a bag) 18 litre 1,5h boil
after boil friday it was 9L OG60 now fermentation has stopped with FG12
Must say its gonna be a tasty beer even if the sample i tested was pretty much flat :)

edit:cant spell after testing beer

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Originally Posted by janivar123

Ok it ended as a BIAB(brew in a bag) 18 litre 1,5h boil
after boil friday it was 9L OG60 now fermentation has stopped with FG12
Must say its gonna be a tasty beer even if the sample i tested was pretty much flat :)

edit:cant spell after testing beer

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Cool! Post here when its conditioned and let me know how it tastes! If I remember I'll do the same with my last batch that is kegged now. I had some issues getting it to carb properly - my other keg was leaking, dropping the pressure of the system.

Its pretty good - smooth, but I was aiming for more sweetness than came through. I've adjusted my grain bill for that, and to provide a bit more colour (I was outside the style guidelines... not that that matters) and will be attempting again.

Since then I've setup a water bath with heater to control my fermentation temperatures, and acquired fresh yeast - hopefully alleviating the two issues I had with my last couple batches.

I need to get on it because my keg is getting low already!

Ben

Just wanted to say, welcome to another addicting hobby. I've been brewing for about 5 years now and just put my second all grain batch into the fermenter last week. Also, the conical fermenter someone mentioned a few posts ago..... check out

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www.minibrew.com

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....I've just recently received their 6.5 gal plastic conical and this will be the first time I've used anything besides the bucket/carboy combo.

As always... RDWHAHB!

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Originally Posted by jfleming9232

Just wanted to say, welcome to another addicting hobby. I've been brewing for about 5 years now and just put my second all grain batch into the fermenter last week. Also, the conical fermenter someone mentioned a few posts ago..... check out

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www.minibrew.com

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....I've just recently received their 6.5 gal plastic conical and this will be the first time I've used anything besides the bucket/carboy combo.

As always... RDWHAHB!

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Those conicals are neat indeed. I've been looking at these from a local supplier:

https://www.polywest.ca/index.php?li...wh=EC&pn=60214, but they aren't immediately setup for beer brewing like the one you posted.

I'll be doing my 3rd all grain batch hopefully on Friday. What recipe did you brew up last week?

Ben

A ten gallon batch of my usual american Pale Ale.....but this time, I split the batch for fermenting and after four days in primary I added strawberries to one of the batches. We'll see what happens. I'm hoping for a good APA with a hint of strawberry for this summer! :beer1:

Wiskey smoke was good(a bit heavy on the smoked part)
If you like single malt It can be recomended :)
And yes its all gone now :(

brew after that... note to self be carefull with the roasted malt(tastes old boiled coffe after 300g on a 13 litre batch)

Is there anyone interested in homebrewing here?
I see this thread is not receiving posts for more than one year now, so I guess it lost attention.

Come one, come all! :-)

I feel sure that a lot of people on SRP must homebrew! I certainly do; I've been at it for about 6 years now. I was doing all grain beers, including roasting my own malt, before my kids were born. I've got less free time with three little ones around, so these last few years I've just been doing my once yearly batch of 5 carboys (100 liters) of hard cider.

A friend of mine and I built bicycle powered cidering equipment and have a weekend get together with lots of guests to run the cider. Last year we did over 1500lbs of apples. Guests take away sweet cider in recycled jugs, the rest gets fermented to hard cider. If you have the equipment, its overall far less work than beer since you don't have to mash, boil, hop, cool, etc. Just get the cider in the carboys, sulfite it, then pitch yeast the next day. The tricky thing is finding apples with the appropriate degree of bitterness, which is good for cider but not good for fresh eating of cooking as a general rule.

Here is a link to last year's cidering on my friend's blog:
Pics from cidering « Five Islands Orchard

Also, here is a pic of me last year riding the bike to power the hydraulic cider press while holding my youngest kid.


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Congratulations! I too make cider, but you guys seems to take it very seriously!
I also make mead and perry, but the one I make the most is beer, of any type of any style. In a while, probably one month or so, I will brew a new beer, waiting for the temperature to chill a little. Now it is too hot and the temperature would be too high for a profitable fermentation (in this very moment, in my city, we are having 36°C, that is 98°F).

Keep on doing the good job! :tu

Not a brewer yet... but I do make mead.

Great and you are on your way to make beer. The process is not so different from mead. And it also take less time!

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Originally Posted by razorguy

Is there anyone interested in homebrewing here?
I see this thread is not receiving posts for more than one year now, so I guess it lost attention.

Come one, come all! :-)

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You and I seem to have a bit of overlapping interrests :) I've been homebrewing for about 5 years. Mostly ales, usually all grain. I have a tasty imperial stout recipe that's my favorite.

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Originally Posted by DFriedl

You and I seem to have a bit of overlapping interrests :) I've been homebrewing for about 5 years. Mostly ales, usually all grain. I have a tasty imperial stout recipe that's my favorite.

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This is amazing! It is always great to share interests with others!
I too am homebrewing for about 6 years now and my favorite is ale, in particular bitter ale, of which I have many recipes. And you know, when you brew beer, the sky's the limit!

I am jealous of you in one way, though: you are closer to the Pilsner Urquell brewery. Finding PU on tap in the US is rare, and PU in the bottle is nowhere near as good after the shipping. If I had the gear to lager my beer, I'd be refining a Bavarian pilsner recipe right now.

Well, I am certainly closer to Plzeň (Czech for the town of Pilsen) than you, anyway, it is about 1000 kilometers from here (about 680 miles, I guess) and, to tell you the truth, industrial beer is not my favorite, including PU (maybe it is because I am a professional beer taster and, well, industrial beer is just that: industrial and standard).
My main interest is for craft beer and, in particular, Trappist beer, however, beer re-fermented in bottle.
However, a good and properly brewed Pilsner beer certainly is a joy to have: Saaz hop is so distinctive that you cannot mistake it! :)

36C is hot! One summer I tried to do ale in the basement. I put the carboy in a big tub of water, and every morning before I went to work I would dump in a big block of ice that I froze the night before. Temperature fluctuated a lot as you can imagine, and it probably was overall still too warm. Turned out ok, but not fantastic, plus it was a lot of extra work. After that I resolved to be a three season brewer!

-Holly

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Originally Posted by razorguy

Congratulations! I too make cider, but you guys seems to take it very seriously!
I also make mead and perry, but the one I make the most is beer, of any type of any style. In a while, probably one month or so, I will brew a new beer, waiting for the temperature to chill a little. Now it is too hot and the temperature would be too high for a profitable fermentation (in this very moment, in my city, we are having 36°C, that is 98°F).

Keep on doing the good job! :tu

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Originally Posted by HollyGates

Temperature fluctuated a lot as you can imagine, and it probably was overall still too warm.

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Temperature, and stable temperature, is the key for a successful quality fermentation. And this is also true for wine.
High temperatures makes quite ordinary and coarse aromas as well as flavors.

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Originally Posted by razorguy

Trappist beer, however, beer re-fermented in bottle...
However, a good and properly brewed Pilsner beer certainly is a joy to have: Saaz hop is so distinctive that you cannot mistake it! :)

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I love Chimay, though I haven't tried many other Trappist beers. I love the style, though, and have tried many American versions of "Belgain" beers. I have an exception for certain "industrial"-brewed beers. Ones that have a lot to do with the history of the style, for instance PU to Pilsner, Anchor Steam to California Common, Kolsch that's actually from Cologne, European Guiness (not my continent's Candian stuff) to Irish stout, etc. But I usually drink the beer I brew and that which my friends brew and share with me.

We have so many wonderful breweries here in Pennsylvania. My favorite local ones are Penn (in Pittsburgh - known for very authentic Pilsner, Martzen, Munich Helles, and other traditional German styles), Victory (known for India Pale Ales), and East End - a one-man micro brewery here in Pittsburgh that makes an imperial stout with blackstrap molasses. There are many others - this area has a large number of German immigrants who remembered proper beer making after American prohibition ruined most of the rest of our breweries.

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Originally Posted by DFriedl

I love Chimay, though I haven't tried many other Trappist beers.

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My favorite Trappists are Westmalle and Westvleteren! The latter, in particular! Also Chimay red cap is good!

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Originally Posted by DFriedl

But I usually drink the beer I brew and that which my friends brew and share with me.

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Me too. I simply like my beer. Not the best, but I love it.

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Originally Posted by DFriedl

This area has a large number of German immigrants who remembered proper beer making after American prohibition ruined most of the rest of our breweries.

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So true. Prohibition was not good and certainly favored the spreading of very bad beverages. Fortunately that era is over and buried in the bad memories of time.

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Originally Posted by razorguy

Fortunately that era is over and buried in the bad memories of time.

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True, but the practice of loading mild American lagers with corn and rice adjuncts is alive and well. To taste what American beer used to be like, Brooklyn Lager is very good.

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Originally Posted by DFriedl

True, but the practice of loading mild American lagers with corn and rice adjuncts is alive and well. To taste what American beer used to be like, Brooklyn Lager is very good.

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Well, adding corn and rice to most of industrial beers is alive in every place of the world. It is cheaper than barley malt and most of consumers will never notice the difference.

Hi gents. Ive had the odd go at making home brew. I usually have a go at wine - only because i get the most sucess from wine. Ive tied a beer kit or two but im sure it would have killed a small nation with it... Vile is to polite a word for what it tasted like. If anyone can recommend a good kit for me to try than that would be appreciated.

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Originally Posted by tbert33

If anyone can recommend a good kit for me to try than that would be appreciated.

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Trust me, get rid of kits! I would not suggest you the "all grain" method (it is however the best) but you should probably try using malt and some special grains, then of course some good hops. And, trust me, this will give you a better beer and you can control many aspects of brewing.

Got a recipe for one that my father had, have no idea how old it is but when I was a kid we brewed it a few times. called for it to be made in a 10 gallon stone jar we only had a 5 gallon so it would knock you on your butt if you drank a couple glasses. We also made them from kits that turned out ok. I have friends in KC that are big into making mead, and man do they make the mead. Just don't drink pomegranate mead it's a natural lacative if you drink too much. Used to get a catalog called wilsons or something like that to buy all the beer supplies, bottles, cappers and stuff. Good luck with your mr.beer.

Tonight I am having my beer: it is a Bitter Ale Vintage 2011. To those who are interested to know how I brew it, it is an all grain beer (of course!) and I used three types of malt (blonde malt, amber malt and heavy toasted malt), two types of hop (Nugget and Fuggle) and my yeast, I mean a culture of yeast I am nurturing since many years and I use for this style for beer. Of course, water, Umbrian spring water. (that is the one I have here in my region) :)
A toast to you all, gentlemen! Cheers and keep on brewing! (and shaving with fine razors, of course!) :beer2:

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I can't believe I forgot about this thread! :banghead:

I have a very nice IPA that's aging in the bottles right now (about 6wks old) but it will be about 3 weeks before I can get back home to enjoy it :(

There is also a very nice American Pale Ale that is only three weeks old.

I envy you your homebrew and hope to be joining in with one soon!

RDWHAHB

IPA and APA, sounds great, in particular IPA! I guess we should revive this thread and try to exchange opinions, recipes and techniques. And, who knows, one day we will brew the "Razor Beer" :)
I will probably brew my new beer next month. Not sure what recipe I will make (it however is an all grain) and still thinking about it.

Been AGB for about a year now. I love the control I have over the final product. This method is much more conducive to experimentation. Your idea of a "razor brew" is intriguing, perhaps we should try to define what a razor brew is, come up with a good recipe and have a go at producing one. I'll think on that and maybe start another thread if need be to solicit ideas.

Guys, if you had to design the perfect straight razor beer, what would be some characteristics?

Very hoppy? Malty? Light and refreshing or heavy and filling?

Home brewers want to know!

In my opinion, a razor beer should be "cutting like a finely honed razor", that is dry and crisp, with a moderate hop quantity and maybe hints of spices and orange zests. As for the style, I would probably go for a Belgian Ale.
Now the problem with brewing a dry beer is the yeast, and most of the beer yeast is not that good to process maltodextrin. We can however work on it!
Homebrewers unite! :)

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In my opinion, a razor beer should be "cutting like a finely honed razor", that is dry and crisp, with a moderate hop quantity and maybe hints of spices and orange zests.

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I can see that further research will be necessary to define the "Razor Beer". If it's not too much of a hardship, I think we should sample as many styles and varieties of beer as possible in order to pick out the characteristics we feel should be included. I'll volunteer myself for this since I wouldn't want to burden anyone else :beer2:

Also, as far as the yeast goes, there are many exmples of yeast availible commercially here: White Labs as well as here: Beer Home Brewing

Plus, I've just gotten into yeast harvesting and propogation and would like to try my hand at cultivating some wild yeast so maybe this will give me the jump start I need to get that project going.

Thanks for the reply Razorguy, keep those suggestions coming folks!

For a "razor beer", I'm thinking more along the lines of a smooth Scottish Ale.:)

I have been brewing for five years. I've kept to the extract kits and (more recently) the partial mash kits for beer although I have done my own recipe for blueberry mead that turned out pretty well. Right now I have a Dunkelbock and a Pumpkin Ale ready to be bottled and a batch of Vanilla Porter about half gone.