Howard's Homebrew

[Tip Top]

4 lbs of malt?  How small of a beer is that going to be?

The 1 got cut off, 14 lbs.

Ok, that makes a lot more sense.  You have everything to do all grain?

Yeah.  Once I figured out all that I needed was a cooler and some way to filter the grain from the wort, I went to Lowe's and knocked it out that day.  Other than the first batch of partial mash, everything else has been all grain.

Nice.  It allows you to be much more creative.  You better be bringing some homebrew to TTFest.

[howardf]

4 lbs of malt?  How small of a beer is that going to be?

The 1 got cut off, 14 lbs.

Ok, that makes a lot more sense.  You have everything to do all grain?

Yeah.  Once I figured out all that I needed was a cooler and some way to filter the grain from the wort, I went to Lowe's and knocked it out that day.  Other than the first batch of partial mash, everything else has been all grain.

Nice.  It allows you to be much more creative.  You better be bringing some homebrew to TTFest.

If I come

Right now I'm on the fence.  22 hours in the car seems like more than I want to deal with in a 3-day weekend.  I'm sure I'll be more hesitant to miss out as it draws near.

[Tip Top]

4 lbs of malt?  How small of a beer is that going to be?

The 1 got cut off, 14 lbs.

Ok, that makes a lot more sense.  You have everything to do all grain?

Yeah.  Once I figured out all that I needed was a cooler and some way to filter the grain from the wort, I went to Lowe's and knocked it out that day.  Other than the first batch of partial mash, everything else has been all grain.

Nice.  It allows you to be much more creative.  You better be bringing some homebrew to TTFest.

If I come

Right now I'm on the fence.  22 hours in the car seems like more than I want to deal with in a 3-day weekend.  I'm sure I'll be more hesitant to miss out as it draws near.

We'll be brewing Saturday.  Thinking about getting as many as many as three rigs out here to do it right.

[howardf]

Do you rehydrate your dry yeast, or just pitch it?  I'm debating US-05 or 1056 for my hoppy.  I know 1056 will require a starter, which has me leaning towards US-05.

[Tip Top]

Do you rehydrate your dry yeast, or just pitch it?  I'm debating US-05 or 1056 for my hoppy.  I know 1056 will require a starter, which has me leaning towards US-05.

I run a starter for pretty much every batch I do.  You don't have to re-hydrate, but I've only direct pitched dry yeast once.  Is there a reason you don't want to run a starter?

[howardf]

Do you rehydrate your dry yeast, or just pitch it?  I'm debating US-05 or 1056 for my hoppy.  I know 1056 will require a starter, which has me leaning towards US-05.

I run a starter for pretty much every batch I do.  You don't have to re-hydrate, but I've only direct pitched dry yeast once.  Is there a reason you don't want to run a starter?

I never have, I guess that's the only reason.  I thought you needed flasks and stir plates and all of that business, but upon further research most people seem to use growlers, which I have plenty of.  Most of the people on HBT say no starters for dry   I asked here because you and Jaysus both said you use US-05 a lot.

[Tip Top]

Do you rehydrate your dry yeast, or just pitch it?  I'm debating US-05 or 1056 for my hoppy.  I know 1056 will require a starter, which has me leaning towards US-05.

I run a starter for pretty much every batch I do.  You don't have to re-hydrate, but I've only direct pitched dry yeast once.  Is there a reason you don't want to run a starter?

I never have, I guess that's the only reason.  I thought you needed flasks and stir plates and all of that business, but upon further research most people seem to use growlers, which I have plenty of.  Most of the people on HBT say no starters for dry   I asked here because you and Jaysus both said you use US-05 a lot.

I do have one flask, but when I need more than one starter, I use growlers.  I just bought a couple foam stoppers that will fit into one.  It's so easy, I guess I just don't know why you wouldn't go with starters.  The faster it ferments the better.  I'm with you though, at first I was intimidated by running starters.  Now it's just part of my routine a day or two before brewing.

[Jaysus]

US-05 did not need a starter, there is some yeast count science going on there that you could Google if you want. All you need to do is rehydrate it... which I do by pitching directly in my wort

[Tip Top]

US-05 did not need a starter, there is some yeast count science going on there that you could Google if you want. All you need to do is rehydrate it... which I do by pitching directly in my wort

I've done that a couple times myself.

[Jaysus]

I am comfortable doing that with a few strains that I am familiar with... I do not use too many dry strains, but US-05 and S-04 get used a lot with my beers.

(I direct pitch both, S-04 is a beast)

[smellysell]

I am comfortable doing that with a few strains that I am familiar with... I do not use too many dry strains, but US-05 and S-04 get used a lot with my beers.

(I direct pitch both, S-04 is a beast)

05 is an animal, I direct pitched it all the time.  I used it far more than any other yeast.  Starters aren't hard, just require some planning ahead, which was never my strong point.

[pwoods]

What was the recipe for your Coffee Porter?  Thinking about making one of these soonish.

[howardf]

What was the recipe for your Coffee Porter?  Thinking about making one of these soonish.

It was a partial mash from the LHBS.

1 lb chocolate malt
12 oz 60L crystal
4 oz debittered black malt

3.3 lbs light LME
4 lbs Briess light DME

1 oz cluster @ 60
1.054 OG
Wyeast 1728

2 oz coffee in secondary for 4-5 days

[pwoods]

What was the recipe for your Coffee Porter?  Thinking about making one of these soonish.

It was a partial mash from the LHBS.

1 lb chocolate malt
12 oz 60L crystal
4 oz debittered black malt

3.3 lbs light LME
4 lbs Briess light DME

1 oz cluster @ 60
1.054 OG
Wyeast 1728

2 oz coffee in secondary for 4-5 days

Ground coffee?  Coarse, fine?  How intense is the coffee(was 2oz. enough?)?

I'm not looking for an over the top coffee but relatively firm.  And with as minimal astringent bitterness as I can.

I was thinking around 4oz coarse grounds but don't want to over do it.  I was also looking at cold steeping(2 cups water and 2/3 cup coarse grounds for 12-24 hours) and adding that at kegging... and adding more if needed.

[howardf]

What was the recipe for your Coffee Porter?  Thinking about making one of these soonish.

It was a partial mash from the LHBS.

1 lb chocolate malt
12 oz 60L crystal
4 oz debittered black malt

3.3 lbs light LME
4 lbs Briess light DME

1 oz cluster @ 60
1.054 OG
Wyeast 1728

2 oz coffee in secondary for 4-5 days

Ground coffee?  Coarse, fine?  How intense is the coffee(was 2oz. enough?)?

I'm not looking for an over the top coffee but relatively firm.  And with as minimal astringent bitterness as I can.

I was thinking around 4oz coarse grounds but don't want to over do it.  I was also looking at cold steeping(2 cups water and 2/3 cup coarse grounds for 12-24 hours) and adding that at kegging... and adding more if needed.

The instructions said coarse ground in secondary.  I did coarse in a muslin bag in the keg and pulled it after five days.  The coffee was present, but not overpowering, and definitely not astringent.  Looking forward to putting a hurt on that keg tonight

[pwoods]

What was the recipe for your Coffee Porter?  Thinking about making one of these soonish.

It was a partial mash from the LHBS.

1 lb chocolate malt
12 oz 60L crystal
4 oz debittered black malt

3.3 lbs light LME
4 lbs Briess light DME

1 oz cluster @ 60
1.054 OG
Wyeast 1728

2 oz coffee in secondary for 4-5 days

Ground coffee?  Coarse, fine?  How intense is the coffee(was 2oz. enough?)?

I'm not looking for an over the top coffee but relatively firm.  And with as minimal astringent bitterness as I can.

I was thinking around 4oz coarse grounds but don't want to over do it.  I was also looking at cold steeping(2 cups water and 2/3 cup coarse grounds for 12-24 hours) and adding that at kegging... and adding more if needed.

The instructions said coarse ground in secondary.  I did coarse in a muslin bag in the keg and pulled it after five days.  The coffee was present, but not overpowering, and definitely not astringent.  Looking forward to putting a hurt on that keg tonight

[howardf]

The SMaSH went pretty well.  Undershot my gravity by .005, which isn't the end of the world, but I wish I could get my Beersmith issues ironed out.  I'm off on either gravity or volume on pretty much every brew, and it's pissing me off.  If I would have sparged like the software told me to, I would have had 7-8 gallons of wort and been way under my gravity.  I'm pretty sure I'm getting shitty crush from the LHBS, which wouldn't help, but I really don't want to buy a mill.  My house smells like a tropical oasis.

[smellysell]

I'm assuming you know how to adjust the boil off percentage in Beersmith?

[howardf]

I'm assuming you know how to adjust the boil off percentage in Beersmith?

Yes.  If I followed Beersmith today I would have been way over, but I'm usually short.  If it was somewhat consistent I could make adjustments.  I used the Wyeast nutrients and oxygenator that you sent today, and the yeast is already working

[Tip Top]

The SMaSH went pretty well.  Undershot my gravity by .005, which isn't the end of the world, but I wish I could get my Beersmith issues ironed out.  I'm off on either gravity or volume on pretty much every brew, and it's pissing me off.  If I would have sparged like the software told me to, I would have had 7-8 gallons of wort and been way under my gravity.  I'm pretty sure I'm getting shitty crush from the LHBS, which wouldn't help, but I really don't want to buy a mill.  My house smells like a tropical oasis.

Yeah, I've had that screw me too.  Was WAY over on volume one time following the BeerSmith.  I should have figured it out, but I stuck to the recipe and had too much volume with lower than desired gravity.  Won't likely happen again.

[howardf]

The SMaSH went pretty well.  Undershot my gravity by .005, which isn't the end of the world, but I wish I could get my Beersmith issues ironed out.  I'm off on either gravity or volume on pretty much every brew, and it's pissing me off.  If I would have sparged like the software told me to, I would have had 7-8 gallons of wort and been way under my gravity.  I'm pretty sure I'm getting shitty crush from the LHBS, which wouldn't help, but I really don't want to buy a mill.  My house smells like a tropical oasis.

Yeah, I've had that screw me too.  Was WAY over on volume one time following the BeerSmith.  I should have figured it out, but I stuck to the recipe and had too much volume with lower than desired gravity.  Won't likely happen again.

I went back and checked and Beersmith said I was going to get 2.8 gallons of wort from the mash pre-sparge, I ended up with nearly 4.

[smellysell]

The SMaSH went pretty well.  Undershot my gravity by .005, which isn't the end of the world, but I wish I could get my Beersmith issues ironed out.  I'm off on either gravity or volume on pretty much every brew, and it's pissing me off.  If I would have sparged like the software told me to, I would have had 7-8 gallons of wort and been way under my gravity.  I'm pretty sure I'm getting shitty crush from the LHBS, which wouldn't help, but I really don't want to buy a mill.  My house smells like a tropical oasis.

Yeah, I've had that screw me too.  Was WAY over on volume one time following the BeerSmith.  I should have figured it out, but I stuck to the recipe and had too much volume with lower than desired gravity.  Won't likely happen again.

I went back and checked and Beersmith said I was going to get 2.8 gallons of wort from the mash pre-sparge, I ended up with nearly 4.

Weird...

It took me a few batches to get dialed in as far as what efficiency to expect, and what amount of boil off I would get, but after that it was dialed in.  I also was electric though, so would set it at the same percentage and had the same boil every time.

[howardf]

Already planning the next brew:

Code: [Select]

Style: English Barleywine
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.06 gal
Post Boil Volume: 5.98 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal   
Bottling Volume: 4.60 gal
Estimated OG: 1.103 SG
Estimated Color: 21.7 SRM
Estimated IBU: 53.7 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 83.2 %
Boil Time: 120 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt                   Name                                     Type          #        %/IBU         
14 lbs                Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM)         Grain         1        73.7 %       
1 lbs 8.0 oz          Amber Malt (22.0 SRM)                    Grain         2        7.9 %         
1 lbs 8.0 oz          Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM)                  Grain         3        7.9 %         
12.0 oz               Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM)    Grain         4        3.9 %         
12.0 oz               Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM)   Grain         5        3.9 %         
8.0 oz                Molasses (80.0 SRM)                      Sugar         6        2.6 %         
2.00 oz               Brewer's Gold [8.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min   Hop           7        39.0 IBUs     
2.00 oz               Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 20.0 Hop           8        14.7 IBUs     
2.0 pkg               Nottingham (Danstar #-) [23.66 ml]       Yeast         9        -             

Probably going to do a Mild with the second runnings while I'm at it.

[howardf]

I did another Lambic yesterday, but this time with a standard mash.  My gravity was low before I even started boiling, which is getting annoying.  I planned on a 3 hour boil, but I was down to 5 gallons after 2 hours, so I need to tweak the boil off rate in Beersmith.  I tossed the dregs from a Supplication and a Classic Gueuze in with the Wyeast 3278.

During cleanup is when disaster struck.  I've been tossing my spent grain over the fence at the back edge of my property, thinking something would eat it, but no dice.  This time I tried to run it through the garbage disposal.  I got about a pound in there when the disposal jammed and wouldn't pass any more liquid.  I got to tear down the plumbing under the sink when I was already tired and grouchy, and made an enormous mess unclogging the pipe.  I started brewing around 2:30 and wasn't done until 9:30.

I'm still going for the English Barleywine next time, but I've tweaked the recipe a little here and there:

16.5 lbs Marris Otter
1 lb Amber Malt
1 lb Brown Malt
.75 lb Crystal 120
.75 lb Crystal 60
3 oz Northern Brewer @ 60

Going for a 90-120 minute boil.

I'll probably add another 2 lbs of MO and 1 lb of Crystal 60 for the second runnings.

[smellysell]

Spend grains are great for compost piles.

[HornyDevil]

I started brewing around 2:30 and wasn't done until 9:30.

On a sort of related note, this is the only part of brewing big hoppy beers that I don't like. In order to make up for the hop absorption (I use whole leaf), I sparge with 10 gallons instead of the usual 5. Add that to a slower than normal runoff (equipment issue that I fixed after brewing) and my brewday on Saturday was a lot longer than I would have liked it to be.

Next beer is a project that will result in a Flanders Red and an Oud Bruin and will be a MUCH quicker brewday. That'll be nice. 

[howardf]

Added a sight glass today to help with consistency.  It was do-it-yourself stickers, so I didn't get them as straight as I would have liked.  I also hacked the excess length off after I was done.

[howardf]

Blew the first keg of homebrew tonight :taps:

Sweet Georgia Brown taps on Friday night

I'm also going to dump batch #2, my first shot at a Lambic.  It's probably 20% flour at the bottom of the fermenter, so I can't see this going well.  This was the batch where my first filter didn't work out, and I used a mesh strainer for the wort.  Seeing how much nicer the second try looks is convincing me that it's doomed.  Probably going to do another batch with Wyeast Rosale since I can get it at my local, vs the Lambic blend that I have to order.

[Tip Top]

Nice work on the sight glass.   

[smellysell]

Blew the first keg of homebrew tonight :taps:

Sweet Georgia Brown taps on Friday night

I'm also going to dump batch #2, my first shot at a Lambic.  It's probably 20% flour at the bottom of the fermenter, so I can't see this going well.  This was the batch where my first filter didn't work out, and I used a mesh strainer for the wort.  Seeing how much nicer the second try looks is convincing me that it's doomed.  Probably going to do another batch with Wyeast Rosale since I can get it at my local, vs the Lambic blend that I have to order.

Do you need the fermenter?  If not, let it ride for a while, you never know, especially with something funky.

[howardf]

Nice work on the sight glass.   

Thanks.  It was a kit from Brew Hardware.  Pretty easy to get in there, just drill a hole at the bottom and one at the top for the eye bolt, connect with the included bolt, washer, and gasket, then fill and mark off.  The "glass" is the same stuff they make bulletproof glass from, so it should take a decent beating.

[thickfreakness]

Blew the first keg of homebrew tonight :taps:

Sweet Georgia Brown taps on Friday night

I'm also going to dump batch #2, my first shot at a Lambic.  It's probably 20% flour at the bottom of the fermenter, so I can't see this going well.  This was the batch where my first filter didn't work out, and I used a mesh strainer for the wort.  Seeing how much nicer the second try looks is convincing me that it's doomed.  Probably going to do another batch with Wyeast Rosale since I can get it at my local, vs the Lambic blend that I have to order.

Do you need the fermenter?  If not, let it ride for a while, you never know, especially with something funky.

I concur.

[Jaysus]

you could always try to distill it 

[Tip Top]

you could always try to distill it 

[howardf]

you could always try to distill it 

   There's a cop right next door.

[Jaysus]

Distill it indoors

[howardf]

Barleywine is mashed, now second runnings is in the cooler.  Pot's full of sparge water, so once I sparge I can start the boil on the Barleywine.  It's going to be a long day   Took a sample of the Galaxy SMaSH, and it's tasting delicious.  Dropped 3 oz of Galaxy in the bucket to dry hop.  Three more weeks before it's ready to drink.

[howardf]

I'm never doing back to back batches again, ever.  If I want to do a small beer, I'll get a little bag of grain and do it the next day.  To make matters worse, my kid puked near the tail end of the night, which made for a nice intermission.  My back is killing me, and I'm terribly thirsty

The good news is that there are two buckets making their maiden voyage in the new chest freezer.  The temp controller is holding steady, and I'm hoping for some delicious results from all of this.  Here's what I made

20 Pound Barleywine
16.5 lbs Maris Otter
1 lb each Amber and Brown malt
.5 lb each of Crystal 60, 80, and 120
2 oz Northern Brewer
2 hour boil
2 packs of Nottingham Dry
60 degrees

Hoppy Seconds
2 lbs 2-row
1 lbs Crystal 40
.5 oz Belma @ 60
.5 oz each Amarillo and Citra @ 15
.5 oz each Amarillo and Citra @ 5
US-05

Looks kind of brown-ish right now, not sure what style I'd call it.

[smellysell]

How do you have the temp probe set up in the fridge?

[howardf]

How do you have the temp probe set up in the fridge?

Taped to the side of the barleywine bucket, with three layers of styrofoam covering it.

[Tip Top]

What was the total time of the brew day?  Boil time for the barleywine?  I've made it through a brew with second runnings in about 9 hours.

It's always hard for me to say what my second runnings beers should be called style-wise.  I think I'm just going with hoppy or malty from here on out.

[howardf]

What was the total time of the brew day?  Boil time for the barleywine?  I've made it through a brew with second runnings in about 9 hours.

It's always hard for me to say what my second runnings beers should be called style-wise.  I think I'm just going with hoppy or malty from here on out.

I started at 11:30, and was done after 10.  My kid getting sick took some time, and I had a Taco Bell break in there.  I boiled the barleywine for two hours, just 60 minutes for the second runnings.  I mashed them both first, then boiled them back to back.  If I had two kettles, I would have had a much faster/nicer day, as both batches would have wrapped up right around the same time.  Still no bubbles in my blowoff buckets, I'm assuming it's the cooler temps and not that I fucked something up.  Temp is set to 60 and both yeasts are in their recommended temp ranges

[smellysell]

How do you have the temp probe set up in the fridge?

Taped to the side of the barleywine bucket, with three layers of styrofoam covering it.

I used something similar to this, worked great.

[/img]

[howardf]

I've been fixating on this all day.  It figures just when I think I have everything I want, I find something else.  I thought a mill was all I had left. 

Going to brew a batch and a half of Lambic next weekend to get that barrel filled up, and probably do a cider, too.

[smellysell]

I've been fixating on this all day.  It figures just when I think I have everything I want, I find something else.  I thought a mill was all I had left. 

Going to brew a batch and a half of Lambic next weekend to get that barrel filled up, and probably do a cider, too.

If you're going do drop that much money, get a conical.

And you'll never have everything you want.

[howardf]

What was the total time of the brew day?  Boil time for the barleywine?  I've made it through a brew with second runnings in about 9 hours.

It's always hard for me to say what my second runnings beers should be called style-wise.  I think I'm just going with hoppy or malty from here on out.

I started at 11:30, and was done after 10.  My kid getting sick took some time, and I had a Taco Bell break in there.  I boiled the barleywine for two hours, just 60 minutes for the second runnings.  I mashed them both first, then boiled them back to back.  If I had two kettles, I would have had a much faster/nicer day, as both batches would have wrapped up right around the same time.  Still no bubbles in my blowoff buckets, I'm assuming it's the cooler temps and not that I fucked something up.  Temp is set to 60 and both yeasts are in their recommended temp ranges

As of last night, fermentation still hadn't started.  Cranked it up to 65 and the US-05 took off, Nottingham wasn't doing shit.  Went to put some Fermaid in with the Nottingham and saw a nice krausen head, just no bubbles.  Here's hoping

[howardf]

Brewed today, another batch of Lambic to get the barrel filled up.  My stove has a switch to turn on the outer rings of the biggest burner, and I turned them off to make gravy this week, and forgot to turn them back on   Took forever to get up to temps today until I noticed it, about 20 degrees short of the boil.  Everything else went smooth until it was time to cap the better bottle.  Filled it up, oxygenated, pitched, then put the stopper in and leaned on it pretty hard, and shoved the stopper into the bottle.  Luckily I had another one, but I have to go get another one tomorrow before I can brew the third batch of Lambic for the barrel.

Flushed and filled the barrel with water today to try to start getting the liquor out of the wood.  Going to repeat the process several times in the next couple of weeks.

[howardf]

Cleaned the Brown Ale keg after I finished it off last night.  Cleaned the tap line and tapped the Galaxy SMaSH, which smelled awesome.  It was a mix of starsan, beer, and the sediment from the bottom of the keg, so I didn't taste it, but I can't wait.  Pulled a sample of the Berliner and it's kind of lame.  I hope it gets sour at some point, because it tastes very faintly of apples, and that's about it.

[Tip Top]

Cleaned the Brown Ale keg after I finished it off last night.  Cleaned the tap line and tapped the Galaxy SMaSH, which smelled awesome.  It was a mix of starsan, beer, and the sediment from the bottom of the keg, so I didn't taste it, but I can't wait.  Pulled a sample of the Berliner and it's kind of lame.  I hope it gets sour at some point, because it tastes very faintly of apples, and that's about it.

I switched kegs last night only to run out of CO2. 

[howardf]

Cleaned the Brown Ale keg after I finished it off last night.  Cleaned the tap line and tapped the Galaxy SMaSH, which smelled awesome.  It was a mix of starsan, beer, and the sediment from the bottom of the keg, so I didn't taste it, but I can't wait.  Pulled a sample of the Berliner and it's kind of lame.  I hope it gets sour at some point, because it tastes very faintly of apples, and that's about it.

I switched kegs last night only to run out of CO2. 

I'm still on my first 10 lb fill.  I should get another bottle just in case.