Home Brewers

#676
#676
Hop, you ever tried doing a small batch (1 or 2 gallons) using the brew in a bag method? I was thinking about giving it a whirl since I am very limited on space here in Atlanta. Seems perfect for me, since it would take me several weeks to drink 5 gallons, and with this method I could be trying new varieties quite regularly without having to give away a crap load of beer.
 
#677
#677
Ive never done the brew in a bag thing but there is a guy in our brew club that does it all the time. He has posted some videos of the process on you tube. Maybe search you tube for brew in a a bag.

You may have to design your own recipe or scale them down using software like beersmith to get a 1 or 2 gallon recipe. Most recipes or kits will be for 5 gallons minimum. If your buying stuff like a pot I would get something that can handle 5 gallons because you may find that you go through 1 or 2 gallons quicker than you think. :)
 
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#678
#678
Hopvol said:
Ive never done the brew in a bag thing but there is a guy in our brew club that does it all the time. He has posted some videos of the process on you tube. Maybe search you tube for brew in a a bag.

You may have to design your own recipe or scale them down using software like beersmith to get a 1 or 2 gallon recipe. Most recipes or kits will be for 5 gallons minimum. If your buying stuff like a pot I would get something that can handle 5 gallons because you may find that you go through 1 or 2 gallons quicker than you think. :)
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I'll check out YouTube tonight. I'm pretty excited to try it. I've got a pot big enough to do a 2 gallon batch, so I'll check out beer Smith. Do you have the paid version? Does it work pretty well?
 
#679
#679
SamRebel35 said:
I'll check out YouTube tonight. I'm pretty excited to try it. I've got a pot big enough to do a 2 gallon batch, so I'll check out beer Smith. Do you have the paid version? Does it work pretty well?
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Yes, I love beersmith. It is very useful for designing and scaling recipes. If you cant find a small batch recipe post it on here and I can scale it for you.
 
#680
#680
Took a couple hours last night and did a stove top all grain IPA with the brew in a bag method. I filled up two 1 gallon carboys. I dry pitched the American ale yeast, and it was bubbling within an hour and a half. Seems like a good thing, but I hope it doesn't indicate a problem.
 
#681
#681
SamRebel35 said:
Took a couple hours last night and did a stove top all grain IPA with the brew in a bag method. I filled up two 1 gallon carboys. I dry pitched the American ale yeast, and it was bubbling within an hour and a half. Seems like a good thing, but I hope it doesn't indicate a problem.
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As long as everything was sanitized it should be fine. Dry pitching is best IMO when using dry yeast. Sometimes they will take off fast.
 
#682
#682
Hopvol said:
As long as everything was sanitized it should be fine. Dry pitching is best IMO when using dry yeast. Sometimes they will take off fast.
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Tried my best to keep everything sanitary, but it is quite difficult with my current ghetto setup. Lol.
 
#683
#683
Hop, I know beersmith has tons of recipes, but do those recipes come with a procedure tips or instructions?
 
#684
#684
SamRebel35 said:
Hop, I know beersmith has tons of recipes, but do those recipes come with a procedure tips or instructions?
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Not exactly. They tell you how long to boil and hop addition times but that's about it. The instructions would be different if your doing brew in a bag vs standard all grain. What you do with the ingredients is going to be pretty much the same for each recipe. Later you can mash at a higher temp if your going for a sweeter beer, lower for a dryer beer, play around with hop addition and boil times but I wouldn't worry about any of that right now. I would keep it simple at first. Have you looked at brewtoad? They have a ton of free recipes too.

Brewtoad | Create and discover homebrew recipes
 
#685
#685
Hopvol said:
Not exactly. They tell you how long to boil and hop addition times but that's about it. The instructions would be different if your doing brew in a bag vs standard all grain. What you do with the ingredients is going to be pretty much the same for each recipe. Later you can mash at a higher temp if your going for a sweeter beer, lower for a dryer beer, play around with hop addition and boil times but I wouldn't worry about any of that right now. I would keep it simple at first. Have you looked at brewtoad? They have a ton of free recipes too.

Brewtoad | Create and discover homebrew recipes
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Thanks! I'll take a look.
 
#686
#686
Hop, do you do something to filter out hop residue and coagulated proteins from the wort after boil? It seems like it would be difficult to use cheese cloth while racking to the fermenter. How do you do it?
 
#687
#687
SamRebel35 said:
Hop, do you do something to filter out hop residue and coagulated proteins from the wort after boil? It seems like it would be difficult to use cheese cloth while racking to the fermenter. How do you do it?
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Ive tried different methods. A few months ago I bought a stainless filter from Utah Biodiesel but it didn't work very well.

Stainless Brewing Filters For Beer And Wine - Hop Spider, Hops Holder, Hop Strainer Cup, Keg Filter, Kettle Screens, Stainless Steel Mesh, Custom - Utah Biodiesel Supply

I got the one for a keggle and hang it in the pot when boiling then put the hops into it but my hop bitterness went way down so I quite using it as a hop filter. Its great for other types of filtering. Like I could hang it in my fermenter and filter as the wort runs into it or filter from the mash tun but I usually don't. That could be an option for you.

My boil kettle has a spigot and dip tube so I get some junk when I start but most is left in the kettle. So basically I don't do anything special to keep it out, I get some in my fermenter but I don't really worry about it.

You could try the whirlpool method explained here. This is what breweries do. One day I will likely change my spigot to draw from the edge instead of the middle so I can do this.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Whirlpooling

You would basically chill, whirlpool, and rack to the fermenter.

You could also make a homemade hop spider.

https://byo.com/build-it-yourself/item/2427-build-a-hop-spider-projects
 
#688
#688
Tried to do an Imperial Red, basically a base red on hop steroid. Applied all the extra hops in reverse order, reading instructions is so underrated.

Not the IPA-Red combo we were going for, but not a bad result. Good thing I like red heads. :)

Fermenting a smoked rye right now. Aroma is stronger or maybe just a different smell than normal malt.
 
#689
#689
SmokeySteve said:
Tried to do an Imperial Red, basically a base red on hop steroid. Applied all the extra hops in reverse order, reading instructions is so underrated.

Not the IPA-Red combo we were going for, but not a bad result. Good thing I like red heads. :)

Fermenting a smoked rye right now. Aroma is stronger or maybe just a different smell than normal malt.
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Sounds awesome. Curious, reversing your hop additions, does that screw up the bitterness? How far off is the taste you were going for?
 
#690
#690
SmokeySteve said:
Tried to do an Imperial Red, basically a base red on hop steroid. Applied all the extra hops in reverse order, reading instructions is so underrated.

Not the IPA-Red combo we were going for, but not a bad result. Good thing I like red heads. :)

Fermenting a smoked rye right now. Aroma is stronger or maybe just a different smell than normal malt.
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We all have mistake batches. Funny you mentioned this one because I kegged an Imperial Red I am working on a couple weeks ago and it didn't come out as planned either. Thats why I always recommend taking good notes so we can tweak recipes and dial them in.
 
#691
#691
SamRebel35 said:
Sounds awesome. Curious, reversing your hop additions, does that screw up the bitterness? How far off is the taste you were going for?
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I could be wrong but I read as he accidentally added them backward. It will change the hop profiles, bitterness and aroma. Thats where something like beersmith comes in handy, you can play with hop addition times in the software and it will tell you how it will change it.
 
#692
#692
SamRebel35 said:
Sounds awesome. Curious, reversing your hop additions, does that screw up the bitterness? How far off is the taste you were going for?
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Taste is good, like a basic red. Think what we did was overcook the hops that was intended to give the IPA taste.
 
#693
#693
Hopvol said:
I could be wrong but I read as he accidentally added them backward. It will change the hop profiles, bitterness and aroma. Thats where something like beersmith comes in handy, you can play with hop addition times in the software and it will tell you how it will change it.
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Difference between amateurs and those that are more serious. Thanks for the tip about beersmith, I'll be sure to have that at our fingertips next time.

Curious how the rye will turn out. Think I went too light on the smoked grain. The rye aroma is very distinctive. Usually these have lots of hops but we decided not to over hop it so the real rye taste should come through. Time will tell.
 
#694
#694
SmokeySteve said:
Taste is good, like a basic red. Think what we did was overcook the hops that was intended to give the IPA taste.
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The earlier the hops are added the more hop bitterness which is what you want in a hoppy beer like an IPA. Late additions and dry hops are going to add more hop aroma than bitterness.
 
#695
#695
SmokeySteve said:
Difference between amateurs and those that are more serious. Thanks for the tip about beersmith, I'll be sure to have that at our fingertips next time.

Curious how the rye will turn out. Think I went too light on the smoked grain. The rye aroma is very distinctive. Usually these have lots of hops but we decided not to over hop it so the real rye taste should come through. Time will tell.
Click to expand...

For $20 I recommend beersmith to anyone who is doing all grain. It will absolutely take your brewing to the next level. There's others out there but I think beersmith does a great job with updates, they have a ton of recipes on their website and some really good podcasts.
 
#696
#696
I have been cold crashing in the primary for almost 24 hours and it doesn't look any less cloudy. How long should I keep at it?
 
#699
#699
Bottled my IPA over the weekend. It smelled amazing. Going to do a LME Blue Moon clone this afternoon. That's the wife's favorite. She wants to do most of the work so that she has some brewing bragging rights. Lol. Hop, you done any Blu moon clones before?
 
#700
#700
SamRebel35 said:
Bottled my IPA over the weekend. It smelled amazing. Going to do a LME Blue Moon clone this afternoon. That's the wife's favorite. She wants to do most of the work so that she has some brewing bragging rights. Lol. Hop, you done any Blu moon clones before?
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Sam, this just came to mind when you said you bottled your IPA. Is this beer you were cold crashing? If so you may have trouble getting it to carbonate. Chilling the beer will make the yeast drop out.

I have not done a BM clone but I know Northern Brewer and Midwest Supplies have Belgian Wit kits that are supposed to BM clones or if you want to come up with your own all grain recipe Beersmith and Brew Toad have some recipes you could start with.
 
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