Home Brewers

#651
#651
supersmo18 said:
I would have made a special trip up there if I had known you were entering in the Wilson Co. fair. I grew up in Mt. Juliet going to that fair each year.

Btw, I'm about to bottle the Lefse Blonde kit that you suggested to me. I ended up boiling in the lemongrass I told you about a while back, and man, it smells great coming out of the primary fermenter's airlock. I think it's going to turn out well.

Edit: I'm going to put it in a glass secondary for a couple of weeks first to try and clear it up a little more.
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We took my daughter and a friend to the fair one night but the judging was closed. We werent allowed to be present for the judging. I got two more competitions coming up, one in Nashville and one in Chattanooga.

Good, hope that turns out well. The secondary will help it some but to really get them to clear up in the bottle you will need to cold condition them. I never really did this when I was bottling because I liked to age them as much as possible before drinking them but now that I am kegging I see a big difference in beers that were just kegged and those that have been chilling in the kegs for a few weeks or months. When you chill the beer the suspended proteins and remaining yeast will cling together causing "chill haze". Over time it will drop out. It doesnt effect the taste.You can also use finings like Irish Moss in your boil. One important thing for clarity too is to cool the wort as quickly as possible. Let me know how it turns out. :toast:
 
#652
#652
Hopvol said:
We took my daughter and a friend to the fair one night but the judging was closed. We werent allowed to be present for the judging. I got two more competitions coming up, one in Nashville and one in Chattanooga.

Good, hope that turns out well. The secondary will help it some but to really get them to clear up in the bottle you will need to cold condition them. I never really did this when I was bottling because I liked to age them as much as possible before drinking them but now that I am kegging I see a big difference in beers that were just kegged and those that have been chilling in the kegs for a few weeks or months. When you chill the beer the suspended proteins and remaining yeast will cling together causing "chill haze". Over time it will drop out. It doesnt effect the taste.You can also use finings like Irish Moss in your boil. One important thing for clarity too is to cool the wort as quickly as possible. Let me know how it turns out. :toast:
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Excellent. I do use a wort chiller, and, despite the copious amounts of water I waste, it does chill the boiled wort down to about 75 deg. within about 20 minutes.

When is the competition in Chattanooga? Is it something that the general public can attend and come sample homebrews?
 
#653
#653
supersmo18 said:
Excellent. I do use a wort chiller, and, despite the copious amounts of water I waste, it does chill the boiled wort down to about 75 deg. within about 20 minutes.

When is the competition in Chattanooga? Is it something that the general public can attend and come sample homebrews?
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You can save water by getting a cooler and fill it with ice water. take a pond pump and connect it to your chiller and circulate the ice water. I usually chill down to about 85 or so before circulating ice water.

The competition is Dec 7th. I dont know if people can come and sample. I probably wont actually be there. One of our club members will take our entries but you may want to look into joining their group. Link below.


Fugetaboutit 2013 Organized By Barley Mob Brewers of Chattanooga > Fugetaboutit 2013
 
#654
#654
How long does it normally take for carbonation to happen after bottling for ya'll? I'm used to having a decent amount within a week or so. Current batch is completely dead after a week. Never seen it take so long.

:popcorn:
 
#655
#655
SmokeySteve said:
How long does it normally take for carbonation to happen after bottling for ya'll? I'm used to having a decent amount within a week or so. Current batch is completely dead after a week. Never seen it take so long.

:popcorn:
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Weird. What kind of sugar are you using for priming, and are you certain it is the appropriate amount? Perhaps there isn't enough residual yeast after fermentation? Other than being flat, does it taste right? If the taste is off the it could be a sanitation issue.
 
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#656
#656
I'm usually good to go in two weeks.

Might want to move your bottles to a warmer spot.

I bottles a dunkelweizen last week. Excited for this one, it smelled great when I was bottling.

Tragedy struck my 5 gallon carboy, while cleaning I noticed a chip in the glass, just big enough that it leaks. Guess I'll have a new piggy bank.
 
#657
#657
Hopvol said:
You can save water by getting a cooler and fill it with ice water. take a pond pump and connect it to your chiller and circulate the ice water. I usually chill down to about 85 or so before circulating ice water.

The competition is Dec 7th. I dont know if people can come and sample. I probably wont actually be there. One of our club members will take our entries but you may want to look into joining their group. Link below.

Fugetaboutit 2013 Organized By Barley Mob Brewers of Chattanooga > Fugetaboutit 2013
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I live in Chattanooga and I would really like to brew my own beer. If you're ever in the area I would really be interested in talking to you about it. If there is an event that you taste your beer I would like to attend that as well.
 
#662
#662
Hopvol said:
Getting up early Sat morning to brew Pliny The Elder clone before the game. :toast:
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Oooooh... Pliny is good.... :)


Btw, the Lefse Blonde smelled great when bottling. Had a beautiful light amber color to it. I think I'll have it ready in about 2 more weeks.
 
#668
#668
Tried doing a Smoked Pumpkin. 25% of the seeped grain was a smoked grain. Used about 2 tbles pumpkin spice in the last 10 minutes of the boil. Smell strong of pumpkin but the end result is the smoke overpowered any pumpkin taste.

Anyone got advice on amount of pumpkin spice and time in boil to strengthen pumpkin taste?

Got a Winter Ale (Big Sky Recipe) fermenting now. Added Vanilla. Local supply store recommended only using real beans. Slit 2 of them and put in last 10 minutes of boil, removed them for the ferment. Looking for a subtle vanilla finish, not overpowering.

Anyone got experience on how best to use Vanilla beans?
 
#669
#669
SmokeySteve said:
Tried doing a Smoked Pumpkin. 25% of the seeped grain was a smoked grain. Used about 2 tbles pumpkin spice in the last 10 minutes of the boil. Smell strong of pumpkin but the end result is the smoke overpowered any pumpkin taste.

Anyone got advice on amount of pumpkin spice and time in boil to strengthen pumpkin taste?
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I think you have plenty of spice, I use 4 tsp for 10 gallon batch but some people like the spice to be strong. I like the spice to be very subtle. Sounds like the issue is with the smoked grain and the pumpkin. Since you mention seeped grain I assume this was extract. I never did an extract with smoked grain but I have done an all grain smoked porter, I used 10% smoked grain and it had a light smokey flavor, not too overpowering. You could back off on the smoked grain and increase the amount of pumpkin. The easiest way to add pumpkin is puree, 10 minutes to go in boil. I use 32 oz for 10 gallon batch.



SmokeySteve said:
Got a Winter Ale (Big Sky Recipe) fermenting now. Added Vanilla. Local supply store recommended only using real beans. Slit 2 of them and put in last 10 minutes of boil, removed them for the ferment. Looking for a subtle vanilla finish, not overpowering.

Anyone got experience on how best to use Vanilla beans?
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Never used vanilla beans, always used vanilla extract. I usually add at flame out. If you use secondary I would taste at that time and if you want a stronger vanilla flavor add some extract to secondary and rack over it.
 
#670
#670
Never used vanilla beans, always used vanilla extract. I usually add at flame out. If you use secondary I would taste at that time and if you want a stronger vanilla flavor add some extract to secondary and rack over it.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the advice. We move to carboy this weekend. Will take a sip and see how it did and add extract if necessary.

:thumbsup:
 
#671
#671
Red brick uses vanilla beans for the vanilla gorilla porter they brew ( it's fantastic) might call the brewery and ask them. Never done that before though, wonder if they would tell you some tips. A brewers book I have says they sometimes even give yeast to homebrewers since they make their own and have plenty. Worth a shot. Good luck.

I've been on a winter homebrew slump eve since I broke my 5gallon carboy. Need to replace it and get back on the horse.
 
#672
#672
When we tasted during the transfer to the carboy, could not tell any vanilla. Has a surprising hoppy after taste for a winter ale.

Buddy and I got crazy and decided to drop tiny bit of vanilla and almond extract.

We'll know in February.....:p
 
#673
#673
USAF_Vol said:
Red brick uses vanilla beans for the vanilla gorilla porter they brew ( it's fantastic) might call the brewery and ask them. Never done that before though, wonder if they would tell you some tips. A brewers book I have says they sometimes even give yeast to homebrewers since they make their own and have plenty. Worth a shot. Good luck.

I've been on a winter homebrew slump eve since I broke my 5gallon carboy. Need to replace it and get back on the horse.
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Most craft breweries are very willing to help home brewers and yes most will give you yeast if you come at the time they are harvesting and bring a sanitized container.

Hope you weren't injured when the carboy broke. Ive heard of people getting some nasty cuts.
 
#674
#674
Luckily I wasn't injured. It spider webbed and then cracked down the side. I shed a small tear, no clue how it happened. It was on the counter in the kitchen waiting to be cleaned.

I suspect I didn't put enough support under it when I picked it up putting too much stress on the handle I put on.
 
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