Intermediate Brewing

1. bottling a choc stout

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   First post by Brendandrage, 12 years ago

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   Hi all,
   Im about to bottle my first stout as i do enjoy a stout its not something i want on tap at this stage.
   I have never brewed or bottled a stout before and im using 270ml bottles.
   I was curious how much sugar i should use per bottle for a stout or how much for bulk priming?
   I have brewed 2 x 20 litre batches
   
   Cheers

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   Note that this post here contains the same bottling calculations as used in the BIABacus.
   
   [ Please note that Hints does not reply to direct questions. ]
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   Last post by Hints
   12 years ago
2. Three Floyds Gumballhead Clone Attempt

   5 Replies 10938 Views

   First post by kfun123, 12 years ago

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   I am starting to plan my third BIAB brew so I decided I would try and create / adapt my own recipe. So after a number of searches I have put together a recipe that I think will work, I would appreciate any feedback you all have. The biggest difference I can see between my recipe and the original is the ABV of 4.47% vs 5.6% of the real thing. But I am not sure what I could do other than change my yeast (which I would rather not do since London 1968 is the Three Floyds house yeast).
   
   Nearly...

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   Rick,
   Thanks for the explanation on the 90 minute mash/boil. This message board has been really helpful just getting started with BIAB.
   
   Indieg,
   That recipe looks great I think I will give it a try. If I don't have an open fermentor for secondary could I use a hops sock and pull the first one after five days then add a second for 10 instead of racking to a secondary?
   
   Thanks
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   Last post by kfun123
   12 years ago
3. Trub into fermentor

   18 Replies 19137 Views

   First post by Zelig, 12 years ago

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   Hi all,
   I'm back here after some time (and many BIAB brewings!) with a question:
   
   After cooling my wort, I used to transfer it as clean as possible to the fermentor using a syphon, leaving all the trub behind. But this way I have to leave also some good wort!
   
   Now in the last couple of brews I've started to transfer ALL the pot's content to fermentor, just pouring it, trub and all (and hops too, since I use free pellets in the pot). Then I just transfer it to a secondary after 4/5 days to clean...

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   After fermentation I do not use the bag trick. Instead of siphoning, I've got a spout on my fermenter the way many people have a spout on their bottling bucket. It sits above the trub and I can pull off the fermented wort without getting any yeast trub.
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   Last post by smyrnaquince
   12 years ago
4. Scorching

   2 Replies 4444 Views

   First post by smyrnaquince, 12 years ago

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   I use an aluminum pot and do half-size stovetop batches (electric stove). I have done the standard practice of boiling water in the new pot to blacken (oxidize) the sides an bottom of the pot. After several brews, I have noticed that I have some brown stuff on the bottom of the pot, which indicates to me that I've been scorching the beer. I leave the burner on high for the whole boil, which does maintain a full rolling boil. In winter (indoors, dry air), I usually get around 1 gallon/hour...

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   How thick is your bottom Dave? Not your bottom, the aluminum pot's bottom :).
   
   Thin-bottomed pots will scorch your beer whereas thick ones won't. (With thin ones, it is like you are applying flame directly to the wort.)
   
   I know you've been away for a bit but whoever is saying that a BIAB brew is fine with just a 60 minute boil is not giving what I would call wise advice on quality. It's quite likely that many people, me included, would probably not be able to tell the difference between a 60...
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   Last post by PistolPatch
   12 years ago
5. Belgiun white ale

   2 Replies 4726 Views

   First post by jerryd68, 12 years ago

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   Another question for the group.
   I have been looking for infomation on brewing a Belgiun White ale slightly spiced with corriander and orange peel. Have any of you ever made this beer? Did you add the corriander/orange to the boil or to the primary/secondary?

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   Same here--last. In Brewing Classic Styles, Jamil also adds chamomile for its floral/herbal note.
   
   On one batch, I forgot and added the coriander/peel/chamomile to the fermenter after I remembered, which was a few hours after I added the yeast. The yeast foam left most of the coriander and orange on the sides of the fermenter. There was very little flavor of them in the beer. I took a risk, as well. No boil meant no sterilization. If I were in the same situation again, I'd wait until after them...
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   Last post by smyrnaquince
   12 years ago
6. Evaporation Rate

   7 Replies 8880 Views

   First post by Berk, 12 years ago

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   As long as you anticipate the correct reduction in wort, does the evaporation rate matter? Is there any negative affect to product quality? Thanks.

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   Great to have a retired professional brewer on the board Sorcerer :thumbs:. I know you won't need the amount of detail I have written below but I'll write it for any of the newer brewers who might be reading.
   
   One of the annoying things you'll have to get used to on the home brewing side is that a few things that work well in the pro world don't translate too well to the home brewing world. For example, most pro brewers work on evaporation percentages and that seems to work okay as the kettle...
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   Last post by PistolPatch
   12 years ago
7. Missing 10 points

   6 Replies 8231 Views

   First post by Brendandrage, 12 years ago

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   Hi all,
   I've just brewed the specialty saison from the brewing classis styles which suggests that I should end up with 1.070, however according to the calculator and in reality I ended up with 1.060.
   The grain bill is very simple at 5.67kg of Pilsner and 0.45kg of Munich.
   I did a double batch so followed the calculator and used 10 kg and 0.794 kg respectively and I mashed at 64 for 2.5 hours.
   So the calculator was on the money so how n earth do I find an additional 10 points?
   
   Cheers

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   Brendan,
   
   Looks like you may have your question covered, but I wanted to offer an additional suggestion.
   
   I find my end of boil gravity AND volume very dependent on my level of boil intensity. I generally do a 90 min boil, and if the boil is even just a bit on the low side, my gravity will be low, and volume will be high.
   
   trout
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   Last post by 2trout
   12 years ago
8. Not so strict

   4 Replies 6682 Views

   First post by olaboss, 12 years ago

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   My dear wife has caught an interest in beer brewing now. She keeps saying that I am too strict when it comes to following the recipe and that I am sure the Vikings didn't have access to fresh ingredients etc.
   We decided to try some one gallon batches and use up some barley that had been collecting in my garage over the last year. I must confess that I didn't have much hopes of a drinkable beer, using a grain that had been sitting in the garage at least one year and even through the summer when...

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   Just received a book in the mail. Sacred and herbal healing beers . I have just read a few pages but man this is a writer! Exciting! Cheers!
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   Last post by olaboss
   12 years ago
9. How do I handle Mash pH when cold-steeping dark grains?

   5 Replies 7853 Views

   First post by CheeseMoney, 12 years ago

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   I'm looking for advice for a few scenarios for a Russian Imperial Stout. I live in San Diego and have fairly hard water with high residual alkalinity. I'm looking to reduce astringency.
   
   Scenario 1: Cold Steep Dark Grains and Add to Fermenter or Late in Boil
   Cold steep all dark grains over night in the fridge (doubling the dark grain bill as is often recommended with cold steeping). Add these cold-steeped grains either to the kettle at flame-out or to the fermenter once the kettle wort is...

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   I'm with ya. I hate doing dishes so BIAB works for me. Thanks for the advice.
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   Last post by CheeseMoney
   12 years ago
10. Raspberry Wheat

    2 Replies 4921 Views

    First post by jerryd68, 12 years ago

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    Working on planning my next few brews and I have several pounds of large golden raspberry's from my garden that I would like to use to flavor a wheat beer, I have looked on all the beer sights that I can find on how to do this. Some say to add the berries after flame out to sterilize the berries and to prevent pectin haze, others say to add to the primary still others to add to a secondary. Some say to bring them to 180 degrees in a sauce pan to pasturize them, some say to soak them in vodka....

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    Look at
    
    They have a lot of shows on brewing with fruit. Most people freeze the fruit because it makes the cells burst and releases the juice. Add the frozen fruit to a secondary. Some haze will appear. So what? As long as it tastes good. You can remove some haze for competitions but for normal drinking time will clear it up enough.
    
    You can just read the shows titles and pick interesting shows on other subjects.
    
    October 17, 2013 - Homebrew Graf
    Homebrewers Brook Baber and David Bauter share...
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    Last post by BobBrews
    12 years ago
11. Oatmeal stout

    3 Replies 5098 Views

    First post by jerryd68, 12 years ago

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    Okay, I am trying to learn the Biabacus spread sheet, I have posted what I want to do for my next brew. Please all take a look at it and tell me where I have gone wrong. Thank you all

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    Another thing I haven't messed with in the BIABacus, is section Y. The ingredients I've been using have been pretty close to the default setting, so I haven't really looked into how that works or when to use it. I wonder if you need to mess with the roasted barley and patent malt? I can't help with that, though .. as I do not have enough understanding for that section yet.
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    Last post by Rick
    12 years ago
12. Cold crash/Gelatin impacts on bottle fermenting?

    8 Replies 11037 Views

    First post by fcmenezes, 12 years ago

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    Hi again mates, I've been reading the forum a lot these days and gaining a lot of expertise from you guys :clap: . I found that Cold crash and gelatin are two good ways of helping settle the suspended yeast to clarificate the beer. That's nice!!
    
    But I do need those suspended yeast to bottle ferment my beer!! Those two pieces of info now look conflicting to me :?
    
    So, will I have problems with carbonation in the bottle using the cold crash and gelatin at the end of the fermentation? Do I need...

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    I have started doing this for my last 3 or 4 batches of beer. It works really well. Here is the link for instructions I follow:
    
    Basically I chill the beer down for 2 days, then prepare the gelatin per the link (heat water to 150F, stir 1 tsp of plain gelatin, then pour into fermentor.)
    
    Next I let it ride cold for another 2 days, then I bottle normally. There is plenty of yeast left to handle the carb. Carbonation is fine and hoppiness is fine. I brewed a hoppy pale ale and an IPA clone....
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    Last post by beerknurd
    12 years ago
13. Help with a starter

    4 Replies 6491 Views

    First post by Brendandrage, 12 years ago

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    I'm sorry if this seems like a basic question but I cannot find the info I need.
    I have a packet of liquid yeast and I want to step it up , so my questions are how.
    I know a standard starter is 1/2 dime and a cup of water, but does 24 hours and this solution make the equivalent of 2 billion cells?
    And then for lagers how the hell do I step up the yeast to a 5 litre starter?
    
    Cheers and thanks in advance

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    Thanks guys, I'd searched some forums and YouTube but not google :headhit: , that exactly the info I needed
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    Last post by Brendandrage
    12 years ago
14. Extraction efficiency

    3 Replies 6357 Views

    First post by sdsratm, 12 years ago

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    I was just wondering what sort of brewhouse efficiency others are getting with their brews. I've done a few brews now and seem to be getting around 70% into fermenter efficiency, which seems fairly low to me.

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    A bit rushed for time so I'll just try and write some stuff in point form (no particular order) for the moment. sdsratm , let us know if you need more info on any point or whether it has helped.
    
    1. There's only one useful efficiency figure for home brewers and that is a kettle efficiency . This figure tells you if you have a problem with your mashing/sparging process. (These two things occur simultaneously in a pure BIAB). To obtain a kettle efficiency reading, you will need to take a volume...
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    Last post by PistolPatch
    12 years ago
15. Priming sugar not mixing into beer

    1 Replies 3757 Views

    First post by yeriksen, 12 years ago

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    Hi all.
    
    Yesterday I bottled my 3rd brew, a Belgian beer. Now even dove I thought I has issue with the mixing of priming sugar in my last brew, I went ahead and did it the same way this time. I first poured my priming sugar solution in the bottom of the bottling bucket and siphoned the beer on top.
    
    The last of the beer went into a glass for tasting, and it was sweet. I measured it and it was 1.030. Final gravity of the beer was 1.014 (OG 1.055). I opened one if the other bottles and that was...

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    yeriksen,
    
    I boil a cup of water and dump it on top of the priming sugar to dissolve it. I siphon the beer into the bottling bucket onto the sugar. I stir with a sanitized spoon making sure the sugar and beer are mixed well. It seems to work for me. The only problem I had was by not having a full 5 gallons (19 liters) of beer in the bucket. I had the right amount of sugar each time but it was to little or much beer. The carbonation was either too low or too high?
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    Last post by BobBrews
    12 years ago
16. Alcohol level vs taste question.

    5 Replies 6429 Views

    First post by yeriksen, 12 years ago

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    Hi All.
    
    Does anybody have experience in how alcohol level affect the taste of beer.
    If one had the same recipe but with different water amount, i.e OG of 1.040 and 1.050.
    If both fermented out to FG of 1.010 what would be the difference in taste?

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    Thanks PP
    
    I'll continue brewing, I'm actually watching my 4th brew boiled now. It is a rye/munich beer (the left over from my other brews).
    
    Ihe Schwartz was very tasting and I have to make some more. PS the reason for low alcohol beer is so I can have two bottles before the kids ask why I'm singing. :)
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    Last post by yeriksen
    12 years ago
17. help with formulating a recipe

    1 Replies 4104 Views

    First post by pist, 12 years ago

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    Hey all,
    
    Just after a bit of a starting point formulating a recipe. While the aim of this is to ultimately come up with my own unique beer...I quite like alot of the flavour characteristics of innis and gunn original, and am thinking of knocking out a batch in a similar style.
    
    I quite like the oaky flavour reminiscent of scotch/bourbon this beer has :thumbs: . Only way I can see that I'm going to be able to achieve this...is to possibly throw some tennessee bourbon chips in the cube when I...

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    pist;
    
    There is some info about this beer and cloning it on HBT, not sure how good the integrity would be, but a good starting point?
    
    I have never actually heard about oaking wort prior to fermentation.
    Doesn't sound unreasonable, but I would always be worried there was something remaining that survived the sanitisation. :dunno:
    
    I boil oak chips for 5-10 mins and put into racked beer for however long is required (conditioning).
    
    :luck:
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    Last post by mally
    12 years ago
18. Jamil IPA not as hoppy

    18 Replies 18368 Views

    First post by pkearney, 12 years ago

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    Just finished Hoppyness IPA and not as hoppy as I would have thought FG 1.013 SG 1.065 .Anyone made this beer ?

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    PistolPatch recently noticed a similiar problem with recipes from Brewing Classic Styles. His conclusion is that the hop bill must be increased in these recipes for reasons explained in this post . The post also explains how to scale BCS hop bills to give a more appropriate bitterness level.
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    Last post by Hints
    12 years ago
19. First AG biab brew!

    2 Replies 4392 Views

    First post by Francois, 12 years ago

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    Long day... Got 4 gallons of greengage wine into demijohns in the morning (to free up a fv) and then set to work. Big fat dark Ruby mild (adapted from a recipe by Dave law) now in primary.

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    Francois,
    
    Nice pictures. Keep brewing and keep us informed.
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    Last post by BobBrews
    12 years ago
20. Useful BIAB technique? Reiterated mashing.

    5 Replies 9783 Views

    First post by porchfiddler, 12 years ago

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    I came across this article in Beer and Wine Journal and thought it might be a useful way to brew higher gravity beers with BiAB. Basically mash half of your grains as usual, empty the bag and mash again with a new set of grains in the wort produced from the first mash. I was going to try and Imperial Stout this way, anybody used this before?
    And also in a self promoting aside I got a silver for my Epworth Bitter in the in the English Bitter section with my first competition entry! Thanks all...

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    I'm pretty sure the efficiency of the second mash might be worse but it's worth a try
    
    Just to give you an idea of this reduced efficiency (this is a ball park figure for those gravities), 1.045 to 1.090 needs approx 25% more grain. i.e. 1.045 = 5Kg, 1.090 = 12.5Kg (not 10Kg).
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    Last post by mally
    12 years ago
21. Two brewing books

    2 Replies 5261 Views

    First post by Beachbum, 12 years ago

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    I expect a few members will already have Chris White's book Yeast .. It's pretty much my Bible and I have learned just about everything I know about yeast from that book, and a Whitelabs presentation a few years ago at a brewing conference.
    
    When this book was published in 2010 it was clear that it was the first in a series, and in fact the next book was published last year and slipped right under my radar. Ordered today. For the Love of Hops ..
    
    As it's from last year I expect it will...

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    Picked a heck of a day to cut back on my spending :lol:
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    Last post by Beachbum
    12 years ago
22. What 5 hops should be on hand?

    16 Replies 20871 Views

    First post by Epimetheus, 13 years ago

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    What is your preference for 5 base hops to have on hand? It could be 3 or 8 types; I am planning to buy hops in bulk and 5 lbs of hops would keep me busy for a year, with the occasional ounce of something different.
    
    I asked this question on a US forum . Overwhelmingly, US hops were suggested - the 3 C's, Amarillo, Citra, Willamette, and a smattering of others. This BIAB forum has a different audience and might suggest different groups.
    
    This asks for your preference, If you care, my...

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    I have regular brews of Ordinary Bitter, Porter & IPA, dabbling in any other ale style in-between.
    
    so EKG, Challenger, Galaxy, Magnum and Cascade are my core hops.
    
    I'm auditioning a couple of others for inclusion in my IPA : Ella, Moteuka, Nelson Sauvin and Mosaic. So one of these will step up...
    
    I LOVE the kiwi hops, but the reliability of supply sucks, otherwise I'd love to use huge amounts of Riwaka, just too hard to get at a good price, the NS and Motueka aren't so terrible though.
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    Last post by LazyCatBrewing
    12 years ago
23. Bottle verses Keg conditioning - head retention

    14 Replies 12506 Views

    First post by DrummoRC, 12 years ago

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    I am seeing a big differnce in my batches depening on where i bottle or keg the beer. My beer always turn out carbonated but not always with head retention!
    
    I have been brewing for just a short while since Dec 2012 (I have done about 18 batches in that time). I have jumped straight into all grain BIAB single vessel process as my norm . I have been choosing to do a small batch out of the grains from my 5gl batch since I am not sarging. Doing a Second Running give me a session beer that I can...

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    Another thing that I just noticed, maybe I'm reading it wrong, but isnt the OP is doing parti-gyle? Carbonation shouldn't be different, but head retention qualities might be very different between 1st & 2nd runnings? Also if I have read the parti-gyle right, it it always the same bottle/keg strategy ie 1st runnings batch always the bottled one?
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    Last post by LazyCatBrewing
    12 years ago
24. First brew, for some time.

    21 Replies 24578 Views

    First post by hashie, 12 years ago

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    Well, hello all. I finally got a brew going last week after nearly 2 years without a brew.
    
    I made my version of the Old Speckled Hen . So far so good.
    
    I made it with grain that has been stored in airtight barrels for ... I think 3+ years and the yeast was a packet I still had in the fridge and was only 2 years past it's best before date.
    
    Don't ask me for figures or measurements, as those that know me, know I don't take them.
    
    I'm just glad that it all worked, as it used to, and the yeast is...

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    Thank you for the reply's and the master file.
    
    Ill have a mull over it and post my questions in a more suitable thread. Sorry guys!
    
    Cheers.
    21 Replies
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    Last post by balli1990
    12 years ago
25. wyeast 2565 kolsch

    5 Replies 6978 Views

    First post by Brendandrage, 12 years ago

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    Hi all
    I'm getting ready to pitch a lloydies kolsch and I decided to try the wyeast kolsch yeast
    Anyway the advise given on this website wasnfo ferment at 15 but the wyeast packet says 18~22
    anyway I thought I'd ask for feedback on this
    
    Cheers in advance
    Brendan

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    I'm usually a dried yeast guy so am not the best person to ask. Any time I have used a liquid yeast in an ale, it has usually come in a smack pack and I have been a lazy bastard and just pitched that. Off the top of my head, I can see absolutely no problems with your plan.
    
    ;)
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    Last post by PistolPatch
    12 years ago