405 replies to this topic

[DoctorShumway]

Well the guy at the homebrew store said that it may have been the heat that day. Not sure if I buy that, since both our batches were kept in the same place. If it was the heat that caused my yeast to die, I would assume that would also cause mold to grow as well. I also may not have sanitized as good as I thought I did somewhere along the line. I used Sherv's one step sanitizer (which I never used before) and I may not have put in enough to effectively kill everything.

My thinking is that I just got a bad batch of yeast.

[woodman]

Doctor - i suggest getting a 6 gallon carboy, and using your smaller one for 2ndary fermentation. that way with the 6, you don't have to worry about blowing off the foam, etc...

STRONG BEER ALERT

[DoctorShumway]

Well I need carboys in general, since I've been brewing out of buckets. Seeing Colin brew in Sherv's carboy definitely made me see the benefits, though. A couple of 6's would be nice.

[DoctorShumway]

Alright so last Saturday I tried the citrus wheat and was disappointed. Thankfully it tasted like "complete disaster" because it needed a bit more time to age. I tried a bottle last night (which would be exactly 2 weeks in the bottle) and it was much better.

It's a weird brew however. The citrus flavor kind of overpowers the hoppy finish you would normally get. Basically it replaces the hop flavor with orange. It's a beer that gets better after the first sip I think, simply because having another flavor instead of hops is unexpected. If I were to make this again, I would probably cut out the orange juice and just brew with lemon and orange peel. I think that would make the citrus less potent.

I think wood said it in the lost thread, but good call on the auto siphon. After Sherv brought his over, I went out and got one. That thing makes life so much easier.

[Shervz0r]

Man, I've been out of it. I threw together the shit I bought 2 weeks ago, aiming for a Hoegaarden clone, a nice Belgian White brew. Pot overflowed AGAIN, and I really had issues transferring from the brew bot to the carboy and I got hot wort everywhere. It wasn't a good day to brew and it definitely showed. I got ~4 or 4.5 gallons total. I'm gonna prime and rack to bottles today, it hit 1.010 as FG. I skimped out on supplemental ingredients (coriander and seeds of paradise or whatever the fuck they're called) because I just didn't care enough, but I did put in some bitter orange peels.

In other news, I got a 4 gallon brewpot, which is much better than my shitty 2.5 one.

[DoctorShumway]

Colin bottled his Chimay Red last night. He should chime in with his opinon but I would say it was a great success. It's sugary tasting, but not overly so. I think it's definitely going to be quite strong. The only issue is that Sherv's carboy is a mess. When I took it out of the closet to start the process, the towel it was sitting on was so stuck that it left patches on the bottom. I left it soaking in water and detergent overnight and when I get home tonight I'm hoping the caked on crap will be more managable.

Speaking of your carboy, let me know if want to get it before I return from Minnesota. My brother is staying at my place and he'd be fine with you swinging by whenever.

When I get back hopefully we'll have another brew day. After last night, I'm running low on summer brew.

[Shervz0r]

Colin bottled his Chimay Red last night.  He should chime in with his opinon but I would say it was a great success.  It's sugary tasting, but not overly so.  I think it's definitely going to be quite strong.  The only issue is that Sherv's carboy is a mess.  When I took it out of the closet to start the process, the towel it was sitting on was so stuck that it left patches on the bottom.  I left it soaking in water and detergent overnight and when I get home tonight I'm hoping the caked on crap will be more managable. 

Speaking of your carboy, let me know if want to get it before I return from Minnesota.  My brother is staying at my place and he'd be fine with you swinging by whenever.

When I get back hopefully we'll have another brew day.  After last night, I'm running low on summer brew.

No rush on the carboy, they're meant to get dirty and nasty I spent a good part of tues night cleaning my remaining carboys and other supplies. I can't get the beer smell out of the blow-off tubes which is annoying but surely not a big deal.

I'm glad the Chimay is promising. We'll definitely brew again, I have another set of bottles which need filling. I'd like to try the same brew I just did again, only this time do it correctly. I'd like to do a couple of half or quarter recipes...primarily to see if they CAN be done (I don't see why they can't...) but also to be able to brew more stuff and to have the chance to brew slightly different variations and see whether certain changes make much of a difference or not...

[Shervz0r]

Oh, I'm sure it'll be drinkable John! Maybe a bit sharp and not enough carbonation, but we can certainly quaff it, Belgian-style! I went into work at 4:30 this morning so I could come back to Cambridge and appeal a parking ticket...I won my appeal so I'm home now and just popped the cap on a 2 day-old Hoegaarden clone. The carbonation is actually existant but weak, but the taste is awesome. Not quite a just-mowed-the-lawn-and-need-a-beer since the hoppiness is too strong, but I think with a few weeks it'll be a nice summer brew.

I checked in with my local brewmaster (Aaron) about reducing brew sizes, and he says

Yup [you can scale recipes down]. Interestingly enough, when you scale up, there tends to be
better hop utilization -- more bitterness is extracted from the hops. I suspect
that this is because there is a smaller area of liquid exposed to air in
proportion to the amount of liquid that's being boiled, and the steam helps
carry away some of the volatile flavor and aroma compounds.
On the smaller scale, the only thing to be aware of is that you'll end up
evaporating a larger proportion of water during the boil, but that's not a
concern with extract recipes since you're adding enough water to make 5 gallons
at the end of the boil anyhow.
-Aaron

[woodman]

john, let me know how those work out - i saw them the last time i was in and it looked interesting - an expensive option, but it makes sure you get the right amount of fizzle for your shizzle.

I'm thinking about getting one of those little pig keg things - that hold 2.5 gallons at once. you don't have to take any extra steps to carbonate the beer; it's done with a pouch in the container.

i'd get two!

[DoctorShumway]

I think kegs will be in the future once I move and hopefully get a new fridge. Bottles are fine and all, but some kegs and a bar set up would be nice. Real nice.

Oh by the way: Colin's hooked on this shit.

[mig50]

Colin, do you think your chimay clone will be drinkable in a week and a half? Probably not, I'm sure. Does a Chimay clone take longer to condition, according to your recipe?

it doesn't matter if it'll be drinkable in a week in a half or not.

i'm still going to steal a few bottles so we can homebrew-chimay it up in nyc.