Prophet Zacharia Posted March 4, 2017 Share #51 Posted March 4, 2017 On 2/11/2017 at 8:14 AM, Ralph T. Mooseknuckle said: So what is the porpoise of replacing the hose with a fermentation lock after 3-7 days? Convenience. It's easier to keep a small airlock in place than all that tubing. You wouldn't want your krausen to go into the airlock, so the blow-off blowoff tubing is necessary early, but later it's inconvenient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted March 4, 2017 Share #52 Posted March 4, 2017 2 hours ago, Prophet Zacharia said: Which place? The Church Brewworks, or another? I've always liked their pizza better than their beer! Stone Church, their beer is getting better. I drink it at Hicks on the square in Mercer. That's the dad of the guy that has Stone Church. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prophet Zacharia Posted March 4, 2017 Share #53 Posted March 4, 2017 23 minutes ago, Longjohn said: Stone Church, their beer is getting better. I drink it at Hicks on the square in Mercer. That's the dad of the guy that has Stone Church. Unless there's road construction on 79 north of 80 this summer that forces me onto 19, I don't know that I'll get the opportunity to be in Mercer, let along Hermitage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted March 4, 2017 Share #54 Posted March 4, 2017 1 hour ago, Prophet Zacharia said: Unless there's road construction on 79 north of 80 this summer that forces me onto 19, I don't know that I'll get the opportunity to be in Mercer, let along Hermitage. Isn't there always road construction on 79 north of 80? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prophet Zacharia Posted March 4, 2017 Share #55 Posted March 4, 2017 3 hours ago, Longjohn said: Isn't there always road construction on 79 north of 80? Last few summers it's been a bit south, 422 to Cranberry. Which kills my Pittsburgh to Erie and back drive times 7 out of 10 trips. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted March 5, 2017 Author Share #56 Posted March 5, 2017 Hey LJ and PZ, have you been to that barn brewery somewhere around there? I was there last summer but the name escapes me at the moment. Ahh, it was Sprague Farm and Brew Works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted March 5, 2017 Author Share #57 Posted March 5, 2017 Besides all the sanitation worries, I am worried that the siphoning will not work. But I guess I have to try it sometime! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted March 5, 2017 Share #58 Posted March 5, 2017 I haven't been there yet but it's only 32 miles up 19 from me. Might make a nice ride some day when the weather is nice. Cambridge Springs is a nice area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted March 5, 2017 Share #59 Posted March 5, 2017 Do they serve men in spandex? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted March 5, 2017 Author Share #60 Posted March 5, 2017 3 hours ago, Longjohn said: Do they serve men in spandex? Don;t know - try them! Well, bottling was the horror show I expected. But I did figure out a system, but not before I lost 30% of the beer. The good news is I got 70% of it bottled! Siphoning is a bitch! And I had a hard time avoiding the trub - the bottling tube should have some kind of stand-off to keep it off the bottom of the carboy, 'cause it sucked that trub shit right up! I lost suction with aboot an inch of beer above the trub, and gave up trying to reestablish it, so I lost that, and I spilled a good bit in bottling. So the beer tasted ok, but could smell a little better! I have a renewed appreciation for breweries now. On the plus side, capping went pretty well. Two weeks until drinking! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smudge ★ Posted March 5, 2017 Share #61 Posted March 5, 2017 There will always be trub. Well, when you secondary a lager you get rid of most, but ...... Just be sure to pour carefully, and your final product will be just fine. Do you have an auto siphon, or did you just use tubing and your own suction power? The latter is how I started out way back when. The auto siphon was a Godsend! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted March 5, 2017 Author Share #62 Posted March 5, 2017 2 hours ago, smudge said: There will always be trub. Well, when you secondary a lager you get rid of most, but ...... Just be sure to pour carefully, and your final product will be just fine. Do you have an auto siphon, or did you just use tubing and your own suction power? The latter is how I started out way back when. The auto siphon was a Godsend! It dawned on me afterward that it seems unecessary to siphon from the pot after you add the sugar water! Why not just pour througha sanitized funnel into the bottles? And there has to be a way to avoid siphoning out the trub. I guess that s what the black cap on the end of the bottling tube is for, but man, it is dramatically ineffective! But all in all (now that it is over), it was a fun learning process. Nice to see what the pioneers had to go through before Bud Weiser took over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prophet Zacharia Posted March 5, 2017 Share #63 Posted March 5, 2017 The joys of bottleing is what made me transition to kegging very quickly. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted March 5, 2017 Author Share #64 Posted March 5, 2017 5 minutes ago, Prophet Zacharia said: The joys of bottleing is what made me transition to kegging very quickly. I wanted to skip bottling and go right to kegging, but bottling does fit in with my micro scale better. Although those Heiny size small kegs do look interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted March 16, 2017 Author Share #65 Posted March 16, 2017 T-2 days until the first homebrew is uncorked. Pics and review will be forthcoming! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smudge ★ Posted March 16, 2017 Share #66 Posted March 16, 2017 On 3/5/2017 at 8:58 AM, Ralph T. Mooseknuckle said: It dawned on me afterward that it seems unecessary to siphon from the pot after you add the sugar water! Why not just pour througha sanitized funnel into the bottles? And there has to be a way to avoid siphoning out the trub. I guess that s what the black cap on the end of the bottling tube is for, but man, it is dramatically ineffective! But all in all (now that it is over), it was a fun learning process. Nice to see what the pioneers had to go through before Bud Weiser took over. Oh God no!!!! Do not pour into bottles!!!! You will oxidize the beer, and it will taste like wet cardboard!!! Oxygen is essential post boil but horrible post fermentation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted March 16, 2017 Author Share #67 Posted March 16, 2017 6 hours ago, smudge said: Oh God no!!!! Do not pour into bottles!!!! You will oxidize the beer, and it will taste like wet cardboard!!! Oxygen is essential post boil but horrible post fermentation. Ok, then, autosiphon it is! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted March 16, 2017 Share #68 Posted March 16, 2017 1 hour ago, Ralph T. Mooseknuckle said: Ok, then, autosiphon it is! Don't use your autosiphon unless you really wash the gasoline out of it first, it will make your beer taste like Coors Light. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prophet Zacharia Posted March 16, 2017 Share #69 Posted March 16, 2017 11 hours ago, Longjohn said: Don't use your autosiphon unless you really wash the gasoline out of it first, it will make your beer taste like Coors Light. I thought that was an "Ottosiphon", like in Repoman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted March 18, 2017 Author Share #70 Posted March 18, 2017 OK, the jury is in, and the verdict is.... So it wasn't flat! Immediately upon opening it gushed over - nice healthy head! The aroma was not the best, nor was the taste, but damn, it looks pretty good. I just hope "they" are right when they say you can;t die or get deathly ill from drinking homebrew because of the alcohol. Not quitting the day job just yet. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted March 18, 2017 Share #71 Posted March 18, 2017 I think the taste is supposed to improve after the third or fourth bottle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smudge ★ Posted March 18, 2017 Share #72 Posted March 18, 2017 What style did you brew? Is it a wit? Looks a little cloudy. Did you drop the bottle before you opened it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smudge ★ Posted March 18, 2017 Share #73 Posted March 18, 2017 Did you notice any pelicille developing before you bottled? Maybe it's just young. Keep a mental note of how this bottle tastes and compare that to another bottle in a week or so. If it still seems weird, take it to a homebrew shop or local brewery and ask them to try it for some ideas. It's probably just young. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted March 18, 2017 Author Share #74 Posted March 18, 2017 22 minutes ago, smudge said: Did you notice any pelicille developing before you bottled? Maybe it's just young. Keep a mental note of how this bottle tastes and compare that to another bottle in a week or so. If it still seems weird, take it to a homebrew shop or local brewery and ask them to try it for some ideas. It's probably just young. No, there was no white stuff on top. It was supposed to be a pale ale - maybe the cloudiness was from it bubbling over? Doubtful, though. Aren't most homebrews cloudier than that crystal clear commercial stuff? And I think the bubbling over might have been caused by overfilling. I have a couple bottles that are underfilled, so we'll see how they compare. I guess I can choke the rest down, but it was pretty unappetizing stuff! The kit I used was cheap and old, so I'll eventually give it another shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smudge ★ Posted March 18, 2017 Share #75 Posted March 18, 2017 3 hours ago, Ralph T. Mooseknuckle said: No, there was no white stuff on top. It was supposed to be a pale ale - maybe the cloudiness was from it bubbling over? Doubtful, though. Aren't most homebrews cloudier than that crystal clear commercial stuff? And I think the bubbling over might have been caused by overfilling. I have a couple bottles that are underfilled, so we'll see how they compare. I guess I can choke the rest down, but it was pretty unappetizing stuff! The kit I used was cheap and old, so I'll eventually give it another shot. No, just cuz it's homebrew doesn't mean it's going to be cloudy. Wheat beers are cloudy. It may have erupted from being over carbonated. Just a thought. An infection will do that too. I'm glad to hear you're not so discouraged you wouldn't try again. I'll bet you'll do much better with a fresh set of ingredients. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted March 18, 2017 Share #76 Posted March 18, 2017 If you still have trouble next time switch to wine making, it seems to be a lot easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Square Wheels Posted March 18, 2017 Share #77 Posted March 18, 2017 You're welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smudge ★ Posted March 18, 2017 Share #78 Posted March 18, 2017 I have to confess, SW, that's why I don't brew as much as I used to. Much less work to stop in and pick up a long necker or two than to endure a 7 hour brew day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Square Wheels Posted March 18, 2017 Share #79 Posted March 18, 2017 2 minutes ago, smudge said: I have to confess, SW, that's why I don't brew as much as I used to. Much less work to stop in and pick up a long necker or two than to endure a 7 hour brew day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smudge ★ Posted March 18, 2017 Share #80 Posted March 18, 2017 More like... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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