What are you doing with homebrew today?

I'll share what I did yesterday :)
- Brewed another Munich Dunkel - almost one year to the day!
Did a double decoction again - as I loved the results the last time (as did everyone else at the Oktoberfest party it went to last year) Had the same funny business with the pre-boil gravity reading... High that dropped after boil... it must be how I'm taking the reading - lol - I'll need to stir the wort after sparging.
Racked this batch on top of my last beer - a lager with cascade hops and orange blossom honey - added in fermenter after primary and capped with a pressure release valve to help capture the orange essence - which it did! Very citrusy.

Munich Dunkel started fermentation almost immediately! Currently bubbling away.

In other news, my lager chamber build (conversion from the upright freezer) kicked the bucket.... :(
Doesn't cool down anymore. I am assuming I cracked a pipe during the removal or install and slowly bled out of freon... Gotta have a buddy come look at it and help decide what to do next...

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Donoroto said:
Thanks Josh. I expected it to stop at 017. I am guessing that pellicle was influencing the tilt. It went down to 008, but then jumped back to 014 and is kinda staying there.

The slimy-clear layer is unsettling to me, but really, I almost never get to see the fermentation because I use a stainless fermenter, with a 4" TC viewing port in top that can't be seen without taking the fermenter out of the chamber (think larger dorm fridge) so I never look.

I'm going to give it 2 or 3 more days and keg it. I'll measure the gravity at packaging.
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So you did see a pellicle?
 
Josh Hughes said:
So you did see a pellicle?
Click to expand...
I think so. Under postage-stamp-size 'islands' of krausen was a clearish-white film that looked kinda like mucus. Like the krausen, it was bumpy from the bubbles trapped under it. I should take a photo..

Edit: here it is. Upon looking closer, I don't really know if it's a Pellicle or not. I thought pellicles were a bit thicker. Anyone have any comments?

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Donoroto said:
I think so. Under postage-stamp-size 'islands' of krausen was a clearish-white film that looked kinda like mucus. Like the krausen, it was bumpy from the bubbles trapped under it. I should take a photo..

Edit: here it is. Upon looking closer, I don't really know if it's a Pellicle or not. I thought pellicles were a bit thicker. Anyone have any comments?

View attachment 26032
Click to expand...
That's not a pellicle ;).

That's yeast rafts left over from primary fermentation :)

The bubbles in between are just co2 released from fermentation on less dense sections of yeast giving it a white bubble film look.

Looks "normal" to me..
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Donoroto said:
Thanks Josh. I expected it to stop at 017. I am guessing that pellicle was influencing the tilt. It went down to 008, but then jumped back to 014 and is kinda staying there.

The slimy-clear layer is unsettling to me, but really, I almost never get to see the fermentation because I use a stainless fermenter, with a 4" TC viewing port in top that can't be seen without taking the fermenter out of the chamber (think larger dorm fridge) so I never look.

I'm going to give it 2 or 3 more days and keg it. I'll measure the gravity at packaging.
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Might be time for a Lid Cam.o_O
 
Boiling this as I type.

The LHBS recipe says to add the LME AFTER the boil, but something about that just rubs my hair backward. Just checked, and at 90C, I'm getting a grey sludge (hot break?) on the surface of the wort. The ONLY solids in the kettle at the moment is the bittering hops (.25 oz Warrior). I know hot break occurs at something less than boiling, but don't remember the temperature. The fines from the Warrior hops will float, but they're always greyish green, not just dark grey. Whatever it is, not worried about it because this stuff's gonna get a 45 minute boil, including the LME.

Yeah, I'm being lazy again, but doing easy stuff to catch back up on my stocks. Almost dry pipeline again.
 
Ok. So maybe it's something else. Not quite sure what it is, but it does look like a thick film filled with bubbles, like you might see on top of a milkshake. And yes, there are also a bunch of yeast rafts or krausen that are obvious.

In any case, there's nothing I can do about it. I'll probably keg it on Wednesday because the gravity has sort of stabilized.
 
Donoroto said:
Ok. So maybe it's something else. Not quite sure what it is, but it does look like a thick film filled with bubbles, like you might see on top of a milkshake. And yes, there are also a bunch of yeast rafts or krausen that are obvious.

In any case, there's nothing I can do about it. I'll probably keg it on Wednesday because the gravity has sort of stabilized.
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I've had oil slicks on top of my batches, particularly stouts, and especially when I used something like cacao nibs or anything of that sort. Not usually if I pay attention and get plain nibs instead of the snacking nibs. Is it possible you had some particularly oily malt? Oatmeal (rolled oats) will also occasionally leave a soapy slick. I agree with Ben, if it smells good, and looks good (other than the slick), package it and see what happens.
 
Brew day done, and while boiling, I noticed the quality of the flame on the 'dragon' wasn't what it used to be. I tried adjusting air mix, no help. Then closer observation showed some of the jets in the burner had no flame at all. So, after I finished with the batch, I disasembled and cleaned the burner. Picked a bit that fit snug in the cleanest looking jet, and cleaned every hole in the burner. Here's what came out.

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Wonder why I had a funky flame?o_O That's all rust on the floor by the burner and I'd actually blown some of it away with the air hose.

Fired it up after cleaning. MUCH better. Burns like it did brand new. Like I've said many times, it's a big ol' burner. Bloody thing weighs nearly 30 pounds. I changed the mounting (added 1" bushings to the mounting screws) to move the burner up into the wind break ring because it would easily blow out or backfire when running it low flame for mash.
Gotta go finish my clean-up and stow everything.
 
RoadRoach said:
Might be time for a Lid Cam.o_O
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Oooooooo, you got the LARGE dorm fridge. I had one of those, too, IIRC, about 5 cu.ft. This is what I picked up on sale at about 25% off. 7 CuFt., so a bit taller than the 'double fridge' as we called it. The singles were just big enough for about two 6-packs, and that's about it. I wish I could remember what the heck I did with that fridge. Would be quite handy now that I've gotten hooked on this hobby.
 
Donoroto said:
I think so. Under postage-stamp-size 'islands' of krausen was a clearish-white film that looked kinda like mucus. Like the krausen, it was bumpy from the bubbles trapped under it. I should take a photo..

Edit: here it is. Upon looking closer, I don't really know if it's a Pellicle or not. I thought pellicles were a bit thicker. Anyone have any comments?

View attachment 26032
Click to expand...

The film coated bubbles look similar to a problem I had last year. Smelled off but not bad so I bottled it. After a few gushers and not-so-great tastings, I dumped the lot. Since you're kegging, and not bottling, it wouldn't hurt to keg it and see where it goes. But, based on personal experience, it doesn't look good.
CrossMyLoof Infection.jpg
 
RoadRoach said:
I've had oil slicks on top of my batches, particularly stouts, and especially when I used something like cacao nibs or anything of that sort. Not usually if I pay attention and get plain nibs instead of the snacking nibs. Is it possible you had some particularly oily malt? Oatmeal (rolled oats) will also occasionally leave a soapy slick. I agree with Ben, if it smells good, and looks good (other than the slick), package it and see what happens.
Click to expand...
I also have had oil slicks on a couple of batches of dark beers. At the time of the first I thought my beer had gone stagnant as in swamp like because I had been busy and forgotten about the brew but it turned out okay.
 
Yeah, not oily. More like what @BarbarianBrewer shows in his photo.

Gravity has stabilized, I'll keg it Wednesday or Thursday and see what is what.

Here is a photo from just now. Doesn't look good...
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Now I’m drinking homebrew Ginger Ninger after brewing my first farmhouse ale, Summer Saison. My brew day went well. It’s nice to be able to open windows instead of relying on the vent fan to redistribute the steam during the boil. It’s also really nice to have normal temperatures (low 80’s F compared to near 100F the past few days).
Something was strange though, with my measurements. After the boil, I collected 2 samples. The first was at the completion of a 10 minute whirlpool, where I dipped a ladle in for the sample. The second was taken via the transfer tube as I started filling the fermenter (seen in picture above). The first sample, after correcting for temperature, matched recipe projection, which makes me very happy. The second sample comes in 4 points low. My refractometer confirms the differences. This is not the first time this has happened. Which numbers to believe, or should I not care?
 
Herm brews said:
View attachment 26054 Now I’m drinking homebrew Ginger Ninger after brewing my first farmhouse ale, Summer Saison. My brew day went well. It’s nice to be able to open windows instead of relying on the vent fan to redistribute the steam during the boil. It’s also really nice to have normal temperatures (low 80’s F compared to near 100F the past few days).
Something was strange though, with my measurements. After the boil, I collected 2 samples. The first was at the completion of a 10 minute whirlpool, where I dipped a ladle in for the sample. The second was taken via the transfer tube as I started filling the fermenter (seen in picture above). The first sample, after correcting for temperature, matched recipe projection, which makes me very happy. The second sample comes in 4 points low. My refractometer confirms the differences. This is not the first time this has happened. Which numbers to believe, or should I not care?
Click to expand...
Yeah that's weird.

You'd think the gravity should be higher on the second reading not the first

Boilings gotta be agitating the liquid sufficiently right? o_O

Unless the 10 min to go sample hadn't cooled sufficiently giving you a false reading...
 
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