What are you doing with homebrew today?

Megary said:
My opinion —-> I would not bother with a Mash acid addition for a Vienna Lager if my expected pH was 5.43.
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Thanks for that feed back, I have removed the acidulated malt and now have a very simple 3 ingredient grain bill. I will run with the recipe as it stands. Now I just need to wait for a free fermenter, and for our temperatures to drop again. We went from below freezing last week to overnight lows warmer than the previous week’s highs. Strange weather, but at least we are getting rain. Now I need to go clear the decks of fallen leaves, in preparation for a windy evening that promises to drop lots more leaves. At least these maple leaves make for good mulch and compost. Then it might be time for a beer.
 
I like that version better too. We had a cold front blow through last week, and it was only in the 70s for a couple of days. Today, it is about 82 and ideal as hell. The water at Cocoa Beach was still around 74 this morning.
 
Trialben said:
Cacao nibs may be destroying that head apparently some oils or something in the nibs

A good trade off nonetheless. :)
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Gotta be careful about the brand and type of cacao nibs. I got some that basically left a “tallow” floating on the wort after chilling. Closer inspection showed they were for snacks, not really for cooking, with added oils for flavor enhancer. Pretty much sprinkles for cakes. I’m a lot careful about what I use now, but somehow dodged a bullet with that batch. One of the tastiest Chocolate Oatmeal Stouts I’ve made, and I figure there was some additional sugar content as well. Took a long time for the airlock to stop bubbling and wound up near 7%. I wanna try my hand at a peanut butter oatmeal stout.
 
Box of Rocks said:
That's what I was thinking as well. Perhaps an argument for using cocoa powder next time, which doesn't have the cocoa butter. Might sacrifice some flavor for the head though.
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Cacao nibs can be had without the additional cocoa butter. Try the spice section in a Publix.
 
Not brewing but I have some apple cider that accidentally fermented in my refrigerator….we had a gallon and didn’t drink it all. The container is swelled up and there appears to be sediment/yeast at the bottom. Going to take a sip in a few. Just noticed it. can’t imagine its tasty but we’ll see
 
Josh Hughes said:
Not brewing but I have some apple cider that accidentally fermented in my refrigerator….we had a gallon and didn’t drink it all. The container is swelled up and there appears to be sediment/yeast at the bottom. Going to take a sip in a few. Just noticed it. can’t imagine its tasty but we’ll see
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Intreaged
 
Josh Hughes said:
Not brewing but I have some apple cider that accidentally fermented in my refrigerator….we had a gallon and didn’t drink it all. The container is swelled up and there appears to be sediment/yeast at the bottom. Going to take a sip in a few. Just noticed it. can’t imagine its tasty but we’ll see
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Gotta love it when you find something you forgot, and it's taken on a new life of it's own.
 
Box of Rocks said:
Moved Uncle Gene's Chocolate Cherry-Smoked Stout into the final serving keg after sitting on cocoa nibs and a vanilla bean for about a week. Very tasty - nice and balanced, smooth. Not much of a head - need to boost the carbonation a bit. Hints of chocolate, cherry, and cherrywood smoke, but no vanilla coming through, which is okay. Probably playing its role as a supporting actor. Used to have a cherry coke for 15 cents at the fountain at the Rexall Drug store in Omaha, Nebraska as a kid. This is better.
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That really dates you man! lol

Dont really except great head retention on things that have cocoa nibs or vanilla in them. Cocoa nibs have a fair amount of fats(wax) in them.

Might be bad ass to toss some of that beer in an oak barrel or with chips and forget about it until next year! You could always justify another batch to fill a mini-barrel! (assuming the ABV is relatively high)

Just saying!
 
Herm brews said:
Today I updated my municipal source water profile, noting very minor changes in some of the anions and cations, alkalinity and pH. The past few days I have been tinkering with a Vienna Lager recipe, trying to hit a target pH of 5.4 while aiming for a balanced profile. Using nearly equal additions of calcium chloride and gypsum, I have a projected mash pH of 5.43, which is in acceptable range according to the recipe builder. Without any other acid on hand except citric acid (which would require a many grams addition), my best remedy is the addition of 1 ounce of acidulated malt, which gets me well below 5.4. Should I just settle with pH 5.43, or try to get it lower still?
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Roll it! that should be fine. Honestly i havent really noticed a large differenced between ph adjusted batches vs non-adjusted. It is technically supposed to make a decent difference, but i have yet to see one. I am going to continue adjusting since i have 4 gallons of Phos but i dont think i will rebuy it when i run out.

I do use lactic acid to adjust my sours in the mash.

Acidulated malt is also perfectly acceptable, we used to use that extensively.
 
Bigbre04 said:
Shit happens, for sure.

Technically I did the same thing today. It will be fine. Probably. I normally over fill my kettle at the end of the first brew day so that I can pump 180f water through the hear exchanger and my already hooked up product line to sanitize it before I brew.

Last night there were a bunch of people talking to me and distracting me so I forgot to overfill the kettle. So I rolled the dice today on a street water filled hose and heat exchanger.

The beer was already in active fermentation and relatively cold(18c) plus 25 ibus. It will be fine.

But shit happens...

This was my 85th brew on this system this year...4 this week alone.
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it was fine, it blew out the top of the fermenter and made a mess on the floor, but that is what happens when you throw over 4bbl in tanks meant to hold 3.5bbls lol.
 
Calibrated all pids then sterilized all equipment with boiling water, tested out my steam condenser, first time in years it's been this clean
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Herm brews said:
Today I updated my municipal source water profile, noting very minor changes in some of the anions and cations, alkalinity and pH. The past few days I have been tinkering with a Vienna Lager recipe, trying to hit a target pH of 5.4 while aiming for a balanced profile. Using nearly equal additions of calcium chloride and gypsum, I have a projected mash pH of 5.43, which is in acceptable range according to the recipe builder. Without any other acid on hand except citric acid (which would require a many grams addition), my best remedy is the addition of 1 ounce of acidulated malt, which gets me well below 5.4. Should I just settle with pH 5.43, or try to get it lower still?
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5.43 is close enough, the acidulated might not make any difference, but it will not cause harm. If you have an ounce, toss it in.
 
I brewed today. Scottish Export, OG 1.048. This after my Heavy (part one of a double header) failed. I spent the weekend wondering if I had forgotten to rinse out the fermenter after sterilising. Smell first, appearance second, going on in there yesterday confirmed matters. The pain of having to dump 20L:mad: I have had bad luck with Heavy before but this one is down to pure negligence. Anyway airlock came through for me within a few hours of pitching today which helped to soothe the atmosphere. Double checking everything now not just beer LOL. Limited myself to testing around 10fl oz of my first Dubbel which has definately worked. Onwards and upwards.
 
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I just bottled our latest gallon of locally pressed cider, which fermented on S-04 with yeast nutrients added. This batch started at 11.2* Brix, or 1.046 and got down to 3.8* Brix, or 0.997 - bone dry the way my wife likes it. I was pleasantly surprised by the clarity as the liquid flowed through the transfer tubing. For priming solution, I used a locally produced honey, targeting a robust 2.8 volumes for a healthy fizz. The honey is actually produced here in town, by the husband of my wife’s boss. Keeping it local.
In a first for me, I poured another gallon of fresh pressed cider from Detering Orchards (just a short drive north of us, out in “the country“) directly atop the trub from the previous batch. This new batch has a starting gravity of 11.6* Brix, or 1.048. If I am less patient than usual, we might get to share some of the new batch with friends who have invited us to their Thanksgiving celebration.
 
Learned that there is something to the "set and forget" carbonation method.
Thanks, y'all.
I initially f ed up before I went to the West Coast last week. I thought I had set 12PSI, but it was closer to 8. I reset to 12 when I got home on Wednesday and waited an extra 4 days as a result. It is close and not a foam bomb, but I am going to keep it at 12 for another couple of days.
It might be pretty tasty by Thanksgiving.
 
Sandy Feet said:
Learned that there is something to the "set and forget" carbonation method.
Thanks, y'all.
I initially f ed up before I went to the West Coast last week. I thought I had set 12PSI, but it was closer to 8. I reset to 12 when I got home on Wednesday and waited an extra 4 days as a result. It is close and not a foam bomb, but I am going to keep it at 12 for another couple of days.
It might be pretty tasty by Thanksgiving.
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Good onya for giving it ago.
Tis the method I've settled on.

I used to do the burst carb thing these days I just wait a week and its usually there. :)
 
I'm considering this as well.
I've now got 2 CO2 cylinders and I know where to fill them.
Now I need to find out if I can get a spare regulator, just in case it packs up due to condensation.
I burst carb, but it takes as long as the set & forget as I do this with daily bursts of 30 psi, with keg in fridge and cylinder outside.
It works though
 
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