homebrewing general

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>>1084696
Recently finished my very first batch of mead. Did an apple cinnamon recipe I came up with myself. Other than being WAY to appley (used 4 apples for a 1 gallon batch), I'd say its a success. Everyone I let try it said they really like it, so how bad could I have fucked up. Also has a very nice color imho.

>>1084710
also saw a recipe for cider that also used hops for at least part of it

didn't know if that would make it taste less or more "beery"

>>1084710
Same style I did for my first batch, pretty good reception at a blot. In the future I'll use cinnamon sticks instead of powder. Much easier to filter out.
Current batches include peppermint and chamomile.

>>1084721
I'll have to check that out, sounds interesting

>>1084729
I used cinnamon sticks in my batch and it went pretty good, I just needed to add more sticks, so I guess more cinnamon and less apple. I'm also thinking of doing a Christmas batch with candy canes and maybe some nutmeg, but I'm not too sure what would go with what.

>>1084730
https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/how-to-brew/how-to-make-graf-a-cider-beer-hybrid/

http://homebrew.stackexchange.com/a/4482

I ordered this for my next batch of red wine. What am I in for? And can I make whiskey/scotch with this?
https://www.amazon.com/French-Oak-Chips-Medium-Toast/dp/B0064ONMBK

First timer here.
I made a 23l (6 gallons) batch of apple wine from 100% apple juice with no additives. I used 20L of juice, 6 kg (13,2 lb) of sugar, yeast nutrient and 10 grams of EC-1118 yeast (2 packets).
Everything was meticulously cleaned and sanitized with star san.
I pitched the yeast a week ago and airlock has been letting off a "herd" of bubbles about every 10 seconds. Judging from the airlock activity is the fermentation going well? Seems quite slow but i don't really know.

>>1085487
that's about how active mine was...

>>1085487

Professional wine yeast like that produces low amounts of co2. Its fine.

started the malted cider, supposed to be drinkable in about 2 months

>>1085851
wow, less than a day later and it's already going

using better yeast definitely makes a difference

>>1086180
>>wow, less than a day later and it's already going
Yes it certainly does, pitching rehydrated dry yeast helps lag times, but the best option is using a starter that is at high krausen.

>>1086347
I used the cheapo wine yeast last time and I don't think it bubbled anywhere near as much

>>1085487
6 kg for 20L is too much. 2-2.5 kg for 20L is ideal. Your fermentation isn't going to finish. Your best chance is watering it down (with juice) to 40 litres.

>>1086511
Yeah, i figured it out wrong. I messed up the calculation for the amount of sugar i get from the juice by a factor of ten.(lol) I already added more water in there but since the fermenter is 30L i can't add that much more. Might end up putting it in another 30L fermenter and replace some of it with more juice or water. If the taste is too watery in the end i could just use some sugar free concentrate.

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Not very accurate but interesting

>>1084696
I need to make some alcohol, I'm under 21 and need something to drink.

Time to research google

>>1087973
http://www.instructables.com/id/Homebrewed-hard-cider-the-easy-way/?ALLSTEPS

>>1087973
Just go to LHBS and buy a kit. It is legal to sell it to you, I assume you are 18 at least as you posted here.

Going to attempt my first homebrew next week, and I was wondering if anyone could help me with a few questions:

1) Is it necessary to have a separate fermented and bottling bucket? If so, why? The recipe I'm using calls for the brew to be transferred from the fermenter to the bottling bucket after dry-hopping, but the basic kit I bought only contains one bucket (which can serve both purposes).

2) How does one steep malt in boiling water? Do I need to buy a special bag to use, or can I put it into a sieve (or similar) and lower it into the water?

3) When we talk about a beer having citrus notes, or a chocolate aroma, or a blueberry taste etc, how does the brewer achieve this? Is it always just from the varying profiles of the malt and the hops, or do they actually add the raw ingredients at some point? If the latter, at what point and how do they add them?

Apologies if any of these questions are stupid, I'm completely new to this.

>>1088378
I'm sort of new to this too, but this is what I understand on the subject.

Bottling bucket is for bulk priming. You will need another vessel for this as you will be removing the beer from the fermenter and putting it into the bottling bucket along with the required amount of dextrose or whatever you wish to use for carbonation. It is easier and quicker than using carbonation drops/adding dextrose to each bottle. I would never go back to individual bottle priming after bulk priming.

Just chuck the grain into hot water that isn't above 75 celcius as you could extract tannins and then just pour it through a sieve to remove the spent grain.

Not really too sure on the last one, but I get my flavours and aromas from using certain grains and hop combinations.

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Trying too hard.

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>start off homebrewing because it's a cheap way to make booze out of apples
>25l bucket
>some lumber for a press that uses a car jack
>total cost on the first year: €16
>4rd year
>new apple crusher
>600l tanks
>new press
>bottles straight from the factory in France
>total cost: €5000

>>1088386
Why can't the priming be done in the fermenter? Does it not work if you just add the priming solution to the fermented beer?

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homebrewfag here

here's my set up

>>1088426
Good for you if you enjoy it. There are hobbies that are far more expensive.

>>1088429
After something is done fermenting, it's important that you don't disturb the sediment that sinks to the bottom (dead/dormant yeast, bits of hops, break material, other crap), otherwise your beer will be cloudy and your bottles will have a lot of junk at the bottom. There's usually about an inch of that crap at the bottom of a 5gal bucket. So you don't want to add the priming sugar in the primary since you'd have to mix up all that stuff that you waited for weeks to drop down to the bottom.

That's another reason it's good to use a bottling bucket - it's awkward to fill bottles from a racking cane in your primary while also making sure you don't suck anything up from the bottom into your bottle.

>>1088378
Yeah, beers typically get their flavors just from the base ingredients. Citrus flavors come from many varieties of hops. Cascade hops will give a strong grapefruit flavor/aroma. I tried some experimental hop once that smelled and tasted strongly of blueberries. Chocolate flavor probably comes from a roasted malt (like 'chocolate malt'). Some fruity/flowery flavors come from yeast esters during fermentation. But of course you can add other ingredients, like fruits or spices or whatever - that stuff is usually added in secondary (after fermentation is complete but before bottling), but it depends on what you're doing.

I have a concern. First time brewing anything.
>decide to make applejack
>5 gal apple juice
>5lb brown sugar
>wine yeast
>set it all up and Into the carboy last Wednesday and put in my kitchen closet
>gas coming out of the pressure valve smells appley and sweet
>worry that kitchen closet is too cold
>move to bedroom closet
>couple days after
>gases coming out smell off and not too good
I can't quite put my finger on the smell but it's not pleasant. Is this normal or should I be concerned?

>>1088798
I wouldn't be too concerned

>>1088426
Noice, I assume you went pro?

What are the advantages/disadvantages to bottle priming using cane sugar?

Seems to me like an easy way to avoid the need to have a separate fermenter and bottling bucket (reducing risk of contamination), and achieving a more consistent level of carbonation in each bottle. Sure there must be some drawbacks though, else everyone would be doing it.

>>1088378
1) Not really necessary, not for the first time anyway. Just bottle with a racking cane (best 8 euro purchase I ever made) and prime in bottle.

2) Why do you feel the need to specifically steep malt? I'm presuming you mean to do this for roasted/dark caramel (like 350), but still - I've only ever mashed, and thus not in boiling water, and beers from Weizen to Saison to Imperial Stout have come out fine.

And I still use a sieve, btw. Current batch size is 9 gallons. The sieve is like 30cm in diameter, though.

>>1088378
Citrus is all hop - look for US or New Zealand hops (I like to go 50/50 with Citra and Cascade for this). Chocolate is either cocoa nibs in the secondary or chocolate malt, or just Roasted 1000 malt (which give a chocolatey, coffee-like aroma).

Blueberry is probably something in the primer. Though as anon >>1088663 mentioned, I too have once had a single hop beer where the hop gave insane notes of blueberry, but the name escapes me now.

Opinion differs as to sanitizing the ingredients added to secondary. I've given them a quick bath in boiling water, and the batch went out fine. Others suggest and overnight soak in neutral alcohol (vodka), but I dislike the idea of vodka touching my burr, so I've avoided this.

Good luck, and it gets easier over time. Invest in a hydrometer and proper thermometer if you want to continue this hobby. Oh, and acquire BeerSmith, helps a LOT.

>>1088386
I've done bulk priming and have gone back to bottle priming with 2g sugar lumps. Fight me, bruh.

>>1088429
You'd have to shake it and bring up sediment that you do not want in your burr.

>>1088875
Pros:
You can brag about it

Cons:
More expensive (I presume, but I'm a Euro, and it's all imported here)
Doesn't matter at the ~4g per litre you use.

Or do you mean sugar cubes? Because that's perfectly fine, been doing that for 2 years, over 60 batches, with no problem. Consistent results, no hassle. One 2g lump per 0,5L, 1,5 lumps for Weizen.

>>1088948
>just bottle with a racking cane

The bucket I'm using for fermenting also has a tap - would that not be suitable? Would the sediment get transferred along with the brew?

>Why do you feel the need to specifically steep malt?

That's what the recipe I'm using (IPA with citra hops) calls for. I'm using a fairly standard Coopers malt extract as the main malt, but also steeping Crystal 10 and Munich. I know that I should really be keeping things as simple as possible given that it's my first batch, but I don't want to just do a completely generic recipe either.

>Or do you mean sugar cubes?

Either sugar cubes or just regular sugar, measured out properly and added to each bottle. Seeing as I already own some sugar that's probably going to be easier than going out to buy either a secondary bucket for the priming or carbonation drops, which is why I wondered if carbonation could be achieved just as easily this way.


Thanks for the post, very informative.

>>1084721
It really depends at what point you put them in, if just aromatic hops at the end then it would give it more floral, citrus, pine notes. probably making it LESS beery.

but if you did do a boil on the cider so as to impart the Hops bittering oils then yes it may get a bitter bite like beer

>>1086511
I mean, unless he wants a somewhat sweet cider

>>1088988
Sure thing, mate.

Bucket with a tap on the bottom is not ideal, desu. I use glass carboys, and rack with a cane, thus I can lower the piping just above the sediment and funnel just the clear beer.

It all depends how high the tap is from the bottom of the bucket. In the 6 gallon carboys I ferment the sediment is usually about 1,5 inches, or about 4cm. If the bucket is wide enough, you could get the sediment just below the tap, and be fine. I'd say if it's at least an inch, try this.

Didn't realize you're doing it from extract, sorry. So extract for the base, and grain malt Crystal 10 and Munich, correct?


In this case steeping the Crystal 10 and Munich grain malt makes some sense (though Munich is a base malt, so it would make more sense to my mind to mash it).

I've never brewed with extract, started full grain from the get-go, so what I can say for that stage is rather limited, I must admit. Just be careful with the Munich malt - there's a reason you usually don't mash at boiling temperatures, you end up with unfermentable sugars, and you risk getting tannins from the grain husks. If it's just a bit then I guess it's fine.

I suggest switching to all grain - it's not really that complex, can be done with no extra gear (at smaller batches), and grants you more control over the whole thing. Plus - it's heckuva lot cheaper, at least here.

My first brew was also a Citra IPA, though I just had a 100% Pilsner base, US-05 yeast. Came out great, and here I am, 60+ batches later. I suggest playing with hops at first, and doing simple bases for them to play on. Easier than fiddling with mash temperatures (at first), and fun results.

And yup, just using cubes works just fine. Make sure to give the beers a week or two to carbonate - you can even see tiny CO2 bubbles gather at the surface while they're still going.

Good luck!

>>1088378
>1) Is it necessary to have a separate fermented and bottling bucket?
I just use the same stock pot I boil the wort in.

>>1089085
Not the anon you replied to, but I think I was going to start with extract and move over to all grain relatively quickly. From what I can tell, there isn't a huge gap between them and I agree, it seems like the added control is beneficial.

Just brewed my first batch :)

Think everything went ok, had some problems with my fermenting bucket (it was leaking) so my wort sat on the side for 10 minutes after flameout rather than 5 minutes before I transferred it to the fermenter, but other than that I followed the recipe without any problems.

Do malts and hops go out of date quickly? I barely used even half of what I bought, but I won't start another brew until this one is ready.

>>1089525
Store hops in the freezer and they'll be fine for over a year.

Malt you should store in a dry place, or in air-tight containers barring that.

>>1089529
Thanks, I'll do that.

>>1089525
Also meant to ask - how much of a problem is it if I'm unable to take gravity readings for this batch? Does it only affect my ability to calculate ABV? The hydrometer that came with my set arrived broken.

>>1088798
Yeast makes some real funky smells as it ferments. More so with fruits and fruit wine. So don't be concerned. Even if it tastes odd when you bottle it/whatever you do with it, it most probably just needs time to get the off-flavours away.
Btw, rhubarb makes for some killer wine. Way better than apples.

>>1089529
Well, you won't have any idea as to the efficiency of your process, and thus ABV - yes.

I'd presume <60% effectiveness and go on from there, when I had the opportunity to measure my first batches (before I had a hydrometer), my estimates were at 5.6%, while the real ABV was about 4%.

I'd suggest even borrowing one - measure yer efficiency and use that % for future brews. Should give a rough estimate if the method remains the same.

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This thread is awesome, I'm actually making an apple cyser mead right now. I have to rack it and transfer the mead to the carboy here in 3 weeks. Can't wait, do any of you anons have any recipes that you usually use?

>>1084696
Have a gallon of red wine I started a few days ago. Made from a recipe that I documented from 2010. Use to make it often but this is the first I've made in years.

>>1088426
>4rd year

>>1090106
Interesting, could you post your recipe? I've been doing cider for some time, but would be interested in trying wine.

>>1089543
How did it work out, bud?

All good? Did the bucket work?

Just out of curiosity, how much difference to taste does the yeast make? I had assumed that the majority of taste differences came from hops and malt, but some of the forums I've been browsing seem to suggest that yeast can have a big impact too.

>>1091508
It's fermenting in the bucket now, and all seems like it's going to plan. As I say, I've not been able to calculate hydrometer readings so I have no idea what ABV it will end up with, but as long as it's in the 3-10% ballpark then all will be good. I passed the wort through a strainer when putting it in the bucket so all the hops/malt residue should be removed by the time I come to rack it to the bottles - so I think the bucket is working just fine.

>>1091857
>>1091857
Yeast makes a masive difference.

Not even talking Brett etc., but even the regular strains.

I've recently taken to playing with yeasts - split a 100% Pilsner wort and fermented half with Danstar Saison yeast and half with MJ M84. Couldn't tell it was the same wort. Completely different beers. Saison took FG down to 1002. Insane.

In the beginning I'd use something more neutral like S-04 or US-05.

And temperature also makes a massive jmpact what flavours a yeast imparts - for example I've gotten fruit and strawberry aromas from US-05 when fermenting in summer. Some Saison yeasts will only impart their characteristic peppery notes only above 28C.

Yeast is a bit complicated, though, harvesting/reviving/stirplates etc, so I'd focus on hops as a start.

Oh - be aware, you will get sediment regardless - from yeast. I drain my wort through a smalles sieve, but still get the aforementioned 1.5 inches of sediment.

So i just got a 3ds on 11.0 how long until slowhax releases?

Jk, but ive been fermenting some cider for about 5 months now (i sort of forgot about it).

1) how can i test its safe?
2)its split in 3 layers, 1 is just the general thick stuff on the bottom, 2 is like a yeast-cider mix and 3 looks like clear cider. What should i do about layer 2?

>>1092221
Have you tried cold-crashing it?

>>1092221
What do you mean by "safe"?

There is a very low chance it's poisonous at any rate - at worst it's sour.

Cider I brewed 3 years ago is still sour. I'll check in a year. Probably shouldn't have used US-05 yeast.

>>1092342
>Probably shouldn't have used US-05 yeast.
I used that in the current batch. Will see how it tastes in a week or two....did a small taste of the progress so far and the taste was "different"

It very might have well have been the kind of hops....it might also clear up a lot more

>>1092344
Wait, you hopped cider?

That's something I've considered, but I first need to learn to make regular palatable cider. I even tried to sweeten the sour batch with lactosis, but that only made things worse.

>>1092349
it is supposed to be a malted cider; basically juice, malt, hops, and yeast (recipe is linked somewhere earlier)

according to the author it should end up sweet and not taste like beer, after about a month of fermenting and another month of waiting

>>1092355
Ah, right. I do keep thinking 100% cider - that's on the sweet side - hopped with say Cascade at flameout would be delicious.

A month isn't really long for maturation, though - that's what I give my light beers.

>>1092360
according to that guy, it was fine...already at 2 weeks the bubbling is down significantly and most of the stuff looks to have dropped down

the previous batch I made the typical way, with champagne yeast, will have to sit for a while longer

I don't know if that will really do it any good; I hoped it would taste more like apple....I believe the local brewing place has flavorings but that kind of defeats the whole purpose

>>1087968
>all those starches with absolutely no amylase referenced

The maker of this doesn't understand that yeast can't break down starches by itself

>>1092221
>ive been fermenting some cider for about 5 months now

You've got cider vinegar now.

>>1092330
havent heard of this technique before, i will try it thank you

>>1092342
gone toxic or something. Are you really brewing the same cider for 3 years? wow. Mine tasted alright when i tried it a month ago though, was definately worth squeezing my own apples

>>1092717
it tasted drinkable a while ago, how long does it take to become cider then?

>>1092772
Well, as I do not pasteurize, it is maturing in the bottle. For the third year, yes.

Every now and again I take a bottle, taste it, and leave the rest for another 6 months.

>>1092717
Alcohol only turns into vinegar if it gets oxygen.
If the guy has an air-tight container then it's just cider.

>>1092840
Well, not really - you get vinegar if your monocultural fermantation ain't actually mono, dawg.

That is to say, if you've got acetic acid bacteria, they'll turn delicious booze into vinegar, but that will not happen if the bacteria ain't there. True enough, they need oxygen to do their dark deeds, but in absence of them being present, oxygen alone will not be enough.

So really the risk is greater with various wild yeasts, most of which will produce unpalatable crap, and can do their business in absence of oxygen.

There for sanitize everything, lads. A clean brewing process is a happy one.

>>1092842
i have one of those water stopper things in a glass bottle, i dont think much oxygen gets it

>>1092864
Air locks? I use'em too, no problems.

Just an FYI - sterilize the water in it, it get sucked into the brew & contaminate a whole batch otherwise. Boiling is the easiest option.

A cheap option - if fermenting in bottles/carboys - is just leaving the screw-on cap on, just don't tighten it all the way. Excess CO2 will lift the cap, escape, and gravity pull it back down. Used to do this in the past, never a problem either.

>>1092870
yeah air locks. Good tip, i dont think i did that at the time.

Interestingly thats what i do with my saurkraut in mason jars, just leave them a little unscrewed and it lifts the inner lid

>>1092871
One upside of an air lock is obviously you can monitor whether fermentation is still ongoing.

Or, if you're me, make my father-in-law think something is very wrong with the plumbing, because there's irregular bubbling from an unclear source.

With a regular screw cap, however, just tighten it for an hour or two, and see if there's hissing when you open it - not a bad method either.

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Just set a nice ginger beer off using champagne yeast

>>1093322
go on....

I have an excess of cheap yeast, not a lot of ideas to use it with, and a liking of ginger ale

>>1093345
Basically 1.5kg of ginger, 2.5kg sugar, cream of tartar, lemon and limes boiled. Got recipe off a homebrew forum. Didn't take hydrometer reading.

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3826

Basically just a combination of ideas in that thread.

Going to start my first batch in a day or two, making cider from a brewers best cherry cider ki t( http://www.brewersbestkits.com/pdf/Cider%20Recipes/cherry_cider_instruct.pdf ). Do I follow the instructions and only do primary fermentation or should I rack it and keep it the secondary fermenter for a week? Should I be expecting any sediment. Are kits like these a good idea for someone who has no proir experience or would i be better of making my first batch from scratch?

>>1093396
hmm

I thought acidic fruits weren't very good for fermenting...I don't know how much 1.5kg is in volume but some of those pics looked like a ton if ginger

not sure where I could get it any cheaper

>>1092870
I just use vodka in the locks desu

>>1093426
kits are a very good way to start. I'd recommend doing a few of them to get an idea of sanitary practices and what a good ferment looks like before you risk more money on equipment and ingredients.
A good racking schedule for wines and strong beers and ciders is to do primary for three weeks and then rack into a secondary vessel to take it off the dead yeast before it starts to affect the flavour.
After that the time you bottle depends on a few things like alcohol content, how happy the yeast were during the primary and how fussed you are about sediment free bottles.
I bottle most my ales straight after an extended primary ferment, with the secondary taking place in the bottle. Lager however requires a long secondary at a cool temp to let the yeast clean up after itself.
If you want strong, crystal clear, very shelf stable and low bottle sediment cider a secondary is strongly adviseable however if these things don't bother you you won't have to do a secondary, just let the bottle do its thing.

>>1094051
Thanks. Really appreciate the advice. I'll probably just do primary on this batch and do the same kit again with secondary fermentation. It says with the kit to let it stay in the bottle for a week or two and primary is only a week so its not a huge amount of time to see the difference.

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First time posting on this board so I think this would be the right thread to ask this. I bought pic related for $20 at a thrift store and want to refurbish it, I already have the faucets taken apart and soaking in oxyclean. How do I get inside the tower, there is still some tubing in there and I feel like I'm going to have to replace a lot of fittings.i tried looking online but only ran into how to clean the tubing not replacing it altogether. Also anyone know of good sites to buy some of the small rubber fittings that go in the faucets?

>>1094051
I wish to respectfully disagree - yeast only begins to die in several months, closer to 6, so it will not affect the flavour for long enough to not matter for most beers.°

That being said, my process is largely the same (except for say an ABV 9% Imperial stout, where I added cocoa nibs in secondary).

>>1093426
You will get sediment from the yeast regardless.

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shitty construction coming through

>>1094370
Is that a cooling system, or are you just happy to see me?

In all honesty, though, I rock a 42L cauldron, a bunch of plastic buckets, a rather large sieve, and a copper cooler I made myself from piping at the DIY store. Oh, and a 1L pyrex jug.

Why yes, there is gaffer tape involved.

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It begins! This is a batch of bastardised Old World IPA from Brewdog. We're not quite ready to do all-grain brews yet so we spoke to the guys at the brew shop that recommended the type and amount of malt extract to use in its place. We also changed some of the hops for a compatible variety (EG Goldings I think).

No prior beer brewing experience for me (I've done a bit of ginger beer, and some cider but not real beer), and friend's only worked from a kit before. So excited!

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>>1094383
in hindsight the cooler was a good bit too short for the power, that the pot can put out.
also the duct tape at the end of the cooler to keep the funnel up was a mistake since the glue got dissolved by the alcohol vapor and quite possibly dripped into the distillate.
I'll probably add another cooler, but for now I'll have to wait until the next 25l of orange juice are fermented

>>1094384
Don't fret the all-grain, my friend. The essential difference is - you need a sieve & a spare vessel to drain the wort into. That's essentially it.

Anyhow, best of luck.

>>1094390
Thanks! It would also mean we can't do partial boils from what I understand. Which is good because our pot is only 16 litres max.

>>1094429
Pish-posh!

I started brewing all-grain with a 6L pot. Mash in the same pot, sieve wort through into several smaller vessels, pour back into pot, boil, cool in sink with running cold tap, and ferment in 5L water bottle.

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>>1084844
Bump
I'm also interested in this post because I'm looking to buy my father a whiskey aging barrel and maybe some various wood chips he can put in there to make his own flavor. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, as I have no experience with this home brew/home aging process.

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posting a classic

>>1084710
Doing mead for the first time shortly. I know that 2.5lb honey for 1 gallon is standard. How much honey can I add to a gallon to increase the alcohol percentage before I stop getting gains?

I'd like to do a regular and a high strength batch.

And, doing a no heat method in 1 gallon small batches, it should be drinkable in about 2 months, yeah?

>>1094878
max alcohol depends on your yeast.
Some rough guidelines,
bread yeast 3-5%
british ale 9%
belgian strong ale 13%
wine yeast 15%
champagne 18%
distillers yeast 20%

>>1094878
forgot to add, for high alcohol percentages for mead you really need to start adding some yeast nutrient as unlike wort or fruit juice honey lacks the vitamins that yeast needs for a healthy clean ferment.

>>1094890
>>1094888
Awesome, I'm using champagne yeast.

The videos have been telling me to drop a handfull of raisins into the bottle as yeast food.

>>1094913
good stuff. If you are using champagne yeast you might want to rethink your 2 month till drinking schedule, champagne yeast really benefits from a long ageing process in the bottle. Also expect a vigorous primary, leave about 1/3 of your fermenter empty and use a blow off tube if you can.
Hope it turns out well.

what a ripoff...

got a ginger ale kit and it literally just comes with cheap wine yeast and a bottle of flavoring....mix sugar, water, yeast, and flavoring, then sit just long enough to fizz a little

any suggestions to make this better? more alcohol? more ginger flavor?

>>1095338
I don't exactly know, why you'd need a kit for making ginger ale.
First I'd suggest you to just use real ginger.
Second depending on if you want an actual alcoholic beverage or just some carbonated soda.
If you just want it carbonated, even baking yeast would do the trick.
If you want high alcohol content, I would add some yeast nutrition and lemon juice to get the right ph value for the yeast to work

>>1095347
let's just say it was something neat I wanted to try, and for practically nothing...I feel bad for people who pay full price for these things

this is a brew thread, of course there should be alcohol!

after looking at some recipes, it seems like it would be pretty easy to just substitute fresh ginger and some other fruits for the flavoring

I'll have to check on some prices to see how it would come out per gallon

>>1095350
should be really cheap since you just have to buy sugar, ginger and some lemon. the yeast you have should already do the trick if it's really a whine yeast

About to rack my malted cider and unfortunately it seems I may have made a really bad hops choice since it tastes truly awful....a strong grapefruit bitterness that goes on and on

if anyone has any suggestions as to what might help balance out, I'm all ears

maybe some orange zest? lots of sugar?

>>1095356
a LOT of ginger

>>1095368
>a LOT of ginger
just googled a bit and most recipes suggest like 30g per litre, which would amount to 20 cents where I'm from

>>1095377
about what volume would that be?

one of recipes I saw listed the amount in pounds (per 5 gallon)...I'd only be making one gallon, but still

>>1095566
step it up, burgerino
http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=30g+per+liter+to+ounce+per+gallon
alternatively you could just look up american recipes on your own.

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>>1087973
This is how i make it.

>Mix 1.5kg local honey into 2.9L bottled water
>let cool to room temp
> set aside 250ml to add yeast nutrients at a later date
>mix in white wine yeast. (2.5g)
>whisk well to aerate
>pour into 5L water bottle. Drop cinnamom stick in too.
> put lid on with air hose running into bottle of water. This lets air escape but not re enter
> put somewhere out of sunlight but not too hot or cold
> after 5 days i add yeast nutrient
Then i wait a month, transfer it to another bottle while running it through a coffee filter. Wait 2 more weeks then drink it.

Tastes pretty good considering how much of a cheap bastard i am.

Gonna try and find an old fridge to repurpose in to a fermentation box. Got an old raspberry pi and arduino floating around (electronics is already a hobby of mine). Thankfully there's an absolute wealth of info on the topic around the net. Anyone ran in to any pitfalls doing this, any gotchas that aren't covered by the already existing guides on the net?

>>1095350
Look in to doing it from a plant. I started my ginger plant and made a decent batch of ginger beer from it. And this was as an entirely novice brewer.

>>1095783
you mean plant it and try and grow more?

I've never had luck growing stuff inside....during the cold months it doesn't stay warm enough and doesn't get enough sun

>>1095798
He means something else. A "ginger plant" is a mass of symbiotic yeast, bacteria and fungus that grows similar to kombucha.
He's saying use one of those instead of a conventional mono-culture of yeast.

>>1095825
I have yeast, and it should work fine (assuming the acid isn't a problem); my only concern is how much ginger would be needed per batch

is the thinking just about getting it started faster, or helping to develop flavor in multiple batches with the same amount ginger?

>>1094370
>>1094383
>>1094389
i-isn't distilling illegal?

>>1096161
Nope, just selling alcohol without a license.

>>1096161
Shit, I didn't realize that was a still, I was talking about my beer brewing setup.

>>1096161
sure it is. but as long as you don't live in a country where judge dredd can just kick your door in, there's only a small chance you'll get caught while distilling on your private property.
Once you start selling stuff, you'll get fucked by customs though

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My rotgut is almost done bubbling .

>>1096686
you're brewing in your shitter?

>>1096695
that's how you put the toilet in toilet wine

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>>1096695
Oops wrong picture.

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Bottled up a small batch of Christmas ale I made.
Got my brother to design a label up for me, I'll attach them soon as they're printed out.
Gonna give away most of them to family and friends and drink the rest. Smelled damn good when I was bottling.
</blogpost>

saw one store had ginger for $4/lb, and the recipe I'd use for would be about 1/2lb, so not too bad...

not sure if I will bottle the cider I have currently in jugs, to be able to start the next batch....I have plastic bottles ready to be used

is there any way of re-using screw cap glass bottles? I have access to plenty of those

>>1097112
Just order new caps. also you'll need at least a pair of pliers.

>>1097133
after more reading it sounds like it would be better overall to just get more plastic bottles, or pick up some flip tops from aldis

they had them the last time I was there and that probably beats even local pricing

>>1096686
Is that a long drop toilet?

>>1097112
Screw cap bottles are shit, you will get flat bottles as they dont seal as good.

Been brewing with coopers kits for a while now, starting to get the hang of it. Ye olde Englishman in town will get me some craft beer kits for christmas.


Btw, does anybody know how effective a disappering still is (check the bootleggers bible)?
It seems quite uneffective, except if you have a 2l vessel to put inside so you don't have to take out the honey too early - letting vapor escape in the process.

>>1084844
Nobody can replicate barrel ageing atm, that's part of why Santori sent up some whisky to age on the ISS (zero g might speed up the process). With chips you'll get a much higher tannin content. You can refilter through some carbon to remove that, but you'll have a pretty flat tasting spirit. The flavors really have to develop over time.

The better way to go is with aromatics like gin imo.

>>1097203
Be wary of flip-tops, though. A good number of those aren't fit to survive the pressures involved in bottle carbonization and bottle conditioning, but are meant for still liquids, like juices and syrups.

You definitely do not want bottlenades.

>>1097207
If you buy 'em new, it's supposedly alright. I wouldn't, though.

>>1097710
according to the label it is "sparkling" cider, so I'm assuming it is already carbonated

and at least thus far the things I have made have been pretty flat, which I have no problem with

Looking to start home brewing and I'm in Australia. I've seen a Coopers kit around (the $100 one), would that be a good start?

>>1097718
You got any refrigeration capabilities? anything above 24C makes most yeast produce some very off flavours.
Other than that I've seen the kit before and it looks ok for a beginner, just follow rigorous sanitary practice and you basically can't go wrong with wort extract kits.

im making some shitty aloe wine in my closet because >tfw 19

i already racked it once jsut now after waiting 11 days and i put it back into the container after cleaning it down with bleach n shit. how long should i wait now? and when i bottle it can i put it into some 360 vodka flip top bottles because i have a shit load sempai.

picked up some of those ciders from aldis and the taste is definitely different....like a pumpkin pie that was put through a blender, then carbonated....I definitely would not suggest trying to ferment it

also got ginger cheaper at $3/lb, so should be starting a new recipe shortly

>>1097858
no fridges, but at least I'm in a cooler part of the country. I'll give the kit a go, thx

>>1097716
Just be careful, where I'm from we've got a brewery selling their beer in large flip-tops, but they're infamous for exploding when reused in homebrewing.

>>1097858
I got some amazing strawberry flavours when fermenting with US-05 at over 30C. Not on purpose, but quite interesting.

>>1098258
>I got some amazing strawberry flavours when fermenting with US-05 at over 30C. Not on purpose, but quite interesting.
that sounds pretty awsome. a lot of people get banana flavours when brewing wheat beer

>>1098278
And cloves. But only using Bavarian wheat beer yeast, and at around 17C.

What doesn't make a lick of sense is I got that in 1 single bottle out of 60. How, why, and what happened - I have no idea.

>>1094809
Can anyone confirm if this is good? I like mead, but am new to homebrewing.

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This place looked like a good place to ask since I'm new to making mead. So my mead just finished it's primary fermenting (3 weeks 2 days) and the air lock slowed down with it's bubbling. I racked it and put it in the glass carboy, while I was doing this I tried a bit of it and it smelled and tasted like beer. This worries me, is it supposed to taste like cheap beer? Am I worrying too much? It's an apple cyser mead recipe, I used 12 lb of honey and about 3 gallons of apple cider. The current alcohol content of the mead is at 12%. Did i ruin my batch?

>>1098387
Leave it for a month. Try it then. Then bottle it.

Give it time - though I do not brew mead, the general rule for beers over 8% ABV is to mature them for a minimum of 6 months, preferably a year. Young and strong beer will usually be turrible.

You've done the hard part, don't throw it away. What's the worst that can happen? It goes down the drain in 2 years. The best? It matures and becomes awesome.

I had a wheat beer go sour. Left it for a year, and honest to god it had turned into the best funky sour (think Prairie brewing) I've ever had.

>>1098398
Awesome and thanks will do, It's just weird right now since it tastes like cheap beer.

>>1098399
I've definitely had that. Those turned out to be my favourite beers.

High ABV beers at least need time for the booziness to mellow - which I think is the cheap beer flavour you mean. I'm presuming this will end up on the dry side, which should make for a nice sparkling beverage. I had a Saison finish at a freaking 1004, and with 6 months of aging it's now a most excellent dry beer.

>>1098403
Awesome, I'm excited to see how it turns out but I can wait. When I rack it one more time in a month I'm just going to put it in my closet for a year or so.

Ready to transfer my beer from primary to bottles on Friday, after 3 weeks of fermenting. Hoping to bottle prime with sugar, and had a few questions about the process that I was hoping someone might be able to help me with:

1) Can I use ordinary caster sugar, or will I need to buy some sort of specialist brewing sugar?

2) My bottles are different sizes - how do I know how much is the right amount to put in each one?

3) My fermenting bucket has a tap attached to it - assuming I remove all the sediment with a sanitised sieve or something like that, can I just fill the bottles using the tap? I think my set also came with a siphon of some sort, but the tap will probably be easier.

>>1098416
1)It'll be 2g per bottle or so, it doesn't matter one bit. Use regular.

2)Either dissolve the sugar in the beer beforehand, or try and work it out proportionally. For regular beer (say a pale ale) I do one 1g lump per 0.5L, thus 1.5 lumps for 0.7/0.75L bottles (champagne and such), and a bit more than hald a lump for 0.33L bottles.

3) That will make a bit of a mess - trying to sieve right above the bottle. Maybe try to place the bucket at an angle so that the sediment is at the side opposite the tap? I use a racking cane and bottle straight from carboys, I find this the easiest.

Wait, or do you mean to fish our sediment from the bucket with that sieve? That could work, but that sounds like asking for trouble (i.e. infection).

>>1098430
Dammit, meant one 2g lump per 0.5L.

>>1098331
>17C
Bavarian wheat is a filthy whore that likes to be treated like trash.
Topless and hot is the best way to keep Bavarian wheat.

I've had amazing results and masses of banana, bubblegum, clove, green peppercorn and pear at 26C in an open fermenter.

>>1098430
I was going to sanitise the sieve and then use it to just scoop out any sediment in there (I've also got some hops in there from dry-hopping and that's how I was planning to get them out too). Is that a bad idea?

>>1098465
Interdasting. I read that 17C is optimum on style guidlines (must admit, first attempt). Guess I'll try higher.

Also: 10/10 metaphor.

>>1098513
I guess that could work, but there's also the risks of "dropping something unsanitized in" and such. Such as the whole sieve, of which the handle will not be sanitized (because you've got dirty hands, you filthy boy). I'd go with angling.

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>>1093322
Bottled my ginger beer. Had a little taste, tasted alright, wasn't as fiery as I expected, said to condition in bottle well and I imagine it'll taste a lot nicer carbonated. I ended up kegging most of it as I didn't have as many bottles as I thought I did, promised a bottle to a few people.

>>1098853
>Had a little taste, tasted alright, wasn't as fiery as I expected
be more descriptive? like alcohol content?
how long did you cook it?
proportions per L or gal?

I was about to do mine today but I'm thinking about just starting the yeast with a little bit of ginger and lemon first to help it get going....I guess I will use my plastic bottles for this since I do want it carbonated

>>1098859
It doesn't taste alcoholically strong though it's a 6.2% according to my hydrometer reading. It doesn't have that much of a ginger kick is what i meant, probably comparable to supermarket ginger beer, not particularly 'fiery'.

Simmered the ginger for 30 minutes then added sugar then put in FV. Fermented for 10 days though probably could've bottled it after 7, didn't have time.

Used 2.5kg sugar, 1kg of ginger (would've added more but got the last in the shop) and 5tsp of ground ginger for 5gallon. I'd recommend a bit more ginger if you want it fiery.

>>1098869
that alcohol level sounds around what it should be, at least from the recipes I saw

I was wondering if you cooked it for too long or actually boiled it the whole time, the heat might have reduced the flavors...

I plan on using about 750g sugar and 200g of ginger (with some lemons), but for one gallon....I'd like to see how the batch comes out first before adding more, some people don't care for really strong ginger flavor

do you think it will taste any stronger the longer it rests?

I've got a 4.5l demijohn and wine yeast, was looking to make something simple. A fruity cider perhaps. Any recipes?

ginger stuff is going, although as if in a coma

not sure if it is just too cold, if it's the acid, or it was too warm going in....currently have a seed mat trying to keep it a little warmer but I'd like to use a heating pad if I can find one

used 1/2tsp of yeast, maybe add more?

and how long should it ferment? (I doubt I could tell by activity, guess it's time to look for a hydrometer)
the recipe I based it off of said up to a month, but anon >>1098853 only did it for like a week?

I think the cider I made with champagne yeast probably went too long, I'd still like my ginger stuff to be sweet

Probably the 20th "So I tried brewing for the first time" post in this thread but here's my story:
I was making a brown ale from malt extract, it was what cam with my starter kit. I lost control of my boil while preparing my wort a couple times but still rolled with it. Afterwards, my instructions said to add more water in at the end to reach 5 gallons so I did that and added my yeast and some nutrient. 2 Days later my fermentation slowed down and all but stopped on the 3rd day. Needless to say, I knew something wasn't right so I shoved a some sugar in it to jumpstart the yeast. It went for 2 more days and slowed down again so I bottled what I could. I tasted what I had preconditioning and it was SUPER watery. It was like if Bud light made a brown. I had like 3 gallons of it remaining in my fermentation vessel so instead of throwing it away I transferred it into a fresh carboy. Then I added probably 1/4 of a 10lb bag of sugar to the mixture. Sugar lowers Aw so my guess was an excess of it would help take the water taste out of it. I racked it yesterday and tasted what I used to wash my tubing and it seemed to do the trick. Apart from the yeast murkiness, it was almost good enough to drink flat to be honest. Its all conditioning now.

What I still can't figure out is why my initial fermentation was so quick? Did losing control of my wort boiling denature the sugars in the malt extract or were they just broken down too much and the yeast metabolized them quicker than they were supposed to?

>>1099453
Did you take any hydrometer readings?
If not, what exactly do you mean when you say the fermentation stopped (had the krausen dropped down, did the airlock stop bubbling, were no more small bubbles rising to the surface of the fermentation vessel) describe exactly what you observed.

Adding sugar will only temporarily solve an overly dry finish on beers, read; doesn't solve it at all, the yeast will just ferment out the sugar and you'll be left with equally dry and slightly stronger beer.

A two day high krausen, followed by the yeast falling down is not particularly unusual at all for medium strength beers and does not indicate that the fermentation is over, merely that the yeast has stopped multiplying. I think you were far to eager to declare the fermentation finished and I foresee bottlebombs in your future.

Stopped as in no CO2 was being formed. The bubble had stopped. I was worried about an explosion, so I left extra headspace in my bottles and put a box over them.

Didn't take any hydrometer readings.

>>1099528
You should take hydrometer readings over three days. That is the only 100% sure way to be sure fermentation has stopped for conventional Saccharomyces Cerevisiae fermentations.
That said if you are sure the fermentation has stopped then there are other reasons the brew could have gone wrong.
You mentioned that somehow the boil made our wort super-fermentable and somehow messed up the sugars. You can rest easy on this front, that is basically impossible, long hard boils caramelise sugars, making them less fermentable, not the other way around.
What is possible is that your yeast was stressed in some way and lost the ability to metabolise maltose, a major sugar in wort. This is fairly unlikely.
Another possibility is that there was an air leak in your vessel and the yeast strain was not adapted to an open fermentation, this would make the yeast ferment aerobically instead of anaerobically. Aerobic metabolisation by yeast is much faster than non, and unfortunately produces no alcohol.
Other than that, some strains such as saison and champagne are known to stick at a certain final gravity and require rousing or some stimulation to ferment past that point.

>>1099538
Not the chap you were responding to, but which Saison yeasts are prone to getting stuck?

I've successfully used Danstar Saison and Mangrove Jacks Belgian with little issue - but I have had other yeasts get stuck with higher ABV stouts.

Also - for the sake of increasing my understanding - I was under the impression that no further changes in the sugars occur during the boil, as it is all done in the mash. Am I mistaken?

Though overall - the lad you were responding to could have just have an overhappy yeast that completed fermentation in a couple of days - I've definitely had that with US-05, and confirmed it was done and done via hydrometer.

A general question - how common is it for you Yanks to use yeast nutrient? I never have, I don't think they even sell those here.

>>1099549
Its less getting stuck and more a significant slowing down around 1.020-1.030 as the yeast will hit final gravities right down to 1.010 or even 1.006. I've noticed this multiple times in Wyeast 3724 and Whitelabs WLP565.

Some small changes do occur during the boil, Maynard reactions occur and change colour, flavour and fermentability.
I have an excellent book called; Principles of Brewing Science, a study of serious brewing 2nd edition by George Fix. It goes very in depth in terms of the biochemistry and organic chemistry of all stages of brewing whilst still being accessible if you have even the briefest of familiarity with organic chemistry or chemical engineering I'd recommend it if you want to really be able to brew seriously good beer and absolutely pinpoint flaws in your process without going through masses of trial and error.

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>>1099554
whoops forgot pic

>>1099554
Looks like a most excellent book - obe thing that bugs me about most brewing advice online is the absence of reasoning. I must admit I really REALLY did not take to chemistry back in high school, but I'll have a look regardless. At least I was never lacking in logic.

I had a Saison Danstar go down to 1004, by the way. A most excellent beer.

>>1088418
Man I haven't seen anyone drink brass monkey in years.

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So my mead just finished this morning and I bottled it. Now I just have to let it set for a million years and it will be great.

If anyone has any questions I work in a microbrewery. I started out as a home brewer who took it to a stupid extreme and when I saw an advert for a small place expanding and looking for a brewer I took a pretty extreme change of careers.

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>>1099967
Alright maybe you can help me.

I decided to brew a mead and tried to use a belgian bastogne yeast (WLP510), as well as yeast nutrient and potassium carbonate. I used unfiltered/uncooked honey and mixed cold in a 1 gallon carboy before pitching. It's been over a week and had a very rigorous primary fermentation. Smelling through the airlock doesn't give any off notes, but it's hard to say because some of it did end up bubbling into the airlock.

Does this look normal?

I've brewed a mead with a bread yeast before that came out okay, but it was a solid colored yeast cake. This seems pretty strange.

>>1099971
It looks like you've got yeast in suspension so I presume it is still fermenting. Based on a picture who could say if it is ok? The best thing I can say is what are you going to do about it if it isn't anyway except wait?

While I've never used that yeast before I'd assume it is a bottom fermenter and doing its thing.

We take gravity readings ideally every 12 hours, but in reality once or twice a day. This allows us to plot an attenuation chart which gives clear indication of what the yeast is doing, much better than 'does this look funny?'. When you get a feel for how your yeast performs you get a better idea of when it isn't behaving as anticipated. Experience and data helps with that.

I'd be thinking about your oxygenation. Anything we brew high gravity ideally would get oxygenation. Less ideally it gets supplementary aeration during the first 24 hours. Even less ideal, but we do so anyway we try for optimal aeration during transfer to get that magical 7-8ppm maximum dissolved o2 dependent on temperature. In either case at high abv we massively over pitch, pitch again if fermentation slows/stops or inject co2 to rouse the yeast bed up.

I'm sure it is fine. I'm sure it will take forever. You might want to carefully swirl the fermenter to gently rouse it up every now and then if fermentation looks like it has slowed/stopped. What is going on with temperature? Is it just in a warm place? Does it get cold overnight?

I also suspect that when using bread yeast you just put a healthy spoonful in. This would have counted as massively over pitching and this would bulldozed deficiencies in oxygenation or low pitch rates which you might have using this new yeast. Did you hydrate if using dry or create a starter if using liquid? Were you confident in your processes then?

>>1098382
Currently brewing this exact recipe and so far it is very good 3 weeks in. If you are not a fan of bitter things though I would limit myself to one orange or decrease the amount of pith suggested here.

>>1099975
Basically I did this all "freehand" and didn't take gravity measurements or anything. Eventually I want to get into actual beer brewing, but making mead is a pretty cheap way to at least start brewing and learning lessons before I finally get the money together to buy all the equipment. With that in mind I expected to let it age for a few months and I'm not in a big rush to have a highly drinkable mead.

What my main concern upon seeing that multi-colored sediment was is that the must got inoculated with something other than the yeast. I'm fine with having a crappy fermentation I'll have to wait months for, but drinking something that got bacteria in it is another story and to me it almost looks like mold. Judging from your post though, it doesn't seem like you think that is the case.

I basically just warmed up the package to room temp and pitched it straight as per the instructions. The fermentation temperature is pretty steady going no lower than 70 degrees. For a few days my wife raised the thermostat up to 75 and it was there.

And yeah that bread yeast I actually used two yeast packages since it was weeks from the expiration date anyway. That mead I actually used some crystallized honey that had been in my pantry for over a year, but I think it's coming along well aging especially considering it basically cost me nothing other than the airlock.

Now that you bring up oxygenation though, that has me a little concerned. I'm thinking I could have at least pumped air into it with the autosyphon before I pitched. I'll take it into consideration the next time I try a high gravity fermentation. Is there any other advice you would have in that regard?

Thanks for the informative post. As long as you don't think it's inoculated with baddies, I'll just treat it as if everything is fine and transfer it to secondary when that time comes around. Is multi-colored sediment pretty common then?

>>1100032
I should also note that I used star-san since I didn't realize I left that out.

Also after fermenting, it lightened up a ton. The original must was extremely dark, almost a coffee color.

>>1100032
Not the pro here, but if it was infected you would see a pellicle growing on the top, not on the bottom. That looks pretty normal to me.

Some people have fancy oxygen pumps, but you can also just shake it a bunch to oxygenate, that's the poor man's method. Of course, do this prior to fermentation - oxygen is bad after the ferment. And if you shake it during the ferment, it might explode mead all over your ceiling and living room...

>>1100087
Since the fermentation is done on my ghetto mead I've been shaking it side to side, carefully, to degas and help bring more sediment out of solution.

I pulled that one of the yeast cake and transfered it to secondary after a month, with a propery auto siphon and all. It's cleared up quite a bit, and a ton of sediment has dropped to the bottom. It smells better every time I put my nose on the airlock.

Once a day though I'll shake it up to get some co2 out, and it's been steadily getting less foamy as time goes by.

Now that's obviously done with a different purpose in mind, but I've even shaken this to help get some of the co2 out during the fermentation and it's been fine. Granted I'm not going ham with it. I'm a complete scrub, but from what I've read getting the co2 out will help reduce the acidity as well as help it clarify faster.

Next time I think I'll just use a short piece of tubing on the auto siphon and pump air into it for 15 minutes or so. If any experienced brewer thinks that's a retarded idea let me know, I'm thirsty for knowledge.

>>1100089
Make sure whatever you're doing to degas isn't introducing a lot of oxygen. A quick google suggests to me that maybe meadmakers aren't as concerned with oxidation as beer brewers, but daily shaking post-fermentation still sounds dangerous to me... I could be wrong. I guess if you smell/taste sherry in the mead then you'll know.

Regarding pre-fermentation aeration, here's what someone from wyeast has to say. I guess using pure oxygen is the best bet (and the only way to accomplish what they say is optimal), but if you only have regular air then just shake it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75gpehf_6Gk

Just bottled my first batch, an IPA with citra hops.

Just wondering whether I've exposed the batch to a risk of contamination. I'd been dry-hopping, but I only have one fermenter/bottling bucket, so there was still lots of hops and general residue to get rid of when I came to bottle. I used a colander to fish the hops out, but there was still some residue. Therefore I decided to place a sieve over a jug and use the tap on my bucket to fill the jug, before transferring to the bottle. Everything I used (colander, sieve, jug, spatula) was soaked in bleach solution and then rinsed with boiling water.

Have I fucked up, or did I cover myself? In the future I'll be sure to use muslin bags, as I think it just makes things easier.

>>1100143
Yeah I've left the airlock on, and it doesn't bubble until I shake it so I know all the gas in there is the co2 that's been produced by the yeast.

I saw a couple cool solutions of using little food saver vacuum pumps to pull the co2 out of solution and that seems like the easiest and safest way.

https://youtu.be/7NTQ61JfEW0

>>1100218
Nah, you should be good as far as avoiding infection. If you sanitized all the gear then you've minimized the risk of that.
However, letting the beer drop into a jug with a sieve over the top of it is way too rough of a way of racking, so I'd say you introduced a high risk of oxidation. There should ideally be no splashing and a 'quiet' transfer when racking from one container to another - you should have a siphon or tube that reaches all the way to the bottom of the container you're transferring to. It's not a disaster or anything, though, should be fine, worst case is you will notice a bit of a stale/cardboardy/sherry flavor if it got oxidized.

>>1100032
Dude sorry if I wasn't implicant, your yeast looks fine. Funny colours are normal and yeast is gross and weird (well, wonderful and great, but yeah gross and weird). Most microorganisms encountered with brewing cannot outcompete a healthy active yeast culture and plenty of even commercial beers contain a soup of different organisms under a microscope and this isn't a problem because the lifespan of the product means they don't get a chance to produce a great deal of off flavours or add noticeable faults or character and the yeast is by far the most multiplicitous. Especially when things have tons of hops in them as well you can rarely taste much else.

I wouldn't want the co2 out. It'll help protect it.
As far as aeration goes just agitate the mead before pitching as much as possible. I used to use a plaster stirrer paddle with a power drill or if you are strong shake the shit out of it for at least 5 minutes. Because only so much o2 is in the atmosphere you'll only dissolve so much without pure oxygen which is why some people aerate during the first 24 hours with something like an air stone and an aquarium pump. The yeast only really benefits from it during the first 24 hours because this is when it is at its most active stage and reproducing, past the reproductive stage its metabolism should be anaerobic.

If I was making mead I'd shake the shit out of it, knowing full well that the maximum aeration is far from ideal. So I'd also over pitch yeast and I'd also trace about a toothpick tip of olive oil through the mead to provide essential fatty acids which would bypass one metabolic stage eliminating the need for so much oxygen except for sterols. I also might uncover and let air into the fermenter and shake again before it gets too lively within the first 24 hours after pitching to replace the o2 used so far, of course all these methods risk introducing infection, a pump is likely worse unless it has a filter.

>>1099414
with just the heat mat it's going much better now, more like a bubble every 4 seconds instead of 30

will taste after a week and see if it needs more time

Any suggestions on what to get for a first brew pot? I was looking at 5 gal batches, so 8 gal and up. Some reading has said that stainless steel is better, overall, but I wanted to see if anyone had opinions/suggestions. I see a wide variety in price.

>>1100935
Use enamelware or stainless. Wort is mildly acidic and will absorb the aluminum. I do 5 gallon batches in two pots. One 5 gallon and one 4 gallon stockpot, both of which I bought at thrift stores.

If you're starting out and don't have a propane burner yet, you're probably going to get your boil started faster using two burners on your stove. Just divide your hops and/or specialty grains. I set it up so I finish with ~4.5gal of final product so I can use my wort chiller in my bigger pot. Then I just top off the carboy with pre-boiled water.

I've brewed 45 gallons of beer this year that way.

>>1100218
Your risk of contamination is much lower during the dry hopping/bottling process as the fermented beer is preserved by the alcohol. Lots of nasty microbes that would foul a batch are killed off by much less alcohol than yeast tolerate. It's one of those little ecological reasons why yeast persist, and do that they do in anoxic environments.

Bleach should not be used as a brewing sanitizer. It is difficult to remove from your equipment, and it can do nasty things to your stainless steel that will effect the taste of your brew. Next time, invest in some brewing sanitizer and dry hop with a muslin bag. Your main concern with bottling and transfer is oxygenation, as mentioned before. The only time you want to aerate your brew is immediately after cooling the boiled wort before primary fermentation begins.

>>1100224
I wouldn't want to put even an inch of vacuum on a glass carboy. Magnified over that shape, that is a LOT of atmospheric pressure on a rather fragile glass vessel. There's no reason you can't just shake/agitate the CO2 out of solution. As long as you're not *adding* oxygen to the container, you aren't aerating the brew.

The yeast consume most of the available oxygen during the primary phase of fermentation. CO2 displaces the lighter oxygen from the container as it bubbles out, so as long as your fermenter is more or less sealed, oxygenation is not a problem.

File: Cider and mead.jpg (1MB, 3648x2736px) Image search: [Google]

1MB, 3648x2736px

I made some mead several (3?) years ago and never opened it up. It should still be good to drink, right?
Pic related.

>>1101014
(Bottled it after this obviously)

>>1101014
Most likely will be stale, but it's not going to kill you.

>>1101059
Why would it be still, if the bottles are ok?

>>1101014
What ABV? ~5% might have gone a bit bland, but high ABV (>9%) should be great.

Hey I have a dumb question but I don't want to make a thread for it. Say I am holding something in place with a spring. The object is meant to move and the spring returns it to its original position. The problem is theres a little wiggle that the object does when it returns. How do I minimize that. Do I want a stronger or weaker spring?

>>1100998
I hadn't considered doing this. I have a gas oven with one of the burners having double rings. Neat idea.

>>1101143
I checked the stove top. It's 12000 BTU. Perhaps 2 pots does sound a bit better

>>1101001
>Bleach should not be used as a brewing sanitizer

Oh dear, I do actually have some brewing sanitizer that came with the kit but I decided to go for the bleach anyway because it seemed easier. In any case, I used a very diluted solution to soak the equipment in and then rinsed with the boiling water afterwards, so hopefully that might eliminate the effects that you talked about.

>>1094809
Any way to know from looks when something simular to this is ready? Ive just kinda forgot about mine for a month and a half, should it be fine to drink?

>>1101126
I didn't take any gravity readings, so obviously not sure of the abv, but I fermented fully as far as I can tell with a high alcohol tolerance yeast.
Also, I've been storing the bottles standing up-- is that a problem? I've been reading that the corks drying out can cause contamination.

>>1101363
Month and a half should be ready to bottle if you want to. Either way it will definitely benefit from more aging, but it's up to you when you actually want to drink it. When I get impatient I'll take some of the bottles and hide them away and then drink the rest.

>>1101434
If you're using a synthetic cork, keep them standing up. Natural cork, keep it on it's side.

I'm planning on making kvass, but I wonder if I ferment it longer, will it be more like an ale and have more alcohol content?

Arethere any brews which dont take forever to finish n r cheap AF ?

>>1102198
Sugar, water, raisins, yeast.
Go get drunk.

File: 15099467_1861491157420672_5424229079903633408_n.jpg (116KB, 1080x1080px) Image search: [Google]

116KB, 1080x1080px

>>1102213
Seems to take weeks? Whats ur recipe

>>1102281
Weeks is FAST. You want faster? You're going to need to distill and waste a lot of potential product. That, or just drink yeasty half-fermented swill like swine.

First time brewer here, going to make my first batch in the new year. Doing some research first.

Is there a place I could look for additives (like corn sugar, gypsum etc.) that's not a brew supply store? I live in a hipster city that makes a lot of craft brew, so I imagine there's a lot of markup in these stores and I'm cheap.

Also, is the gypsum called for in recipes the same as the stuff in drywall?

>>1100406
I tried it properly for the first time tonight. It's nicer than I thought it would be, very gingery aftertaste, different to any other ginger beer as it's not very sweet, it's an acquired taste. Hope you like yours.

>>1102353
>Is there a place I could look for additives (like corn sugar, gypsum etc.) that's not a brew supply store? I live in a hipster city that makes a lot of craft brew, so I imagine there's a lot of markup in these stores and I'm cheap.

actually look first, stuff I bought locally would have cost more, even from amazon

>>1102385
well it's been a week today and it's still going nicely

I was hoping it will turn out at least somewhat sweet, without having to load it up even more with sugar

>>1101936
They're aggregate cork. Am I screwed if they've been sitting for years?

>>1102522
>aggregate
agglomerated rather

>>1102522
>>1102523
I'd say no. It won't be fizzy, but I doubt it will have gone bad - the CO2 remaining in the bottle should have sealed the liquid and prevented oxidation.

Easiest solution - just try it and report back.

>>1102389
Dunno if it's based of that thread I linked, what I made and what my friend made off a very similar recipe has no sweetness. A few people on that thread used artificial sweetener, you might want to look into that.

>>1102985
same basic ingredients I think

just bottled it today so I'll see how it tastes once carbonated

I still have some ginger flavoring and can also try it with some sparkling water


I kept the mash; if it tastes alright I might try to use it for another batch, maybe with some different yeast

any idea how long it should take to carbonate?

using plastic so hopefully there is a less chance something will go wrong....just since yesterday they feel firmer

>>1102353
you can buy corn sugar for next to nothing at pretty much any supermarket. unless you are using RO water, you don't need gypsum, so skip it.

>>1102353
Just check an online brewstore like morebeer or northern brewer & you can see if you're getting ripped off at your LHBS. My local stores tend to have good prices for ingredients but overpriced gadgets.

It's weird if you're finding gypsum in a beer recipe - If you were to use it, you would decide whether to add it or other salts depending on your local water. Adjusting water composition is a bit fiddly of a subject to touch for your first brew.
http://howtobrew.com/book/section-3/understanding-the-mash-ph/balancing-the-malts-and-minerals

>>1103313
They'll be a little fizzy at 5 days to a week, I'm impatient, so would break in to one around then. Fully carbonated at around 2.5 weeks.

>>1103388
>They'll be a little fizzy at 5 days to a week, I'm impatient, so would break in to one around then. Fully carbonated at around 2.5 weeks

is that supposed to be wait time once the bottles are pressurized?

my ginger ale has not been crashed yet and I did not want it to ferment out

>>1103394
Oh, that's if you have completely fermented the brew to dryness and then add priming sugar when bottling, as is the typical process for beer.

If you bottled before fermentation stopped then I have no idea, all bets are off. I would suspect it would only take a day or two in that case before you'd stick em in the fridge, but I've never done it that way.

>>1103437
I'll stick them outside tonight then...conveniently it just got warm enough that it shouldn't freeze them

like an idiot I've been filing jugs spoon by spoon of thick ingredients since I didn't have a very large funnel....I just realized that the top from a soda bottle perfectly fits into the neck

starting ginger batch #2, reusing the mash, but trying a better yeast

Thinking about brewing a honey vanilla cream ale. What do you guys think about this recipe?

Recipe Type: Extract
Batch Size: 5.0 Gal
Boil Time: 60 min
SG: 1.051 FG: 1.014 ABV: 4.8% IBU: 10.5 SRM: 7.6 (Beer smith) Yeast: US-05 Safale

Fermentables
6.0 lbs Extra Light DME
0.5 lbs Canadian Pale 2-row
0.75 lbs Honey malt
0.5 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt 40L
0.75 lbs Flaked Corn
0.5 lbs Flaked Barley

Hops
0.5 oz Willamette (60 min)
0.5 oz Willamette (15 min)
Whirlfloc (5 min)
2 oz vanilla extract (0 min)

Other
4 vanilla beans added into fermentation vessel after 2 weeks (secondary), 1 oz of vanilla extract added to bottling bucket

Tried brewing a vanilla cream ale a while back, the first week after it carbed it was incredible but all of the vanilla pretty quickly dissipated, so this vanilla schedule is based off of another recipe that is lauded as having a lasting vanilla flavor.

>>1102198
Caramel Apple Cider. Literally took a total of like 7 or 8 days, was maybe $25 for 5.5 gallons and was delicious.

>>1104529
Details? Brand of cider? Additives? Type of yeast?

>>1104545
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=292770

they aren't lying, make sure you stovetop pasteurize thoroughly. These things carb up quick and big. I think mine were fully/over carbed in 4 days and I was keeping them at lower temps, I'd fill a plastic coke bottle when you're bottling and use that as a gauge to see when to pasteurize.

>>1104527
Are you doing a partial mash? If you're just steeping the grain then I'm not sure the flaked corn/barley will do much for you besides release some unconverted starches. If you're doing a partial mash you might want to use another pound or so of 2-row for diastatic power.

If you had good success with that grain bill before, though, go for it, that's just my theory.

>>1104579
Thanks buddy, wait to try it out

>>1104650
Can't wait*

Just finished my candy cane mead for christmas, and it was quite the hit. I want to move on to another batch for spring, but I'm not too sure what flavors to incorporate to convey that springy feeling (if any, really) what would y'all think would be good?

>>1105008
Not sure if it's really springy, but hibiscus mead is dope.

>>1105059
I was thinking chamomile, but I'll definitely look into hibiscus. Thanks my dude.