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- Past hour
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Thanks for the tip on the BeerSmith Forum. I hopped on and posted my issue along with my analysis and workaround in their support section; we’ll see if I’m on the right track, or if they can steer me in the right direction.
- Today
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FINGER changed their profile photo
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I entered my recipe for Grand Bohemian Czech Pilsner, with my small extract equipment profile, made sure extract was selected under recipe, and took Mr Beer’s IBU: 27 - multiplied it by 2 and divided by 1.87 I’m getting a predicted: ABV: 4.86%. IBU: 24.6 This is brewing 2.2 gallons and sacrificing .2 gallons to the fermenter and trub - 2 gallons to keg Recipe is 1 can HME and a pound of Pale DME 2.27 oz table sugar to keg and carbonate This seems close If I brewed 2 gallons straight up, the numbers should be almost dead on Mr Beer published numbers with the only variation left being the DME numbers. So it looks like they assumed a 1 pound can of extract for the HME and doubled the published IBU to make the numbers work for a 2 gallon batch.
- Yesterday
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KTreu42 changed their profile photo
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I like it so far. I’m still dialing it in for Mr. Beer HMEs. I think the discrepancy with the ABV was that their file had 78% efficiency for the fermentation; I had 75%, and I think it’s even a hair less than that. So that’s addressed...
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rjflesher changed their profile photo
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BS3 is amazing. i use it all of the time and getting much better at it. haven't run a MRB recipe through it yet, although i'm sure someone on this forum knows. BS forum is also very good. there are some guys on it that know it inside and out.
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I dug out my old laptop and downloaded Qbrew and the newer database. I found it serviceable but I had to work around a lot. I `decided to pony up the $7.99 for BeerSmith 3 on my iPad. Much easier to use. Obviously there’s a lot of extra stuff that a novice brewer like me doesn’t need, but I definitely feel like I won’t outgrow it. I found some good OLD information on entering Mr Beer HMEs and scaling my equipment better and bumped those. I saw references to databases of Mr Beer Products for BeerSmith 2 on PC... Is there anything out there for BeerSmith 3.0 on iPad that will save me the trouble (not that much) of entering the various Mr Beer products as I use them? Is anyone using BeerSmith 3,0 on iPad? OMG, I just found Coopers Extracts and Mr Beer extracts under add-ons... Problem solved, or not - they seem to be scaled wrong or something. I’m getting way different numbers than when I entered the data manually. Seems if I leave it at 1 lb, the IBU is right, but the ABV is way off, and if I put the correct weight of 1.87 lb the ABV is about right, but the IBU is way off. Okay, in the case of Classic American Light, the IBUs were way off in the data; I can’t speak for the other extracts. Seems they forgot to divide by 1.87; I fixed that data point and the IBUs are inline at the proper quantity of HME. The ABV Is a bit higher than my old data, but only by .2% or so - I’m guessing that’s the carbonization sugar or something. I guess I’ll have to check each ingredient by the numbers as I go. [edit] BeerSmith calls for gal/lbs on the IBU number, so you take the number at Mr Beer multiply by 2 then divide by 1.87 - if you put this number in, you get pretty good looking numbers. [edit] Caveat - I know next to nothing about brewing; I’m just reverse engineering numbers, so an actual brewer can jump in anytime
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Took me a while to find this and apply it to BeerSmith 3.0 on iPad. Super helpful - thank you.
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Back into the brewing this week trying a Josh Weikert based Altbier recipe. As usual with a new recipe, I'll stay fairly close to the grist ratios with just some slight grist substitutions on my part. So interested to see how it fares against my Dusseldorf Alt. I think I'll always want to have an Alt in my inventory. Next after the Alt will be my return to a Witbier. Heavy wheats are totally out of my wheelhouse but Erdlinger Wit, Mothership Wit, and Blue Moon fall in it. I find myself often adding either white or red wheat instead of Carapils or Carafoam to my recipes these days. Poor wheat grinds from suppliers prompted me to get a grain mill last fall, and since then it's made a big impact on my BIAB process.
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Ky's Guy changed their profile photo
- Last week
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Lol, I’ll just tell the she-devil I HAVE to purchase more kegs... I like sleeping with my beer stuff.
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The one gallon jugs are probably just for fermentation and not pressure resistant. That means carbonating in those jugs would create a huge mess when the pressure cracks the jugs open. If you ferment in one jug and transfer into a second jug with an airlock for long term storage, you risk oxidation (wet cardboard flavors), skunking from exposure to light and infections. If it was my beer and I hated bottling, I'd suck it up and bottle until funding permitted me to keg.
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That is what I would do ideally. I can’t afford more kegs right now, so I wondered if there was any point in brewing a batch ahead and storing it mostly flat until a keg freed up... sounds like it’s not advisable?
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The idea is to fill the pipeline. I only have two mini kegs, so if they are occupied, could I condition beer in jugs and carbonate them later in the kegs when the kegs are available...
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Conditioning and carbonation aren't mutually exclusive time frames. As your beer is carbonating it is conditioning. As your beer is conditioning it is carbonating. Your yeast are living entities. They're swimming around looking for food to eat. Regardless of what container you transfer your beer to the yeast is still swimming around in search of food. Part of "conditioning" is suspended solids are settling out. That's going to happen while your yeast are still swimming around searching for food. The key to successful brewing is doing everything you can to prevent your beer from developing off flavors or infections. Brew your beer. After fermentation has completed cold crash your beer. Transfer it to your (pressure resistant) dispensing container and set it somewhere with steady temperatures.
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Question - Does your mini keg system allow you to carbonate with CO2 under pressure? If not, I would prime with sugar and carbonate/condition as usual.
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why can't you just transfer from your fermenter to your mini keg and carb and condition in that? fewer steps the better in my opinion. maybe you can do it as you described, but i don't know.
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I know, sounds like a silly question, but hear me out. I’m wanting to fill up my pipeline without spending a lot more money right away. The Boss Lady is close to making me sleep with my beer stuff as it is. I brewed a couple batches decades ago and had fun with it. I remembered I hate bottling, and I don’t have the space or funds for a full sized kegging system, so I found a 1 gallon sized mini keg system that I’m really happy with. While not real expensive, the 1 gallon kegs are not cheap. I explored 1 gallon jugs, even found some that are supposedly used by home brewers, but the consensus seems to be that it’s risky. Then I hit on the idea of filling them without priming sugar and letting them condition that way. If after four weeks conditioning flat like that, I transfer them to a mini keg and prime them, thus reawakening the yeasties, will the conditioning be undone and the clock reset, or does it not even count as conditioning unless the beer is carbonated? Maybe just put minimal priming sugar in to way undercarbonate, but make enough co2 to clear the oxygen from the transfer?
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@Rotty, if you add water, LME, DME, hops, etc., you will change the flavor profile of the MrBeer HME. The bigger question is, "changed it by how much?" That can only be determined by you the brewer and your ability to taste the differences. Reading about classic styles, practicing steeping grains, practicing partial mashes, dry hopping, hop boils etc., you can make each batch your signature brew. The opportunities are endless. The only restrictions are how adventurous you are, how quickly you can learn new skills, and how fast you can drink beer to free up bottles and storage space for your pipeline.
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Thanks so much. That is exactly the information I needed.
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bud changed their profile photo
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I have one of these (just remembered). The 1/2" OD hose is too big to fit inside it. And too small to fit on the outside. A standard bottling wand fits inside it, which is 5/16" OD. Therefore, a hose that is 5/16" OD should work.
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Thanks. I just got the kit. It’s the black spigot. I’m pretty sure the hose goes into it, not over it. Any customers who can tell me the hose I need would be greatly appreciated 😊
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Thanks. Take a look at the links in my signature if you haven't already. That's a question fraught with danger, because there are at least 4 Mr. Beer LBK spigots in existence. The "oldest" Mr. Beer LBKs used a hose that slipped OVER the spigot, and that hose then slipped over the bottling wand. Mr. Beer ships their bottling wands with a small piece of hose for that purpose. The next version of the spigot the bottling wand went up into the spigot, so no hose was needed. I have no idea what the newest version of the spigot uses. You've got 3 options: 1) When you next empty the LBK, remove the spigot (which should be removed and disassembled, then cleaned, each batch anyway), and take it to the store and see what fits best. 2) Call Mr. Beer Customer Service M - F. 3) See if you can identify which spigot you have and have another customer tell you what they use. I have the spigots which are white, swivel side to side, and the hose goes over the spigot. That hose is 3/8" ID, 1/2" OD.
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steve hoehn joined the community
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Will do, and thanks.
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sammyB54 changed their profile photo
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avrumi changed their profile photo
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Rickbeer is the answer man. Usually, for home brewers time cures most ills. The MrBeer yeast is Cooper's ale yeast. It is one of the most temperature ambivalent yeasts available. Bottle the CAL and let em sit.
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That’s pretty much what I figured, and that would be fine with me. My concern is the temperature, and that I will get a nasty cider flavor. I’m contemplating just tossing it and starting again. I’ve got the Czech Pilsner and Pale DME ready to go. The good news is, I just picked up a used Frigidaire for $50 that’ll hold two LBKs, and I ordered the temp controller on Amazon just now. RickBeer seems to really know his stuff, so I’ll be following his advice regarding temps and brew times. I’m still curious about the yeast. If I use Mr. Beer yeast or US-05 at 65 degrees, will it taste the same either way? Also, does anybody know what hose size (OD) fits in the spigot of the LBK for transferring to my mini-kegs?
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Hey everyone, Mr. Beer has a Facebook Group that we welcome you to join, https://www.facebook.com/groups/310797832948169/
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At mrbeer.com the recipe calls for Aztec Mexican Cerveza extract, and..... - the Standard Refill has 2 booster packs and the Deluxe has one Pale LME. You may know all that by now. It sounds like you're going to get standard (dry) light beer. ON EDIT: Since the deed is already done, at least float a couple 'penos or dried chile arbol in there.
