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When do you add the peel? And how much for a 2 gallon batch?
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I've looked into kegging, but left it at the research phase. Essentially, what you are saying is correct. Think of kegging as your carbonation/dispensing system. You carbonate in the keg, and dispense from the keg. It seems to me most people force carbonate, but you also have brewers who use priming sugar in the keg to carbonate. Once the beer is carbonated (whatever method you choose) and chilled, you then dispense from the keg (CO2). You can, if you want, bottle the carbonated beer from the keg (or fill a growler or whatever) but you need a reverse wand.
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I would give this a try. I've used it in IPA's and it is great!
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If I am not mistaken, @RickBeer adds extract at the pour. I really like this idea/way because then if it turns out you don't like the flavor of the extract, or it is a little too strong, or whatever, you can adjust the next time. You could even use other extracts if so inclined for that batch.
- Today
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I am a complete newb homebrewer. I have my first batch of American light beer in the Mr. beer fermenter right now. Wanted to start with something very simple to get my feet wet. I really like a wheat beer with a hint of grapefruit or a grapefruit finish. I have a Bavarian Weissbier refill that I would like to add grapefruit to. I found some grapefruit extract on a homebrewing website and was wondering when I would add the extract to the brew ? Any information would help me out tremendously thank you in advance.
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I only ask because I would eventually like to get a growler like the ukeg or something similar but I guess at that point you would just pour the beer into the keg directly after fermentation and force carbonate the beer with co2?
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You conditioned for less than 2 weeks, that's likely why it is flat. Follow the guidelines.
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Keg. You can't pour beer from a bottle to a growler, plus it makes little sense to. It would result in flatter beer, and a significant release of essential oils during the pouring.
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The questions continue.... So i have been looking on various sites to try and find a concrete answer to the following scenario. Often i transport beer in growlers when i go to family bbq's, friends out of town etc. Obviously, as i am new to home brewing, i am talking about beer from breweries that is dispensed from the tap. I know that conditioning in growlers is a no-no, but my question is would it be bad to transfer beer from bottles to a growler post conditioning for easy transporting if i am going to consume the beer that day, if so what is the best way to keep your beer fresh and get it into a growler?
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when you have made a few batches you can start adding steeps of carapils grain to add to the wort. this will improve head retention and body. or you can add a LME pack of mr beer unhopped malt. I never judge a beer based on head retention though. ive had awesome beers that lost their head quickly.
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I'm on the fence on refractometer use. I never hit my target OG using it. I only discovered much later that the wort settles and gravity will vary at different locations in the pot... to give it a stir before testing. I do like that you only need a drop of wort.
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back in the 80s I had the 'pleasure' of drinking garage kept beer. lol.... a friends father owned a bar in the 70s. when it went belly up he moved about 30 bins of jumbo bottles of Altes Beer home to his garage in Michigan. for over 10 years I think they sat in Michigan heat...cold... all year round. my chum and I thought it would be cool to break into it and get drunk. it was bad. couldn't get past the first glug from a bottle. I don't remember too much from the 80s. I did a lot of silly things to myself and killed quite a few brain cells.
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Science says..........................YES to beer, if you are OLD. http://sciencenordic.com/three-beers-day-keep-doctor-away
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Congrats! Savour the flavour!
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Popped the top off of the first bottle. (American Light). Flavor has a nice finish and I look forward to seeing how much it improves with further conditioning. Had nice carbonation on opening but dissipated fairly quickly in the glass. Not flat but would have liked it if it stayed a bit longer. I am happy with my first efforts and it makes me look forward to going from fermentation to bottling and conditioning with the next style (Oktoberfestivus). Any suggestions welcomed.
- Yesterday
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I love my refractometer, use it all the time. So handy for pre boil gravitys and OG. Maybe im just not a big time brewer. Its a great tool for measuring the progression of my wort on brew day
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Big announcement. I'll wait for it to quiet down. Thank you. Drum roll please.......... I have decided on what tequila I will be using for my Otra Noche Fuerte. Gran Centenario Anejo. I wish could say this came after extensive taste testings, but really I looked up some "well regarded" anejos (whatever that means) within my price range and this was the only one that had in the market. That being said, sometimes you just trust the universe so I purchased and just finished sipping some on ice. I love the flavor and think it and the oak chips will add a lot to this beer. I am still deciding whether I really want to go with an ancho chile here.....starting to think less might be better (a dios mio what is happening to me??????). Just let the oak, tequila, and mesquite flower carry the beer..
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Hey! Why you garage shaming me?????? Lol......
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When I first got mine, I calibrated it and compared it to the hydrometer. It was always within a point of the hydro, and both were within a point or so of the recipe if the OG was given, or what the brew program calculated. After that, I quit wasting wort in the hydro and used the refractometer. Is it 100% right? Probably not. Do I care? Absolutely not! I like to have an idea of the ABV, but I don't need to prove that it is correct in a lab or a court. With 5 gal batches, I wouldn't mind a hydro at both ends of fermentation. I'll probably do both as a check on each of them for OG.
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Very good point. Im still trying to get used to 3rd shift, i was pretty beat when I posted and didnt consider that possibility lol
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Not on my phone, so let me elaborate. The assumption that taking a can of HME (hopped malt extract), such as Mr. Beer, and adding things to it is better than starting from scratch is simply incorrect. Mr. Beer is EASIER, and in fact makes good beer. Mr. Beer partial mash recipes make very good beer. However, either doing all grain brewing or steeps with LME/DME and hops will result in superior beer. And less expensive beer. The cans are all dated. As stated, read the date and add two years. Refrigerate the yeast when you get it and it's good for two years, or more, past the date printed on them (it's a manufacture date, whereas the can is a Use By date). The beer you brew can be stored in bottles, glass or PET, for two years or more. Hoppy beer will mellow over time, and sharply flavored beers may also, but they will NOT go bad. Lots of this info is available on the forum already. So, build your
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I, like many of my big time brewer friends, have our refractometers collecting dust. I don't trust it, thus I don't use it and I was quite happy when I heard I wasn't the only one
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I bought a refractometer for my OG readings. The volume in an LBK is small enough that I only want one hydrometer reading's worth lost. One drop with a refractometer and about 1/2 - 3/4 of a cup for the hydro. That gets sipped as I'm bottling once I read the FG and make any corrections.
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There are several unanswerable questions to be able to say one way or another.... On the normal, possibly depending on the heat load in the fridge and size of fridge various other factors.... (insert technical jargon here) The other side of this is did it really take 10hrs or was it down to temp in a couple hours and you just weren't there to see it and when you looked you were just a degree off set point as does happen during normal operation.... (and yes, I am a professional I do heating, cooling, and refrigeration for a living.... 12 years and running....)
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Is this self diagnosed or more generally done so by a better half?
