Thread: Home Brew Maggots

Originally Posted by BigJay

Yeah I'd be willing to bet a 1/2 a cup isn't enough. I'm sure the cinnamon and the vanilla will come through. Good stuff!

Enough to what? I wasn't necessarily looking for a lot of sweetness, just the underlying flavors of the brown sugar and molasses. Can't wait to drink this....

Originally Posted by nobueno

Enough to what? I wasn't necessarily looking for a lot of sweetness, just the underlying flavors of the brown sugar and molasses. Can't wait to drink this....

Enough to give the brown sugar flavor.

first batch was a success! Carbonated, tastes good, not quite as full-flavored as I had hoped but next time I'll steep the grains a little longer. Doing a porter next!

Bout to get a steam ale going. Then I am going to do an Imperial Pale Ale. Got a Turkey Fryer the other day, and shit is on.

Just kegged my APA after 8 days in the primary. Tastes great--I love fermentation temperature control! Brewing up a irish stout with a buddy on Sunday. Gotta love brewing season!

Brew Mags- I need a good starter kit, what would you recommend?

Originally Posted by supermodel159

Brew Mags- I need a good starter kit, what would you recommend?

A brown ale is pretty easy first time brew.

Originally Posted by supermodel159

Brew Mags- I need a good starter kit, what would you recommend?

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/d...arter-kit.html
Northern Brewer has a really nice starter kit.

In addition to this I bought starsan (better sanitizer). Also if you want to do a full 5 gallon batch I bought a cheap (maybe $50-$60) turkey fryer off amazon.

Originally Posted by BDKeg

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/d...arter-kit.html
Northern Brewer has a really nice starter kit.

In addition to this I bought starsan (better sanitizer). Also if you want to do a full 5 gallon batch I bought a cheap (maybe $50-$60) turkey fryer off amazon.

Thanks, this is what I was looking for.

That would be a good kit, some advise, if you spring for the extra carboys pick the plastic Better Bottle. They are much lighter and much safer than glass. I have been using them for years. If you can afford it get a 6 gal and a 5 gal. Do not fool with the ported ones that use a spigot.

An extra hydrometer is nice to have cause eventually you will break it some how, usually right when you need it. StarSan is a great sanitizer.

I think glass is better. Easier to keep clean, can't scratch the surface and develop grooves for bacteria to grow. Plus it looks incredibly bad ass.

Amazon has a $30 glass carboy. Amazing deal but it's out of stock right now so it's $48. They said you can order the $30 one and they'll deliver when available. Idophor is quite a bit cheaper than star san and works great. Guy that runs a "do your brew" place uses it and has never had any problems. 2.94 for a bottle and a tablespoon makes five gallons of sanitizer. You can brew on the stove, especially if you have a big burner but a turkey fryer is nice. I picked one up at a garage sale for $5. Personally I think the best money you can spend is on a nice pot to do all your cooking in. If it's too light it won't hold the heat or you'll burn the bottom and if it is too small it'll boil over when you add the hops. Agree w/ the hygrometer too. My friend broke mine brewing his first batch.

Originally Posted by nobueno

Idophor is quite a bit cheaper than star san and works great. Guy that runs a "do your brew" place uses it and has never had any problems.

I'm going to start using that once my starsan runs out, plus you don't have to deal with any annoying foam with idophor, cheap as hell too.

Thanks for the insight. Is there a TGR of home brewing I should be looking at?

Buy The Joy of Homebrewing - read it a lot. Mess up, do it again, enjoy. Buy a wort chiller. Probably the biggest upgrade for any new homebrewer.

There are a bunch of homebrew forums out there, I'm on homebrewtalk.com from time to time, mostly just lurking and reading.

Gonna do my IIPA again tomorrow, I've been tweaking the recipe for probably a dozen batches now and pretty much have it right where I want it. I'll post it later when I get back to the computer.

Not my site, but worth sharing: http://www.makinghomebrew.com/

Originally Posted by supermodel159

Thanks for the insight. Is there a TGR of home brewing I should be looking at?

homebrewtalk is the most helpful I've found. and X2 on the wort chiller, if you keep an eye on CL you can probably find one for cheap

On another note brewed an imperial blonde last weekend. going to do an ESB this weekend with the wyeast 1469 limited release....stoked.

The down side to idophor is it stains everything, your hands, buckets, hoses will all turn reddish brown.

Starsan will not stain, the foaming action gets into small cracks and corners, works in 2 minutes and can be reused as long as the pH is below 3.0. Starsan will leave a bit of residue but a wipe with a damp cloth or rinse will fix that.

I regularlly make a batch and use it for 4-5 brew sessions or more berfore I make more.

As far as glass carboys go I have a couple and use them for long term fermenting like my Perry hard cider but if you have ever talked to anyone who has had 37 stitches from a broken glass carboy you will only ever handle one with a plastic milk crate if you are smart.

Originally Posted by scottyb

The down side to idophor is it stains everything, your hands, buckets, hoses will all turn reddish brown.

Hasn't really stained my stuff, especially not my hands. You only need 1tbsp per 5gal of water so it should be practically clear. Either works great, I've just been using idophor and thought i'd throw it out there.

edit: and actually that slimy feeling left on there from the star san was the only thing i didn't like about it. says you don't have to rinse but i feel a little weird leaving that film on there and drinking it later.

Originally Posted by scottyb

The down side to idophor is it stains everything, your hands, buckets, hoses will all turn reddish brown.

Starsan will not stain, the foaming action gets into small cracks and corners, works in 2 minutes and can be reused as long as the pH is below 3.0. Starsan will leave a bit of residue but a wipe with a damp cloth or rinse will fix that.

I regularlly make a batch and use it for 4-5 brew sessions or more berfore I make more.

i need to do a better job of re-using mine a little more. good to know about the ph.

I have a belgian saison going now that I was hoping to get into bottles this week. to bad the wyeast trappist seems to take its sweet time even though there was and still is tons of activity. measured gravity and was still at 1.03 as of a couple days ago. Also have a oatmeal stout fermenting, and the way it looks they will probably be ready to bottle about the same time. oh-well

1st try at the oatmeal stout. I basically looked through recipes on HBT and found something basic.

Originally Posted by idiot

I have a belgian saison going now that I was hoping to get into bottles this week. to bad the wyeast trappist seems to take its sweet time even though there was and still is tons of activity. measured gravity and was still at 1.03 as of a couple days ago.

which strain of yeast? raising the temp to the mid-70s should kick the yeast into gear to finish. all of the belgian yeasts really benefit from starting cooler (65-70) and then raising the temp towards the end of fermentation...otherwise they tend to crap out and you'll have an overly sweet beer. Wyeast 3711 is a ballsy saison yeast that can re-start stuck fermentations too...I used it to restart a dubbel and it dropped 2 more points over the course of a couple weeks. finished nice & dry.

it was the trappist ale. not the one with bugs. i want to say 3787, but couldn't be sure without looking. if the thing really stalls out I will take measures to kickstart it, but I am going to be gone for the next five days and figured that I would let it do its thing till I get back. its going on three weeks which is a first for me seeing gravity that high after 3 weeks. don't have much temp control here in arcata (house is perpetually in the mid 60s), but that should be warm enough. maybe I'll throw a blanket around it while I'm gone. it has a cover already. would adding a blanket basically be insulating the current temp? i have no way to add heat other than that.

What was your OG? If you're going to be gone I'd leave it until you're back, 3 weeks isnt that long for a bigger beer. 3787 is the westmalle strain, nice & spicy with usually a pretty busy & quick fermentation...if I remember right thought westmalle doesnt let the temp go above 70f. but then again they're monks & have had their process perfectly dialed in for years. I'd heat it up to the low 70s when you get back, if that doesnt work then pitch a starter of yeast to get it going. good luck!