Prince of Fatness
Should be a nice refreshing summer brew.
Nice pics. I'm encouraged that the blond that I made has the same coloring. Maybe I did it right.
Is there a reason that you prefer to ferment in the carboy with a blow off tube rather than using a bucket initially? Probably a personal preference thing but just asking.
Not at it at all.
Former runner
Mostly it's personal preference. My main concern is the bucket getting scratched and giving bacteria a place to live. Plus after using my bucket for several batches I noticed that it acquired a strong smell that didn't seem to fade. I still use the buckets for handling water and bottling. I use the airlocks when I don't overfill the carboy. I had a friend lose a couple gallons of porter (on his ceiling) when his airlock got plugged up. So the blow off tubes are cheap insurance.
Ross
Yeah just from my short experience I would definitely use the blow off tube the first couple of days if I used the carboy. I've heard about the scratching on the plastic so I just soak the bucket with a little oxyclean then gently wipe it with a non abrasive sponge. That seems to work. Funny you mention the smell, because I noticed it was there and I've only done two batches.
Good Bad & The Monkey
I'm running somewhere tomorrow. It's going to be beautiful. I can't wait.
Poor baby
Tomorrow is brew day. Got the equipment out of storage and have cleaned it. Thunder suggested that I try a tweak to the oatmeal stout that was planned: breakfast stout. AKA Oatmeal and molasses stout. I have done some research and it appears that molasses complements a dark beer incredibly well. Sooo... 5 lbs 2 row American Malt 5 lbs Maris Otter Pale Malt 1 lb Chocolate Malt 1 lb Roasted Barley 1 lb 60l Crystal Malt ~3-4 lbs steel cut oats 2 oz Hallertau 2 oz Golden 2 oz Cascade Wyeast British Ale II yeast ~10 oz dark blackstrap molasses I will mash together the American malt, the MO and the oats in my mash pot (4.5 gallons, I measured it) with about 2-3 gallons if possible, and I will steep the chocolate, roasted and crystal malts in another gallon or so of water in a second pot. I will then sparge all this with enough water to get to about 5.5 gallons, again if possible. Hop and then add the molasses and drop into the primary fermenter bucket (7 gallon size) and add yeast once cool...
Tomorrow is brew day. Got the equipment out of storage and have cleaned it. Thunder suggested that I try a tweak to the oatmeal stout that was planned: breakfast stout. AKA Oatmeal and molasses stout. I have done some research and it appears that molasses complements a dark beer incredibly well. Sooo...
I will mash together the American malt, the MO and the oats in my mash pot (4.5 gallons, I measured it) with about 2-3 gallons if possible, and I will steep the chocolate, roasted and crystal malts in another gallon or so of water in a second pot. I will then sparge all this with enough water to get to about 5.5 gallons, again if possible. Hop and then add the molasses and drop into the primary fermenter bucket (7 gallon size) and add yeast once cool...
As you can see, the stout will now be aged on mud.
I thought of this but figured it was inappropriate to ask. I wish I were close by .... I'd bring you some of my home brew. You need it more than I do.
I was thinking the same thing. I could UPS some "yeast samples" to help with the cleanup.
Nerd
Hey, Trent. Sorry to see all that damage. I hope things get back to normal soon......man, that just sickens me to see all your pictures. My thoughts are with you and all those touched by this devastation.
Do you name all your beers? If so, is that going to be a Cumberland Mud Stout?
What's next to it..........is that a mead sitting there? I haven't done a mead in probably 15 years..........
Keep the running and fitness up and keep the weight from coming back.
Run more miles than last year.
Interesting. I just had the first beer out of my first all grain batch. Two weeks in the bottle. The interesting part is that it was not that different than the beer that I brewed from the kit. I think that the key is the two weeks. The dunkleweizen from the kit improved tremendously over time. I'm thinking that I just got the feel for what "green beer" is. I think that this beer will be pretty good if I just let it age for a few more weeks.
The Belgian Blonde tasted much better after 4 weeks. I am seeing that patience is the key to successful home brewing.
I brewed a bitter yesterday afternoon. Just having that first batch under my belt made things go much quicker. I'd say that it took about 5 hours from start to finish. Not bad. This morning the air lock was bubbling away.
Table sugar is fine, or use leftover wort if you are a purist.
A couple of questions on priming sugar.
I put a heaping tablespoon into each 22oz bottle before filling and capping. Brown sugar = white sugar + molasses.
Putting sugar in every bottle sounds like a pain. How long does it take you?
Anywho, I read somewhere that 2/3 cup is a good ballpark figure for table sugar in a 5 gallon batch. I'll give that a try. And it appears that 2/3 of a cup would be OK with brown sugar.