homebrewing and general beer chat

[Ender81]

Originally Posted by Scapegoat

hard cider is generally low carbonation... so if you do any? make it a small amount. don't forget to boil the sugar in water

Just curious as to why boil?

[Scapegoat]

Originally Posted by Ender81

Just curious as to why boil?

sugar isn't sterile and there will still be living yeast in whats left in the carboy after fermentation.

if you get something bad along with the sugar you will contaminate the product you've just waited two weeks for... only to have either exploding bottles or a horrible end product two weeks later as the continuing fermentation in the bottles increases drastically due to the contaminate.

so you boil the sugar in a cup and a half of water, don't use much sugar at all... i usually use 4 ounces measured in one of those little plastic measuring cups... boil for a few minutes, make sure everything is mixed, pour that into your sanitized bottling bucket, then siphon the wort into the bottling bucket to mix the sugar into that... be careful, make sure you create as little bubbles as possible (this will aerate the mixture and you do NOT want that at this point in the process)... then siphon into bottles and cap

[Ender81]

Hmm intresting. I've yet to do beer so I am enjoying this thread. I think I am going to make the switch from wine next year.

[SovXietday]

Scape, where are you picking up your materials from?

I need to find a place to get dextrose and maltodextrin, these places sell it.

[Scapegoat]

keystone home brew in montgomeryville

[Scapegoat]

i'm making a winter beer, hopefully this weekend... i'm kegging it and bringing it to my parents for x-mas day... lets see if we can finish 5 gallons of home made beer... drinking starts at noon... i'm also bringing some awesome christmas music

[Drftpretty]

What does everyone use to stop fermentation before they bottle/keg? Campden tabs, one tab per gallon crushed? Do I want to stop my fermentation when I reach a certain alc. % or when my air lock stops bubbling? I understand all of the microbio behind whats going on I just dont know whats best for the taste/ al. content. Do I want to let my carboy of wine reach the critical 1,000,000 active yeast cells per mil before the batch starts to go into the death stage or do I want to stop the yeast growth before that? Do you beer guys add Potassium metabisulphite to your batches before bottling? Im guessing not.

I just racked 5 gallons of welch's grape wine with 5lbs of sugar. I tried a cup and its pretty damn good, extremely sweet. I figure at least 20 bottles of wine to give as X-mas gifts because Im such a cheap ass lol.

Scapegoat, two words. Habanero Porter. Think about it. Also, Im gonna have to come down there with some wine for you before christmas to get your stmap of approval before giving this stuff away, I havent actually fermented a batch that made it far enough to bottle lol.

EDIT: If anyone in the ABE area is looking to get rid of any extra carboys I want another to have two batches going at once, just figured I would try you guys before Keystone

I found some british dude on youtube making COKE wine today, sounds like ass but It made me think lol.

[Scapegoat]

let me tell you a little story... about a man and his last porter...

this man just got out of the shower, freshly shaven and wide awake.

earlier this man placed his last homebrewed porter in the fridge... bottle aged for the past... 6 months or so

this man... thought he would have a nice relaxed evening as he brought the bottle close and began to pop the cap

little did he know, that he was about to unleash a torrent the likes he had never seen... and was blasted, in the chest... by porter (no homo)

and now he sits... saddened, and clean again, with little less than half of his 22oz bottle... of porter...

that doesn't taste a thing like porter... or anything drinkable

[Drftpretty]

Fukin Yeasts, they have zero respect.

Campden tablet that **** son!

[Drftpretty]

Oh snap, 5 gallons almost done! I guess I need to post up pics of the 36 bottle wine rack I made for my GF last year too. Dont mind the date, i dont know how to change it.

Apple spice wine is brewing in the kitchen, the GF added brown sugar, honey, and apple spice. Mmmmmmmm

[Scapegoat]

my next brew after this winter warmer... (read, probably buying ingredients this weekend) is going to be a dunkin donut's porter

i'm going to use the BEST coffee in the world (an evar) to create a porter.

[jjm4life]

the jabenero porter sounds like a really good idea. ive been drinking more of them lately. really enjoy troeggs dead reckoning. chocolate malt mmm.

sucks about your porter blowing up on you. my first ever beer (ginger beer dont ask) detroyed the dry storage room of drexel university's culinary arts dept. cleaning that up sucked.

[Scapegoat]

so i've got a ton of 12oz and 22oz bottles... just sitting around... they def need to be cleaned, but if anyone wants any let me know

[peteyturbo]

Last night at 12:00 I chose to toast the new year with two 22 0z. bottles of Rouge Chocholate stout...It is extremely tasty but lacking the punch of an imperial..That and sammy smith oatmeal stout are probably the two best tasting beers imho ever! lol

[Scapegoat]

i love samuel smith oatmeal stout. i had their "winter welcome ale" and it was pretty good as well

[peteyturbo]

Originally Posted by Scapegoat

i love samuel smith oatmeal stout. i had their "winter welcome ale" and it was pretty good as well

then you will absoloutely love rouge choc. stout.....top notch right there! I got them from rodger wilco for 5 bucks per 22oz. not bad..

[92dxman]

I'm close to starting my first batch of hard cider. I've read that unpasteurized cider is better for brewing and it has more flavor. I haven't been able to find it. Where can I find some? I haven't been able to find any around..

[Scapegoat]

dunno where, check in with keystone homebrew and see what they say. i know they get some stuff in from a specific orchard every so often.

now, in ****ed up news... apparently it is possible to get mold inside of a keg... at least, that is what i suppose those green flakes in the head is... fffffuuuuuu

edit: ok... thats even more ****ed up... there is mold all over the rubber on my one keg....

[Scapegoat]

ugh, i need to respray the interior of the cooler... think something like... rustoleum would work?

[Soon2bG60]

Originally Posted by Scapegoat

dunno where, check in with keystone homebrew and see what they say. i know they get some stuff in from a specific orchard every so often.

now, in ****ed up news... apparently it is possible to get mold inside of a keg... at least, that is what i suppose those green flakes in the head is... fffffuuuuuu

edit: ok... thats even more ****ed up... there is mold all over the rubber on my one keg....

I think something got messed up ken

So did you and your family finsh the 5 gallons?