brewing

I brew here in Wichita Kansas

 

That's a deluxe setup there, JustinICT!

Electric would be pretty sweet.

 

Been in the keg a few days now and is starting to get well carbonated. Will drink it slow so it conditions more. Did not whirlflock it so it's cloudy. Good malty flavor with some sweet and a nice lingering bitter.

 

Yea I take mine down after each brew. Clean and store.

 

stuff happens. Hard part of gravity readings is factoring in the temp of both samples to the scale temp. i sorta quit worrying about it as long as the primary seems to finish.

 

I always apply temperature correction to my gravity readings. I use a Thermapen to check the temp then get the corrected gravity reading.

The resulting alcohol isn't really my concern, I mainly check to see how things went relative to the calculated/predicted outcome. When I was bottling it was more important to check gravity to confirm fermentation had finished lest one end up with bottle bombs.

BTW, the brew looks good.

 

Bottle bombs happen. It's why i keg. I do not know the ABV on this one but I feel the one glass really well.... But it's gone.
When i was in the club I used to document everything. today if I care enough I like using a refractometer. so much simpler. I did a comparison with the specific gravity readings and have full confidence it it. Time for a refill...

 

Never had any blow, but I did end up with batch way back that apparently got infected and resulted in gushers. Pretty impressive foam, actually. LOL.

If you uncapped them real slow they wouldn't erupt right away but then a slight wiggle or tap of the bottle or a pour would just foam like mad. If you popped the cap quickly they'd start to foam crazy and just keep foaming out of the bottle until it was about half gone.

 

Actually there need not be a infection for fountains. It's a by product of bottle conditioning by stove toppers. The yeats in solution will continue to ferment the priming sugar till it's gone. Breweries who bottle condition have a measured amount of priming sugar sugar. Very small. The best will filter out the yeast and add priming yeast and sugar in a balance just enough to carbonate and quit. Some times they screw that up too. That's why most of the best brewers are chemical engineers and chemists.
I once made a batch of a session ale for a friend. His recipe and bottled it for him. he sat on em and sure enough they started breaking....

 

I understand, but this was an infection for sure.

For the rest I didn't quote, yes, beginning brewers are often quite anxious to get those early brews in their belly. If they don't ensure fermentation has stopped and add priming on top of that, or too much priming, or in some cases priming not well-mixed in the whole batch, can make bottle bombs.

 

It's Alive!..... Might need a blowoff hose due to this VERY active ferment.

 

Brewing again tomorrow and using the same yeast as above. Got to get the beers done before it gets hot! Imperial/Double IPA, double batch, and then shifting to lagers assuming my yeast starter is good.

 

Yeast starter is a bust, so a last ale with the above yeast, a nice, rich oatmeal Porter today. Yum!

 

Brew a couple gallons of a low gravity IPA so you can drink em without getting hammered....

 

RU U bottling or kegging???
That krausening is beautiful.

 

Kegging most beers. Weizens and really strong beers that are meant for aging get bottled.

 

I'm really struggling to get a couple batches brewed. Still have not brewed the Pliny clone, nor the Irish Stout (quasi-Guinness). Bad...bad...bad...

 

Here’s one of my recent ones and a question for those who keg:

I have one keg (pretty sure it’s not the quick disconnect as it doesn’t happen on other kegs) that foams. I've replaced the poppet in the stem, but no real change. Any other thoughts before I just continue to replace parts? Could the dip tube have a rough edge which is providing nucleation sites for the CO2 to come out of solution? Second pic shows the foam collecting in the line after pouring one.

 

Wouldn't a low gravity IPA just be a Pale Ale?

I guess I just don't get the fascination with trying to come up with all these different substyle names... Session IPA again is just a Pale Ale...

 

That is not krausening. That is primary fermentation.

Krausening is a traditional German method for carbonating beers without using sugars or other adjuncts. Instead actively fermenting malt wort is added to the fermented beer to provide the malted sugars needed for carbonation. So this is done BEFORE bottling or kegging. Home brewers have a hard time doing this due to the fact you have to keep the bottles pressurized while bottling.