Home Beer Brewing

[coldweatherfan]

I just racked a Belgian Blond to the secondary fermenter about 30 minutes ago.

[Lucky Charms]

I just racked a Belgian Blond to the secondary fermenter about 30 minutes ago.

 

I had an Belgian Blond that I brewed up last summer. It was my lawn mowing beer. Not normally a fan of the belgian brews but this was good.

[coldweatherfan]

Starting on a ESB as soon as I bottle this one.

[NEERFAN]

.My APA was pretty good, I have ab out six left. I'm going to allow it to age a bit more prior to endulging. Next will be an IPA and I have a question. I'm going to use a secondary, so when I'm ready to move from the primary is it as easy as placing the auto siphon in and once it's done I just lock it up? The purpose of the secondary would be to move the brew away from the yeast and other particals in the primary?

[Lucky Charms]

.My APA was pretty good, I have ab out six left. I'm going to allow it to age a bit more prior to endulging. Next will be an IPA and I have a question. I'm going to use a secondary, so when I'm ready to move from the primary is it as easy as placing the auto siphon in and once it's done I just lock it up? The purpose of the secondary would be to move the brew away from the yeast and other particals in the primary?

 

The purpose of the secondary is for clarity. You end up with a cleaner looking product. Some people are fans of it and some are not. Its really something that you don't have to do. I prefer to do it, just because I keg. I don't want any "fines" in my keg and that is hard to do without racking your brew to your secondary. If you are bottling you DO want some yeast to make it to the bottles otherwise your bottles will not prime/carbonate. General rule I follow is I want my brew in a bottle at most 4 weeks after brew day unless the style calls for longer time. If you wait longer than 4 weeks you are in danger of killing off all of your yeast.

[NEERFAN]

If I'm going to dry hop should I do so in the primary?

[Lucky Charms]

If I'm going to dry hop should I do so in the primary?

 

Secondary. And let the beer sit on the hops for about a week.

[NEERFAN]

I have a question about the recipe I received for my American Red Ale. The instructions say the recommended boil is 90 minutes but I'm confused. It says after I steep my grains add the LME and bring it to a boil. It then says add my first hops at 60 minutes then the next hops with 20 minutes remaining and my last hops at the 5 minute mark.

 

Here is my question, if it recommends a 90 minute boil do boil the wort for 30 minutes prior to adding the first batch of hops?

[Lucky Charms]

This is a lot to take in about hop additions but i beleive this may help.

 

Bittering

The primary use of hops is for bittering. Bittering hops additions are boiled for 45-90 minutes to isomerize the alpha acids; the most common interval being one hour. There is some improvement in the isomerization between 45 and 90 minutes (about 5%), but only a small improvement at longer times (

 

Flavoring

By adding the hops midway through the boil, a compromise between isomerization of the alpha acids and evaporation of the aromatics is achieved yielding characteristic flavors. These flavoring hop additions are added 40-20 minutes before the end of the boil, with the most common time being 30 minutes. Any hop variety may be used. Usually the lower alpha varieties are chosen, although some high alpha varieties such as Columbus and Challenger have pleasant flavors and are commonly used. Often small amounts (1/4-1/2 oz) of several varieties will be combined at this stage to create a more complex character.

 

Finishing

When hops are added during the final minutes of the boil, less of the aromatic oils are lost to evaporation and more hop aroma is retained. One or more varieties of hop may be used, in amounts varying from 1/4 - 4 oz, depending on the character desired. A total of 1-2 oz. is typical. Finishing hop additions are typically 15 minutes or less before the end of the boil, or are added "at knockout" (when the heat is turned off) and allowed to steep ten minutes before the wort is cooled. In some setups, a "hopback" is used - the hot wort is run through a small chamber full of fresh hops before the wort enters a heat exchanger or chiller.

 

A word of caution when adding hops at knockout or using a hopback - depending on several factors, e.g. amount, variety, freshness, etc., the beer may take on a grassy taste due to tannins and other compounds which are usually neutralized by the boil. If short boil times are not yielding the desired hop aroma or a grassy flavor is evident, then I would suggest using FWH or Dry Hopping.

 

Dry Hopping

Hops can also be added to the fermenter for increased hop aroma in the final beer. This is called "dry hopping" and is best done late in the fermentation cycle. If the hops are added to the fermenter while it is still actively bubbling, then a lot of the hop aroma will be carried away by the carbon dioxide. It is better to add the hops (usually about a half ounce per 5 gallons) after bubbling has slowed or stopped and the beer is going through the conditioning phase prior to bottling. The best way to utilize dry hopping is to put the hops in a secondary fermenter, after the beer has been racked away from the trub and can sit a couple of weeks before bottling, allowing the volatile oils to diffuse into the beer. Many homebrewers put the hops in a nylon mesh bag - a Hop Bag, to facilitate removing the hops before bottling. Dry hopping is appropriate for many pale ale and lager styles.

[coldweatherfan]

Very good LC.

[NEERFAN]

I recently got my buddy to start brewing with me and we are having a great time. We purchased four Party Pigs and they are awesome and less expensive than kegging. Eventually I see myself kegging but just don't have the equipment or space at this time.

 

We started off by making an American Red Ale. It's made by a brewery in Minnesota by the name of Fixed Gear. I must say it is very good. We just brewed another pro series IPA called Zythos and it will be placed into our other two Pigs this weekend. This Saturday we are going to make a batch of Listermann's Wit which should be a good one for Spring.

[Lucky Charms]

Racking an IPA tomorrow. Good luck NEERFAN, one day we should meet up and a get a brew going.

[NEERFAN]

 

It was a very busy day yesterday. Not only did we have the Derby and Cinco De Mayo but it was also National Homebrewers day. The picture in the glass is my Belgian and the alien like substance in the carboy is an Amarillo Pale ale. We brewed 10 gallons yesterday, the other is a Red Ale but it's in a bucket so I don't want to post the interior of my walk in closet. My buddy and I have brewed 25 gallons of brew in the past two months and I really need more. I hope this works since I have never attached photos from my tablet.

[Lucky Charms]

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It was a very busy day yesterday. Not only did we have the Derby and Cinco De Mayo but it was also National Homebrewers day. The picture in the glass is my Belgian and the alien like substance in the carboy is an Amarillo Pale ale. We brewed 10 gallons yesterday, the other is a Red Ale but it's in a bucket so I don't want to post the interior of my walk in closet. My buddy and I have brewed 25 gallons of brew in the past two months and I really need more. I hope this works since I have never attached photos from my tablet.

 

I brewed on friday (5/4). Brewed a bavarian wheat with centennial hops and Wheinstephen yeast. Really sounds like you and your buddy have caught the fever. I love it. There are few things that are more enjoyable to me than sitting back and being able to drink a brew of my creation.

[ThrillVille Cardinal51]

Me and a buddy actually just finished bottling our third batch. We've done a Nut Brown Ale, a Belgian White and a Bourbon Stout. So far, all three beers have exceed my expectations!

 

I've also got a few gallons of simple homemade wine going but haven't tasted it yet.

 

All of the apples that I've been seeing lately have made me want to do an apple cider/wine. After doing a little bit of reading, I'm seriously considering trying to make Applejack. Has anyone ever tried it or heard of anyone that has? The way I see it, producing something that's between 25-30% ABV can't be a bad idea.