BeerTools Discussion Forum

Just make sure that you've actually purchased the kegs before cutting the tops off. Paying the deposit on a keg of beer doesn't come close to the actual cost of the keg, and be deposit is never passed up to the brewer if the keg never comes back. The big brewers can absorb the costs, but lost kegs c...

I'd STRONGLY suggest picking up a good gas burner and move the brewing in to the garage...that way you can clean up with a hose.

Todd

Sudsman, Using a sankey keg for homebrewing is not a great idea. The first problem is cleaning and sanitizing the keg, and unless you have the equipment to do that, you're dead in the water. A typical keg washer/filler for a microbrewery runs from many thousands to tens of thousand of dollars. This ...

Squeezing the bag won't introduce any more bitterness. That can only come from boiling and isomerizing the hop oils (which is why boiling the hops longer adds more bitterness to the beer). By not squeezing the bag, you're just loosing beer that could be consumed ;-) Normally, I dry hop with whole ho...

Another thing to keep in mind is that the enzymes are denaturing during the conversion, and denature faster at higher temps. So, depending on how hot the mash got, you could have destroyed the bulk of the enzymes before the conversion was complete. When you're starting the mash, make sure you have a...

158 is a bit high, you might want to shoot for the 152-154 range. I'd also do an iodine test the next time you brew.

Todd

Are you doing an iodine test at the end of your mash? That will tell you if there are unconverted starches at the end of the mash. What temperature are you mashing at?

Todd

Unless you leave it in the secondary for an extended period of time, you'll have plenty of yeast still in suspension to carbonate.

Todd

During the primary fermentation, CO2 bubbles with "scrub" out many flavors such as fruit and honey, which is why they are often added to the secondary. Wait until the primary fermentation is complete, rack to the secondary and add the honey. You will get a secondary fermentation when you a...

The patent should be challenged. The mineral they're adding have been used in brewing for centuries. They've clearly done some research on different concentrations of these minerals in low alcohol beers and how it effects flavor, but nothing original enough to be worthy of a patent. At least let's h...

There can be a problem with a 24 hour lag between mashing and boiling. If there are any bugs in the mash runoff, they'll have the better part of the day to start producing things like lactic and acetic acid...which boiling after the fact won't fix. I would have at least boiled it long enough to sani...

Honestly, this sounds like a really bad idea. In my opinion, the kool-aid flavors don't taste much like what they claim to be, plus as mentioned above, there are other things like preservatives that you probably don't want in your beer. Why not add orange zest or bitter orange peel instead?

Todd

1) When boiling, you create a lot of "hot break". It's normal. The best way to avoid clogging up your strainer is the whirlpool the kettle for a few minutes and let the break settle out to a cone in the center of the pot. Then siphon from the edge of the pot in to the carboy. 2) When start...

No need to build something like this, insulated beer line with internal cooling loops are the norm in the beer industry, which you can find in the yellow pages or googling a bit. I wouldn't run the cooling lines through the freezer unless you're pouring a warm keg that's going to be emptied in a hur...

A lot of factors will determine how the finished beer will turn out; what type of yeast was used, fermentation temperature, duration and intensity of the boil, sanitation, water chemistry, how fresh the hops were, etc., etc., etc. Based on ingredients alone, probably a mildly hoppy amber ale...nothi...