/diy/ - Do It Yourself

bump

when it starts to look pretty clarified, 8 days is probably fine but i like to do 2 weeks to a month primary for mead and another 2 weeks to a month secondary

>>1250505
Thanks. I will probably switch tomorrow

Did others enjoy the taste of the first thing you homebrewed /diy/? What did you learn from that experience?

>>1250620
Live beer never goes flat. Neither does your gut. It was nice having 16% ABV, that way I could have one beer and be done. The next time I popped the swing top I had a bubbling brew ready to go. The farts can be a bit unsettling, but life's a gas.

>>1250603
I decide to do it today

There is less fluid than I expected (I probably didn't squeeze grapes enough)

Pic, it is 6l bottle

>>1250650
yikes, not the best choice of container, tall form would have probably been better, and i like to avoid having that much headroom, not sure how much that matters though. how do you transfer? mouth siphon?

only 1 more month until i bottle up my lambic, brewed this baby new years day. plan is to do one every year and start a vertical

>>1250657
>mouth siphon
Nope. I used funnel.
> tall form would have probably been better

I could do it tomorrow..

>>1250658
GJ.

I will probably do one bash of wine every year as well

>>1250659
i know with beer you don't really want to introduce oxygen except for right after pitching the yeast. so with wine/mead i follow the same practice

>>1250662
that looks nice

>you don't really want to introduce oxygen

That is true for the wine too. But it was before starting the secondary that is actually anaerobic fermentation so i guess that it is ok...

>>1250658
>lambic
Aren't you supposed to age this in barrels or with wood blocks?

>>1250660
I've been busy this year, my fermentation creations so far this year
>lambic
>oak aged farmhouse saision
>raspberry hibiscus sour
>peach mead
>dry hopped mead
>first lager, came out pretty good
>skeeter pee
>kombucha
>tepache
>kimchi
>imperial stout
>and about 3 different IPAs

been running out of steam lately though, haven't felt very inspired

>>1250665
not entirely necessary, but it is very traditional to age the bottles, that's why i want to do a vertical, the next one might get oak.

also sorry for the sideways pictures, I'm on mobile

>>1250624
>The next time I popped the swing top I had a bubbling brew ready to go
If you hit the FG target and have no infection, the beer will go flat.

>>1250708
I added a ton of sweets and never boiled my yeast. It came out tasty and I never got sick. I've got 2 gallons bubbling right now of a different batch.

What styles are easiest to not mess up? Pale ale and wheat went over pretty well so far, wondering if there are styles I should hold off on.

>>1250743
>never boiled my yeast
boiling yeast will kill it

>>1250811
IPA, as you can hide off flavors behind hops

>>1250743
Also, infected beer wont make you sick. Lambic is infected beer.

>>1250657
> tall form would have probably been better, and i like to avoid having that much headroom

Could somebody explain to me why is this important?

>>1250893

That's why majority of IPAs are fucking whack in terms of taste.


Anyway, what's a good beer to start brewing with a mini-BIAB method

>>1250942
IPA is whack because you use ridiculous amounts of hops. Other ingredients are available.

What are some recommendations for larger scale homebrewing equipment. I recently got a mini Ss brew bucket. It's nice to work with so far, but it's only 3 gallons.

I also know "it depends" but what size could you move up to realistically for a garage or basement? 15 gallon? 20 gallon? 50 gallon?

>>1250893
I had considered trying this, since I've done a pale ale, should be similar.

How long would 5 gal of Hard Cider take

>>1250971
if pure capacity is what you're after, you are better off going with multiple setups than one big one. reason is you can have a bunch going at the same time to cut down on brewing time and its also difficult to manage those volumes on your own which requires pumps and ladders and such. just do a bunch of 5-10gal setups

>>1250891
That's what I am saying. I loaded it with sugars and never boiled the yeast to death after fermentation. I waited for the bubbles to visibly stop, racked into swing tops, then enjoyed. Every time I popped a bottle open, even after drinking some, it was carbonated.

I used IPA ingredients, but after I altered the recipe it tasted like a wee heavy. I loved it.

Currently I've got some rumbullion fermenting and the bubbles just wont stop. I added a gram of yeast per gallon. It had a moderate "boil" of CO2 then has died back.

I also fermented a blended pineapple and stuck the liquid in the fridge for a year because I was working so much I basically forgot about it. I took it out to let it ferment under an air lock and it fizzed, but didn't pick back up after the CO2 was released. I wanted to add more yeast to it but I was out. I scraped maybe 5 grains of champagne yeast out of the packet and tossed em in.. Got some fermentation the next day and it was about as much as the other bottles i described. A day after and it looked like a roaring boil. When I finished it the sugars were dry and not a bubble was left. I mention all this because with such little yeast it sped off like a rocket, but with the other bottles with more yeast it has been Jeb Bushing for at least a month.. Did a 50/50 mix of water and molasses plus the sediment from a similar brew I had done maybe a year before. Yeah, the sediment didnt taste great but it had no signs of mold etc. Pretty sure I fermented grapefruits that time. It came out amazing by the way.

For

I'm annoyed lads. My first brewing kit is very basic, which seemed appropriate.

But it's becoming clear that the lid on this cheapshit plastic fermenter does not seal properly. So the airlock never bubbles, and the brew gets funky.

Any way to fix this short of ditching it altogether and purchasing something more expensive?

DESU I'm also thinking that fermenting in plastic is probably gonna leach lots of titty-growing estrogen mimics into the beer, so probably best with metal anyway...

>>1250743
>>1251417
Approximately half of what you say makes sense.
Is English your first language?

>>1251426
>purchasing something more expensive?
food safe buckets can be found at hardware stores

drill a hole in the lid and insert airlock

>>1251426
I wouldnt worry about the lid not sealing tight, I just use cling wrap over the top of mine.

Hey guys, I'm kinda new here but I've been brewing for a while now. I was wondering if anyone has tried half honey half malt as a Mead style drink? Or even full malt.

>>1251460
Yep, that hybrid style is called "braggot".
Check out the last thread, there were a few posts about recipes for braggot and past experiences making it.

>>1251465
Cool, thanks. I'll look into that.

Op's update:

I moved it to another bowl, (1.5l) and make different airlock (with pipe). I had about 200ml more so I decided to try it and it taste surprisingly good (if I ignore high co2 level and a bit of yeast taste that reminds me of russian kvas). I will take picture tomorrow and make a thread on /ck/ because it is more active there.. (I guess more wine fags or something)

Also, is it a problem that start of tube (red circle) is in the liquid?

>>1251557
as the left bottle gets more and more pressurized, it will press the liquid into the right bottle
not a very good idea

>>1251582
Damn I am so stupid.. I intuitively felt something is bad about it so I asked but still... it is basic psychic...

>>1251557
Yes, it's a problem. Now the pressure will push your brew to the airlock, not the co2. You'll end up with wasted brew and probably an infection as the airlock will get sugars from the brew and contaminate, and the brew can then contaminate from the airlock.
Airlock should not touch your brew, and ideally it would not touch the foam either.

>>1251677
ty. i fixed it : >>1251626

>>1250942
certain varieties just don't click for some people. got an example of a whack ipa?

>>1250971
get used kegs, can bang out 5-10 gal batches, but then you probably have to upgrade burner and chiller and might need more fermenters

>>1251427
i was thinking linguistics seem somewhere between uneducated noob, and bullshit artist. i guess non english would be less cynical

>>1250942
My IPA came out fine. I also boosted the sugars and it finished with an ABV of 16%. I forget what hops I used, if I can find out I'll post.

>>1251870
>ABV of 16%
How long does this take? I imagine the yeast slows down quite a bit as percentage goes up.

>>1251455
>>1251433

Ta both. I super screwed the plastic lid down to the point I probably won't be able to get it back off, and now the airlock is bubbling.

>>1250426
You're overthinking this. I make applejack all the time, and this is my procedure:

1) Go to McDonald's and ask them for a couple of pickle buckets they're throwing out.

2) Rinse bucket.

3) Ask supermarket for old, bruised apples they're throwing away.

4) Toss apples in bucket, use end of wooden bat to smash them up. Throw in a couple of pounds of sugar and a packet of champagne yeast.

5) Fill bucket with warm water.

6) Use x-acto blade to cut hole in lid, use duct tape to hold airlock in place. Put lid onto bucket.

7) Wait a month.

8) Siphon liquid into 2 litre pop bottles, add a teaspoon of sugar, screw lid on, leave on a shelf for a week, then put in fridge.

9) Drink as required.

Tastes great, no careful measuring or disinfecting or chemicals or stabilizing required.

>>1251920
>ta
fellow northerner detected, whereabouts you based?

>>1251946
Tha got me bang to reets.

Yorkshire man in New Zealand.

>>1251948
Bradford lad me sen. I need to get out this shithole eventually.

>>1251943
Well that is one way to do it. If you are into that kind of wine. I want grape. And yes, maybe I am but this is nice little hobby now and I want to learn.

>>1251946
>>1251948
>>1251950
Damn you kiwis. I am so jealous. I am planing to move to Wellington after my masters degree.

How hard is to grow grapes in NZ?

>>1251952
I'm not a kiwi, northerner means north England.

>>1251955
I though you meant Northern island

>>1251943
>Toss apples in bucket, use end of wooden bat to smash them up. Throw in a couple of pounds of sugar and a packet of champagne yeast.
If you ferment the entire apple instead of just its juice, you're getting a huge amount of pectin, which ferments into methanol.

>>1251952
>How hard is to grow grapes in NZ?

There several regions almost dedicated to it (Marlborough, hawkes bay) but they grow almost anywhere. Hops, too.

I'm Wellington based, pretty great here.

Should I be worried if my 5 gal of cider doesn't start showing signs of fermenting after a day?

2 days?

What could I do to save it?

The only thing I can think of was I used 110F water to start the yeast instead of 100 as the packet said, because my kettle heated up too fast.

>>1252105
make sure it's not too cool, put in a warm location


that wasn't hot enough to kill it....

>>1252121
So here's the thing, I have another 1 gal of the same stuff except instead of 1 cup of sugar per gallon I used 1 cup of brown sugar per gallon and its started fermenting already, literally right next to the 5 gal.

>>1252125
smaller container would almost certainly go faster

wait longer

>>1252006
Ethanol counteracts the effects if methanol; it's why hospitals treat methanol poisoning with ethanol. Methanol occurs naturally in fruit, and is harmless because of the ethanol which is also present. You're also getting all the heads and tails, fusal alcohols which would be deadly in high enough concentrations but, like methanol, harmless in the concentrations and combinations of applejack without freeze distillation.

>>1252125
>>1252134
I figured it out I'm retarded.

I drilled a hole into the top of a lid for the container I'm using and I thought it was tight enough.

Fixed it, it was fermenting.

I could hear it.

>>1252176
>applejack without freeze distillation.
Applejack is fine

How can I make the highest proof alcohol at home without distilling?

>>1252359
Champagne yeast. That can get you up to about 22% ABV. You can also use freeze distillation if you're not going to be drinking large quantities or not worried about the risk of going blind or dying.

>>1252360
Which yeast brand would you suggest?

>>1252361
I just use whatever champagne yeast the local wine DIY is selling, but lots of different companies boast that they sell the most alcohol-resistant yeast in the world. Some claim that you can get as high as 40% ABV. Whether or not they're credible is up to you, and to get anywhere close to that you'd need to continually add sugar over the fermentation -- and the flavour is going to be yeasty as fuck.

>>1252060
Cool. Who knows, maybe one day we will meet on some wine fair..

>>1252360
>drinking large quantities or not worried about the risk of going blind or dying.

Applejack and freeze distillation is not dangerous. You drink the exact same amount of both good and bad alcohol as when you drink it non freezedistilled. If you get plastered on applejack you are in no more danger than getting plastered on cider. Also as the anon above pointed out ethanol is quite literally given as an antidote to methanol poisoning.

The true danger comes from improper traditional distillation because it is possible to have a drink that is entirely or almost entirely methanol.

>>1252359
Applejack isn't necessarily distilling in the traditional sense but its good.

>>1252176
>Methanol occurs naturally in fruit
It also occurs in your digestive tract. There are a few sources of common exposure, and none of them are good. See: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9267548
>After the consumption of fruit, the concentration of methanol in the human body increases by as much as an order of magnitude. This is due to the degradation of natural pectin (which is esterified with methyl alcohol) in the human colon
>This dietary pectin may contribute to the development of nonalcoholic cirrhosis of the liver
Methanol is not harmless, far from it. There are many more such studies of varying significance.
>and is harmless
I don't think this is exactly true. Ethanol itself isn't harmless, so how could a far more toxic compound be less harmful? See above.

So none of what you wrote changes the fact that pressing apple pulp to produce juice will reduce pectin and thus methanol content vs fermenting the entire crushed apple. Why wouldn't you take measures to do so?
>>1252571
>ethanol is quite literally given as an antidote to methanol poisoning
No, it isn't. It's given as a treatment. Ethanol doesn't act as an antidote, it simply competes for the same pathways and reduces the amount of methanol metabolized. If you've ingested too much methanol, you're going to die, no matter the amount of ethanol in your system. Endogenous methanol is linked to health issues, so exogenous methanol, going by logic, must contribute even more negatively.

>>1252713
You're one of those fanatic anti-smokers who sits down next to me on a bench when I'm smoking my pipe and then coughs at me, aren't you?

>>1252607
Can you do that with a regular freezer?

>>1252797
Yes. In fact, you want something that's not overly cold, since you want it to freeze slowly. The way they used to do it is they'd bury a whole barrel of cider in the fall and, over the winter, the cider would partially freeze and partially thaw over and over again, and each time the water portion which froze would get purer and purer. Then in the spring they'd dig the barrel up and pull out the chunk of ice, which would be relatively pure water.

Just remember that you're also concentrating the fusal alcohols, impurities, and methanol. People used to go blind or occasionally die from freeze distillation all the time. Just don't drink a lot in one sitting and you should be fine.

>>1252799
Thanks man

>>1252716
It is common knowledge that methanol is very dangerous.

Here people make rakija (fruit brandy in Balkans style) and retarded old people sometimes drink first that come out of distillation tank. Those first few litters are usually used fro cleaning stuff, or similar, not for drinking. Because it is full of methanol and has very high level of ethanol. So these retarded old fucks sometimes drink a little bit of that because it is "best", and look at me I am so strong (retarded balkans people logic). Sometimes they end up blind, with fucked vision or dead so...

>>1252832
First, those people are drinking distillates. Second, they're using natural fermentation, which means they're getting a random assortment of bacteria and yeast, some of which eat pectin and poop methanol. Third, they're not using pure carbs for their mash, which means they're getting a whole bunch of different breakdown products.

The amount of methanol from non-distilled fermentation produced using pure fruit with commercial, food-grade yeast is minimal. Apples are top of the pops when it comes to the amount of methanol produced, but it's still well below allowable levels if you use properly disinfected containers and commercial yeast.

>>1252846
I was just saying, methanol is dangerous. Of course it is about concentration of substance and it goes for every other substance too. I don't know how much methanol is produced in that process so you are probably right.

>>1252850
For the amount of methanol in applejack, as long as you were careful about disinfecting your container and using commercial yeast only, you'd die of alcohol poisoning long before methanol ever became a problem.

But yes, in the old days they had something they called "apple palsey," which was next-day shaking, weakness, and agonizing headaches caused from getting drunk on applejack, and was caused by the combination of methanol, fusal alcohols, and acetone.

>>1252854
Most of it was caused by good old drinking way too much which causes the exact same shit. Add that to the fact that the unregulated nature of everything back then led to people buying spirits of all kinds cut with ridiculous shit that made you sick. Applejack was the cheapest drink in pubs so most likely often cut a lot.

On a seperate note in would like to point out the completely different flavor of freeze distillation. Unlike steam distillation which often relies on wood casks to impart flavor freeze distillation will concentrate the actual cider flavors too.

>>1252846
>The amount of methanol from non-distilled fermentation produced using pure fruit with commercial, food-grade yeast is minimal
Commercial red wine can have as much as 300mg/L of methanol. You'd still have to drink over 5 liters in a short period to have poisoning, but it's far from "minimal".
>non-distilled fermentation
As it happens to be, distilled spirits can have less methanol/liter, since many are distilled multiple times and most of it is caught. If you consider methanol as a percentage of ABV, it's even lower than non-distilled.

Sup lads. Got my latest invention in the fermenter yesterday. It's going to be a pumpkin spice beer just in time for Halloween hopefully.

I caramelised some sugar on top of some slices of pumpkin (only came to about a kilo or 2 of pumpkin, should've used more). Was an extract brew at 6 gallons.

Extract: Maris Otter (about 3kg I think) + some dark brown sugar added at start of boil to make up the missing pumpkin and raise the sugar contents a little
Speciality Grains: Light Munich, Munich and something else I can't remember the name of (was a substitution since my brew shop didn't have what I wanted).
Hops: Northern Brewer (Added at start of the boil)
Yeast: Mangrove Jacks Belgian Tripel M31

5 minutes before flameout I added 4 tsp of cinnamon, 1 tsp of ground ginger and 1tsp of nutmeg. At secondary I'm going to add a little vanilla. I'm hoping the yeast I used will help, given that I've read it adds spice tones (including a bit of clove, which I elected not to add during the boil). The recipe I was loosely following suggested english ale yeast but I figured this brew is weird enough, I may as well make it a little weirder. I'm also thinking that for bottle conditioning, I might use a small amount of treacle instead of my usual white sugar. Thoughts?

All in all, certainly the most interesting brew I've done so far. My past beers have generally been more traditional english ales and IPAs.

>>1253141
Interesting. Post results.

How can I assure my ales come out a little more "fizzy" or have more head retention? I use natural carbonation, my sugar content in bottling seems appropriate for volume. I minimize oxygen contact in the racking/bottling process. What else should I be doing?

>>1253141
>extract brew
pleb

>>1253271
http://brewwiki.com/index.php/Head_Retention

>>1253314
Don't know how I missed this resource. Very good, thanks.

So, I need to leave my place for a while, but I've still got a lot brewing.

Is there anything wrong with just letting it sit after its done fermenting and not racking immediately?

>>1253312
were that I had enough equipment and room to do full grain brewing. Alas I don't, yet. my brewing buddy is getting a new house soon and wants to do full grain brews so I guess we'll see.

>>1253721
Just busting balls, all grain is next level. If you have your sanitation and fermentation down pat, all grain will just make your beers taste so much better. Plus you have full control of the mash temp and its related effects, instead of hoping the extract maker did the job well.

I'm building these things our of oak.
What finish should I use?

Fellas, I've decided to finally to consider brewing, but I ain't got a foggy idea on where to start.
Where do I find resources? I managed to find a /diy/ ancient homebrewman guide archive that I'm gonna have a peek through, and I've watched some videos on Youtube.
Where do I get my first equipment pieces?

>>1253967
McDonald's. See >>1251943

How did people in ancient times stopped air to go in without airlock?

>>1254017
WTF? People have been making pottery for 30,000 years. You think you can't make a curved tube without plastic?

>>1254020
>You think you can't make a curved tube without plastic?

Ok, you got a point.

>>1254020
I though that they maybe had some other method. Do you have any picture of that? I cant find any

>>1254025
http://www.ancientegyptianfacts.com/ancient-egypt-beer.html

>>1254028
>http://www.ancientegyptianfacts.com/ancient-egypt-beer.html
ty

I almost never name my wines, ciders, meads, etc. but since my brochet (burnt honey mead) actually gave me two blisters, I feel I should give it a name. What do you suggest?

>>1254017
You don't need an airlock, only a tight-fitting seal or lid of sorts. This is especially true for primary, where the pressure is positive.

>>1254076
In secondary pressure isn't positive?

>>1254057
I was thinking that if I ever made enough I would give them names of ancient rulers (like Cesar, Alexandar the great, versigetorix...) so.. there...

>>1254083
So, Nero it is. :^)

>>1254086
kek

>>1254057
"It's Hard to Bee Mead"

>>1254148
>tfw need to start brewing mead so I can use mead puns

What rate of bubbles should I look for for a finished 1 gal of apple cider?

Completely 0?

I plan on brewing kombucha, and I want to have 750ml to drink by myself or to split with others, each day. It's five 750ml per gallon. I have one gallon jars and then the 750ml bottles.

What is the timeframe of the first fermentation?
And the second?

I need to formulate a schedule so I know when to brew and how much to ensure that I always have a daily 750ml. How can I do this? Is there a website with a spreadsheet calculator somewhere?

>>1254292
depends on taste

>>1254333
Don't care about taste, only care about Alchohol.

>>1254460
then just let it run till the bubbles pretty much stop

>>1254017
Beer was spontaneously fermented by wild yeast.

>>1254057
Fucknuckle

>>1254198
Do it. Mead is good shit.

alright so i'm VERY new at this
>put in the yeast
>immediately starts bubbling like a fucking nigger for at least 2 hours
>go check on it a few hours later
>foam is much thicker
>bubbling stopped
>inspect the flask (and shaking it a bit while doing so)
>starts bubbling again like a nigger in the hood
Is this somewhat normal or did i fuck up somewere? I was expecting a continuous and moderate release of C02 for at least 2-4 days straight
And it's an apple jews and some sugar mixture

My guess is it's just releasing some C02 that was disolved earlier. Also it's a bit cold atm (17°C), could that be an influence? The mixture was still slightly hot when i put the yeast in

>>1254939
Below 20c is quite cold for standard yeasts, so the initial bubbling would have been because it was warmer.

Leave it alone, check in a few weeks.

>>1254951
>get into brewing
>with winter at the front door
I heard the reaction is exothermic so i've wrapped it in some blankets. I don't think it will be a significant improvement but at least it's worth a try. It's been active again for at least half an hour so i don't think it was purely due to CO2 release that it has been bubbling again

>>1254963
Patience is key here. Don't worry about it, and if you need something to do, buy another bucket.

>>1254951
>Below 20c is quite cold for standard yeasts
Not really, depends on what yu want out of them.

US05 ferments nice and clean at 18c and throwns a slight hint of esters at 20c

>>1252832
Applejack isn't going to do that.

I'm making Cider for the first time.
I'm on day 6 of fermentation.

On day 3, the S.G. was at 1.063, I wanted to measure every other day so I checked back in on day 5 and to my astonishment, the S.G. had dropped to 1.033. Today I measured again and it is now at 1.023.

What causes this rapid drop in SG? Did I add too much Vitamin B1, is the yeast very aggressive, is it due to rather high amounts of sugar in the juice, is the temperature too high?
Or does this mean something has gone terribly wrong with my cider?

How can I "fix" this if I have to?
And if I don't, should I still do the first racking at an SG of 1.005 as intended or should I leave it in there longer?

thanks for your help

>>1255601
>what causes this rapid drop in S.G.?
Fermentation.
This sounds like a pretty normal ferment to me. Have you never brewed before/only done notoriously slow starting and badly fermenting meads?

>>1255620
>only done notoriously slow starting and badly fermenting
I've made apple wine and meand before and the s.g. drop was about 3-5 points a day, 10 was the highest I've ever seen in a day.
Also when reading up on cider I found this " (a fall of one degree S.G. per day is pretty reasonable)" http://www.cider.org.uk/part3.htm

So it's fine that fermentation is happening this quickly?

>>1255626
read the link, I have no idea why it quotes the figure of one degree per day (especially since gravity isn't measured in degrees) and seems to even contradict itself in the text as later it says that cider shouldn't be left on its lees in primary for more than a few weeks.

Apple wine, mead, and even grape wine all ferment very slowly because the high sugar concentrations put a huge amount of stress on the yeast. When making a normal cider 5-8% you should be expecting a primary ferment of maybe three weeks. That time drops even more for weak cider and session beer. A small beer can be finished primary fermenting and in secondary by 4 days.

>>1255630
I see, thank you very much anon, that was reassuring.

Making some red wine from grapes.
After primary fermentation, I started secondary fermentation in direct sunlight, in a clear glass bottle, for 4 days.

Have I ruined my wine?

KOMBUCHA QUESTION

Hey guyz, just started my first kombucha brewing with a friend. Our scoby is from a commercial drink. I was wondering, his the fermentation supposed to be in an anaerobic system? I've put an airlock. And me and my friend have posted a picture of us on facebook, and some guy told us that it has to be oxygenated. But if 1/4 of our 24L carboy is empty (so with oxygen), is it ok to let it ferment with an airlock?

Has anyone done it with an Airlock or without? What are your tought?

>>1254939
turns out the airlock had lost its seal. three days later and it's still going strong

Did my first BIAB today where I was hoping to make a mosiac SMaSH APA.

I was aiming for an OG of 1051 but ended up with 1040. I was fairly limited in knowing what to do and whether some things were right. i.e. I didn't have a grain mill and had to crush it all by hand. So some pieces could have been stuffed up. I think I made a vital mistake with the gravity by sparging the brew bag after removing it from the wort that was going to be boiled.

Other than that, the rest of the day had gone alright.

>>1250658
Serious lacto infection going on here

>>1253894
The extract makers are always doing a better job than you can at home. Main issue is extracts lack protein (body and head retention) and enzymes (yeast need them to metabolize maltiose)

And it's easier.. ie pleb tier

>>1254017
>>1254020

They did open fermentation and had no clue about infection or sanitation until Louie Pasteur.

>>1256305
It's fine without.

I usually use a sanitized coffee filter rubber banded on the jar. Your scoby will over take the mixture in a short week and is already full of acetic acid bacteria so it's really not a big deal if its open to the air

>>1250928
less exposed surface area for bad things to grow on

How hard would it be to make good rum? I haven't really experimented with rum kind of brews so i figured i could give it a shot. What would it taste like if i didn't distill it? And would freeze distillation be an option if i used less molasses?

>>1252361
Another tip, if you want alcohol fast simply use the Russian turbo yeast it makes 15% in two days and as long as you rack it right whenthe bubbling is almost stopped then rack it again right after its fully settled it actually doesn't impart that much of a yeasty flavor at all

>>1253590
Depending on how long you leave it it will impart a yeasty taste, better yeasts will do it less and take longer, but at any rate it will eventually make it taste a bit weird

Would a needle sized hole with some tape on it be an ok airlock alternative?

>>1253941
No finish, it'll block the alcohol from interacting with the delicious flavors in the oak.

>>1254311
If you make Kombucha, save the outer layer, you can do cool stuff with it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ds8ZFzOwGeI&t=2s

>>1257382
Thx

>>1257363
>Main issue is extracts lack protein (body and head retention) and enzymes (yeast need them to metabolize maltiose)
Where did you get this info from?

hmmm took a gravity sample today (day 3) and got a reading of 1020 when my OG was 1040. If I am using us-05, should I be worried or just let it do it's thing and check in a weeks time?

>>1259068
What is to be worried about?

>>1259087

isn't a gravity of 1020 meant to be the stuck gravity?

>>1259068
That's probably fine at day 3, it will ferment more. Getting a stuck fermentation from a 1040 wort would be impressive. Check it next week.

Alternatively, maybe it's done and you just have a lot of unfermentables in there, would depend on what your recipe was.

>>1259111
after a 10days Id be worried, whats it at now?

>>1259981
>Day 5:
It's still at 1020. My current thoughts are that there are a lot of unfermentables in there from when I did the mashing. Because I had put in the grains at too high of a temperature and I had expected a temperature drop from that, but that didn't occur. I think that is from the ratio of water to grains being something like 5:1.

That is what I had read from Palmer, but then again, I am doing a small scale BIAB batch, rather than whatever he said about all grain.

Other than that, If that's the mistake, I'm not too fussed with it. I will just treat it as a learning process for next time.

OP here

It seems to stopped fermenting. Very little foam and no bubbles. Probably because of temperature drop.

What do?

Should I bottle it?
Why is not a bit clearer? (it has the same color)

Sorry for taking your thread OP but I need a name for my newest batch of mead. It's a banana cinnamon mead and it needs a name.

>>1260159
I'll be switching it to a glass carboy in a about 2 months.

>>1260159
np. Just bump it. /diy/ is so slooow.

>>1260066
Never done BIAB, but it is all grain, the only process that i think would be any different than usual is sparging.

What was your grain bill, how much water did you mash with, and what temperature did you bring the grains up to?

I give all my beers at least 2 weeks before I assume they are done fermenting. I mean it's probably done a lot sooner but in my experience it'll finish up really slowly after the first push, and you have to let it sit to clear anyway.

>>1260120
is this what it looks like? >>1250650
I've never made wine from grapes but my guess is it might be cloudy with pectin if you didn't add any pectic enzyme when pressing the grapes. If that's the reason, it might be too late for the pectic haze - apparently you could add pectic enzyme after fermentation but it might take a while to work?
I think the typical process for clearing a wine is to siphon it to another container and then add a fining agent ( https://winemakermag.com/26-a-clearer-understanding-of-fining-agents ) and wait for all the crap to drop to the bottom before bottling. Not sure if that is worth it for you since the batch size is so small and you will lose some volume every time you siphon. I guess you could just bottle it and leave it in the bottles for a long time, then the sediment may drop to the bottom and you can just pour it off the top when you drink it.

>>1260159
Sweet 'Nanna Goat

>>1260234
>is this what it looks like?

Yes.

I will check what you wrote about pectin and siphon.
Ty for answer.

I'm new here, but I've been experimenting with fermenting for a little while.
I tried making a gallon batch of ginger beer with a pound of sugar and half a pound of brown sugar with a double pitch of Irish dry and ale yeast(because they were old and in my fridge). It's been about two weeks and this stuff is still fermenting. I think at this point it's going to be a ginger wine because on hind sight I added way too much sugar. How much longer should I let this stuff sit until the sweetness is at a palatable level??

>>1260251
Maybe fermentation is slow if the yeast was old so there was fewer viable cells?
Anyway I think a fermentation of pure sugar will pretty much always dry itself out all the way unless you stop it somehow. Beer yeast has the average attenuation reported on it (like 75%), but that is assuming it's the average beer wort, unfermentable sugars and all. A pure sugar wort will ferment nearly 100% with any yeast afaik.

You could either taste it and stop it (with whatever means you were planning on) when it's good, or you could let it ferment dry, then stop it and backsweeten. 1.5lb of sugar in a gallon of water would ferment dry to like 8% ABV-ish i think. Either way if you want to carbonate it, you'd have to either force-carbonate or do something risky/weird like putting it in a plastic bottle, putting it in the fridge, and praying it reaches the right pressure.

>>1260267
Thanks for the info. I don't have the equipment to force carb so I may just leave it ferment dry and drink it as a wine or cook with it

Ok I'm fucking spooked.

I had this Hard Cider from a week ago, and I was really careful when putting it into bottles, so I thought I didn't get sediment into it.

I opened it up and there was sediment all over, it looked really fucking weird.

I had some the day I bottled it and I'm not dead.

Whats going on how do I fix this?

I just got another batch done today and bottled it and then noticed this, is there anything I can do?

>>1250971

>>1251789 this

you can get 10 gallon kegs for cheap, sometimes people will give you them for free if you tell them what you're doing and they want to help you. just make sure they're stainless steel. look up youtube videos how to pop the tap off, I live in UK and the kegs here I just used a big flat head screwdriver and a hammer to pry apart the top unless you know someone with the proper tool to remove it.

I got 6 or 7 kegs, they were just outside of a pub that had closed down, they were there fore months and just sitting there in the rain, so I took them and put them in the van I was using for work and took them home. turned 1 into an electric still. cut one in half and turned it into a kiln. still have a couple left and I have thought about brewing in them, the only difficulty is you can't see whats going on inside very well, but they would be perfect, just get the right size cork for the top, drill a hole for an airlock and seal around the airlock with vaseline to make a nice seal.

>>1260272
Unless you filter it with 0.5 micron, it will always have yeast in it.

>>1260272

Use one of pic related. it's a home water filter, they are relatively cheap, it takes different sized filters, so you can filter at different microns depending on your desired result, the smaller you go the more colour you can lose, especially with red wines.

You want to make sure your wine or beer is as clear as you can get it before you run it through one of these filters, this is the final stage if you like, you should use fining and/or crash cooling to drop as much sediment as possible otherwise the filters are so small they will clog super quick. you can back flush the filters to clean them or take them out completely and wash them under the faucet which should give you multiple uses.

you may also need a pump of some sort to pull the wine through the filter, there are some youtube videos with different methods, some using vacuum pumps, siphoning and using gravity isn't going to be strong enough I don't believe.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=diy+water+wine+filter

>>1260365
also. if you are bottle conditioning you are always going to have sediment, because a small amount of yeast is still alive in your bottled brew which is required to ferment the small amount of sugar you add to the bottle to create carbonation, there is no getting around this, the only other way is to purchase a corny keg and a bottle of co2, carbonate it in the keg then when it's sufficiently carbonated, bottle it, this removes the need of keeping the yeast alive, so you can kill all of the yeast, add finings, filter it to get rid of every bit of floating sediment, add it to the keg and force carbonate, leaving you with a crystal clear carbonated brew.

>>1260271
oh or you could also backsweeten with something unfermentable (like lactose or an artificial sweetener like Splenda/Xylitol) and then you could still keep the yeast active and bottle carbonate. IDK how well that tastes in a ginger beer, but it's an option.

Does anyone have a particular starter kit that they recommend? I'm about to pull the trigger on this Northern Brewer kit for ~$100 because I'm sick of my liquor store only stocking IPAs from shitty local breweries.

>>1260393
That sounds alright. The only other thing you need to buy is 48 shitty IPAs from your liquor store to drink so you can wash out the empties. Don't buy beers with screwoff caps, and rinse them out as soon as you've poured them. Once you've done a couple batches you'll probably want an autosiphon (because a regular siphon is annoying), starsan, and a hydrometer w/ wine thief.

>>1260234

Grain bill was 2kg of pale malt to 10 liters of water (that is what the guy at the home brew store said to go with). Mash temperature was at around 66 degrees celsiuis and went up to mid 70's by accident.

I'm gonna wait it out and see what happens, I will still drink them just to see how the hops evolve over time and then give it another shot.

>>1260460
>went up to mid 70'
Yeah, you dun goofed and denatured the enzymes. It has a ton of unfermentables in it.

It's still beer, drink it and use it as a lesson on keeping an eye on mash temps.

>>1260588

yeah definitely still a beer. I'm more surprised that I managed to get the whole thing to actually do some fermentation at the end as it was my first time with BIAB and third time actually making something.

>>1258013
thanks now i have to think of
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89cMeaiJlPc

sup lads. >>1253141 here. Last couple of days have been fun. 2 days ago, added the vanilla extract to our pumpkin beer (leaving the yeast cake to settle overnight). Taste straight out of the fermenter was good - had a subtle note of the spices, nothing too overwhelming. My other half says it's one of the best pumpkin beers she's had (I've never had one).

Bottled yesterday, and started steeping the ginger for our alcoholic ginger beer, which we're brewing from a plant. Only brewing 3 litres but its a simple and fun brew to do and I figure the champagne yeast will let it have a bit of kick rather than being a typical 4-6% deal.

Most of the stuff for our pot still has arrived so in the next few days I'll be constructing that. Then we all get to go blind, hooray.

Oh also the next beer will be a Gose, since we're going Leipzig in a couple months I figure it feels appropriate.

How are your brews going, homebrewmen?

I want to build a small fermentation cabinet.

Do you think that heat lamps are good for the job?
Better the red infrered lamps or the ceramic lamps?
I heard that some wavelenghts are bad for beer so I'm more inclined towards the red lamps.

I'm also thinking to put the probe inside of the carboy, attached to the cork cap.

Any suggestions?

>>1260652
infrared*
wavelength*

>>1260652
noob here

but as i remember IC and UV are used in some labs to sterilize rooms. So, it kills microbes. And i guess if you use it thru glass you wold kill yeast. So, I guess that you would need some kind of barrier...

>>1260661
uhm, it seems that IR kills yeast at high energies but I doubt that's the case
maybe I could use green or brown carboys to be safer

Im leaving soon for about a month and would like to primary and apple cyser mead. My plan is to use 2 gallons of cider and 3 gallons of spring water. Ive seen two forms of thought based om this recipe. That i use 1 gallom of honey for the mead or i use 1/2 gallon for the mead. What do you guya think? I plan on adding honeycrisp apples whem i get back after racking to a secondary fermentor. Using ec-1118

>>1260666
dunno. just check that somewhere before you do it.

OP here

This is not truth: >>1260120
I just check it with very strong light and noticed little bubbles so no worries!

>>1260234
Thx for answer anyway

Here are pics but I think that you will not see it anyway.. But I took it so.. here..

>>1250658
that is a BEAUTIFUL pedicle

>>1260645
>Complete 30 Day Colon Cleanse in 2 Hours or Less
ouch

>>1260652
use a plant heat mat or just regular bulbs, it shouldn't need to be super warm

>>1260652
Fuck that. For the heat you need, get some heat cable used for reptile houses. I bought one of these and hooked it up to an Arduino (then connected to a raspberry pi running brewpi). For a simpler solution you can just connect to a thermostat, which you'd have to do with a lamp anyway.

>>1260790
>>1260652
Sorry forgot link
https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/252100131280

>>1260790
yes i plan to use them with this popular thermostat
as for the heat cable, thanks for the link, but i read somewhere that glass doesn't really like that kind of stuff, did you try that on glass?
>>1260788
these bulbs are more specific and i found some for 5 euros each, i don't think it's a problem
pads probably cost more and my autism makes me believe that bulbs provide a more uniform heating
thanks btw

>>1260819
>bulbs provide a more uniform heating

as long as it's a closed space, I think it would even out regardless of method

>>1260819
>that glass doesn't really like that kind of stuff
you could wrap a towel or padding around it

>>1260819
using lightbulbs to heat a box is dumb as fuck. reptile heating pads are made to heat glass.

>>1260829
what if the yeast accumulated in the bottom gets too hot before the heat reaches the top, where the sensor located (attached to the carboy cap)?
yes, heat goes towards the top, but idk how yeast conducts heat compared to water.
>>1260825
>as long as it's a closed space, I think it would even out regardless of method
i agree, my only doubt is about that

>>1260841
where the sensor is located*

>>1260841
heat from the side

>>1260819
Make sure you buy a real STC1000 and then upgrade it so it can do programmed temp control for fermentation. I use it for when I brew belgians to ramp up the temps in a controlled manner.

https://github.com/matsstaff/stc1000p

Bottled more blueberry wine today, got 12 bottles out and had to rerack the rest because I was starting to pick up sediment. Thinking about starting a run of apple if I have free time this next weekend.

>>1251894
I honestly forgot about it.

1-2 months. I have some molasses that finished up on the pot right now. It only hit 15.75% if my math is correct. I was hoping for something closer to 20% :(

Now I have a question. Hypothetical of course.....

When you ferment your brew yeast eats all the sugar until
>it's gone.jpg
>too much alcohol and the yeast cannot survive

What would happen if say you distilled the alcohol out, let the nonalcoholic "mixture" cool down and then readd yeast and or sugar?

What would be the pros and cons of a perpetual brew?

Using math you could figure out how much more sugar would be needed to reach a given percentage.

I figure by recycling the brew you'd be able to feed the yeast of the next batch and so on.

>>1252176
Not AppleJackoff but thanks for the heads up. I have a juicer that I can utilize with the info I got from you and him.

>get free shit to make apple cider
>use wedding gift to make it right and not die before my time.

>>1252359
just buy a small still and don't tell anyone about it. Fuck dicking around with methanol. If you're really worried then buy the fucking tax stamp or whatever. It's like $67 round these parts.

>>1253312
I'm a fucking noob and I feel the same.
>open a can of goop
>water it down
>carbonate

WEW I MADE BIER!

I don't have a ton of space either, but I still make myt shit from scratch. I buy the cheapy wine in the gallon to use them as carbouys. It's literally cheaper than buying an empty. I brew up in a 2 gallon pot and that's that. eventually I plan on growing my own hopps and cutting out that middle man.

>>1260994
>that neon pink
Looks a litter artificial for some reason, not what I'd expect from blueberries.
But why the worry about sediment? In the case of yeast, isn't it just extra protein? And in the case of suspended, say, fruit particles, doesn't that just contribute to the flavor? I don't get why everyone worries about clearing up.

>>1261283
I had a bottle with sediment in my last batch, and i didnt like the flavor. The yeast and some remaining blueberry bits got stirred up when racking and bottling so i used the light behind the bottles to check for cloudy wine. When i hit that, i racked into the smaller carboys there to let it settle again.

>>1257384
>>1252359

Seriously, there is no reason to not distill properly. If you can brew coffee, you can distill alcohol.

Don't waste money on wacky ceramic boiling aids or bullshit flavoring agents.

Cut your heads hearts and tails, drink the hearts, save the others.

Use copper pennies for boiling aids to cut sulfur flavors. Use an ultrasonic cleaner to shine them up when you're done. If you need to cheat you can use a little vinegar in the mix.

for flavoring you can use wood.

Using this http://flyt.it/1P0QZY and some intuition you can make a rum in days that tastes better than the shit you'd buy in the stores. From boil to bottle I'd give it 1-2 months. If you have multiple bottles fermenting you can have rum year round.

>>1260272
If you're that scared of yeast you can pasteurize it and use CO2.

I leave my shit live and yeah, it makes you fart uncontrollably if you have too much, but isn't that a cost you'd be willing to pay for beer that never goes flat?

>>1260393
I got started with this kit
http://flyt.it/03DJOY

It's $30 so it can be a bit pricey, but I made a great beer with it. I used the IPA kit and boosted the sugars and hit over 15% ABV. it was fucking fantastic.

>>1260652
Just use a fucking seed heat mat and when you're not brewing you can sprout some dank ass herbs.

>>1260731
nigga, those arent bubbles, those are fingerprints...

>>1261299
i ain't touchin that stinky linky

>carbonate cider by priming with sugar before bottling
>barely any carbonation after two weeks
>next time, add a little more than recommended
>still a bit fizzy

Is this normal for natural carbonation? I don't expect it to be super fizzy like forced carbonation, but I was a bit underwhelmed. I'm thinking about making beer and I'm afraid I'll end up with the same result.

>>1261316
>http://flyt.it/03DJOY
I've never had an issue with natural carbonation, but then again my beers were sweet enough to not need additional sugar.

How much apple juice should i use for a 5 gallon apple cyser?

i read that batch sparging can be bad because of oxidation due to air, but what if you refill the container with water before the grains are exposed to air?

>>1261316
No, that's not normal, you should be able to get it just as fizzy as forced carbonation. It's the same mechanism either way, CO2 + pressure, and you could make enough pressure to make the bottle explode, so getting enough pressure isn't a problem.

It's been a while since I bottle carbonated but I think it usually takes 3-4 weeks to reach max carbonation, the CO2 takes a while to absorb into the liquid especially at warmer temps. Maybe whatever your reading is giving you the wrong amount of sugar, you should be able to use something like this to find how much sugar you need to reach the desired carbonation:
https://www.northernbrewer.com/priming-sugar-calculator/

>>1261293
>easy

Look at all these fucking hoops I would have to jump though.

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/dleg/Small_Distiller-requirements_247345_7.pdf

>>1261375
Hot side aeration is nothing to worry about.

>>1254482
Cringe

>>1261270
This is an interesting question

>>1261476
>http://www.michigan.gov/documents/dleg/Small_Distiller-requirements_247345_7.pdf
check if there is a non commercial license. I believe my state has one for selling alcohol and one for home use. You could also look into the license for making fuel alcohol. Or you could just buy a fucking still and keep your mouth shut.

>>1261301
Maybe. But there are bubbles. I seen them. Camera can't make this kind of pics

Okay, this seems to be the right place for my question and it is as follows. I'm currently doing secondary fermentation on 15 litre carboy and it was in my closet for about a month but yesterday I moved it in the stockhouse.
So can you ferment the thing in too cool environment? It's like 5-10 degrees celcius in my country but isnt it meant to be in cool to clear it out?

>>1261654
noob OP here.

What are you fermenting?

>>1261658
Mead. Made with coudberries, honey, cloves cinnamon and some apple slices.
I noticed it clears rather quick in the fridge when I bottled my first batch.

>>1261660
dunno about mead.

>>1261661
I'd guess it's okay as long as it doesnt get frozen.

>>1261662
If I have to guess I would disagree with you. Yeast and other microbes are dying if they are not in some temperature span. Dunno for this in particular tho.

>tfw just bought a bunch of grains, dry malt extract, hops, and a bottler with caps

I've made a bunch of wine, cider, some mead, but this is going to be my first time making beer. FUG

Since I'm getting more grains and hops than I need, I'm also thinking of also making braggot.

>>1261667
good luck

what is the easiest way to avoid burning the mesh in a thin aluminum pot?
could a disk of iron over the stoves do the job?

>>1261690
*mash

>>1256305
>>1257368

Kombucha is both anaerobic and aerobic fermentation, as there are two types of fermentation taking place (one from the acetic acid bacteria and the other from yeast). The scoby needs an open air environment for gas exchange and to provide healthy oxygen to the mother to outcompete all bad bacteria and convert the tea to the nectar of gods.

I kegged 5 gallons of homemade kombucha last weekend and force carbed it. People who pay 5 dollars for a bottle of buch at whole foods are chumps.

>>1261690
put on comfy shoes and stir that shit.

Question regarding copper.

I use copper pennies instead of bits o pipe or ceramic snake oil and haven't had any issues. Last night I forgot the pennies in the steel pot and they blackened up. I had a taste of the water in the bottom of the pot and it was awful. Like salty milk and coins sans the salty milk.

I thought copper was supposed to remove sulfur from the water, not add it's own shit flavor. My assumption is that the copper pennies reacted with the steel pot, but I thought copper and steel was pretty stable next to one another.

I've got the pennies in the ultrasonic bath with hot water and vinegar to clean them for the next run.

>>1261654
>So can you ferment the thing in too cool environment? It's like 5-10 degrees celcius in my country but isnt it meant to be in cool to clear it out?

are you trying to ferment it further or have it clear? people chill things in the fridge when they want to yeast to drop out

that is way too cold for fermenting

How much honey should i use for an apple cyser? Im working with 4 gallons of apple juice and 1 gallon of spring water and a cup of gold raisens.

>>1261690
Why heat while mashing? Are you step mashing? If not just insulate pot and it will only drop a degree or two over an hour.

>>1261963
10 honeys

Yesterday, I started some brewer's yeast I got online in a mixture of organic maple syrup and apple juice. Using a balloon as an airlock. Done this before with sugarwater, with moderate success. I'm hoping the mixture of juice and syrup will produce something good, after it's done I'll be trying freeze distillation for the first time to kill the yeast and concentrate it.

Thanks for the info from the thread, guys. Read most of it

>>1261963
precysely three

>>1260994
How do you make it glow like that?

>>1262392
he put a lamp behind it you doofus

Before i start a new thread or do something gay like that, I have a hairline fracture in my new acrylic test jar. I assume that it is from pouring in sub zero alcohol from my freezer. Yeah, I realize how retarded that was now.

Should my replacement test jar be acrylic or glass? My budget is about $12. I just want something that is sturdy that will hold up to

>occasional retarded ideas
>high proof alcohol (80%+)
>the occasional tip over.

I started a lager that I had to rush through for certain reasons.

Long story short, I fermented it for 5 weeks before bottling instead of 8 weeks like I intended.
Can I still call it a lager, or will I look like an ass?

>>1262575
So...sitting on the floor behind me was a can of Rustoleum Leak Seal spray. If I apply that to the exterior of the test jar would I be good, or is that a recipe for disaster when it comes to high proof liquids?

Hey guys first time brewer here, I'm trying to brew some burnt honey mead. I used about 3ish pounds of honey and enough water for 1 gallon of must. I added the yeast about 1 1/2 days ago but the airlock isnt bubbling. I opened the bucket to look, and it smells like alcohol a little bit, and there was some light bubbling but I feel like somethings wrong. any tips?

>>1262612
Does it taste like a lager? Unless you're being graded on it, who fucking cares ;)

blackmanpointingathisheadbecausethinking.jpg

>>1262619
try adding more yeast? I had a brew in the fridge and the temps were too cold. I dropped in 5 grains of champagne yeast and it foamed right up to a "boil" after a day.

>>1262619
maybe it didn't seal properly

>>1262392
I put a droplight behind it to check clarity.

>>1262619
Mak sure the bucket is airtight. Simple way to do it is close it up and sniff around the lid. You shouldnt be able to smell the contents anywhere but right at the airlock, and thats only if its bubbling. Throw in a bit of extra yeast, stir gently and check temperature. My first mead i had to keep the primary on a reptile mat and wrapped in a towel.

>tfw my red wine is almost done fermenting, but my bochet (burnt honey mead) is barely halfway there

What are some good heating solutions I can research now that we're moving into the colder months?

anyone know what the type of pot with latches is at the bottom?

I want to build my own distiller

>>1262612
did you do a Diacetyl rest? if so, it should be ok, just lager in the bottles instewad.

I'm hopefully starting my first extract brew tomorrow.
Do I need to worry about the kettle causing any damage when I chill the wort in my sink? It sounds like a bad idea to go from the stove to an ice bath quickly.

Anybody ever brewed with molasses? I don't mean as an additive to beer, but as the primary ferment-able.

>>1264434
yee that's called rum boyo

>>1263087
Look up canners and canning

>>1264434
Yeah. Gotta let it mellow for a year unless you're distilling it. At least that's what I've read. I'd rather give it a shine if you understand what I am saying.

>>1264457
It's only rum if distilled. I just want to try fermenting molasses with some other flavors added [likely lime and ginger].

My hard cider tastes like ass, anything I can add to the finish product to make it more drinkable?

That i,s after the fermentation and bottling.

>>1265489
Pour in back in for a secondary with as little sediment as you can get, pour in more apple juice.

>>1265581
what sort of percentage should I look for?
70% hard cider? 30% apple juice?

>>1265588
I have read in some Reddit guides that it should be like 50-50, but I would start by doing a small secondary ferment with some of your batch, and testing out 80:20 cider to juice. See how that works.

Also, cider takes a few months to smooth out, so maybe get another batch on, throw those bottles in a dark cupboard and check on them at Xmas. Cider can take a few months to sort itself out and become palatable, and it normally improves with age. My dad made a batch that was disgusting, and with about 3 months in the cupboard it's now much more palatable. Not great, but not undrinkable.

>>1265592
Cause its really hard to drink a lot of it because its kind of bad. I'm just trying to get fucking wasted.

I dont wanna give up too much Alcohol.

I have two bottles in a cupboard just sitting there hoping it gets better.

>>1265594
Get into distilling bro. Can make shit that taste average and get smoked on it.

That or make Skeeter pee. You can make that strong and sweet if you want, or customize it a bit, really hard to fuck up, and that will wreck you because it's so easy to drink. I can slam 750-1500ml of that at 6-7% in about 5 min. Gets you wasted if you haven't eaten.

I want to get into home brewing, where should i start honestly? i know next to nothing about this but always been interested.

Best way also to get into it without spending too much money as im poor af?

>>1265643
Skeeter pee. Basically a lemon wine, that is pretty hard to mess up. Google for recipes. That's pretty cheap for the amount of drinkable alcohol you get out.

Refine that and move on from there. I have no experience with beer.

>>1265645
Thanks, i tbqh don't want to get into beer yet, mostly i wanted to make drinks out of fruits but who knows.

>>1265646
Start with Skeeter pee then. It will give you the most drinkable alcohol the quickest with the least specialized gear. It also gives you a basic idea of how to make things.

That or buy some cheap cider yeast and throw it in a bottle of preservative free apple juice with a balloon around the neck of the bottle with a pin hole in the balloon. Once the balloon deflates taste it. It will have very little sugar yet so might take a bit of getting used to. Then research how to make it better next time. Build up slowly.

>>1265646
just finished another batch of tepache....the taste has grown on me; it is essentially just pineapple rind with some sugar and spices

plus it only takes a few days

>>1265592
faggot

>>1265862
Wow nice bro. Sorry, forgot the only place to get info on this hobby is to circle jerk in this thread.

Started a batch of mango mead today.

1.4 kg honey and 1.4 kg of frozen mango with d-47 lalvin yeast and yeast nutrients.

I started to heat up about 3.5 liters of water and then added the frozen mango.
brought it to a boil then cut the heat and let it simmer for about 10 minutes.
Then took out the fruit but strained it and pressed out the juices.
Added the honey and then cooled it enough for the yeast.

Og turned out to be 1.96.

Did a mango mead before but that time I waited until the secondary to add chopped up mango pieces to it and left it for 2 weeks then racked it again. Im hoping the new batch will get more of the mango flavors then the last one I did.

>>1266049
forgot the zero. Og was 1.096

>>1265866
now you know better

>>1250426
Is there a /diy/ wiki with a list of reccomended gear to get started brewing beer?
I’d like to jump in but I haven’t the faintest idea where to begin.

I pressed a bunch of apples a month and a half ago and it's now in secondayr, 18 gallons or so. All of it is tasting pretty good, but I'm going to let it age in kegs for another few months before I think about bottling.

I ordered some S-04 to make a spiced cider with, I'll just use some treetop for that. I haven't tried making cider with spices before and I didn't want to ruin good juice. Also Reverend Nat's cidery (I don't particularly like their cider, but whatever), is doing an even where you can get juice from them for $3-5/gal, so I may try to get a few fermenting buckets full to fuck around with.

In bottles right now I've got a Belgian and some sour beer. I've got a few beer ideas I'm tossing around but I'll need to wait until some kegs are free, or maybe get more kegs.

>>1266648
This version of the book is sort of old by now but it's fine
http://howtobrew.com/book/equipment-descriptions

>>1266871
Where can I subscribe to your blog?

My hard cider that I racked a while ago I just looked in and they have perfect layers.

One layer is so much clearer than the other, what is this?

>>1266898
I just fuck around for fun so I don't have a blog. I have some friends who make cider professionally so I pick their brains from time to time.

>>1266871 JFC I can't type. secondary and event

Decided to try my hand at mead after a few months of research. I started with 4 batches.

Batch 1 - Orange, Clove, Cinnamon
Fermented for about 20 days before the bubbling slowed significantly. Currently in secondary fermentation for 27 days. Thinking about racking one more time because I used bentonite and it cleared up some stuff so I want to be sure it's completely clear before bottling

Batch 2 - Plum
Smelled of alcohol but never started bubbling, yeast looked healthy. Racked after about 1 week and added a little more honey and it started bubbling very rapidly. Bubbling slowed significantly after another 3 weeks. Racked again and sat for 2 weeks before I added bentonite. Another 2 weeks and it was bottled. Tastes a little strong but bearable.

Batch 3 - Strawberry
Started bubbling like normal but after about 1 week the yeast turned black and green, assuming infection. Scrapped this batch

Batch 4 - California Plum
Fermented for about 20 days before bubbling slowed significantly. Racked and aged for another 25 days. Racked, back sweetened, and added bentonite. Currently still aging.

The 2 batches I have still fermented smell like a regular wine. The first plum tastes more like a liquor and burns on the way down, but it's got a good taste. The Cali plum is dark red and looks like a regular red wine and I can't wait to try it, I've just been waiting to rack it again. It's only about half way cleared, most likely because I didn't add enough bentonite so I was thinking of adding more to help it clear up.

Next batches will be blackberry, another attempt at strawberry, and probably peach. For melomels is it better to add the fruit during fermentation or after? With my current batches everything is a little bitter, even with back sweetening, and I feel like it's because I added fruit during fermentation. I've been told that adding it during fermentation gives you the full range of flavors (so for the orange it tastes like the skin).

>>1266957

I should also mention that all 3 batches started off in 1 gallon plastic jugs while I waited on my carboys to arrive. Primary fermentation took place in the jugs and everything else is taking place in carboys. My next batches will be in carboys from the start.

I also used raisins for the nutrients because I didn't have that at the time and some active dry yeast, which is why everything is dry. I was thinking of trying an actual white wine yeast for my next 3 batches in hopes that it's a little sweeter.

>>1254057
Should have just called it "two blisters"

>>1261279

You're still making beer though. And are engaging in the most important parts of the process. Sanitisation and fermentation.

My mead has been fermenting for almost a month and its still consistently bubbling, I'm getting kind of impatient though.

How bad would it be if I took it out now? It'll just be sweeter right?

What if I just took some out just to taste test?

>>1267340
Yes

Make sure your sampling equipment is sanitized and it should be fine.

What causes a grain/husk like off flavour in finished beer?
Can mashing at 68c cause it?

>>1267347
So theres nothing too bad with letting a little oxygen in when I get some out to sample? it wont completely fuck it up?

Im making Mead! Here's a mixed berry and a vanilla one.

What is the best thing that you have ever made?

I've not had any really good drinkable success, my hard cider tastes like ass, mead is hard to drink tons of.

>>1267451
what is your expectation?

>>1267454
Just something at least average like Asahi beer that I can down tons of quick because it doesn't molest my senses and get drunk

>>1267465
you like to go pee pee?

>>1267368

>>1267465
>get drunk
there it is

if that's the intention, you'll want to try distilling something

>>1267481
I honestly did not see the dog before

Sup /diy/?

Recently started my first 5-gal hard cider brew after two semi-successful 1-gal's

I didn't get any bubbles in the airlock for about 3 days, on the 4th day I was getting steady bubbling, like 2 large bubbles per second.

Days 5 and 6 I see no bubbles whatsoever

Any ideas on what might be wrong, if anything? When I used this yeast in my 1-gal brew it took a few days to start but gave me a solid week of visible bubbles before it stopped

I'm using less yeast and sugar per gallon in this brew as my last two turned into straight up apple wine, but this seems very inactive

Thank you!

I know this is likely get scoffed at but, I've been making homebrew simply out of 2 quart bottles of Welches grapejuice.
>Remove 1 cup of juice
>Add 1 cup of sugar, mix well
>Add a quarter to one half a packet of yeast

Is there anyway to make it taste better? It always tastes like absolute piss.

Where do you guys get your gear from? Local or online stores?

>>1267541
did you follow the proportions as stated in the yeast instructions?

>>1267544
what should it taste like?

>>1267576
lucky to have a store within a few miles

it was pretty much the same price for some stuff, but I couldn't find gallon jugs nearly as cheap online....why pay for shipping for something like a stopper or airlock when you can go buy it right now

>>1267576
stuff abandoned by my parents and grandparents

>>1267544
The type of yeast you use will have a big impact. I made a batch like this using champagne yeast and off-the-shelf apple juice. Surprise surprise, it had that sharp champagne taste.

I assume you're bolting an airlock on the top of the bottle?

Temperature control makes a big difference - Stability somewhere in the 18C-22C range can really help (depends on the yeast, somewhat).

Lastly, maybe firstly, the quality of the fruit juice you're using makes a huge difference. Is Welches 100% grape juice or is there a bunch of shit in there that isn't grapes (e.g. preservatives). If so, ditch it and go hunting for the stuff that's really 100% pure fruit juice (doesn't really matter if it's from concentrate, though). The price difference shouldn't be huge.

>>1267544
Fair mate. I've got some cheap apple juice cider on the go at the moment. Look at adding some pectolase to it before fermentation. It will break down pectins in the fruit, releasing more flavours and colours and stuff.

I'm currently fermenting an oatmeal stout with WY1335. Mash was at 156, OG was 1.052 and after two weeks @66F, I only got to 1.021. I thought I should get a bit more out of the yeast so I ramped up to 75 for another week but no movement in gravity. I guess that means it's done but it will be fairly sweet.

Should I give it another week or keg today?

Pic is my current homebrew setup - 5gal electric BIAB w/ re-circulation and software controlled heating, fermentation fridge, and 3 tap keezer

>>1267589
>did you follow the proportions as stated in the yeast instructions?

I was following a recipe I saw online, which called for 1g of yeast for each gallon of cider

>>1268524
well that sounds right, a 5g packet is supposed to make 5 gallons

same area conditions?

it's been almost a month and it's still cloudy as fuck. Will placing it in a cool area (~10°C) make it clear out faster or will this only slow down the last stages of the fermentation and make things worse?

>>1267544
A few thoughts:
- buy some wine tannin, use 1/8 tsp per gallon and work up from there, wine acid mix might also be helpful
- pay attention to your fermenting temperature, look at what is recommended for the yeast you're using
- try different yeast, you can get 10 packs of wine yeast for $10 or so via Amazon, or just check out a homebrew shop, they're usually $1-2. Champagne yeast is going to go fully dry very quickly
- try getting a little age in your booze, even if it's just letting it sit for a few weeks to clear some
- instead of sugar, try adding frozen grape (or other) juice concentrate, you can boost your OG without sacrificing taste as adding table sugar tends to strip some flavors
- invest in a small fermenting vessel, even a food safe bucket or some 1 gallon glass juice jugs will work

I started doing something similar to what your'e doing and over time have become a passable homebrewer. There's nothing wrong with trying to make booze on the cheap, and often there's inexpensive ways of improving it.

>>1267576
I get most of my gear off of craigslist, though some of my cider maker friends who have moved up in the world no longer need some of their paltry 5 gallon batch gear, so I've been getting some of that off of them for dirt cheap.

>>1268468
Too many stickers on your fridge. They're lowering you efficiency and skunking your brew.

>>1268832
huh, I always thought my problem was not enough stickers

>>1268468
Man that is a fucking sick setup.
Super jealous.

15 gallons of beer in 1 day.
Fucking never again, took from 9 AM to 7 PM + one more batch I helped a friend brew.

Left to right:
>West coast style IPA
>Brown ale we put too much malted barley in
>Bourbon barrel porter

>>1269133
thanks bro. Still dialing in my mash automation, the open source software I'm using implemented their PID logic in a goofy way so I had to rewrite it

>>1269136
>Bourbon barrel porter
Are you going to put it in a barrel? Or maybe use some bourbon-soaked oak chips? Any way, yeah 3 batches in one day is a bit much. You getting ready for a party?

>>1261735
eh, they work for starters.

>>1268533
Yes, it's in the exact same spot in my kitchen. We had a 3-day long heatwave but other than that ambient temperature has been the same

I also used about 4 cups of brown sugar for the 5 gal, instead of 2 cups for my last 1 gal which turned into wine

>>1269618
you could easily have not had a strong seal on the airlock and air leaked around it. my plastic buckets don't seal properly and the airlock never bubbles anymore. Do you have a way to measure gravity or take a sample without infecting it?

>>1269770
The bucket has a spigot so I could taste some pretty easily. Don't have a hydrometer though

Whats the cheapest, smallest still I can get to start distilling?

>>1270081
taste some, I'm betting it's done fermenting. Cider goes pretty quick since the sugars are fairly simple and yummy for the yeast

>>1270125
pot still or reflux?

what do you plan on making?

I feel like a fucking alchemist

>>1270459
where's the w

>>1270459
>>1270648
Thats weird.
More Brewing please

>>1270459
what's the intermediate pot for?

>>1270438
Uh Moonshine I guess?

What's the difference?

>>1270780

generally speaking, pot stills are for flavoured spirits and reflux stills are for high proof neutrals

>>1270967
Not him but what's a good way to get started with a pot still? I'd love to make brandy of some kind.

NEW THREAD!!!!!!