/diy/ - Do It Yourself

any general counsel before a first brew?
got a 2 gallon pail with top/airlock, yeast, campden tablets, and starsan, planning to pick up some unfiltered apple juice

>>1405098
you'll probably want some sugar to go in that juice if you're planning on cider. Dextrose preferably, but table sugar will work.

>>1404821
>Fermenting a hefeweizen right now, making my house stinky.
Does it smell like, maybe, worst tea ever?

got my first wine brew on the go, been around 48 hours since i started fermentation and the airlock is bubbling every 10 seconds, im using pic related, just to confirm im supposed to leave the top/cap (red bit) of the airlock on right?

>>1405392
does it have a hole or several drilled into it? if you're bubbling and not actually forcing the liquid anywhere or building up pressure otherwise, then it probably does. it's just to keep large debris and bugs and stuff out of the airlock, off or on works fine.

>>1405392
>just to confirm im supposed to leave the top/cap (red bit) of the airlock on right?
Yes, i have one of those and make sure they're on tight to keep the eternal fruit fly at bay.

do you need to do a full wort boil with all-grain brewing? kinda want to move into all-grain with biab but my kettle is only 5.5 gallons

>>1405514
As opposed to a partial boil? If you use less water when you mash, your won't get as much fermentable sugar out of the grain, but you could offset that by adding extract to your desired gravity, I think this is called a partial mash. You could also aim for a 3 gallon batch, that's pretty much what I did last week with my 5 gal kettle, and I was just at the top of my kettle with a 6 lb grain bill. Definitely have some anti-foam agent on hand. I also learned that with BIAB you should mill your grain as fine as possible to boost efficiency. I was way under my target gravity.

>>1405601
does it taste any different than using extract? what about the color? I read that extract makes it much darker in color.

I will probably make a 2.5 gallon all grain batch to test it out. The reason I dont want to upgrade my equipment is I just bought the 5.5 gallon kettle 2 months ago and I would also need to buy a propane tank and burner since my kitchen stove can barely handle my partial boils with my extract kits.

>>1405606
Extract is typically darker than all-grain recipes, but isn't necessarily so. In order to condense the wort down to a syrup, most producers cook it to boil it down. In theory reducing could be done by room temperature convection evaporation, but then you'd be sacrificing even more flavour and end up with a papery, oxidized tasting beer.

In general extracts often taste a little more "cooked" than all-grain, have less body, and poor head retention. That being said, extracts are useful for bumping up the initial gravity of a beer if you're under. IMO extract beers can taste pretty great, but I prefer all-grain recipes, as they typically have more character.

>>1405601
I double mill with BIAB. I was getting 40-55% efficiency at first, keeping in mind I probably wasn't maintaining temperatures like I should have.

Now I usually am in the 70s at least. Getting 5%+ beers, I'm happy.

>>1404821
I just got into brewing and am using Beersmith2 for my recipe for mint chocolate milk stout. It gave me an estimated OG of 1.058, but I came up with 1.064. I have a 5 gallon kettle and fermenter. What did I do wrong? I'm guessing it may be my brewhouse efficiency, but I haven't seen a consistent way to determine that.

I'm planning a lemon jalapeno wheat ale. I've been using malt extracts for the past 3 months, and want my beer to have lighter colors and stop looking like coffee(Whirlfloc tablets help, though). I'm looking into moving into all-grain brews, but I want to perfect extract brewing first. Would a pilsner DME work for this, along with maybe a light wheat malt?

>>1405688
did you boil off over 1 gallon over the hour?

>>1405749
Usually, I boil about 3.5 gallons, and end up with about 2.5 gallons and add top off water to get to 5 gal. Before the stout, I brewed a batch following someone else's recipe, and I hit OG just fine.

This time I started off with about 4 gallons and added steeping grains and 8 lbs LME. I had about 3.5 gallons afterwards and added 1.5 gal top off water.

>>1404821
Picked up a Munton's Irish Stout kit to brew with my dad for father's day. I want to make it a milk stout. Should I add the lactose during the boil or after fermentation right before bottling? I've seen both methods referenced on a few forums, but nothing explaining the difference.

Does anyone here know whether filtering the yeast out of beer and adding carbonation with a cartridge tastes different compared to carbonating naturally with yeast?

>>1405825
I find that I do get a flavour difference between force carb with c02 and natural conditioning carbonation in my kegs.

>>1404821
Any of you fags have experience fermenting for alcoholic fuel? I've got a few gallons already done, need to build a still now but not sure how elaborate it needs to be.

>>1404821
So what temperature are you fermenting at for this hefeweizen?

>>1405931
I'm putting no effort into controlling it. It floats between 68-72, which is the recommended range for WLP300. If I could control it, I'd set it lower to 62-64 because I prefer the clove phenols over the banana esters.
It's been fermenting for five days and tastes bitter and sour so far.

Does anyone with a tri-clad kettle believe it's worth the extra cost? Particularly with a BIAB setup, I'm a little concerned about scorching a bag on a gas stove top, although my first boil went alright.

>>1405825
i only bottled a few times before and I keg with force carbonation now. I do remember a flavor difference between bottles depending on whether I poured the yeast into my glass or stopped pouring just shy of the "yeast cake" at the bottom of the bottle.

>>1406008
I recently bought one from Ss Brewtech, but have only done one extract brew so far. I have 2 more extract kits to get through then I was going to do my first BIAB. One thing I can say is how sturdy the bottom is, it feels very well built. My old kettle had such a thin bottom that it would wobble when full of boiling water.

>>1405952
if you have the space for it I would recommend a "son of fermentation chiller" you can build it for ~$50 and store it in your garage when not in use. Make it with the highest r-value foam sheet you can find for best performance.

I have not tested it to it's fullest potential but people claim it can lower the temperature about 30 degrees (F) below ambient temp. I have had no problem hitting my target temp range and dropping the temp 10-15* below ambient.

Hey guys a quick question about campden. In what way do you use them? I'm getting ready to rack some mead into a secondary with flavoring but I think my alcohol content is getting close to my targeted 15%. Should I just pop a tablet in and seal it with a cap? An airlock? Opinions?

>>1406030
adding the campden tablet can lead to off-gassing and my experience with mead is that unless it is absolutely 100% done fermenting, you're going to want to give it some time to off-gas anyway, so I'd recommend an airlock for a day or two at least.

I've used a mixture of campden and wine stabilizer a day or two before racking to end fermentation in my meads, but capping immediately after that rack has lead to mildly carbonated mead. if you want a still I'd recommend leaving it in a secondary fo a couple weeks at least, or if your batch is big enough degassing it like a regular wine.

>>1406042
can i use campden tablets in beer after secondary fermentation? Will it kill all the yeast left in the fermenter? does it change the taste?
I keg and force carbonate and my brew gives me anything from some stomach discomfort to braaps so nasty it makes me wish i'd never been born.

going to buy some beano to see if it works but would also be nice to add one of these tablets to not have to worry about remembering to take a beano every time i want a beer.

>>1406045
You could cold crash and use the clear beer draught system.

>>1406048
I cold crash whenever I have room in my keezer and it does help some. I have two IPAs on tap one was CC the other was not. The CC brew makes my stomach hurt if i have 3 or more, the non-CC brew hurts with 1 beer and the farts chase my dogs out of the room.
>clear beer draught system
just watched some videos on this. Seems pretty easy to get clearer beer.

>>1406045
my understanding is that sodium metabisulphates can lead to a slightly salty taste, but potassium metabisulphate is pretty neutral in taste, so just know what kind of tablets you have.

>>1406070
You should run the beer through a centrifuge.

So I have some fruit waste that I've been fermenting for several months. I'm just looking for fuel rather than anything edible, but what I don't understand is if the mash ought to be filtered from the liquid. I want to distill it like you would moonshine, but is it worth including the mash? I've read yeast dies at something like 12 - 20% alcohol content, so presumably there is more sugar in there, but will the yeast survive the heat / pressure of the distillery, or am I not understanding how it works?

>>1405098
If you're buying pasteurized apple juice you won't need campden. If you want it to be stronger, use sugar or frozen apple juice concentrate. A little bit of wine tannin will help if you have some around, along with pectic enzyme.

>>1406070
You could also get a filter, I picked up one and some filters for $60 or so.

>>1404821
I've mainly been following recipes online to help me understand brewing, but I want to try and experiment and make beers of my own.

What's the best way to approach this without wasting ingredients? Do I make a base beer and then add additives to taste before bottling, or should I buy ingredients to match what I want the finished product to taste like?

>>1406042
Awesome thanks annon

>>1406335
1 gallon batches or alternatively 10 gal batches split into two batches. You can dry hop with one, add fruit, oak or even use two different yeast strains.

What's the grain grinding procedure at your homebrew store? I don't know how to collect my grain without looking like fucking Rain Man. One of the clerks made a comment about me making a mess, admittedly not as bad as other people.
At one shop I go to, they have dirty ass trash-bins that you grind into and dump into a ziploc, and you tell them how much it weighs.
At the nicer shop, from what I can tell, you shovel some grain into a bag, grind it into a bucket - I don't know if this is supposed to be lined with a grain bag or naked - and the spend 10 minutes trying to shovel it into a ziploc. Am I retarded or is there no easier way to do this?

>>1405514

5.5 gallons is more than enough for small scale recipes. It depends what you want to ultimately do with it all though.

>>1407088
My LHBS mills it for you. But I found it too fine for my setup and got stuck sparge, so I bought a malt muncher mill and do it myself.

>>1404821
Is this an appropriate plumbing connection? Working on a Brutus and there isn't a qtddtot thread

>>1407088
I bought an old coffee shop mill that I've been using for 12 years. Best $50 at a flea market I ever spent.

>>1407088
Also, you could just ask them to show you the procedure since you respect their store and their time and concede to them you make a mess and don't know shit.

>>1405392
Doesn't really matter. Keeps gnats out and deminishes evaporation, but gnats won't get past the liquid and it won't evaporate in a week.

>>1405098
I usually drink a six pack of the style I'm making.

>>1407369
No, your valve has a compression fitting on the left. You need pic related then use the reduction, or replace the valve with one that has normal connections on both sides.

>>1407446
Actually, looking at it again the valve has flare fittings on both sides. I would just get the proper valve.

>>1407369
You shouldn't be using black steel pipes for anything meant for consumption. It's meant for natural gas, the pipe itself can leech toxic materials into the product.

>>1407450
It's for the propane. I'm mainly concerned about the brass angled piece mating well to the iron

>>1407455
Pic kinda related - just to feed the burners. Playing 'find the piece' to get to the burner at the moment.

>>1406329
isn't campden a way to stop fermentation, at least temporarily, combined with cold crashing?

>>1405143
assuming you mean beforehand and not backsweetening, what does that functionally do? presumably it makes fermentation longer and %abv higher, but is there actual flavor/body differences for such fermentation beyond "it tastes like there's more alcohol in this"?

>>1407477
Yes, typically done when picking wild shit. Basically an atomic bomb into the unknown microorganism ecology.

That's the exact same thing pasteurization does. Boils those fuckers dead.

Be mindful of juice with chemical preservatives. The yeast will be dead before they can ferment.

Trying to jam a mini batch of all grain NEIPA I to a 5 gal kettle.
Is there a reason why I don't see table salt used a lot to adjust chloride levels?

So I really want to get started into home brewing and have a long list of burning questions.
To start, what is the cheapest, most newbie friendly thing to try to make that isn't complete shit?
What kind of set up would you recommend for making such a brew?
What kind of yeast is best to use and is most user friendly? (i.e. near idiot proof)
Any good general tips to follow and horrific sins to avoid?

>>1407589
>To start, what is the cheapest, most newbie friendly thing to try to make that isn't complete shit?
Hard cider in my opinion.
>What kind of set up would you recommend for making such a brew?
Nothing, ferment inside the package. Also saves you the trouble of getting equipment and cleaning it.
>What kind of yeast is best to use and is most user friendly? (i.e. near idiot proof)
Since you're not going to do something fancy bread yeast will work just fine (inb4 autistic screeching).

>>1407596
Thanks for the leads. Time to start reading.

>>1407607
There are loads of videos on youtube about this. Just search for "redneck wine".

>>1407596
Also, I've got a couple of 1 gal carboys sitting around. Could I use those ( after sanitizing of course) to put it over into to let is settle out some more after main fermentation is done? Could probably start it out in one of those as well and use an actual stopper and airlock....

>>1407481
frankly, I've not made enough ciders to experiment with and know specifically why extra sugar is usually called for, but my understanding is there is one of two reasons to add sugar before fermentation, I don't know which is most accurate.
1) there isn't enough sugars in apple juice to ferment to any appreciable ABV. and/or the fructose in the juice is complex enough that you'll need something to get the yeast up and running before it can properly chew through the sugars in the juice. if this is a case, you risk having a dry 2-3% abv final product which is hardly worth the effort.
2) oversweetening the must leads to a sweeter final product. I think this is the case, as most amateur ciders will need to be bottle conditioned to carbonate. if it ferments dry then you either can't back sweeten it (because the yeast will just eat the new sugar), or you can't carbonate it (because the yeast will have to be killed to preserve the sugar), or I guess you can backsweeten and carbonate it, but then your bottles will probably explode. if there's more than enough sugar already, you'll have residual sugars when the yeast maxes out their potential ABV. when you add carbonation sugar you dilute the solution so there's less ABV (even if only slightly) so the yeast can get back to work, but not so much that they make bombs. if this is the case and you don't add sugar to the must you will get a very dry final result, which I guess you might be into, but is usually not the baseline assumption.

>>1407589
>To start, what is the cheapest, most newbie friendly thing to try to make that isn't complete shit?
as the other anon said, probably cider. any kind of mead or wine is equally easy (anything that requires a must; it's just sugar, water, and/or juice. making a wort is a process.), though prices of ingredients will vary price of the whole, obviously.
>What kind of set up would you recommend for making such a brew?
buy a gallon of apple juice or cider from some place like whole foods, it should come in a glass jug with a pistol grip, this is basically the same thing brew shops sell, minus the actual juice. get a stopper to fit (6.5 usually) and an airlock. tada, you have a one gallon carboy with most of your must already in it.
>What kind of yeast is best to use and is most user friendly? (i.e. near idiot proof)
in my experience, basically any brewing yeast. just make sure it and your must are both at pitching temp (room temperature should be fine as long as you're not in the desert. i've only had problems with a must cooling from a boil, and yeast I didn't take out of the fridge before brew day)
>Any good general tips to follow and horrific sins to avoid?
sanitize everything. EVERYTHING. you can not over sanitize. once you've had a success or two you can take stock of how obsessive is too obsessive, but for a newbie assume everything will kill you and/or your brew. put starsan in a spray bottle and be judicious.
also let it sit. while it's fermenting, let it sit even if it's been more than a week or whatever you were told and it's still bubbling, it'll be done when it's done. once it's finished fermenting let it sit in secondary or to condition or whatever it's doing, don't try it early, don't rush it just let it sit. aging is good for alcohol. I really wanted to rush my first few brews and i had some near bottle bombs and some downright offensive young wines. time is your friend.

>>1407617
Most people agree secondary fermentation, which is what you're describing, is unnecessary now

>>1407682
Huh. I can remember when I first started to take interest in home brewing over a year ago people talked about racking and re-racking their brews. What was the cause for the change? More hassle than what it's worth?

>>1407700
Exactly, the risk of oxidation or infection didn't outweigh the risk of off-flavors from sitting on yeast. From what I've read, manufactured yeast are healthy enough to sit in the same fermentor for the entire fermentation

I half ass make wine by the gallon.

I have a spruce wine, a dandelion wine, and a watermelon wine on the cook right now. Was going to try lilac, but those flowers are full of bugs and that's fucking nasty even if you do strain it.

Want to do a strawberry, maybe a raspberry. That lemon one OP mentioned sounds interesting too.

>>1407706
yeah, if you can try out the lemon and let us know how it goes. I was looking for more of a malternative lemonade drink for barbecue days n shit but from what i hear, the lemon wine recipe usually presented tastes pretty different.

just made a favourite mulberry wine. shake the tree onto plastic sheet until you have quite a few kilos of mulberries, I suppose I got about 8 kilos. heat some water in a pan enough to dissolve about half that weight in sugar. at the mulberries spiders and all and match them up with the hands then strain off juice before adding a little more water to wash the Pulp and strain off the juice a second time. with about three or 4 kilos of sugar I ended up with about 18 litres of juice. cut up three lemons and add, cutting into quarters is perfectly alright. add two or three blocks of standard bakers live yeast. don't use dried yeast or any specialised brewing stuff and don't worry about there being a fuckload of yeast in there it's important because this wine is not boiled or sterilised so you need to get the yeast as aggressive as possible. leave good headspace on the top of your fermenting bucket as it will ferment very vigorously for a few days before rapidly clearing itself. with this technique the least will drop out I give you something drinkable in about a week of good summer heat. best leave it two weeks for really good wine then rack into a fresh container and give one more week 4 final clearing. you can bottle this in 2L Coke bottles and Prime with enough sugar to just cover the dimples in the bottom of the bottle then leave again somewhere warm after shaking to dissolve the sugar. check the bottles every day until they feel pressurised then place in the refrigerator and keep cool. this makes a lovely fizzy summer drink that by taste i would say it comes out at around 10 to 13%. I broke my hydrometer so I can't tell for sure but you can definitely feel it after drinking a large cupful.

this is probably the fastest start to finish real fruit wine and the easiest to make. if using black mulberries the wine comes out a very rich red and the colour is PH sensitive so the LeMons are very important if your local water area is very alkaline. the LeMons also give a nice pH environment for the yeast to work quickly. you will instantly know if the pH is too alkaline because the juice will be blue so you must add lemon or at least citric acid until the juice is pink.

>>1407564
You can taste the sodium. It would be fine for a Gose.

>>1407455
Just use liquid thread seal to be safe.

>>1407617
>Could probably start it out in one of those as well and use an actual stopper and airlock....
Yes of course. I was assuming you had zero equipment.

I need some beginner's advice on how to add fruit to beer. I've made 20 or so batches over the past 3 years but this is my first batch I'm adding fruit to. My plan is to brew a base beer (stout) then rack over raspberries and blackberries in a secondary. With the berries I'm planning to freeze and unthaw them a few time, I read that this weakens the cellular walls and increases the amount of flavor you can infuse. I plan on pureeing/processing the raspberries as they are seedless but I'm probably going to keep the blackberries intact as I don't want the bitter tasting seeds to be busted open.
Trying to keep this recipe simple as I don't have experience using fruit and this is only the second stout I have ever made. Planning on using 3-4 lbs of fruit for a 4.5 gallon batch. Any additional advice or tips is appreciated. I'm also wondering if I should try sweetening the beer up a little as some of the berries are going to add some sourness.

>>1408001
there's no need to freeze them if you're going to puree them, your blender will break plenty of cell walls on its own. you might consider using a grain bag to get the fruit waste out, but if you're making a puree it'll probably be moot and require a strainer regardless.

>>1408035
I'm freezing them to kill wild yeast/bacteria. I'm also not pureeing the blackberries.

>>1407763
>at the mulberries spiders and all and match them up with the hands
are you drinking spiders dude

>>1407866
I only put 1 gram into 4 gallons, that should be under the taste threshold.

My local brew shop has some smoked German malt that I wanted to use for a smoked lemon jalapeno porter. I'm aiming for a slightly dominant, not overpowering, smoky flavor with a hint of citrus. I made a tincture out of some apple wood-smoked jalapenos that I plan to add right before bottling. How much of my grain bill should the smoked malt make up?

As for the lemon flavor, I was told to add some peels to the boil. I thought about just racking the beer onto some peels during secondary, but I've been told that it adds a pithy flavor.

Any suggestions?

So im making my first ever wine. Literally googled how to make wine. Used baking yeast grape juice from concentrate. A shitload of sugar and a balloon on the top. It said to let it sit for 6 weeks. I have no fucking idea what im doimg am i going to die or is it just not going to be good?

>>1408391
you are very unlikely to die. it may or may not be good. Odds are it won't be a great wine, but drinkable is a fine goal for a first brew.

>>1408396
Thanks, is there anything i should watch for or anything i should do to make it better or better the next time i try? Ive wanted to do this for a long time but never got around to it, just decided i would try to see what i can do.

>>1408400
it's hard to say what you can do better until you've seen what you've done wrong. If the wine tastes off when it's done aging and/or backsweetening it may improve the result. Also, keep in mind that there's nothing wrong with juice from concentrate or baker's yeast, but better ingredients will always get a better end result. Fresher juice, yeast strains meant for winemaking, sugar that's easier on the yeast.

>>1408403
Awsome, thanks so much for the help

>>1407139
I will probably start with 2.5 gallon batches and see how it goes. If I like it I can upgrade my kettle and get a propane setup.
Does anyone know a good calculator for boil-off? Or is 3.5gallon starting volume roughly enough to leave me with 2.5 gallons at the end of the boil?

>>1408603
Depends on the kettle. Measure 2-5 gallons into your kettle and let it boil for an hour, then measure how much is left.
I use a bathroom scale and weight myself with the filled kettle and do the math to figure out how much water I have.

>>1408037
Few spoders are ok. You think there are none in dom perignon?

>>1408001
Just use extracts. Srsly, fuck fruit and pissing about with it. It's a well known dirty little secret of many award winners.

>>1408400
Watch out if your parents find out.

>>1409002
The whole point in brewing this particular beer is to use the berries grown in my garden, so I'm definitely not using extracts.

Fuck extracts, just buy wine and pretend that you made it

Opened babby's first mead two days ago to take a SG reading at the 3 week mark (also did at 1.5 weeks). Today I have these pale blobs forming on the top, and bubbling has slowed from 15 seconds two days ago to 23 seconds today. Are the blobs ok? pic related

>>1409357
you mean the yellowish stuff on the bottle? it's likely yeast cultures and/or scum from when it was super bubbly. you're fine.

>>1409367
Nah, the stuff floating on the top in the middle.

The scum is from the first few days when it was foamy and it's been the same for a while

>>1409370
Image with flash to better see what's on top of the mead (the brown ones are raisins obviously)

>>1409373
obvious infection

>>1409386
Shit what do I do now?

I thought I sanitized everything when I took the sample and didn't even pour the sample mead back in, guess it happened anyways.

>>1409389
I'm just messing with you senpai.

>>1409386
>>1409413
Not the guy you trolled, but I put some mead on last week and it looks pretty much like that pic. You made me sperg out for a couple of seconds.

I just thought you should know that you inadvertently bamboozled two seperate fags with one shitpost.

Bravo.

>>1409413
phew, thanks senpai

Looking for some flavor ideas for mead. I've already made:

Ancient Orange
Peach
Strawberry
Blackberry

Next batches will be:

Apple (maybe Apple+Cinnamon?)
Cherry + Cinnamon

>>1409428
I want to do an earl grey eventually so that's an idea

>>1409428
mulling spices, or just throw in some cloves and allspice. also ginger.

>>1404821
Finally built a Brutus. Needs a pump and burner adjustment, but 5/5 better than a turkey fryer.

>Current brew: Apple cider with lactose added for body, that will be dry hopped with Riwaka.

My next brew looks like I will try to clone Big Wave golden ale just to see what that is like.

After that, I will start looking into brewing belgian beers.

>>1409437
>Bud Light
And you call yourself a homebrewer, gah.

Nice setup.

>>1409777
Checked

Got into it for the cheap beer lol. Can't be spending $10 on a six pack every night

>>1409419
Double kill kek.

>>1409782
>Got into it for the cheap beer lol
Same, it has now cost me about $3k in shiny stuff.

>>1410042
Lol. That single tier thankfully only ran me around $450 so far and has been an ambition (on and off) for a decade.

Back in college and when I was juggling part time gigs, I was able to brew multiple times a week. There were even years I would log over 300 gallons of booze. Good times. Really wish I could go back.

For my last few batches, I've gotten an off-flavor that I can't decide is yeasty or cardboardy from oxidation. I'm not sure if it's yeasty because it doesn't improve with age, and I'm not sure if it's oxidation because it's pretty strong in the beer only a few days after bottling. Is there something I'm doing wrong that's common among beginners? I've done 5 batches so far and didn't have this issue with my first 2, the only thing I changed between batch 2 and 3 was I started using yeast starters.

>>1404821
I WISH TO HEAR OF THE HOPS THAT HAS A "SWEET" TASTE. INFORM ME /DIY/

>>1410093
Citra
Galaxy
Mandarina Bavaria
Sorachi Ace

>>1410046
That mash tun cooler costs nearly $200 here and those burners are 50 clams a piece, the kettle and lauter tun can buy e obtained for free if you are bold enough by swiping them from the back of a pub. 3 piece SS valves run about $40.

What equipment were you brewing with in college?

>>1410177
Just one keg and that mash tun with this itty bitty turkey fryer.

Used sawhorses and a bucket to do all the work.

sorry just testing to see if this works

>>1405606
Extract is typically for faggots.

>>1405825
I always use yeast and keep it live for never flat beer. CO2 is for (you guessed it) faggots.

>>1409126
>Not making your own extracts.

Exactly how gay are you?

>>1409419
>>1409389
RAISINED.com

>>1409428
>not stepping it up to Agent Orange

>>1410046

Serious question: If you're not brewing enough beer to liquor up a platoon, what is the purpose of spending $450+ on a "home" brew setup?
>kitchen has a stove
>grill has a burner
>wine comes with a free carboy when you buy it by the gallon

You can even use your old condoms as air locks since you're obviously not using them to fuck women since you're spending all your time either brewing or reading about brewing on a Filipino arms distribution forum.

>>1410211
>what is the purpose of spending $450+ on a "home" brew setup?
Have you considered the possibility that it could be his hobby? That is, something he finds interesting and entertaining?

How do you spend your disposable income or is the whole concept unfamiliar?

>>1410211
Mostly convenience. It's pretty beefy and I'd expect to get a good decacade+ of abuse out of it, so you wager maybe it's $45 a year to brew outside and not mess up the kitchen, plus it takes less time to heat up, easier to dial in what you're looking to do, and it's just cooler.

>>1410211
At least I didn't buy one lol

>>1410075
I tasted one of my harvested yeast from my starters today and got the same flavor at a lower intensity. For my starters I've been using amber DME that I've had left over from an extract batch, but I always decant most of the beer before pitching. Could that small amount effect the flavor so much?

>>1410261
I use light DME to make my starters. I read somewhere that amber DME has something else added to give it a darker color and "bready" taste. Since you're decanting it might not be enough to make the difference but could be why you're getting an off flavor.

You can try decanting all the beer in your flask and replacing with some of you're cooled wort in to swirl the yeast before pitching.

has nothing else changed? are you fermenting within the recommended temps?

>>1410363
I've never actively controlled ferm temp, didn't have a problem with the first couple of batches, maybe the ester profile was off from the yeast but it wasn't this oxidized taste I'm getting.
Is it also possible to over-aerate a starter? I spin that shit on a stirplate as fast as possible without throwing the stir bar.

>>1410393
i'm not sure if it's possible to over-aerate. I made my own stir plate and I do the opposite. I stir it at the lowest speed possible which is still enough to create a small whirlpool, it just doesnt go all the way to the bottom of the flask. As long as you have yeast moving and getting oxygen it should be fine.

I'm fairly new to brewing too, only a dozen or so brews so far, so I don't know what might be the cause, but these can help troubleshoot.
>You can try buying extra yeast packs and pitching them instead of creating a starter (pricey)
>making the starter with light DME
>controlling your temps (if the fermenting room stays at roughly room temp you should be ok with most yeast strains)

>>1410227
When women was my hobby the goal was to get the most and spend the least. You'd be amazed how far $12 in tacos will go if you play your cards right.

I got a Brooklyn Brew kit as a gift and since then I have been buying beverages that come in containers I reuse for brewing. I got an old pot from my mom and a few other items at a yard sale.

>$450

I'd rather put that money into a large distilling setup.
>inb4 ATF

>>1410484
>I'd rather put that money into a large distilling setup.
Just drink industrial ethanol. It's very cheap in large quantities and perfectly legal.

picked up some of these bottles. what's a good way to wash/sanitise them? for glass bottles I normally wash out all the shit then fill with hot water than rinse with sanitiser. can these take hot water? as in from the tap, not boiling

>>1410584
Hot from tap should be ok. Do not use boiling water, they will shrink.

I used to soak mine in a mix of sodium percarbonate and TSP90, then sanitize.

Found a few recipes for Mead, Ale etc in my grandfathers old copy of Reader's Digest (1981) if anybody's interested.

Mead
> 1 Campden tablet
> 1 cupsule yeast energizer
> 6 lb. mild-flavored honey
> 1/4 oz. acid (citric, tartaric, malic, or a blend)
> 1 1/2 tsp. strong tea
> 1 package vintner's yeast or special mead yeast

>Crush Campden tablet and yeast energizer, and stir into 3 lb. of honey, then pour honey slowly into 2 cups of warm water, stirring constantly until honey is completely dissolved. Stir in the acid and tea.
>Cover the mixture and leave it in a warm area (70 degrees F) for one day. Stir in yeast, cover mixture. Fit with a fermentation lock and let sit for five days
>On fifth day dissolve remaining honey in 2 cups warm water and add to the original mixture. Refit lid and fermentation lock, and let mixture continue to ferment for another two days.
>One week after initial fermentation began, rack liquid into clean 1-gal. plastic pail or glass bottle, careful not to disturb sediments at bottom of honey mixture.
>Fill new container to within 1 inch of stopper by adding 70 degree F water if necessary. Seal with fermentation lock and allow fermentation to continue.
>Rack fermenting liquid into a clean container whenever sediments collect. When mead stays completely clear, bottle it; store in a cool, dark area.
Makes one gallon.

>>1410700
2/?

Ale
> 3 lb. hop-flavored malt extract
> 3 1/2 lb. sugar
> 2 1/2 gal. water
> 3/4 - 1 oz. hops
> 2 1/2 hal. cold water
> 1 tsp. tartaric acid
> 1 package yeast
> 1 capsule yeast nutrient

>Stir hop-flavored malt extract into boiled water that has cooled for five minutes, as in making beer. Add extra ounce of hobs and cold water, and measure sugar level-it should be 5 percent
>Add tartaric acid, yeast and yeast nutrient, then ferment and bottle as for beer.

Mulled Ale
>2 qt. ale
> 1 tsp. ground ginger
> 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
> 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
> 2 tbsp. sugar
> 1 cup rum

>mix together ale, spices and sugar. Heart just to boiling. Add rum and serve hot.
Makes eight 8-oz servings.

>>1410702
3/3

Desert-type Fruit Wine
> 12-15 lb. ripe perfect pit fruit (cherry, peach, plum, apricot)
> 4 pectic enzyme tablets (to destroy pectin that would otherwise cloud wine)
> 1 capsule yeast energizer
> 1 Campden tablet
> Tartaric acid
> 1 package vitner's yeast
> 4 cups sugar

>Peel and pit fruit, then crush it. Place pulp and half the pits in large plastic pail. Test acidity and adjust with tartaric acid to about .5 percent.
>Crush and dissolve pectic enzyme, yeast energizer and Campden tablet in a little war water and add fruit.
>Cover the container with a sheet of plastic or cloth, and tie sheet lightly in place to keep out insects. Let stand overnight.
>Stir in yeast, re-cover container and place in 70 degree F area to ferment. Four days after fermentation starts, strain mixture through nylon mesh bag, squeezing to extract juice.
>Add 2 cupts of sugar, stir to dissolve, and siphon liquid into glass bottle that is 2 gal. or larger. (Or divide between two 1-gal. bottles.) Seal with fermentation lock and hold at 70 degrees F to ferment.
>When fermentation calms (about 7 days) test sugar level and adjust to 22 percent - about 2 cups sugar per gallon of juice is usually required. Replace fermentation lock, and let fermentation continue.
>When fermentation slows again, rack wine into 1-gal. glass bottle, and add fruit wine or brandy to bring level of liquid to within 1 in. of stopper. Rack as often as necessary until wine is clear. Bottle and cork as for grape wine and age for at least six months
Makes one gallon.

so i just wanna fuck around for a bit but tell me if this is retarded idea
Banna(and maybr mano if we have any at home) plus lavendel and water. boil the mix for killing of all bacteria etc, chuck into air tight container with some yeast(how much per liter?). wait a few day or even a week. outcome: probably undrinkable alcoholic liquid. id like it to not use airlock shit because this is just a "quick" experiment

>>1404821
Alright DIY, what do I need to know about cidermaking that is unique to it? Been homebrewing beer in an all-grain set up for about a year, did extract a few times before that.

>>1410988
nothing. cider is just carbonated apple wine. apple juice has less in the way of nutrients for yeast than grape and some other juices, but that's pretty much it.

What's a good way of measuring alcohol content after bottling beer? I realised I forgot to do it before hand and now due to carbonation it is difficult to measure accurately.

>>1411504
>it is difficult to measure accurately.

drink one or two?

>>1411507
I drank 2 but that's not exactly a good starting point for alcohol content. Due to my constant drinking anyway.
Gave 2 to my roommate and he seemed pretty drunk off 2 so it might have a decent strength.

So I've heard of milk stouts, but has anyone around here ever thrown lactose into any other ferment?

after catching a bit of a homebrew bug and realizing that yeast + almost any sugar = alcohol I asked my brother for something that was sweet and would be better with alcohol and he said key lime pie. I found this fascinating, especially because I'd already seen a yeast described as giving graham cracker flavors (Wyeast 4267 Summation, specifically). what do you think of the idea of trying to make a key lime wine with lactose in? terrible idea?

>tfw two thermometers give different temps
Is this why people drop $150 on a thermapen

I'm looking at making some spiced mead. What is some good spices to add to the mixture.

>>1411592

Sounds good to try out.


Personally, I would try:

Maris Otter malt (92%)
Flaked oats (4%)
Flaked wheat (4%)

Hops, I would say citra as first wort hopped. and maybe some for flavouring towards the end of the boil or whirlpooling. Personally, I would try to oxidise some low AA% hops in order to get less aroma and flavours that would take away from the keylime flavour.

Adding in your lactose maybe 20-30g of lactose per litre of beer at about 10 minutes to the end of the boil, or adding it in secondary. (mixed opinions on this)

Then fermenting it out with Wyeast 4267 Summation if you want.

Then rack it to secondary, but rack onto lime juice from squeezed limes or add a lime flavouring to your beer in secondary.

For a medium body or aim to mash higher (66-69 degrees celsius).

Hope that helps. I think your idea can be definitely made!

Bottled dandelion mead

>>1412018
Cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, roots like root beer, licorice, sarsaparilla etc

>>1412018
any mulling spices, in addition to what the other anon said, anise and allspice do well. I made a mead with cinnamon sticks, about 3/4 a whole nutmeg...nut(?) and some cracked whole cloves and allspice. the clove and allspice flavors are a bit overpowering compared to the cinnamon and nutmeg (this was all just in a quart I racked off primary), so if anything balancing whatever spices you use would be the hard part.

>>1412593
>>1412601
Alright I will keep this in mind when I do the brewing. Does the type of honey greatly effect the flavour too?

>>1412612
the type of honey will affect the flavor of the mead, though if you're adding other flavors like spices the nuance of the honey is likely to be lost, or at least lessened. clover honey is relatively neutral if you're worried about the honey flavor clashing with your other ingredients.

>>1405688
Have you tried just perfecting brewing entry level beginner beers before moving onto turbofaggot memeshit?

Does one of these s bubblers, say some yeast, and a juice work for making wine? Ordered distillers yeast and S bubblers, how would I go about this?

>>1412713
you may need a stopper to jam the bubbler into. you might want some extra sugar, but just table sugar would work if you're trying to be minimalist. worst case scenario you'd also need some yeast nutrient to keep them up and running, or an extra long time to wait for them to struggle through the dry times.

How many containers does it take to brew mead at the very minimum? Is one container and then bottles for bottling enough or do you really need a second one the same size as the first?

>>1412928
a second vessel is necessary at least for degassing in my experience, though I got a mead kit and it recommended racking into a sterilized pot, then cleaning the jug included for a fermenter and racking back into it.

>>1412941
>degassing
Does that take a long time or is it just an in and out kind of thing?
Thank you

>>1412944
either or. you can leave it sit for a few months to degass naturally, or you can agitate it a lot to degass it quickly. if you do the latter you should still rack it off the drub layer so you don't just end up mixing it all into suspension.

>>1412955
If I leave it for a few months I will need to cover it, right? Then why would I have to change containers anyway? Couldn't I just let it sit in the first bottle forever?

>>1412959
you don't want it sitting on the trub layer forever or you risk surviving yeasts entering autolysis which can lead to off flavors. most commerical brewing yeasts are fine to sit on for a month or two but it will happen eventually so once your primary ferment is done ad as much as will has fallen out, getting the liquid into a clean container avoids the risk. you also want to take the mead off the yeast so nothing is producing new CO2, otherwise the degassing will just take longer.

>>1412962
Ah, that makes sense. Thank you, anon.

How do I make whisky with reasonable chance for success?
Do I buy a used barrel? I don't really need 60 gallons though
Do I try to build a barrel from a fallen oak?
Do I try to build a barrel from rough cut store bought wood?
Do I just use a big glass bottle and stick a bunch of cut up wood chunks in it?

I'm kind of leaning towards the glass bottle though.
Where do I start? I was thinking of going 1 year, 2 year, and 10 year, making a batch every year.
Is 1 year age a waste of time? I kinda want to get something to drink as soon as possible.

Sorry if my question structure is too retarded

>>1413006
I assume you already have a still, othwerwise you're going to have a long process ahead of you. as for wood, they actually make like wood chips and i've seen these I guess wood flavoring rods specifically for sticking in glass bottles to flavor alcohol. either or would probably be the easy method, though you could get like wood chunks or something for barbecue/grilling so long as you try to sterilize them relatively well.

building a barrel is a long and tedious process, if you have no experience with it I sincerely would not recommend trying it just for liquor's sake. if you go for wood chips or chunks or...flavor dowels you might consider getting a torch and toasting them a bit, as it'll likely kill any surface microbes, and give a little more barrel-aged taste, the interior of barrels is commonly scorched as part of their making, if I remember correctly.

aging your liquor for a year probably wouldn't be a waste, though it would likely be a bit harsh. I aged a mead for two months with wood chips and it definitely affected the flavor. I don't know if it'd end up with what you want in a whiskey, but it'll be different than straight from the still, so it'd at least be worth marking your progress. if you really hate the first taste you can just make it a 5 year batch instead.

>>1407481
Different guy here. Not much longer in the ferment, as far as I know, but I prefer the higher abv taste. You lose a lot of apple flavor unfortunately, however. Also can't find decent-tasting strong ciders in store. See
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/man-i-love-apfelwein.14860/
which is what I started on. Get creative though-- spice extracts can make all the difference, and only require a little grain alcohol to make

>>1413090
Between myself and my two mates, we can get a still going. We have one for purifying water right now, but it's intended for whisky.

I really want the whole feeling of "I made this" and would prefer to use wood from my property.
I plan to split oak logs into small chunks that fit the bottle and then char the shit out of them because I prefer Islay whisky.
Is this OK or will I die from wood-aids?

>>1413100
>will I die from wood-aids?
almost certainly not if you use hardwoods and char them anyway. if your liquor's strong enough it should kill most potential bugs anyway, but fire certainly will. avoid wood rot or mold or anything obviously terrible and worst case scenario it'll taste like you licked a log.

Question. I found a can of liquid malt my father never brewed up. It's "best before" date is 2011. Would any of you take the risk of using it? The can is still sealed and not bulging.

>>1413100
Using oak chunks is different from barrel aging. With barrel aging you have greater oxidation and a larger contact area with the oak. By using large chunks or even smaller barrels you'll probably end up with whiskey that tastes like a lumberyard.

>>1411796
Calibrate using ice water and boiling water

>>1413345
You can generally use old malt extract, but that stuff sounds really old. Chances are very high that it will be completely oxidized after sitting that long. If you have no other choice, then do it, but I would recommend just throwing it out and buying some dry malt extract instead.

Protip, it's super oxidized if you open it up and it's really dark colored.

>>1413423
So I'd be better off with shavings? I can plane the wood to get shavings.
For cuntainer, I have a few old ass 5gal glass water bottles, and I was going to pick up 10 of like 2gal jugs.

>>1413524
No, I was just saying that aging it in a sealed container with oak chips wouldn't get you the same complexity of whiskey aged in a barrel. Also for a 2 gallon yield of moonshine you'd need 8 gallons of wash. Hope you got a secure location and the right equipment.

>>1413620
I got a place to do it, and I'm pretty sure it's legal in my state for personal consumption.
I'm not selling or distributing it.

>>1413100
Is there even such a thing as wood-aids?

>>1413719
you fuck the wrong tree and you'll find out.

>>1413724
Do you mean gay and nigger trees?

why do i keep brewing when i know it's gonna taste like dookie

>>1410700
6lbs of honey? that shit will be like syrup if you dont use a high alcohol content yeast

>>1404821
I've been making cider and wine for over 5 years.

Never tried beer though since it seems a bit complicated.

At one point, I had about 20 bottles fermenting. But right now, I'm down to just one.

Tomorrow I'll be heading down to the store to buy another 10 bottles of juice which should make 20 bottles of cider by mid-August.

I'm thinking of trying distilling too (which is legal in my country).

Ask me anything.

>>1410700
Where's the nutrient schedule?

>>1410584
Immerse them in a bucket of PBW for 24 hours.

>>1414643
What do you think of lagering cider and fermenting it at the low 40's. I heard it preserves some of the more delicate characteristics.

>>1409428
Not mead anymore. Mead is plain honey

>>1414886
It would be Melomel.

Anyone have experience with these minikegs? Most of my kegs are filled with mead and strong beers I'm aging. These seem pretty decent for a good drinking session instead of cracking open a dozen bottles. Only concern is how they dispense beer.

>>1414923
Forgot the image. They're pretty flimsy compared to corny kegs, but they're not as complicated. Plus they're easier than cleaning and filling a dozen bottles.

>>1414824
I've never tried fermenting at low temps. It tends to slow it down quite a lot when the weather gets too cold so I usually place it close to my heater on colder days (electricity is included in my rent).

>>1415037
It's mainly when you're using cider pressed from a nice variety like Northern Spy. It helps preserve the aromatic properties since they aren't pushed out by the Co2 a more vigorous fermentation would generate.

Anyone ever used that magic slav yeast for wine making? Ran out of my usual yeast and have been sitting on my bag for a while so I used some of it to pitch a few jugs of honeywine.

Never actually used anywhere near the amount they say to use to ferment batches in 24 hours but it still finishes fermenting in about 4+1~2 days. There's a noticeable taste difference over the usual sherry yeast though and the final product *never* fully clarifies. Even after complete flocculation, it's still a bit cloudy. Another weird thing is that after the first ferment, there's invariably a bit high concentration of H2S both in the nose and the flavor. This goes away in about 2 days of aeration though.

Overall it's pretty good to have in a pinch. Just have no idea what nutrients are in it to make it affect the final product the way it does.

>>1414616
I started a batch of with 4lbs and 71B yeast. If it gets too dry at 14% abv once it finishes fermenting i will go and backsweeten it with an extra pound.

But yeah 6lbs is an insane amount of honey.

I am brewing a SMaSH riwaka pale ale.

I'm just wondering what the stuff on the bottom specifically is? I am thinking it is proteins caused by the cold break and me pouring some of them into the carboy.

Is there a way to reduce these more, so I get more wort out of the brew?

>>1415372
gelatin

>>1415372
That does indeed look like protein to me. I think technically you're supposed to do a protein rest during the mashing process, but instead what I do is the following.

Move the wort to a 5 gallon plastic bucket while it's cooling down from the boil. I'll let it rest in the bucket for a couple of hours, or even over night, to get the protein to settle down to the bottom, then transfer the remaining wort to the carboy. Top off the carboy with water to bring it up to 5 gallons, aerate, measure gravity, and pitch the yeast.

Interestingly, you can sometimes see this protein in commercial beers that have a higher alcohol content. I see it sometimes in a high abv beer that has been sitting in a refrigerator for a long long time, and it shows up as white, flavorless, specks that float around. It makes the beer look really bad, but it's just flavorless harmless protein that was never filtered out.

>>1415422
i got some harmless protein for you

>>1415425
Thank you. For a very brief moment, I almost thought this was a real discussion. Turns out we're still on 4chan.

Are you the same anon that, several months ago, was talking about adding his own cum to a batch of homebrew? How did it go? Did it get your mom pregnant like you were planning?

>>1415432
yeah im teh cum in ur mum guy

Walking outside now is like stepping into a sauna but at least it's peach season. Peach liqueur so far is coming along well.

Soaked peach slices in 50% alcohol for 2 weeks, just poured off the liquid from that. Now pulling the liquid out of the peaches by coating them in sugar and letting them sit.

A friend of mine gave me a jar of peach moonshine several months ago which I have been trying to replicate. The unsweetened liqueur already tastes good, can only get better from here.

I wish I had taken pictures when I first started, it was very aesthetic. Now the alcohol has pretty much bleached the peach slices.

>>1415372
That reflection. This guy is one bad ass dude.

Also use whirlfloc and a hop filter next time.

>>1415731
>50% alcohol

Try 70% and some oak cubes next time, Peaches.

Is it possible to make an airlock by yourself?

>>1415805
poke holes in a latex balloon. or just make a blowoff tube, get an airtight seal around any simple tubing and stick the other end in a container of water/sanitizer.

the s-shaped airlocks and two-piece bubblers aren't exactly complicated either, I just dunno what you could make them out of that wouldn't just be way too much trouble to go through.

>>1415789


I am not a bad ass :p. I did actually use whirlfloc, maybe not enough.

>>1415800
>oak cubes
What a fucking buyfag. Unless you are autsitic enough to make them into cubes yourself.

>>1415909
I doubt you have French or Hungarian oak,

>>1415914
I've tried about a dozen different hardwoods that grow in my area but now use only the finest faggots of white oak for making my faggot whiskey.
Available now at the nearest Dick's Liquors.

>>1415805
Yeah. I made one by making a hole in a stopper and and put a tube in it that makes a loop.

>more badass reflections

It's just a riwaka smash with some us-05.

How is my fermentation?

>>1416410
seems active.

speaking of active yeasts, has anyone used the imperial A38 "Juice" yeast? I was going to try a cyser with it. I understand it has a habit of climbing the fermenting vessel, so I was gonna give it a blow-off tube, but I'd love to hear from anyone with first hand experience with the stuff before I pitch tomorrow.

>>1416410
r u a slav

>>1416416
I had to put on a blow off tube before. This is also the most active I have US05 too... So I am a little spooked by it.
>>1416432
Nope, can just squat properly

I want to make a cherry wine. I want it to be ready for the holidays, so I want it to have christmas-y spices.
How do I spice a wine, and what spices do you all think would go well with a cherry wine?

I think my mead finished today, it's now about 4 minutes between bubbles. I'm concerned though about how little lees there is at the bottom, it's maybe 1/4" thick. Does that sound right for a traditional mead? I can't do a SG reading right now but will tomorrow when I rack it over for aging.

>>1417576
cold crashing works on meads just as well as for beers. how thick the cake at the bottom should be will depend on your yeast as much as your brew. I've brewed ciders and meads with maybe 1/4inch sediment, then I used a different yeast and the cake at the bottom was at least an inch thick.

I have a pound of honey taking up space that I'll probably never use., what's the tastiest mead recipe I can make?

I added too much sugar relative to what I actually got out of racking from my fermenter into the bottling bucket. The beer conditioned for 5 days, I popped a flip-top today and it sounded like a gun, so I got scared of bottle bombs. Ended up cracking all of the bottles in the sink, it was a mini-batch so there were only 10 of them left. I let them sit for a few minutes then recapped them. Is this good enough for venting or do I need to repeat this process to prevent an explosion?

>>1417802
You will almost certainly have to vent them at least once or twice more.

Next time, just let it all sit in the carboy longer and avoid and fear of bottle bombs. Mead takes a really long time to ferment.

>>1417821
it's not mead and it was at terminal gravity for a few days. i'm wondering why, if it already carbonated a bunch, there would be much sugar left to pressurize it to dangerous levels again.

>>1417823
Hmmm. Most people actually add more sugar at the end to carbonate the beer in the bottle. If you're bottles were getting ready to blow, you either added too much priming sugar, or the beer wasn't at it's terminal gravity after all.

What was your initial gravity, final gravity, and yeast strain?

>>1418045
Did you read the post man?
I know what went wrong, I just need to know how to handle it so I don't hurt someone. Came home from lunch today and the fliptops are still ballistic, the bottles not so much. I'm gonna let them sit vented for an hour and recap and hope that's the end of it

How do you guys go about making rhibarb wine? I found a recipe (I'm planning on making 5 gallons) online that says you should just juice the rhubarb and ferment the juice and another that calls for leaving the fruit in the wine.

What is the best way to start and how much sugar should I add? Should I add all the sugar before I strain it?

>>1417664
I am not that experienced, but I think it takes about 2-3 pounds of honey for a decent alcohol percentage, so your probably going to have to get more.

>>1417664
>>1418475
That's if your planning on making a gallon I mean.

>>1418478
a pound would make a decent half-gallon batch though.

I just bottled a fake gose and added lactic acid. Yesterday when bottling and adding lactic acid it tasted great. Today it tastes pretty vinegar-y and has this weird petrol-ish off taste.

Did I get too much oxygen when bottling? Will the petrol taste reduce once it gets properly carbonated in a week or so after bottle conditioning and getting the brewing sugar turned into alcohol? It should be said I moved it from around 19C to 23C when bottling. It's an S-05 yeast.

Cold crashed my first mead, it's been 24 hours and it isn't at all clear yet. Should I be worried or does it take time?

>>1419506
it really shouldn't take longer than a day, maybe give it a second, but you'll probably need something for fining if it's not falling out after a day in the cold.

>>1416416
this guy again. I've made cider, mead and wine, never beer, and therefore I don't really have a lot of protein or anything to form a head in my brew. this shit makes its own bubbles, just in case anyone was wondering. the head on my jug has aggressively invaded my blow-off tube, and it's leaving little bits behind (kinda hard to see in pic related, but there's equal parts foam and yeast chunks in there). should I be considering cleaning/changing out the tube at any point or is this just a matter for cleaning up after the brewing is over?

>>1414923
>>1414939
I second this question. They'd be great to give to friends.

>>1419705
Switch out the airlock and tube after vigorous fermentation is over.

>>1420051
Brewed a summer ale with it and it's decent enough for typical beer you don't plan on aging. Only complaint about it is that the dispensing tube could be better, but for $20 it's decent enough.

Reposting this.
About two weeks ago I filled this 64oz jar with about 1.5lbs of honey mixed with water, and a fuck ton of sugar. I was a complete imbecile and had to go somewhere and I threw in like a teaspoon of yeast with no idea how much I was supposed to put in there. Slapped on a balloon as airlock and it's been this exact size for a week. Is it deaded?

>>1420533
Well, if the balloon is inflated then something happened, but I think that you put in way to much sugar and honey. You only need like 3 lbs of honey for a gallon, so you shouldn't have put in "a fuck ton" of sugar. Even if you get something drinkable the taste is going to be way off. Did you make sure to sanitize?

>>1420595
Sanitized I did indeed, and actually I just taste tested it, tastes mild but overall decent, gonna add 1/2 a teaspoon more yeast and wait a week. Thanks

>>1420533
You need to add some yeast nutrient since honey lacks the nutrients to perform a healthy fermentation.

How much harder is it to make wine from juice as opposed to a kit
t. kitpleb

>>1423257
not at all? what did your kit come with? concentrate? you just need the same end volume of liquid, only juice instead of concentrate and water.

>>1419705
I would leave it alone unless it blocks off.

>>1420533
Throw in the juice from a lemon or you will have to wait historical mead times of 6 months+ to drink that.

>>1423277
I always get the kits that comes with the concentrate and the chemical powders. If I got fresh juice how is it different other than having to measure my own chemicals and maybe adding sugar

>>1423379
it's not. wine making is piss easy.

I guess if you want to use really eclectic juice it can be harder, things lime citrus juice might be too acidic for the yeast so you'll need chemicals to balance it out, but grape juice is super easy, and things like apple, pear, peach, at worst you need to add yeast nutrient, mostly for the nitrogen.

>>1423481
Thanks. I think I'll use fresh juice for my next batch. Got some kit juice in the fermenter just now

Any fruit wine recipes you guys like?

>>1416791
Cloves or nutmeg would probably go with it

I don't know if this is the right place but I'm trying to ferment some kefir. I got some grains in the mail 2 days ago and am currently making a second batch (I strained then dumped the first one since I've read that the first one may be off). This batch has been fermenting for about 18 hours but I haven't noticed any differences in thickness. The milk smells faintly like yeast and some white clumps are forming on the surface (99% sure these aren't grains). Is this normal or are my grains ded? Using 2% milk for both batches.

I got a few questions for you guys but I think I should leave a little background info as it seems prudent. I am making a hard cider, three and a half gallons of apple juice, a half gallon of water, and ~13 cups of sugar. Say what you will, I wanted to make something and I happened to have some extra apple juice laying around. I used Red Star Premier Blanc yeast because I wanted it to have a higher alcohol content and be on the dryer side. Now that you guys have some background on what it is I have going I suppose it's time for my questions.
1) Based on what I've given you how long do you think it will be till most of the sugars have been eaten?
2) I'd like it to be sparkling or at least bottle conditioned but I am concerned with it becoming overpressurized and having a failure. Would regular bottle caps be enough to hold the pressure? I was thinking 200 grams of sugar thrown into the mix before bottling would be a good amount (Please remember that I'm using champagne yeast and it will be able to eat more sugar than other yeasts)
3) I forgot to do a reading on my hydrometer and I was wondering if one of you guys would be willing or able to run me out a rough estimate on the starting gravity?

>>1425082
>1) Based on what I've given you how long do you think it will be till most of the sugars have been eaten?
I'd give it a week, maybe two? I had a 5 gallon batch finish in a week with cider yeast, I'd expect champaign to be a bit more aggressive.
2) I'd like it to be sparkling or at least bottle conditioned but I am concerned with it becoming overpressurized and having a failure. Would regular bottle caps be enough to hold the pressure? I was thinking 200 grams of sugar thrown into the mix before bottling would be a good amount (Please remember that I'm using champagne yeast and it will be able to eat more sugar than other yeasts)
I've only bottle conditioned with priming sugar (or more accurately, carbonation drops) in the bottles themselves, never in the bucket. I used 5g per 12oz. bottle and had no issue with pressure. you can extrapolate that to your volume as you please. My understanding is it tends to be the glass, not the caps, that goes if you have to much pressure. as far as champaigne eating more sugar than other yeasts, that shouldn't matter when you go to bottle unless your yeast is still working when you bottle it. if yeast A can only ferment to a certain gravity, and yeast be can ferment to a lower gravity, adding the same amount of sugar to either once dry will raise the gravity by the same amount, and both yeasts will be able to ferment down the same amount of sugar.
3) I forgot to do a reading on my hydrometer and I was wondering if one of you guys would be willing or able to run me out a rough estimate on the starting gravity?
I'm not well versed enough to even try this, but I would say measuring your sugar by weight instead of volume would make back calculations (and consistent results) easier in the future.

>>1425082
>1) Based on what I've given you how long do you think it will be till most of the sugars have been eaten?
I'd give it a week, maybe two? I had a 5 gallon batch finish in a week with cider yeast, I'd expect champaign to be a bit more aggressive.
>2) I'd like it to be sparkling or at least bottle conditioned but I am concerned with it becoming overpressurized and having a failure. Would regular bottle caps be enough to hold the pressure? I was thinking 200 grams of sugar thrown into the mix before bottling would be a good amount (Please remember that I'm using champagne yeast and it will be able to eat more sugar than other yeasts)
I've only bottle conditioned with priming sugar (or more accurately, carbonation drops) in the bottles themselves, never in the bucket. I used 5g per 12oz. bottle and had no issue with pressure. you can extrapolate that to your volume as you please. My understanding is it tends to be the glass, not the caps, that goes if you have to much pressure. as far as champaigne eating more sugar than other yeasts, that shouldn't matter when you go to bottle unless your yeast is still working when you bottle it. if yeast A can only ferment to a certain gravity, and yeast be can ferment to a lower gravity, adding the same amount of sugar to either once dry will raise the gravity by the same amount, and both yeasts will be able to ferment down the same amount of sugar.
>3) I forgot to do a reading on my hydrometer and I was wondering if one of you guys would be willing or able to run me out a rough estimate on the starting gravity?
I'm not well versed enough to even try this, but I would say measuring your sugar by weight instead of volume would make back calculations (and consistent results) easier in the future.

I was thinking about distilling some of the fruit wines I make. I have access to gas chromatography to see what compounds are present. Is there guidelines for safe ratios of ethanol to methanol and other compound you don't want before starting distillation?

>>1425210
i hope for your lab's sake you're not going to direct inject your bootleg liquor

>>1425092
>I'm not well versed enough to even try this, but I would say measuring your sugar by weight instead of volume would make back calculations (and consistent results) easier in the future.
Roughly 4.5 or 5 lbs of sugar. It was right around 11 cups.
>>1425210
Here's a link to some info on distillation
>image related

>>1425472
Forgot the link.
https://www.clawhammersupply.com/blogs/moonshine-still-blog/12206385-making-moonshine-the-dummies-guide

>>1425210
One more for you.
https://www.clawhammersupply.com/blogs/moonshine-still-blog/7207958-methanol-will-moonshine-make-you-blind

Specifically in the article
>How to Remove Methanol from Moonshine
>One way to determine the presence of methanol is to monitor still temperature. If anything is produced by the still before wash temperature reaches 174 degrees, it's methanol. Discard it. Again, methanol boils at a lower temperature than ethanol and will concentrate at the beginning of distillation runs. Additionally, experienced distillers have determined that simply discarding a standard amount per batch, based on batch size, is enough to keep things safe. The rule of thumb is to discard 1/3 of a pint jar for every 5 gallons of wash being distilled.

A lot of fucking noobs giving advice in this thread.

Don't listen to any of them. I've been brewing for 7 years and a lot of people itt are full of shit.

>>1425480
Would you be able to give me a rough gravity from three and a half gallons of apple juice, a half gallon of water and five pounds of sugar?

hey lads, just wondering if this general brews only alcohol or is this is a proper place to discuss brewing and fermenting tea?

>>1425758
i don't give a HECK

Cold crashed my mead, transferred it from a 1 gallon carboy to another one and filled the remaining space while it was still cold. It expanded a fair bit up into the airlock after it warmed up, is that normal for the temperature change or is my mead magically expanding?

So I roughed out my starting gravity, approximately 1.2174. Using Red Star Premier Blanc is there a way to get an idea of what the final abv will be?
>>1426531
Filled it with what? More honey? Water?

Accidentally made a thread on /ck/ before i knew that i could find this thread here, so i am just going to post the OP.

Alright, so, i picked a decent amount of cherries today and wanted to brew them, so i stopped the store and picked up some basic equipment for it.
It's my first time trying brewing but i got a couple of problems.
#1, I got a airlock and a cap for the airlock, the problem is that the airlock cap is too big for the jug i got - this leaves me with the option of a few holes in some foil, a balloon or somehow try to duct tape (with maybe some cotton balls as filler) the cap unto the jug.

#2, I ain't got one of those sugar measuring things, instead i simply dumped about three cups of sugar into it. It's about a gallon worth of liquid with about 1/4th of that being mashed cherry pulp and juice, as well as two chopped and mashed apples. Does that sound reasonable?


#3 A lot of the recipes i read online calls for waiting a day before adding the yeast, why? Is this necessary?

What the the chances of this failing completely?

>>1427011
Assuming it gets down to around 1.040, you're looking at around 25% ABV.

Google Dave's dreaded actual specific gravity calculator and run it with a couple of different temperatures and final gravities to get a better estimate.

>>1427097
I should add, if you're going to do super high abv like that, you are better off starting with a more reasonable gravity, like 1.15 or so, letting it ferment once, then adding the rest of the fermentables after a week or two. Too much gravity up front will damage the yeast, and you risk not being able to ferment to completion.

>>1427080
>#1, I got a airlock and a cap for the airlock, the problem is that the airlock cap is too big for the jug i got - this leaves me with the option of a few holes in some foil, a balloon or somehow try to duct tape (with maybe some cotton balls as filler) the cap unto the jug.either cover with foil and just assume it'll be loose enough for air to get through, holes in foil would be a worse airlock. depending on the specific shape of your stopper, trying to seal it, or using a balloon would probably be your best solution.
>#2, I ain't got one of those sugar measuring things, instead i simply dumped about three cups of sugar into it. It's about a gallon worth of liquid with about 1/4th of that being mashed cherry pulp and juice, as well as two chopped and mashed apples. Does that sound reasonable?
measuring sugar by weight would be more accurate, but that's probably fine. may end up a bit strong and/or sweet with that amount of sugar.
>#3 A lot of the recipes i read online calls for waiting a day before adding the yeast, why? Is this necessary?
do they also throw in a campden tablet? if you're using fresh fruits you probably should to kill off any wild microbes. waiting a day ensures you don't also kill your yeast. otherwise, I can't imaging what benefit just leaving it sit would give you.
>What the the chances of this failing completely?
There'll always be a chance, and imperfections will increase it. ensuring a good airlock is really important for early fermentation to avoid infection, so whatever you do make sure you have a good seal on that thing when you get going. my understanding is that fruit and things are better added during secondary than primary fermentation, so the yeast don't yeast at them and potentially alter their flavors. for the cherries you juiced including the pulp is fine, but if you're adding the apples for anything other than body you might hold off until later on a second try.

>>1427011
Filled with aquarium marbles, sorry. No changes to the mead

>>1427108
Thank you for the advice. In this situation, how well would the balloon technique work(of course with proper sanitation, just like everything else)? Since i doubt i will be able to seal the cap properly, and i don't have my car tomorrow to get a new cap.

How little can you go in a partial boil? I am about to buy a beginners beer kit to make 20 lts / 5gal of beer, but I dont want to spend money in a large kettle. I have two 10lts/2.5gal kettles. Can I boil the broth with half of the water and then add the other half? or is better to use the 2 kettles at the same time spliting everything in halves?

>>1427120
poke a couple holes in the balloon with a straight pin and stretch it over the mouth of whatever jug or bottle or whatever you're using for a fermenter.

the holes might not be entirely necessary, but should keep the overall pressure down, so you won't have to worry about degassing or anything so much.

>>1427124
Best setup for you sounds like you should boil 1.5 gallons of water in each pot, split up the extract between the two pots (which will bring the level of each pot over the 2 gallon mark), and when you're done with the boil, mix them together in the fermenter, then add some super cold water to bring the total volume up to 5 gallons. Adding cold water after the boil acts as a "cold break" which helps to drop particulates out of the wort. It also adds some dissolved oxygen back to the wort, which will help your yeast start working faster. Don't be afraid to stir the shit out of the wort when it is room temperature to add even more oxygen.

Of course, for sanitization sake, the best route is to boil a couple of gallons of water the day before, then let it cool down to near freezing over night, then use this cold, sanitized water to top off your batch. That way, you are only adding sanitized water after the boil, which keeps the risk of bacteria down. You don't have to boil the water first, but it is recommended.

>>1427222
Ohh ok thanks man. About the water, my tap water have chlorine and I thought that the best thing was to buy some bottled water but there is different types. I should buy any one in particular?

>>1427252
Tap water is fine if you boil it first.

If you buy water, you can use any kind except for distilled water.

I want to try making mead, but I'm fucking clueless.
Are there any good mead kits, or can someone just recommend an Amazon list of stuff I can order to get going? Also, is the whole sterilization wash thing really necessary? Can't I just throw some alcohol into the jug and shake it around for a bit before starting the fermentation?

>>1427308
>Can't I just throw some alcohol into the jug and shake it around for a bit before starting the fermentation?

You'd need to fill the jug up completely and wait half an hour to sterilize it with alcohol. You'd be better off just using star san considering you're working with $50 worth of honey.

>>1427317
>You'd need to fill the jug up completely and wait half an hour to sterilize it with alcohol
What the fuck, seriously? How did they sanitize their shit in ye olden days?

>>1407369
NO it will leak and be a fire hazard. use a flare fitting for that connection!

>>1427308
>gallon jug of water
>pack of balloons
>1-3lb of honey
>1 packet of yeast
pour out an amount of water to accomodate honey in bottle. pour honey into water. shake vigorously to mix and aerate. add yeast, put balloon over mouth of bottle. poke holes in bottle with straight pin to relieve some pressure. if you just want to do it and don't want any particular equipment that's literally all you need.

I was given the mighty mead kit by barrel brew as a gift. it's enough for a half-gallon batch with a glass jug, airlock and siphon hose. It's a decent starter kit, but it's a brown glass growler and I find a clear fermenter a littler nicer to check on how much activity's going on in the brew, beyond just watching the airlock.

>>1427338
>How did they sanitize their shit in ye olden days?
they either boiled everything or they didn't. wild yeast was how ye olde fermentation worked.

>>1427355
You have to rehydrate dried yeast, otherwise half of them die.

>>1427360
if you have a packet sufficient to inoculate 5 gallons and throw it into one gallon of must, they'll probably do fine

>>1427366
Probably, but do you want dead yeast contributing off flavors to your mead?

>>1427368
dead yeast aren't going to contribute off flavors just by being present. most of the trube is dead yeast.

>>1427370
>dead yeast aren't going to contribute off flavors just by being present

I tasted plenty of beers and meads in competitions with detectable autolysed yeast flavors. You don't want 10 billion yeast rupturing and spilling out their insides before fermentation even starts.

So, I am about to buy my first kit, pic related. The kit have:
-27 lt / 5 gal fermetator
-Hammer bottle capper
-100 crown caps
-Densimeter
-Glass termometer
-Airlock
-Brewing bag
-A recipe (blonde, red or brown, at election).
And I am adding a bottle filler.

Do I need anything else? Maybe a sanatizer? I am going to use comercial beer bottles.
Any recomendation for my first batch is apreciated. Is there any good site that can help me step up my homebrew beer game? I am interested in learn about diferent processes, techniques, recipes, etc.

>>1427499

yes, you will need a sanitiser.

You will need some kind of sugar for carbonation for when you are bottling your beer.

>>1427499
if the bottle filler doesn't come with it you'll probably want some kind of siphon hose. plugging the filler into the tap seems like it would be awkward, at best.

definitely get some sanitizer, star san is fucking magical. you might want to get a spray bottle if you don't have one, just from the hardware store, or maybe garden supply. quick application of sanitizer in an obsessive manner will keep your brew from turning on you.

>>1427501
>You will need some kind of sugar for carbonation for when you are bottling your beer.
I think that the recipe came with everything that I need. I going to ask about ir anyways

>>1427505
>plugging the filler into the tap seems like it would be awkward, at best.
Good point.

>you might want to get a spray bottle if you don't have one, just from the hardware store, or maybe garden supply. quick application of sanitizer in an obsessive manner will keep your brew from turning on you
Didnt understand what you are trying to say here

Thanks guise.

>>1427513
>Didnt understand what you are trying to say here
spray bottles make it easier to apply sanitizer to surfaces. it's easier to spray the surface of a bucket instead of putting 5 gallons in to coat the inside.

>>1427516
Ohh I see. Thats a good one. Thanks! Any good site to check out?

>>1405098
Yeah. You should have used glass.

>>1427513
>>1427516
spray bottles are also useful for just trying to sanitize everything. didn't throw your hydrometer in with the rest of your equipment to sanitize it? spray a bitch. your yeast came in a packet with no easy open? spray the bag, spray the scissors, everything's sanitary when you dump it out. Take the lid/stopper/anything off the fermenter and set it down? spray it before putting it back, no worries about what's growing on your work surface.

>>1427548
I will spray the shit out of everything then. Any good homemade sanatizer? I am already way out of my budget and anything homebrew related is overpriced as fuck just because de trend.

Also, is a bad a idea to reuse caps (sanatizing them before use obviously)? Is even posible?

>>1427557
homemade sanitizer? you could use bleach and rinse the fuck out of it, but could potentially reintroduce bacteria. just spring for the star san, an 8 oz bottle will last a long time. you'll waste a lot of time and money if you try to cut corners on the sanitation end.
caps can be recrimped if you didn't bend them too much when opening.

I'm a person that's just getting into home-brewing and I have a simple question.
Is it possible to technically make wine out of anything as long as you add enough sugar to compensate for the lack of sugar from what you're making the wine out of? Sorry if this is a stupid question.

>>1427634
yeah, basically. anything with sugar in it will ferment. I saw a video on making coffee wine.

that said, not everything will make good wine. I made some out of left over pineapple and apple juice and six months plus some backsweetening later it is still incredibly astringent. I blame the pineapple.

>>1427634
In theory yes.
A lot of things are just not worth to turn into wine as they taste like utter shit or need some special yeasts/amendments to turn into something "useable".

>>1427635
>>1427636
Thank you. I may or may not try to make some creations that have never been thought of now.

>>1427499
Well, fuck me, my starter kit will come with a full grain recipe. I choose the "Southern Black Beer", whateber it means. It includes:
-Pilsen Malt: 4kg
-*Caramel Malt 120°L: 300gr
-*Chocolat Malt: 200gr
-*Toasted Barley: 200gr
-Cascade hops: 10gr
-irish moss: 5gr
-Ale yest: 10gr

DI: 1045-1055
DF: 1010-1015
%: 5% alc. vol.

Any clue about what type of beer will come of?
also, *=not ground. How can I ground it? Maybe a blender?
Idk why, but I am happy to know that I will start with a full grain recipe, It feels more artisanal.

>>1427641
>Any clue about what type of beer will come of?
not actually much experience brewing beer, but with caramel and chocolate malts, I would think something dark and earthy. not actually sure what flavors irish moss adds, though i've seen it in my local brew store.
>How can I ground it?
I would try a food processor before a blender, just because the carafe probably won't do you any favors to keep the grind even. pulse it and be gentle. you might try contacting wherever you're ordering from and see if they have any kind of service like pre-grinding and vacuum sealing for their kits, not every home brewer has a grain mill even if they want to use whole grain.

>>1427638
I guess there isn't much left that would taste well and was never tried before.
water + sugar + yeast = fermentation leading to alcohol.That's why mead was the most popular alcohol back in the days.

Enjoy playing around with it.

>>1427648
>I guess there isn't much left that would taste well and was never tried before.
maybe in broad strokes, but as cuisine and confections come up with new ideas so to0 can fermenting. One thing I really wanted to try, maybe around halloween is buy some big bags of jolly ranchers, split them by flavor and dissolve the candies in water, then see if I can ferment the resulting sugar water. could probably do the same with kool aide or something similar for a little less work, but I imagine hard candies are closer to pure sugar, with less starches and anti-caking agents.

I also had the idea to combine a bochet and cyser by putting cooked honey in apple juice to ferment. maybe not completely original, but I'd not heard of it, and the idea of fermenting a toffee apple tickled me.

>>1427098
Think if I threw a big enough pitch, two or three times the original, I could hit the 28% abv possibly? Should I hit it with another half gallon of apple juice with the premier blanc but 15 grams of it instead of the five grams that come in the one pack? Will that be enough to finish it out to the 28% or so?

>>1427110
Why are you putting marbles in your mead?>>1427664
I forgot the trip for my post.

>>1427666
He probably didn't make enough mead to fill his container and is using the marbles to displace the water enough to remove air.

Not much of a brew but I'm steeping some aquavit

>>1427676
You lost me. Why would you remove air volume?

>>1427761
generally to minimize the possibility of oxidation. if you fill to the neck of your bottler or jug or whatever you have the minimum surface area exposed to the air.

>>1427657
I don't want to crush your enthusiasm, but what you talk about is pretty much any kind of bored people wine (conscripts, navy, prisoners) where you just ferment anything you can get, even if it tastes like shit it's better than no alcohol and the second one is a textbook flavored mead.

Fermenting is pretty much like brewing soup stock, there's almost endless variety but the round tasting stocks are known and pretty much set in stone with some leeway to spice them.

I totally hope you will experiment but don't expect too much. Chances are high that you will get ok to drink wine but most of it will taste like ass.

I wonder what fermented sugar water stills out to taste like. Anyone have any experience with hooch?

>>1427879
Nevermind about that, I looked it up. Apparently finnish punks drink this shit a lot (fermented sugar water). Shit's just ethanol taste when stilled out.

>>1427879
somewhere in the neighborhood of jet fuel.

>>1427893
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonshine_by_country#Finland

>>1427893
This is the shit consumed by the punk snow elves.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilju

>>1410484
> You'd be amazed how far $12 in tacos will go if you play your cards right.
Lel. I'd have bitches buying me tacos and beer in order to fuck me. Get gud, scrub

>>1427664
Adding extra yeast will definitely help, but also choosing the best yeast strain will help. A lot of high abv stuff uses a "finishing yeast" that can withstand higher alcohol levels and can eat more complex sugars. If you add a champagne yeast well after the primary fermentation, then that second yeast strain will clean up what the first strain left behind. I would recommend going for it with double yeast, then adding two packets of champagne yeast later in the ferment process, then letting it sit for an extra month or two. You can do it, but it's going to take a while.

>>1427974
I started with premier blanc as my initial yeast. I was thinking more about taking three packets of it and a half gallon of warmed up apple juice dumped into it to really bolster the yeast against the high abv and force it to really eat up the sugars maximizing the abv.

What is a good yeast for mead?

I used bread yeast for my first batch, which tastes the best, but it's too dry for me. I used Lavlin D-47 for my next 3 batches, but all 3 still taste dry, though one is extremely sweet and you can almost feel the honey from the back sweetening since I added too much, but the others are dry.

Additionally, would a cherry and cinnamon mead be a good combo?

>>1427644
irish moss isn't for flavour, its a fining agent that you add to make yeast and trub fall out of suspension and improve clarity

>>1428021
Lalvin 71B is probably the best.

How do you determine how much sugar you add when making a wine?

>>1428363
Depends on your tastes to be honest if you are just making it yourself. If you are following a recipe then it speaks for itself. The other factor there is whether you are going to back sweeten it, if it is supposed to be dry, the yeast you are using, and how much alcohol you are looking to get.

Is there any difference between a aluminium pot and a stainless steel one for brewing beer?

>>1427983
You can't really prepare a yeast culture for high ABV. The best you can do is develop a really healthy culture with a starter at about 1.040, then dump it in to a high gravity solution and count on the fact that you started with a large amount of optimally healthy yeast.

Again though, a good way to bring the gravity down lower at the end of fermentation is to use a *different* strain of yeast. Different strains are better at eating different things out of the solution. The second strain will be able to clean up some of the things that the first strain couldn't get. If your first fermentation ends at 1.050 or 1.040, you may still be able to bring it down another 10 points or more.

>>1428426
Stainless steel is by far the superior choice. Your pot is the one piece of equipment you don't want to skimp on. Get a thick one with a thermometer and ball lock valve and your brew day will be so much easier.

>>1428616
>Stainless steel is by far the superior choice
Can you share the pros and cons?

>>1428622
Aluminum is more malleable and I think the pots are thinner, so you're more likely to burn wort when boiling. There are probably other advantages to steel that I don't know off the top of my head.

>>1428622
304 stainless steel is the standard in brewing. All the major cleaners and sanitizers are designed around steel. In general stainless also tends to weather time a whole lot better. You also have to be careful with acids when brewing with aluminum which means no souring in the kettle.

>>1428600
I got a buddy who bought into a brewery and helped get it started told me that with a big enough pitch as well as adding more fermentables you can brew to pretty high abvs. He said that's how beers like the hgih ABV Brewmiesters beers are made.

>>1428670
I got a buddy who's WLP001 and helped brew a Brut IPA. He told me that by oxygenating the wort and using amyloglucosidase you can hit 0° Plato.

>>1428670
>>1428724
Not saying it can't be done, just saying it takes a lot of yeast and time.

I've got a mead in the secondary now that has gone from 1.160 or so down to a very crisp 0.992 gravity. That's around 13% ABV and a specific gravity of less than water. All it took was 2 packets of dry Cuvee yeast and 3 months of waiting.

The higher the OG, the more yeast you are going to need though, and previous anon was saying his OG is well over 1.2. A commen method for dealing with that much fermentible is to start with a gravity in the 1.1xx range, let the yeast eat through a bunch of it, then add more fermentables a week later and let the yeast work through it again. If you start with a super high gravity, the yeast can literally be shocked to death by the over-abundance of food.

Maybe a good analogy would be to imagine yourself stuck in a giant swimming pool full of water or a giant swimming pool full of coca cola. Which one would you survive longer in? Now imagine it was a giant pool of coca cola syrup. The more concentrated the coke becomes, the less likely you will be able to survive for long.

Do I pitch a starter with all the liquid or just the yeast layer?

>>1428724
>amyloglucosidase
What do you mean by 0 Plato?
>I don't know the alt+ code for degree
>I am also Strelok but forgot to turn off my /pol/ trip
>>1428732
Coke is gross Pepsi all the way.

>>1429229
decant off the beer to 50-100 mL left and mix it up and pitch that.
although it probably doesn't matter if you made your starter with light malt extract.

>>1429248
>amyloglucosidase

It's an enzyme that breaks down more complex starches to glucose.

0° Plato would be a SG of 1.00 which is the same as water. This means pretty much all the fermentables have been converted to alcohol and you have a bone dry beer.

>>1429256

Took this a few hours ago. I would assume decant a little bit of it and try not to get as much trub as possible into the wort when pitching it.

Hey guise, anyone could handle some pdf about brewing beer? Or any book recomendation on the subjet?

>>1429321
stick it in the fridge overnight and let the yeast settle to the bottom
then decant the top layer off
or just pitch the whole thing if you dgaf

>>1429436
how to brew by john palmer is what everyone usually recommends
if you like more pictures, the big book of homebrewing by brew your own is good too, and comes with a shitload of clone recipes.

Can you make beer from flour?

>>1428021
EC-1118

>>1429672
I'm pretty sure you can't, except maybe by incorporating some kind of enzyme to break down the starches into fermentable sugars. I also imagine the end result would taste like bad bread to boot, so I don't know that you'd even want to.

>>1429683
I don't have grain

>>1429685
get grain then
flour isn't malted, there won't be enzymes to convert the sugars to something fermentable

alright, so i got my first gallon of wine brewing, and it's gone five days.

the second day it bubbled away like mad, but ever since then it's been bubbling less and less, and now it's bubbling very little, but it's supposed to take 2-3 weeks.

has something gone wrong and it's dead?
do i add more sugar to get it a'brewing again?
is is simply supposed to taper of quite severely after the first couple of days?

>>1430025
if it's bubbling, it's not dead. are you brewing in a bucket or a bottle? if you can see the liquid itself look at whether it's actually got little CO2 bubbles rising in it, or give the bottle a shake and see if it livens up for a moment.

the yeast will settle, the sugars will find equilibrium in the liquid and unless it's completely flat it's still fermenting.

>>1430028
the surface is pretty much completely foamless, but after giving it a gentle shake so does it audibly fizz and a couple of bubbles rush up, so it still got some life left i guess.

i just hope it won't die out completely before it's done.
also, when it is done, can i filter it with a cheesecloth or will that bring along dead yeast aswell? is siphoning simply better?

>>1430063
wine generally doesn't retain a foam, the only reason beer does is because of the gluten. you should be more mindful of just tiny bubbles breaking the surface.

>>1430025
The second and third day are called Sturm Gärung (storm fermentation).
>that's why very young wine in austria is called "Sturm", it just went trough that phase.
That's where your stuff is foaming and bubbling like mad and overall going crazy. After that it settles down and almost all fermentation is done in 7-14 days max.
Check your recipe, it might call for a second fermentations else slowing down after 5 days is completely normal.

>>1407564
Scaling this up to 5 gal this weekend

>>1430220
>almost all fermentation is done in 7-14 days max.
isn't this somewhat dependant on the specific yeast strain? I pitched an ultra high gravity ale yeast into some mead must on the 1st and it's still bubbling pretty steadily. I intend to put it in a secondary by the end of the month, but at the rate it's going it might not even be done by then.

>>1430237
Absolutely and depending on the kind of gravity you had. But for most wine (typical wine yeast and no additional sugar) you're done in 14 days max, not counting resting days.
It will slow down within 5-7 days and at least for a new brewer look like "it stoped" compared to the first 3 days.

There's a world of difference between a seasoned brewer using special yeast on a pinpoint mash and a new brewer doing it's first batch
>I put my money on a standard bread yeast or entry level wine yeast without extras like "yeast feed"
So 14 days, 10-12% ABV max is imo a solid guess even if he uses as kit.

>>1430025
>the second day it bubbled away like mad, but ever since then it's been bubbling less and less, and now it's bubbling very little
Yeah that's completely normal senpai, the fermentation rate usually peaks after 2-3 days.