Home brewing thread anyone?

[djlew]

I am bottling again, 32 bottles per batch. The cleaning and filling takes a long time, but I enjoy pouring it into my extra large mug.

You won't hear me argue with that! I totally get it.

 

[Whitenuckler]

Sounds great. I wish I could taste it. I still don't have my 8l oxebars as they are on order. I have started a plan to use the blue sodastream CO2 bottles with my basic regulator I am using for the 16g CO2. I have the top valve for the soda stream and it has a 1/8 NPT. Then my regulator takes 3/8-24. I actually found a brass fitting as a union as have it ordered. I have an extra CO2 line ect. I need to go to my Home Hardware with the top adapter and test the fit. They have knock off brand there which is cheaper than sodastream. I am bottling again, 32 bottles per batch. The cleaning and filling takes a long time, but I enjoy pouring it into my extra large mug.

I am making progress. More parts arrived. I went to the local hardware store and test fitted my adapter on an empty one they had. It fit and I bought one. Now that I have one, I can exchange it for about half the price of a new one. If it all works out I'll buy another one. I decided to add my manual trigger in series so I don't have to play with the regulator knob. The plan is to trigger a pour, and then put the whole think back in the fridge with the keg. I will be able to test it with 4l oxebars. When I get my 8l ones this spring, I may need a new fridge that I can drill holes in and have 3 in there.

 

[Whitenuckler]

I am making progress. More parts arrived. I went to the local hardware store and test fitted my adapter on an empty one they had. It fit and I bought one. Now that I have one, I can exchange it for about half the price of a new one. If it all works out I'll buy another one. I decided to add my manual trigger in series so I don't have to play with the regulator knob. The plan is to trigger a pour, and then put the whole think back in the fridge with the keg. I will be able to test it with 4l oxebars. When I get my 8l ones this spring, I may need a new fridge that I can drill holes in and have 3 in there.

This would make a plumber and gas fitter proud. All I do is disconnect the CO2 from the tapping head, and stick the keg in the fridge. I am burning it seems like two bags a day during this cold snap, but the basements at 73F, and I have a porch facing south with infrared heaters. Too cold to go for a hike though, as it's a nasty wind chill like -30C. Snow storm on the way.

 

[djlew]

I like what I see! Hope you fared OK in the storm. We got hit with about 10 inches of snow.

My wheat ale has been kegged and man... what a difference. So much less work, more control, easy cleanup. had the keg filled with sanitizer, pushed it out with co2 into a bucket, used the bucket for odds and ends to sanitize, beer right into the keg, purged co2, set and forget... done. Should be carbed in a couple days. It was good, because I got to test out the picnic tap and all the goodies and they work great.

I just need to make the lemonade and mix at serving. I am really going for a clone of this delicious radler - Bitburger radler. Low ABV, refreshing. If the wheat is good on its own, that becomes my new wheat base for all of my fruited ales.

 

[Whitenuckler]

I like what I see! Hope you fared OK in the storm. We got hit with about 10 inches of snow.

My wheat ale has been kegged and man... what a difference. So much less work, more control, easy cleanup. had the keg filled with sanitizer, pushed it out with co2 into a bucket, used the bucket for odds and ends to sanitize, beer right into the keg, purged co2, set and forget... done. Should be carbed in a couple days. It was good, because I got to test out the picnic tap and all the goodies and they work great.

I just need to make the lemonade and mix at serving. I am really going for a clone of this delicious radler - Bitburger radler. Low ABV, refreshing. If the wheat is good on its own, that becomes my new wheat base for all of my fruited ales.

Yes, I am very happy with my setup. I ordered a few more parts to clean the build up and get rid of the green masking tape. The band clamps were cheap and sharp so I taped them . Also I had to use a plastic carb cap as a male ball lock to hose connection. I ordered stainless. I hope they get the 8 liter oxebars in soon as I'm going to get 10 of them.

 

[djlew]

Well folks, after force carbing the wheat ale and giving it a try last night... it was amazing. I set it back to serving pressure and let it sit. My wife made a quick lemonade with the lemons we had and I think we nailed it. It was really delicious. I need to make sure I extract some more fermentable sugars in the future, but the flavor was extraordinary. The Citra hops did exactly what I wanted which was to give a little IPA flare without the super hoppy bite. Complimented the lemonade really well. I was cautious because I am not an IPA fan, but do like the citrus, tropical flavors offered in IPAs.

I will be doing a 5 gallon batch of this soon. I might go crazy with confidence and try Nectaron hops instead of Citra and play with the type of lemonade. "Peach Lemonade Shandy" or "Raspberry Lemonade Shandy" type of offerings.

So what... maybe after 3 months of experiments I may have found a pretty solid base recipe for a cream ale and a wheat ale. That's a huge win for me. Great bases for adding additions from the garden or having fun with flavors I find around the grocery store.

Ahhh, a shandy during winter to remind ourselves of simpler times.

 

[djlew]

Had to show yall the beer fridge. Had to make some.... adjustments to the fridge to get the keg to fit but I think it worked out well! I am lucky to have a full sized beer fridge! My wife helped me out too, so bonus points.

 

[Whitenuckler]

Had to show yall the beer fridge. Had to make some.... adjustments to the fridge to get the keg to fit but I think it worked out well! I am lucky to have a full sized beer fridge! My wife helped me out too, so bonus points.

Looks great. My Samsung kitchen fridge is a double door ect, and fairly new, but the shelves go all the way across. I have a big freezer in the bottom. I can't see if yours has a freezer, but I like the split shelves. I think I can only fit one 8l oxebar in one mini fridge so maybe I need to do more 4l ones. I bottled a batch today use in 4 4l oxebars, and 12 bottles. Way faster.

 

[Whitenuckler]

This would make a plumber and gas fitter proud. All I do is disconnect the CO2 from the tapping head, and stick the keg in the fridge. I am burning it seems like two bags a day during this cold snap, but the basements at 73F, and I have a porch facing south with infrared heaters. Too cold to go for a hike though, as it's a nasty wind chill like -30C. Snow storm on the way.

Just did a little clean up on some of the parts. No more masking tape. Had to grind the threads off a SS carbonation cap to cut doen on weight. It is attached to the red hose and the barb fits good. I was using a plastic one before and the barb was too small.

 

[djlew]

Looks great! As good plumbing does, looks like a solved puzzle!

I am drinking this wheat ale away and it is really good. I took a trip to Connecticut, mainly inspired by a really cool brewery I found at the beer store near me. Wife and I had a great time. I've been enjoying their brews for a bit.

Funny enough in the garden thread, I mentioned that I haven't been able to find Meyer lemons in the grocery store... and behold, I found a bag from somewhere in California in my local grocery. First time trying them, they were awesome. I can't wait to grow my own. I am mentioning this because I made lemonade for the wheat ale to make a shandy and it was really good!

 

[djlew]

Well, it was only a matter of time but the doctor told me no more alcohol. At least for now. Looks like I am going to be trying to NA brew after all! It was always a side mission, but especially now that I got all of this equipment I need to do something with it. I'll give it a go. I'm still slightly concerned about shelf life and quality over time with the lack of alcohol. We'll see, you all have provided me with good NA info so I am excited to give it a go soon.

 

[Whitenuckler]

Well, it was only a matter of time but the doctor told me no more alcohol. At least for now. Looks like I am going to be trying to NA brew after all! It was always a side mission, but especially now that I got all of this equipment I need to do something with it. I'll give it a go. I'm still slightly concerned about shelf life and quality over time with the lack of alcohol. We'll see, you all have provided me with good NA info so I am excited to give it a go soon.

Is it true there are beer yeasts that don't produce alcohol? I've heard of it, but never looked into it.

 

[djlew]

Is it true there are beer yeasts that don't produce alcohol? I've heard of it, but never looked into it.

Same, I have heard of that but have little to no experience in it. Looks like I have some research to do. I am always afraid of this kind of stuff being too gimmicky to be worth it!

 

[EbS-P]

Well, it was only a matter of time but the doctor told me no more alcohol. At least for now. Looks like I am going to be trying to NA brew after all! It was always a side mission, but especially now that I got all of this equipment I need to do something with it. I'll give it a go. I'm still slightly concerned about shelf life and quality over time with the lack of alcohol. We'll see, you all have provided me with good NA info so I am excited to give it a go soon.

I wrote this up a while ago. I might have posted elsewhere.

For anyone that cares I have a really easy and fast way to home brew a non alcoholic all grain beer.

I spent several day’s searching on line for a really good how too. I didn’t realize how technical (and techie) home brewing has become. I have always brewed with the KISS (keep it stupid simple ) philosophy

What you need for a 5 gallon batch.

A 2+ gallon induction pot.

3-3.5 pounds of malt (this isn’t a recipe but I can include one).

A larger mesh grain bag to hold the malt.

Induction cooktop

Thermometer

Way to keep the mash at temperature (I use a wonder bag (it’s a really well insulated slow cooking bag I turn upside down over my pot for the hour long mash)

Hops

Yeast

Brew bucket.


The process is called a non enzymatic cold mash. Basically add your grains (in the grain bag) to a pot of cold water and leave in the fridge for 24-30 hours.

Pull the grain bag out the less floury starch you can get in your pot the better but it’s not a big deal (the internet says otherwise) but using the induction cooktop solves the issue of burning the starch.

Bring the mash up to 155 F and hold for an hour. (It could go faster I haven’t tested it). Then bring to a boil and add you hops.

Boil for 45-60 minutes.

Chill (I have a wart chiller I made out of roll of 1/2” copper pipe two hose clamps and a cut washer hose. This isn’t necessary as list time I let it cool in the pot untill 150f degrees and dumped in the beer bucket with about 2.5 gallons of water and waited untill it cooled to 90 degrees

Pour or siphon into your beer bucket. Keep all the trub, cold break and hops you can out of the beer bucket.

Pitch yeast when temps are below 95F

Fermented for 3-5 days or until the krousen has fallen.

Keg or bottle.

Tips. Cleanliness really matters as you have very little alcohol to inhibit nasties from growing. Hence the very short fermentation time and no secondary fermentation.

I skim all the protein I can off the boil pot. This may or may not have any effect.

Hop light. If you don’t like hops. 0.2 oz if 4% with a dry hop with .1 oz in the fermenter makes a lightly hopped beer.

This was drinkable 1 day after kegging.

 

[djlew]

I wrote this up a while ago. I might have posted elsewhere.

For anyone that cares I have a really easy and fast way to home brew a non alcoholic all grain beer.

I spent several day’s searching on line for a really good how too. I didn’t realize how technical (and techie) home brewing has become. I have always brewed with the KISS (keep it stupid simple ) philosophy

What you need for a 5 gallon batch.

A 2+ gallon induction pot.

3-3.5 pounds of malt (this isn’t a recipe but I can include one).

A larger mesh grain bag to hold the malt.

Induction cooktop

Thermometer

Way to keep the mash at temperature (I use a wonder bag (it’s a really well insulated slow cooking bag I turn upside down over my pot for the hour long mash)

Hops

Yeast

Brew bucket.


The process is called a non enzymatic cold mash. Basically add your grains (in the grain bag) to a pot of cold water and leave in the fridge for 24-30 hours.

Pull the grain bag out the less floury starch you can get in your pot the better but it’s not a big deal (the internet says otherwise) but using the induction cooktop solves the issue of burning the starch.

Bring the mash up to 155 F and hold for an hour. (It could go faster I haven’t tested it). Then bring to a boil and add you hops.

Boil for 45-60 minutes.

Chill (I have a wart chiller I made out of roll of 1/2” copper pipe two hose clamps and a cut washer hose. This isn’t necessary as list time I let it cool in the pot untill 150f degrees and dumped in the beer bucket with about 2.5 gallons of water and waited untill it cooled to 90 degrees

Pour or siphon into your beer bucket. Keep all the trub, cold break and hops you can out of the beer bucket.

Pitch yeast when temps are below 95F

Fermented for 3-5 days or until the krousen has fallen.

Keg or bottle.

Tips. Cleanliness really matters as you have very little alcohol to inhibit nasties from growing. Hence the very short fermentation time and no secondary fermentation.

I skim all the protein I can off the boil pot. This may or may not have any effect.

Hop light. If you don’t like hops. 0.2 oz if 4% with a dry hop with .1 oz in the fermenter makes a lightly hopped beer.

This was drinkable 1 day after kegging.

I remember this, makes more sense to me now that I have been brewing a bit longer. Any experience with post boil additions besides dry hopping? I am big on flavors (I know you aren't, so might know your answer to this already LOL), so wondering how much fruit additions post boil might throw off the "NA" and turn into "Low A"!

 

[EbS-P]

I remember this, makes more sense to me now that I have been brewing a bit longer. Any experience with post boil additions besides dry hopping? I am big on flavors (I know you aren't, so might know your answer to this already LOL), so wondering how much fruit additions post boil might throw off the "NA" and turn into "Low A"!

With less than .5% alcohol I would make sure to boil all my additions long enough to sterilize them. See the cleanliness point. My thinking is that somehow the lower sugar content increases alpha acid extraction. I would not expect that with fruit additions. Just be mindful of sugar content you are adding. I would start at 50-75% of what you normally use.