What's in Your Fermenter? 2020

[Malter White]

6 minutes ago, Bearded Burbler said:

I believe that hops are pretty anti-bacterial/microbial preservative type creatures Muzzy... one of the reasons I believe that they were used historically... so floating hop bag think that would be ok - I just float mine in generally - though am thinking about some marbles for sinking too ; )

That's encouraging for Cee. So it's probably just hop flavours leaching out and creating that film. Excellent.

[ChristinaS1]

4 hours ago, Cee said:

I did clean with dish liquid....

Not a good idea to clean with dish liquid. It is hard to completely rinse away and any residue will kill the head on most beers, but being a dark ale, which usually has good head, you may be alright this time.

Most brewers use a an oxidizing agent / alkaline cleaner like unscented Napisan, or Potassium Percarbonate for cleaning. Personally I use a combo of Powdered Brewery Wash and a local version of Napisan. This is followed by Starsan / Stellarsan for sanitizing.

Cheers,

Christina.

PS Recommend weighing the hop sock down so it is submerged, or you could get mould growing on it.

Edited November 26, 2020 by ChristinaS1

[NicolasW]

A little late but I agree with everyone else Cee batch looks normal.

1 hour ago, ChristinaS1 said:

Not a good idea to clean with dish liquid. It is hard to completely rinse away and any residue will kill the head on most beers, but being a dark ale, which usually has good head, you may be alright this time.

Another reason for avoiding dish soap is scented and that will taint the beer's aroma. TBH I'm not convinced the scent will survive fermentation or subsequent storage/aging  - maybe in a light lager. Some brewers seek out the sensitive version of napisan for this reason as well. 

Weighing the sock down is a good idea. I generally throw a sanitized stainless steel teaspoon in my hop bag because I have them in the kitchen. You can get stainless steel mesh cylinders that will sink. Submerging the hop sock should increase hop and beer contact, which will increase hop extraction. Apparently if you send the hops in loose its even more effective but then you have the risk of hops clogging stuff.

From what I've read hops are pretty good at stopping infections (lacto in particularly). I can't say I've ever had an infection from a dry hop and almost everything I've brewed in the last 6 months has had dry hops. 

[Stickers]

one on the left is coopers lager with a 1kg maris otter addition, one on the right is coopers blonde with redx/carared/light crystal addition. (yesterday)

using kveik on Red and less than 24 hours later..

going to bottle lefty there later this afternoon once i build up some ethusiasm

[NicolasW]

On 11/6/2020 at 5:32 PM, Bearded Burbler said:

Nicos mate - I just got me a bag of SMO - so now we shall see - I'll do a Voyager brew and then an SMO brew and see how the OG and FG turn out... keep everything else the same... as much as possible

And see whether what my Drug Lord claims is correct.... given my Weyermann Pils Malt vs Voyager experience I suspect he will be right... 

Fact is that is not necessarily a bad thing - just different - as I said - aussie malts are great and make great beer!

I would like to get some Coopers Malt too but seems like it is harder to get on the East Coast and am not keen to pay freight from Adelaide.... 

 

Sorry huge delay responding  - I went from a push at work to be able to go on leave, to running around getting stuff done for SWMBO's 40th party, then straight onto a road trip out to Parkes (SWHMBO wanted to see the dish).

Anyway all three kegs (cider, Hazy Pale, and NEIPA) got smashed, and were half full by the next day which was a good sign. Had a mixture of with who like what. 

TBH I like most of my homebrew but I am never sure if its actually good or if I just think its "good" because I made it (a bit like farts and children). Anyway guess the proof is in the eating well drinking.

I think your drug lord is right re extraction efficiency being lower but there is more to malt then just the extraction efficiency. I think freshness is probably a good thing and buying locally will help with that. A nice little benefit is the money is staying in Australia. Having said that if the beer was shit I would be the first to move onto import but its been good so far. So just got to adjust the grain calculation up.

Probably going to buy a 25kg bag of the Veloria as my regular base malt.  How are you finding the SMO? What Voyager Malts have you been using? It would be good to get a hold of some coopers malt but its definitely difficult to find.  Hopefully it will displace Joe White malt at some of the homebrew shops.

[jamiek86]

@Stickers you just ferment on a bench top? what is your inkbird plugged into heating belt? is this why you use kveik yeast have no brew fridge and the yeast goes good warm?

[Stickers]

11 minutes ago, jamiek86 said:

@Stickers you just ferment on a bench top? what is your inkbird plugged into heating belt? is this why you use kveik yeast have no brew fridge and the yeast goes good warm?

yes, just on benchtop at the moment, still no fridge/cooling, inkbird probe is stuck to the one i'm about to bottle, heating belt uplugged.

first go at the kveik yeast, going to try and keep it around 25c-27c over the next few days - shouldn't be too hard in this house with a hot day coming tomorrow.

[jamiek86]

1 minute ago, Stickers said:

yes, just on benchtop at the moment, still no fridge/cooling, inkbird probe is stuck to the one i'm about to bottle, heating belt uplugged.

first go at the kveik yeast, going to try and keep it around 25c-27c over the next few days - shouldn't be too hard in this house with a hot day coming tomorrow.

I'm surprised you even need a heating belt now im glad I got my brew fridge going last month. I could have got away with it then now its handy with high 30s and 40s are on the way. fridge only fits one fv so to get out a couple at same time im going to use the fridge and old container half full of water and add frozen 1.25 and 2 litre bottles to the water twice a day. if ever get stuck they just the storage containers with clip lids from cheap shops but need the freezer room for bottles.

[Stickers]

6 minutes ago, jamiek86 said:

I'm surprised you even need a heating belt now

that's melbourne weather for you. i think it only kicked in once though during this brew (about 11 days)

[jamiek86]

1 hour ago, Stickers said:

that's melbourne weather for you. i think it only kicked in once though during this brew (about 11 days)

its funny how it goes in circles the 8 years I lived there towards the end it was stinking hot and no rain. then they built the desalination plants and what do you know rain after moved away of course.  but I noticed last year when came down for footy that sea breeze came in and felt cold was still 16 degrees compared to in open country where no air movement doesn't feel cold.

[Pale Man]

4 hours ago, NicolasW said:

A little late but I agree with everyone else Cee batch looks normal.

Another reason for avoiding dish soap is scented and that will taint the beer's aroma. TBH I'm not convinced the scent will survive fermentation or subsequent storage/aging  - maybe in a light lager. Some brewers seek out the sensitive version of napisan for this reason as well. 

Weighing the sock down is a good idea. I generally throw a sanitized stainless steel teaspoon in my hop bag because I have them in the kitchen. You can get stainless steel mesh cylinders that will sink. Submerging the hop sock should increase hop and beer contact, which will increase hop extraction. Apparently if you send the hops in loose its even more effective but then you have the risk of hops clogging stuff.

From what I've read hops are pretty good at stopping infections (lacto in particularly). I can't say I've ever had an infection from a dry hop and almost everything I've brewed in the last 6 months has had dry hops. 

Here's a post @pilotsh might want to read. ( The bottom paragraph )

Edited November 26, 2020 by Pale Man

[Pezzza]

7 hours ago, ChristinaS1 said:

Not a good idea to clean with dish liquid.

Hi Christina 

I agree completely with you - but I regularly use it as the first point of washout.... and then with high pressure hose rinsing.... plus a vast number of hot rinses...  seems to be ok.

But definitely agree with you that you don't want surfactants remaining!!!

Cheers

BB

Edited November 26, 2020 by Bearded Burbler

[pilotsh]

1 hour ago, Pale Man said:

Here's a post @pilotsh might want to read. ( The bottom paragraph )

Excellent, thanks. 

[Pezzza]

8 hours ago, NicolasW said:

Probably going to buy a 25kg bag of the Veloria as my regular base malt.  How are you finding the SMO? What Voyager Malts have you been using? It would be good to get a hold of some coopers malt but its definitely difficult to find.  Hopefully it will displace Joe White malt at some of the homebrew shops.

Seems all Voyager is good... : )

[Cee]

11 hours ago, NicolasW said:

A little late but I agree with everyone else Cee batch looks normal.

Another reason for avoiding dish soap is scented and that will taint the beer's aroma. TBH I'm not convinced the scent will survive fermentation or subsequent storage/aging  - maybe in a light lager. Some brewers seek out the sensitive version of napisan for this reason as well. 

Weighing the sock down is a good idea. I generally throw a sanitized stainless steel teaspoon in my hop bag because I have them in the kitchen. You can get stainless steel mesh cylinders that will sink. Submerging the hop sock should increase hop and beer contact, which will increase hop extraction. Apparently if you send the hops in loose its even more effective but then you have the risk of hops clogging stuff.

From what I've read hops are pretty good at stopping infections (lacto in particularly). I can't say I've ever had an infection from a dry hop and almost everything I've brewed in the last 6 months has had dry hops. 

 

12 hours ago, ChristinaS1 said:

Not a good idea to clean with dish liquid. It is hard to completely rinse away and any residue will kill the head on most beers, but being a dark ale, which usually has good head, you may be alright this time.

Most brewers use a an oxidizing agent / alkaline cleaner like unscented Napisan, or Potassium Percarbonate for cleaning. Personally I use a combo of Powdered Brewery Wash and a local version of Napisan. This is followed by Starsan / Stellarsan for sanitizing.

Cheers,

Christina.

PS Recommend weighing the hop sock down so it is submerged, or you could get mould growing on it.

 

16 hours ago, MUZZY said:

That's encouraging for Cee. So it's probably just hop flavours leaching out and creating that film. Excellent.

 

16 hours ago, Bearded Burbler said:

Yes mate and temp below 20 ish is always a good thing... in general...

 

I think I would agree with various helpers above - taste it - if ok - get into bottles - and leave an inch or two of brew so none of those floaties get into the bottles...

 

16 hours ago, Pale Man said:

Looks normal.

 

Thanks everyone quoted and those I missed

Well it tasted ok - no strange scales growing on me yet. FG is reached 1014. Aroma is fruity - not banana  more berryish I guess, maybe melonish...

I removed the hopsock from hanging under the lid - that was not one of my brighter ideas... I'll remove it entirely now and bottle the brew tomorrow.

I'd considered weighing the hopsock down but I thought it might be easier to remove a day or so before bottling if it was on the surface. This is something to think more about for my next attempt.

Cleaning - well I am sold. I will get me some of the recommended cleaning products you folks mentioned.

Oh and definitely gunna leave an inch or so in the FV when i bottle - just in case 

There is lots of food for thought in all your replies and a lot of different experiences - thank you again everyone 

 

[Shamus O'Sean]

5 hours ago, Cee said:

I'd considered weighing the hopsock down but I thought it might be easier to remove a day or so before bottling if it was on the surface. This is something to think more about for my next attempt.

I weigh mine down with sanitised glass marbles.  I attached a piece of fishing line to the hopsock (which in my case is a Chux cloth pulled straight from the pack). 

I get some non-powdered food-handling gloves.  Put them on and give them a spray or two with sanitiser.  Then I use the fishing line to fish out the Chux cloth after three days and give the contents a good squeeze to remove the hoppy goodness..

[Pezzza]

Rye Baby Rye Baby Yeah

[Otto Von Blotto]

Checked the SG on my pilsner today after 6 days in there. It was sitting around 1.023/4 so I upped the temperature on the controller to 18. It should get there by tomorrow and will probably sit there for a week before I begin ramping it down. 

[jamiek86]

52 minutes ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

Checked the SG on my pilsner today after 6 days in there. It was sitting around 1.023/4 so I upped the temperature on the controller to 18. It should get there by tomorrow and will probably sit there for a week before I begin ramping it down. 

is it a strong pilsner do you finish it warm half way? I would have thought it would finish at 1.012 or something 

[jamiek86]

@Bearded Burbler what yeast you use in the rye beer? looks like it was quite vigorous fermentation going by marks on fv

[Otto Von Blotto]

5 minutes ago, jamiek86 said:

is it a strong pilsner do you finish it warm half way? I would have thought it would finish at 1.012 or something 

Nah, it should get down to about 1.010 or so. I always raise the temperature around now for the diacetyl rest. 

[jamiek86]

3 minutes ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

Nah, it should get down to about 1.010 or so. I always raise the temperature around now for the diacetyl rest. 

ok that's probably alot better than waiting for it to be 3 or 4 points off expected fg and missing it. I'll remember this for my next one. just doing pale ales now until get my kegerator set up dont really have the fridge room to lager.

[Pezzza]

5 minutes ago, jamiek86 said:

@Bearded Burbler what yeast you use in the rye beer? looks like it was quite vigorous fermentation going by marks on fv

I am pretty much a

• Safale US05 user for ales 
• W34/70 for Lagers
• W3068 for Weizen

Got a few other yeasts to try but the above is mostly what I use....   and just harvest slurry in sterile/non contam manner.... chill and re-use.

I would like to get hold of some Kveik norwegian farmhouse yeast and also some S04 for English style ales... got some Kölsch and Belle Saison not yet tried. 

 

Here I dumped a good lot of US05 Slurry harvested from a recent brew - dumped into the bottom of the FV before filling with the cooled AG wort shaking the hose back and forth to froth up to get Oxygen into the Wort - as the yeast need it to kick off the population development...  and the ol' US05 is pretty dependable.

Does not add much character at all to a beer... so for me "it lets the malt and the hops do the talkin'" which is where I am at currently in my brewing developmental pathway hahaha!?! 

[jamiek86]

7 minutes ago, Bearded Burbler said:

the ol' US05 is pretty dependable.

Does not add much character at all to a beer... so for me "it lets the malt and the hops do the talkin'" which is where I am at currently in my brewing developmental pathway hahaha!?! 

I think same way the malt and hops is what beer is and what want taste the bookmaker just bottled was with that and just put another identical brew on with it. currently sitting in a storage container with cold water and have frozen ice blocks to rotate when needed. then I can use the brew fridge tomorrow arvo for pretty much the same thing but use Nottingham yeast for the first time see how that goes.

[Shamus O'Sean]

Simple Coopers Canadian Blonde can plus Morgan Pale Malt Extract (my LHBS did not have Coopers Pale Malt Extract in stock).

This is about the only Coopers can I have not used before.  Simple beer.  Should come out around 4.3%.  I will split it into two kegs and add a hop steep of 25g of Lemondrop hops to one of the kegs.