My brewing co-worker uses the Midwest kits almost exclusively. He used to do all-grain in Alaska, but he left most of his equipment there. He is of the opinion, after many years of doign this, that "it's all good" and he's perfectly satisfied with using the kits. And the dry, generic yeast. But technically, he does agree with what VTE says, but we don't have access to that stuff as easily as you guys do/
Home Beer - oops
- Thread starter Slugger926
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Help Support Professional Engineer & PE Exam Forum:
I must add my :violin: too.
I'd love to be around scantily dressed women who would do anything for a green card and soak in the island sun.
BTW, the Twin Cities will be getting rain/sleet/snow tonight, tomorrow, and Saturday morning. :deadhorse:
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ktulu
Well-known member
FLBuff PE
Multi-disciplinary engineer
RIP - VTEnviro
His Memory Eternal
It's almost 70 in VT today, and I'm too sick to do anything!
maryannette
Wise One
ktulu
Well-known member
It's snowing here right now.I'm going to the beach tomorrow. It's supposed to be 81 and sunny.
wilheldp_PE
PE, LEED AP, SPAM KING
In a vain attempt to get this thread back on topic, I currently have a 5 gallon batch of Classic English Pale Ale fermenting in my dining room. The process was fun and easier than I expected. The only part that sucked was trying to boil 3 gallons of water on an electric cook top. It took well over a half hour to get from 160 degrees (where I was steeping the grains) to a boil before adding the malt.
I put it in the primary fermenter on Saturday afternoon, and I plan on transferring it to a glass secondary tomorrow afternoon.
I put it in the primary fermenter on Saturday afternoon, and I plan on transferring it to a glass secondary tomorrow afternoon.
^^ Nice work getting this thread back on track! We're really bad about that around here. Fortunately no one has yet brought up how superior RPN is, especially with the new HP-35s, which makes ANY Casio or TI look like a toy.
I brewed up a pale ale after the October 2006 exam. It's a nice thing to do to pass the time and wind down from the big effort. Pale ale will kick your ass, though.
I brewed up a pale ale after the October 2006 exam. It's a nice thing to do to pass the time and wind down from the big effort. Pale ale will kick your ass, though.
wilheldp_PE
PE, LEED AP, SPAM KING
Just about anything will kick my ass at this point. I got pretty sauced off of 4 Red Hooks yesterday. I hadn't had a drink for 3 months prior to that due to some medicine I was taking, plus I have lost nearly 50 pounds since then. I need to get back into drinking shape.
FLBuff PE
Multi-disciplinary engineer
I transferred my Java Stout from the primary to the secondary, brewing the coffee and adding it to the secondary with the wort. I will probably try to bottle it next weekend, then comes the 2 to 4 week wait!
wilheldp_PE
PE, LEED AP, SPAM KING
Since I have some free time this weekend, and my first attempt at brewing beer won't be ready for consumption for another 2 weeks, I bought some ingredients today. I found a recipe online for a Fat Tire clone (amber ale, brewed in Colorado, my favorite beer...can't get it in Kentucky). Since everybody seems to say that Brewer's Best kits aren't the greatest, I'll be interested to see how the quality of this beer matches up to my first batch. I'm using a lot more specialty grain, all dry extract, and liquid yeast (all per the recipe), so I'm hoping it will taste good, and if I'm lucky, it'll taste just like Fat Tire.
The think I'm most worried about is cooling the wort. Last time, I was only able to get it down to about 89 degrees F in about a half hour, but that was fine for the dry yeast from the kit (recommended between 80 and 92 degrees). This time, the liquid yeast wants between 70 and 75 degrees. Does anybody have tips for quickly cooling the wort? Have you ever mixed in cold water, and if so, did it contaminate the batch with wild yeast?
The think I'm most worried about is cooling the wort. Last time, I was only able to get it down to about 89 degrees F in about a half hour, but that was fine for the dry yeast from the kit (recommended between 80 and 92 degrees). This time, the liquid yeast wants between 70 and 75 degrees. Does anybody have tips for quickly cooling the wort? Have you ever mixed in cold water, and if so, did it contaminate the batch with wild yeast?
RIP - VTEnviro
His Memory Eternal
^ I use a counterflow wort chiller. You connect one end to the faucet and run cold water through it, the other end wastes heated water down the drain. It basically acts as a heat exchanger.
wilheldp_PE
PE, LEED AP, SPAM KING
That looks expensive. I got it down to 78 degrees using an ice water bath in my sink, and adding chilled water to top off the batch to 5 gallons. Fermentation hasn't begun yet, but the yeast said it takes 5 to 15 hours, so I won't get worried until tomorrow morning.
