MKnight82 Posted August 11, 2021 Share Posted August 11, 2021 Anyone here homebrew any alcohol? My neighbor and I have been homebrewing hard seltzer for the past year and now we're getting into beer. Hard Seltzer is tough because any screw up is so obvious in the final flavor. We've been consistently hitting around 5.5% ABV. We also bought one of these which is pretty sweet: https://www.morebeer.com/products/cannular-bench-top-seamer.html We've also been testing replacing sugar in the original ferment with some other sugars like honey or something similar. Also we have jars and jars of homemade flavor extracts we've been making for flavoring the seltzer. Your standard lime, lemon, etc, but we have some more exotic stuff like habanero, ginger, cinnamon and more. We made a cherry cinnamon seltzer last Fall and it was pretty amazing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minutemancl Posted August 11, 2021 Share Posted August 11, 2021 I just started about a month ago. I've only done basic BIAB so far. My first batch did not come out correctly; secondary fermentation only occurred in one bottle for some reason, so I had one decent bottle of beer and 9 flat, relatively gross bottles. However, I brewed a second batch almost immediately after that one bottled that should correct those mistakes. Used better, fresher yeast and bought better tools. I have high hopes for this 2nd batch; it will ready for consumption next week. A family member told me he used to brew and hasn't used his stuff in years, but it is all super high quality. He's gonna brew with me soon and let me borrow his stuff; should make the process much better, repeatable, and easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKnight82 Posted August 11, 2021 Author Share Posted August 11, 2021 3 hours ago, minutemancl said: I just started about a month ago. I've only done basic BIAB so far. My first batch did not come out correctly; secondary fermentation only occurred in one bottle for some reason, so I had one decent bottle of beer and 9 flat, relatively gross bottles. However, I brewed a second batch almost immediately after that one bottled that should correct those mistakes. Used better, fresher yeast and bought better tools. I have high hopes for this 2nd batch; it will ready for consumption next week. A family member told me he used to brew and hasn't used his stuff in years, but it is all super high quality. He's gonna brew with me soon and let me borrow his stuff; should make the process much better, repeatable, and easier. Did you sanitize everything before you bottled? Maybe you got some kind of contamination. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minutemancl Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 12 hours ago, MKnight82 said: Did you sanitize everything before you bottled? Maybe you got some kind of contamination. Everything was sanitized thoroughly. I narrowed it down to 3 possible factors: 1, all my ingredients were from a kit that was years and years old, including the dry yeast. I did not proof the yeast before using. 2, for the bottling sugar, I whisked a small amount (about 1 tablespoon) of raw honey in a small amount of room temp water and put my beer on top of that before bottling. I think the lower sugar content and overall presence of 'natural' sugars vs pure cane sugar may have resulted in not enough food for the yeast in the secondary fermentation process. 3, my air lock was not properly affixed for most of fermentation 😥 Regardless, I took steps with this 2nd batch that should solve all of that. Everything was thoroughly sanitized again, I got fresh yeast that was pitched correctly, used bottling sugar 'drops' that ensure the correct amount of bottling sugar is used per bottle, and I used a different fermenter with a foolproof air lock. Really hopeful about this one. Also, I took notes on absolutely everything I did/used, including temperatures and times. I'll be able to pinpoint where I did something wrong if the result is not what I want this time. This batch is an IPA with Citra and Azacca hops. No dry hopping. Really excited to try it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKnight82 Posted August 12, 2021 Author Share Posted August 12, 2021 2 hours ago, minutemancl said: Everything was sanitized thoroughly. I narrowed it down to 3 possible factors: 1, all my ingredients were from a kit that was years and years old, including the dry yeast. I did not proof the yeast before using. 2, for the bottling sugar, I whisked a small amount (about 1 tablespoon) of raw honey in a small amount of room temp water and put my beer on top of that before bottling. I think the lower sugar content and overall presence of 'natural' sugars vs pure cane sugar may have resulted in not enough food for the yeast in the secondary fermentation process. 3, my air lock was not properly affixed for most of fermentation 😥 Regardless, I took steps with this 2nd batch that should solve all of that. Everything was thoroughly sanitized again, I got fresh yeast that was pitched correctly, used bottling sugar 'drops' that ensure the correct amount of bottling sugar is used per bottle, and I used a different fermenter with a foolproof air lock. Really hopeful about this one. Also, I took notes on absolutely everything I did/used, including temperatures and times. I'll be able to pinpoint where I did something wrong if the result is not what I want this time. This batch is an IPA with Citra and Azacca hops. No dry hopping. Really excited to try it. Your original batch, did it have a skunky smell or not much smell? If it smelled skunky the old yeast was probably fermenting slow and was just not done fermenting yet. If it had barely any smell it probably never fermented at all. Also did you take an original gravity reading of your new brew? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minutemancl Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 6 minutes ago, MKnight82 said: Your original batch, did it have a skunky smell or not much smell? If it smelled skunky the old yeast was probably fermenting slow and was just not done fermenting yet. If it had barely any smell it probably never fermented at all. Also did you take an original gravity reading of your new brew? No real skunky smell. I saw it fermenting heavily in the fermenter though. I guess it is possible because the yeast was old it was taking longer for the secondary fermentation, but I thought 2 weeks and a couple days would be more than enough. In the one bottle that did secondary ferment though, it was pretty nice. Taste was good, carbonation was a bit light for my preference but I definitely got a nice pop when opening the bottle and a nice layer of head after pouring. The other bottles were completely flat. I did not take an original gravity reading; one of the biggest things I don't have right now is a hydrometer. I'll have one before my next brew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKnight82 Posted August 12, 2021 Author Share Posted August 12, 2021 2 minutes ago, minutemancl said: carbonation was a bit light for my preference Add more priming sugar to your secondary fermentation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minutemancl Posted August 17, 2021 Share Posted August 17, 2021 New batch is actually good! Turned like a very hazy west coast IPA. Not my favorite style, but it is definitely beer and it's pretty good. Carbonation is also on point. I used carbonation drops instead of priming sugar. So much easier and I got a better result. Works well when you are only making a gallon-gallon and a half at a time, but I'm sure once I get into 5 gallon brews I'll want to get the priming sugar amount down instead. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biggie. Posted August 18, 2021 Share Posted August 18, 2021 Not booze but here's a root beer recipe I'm gonna test out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minutemancl Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 Brewed my first 5 gallon batch this weekend. Made an ESB clone with a bunch of old, but still really good and much better than I had previously, equipment. The smell is incredible and the fermentation I got even the next morning was so vigorous and cool to watch. With this batch, instead of bottling, I'm going to be kegging it. I've got a few corny kegs now and a kegerator, so I'll be able to have homemade beer out of the tap towards the end of September. Super excited about that. The process of brewing is so satisfying and rewarding in itself that I almost forget you get an amazing reward in the final product as well. This west coast IPA I brewed is really good; I'm super excited for future batches, knowing what I know now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKnight82 Posted August 23, 2021 Author Share Posted August 23, 2021 3 hours ago, minutemancl said: Brewed my first 5 gallon batch this weekend. Made an ESB clone with a bunch of old, but still really good and much better than I had previously, equipment. The smell is incredible and the fermentation I got even the next morning was so vigorous and cool to watch. With this batch, instead of bottling, I'm going to be kegging it. I've got a few corny kegs now and a kegerator, so I'll be able to have homemade beer out of the tap towards the end of September. Super excited about that. The process of brewing is so satisfying and rewarding in itself that I almost forget you get an amazing reward in the final product as well. This west coast IPA I brewed is really good; I'm super excited for future batches, knowing what I know now. What are you using as a fermentation chamber? I've been using this and been very happy with it: https://www.ssbrewtech.com/collections/fermenters/products/brewbucket Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minutemancl Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 19 minutes ago, MKnight82 said: What are you using as a fermentation chamber? I've been using this and been very happy with it: https://www.ssbrewtech.com/collections/fermenters/products/brewbucket Wow that is beautiful. I'll put it on my list of things to buy to upgrade my setup. Right now, I'm just using a 7.5gal glass carboy. Pretty standard. The biggest annoyance is going to be siphoning out of the carboy into the keg in about a month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKnight82 Posted August 23, 2021 Author Share Posted August 23, 2021 6 minutes ago, minutemancl said: Wow that is beautiful. I'll put it on my list of things to buy to upgrade my setup. Right now, I'm just using a 7.5gal glass carboy. Pretty standard. The biggest annoyance is going to be siphoning out of the carboy into the keg in about a month. I've never kegged, but aren't you supposed to spray the keg with like CO2 so it has no oxygen in it before you add the brew? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minutemancl Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 10 minutes ago, MKnight82 said: I've never kegged, but aren't you supposed to spray the keg with like CO2 so it has no oxygen in it before you add the brew? I've never kegged either so I planned on looking more into it, but my limited understanding is you transfer the beer to the keg, seal it, then fill it with CO2 while using a release valve to remove all oxygen from the keg. Eventually, you reach a point of only beer and CO2 in the keg with no O2 in there. Then there are some disputes on the best way to get your beer carbonated (to shake or not to shake), but you're pretty much there once you reach the point of only beer and CO2 in the keg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKnight82 Posted August 23, 2021 Author Share Posted August 23, 2021 9 minutes ago, minutemancl said: I've never kegged either so I planned on looking more into it, but my limited understanding is you transfer the beer to the keg, seal it, then fill it with CO2 while using a release valve to remove all oxygen from the keg. Eventually, you reach a point of only beer and CO2 in the keg with no O2 in there. Then there are some disputes on the best way to get your beer carbonated (to shake or not to shake), but you're pretty much there once you reach the point of only beer and CO2 in the keg. Do you have a CO2 tank and gun? How are you adding the CO2? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.