The Bar Towel

markaberrant wrote:

grub wrote:

markaberrant wrote:Not only will it be exactly my 150th homebrew batch, but it will also be my very last batch. Looking forward to retirement!

i'm guessing there's more to this story...

20Hl brewhouse is on order.

Not going to do pilot batches?

markaberrant wrote:20Hl brewhouse is on order.

nice!

ercousin wrote: Not going to do pilot batches?

Yes, on a Sabco Brewmagic at the brewery. And I likely won't be doing much of the hands on brewing.

Hey dudes. Just a little update: I'm drinking the Rye IPA I made a while back with the usual heap of problems of a new homebrewer. In all it rates in my "it's okay for homebrew" category. f'ed up the hops in the recipe and should have known better, and with that forgot to de-chlorinate my water, so it's pretty astringent. It's only been carbing up for a week, and right now it's like a nicely stillaged cask ale. I'm going to keep drinking it, but will make sure I have some bottles after a month in the crawlspace to see if the hops have relaxed a bit, and if the carbonation is up a bit more. The rye shows really nicely though, and the nose is lovely and simcoe-y. Will re-do this in a few weeks with proper water, and better hop additions, and see how it goes. Next Tuesday I'm doing a pecan porter with a friend, that could be pretty cool. Maris and Carafa ii/iii with some oats. S.goldings and, well, pecans.

Do people normally de-chlorinate in Toronto? I've never bothered.

I did a rye peppercorn said on today. My first time with rye, my first said on and my first time with a propane burner. That burner is a blessing, but I need to be much more diligent about watching for scorching on the bottom.

squeaky wrote:Do people normally de-chlorinate in Toronto? I've never bothered.

I did a rye peppercorn said on today. My first time with rye, my first said on and my first time with a propane burner. That burner is a blessing, but I need to be much more diligent about watching for scorching on the bottom.

I use spring water. If I have to top up a small amount I add in distilled water. I just don't want to be bothered with the chlorine, fluroride and whatever else in tap water.

10L jug at Longo's is $2.99.

I'm just doing 1 gallon brews. I may go up to 2.5 gallon for some beers as I have a 3 gallon Better Bottle (currently has mead in it.) Can't do anything bigger with my small condo and electric stove.

the quick answer is:
1/2 campden tablet per 5 gallons.
it's pretty much a must.
and using "spring water": check the electrolyte content. it may be really low on calcium and other minerals that are actually a positive to the brewing process.

The spring water we get in Toronto is really high in bicarbonate (I've seen 200+ ppm). If doing extract, it's better to use distilled water. The extract already has all the minerals in it. If doing all grain it's better to use tap water plus a campden tablet. 1 tablet treats 20 gallons. Toronto Brewing sells them.

Water really high in bicarbonate typically means that your mash pH will be too high. Toronto water is 89 ppm of bicarbonate which is moderate.

I (and most of the people I've met through GTA Brews) just use tap water and campden for all grain. Ignoring the more advanced acid and salt additions we do to optimize the water.

Longo's spring water is 226 ppm for bicarbonate. Calcium is 105 ppm. I haven't had any problems yet. I've done a variety of styles which have turned out as expected. Only one iffy brew but that was due to my stupidity.

For using a campden tablet, how much would you use for a one gallon batch? Simply scale it? Or does it matter if too much campden is used? I'm already chopping up Whirlfloc tablets into quarters. Scaling a campden tablet would be difficult.

lister wrote:Longo's spring water is 226 ppm for bicarbonate. Calcium is 105 ppm. I haven't had any problems yet. I've done a variety of styles which have turned out as expected. Only one iffy brew but that was due to my stupidity.

For using a campden tablet, how much would you use for a one gallon batch? Simply scale it? Or does it matter if too much campden is used? I'm already chopping up Whirlfloc tablets into quarters. Scaling a campden tablet would be difficult.

1/4 tab if you can. not sure if there's an issue with using too much campden.

atomeyes wrote:

J343MY wrote: I just checked in my Conan fermented double IPA prior to dry hopping. I fermented it in the high 50's this time. It finished up at 1.008, but its got a slight belgian yeast thing going on now. I'll reserve judgment until its ready to drink, but at this point Conan is looking like more trouble than its worth.

not what i want to hear. another homebrewer said that his conan flocced all over his stirbar and stopped it.
i have a vial sitting in my fridge. it screams IPA by nature. fuck....this is seriously my spring of Headache Yeast. first the lambic, then Funktown, and soon-to-be Vermont

So the belgian flavour didn't show up in the finished beer, but I don't think using conan provided a whole lot of value. Using 10ml of hop extract was a mistake. Too bitter, and a little too dry. Frustratingly close to being really good, but not quite.

J343MY wrote:

atomeyes wrote:

J343MY wrote: I just checked in my Conan fermented double IPA prior to dry hopping. I fermented it in the high 50's this time. It finished up at 1.008, but its got a slight belgian yeast thing going on now. I'll reserve judgment until its ready to drink, but at this point Conan is looking like more trouble than its worth.

not what i want to hear. another homebrewer said that his conan flocced all over his stirbar and stopped it.
i have a vial sitting in my fridge. it screams IPA by nature. fuck....this is seriously my spring of Headache Yeast. first the lambic, then Funktown, and soon-to-be Vermont

So the belgian flavour didn't show up in the finished beer, but I don't think using conan provided a whole lot of value. Using 10ml of hop extract was a mistake. Too bitter, and a little too dry. Frustratingly close to being really good, but not quite.

i know it isn't Heady-like for me to say it, but I'm just thnking of late-hop additions and whirlpooling at 175 for 15 min.

atomeyes wrote:i know it isn't Heady-like for me to say it, but I'm just thnking of late-hop additions and whirlpooling at 175 for 15 min.

Thats pretty much what I do for APAs. I do a flameout addition only, let that steep for ~20 minutes and then chill. Then a big dry hop.

It should work well with Conan if you don't mind dealing with its finickiness.

Homebrew batch number 85 today.

I brewed a Saison with hibiscus, lime, and mandarin oranges.

Here is the colour of the finished wort:

Just about to start my run off on the 1890 Whitbread Mild (X Ale). Looking to clock in at 5.9 ABV, 58 IBU and 8 SRM - these pre WW1 Milds are completely different beast from what we consider to be a mild now