What is the most amount of hops...

[markaberrant]

So are you saying that by first letting it spend 5-7 days at room temp, and then leaving them in the keg when moving to serving temp does not give you that grassy unpleasant character?

Yup that is what I am saying. This has been my experience, and I have also talked to many pro brewers (including some at Sierra Nevada) about it as well. Some of the dry hopping needs to ocur at warmer temps, it is the only way to get all the essential oils into solution.

It seems that at colder temps, only the grassy vegetal character is able to get into solution.

[phirleh]

So are you saying that by first letting it spend 5-7 days at room temp, and then leaving them in the keg when moving to serving temp does not give you that grassy unpleasant character?

Yup that is what I am saying. This has been my experience, and I have also talked to many pro brewers (including some at Sierra Nevada) about it as well. Some of the dry hopping needs to ocur at warmer temps, it is the only way to get all the essential oils into solution.

It seems that at colder temps, only the grassy vegetal character is able to get into solution.

Have a look at this doc: destroy.net/brewing/IIPA.pdf

pg 22 - Pliny is dryhopped 12 days (10 days warm 60-68F and 2 days before transferrring dropped to 30F to get hops to settle out)

[Ale's What Cures Ya]

Instead of starting a new thread, figured I'd ask this here. Is this too much head space for a fermenter?

[markaberrant]

For a primary, no.

[Ale's What Cures Ya]

Okay good. Methinks I lost more to the boil than I thought.

[Ale's What Cures Ya]

So I took a peek at the fermenter today and saw a bunch of these little white spots all centered in the neck. These dots were not in the fermenter this morning before I went to work. Please tell me this isn't mold.


And if this is mold, is there a way to get rid of it? The stuff could be reached with a sanitized paper towel I'm thinking, but I am worried that might drop a few of the dots into the beer itself. My other thought is that they may be droplets of yeast that stuck to the neck when I poured the packet in. Sorry about the poor quality pics.

[KwaiLo]

I have had the white drops a few times, it has always been yeast colones agglomerating. Don't stick anything in, you're more likely to infect doing that. Wait, watch, have a beer. Look for hairs to grow on the white spots.

[Ale's What Cures Ya]

I have had the white drops a few times, it has always been yeast colones agglomerating. Don't stick anything in, you're more likely to infect doing that. Wait, watch, have a beer. Look for hairs to grow on the white spots.

All righty. If hairs do end up growing, then what's the plan? Dump it?

[markaberrant]

There is nothing to worry about. Black mold would be another story.

[KwaiLo]

I have had the white drops a few times, it has always been yeast colones agglomerating. Don't stick anything in, you're more likely to infect doing that. Wait, watch, have a beer. Look for hairs to grow on the white spots.

All righty. If hairs do end up growing, then what's the plan? Dump it?

I wouldn't dump any beer until I had tasted it, unless it was a black mold. If it tastes good, who cares that it had a colony growing on it?

[Ale's What Cures Ya]

I have had the white drops a few times, it has always been yeast colones agglomerating. Don't stick anything in, you're more likely to infect doing that. Wait, watch, have a beer. Look for hairs to grow on the white spots.

All righty. If hairs do end up growing, then what's the plan? Dump it?

I wouldn't dump any beer until I had tasted it, unless it was a black mold. If it tastes good, who cares that it had a colony growing on it?

Well I finally racked this one to the secondary (just for shits and giggles because I wanted to try out my new secondary fermenter carboy) and I tasted the hydrometer sample. It's the best beer I've made so far. I dry hopped with 2oz of Willamette and 2oz of Cascade in the primary, then threw in 2 more ounces of Columbus in a bag in the secondary.

And a plumber friend of mine who was able to secure 50' of copper tubing for 40 bucks (apparently that's a steal these days) and myself just finished making this:



No more ice baths for me! The hoses aren't attached yet because he wanted to double check what kind would work best first.

[KwaiLo]

Congrats on a tasty beer, and on a great deal for an immersion chiller.

[grub]

And a plumber friend of mine who was able to secure 50' of copper tubing for 40 bucks (apparently that's a steal these days) and myself just finished making this:

No more ice baths for me! The hoses aren't attached yet because he wanted to double check what kind would work best first.

if i can make a suggestion, consider not attaching the hoses directly to the chiller, but having a connection there. much easier to store when they come off, and i just find it easier to work with in general (i've used chillers setup both ways). here's mine:



note the copper wire i wove up the sides to help it all stay nice and solid too - no slinky effect. here's the pic of it in use (also shows the handy notched lid):

[Ale's What Cures Ya]

I like that suggestion a lot, I am definitely going to implement it. Thanks for the heads up.

[Ale's What Cures Ya]

So the last batch I made, I bottled on March 12th. Just opened one, and there is zero carbonation. Any idea what's going on? I stored it in the basement, where ambient is 55-60F, is that too cold?