Author Topic: Is that a hydrometer in your pocket or are you just happy to see me  (Read 55433 times)

Space Freely

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Re: Is that a hydrometer in your pocket or are you just happy to see me
« Reply #75 on: February 27, 2020, 09:23:41 pm »
So the best the PH did was 3.77, then it actually went up to 3.87.
So i said fuck it, I'll just boil and hop it and move on.
But for kicks and giggles, I took the PH as i boiled it. And the PH kept going down. I think it ended up at 3.34 or something like that right before i put the hops in.
So we'll see how it works out.
I'll also hold off on drinking the quads for a while, following some of the advice.
Thanks for all the advice

sweetcell

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Re: Is that a hydrometer in your pocket or are you just happy to see me
« Reply #76 on: February 28, 2020, 03:12:23 am »
But for kicks and giggles, I took the PH as i boiled it. And the PH kept going down. I think it ended up at 3.34 or something like that right before i put the hops in.

pH is temperature-dependent.  need to take it at room temps, always.  the pH of your beer did no drop to 3.34, it's still at 3.7/3.8'ish.
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Space Freely

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Re: Is that a hydrometer in your pocket or are you just happy to see me
« Reply #77 on: February 28, 2020, 09:10:02 am »
But for kicks and giggles, I took the PH as i boiled it. And the PH kept going down. I think it ended up at 3.34 or something like that right before i put the hops in.

pH is temperature-dependent.  need to take it at room temps, always.  the pH of your beer did no drop to 3.34, it's still at 3.7/3.8'ish.

Yeah, that was my thought. The PH is probably 3.87, which was what it went up to overnight after it returned to room temperature. So it won't be anything mouth puckering, but I can hope for a nice mildly sour summer session beer.

sweetcell

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Re: Is that a hydrometer in your pocket or are you just happy to see me
« Reply #78 on: March 13, 2020, 07:36:59 pm »
so i'm now the proud owner of a 15-gallon Whiskey Delbac barrel.  planning to brew an imperial stout this weekend, to be followed by an english barleywine.  then it'll spend the rest of its life aging sour/funky stuff.
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Re: Is that a hydrometer in your pocket or are you just happy to see me
« Reply #79 on: March 13, 2020, 07:43:08 pm »
so i'm now the proud owner of a 15-gallon Whiskey Delbac barrel.  planning to brew an imperial stout this weekend, to be followed by an english barleywine.  then it'll spend the rest of its life aging sour/funky stuff.

I want to try them! I'll be out your way Summer 2021.

Re: Is that a hydrometer in your pocket or are you just happy to see me
« Reply #80 on: March 13, 2020, 08:05:05 pm »
Very cool
Currently enjoying a tasty Black IPA I cooked up last month
Just put a Dry Irish Stout in the fermenter yesterday (whilst listening to the Pogues of course)

Can't tell you how much this brewjacket has upped by brew game
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sweetcell

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Re: Is that a hydrometer in your pocket or are you just happy to see me
« Reply #81 on: March 17, 2020, 04:53:39 pm »
so i'm now the proud owner of a 15-gallon Whiskey Delbac barrel.  planning to brew an imperial stout this weekend, to be followed by an english barleywine.  then it'll spend the rest of its life aging sour/funky stuff.

I want to try them! I'll be out your way Summer 2021.

dude, we're only going to have 16.5 gallons of each... but i'll try to save you a taste ;D

seriously tho, i'll have a bottle of each waiting in the guest room for you.


Very cool
Currently enjoying a tasty Black IPA I cooked up last month
Just put a Dry Irish Stout in the fermenter yesterday (whilst listening to the Pogues of course)

Can't tell you how much this brewjacket has upped by brew game

should have brewed that stout a month ago, could have been drinking it today for st paddy's ;D

temp control is everything... there's a very good reason why it's in any "top 3 things to improve your homebrewing" list.
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Re: Is that a hydrometer in your pocket or are you just happy to see me
« Reply #82 on: March 17, 2020, 05:00:44 pm »

Very cool
Currently enjoying a tasty Black IPA I cooked up last month
Just put a Dry Irish Stout in the fermenter yesterday (whilst listening to the Pogues of course)

Can't tell you how much this brewjacket has upped by brew game

should have brewed that stout a month ago, could have been drinking it today for st paddy's ;D

temp control is everything... there's a very good reason why it's in any "top 3 things to improve your homebrewing" list.

What I didn't share is I DID try to brew this a month ago
While tryin to get the Brewjacket rod into the top of the fermenter...well I guess I don't know my own strength
cracked the Glass Big mouth bubbler :(
luckily for the one piece jacket ...the 5 gallons were not spilled all over my room

This Black IPA and the cans of Guinness Draft I got as a part of my Covid supply run, will have to suffice for this STay patties day
May be it's just me or has something to do with Guinness in Balt now...but these cans are awesome and think they are much better than I remember it a decade ago=
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Re: Is that a hydrometer in your pocket or are you just happy to see me
« Reply #83 on: August 01, 2020, 08:14:29 am »
Welp they finally did it...sous vide brewing

BrewVide
https://www.getvessi.com/pages/brewvide-2
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sweetcell

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Re: Is that a hydrometer in your pocket or are you just happy to see me
« Reply #84 on: August 05, 2020, 02:34:14 pm »
Welp they finally did it...sous vide brewing

BrewVide
https://www.getvessi.com/pages/brewvide-2

this product is intriguing to me and i have subscribed to their newsletter... depending on the price, this could save me the trouble of building an external RIMS heating system - sweet!
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sweetcell

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Re: Is that a hydrometer in your pocket or are you just happy to see me
« Reply #85 on: August 11, 2020, 06:46:06 pm »
so i'm now the proud owner of a 15-gallon Whiskey Delbac barrel.  planning to brew an imperial stout this weekend, to be followed by an english barleywine.  then it'll spend the rest of its life aging sour/funky stuff.

bottled 15 gallons of barrel-aged imperial milk stout this past weekend.  took over 5 gawdam hours.  barrel now full of the above-mentioned english barleywine.  glad that i've got 8 to 12 months before i have to repeat that exercise again.
 

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Re: Is that a hydrometer in your pocket or are you just happy to see me
« Reply #86 on: January 04, 2021, 03:09:00 pm »
So Sweets...thinking 2021 is the year of the keg in the hatchhold.
I am trying to do this on the cheap as parts and things come up on Craig's list often
There are people selling completes, but seems like I can put together a lot of the components on the cheap and just buy some new tubing

What would be some recommendations and absolute musts when it comes to starting out kegging your homebrew

As long as I get a fridge that will fit this...is this all I need
https://beveragelements.com/beverage_elements_shop/kits/keg-kits/kegging-kit-reconditioned-5-gallon-ball-lock-keg-5-lb-co2-cylinder-all-accessories/
I think the goal is to have two kegs, so manifold, another keg and some more tubing
Seems like a no brainer to go quick connect too

Obvisouly no tap out the top, but that adds a lot to the cost/complexity and maybe that's a 2022 goal
« Last Edit: January 04, 2021, 03:32:40 pm by Surrender Caucasian-hatchıll|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|̲̅̅=̲̅̅|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|llıl »
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sweetcell

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Re: Is that a hydrometer in your pocket or are you just happy to see me
« Reply #87 on: January 11, 2021, 09:02:43 pm »
apologies for the delayed response.  lots of distractions recently...

So Sweets...thinking 2021 is the year of the keg in the hatchhold.

you'll be thanksful you made the jump.  kegging is easier than bottling, but it's not effort-free.. still plenty of cleaning and sanitizing to do, but you're only doing it to one large vessel instead of 50 small ones (although kegs needs to be periodically taken apart, inspected and have the rubber seals replaced - called "rebuilding a keg").

one advantage or disadvantage of kegging, depending on your personality, is that your beer is no longer quantized.  with a bottle, you're committing to those 12 ounces.  if it's midnight and you should be going to bed, you may logically tell yourself "i'm not going to open a whole bottle, so i'll skip it."  kegged beer is continuous: you can serve yourself as much, or as little, as you want.  so you can go for that midnight half-pour... which sometimes turns into another... then a three-quarters pour... then...

I am trying to do this on the cheap as parts and things come up on Craig's list often. There are people selling completes, but seems like I can put together a lot of the components on the cheap and just buy some new tubing.

yup, that's the way to do it. another source of deals (sometimes even free stuff - someone gave away 2 kegs last week) is the DC Homebrewers FB page.  join it, you'll like it.

What would be some recommendations and absolute musts when it comes to starting out kegging your homebrew

As long as I get a fridge that will fit this...is this all I need
https://beveragelements.com/beverage_elements_shop/kits/keg-kits/kegging-kit-reconditioned-5-gallon-ball-lock-keg-5-lb-co2-cylinder-all-accessories/

yup, that's what you need.  hopefully you're not considering that specific package, pretty sure you can get those parts cheaper.

I think the goal is to have two kegs, so manifold, another keg and some more tubing
Seems like a no brainer to go quick connect too

you must use quick disconnects but something to keep in mind is that at the homebrew level, kegs come in two flavors:  pin-lock and ball-lock.  pin-lock connectors will not fit on ball-lock kegs, and vice-versa. so when you start your journey, you need to choose one format or the other.  pin-locks are generally cheaper, but not always.  ball-lock have the advantage of their lids having pressure release valves (PRVs).  it's a nice-to-have, but you can release pressure in pin-locks via the gas-in post. you just need to use something like a screwdriver, a screw, or anything else hard and pointed to depress the middle of the gas-in post.

Obvisouly no tap out the top, but that adds a lot to the cost/complexity and maybe that's a 2022 goal

if you don't want to go the whole tower-on-top route, you can potentially mount the taps on the front and/or side of the kegerator: pic 1, pic 2 (not not freeze your glassware!)

depending how DYI you wanna get, you may want to consider building a keezer instead: pic 1, pic 2.  you use a freezer instead of a fridge.  the benefit is that freezers can be bigger, and generally are better shaped fo holding more kegs. i can only fit 2 kegs in my fridge, but could easily fit 3 or 4 in the same-sized freezer because of the collar you need to build.

last thing to be aware of: cornelius kegs, AKA "cornies", AKA 5-gallon homebrew kegs, are a slowly disappearing breed.  the big soda companies used to distribute their concentrated syrup in them, so they were manufactured by the boatload.  they switched to plastic containers in the late 90's IIRC and haven't been produced on a mass scale since.  you can buy new kegs but they're expensive, easily over $100 each whereas you can get a used one for under $50 if you shop around and/or are patient.

just realized that the above-linked wikipedia article contains pretty much all the info i typed above.  yeay.

lemme know if you have any other questions (or, just ask wikipedia i guess...)
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Re: Is that a hydrometer in your pocket or are you just happy to see me
« Reply #88 on: January 11, 2021, 11:13:14 pm »
Excellent...Keezer seems the way to go
Bottling is just taking forever and I'm so sick of that
I'm on the  DC Homebrewers FB page and they are plenty nice, but still haven't really caught my groove with them, why go there when I can get the milk for free ;)


sorry, a little frazzled today
Starter arrived and kinda felt like the home wasn't ready
then I tried to go with a 1:1:1 first feeding and quickly overshot the water and now it's a 1:4:4
So needless to say it's going to be a rough night
I did save 6 g, so cloning can happen if she doesn't pull through



« Last Edit: January 11, 2021, 11:17:56 pm by Incitement -hatch ıll|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|̲̅̅=̲̅̅|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|llıl »
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Space Freely

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Re: Is that a hydrometer in your pocket or are you just happy to see me
« Reply #89 on: January 11, 2021, 11:20:36 pm »
so i'm now the proud owner of a 15-gallon Whiskey Delbac barrel.  planning to brew an imperial stout this weekend, to be followed by an english barleywine.  then it'll spend the rest of its life aging sour/funky stuff.

I want to try them! I'll be out your way Summer 2021.

Trip up in the air....