The Official MWGL Homebrew Thread....

FWIW, I received my homebrew shop's quarterly newsletter the other day and they are lining up their cider deliveries/orders for the harvest, starting with the first local delivery coming in the last week of September. Check your homebrew shop for their delivery schedule and order process because mine usually requires a pre-order by the middle of Sept.

I'm planning on doing a few batches this season: Granny Smith, Pear blend and honeycrisp blend. The apple ciders are both local harvests.
 
So it appears the fermenting has slowed considerably in the primary fermenter. Should I be patient and wait it out for a few weeks or rack it to the secondary? I guess I could measure the gravity to see where it's at.
 
Just cooked up a stout yesterday. Doubled the hops just for grins.
PSI is already up to around 10, so it's doing its thing.
:thu:
 
Progress on my all electric rig....would be running a test batch this weekend. Left toggle is a master override for the kettle element, right toggle turns the pump on and off, yellow thing is the socket for the kettle thermocuple and the temp controller sets the kettle temp. There's flush mounted recepticles on the sides and two separate feeds to keep the pump and kettle on separate circuits
 

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k4df4l said:
Progress on my all electric rig....would be running a test batch this weekend. Left toggle is a master override for the kettle element, right toggle turns the pump on and off, yellow thing is the socket for the kettle thermocuple and the temp controller sets the kettle temp. There's flush mounted recepticles on the sides and two separate feeds to keep the pump and kettle on separate circuits
Click to expand...

Damn you need a degree in electrical engineering for your homebrewing... sweet setup if I new what the hell it did.

I also post on HomeBrewTalk and dude said to just leave the cider in the primary for 3-4 weeks even if it looks like fermentation has slowed considerably. I'm just an impatient bastard. :embarrassed:
 
FenderPusher said:
You measure the PSI of your fermenter?
Click to expand...

My fermenter has a PSI gauge on the top.
If it gets much above 15, I know the pressure relief thingy is blocked and needs to be finagled.
It's also a mini-keg, so the PSI gauge lets me know when I need to give it a blast of CO2 for serving purposes.
 
L
FenderPusher said:
Damn you need a degree in electrical engineering for your homebrewing... sweet setup if I new what the hell it did.
Click to expand...

Its part of an all electric temp controlled constant recirculating mash system with an electric kettle, standard cooler mash run and a pump with a plate chiller. Hopefully it should make my brew day a little easier and provide the ability to do plug and play step mashes. When you see the whole setup laid out, it makes sense.

I finished the kettle the other day so I should be able to fire the system up this weekend for an inaugural batch
 
micwalt said:
My fermenter has a PSI gauge on the top.
If it gets much above 15, I know the pressure relief thingy is blocked and needs to be finagled.
It's also a mini-keg, so the PSI gauge lets me know when I need to give it a blast of CO2 for serving purposes.
Click to expand...

k4df4l said:
Its part of an all electric temp controlled constant recirculating mash system with an electric kettle, standard cooler mash run and a pump with a plate chiller. Hopefully it should make my brew day a little easier and provide the ability to do plug and play step mashes. When you see the whole setup laid out, it makes sense.

I finished the kettle the other day so I should be able to fire the system up this weekend for an inaugural batch
Click to expand...

I'm gonna feel like a caveman stirring around wort in plastic bucket in my basement compared to you guys. :embarrassed:
 
Bottled the cider two nights ago and popped the first one after the Phils narrowly beat the Cards. It's quite different than I expected but not bad. Tastes more like apple wine than cider, like a semi-sweet apple flavored riesling. It was slightly carbonated in the fermenter but went flat after bottling I guess. Still not too bad, and I calculated it to be about 8.5% ABV so quite potent. I'll hand them out to friends and start on my first batch of beer ASAP.
 
Interesting. It shouldn't have been carbonated in the fermenter since the valve would release any pressure. Did you add sugar when you bottled? It usually takes about a week to carbonate.

What was the final gravity? 8.5% seems high.
 
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jaxn slim said:
Interesting. It shouldn't have been carbonated in the fermenter since the valve would release any pressure. Did you add sugar when you bottled? It usually takes about a week to carbonate.

What was the final gravity? 8.5% seems high.
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Racking can always wake dormant yeast up too....or it could have even been co2 trapped in solution from fermentation escaping.
 
jaxn slim said:
Interesting. It shouldn't have been carbonated in the fermenter since the valve would release any pressure. Did you add sugar when you bottled? It usually takes about a week to carbonate.

What was the final gravity? 8.5% seems high.
Click to expand...

I thought the carbonation would hold from the fermenter to bottles but it didn't, I added splenda since I didn't want it to carbonate which in hindsight was a mistake. Had no idea it'd be flat, it's more like wine now. My OG was 1.066 and FG was 1.001 or something crazy like that, very close to 1. It's not that great but it's kinda like a cheap apple wine that doesn't taste too bad, at the very least it got me used to the process and what I need to clean in what order and whatnot.
 
Just put three gallons of pear blend into the carboy with some campden before hitting it tomorrow with yeast. Can't wait for the honeycrisp cider to come in. I had some at the orchard the last weekend and it was phenominal
 

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I used to brew a lot with my older brother when we both lived in NH. He stuck with it and has his own kegging set up and everything. He is in a bunch of clubs and trades beer with other guys and stuff. I kind of drifted away from it. I should start back up again, as it is a lot of fun, and I have access to lots of science stuff to hep out. I also have awesome aseptic technique from 25 years of BSL3 virus lab work. Beer making should be pretty easy, as I've done it before (at least as a helper).

My main concern is that I lack a reasonable temperature controlled place to do the fermentation. My garage gets to be about 110 degrees every day, so probably too hot for most yeast to be very happy. My house is an open floor plan, so I don't have a room I can do it in that will not make the house smell like beer. Darn shame, really. I guess I could do it during our winter, when temps in the garage are more in the 80s.
 
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