>>2867914
what is "no-chill", just letting it cool in air? Didn't cool too much?

Thinking of doing a quick test braggot, never done braggot before. Let me know if this soudns retarded.

2 lbs honey
1 lbs DME of some sort
Maybe 1/2 oz of some light hops like crystal at some point
Lutra yeast
Then bottle carb.

Sound reasonable and drinkable? Never used lutra before, hopefully it can finished reasonably dry I don't want some sweet shit.

>>2868270
Oh, and top off with water to 1 gallon. Or should I up it to a 2 or 3 gallon recipe? Only have 1 or 5+ gal fermenters but don't want to commit to 5+ gallons yet, but I could probably find a 2 or 3 gallon bucket locally.

I posted last thread about making a sour beer with an old wheat beer kit, it's been fermenting for about 11 days now, but it seems to have stopped since last Thursday or so. I took a reading on Thursday of 1.022 and again today (Sunday) at 1.022. OG was ~1.045, used US-05 yeast but the packet was old (came with the kit). The sample tasted okay but a bit sweet, almost like apple juice imo.

The question now is, do I just settle for a weak, overly sweet beer? I wanted to bottle carb, but worry the yeast may be dead. I've got a fresh packet of US-05, should I try repitching and see if it finishes? It's had lacto plantarum in it this whole time though, it doesn't taste super sour (to me, but I love sour/tart/acidic food and drink) but who knows what the pH is.

What's my next move? Wait it out? Re-pitch? Go ahead and try to bottle? Add a stronger yeast (I've got ec-1118 or Lutra)?

>>2868276
Repitch, the longer you wait the more likely n infection will occur and you'll end up with a sour beer that would make a lemon blush

>>2867989
no-chill is letting the wort cool down on its own without an ice bath or immersion chiller. i dumped it into my fermenter and let it cool (with the lid on) for ~12h in my kitchen before i pitched. i read that ausfags are heavily into it and use cubes.

you apparently have to alter your hop additions but dunno since it was my first brew

>>2868303
I hope it ends up so sour, I did pitch lacto in it after all lol. I don't want any acetic acid though, not into that in beers.

So anyway, you think the fresh packet of US-05 will do it? I was hoping to get down at least to <1.010.

>>2868329
If sour is the only goal, just let it roll
The lacto will eat through the sugar eventually and you'll have something like kvass
But if you want to be sure there's alcohol, repitch.
NOthing about the batch suggests the yeast's out of its element so you shouldn't need to build a starter or use extra

I've been brewing for 6 months or so. Anyone have experience with wild yeast? I sort of like the idea of letting nature do it's thing though it's drawbacks are unpredictable and could taste like shit. I mostly make low abv wine's from store bought juice and made cider and beer once. I've got a mead going I threw some blueberries in for nutrient. It smells nice if a bit sour. I'm going to take my time with it and leave it untouched for min. 3 months.

>>2868386
>But if you want to be sure there's alcohol, repitch.
>NOthing about the batch suggests the yeast's out of its element so you shouldn't need to build a starter or use extra
Yeah you're probably right. Plenty of people kettle sour and get a really low ph and still ferment fine.
Went ahead and re-hydrated and pitched a fresh packet of yeast this morning so inshallah it'll finish properly so I can bottle it.

>>2867914
Any place to get cans or bottles for a reasonable price to sell homebrews? Even 2L cola bottles to sell homemade cola are near impossible to find for under a dollar. Cans are like 65 cents each not including the lid.

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has anyone bottled in picrel style of mason jar?
They seem to be identical to flip top bottles (mechanism and gasket) so im intrigued. they are also very cheap where i live

>>2868863
Yes, but only still wines. Those aren't meant to hold pressure at all.

>>2868876
>Those aren't meant to hold pressure at all
fugg >:33
talking from experience? I guess I'll experiment with bottling in these (and twist-off bottles) in the future. but no way I waste 2 out of 10 liters now. 1.5l PET bottles will do for now

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hello I don't hang much around here, does anyone know much about distillations?
I'm making a myrtle liquor so I put the berries soaking in alcohol, in 40 days or so I'll squeeze the berries out and add honey and have the liquor.
that will leave me with the squeezed berries, can I put that in a still and get anything from it like you would for the residue from the grapes and vines to get grappa?

Anyone ever have success using tea in their brew?
Going to make an amber ale (Pale malt/Munich/Light Crystal/Dark crystal. Hops will be magnum for bittering and hopstand of kent goldings and cascade/centennial)

I want to add in some sweet potato flavored hojicha (Japanese roasted green tea) to give it a hint of that roasted tea flavor. Planning on adding at the end with the aroma hops but am not sure what an appropriate amount without going overkill would be. Also afraid of getting it tannic.

>>2868884
You can, but it doesn't look like you'll have a quantity of material worth bothering, just scavenging a modicum of ethanol left behind.

>>2868898
>sweet potato flavored hojicha
>for the tea flavor
Why are you using flavored tea if the TEA is the flavor you want

>>2868947
I see so it's a matter with the mass of the product and not what I'm stilling
I thought it'd be retarded because when you're distilling vines you're evaporating alcohol that has fermented from the vine themselves, in this case I'd be pulling back just the alcohol I put in; would that taste anything like myrtle?
I will try anyways cause it's fun, even if I make straight methanol and go blind from it

>>2868958
There shouldn't be a worry about much methanol or fusels, those were already cut out and no new ones will ahve been made. So if you take the whole run you will have captured some of the myrtle volatiles in the final distillate. You might not taste it, but you should be able to smell it, presuming it has an odor. Don't know anything about myrtle

>>2868746
If you try to sell your brews then expect the ATF to come knocking.

>>2869202
Hey maybe we can abolish the ATF in the cleanup of government waste.

>>2869220
Good luck with that

>>2869081
myrtle doesn't have anything else other than odor, it's not a juicy berry, it doesn't have much sugar, it's mostly seeds, that's why you have to soak it in alcohol for 40 days, you can't really ferment it like you do with vines and grapes

anyone got xp with a mash that i can use that emulates euro alcool? ive tried to make limoncello with everclear and its too harsh. besides a reflux column whats the best mash for a 2-3 run angio that tastes like water?

Just put together a batch of "Brandon O's Graff'" from the homebrewtalk thread. I've made it once before but that was like 15 years ago or something when he first posted it lol.

Decided to try Lutra in it, and it's my first go at using Kveik. Pitched pretty cold accidentally since I'd had the apple juice in the fridge and my wort cooled off faster than I'd thought it would, probably like 60-65F, but the fermenter is in a room that stays around 74F. Kind of thought of putting it in my sunroom where it gets much warmer, but might as well see if this stuff really will ferment clean at room temp.

Now thinking about ordering more stuff for my next brew, but not sure what I want to make. I'm restricted to extract brews for now though. Or mead/cider/wine. Was going to do a strong like imperial berliner weiss type thing, but now I'm kind of wanting just a basic ass brown ale.

>>2869507
>Still extract brewing
>Already fucking with kveik
You got it bad, son

A thin white film has just started forming on my hard cider about a week after the airlock stopped bubbling.
If it tastes fine i'm thinking of pasteurizing it at 65C, then adding a tiny amount of yeast and the sugar required for carbonation, then bottling right after. Any better options?

>>2869694
You probably don't need to worry about it. My apple cider vinegar gets a film on it too. It's called scoby. Just try to avoid transferring it when you bottle it.

>>2868599
Well, it's been a couple of days so I checked the gravity... Barely changed, it's now 1.020 and no real signs of fermentation. Beer is also tasting distinctly appley :/ Opening the bucket and adding yeast that didn't really do any more fermentation must have oxidized it to to get that acetaldehyde bullshit. Definitely tasted more beer like before I repitched, despite being slightly sweet.
Guess I'm calling it, gonna rack to a bottling bucket with priming sugar and bottle later today. Hopefully it carbonates at least.

Also hopefully this poor outcome is just a result of the kit having sat in someone's garage for like 4 years in the South lol and my next attempts (with fresh ingredients) will go better.

Also I've got some questions on how the fuck to not oxidize my beer.
I fermented in a bucket with a spigot, but obviously if I take a sample from the spigot it pulls air in. Or I can remove the lid, and that lets air in. So how the fuck am I supposed to test gravity without oxidizing the damn beer?

Also why is wine apparently so much less susceptible to this issue? It's perfectly normal to rack regularly and degas and shit.

Are bench top cappers a significant improvement over handheld cappers? Just bottled my first batch adn teh handheld capper wasn't terrible (compared to my handheld corker), but there's a nice vintage cast iron bench top capper for sale near my for a reasonable price, is it worth it to switch?

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I have an auto siphon and I hate it. However I have one of these bottle fillers that attaches to one end of a hose and I really like it. How do I ditch the auto siphon and use this? I don't really want to suck from it cause muh sanitation

>>2869853
Use a bucket with a spigot and attach the hose directly to the spigot. Or use CO2 and slightly pressurize the fermenter to get the siphon started.

>>2869855
>Use a bucket with a spigot
I don't like to make more than one gallon at a time so I don't have a bucket. I'm not really crafty so I can't fashion something. I can't think of a solution so I may have to ditch it entirely and use a hose clamp and fill it manually. I hate the auto siphon so much it's just so big and bulky and annoying no matter how careful I am I always kick up the yeast by accident.

>>2869856
I've only just now upgraded to the bottling wand and buckets with spigots. Before that I always just used a hose. Didn't even have a clamp for it, just used my thumb or tried to crimp it lol. Never got an autosiphon cause they looked gay and annoying for just the reasons you stated.

>>2867914
>plastic fermenter

Enjoy your cancer brew.

>>2869694
flor yeast

>>2869859
Yeah I'm gonna do what you did and just use my hand to plug it. Auto siphons are gay and for redditors. I was new to homebrewing at the time I bought it and what a mistake that was. It's fucking shit and annoying never again

>>2869761
Oxidation is not a concern during fermentation unless you're checking things all the time. Are you TASTING oxidized flavors, or are you concerned with souring? A little oxygen won't diffusefast enough to beat the CO2 production, we used to ferment in open tubs, oxidized flavors come from faulty long term storage or on the hot side
>>2869853
>I don't really want to suck from it cause muh sanitation
You don't have to. Sink all but the last inch of hose in the bucket, stop it off and pull to a good siphoning height. Voila

>>2869932
>Oxidation is not a concern during fermentation unless you're checking things all the time. Are you TASTING oxidized flavors, or are you concerned with souring? A little oxygen won't diffusefast enough to beat the CO2 production, we used to ferment in open tubs, oxidized flavors come from faulty long term storage or on the hot side
My concern was more when testing gravity once fermentation has basically finished in order to determine whether it really is done. Everytime I open the bucket I'm letting in a bunch of oxygen without any more CO2 being produced to push it out. While fermentation is still vigorously ongoing, there isn't really any need to test gravity.
As for the beer I just bottled, I was assuming it was oxidation due to the apple flavor, but then again it was purposefully soured and remained somewhat sweeter than I wanted which can also give the illusion of appleness, and if there were any acetaldehyde I suppose those same factors would amplify it and make it seem far more apparent than it might actually be.And for beer, what counts as long term? An extra week in primary to settle? Two? Everyone apparently recommends no secondary but I'm not sure what is the proper duration, once obvious fermentation is done. How long do the yeast need to clean up and and settle firmly to be easier to rack off of?

Guess I'm just a bit paranoid about oxidation now too since everyone online makes it seem like this huge problem that requires extreme measures like pressure fermenting and transferring under CO2 and so on. Also I've had some oxidized stuff recently (not made by myself), and those flavors are terrible.

So basically if I intend to keep on making beer and other things I want to make sure that I can do it properly and end up with a final product that, within reason, tastes as I intended.

>>2870043
>once fermentation is finished
You gonna open it again to test AFTER it's finished?
What I'm trying to say is this is a single opening. Beer used to sit more or less exposed its whole life once, what's ONE opening going to do? IF there's yeast alive the oxygen will get scavenged. If it's dormant, careful work won't overly disturb the CO2 layer in the fermenter.
Oxidation occurs in hot side, or lager/storage particularly if there's a bunch of headspace with oxygen in the mix when it's laid down or if it's laid down in a plastic container because it's not actually a gas barrier.

Was looking on /ck/ for a brewing thread, should have figured it would be here with the adults.

Got 10L of elderberry wine fermenting, been in the barrel three days now, no signs of activity.

Got a question about sterilising large food grade barrels because there's an infuriating amount of bullshit online.
I figure boiling water won't work because you can't boil the whole barrel. I've heard campden tablets work, but I've also heard they don't. There's a million people obviously paid to shill this product or that product so I'm in a real jam

>>2870179
>wine fermenting, been in the barrel three days now, no signs of activity.
At this point I'd say it probably isn't fermenting and you'll need some new yeast.

>>2870179
>sterilising large food grade barrels
Clean, I use non-scented washing up liquid and one of those microfibre cloths you buy in multipacks at the dollar store (because I don't want scratches), rinse. Starsan or your local copy, here it's sanipro . You don't need to mix more than it covering the botttom, swirl it around and using a microfibre cloth wipe the sides. Turn the barrel on it's side so that it drips out, this is no-rinse and ready in minutes.

>>2870179
>I've heard campden tablets work, but I've also heard they don't.
Potassium metabisulfite (campden) and an acid (most use citric because cheap, available) works, but it smells terrible so not something you'd want to stick your head into a barrel with.

>>2870233
>At this point I'd say it probably isn't fermenting and you'll need some new yeast.
NTA but how well would this work with a different yeast strain? I started a batch a month ago with lalvin 71B but the room its brewing in got much colder than I expected (at 16°C now, will probably be colder later in the winter) so it has very little activity, should I consider adding a packet of EC-1118 which ferments down to 10°C?
I'm tempted to leave it as it is though since it will probably come out great if the yeast doesn't go dormant

Okay so I want to make a black beer, but not something heavy or sweet or anything. Like a schwarzbier or black lager I guess, or pseudo lager in my case cause I have no way to maintain lagering temps lol.

I want something light and crisp with a slight roastiness to it, but very drinkable.

I'm stuck doing extract (maybe I could do a partial mash if it's worth it? Probably max I can manage to boil is like 2 gallons). So anyway, here's what I'm thinking:
6 lbs pilsen light DME
8 oz midnight wheat
10 oz blackprinz
6 oz crystal rye
then maybe loral hops
and lutra for the yeast

Does that sound reasonable? Is it going to be terrible? Most recipes have some munich malt but for extract it only comes in 3.3lbs LME tubs and that's more than I'd want. No idea really about correct quantities for the specialty grains, the Briess site had some ranges suggested so kind of went with those but adjustred based on hearsay from HBT and other forums. Anyway the specialty grains are like 6.7, 8.3, and 5% respectively.

Lastly, how do I figure out the right amount of hops and boil times? Since I'm using extract it doesn't technically require a boil at all, and even if I do boil would probably reserve the bulk of the DME for afterwards to not caramelize sugars in it, but the gravity of the wort affects hop utilization doesn't it? Lower gravity means higher utilization right? Would rather do a shorter boil also, but then do I get everything I need from the hops?

>>2870431
Boil is necessary for hop extraction and isomerization, even for extract
you'd be getting pretty experimental to skip boil

>>2870423
>I started a batch a month ago with lalvin 71B but the room its brewing in got much colder than I expected (at 16°C now, will probably be colder later in the winter) so it has very little activity,
Have you measured with a hydrometer, it's probably finished or very near? You can't really tell from the airlock since the dissolved co2 gets released after fermentation has finished so it will keep on bubbling. If you're worried about temp you can wrap a blanket around the bucket and it will retain some of the heat created by the fermentation.

>>2869507
So once this is done (apple beer, slight hops) if I re-use the yeast cake as is, how much flavor carry over will there be? Want to make a sparkling mead with the Lutra. Or should I wash the yeast?
It's mostly apple juice, 2 lbs of malt, and only 1 oz of weak hops, that shouldn't make a huge difference to the mead should it?

Figure I'd dump in a gallon of honey, and top up to maybe 5.5 gallons aiming for ~10% abv.

Also, if I want to bottle carb, will there be enough yeast still in it if I let it rest in secondary for a month or two (or more)? Or should I add some bottling yeast? What's the cut-off time wise?
Lastly, should I go for normal carb levels and crown cap, or would it be better to go for champagne levels? Would be more work obviously collecting champagne bottles, and corks/cages, but if it's worth it....

>>2871111
Technically speaking you should always wash the yeast unless it's going directly from one fermenter to another. The hop aroma might carry over if you don't, but I don't think it'd be batch-spoilingly foul.
Better to add fresh sugar and yeast for carbonationfor reliability and so you can better tell how carbonated it'll end up, wouldn't want to detonate a container because I left 8 volumes of CO2's worth of sugar in it when I stopped it up

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Any of you ever done a solera type system (single container, or multiple)? Was it worth the effort? Kind of want to try to make sour and funky type beers that need to age a year or more.

Also, if I'm adding brettanomyces, is it better to use stainless, or is HDPE okay? Also worried about oxidation over the long haul, but I've read mixed things.

I bottled a batch several days ago, and left the yeast cake with a tiny bit of wort on it in the "sealed" bucket.... Is it too late to wash the yeast for later use?

>>2871446
Won't be as healthy but you might have some luck. Higher chance of petit mutant

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How do I sort out how to do a partial mash?
I want to make a simple Trappist single, something like Westmalle Extra. I figured rather than doing 6lbs of pilsen extract, maybe cut it to 3lbs and replace the rest with Franco-Belg Pilsen malt, for a bit better flavor (hopefully) and to sort of dip my toes in to all grain.

The stuff I'm not sure about:
How much malt should I get to replace ~3lbs of extract?
How large a volume for the mash? 2 gallons?
Then what, sparge with another gallon for a ~3 gallon boil?
I need to account for absorption of the grains though, correct?
Am I supposed to boil the 3 gallons down to 2? Or do I just go by the gravity until it's concentrated enough that that wort + extract + extra water to dilute to my final batch size comes out right?
Should I add a bit of sugar, or with a lighter beer like this will it already dry out enough on its own?

Also don't want to deal with liquid yeast, so I was planning on using Lallemand Abbaye, even though it's not the Westmalle strain, but I'm not really going for an exact clone anyway. And what kind of hops would be good? Stick with the classics, or try something different? I saw loral hops, they sounded good...

Oh and lastly, debating whether I should try to hit it with some Orval dregs for a bit of brett character, or save that for another brew. Curious about trying the "Fast & Funky method" here: https://brewingforward.com/wiki/Sour_beer
But I also don't need to try everything all at once lol.

>>2871752
What size batch is this supposed to be precisely

>>2869932
>You don't have to. Sink all but the last inch of hose in the bucket, stop it off and pull to a good siphoning height. Voila
I saw a video on how this was done and it blew my mind. Can't find it now. The little tip at the bottler wand is hard to plug on an angle so I don't know if I can get it to work. I'll experiment thanks

>>2872005
I'm retarded and I can't read. Submerge the whole thing. Better than the video I saw, got it

I have to move countries and can't bring my ingredients with me, so I brewed the following Frankenbrew yesterday:

-5kg Maris Otter
-500g malted rye
-300g flaked corn (literally just all natural, 0 additive corn flakes from the grocery store)
-200g Carapils
-300g homemade candi syrup, light colour
-50g Chocolate malt

-10g Northern Brewer 11%AA 60mins
-5g Northern Brewer 11%AA 30mins
-1pck BE-256 Belgian Abbey Yeast

I used the mashing profile suggested by meadman in a previous thread of a protein rest, ramping up to 62 degrees, up to 72 and mashing out at 76. I was aiming for about 1.066OG but got 1.071 so it's gonna be strong lol. Will update in a couple weeks.

>>2872019
I was originally going to make a small 10L batch of a typical Belgian blonde or dubbel with a Munich malt as base but wanted to get rid of a 5kg sack of MO and some leftover rye malt. I probably should have just made half the amount of candi syrup as it's gonna end up at 7.9-8%, let's hope it ends up drinkable by New Years Eve. I promised by family that the entire batch would be bottle ready by then lol.
Thankfully I'm moving to Belgium where there are actually B&M homebrewing stores. I'm currently in Spain and there's only 2-3 online distributors that charge out the ass for delivery and frequently sell out of key ingredients.

>>2868948
Never responded because I don't like this glownigger email verification system 4chan has now.

Anyways, there's a specific tea here in nipland that does a great job of blending the sweet potato and hojicha flavor together and thats what I wanted to have accenting the beer. I got lazy though and also thought that it might get a bit gross if I had to drink an entire keg so I just ended up making a normal amber. Went for a grist of ~80% Pale/~8% Munich/~12% Caramel (split between 40 and 120) Hopping with some magnum for bittering and cascade/centennial/kent goldings for aroma. It's finishing up fermentation now so will move to the keg next week and force carb and let you fags know if it's any good.

>>2869837
DESU you might end up switching to kegging anyways so any "investments" you make into bottling gear might be shortlived. I made ~4 batches before I realized that bottling sucks absolute fucking dick. Switched to kegging and my only regret is I didn't do it earlier.

>>2871930
I was planning for 5.5 gallons.

Been messing around on the brewer's friend recipe calculator, but I'm not sure how accurate that will be since a lot depends on my efficiency I guess, which will probably be shit since I have no idea what I'm doing.

Now that I think about it, I just figure out the PPG for everything I'm using, and add up the totals points and divide by my volume, don't I? I did read (most of) Palmer's book, but reading practical techniques with out putting them into practice it doesn't always stick so well first go round lol.

>>2872063
That's a good point. I've mostly started with bottles due to lack of space for a dedicated fridge for the kegs. Also the expense of CO2 bottles and regulators and all that... Missed out on a few cheap and even a huge free setup on facebook which pisses me off, or I probably would have figure out how to make it work.

I do have a couple of sanke kegs I picked up cheap, but had intended to turn to pull the spears and make stainless carboys, but now I've ended up getting some glass carboys basically free so maybe I'll save the kegs for kegging.

Really my only other concern was portability. Of course you can bottle from a keg, but I'd read some styles it was very difficult due to carbonation or something. Can't remember the details now though. Also I want to experiment with sour and wild brews, so probably gonna end up with champagne bottles with corks and cages. I'd almost be tempting to get a bench top capper for that too (for less wild brews), if it could swap out the 26mm bell for a 29mm and cap the champagne bottles, but I don't think the vintage one can do that, nice as it looks.

Alright that's enough pointless rambling for now lol.

Since this is /diy/ any of you know of any decent plans for wooden beer crates? Preferably that fit a bunch of 22oz bombers nicely, or is that some other readily available solution?
Do milk crates work well enough?
Right now I've got a single plastic crate from coca cola, but it's made to fit cans and fits neither 12oz nor 22oz nicely.

>>2872076
I've never done partial mash or extract so you'd be dissolving some weight of extract into an additional ~4 gallons and combining? I was just tripped out because it looked like you were trying to make about a gallon and a half of impossibly rich wort

>>2872181
Something like that yeah, but I was thinking 2-3 gallons sort of all grain since that's the most I can realistically boil, then add the DME at the end of the boil, then add the extra water to dilute it and cool it down.

>>2872185
And since I'm going for a Belgian style, if my gravity falls a little short I figure I can make up a few points with sugar or blonde candi syrup. Only aiming for an OG of like 1.040 to 1.045 anyway.

>>2872187
I don't really know much about going for styles, but if the PPG math works out you should be OK. Can't imagine the sugar would be necessary

I'm not certain about the sanitation of dosing wort with cold water though.

>>2872063
Can't wait til I get a keg system set up. I usually make 20L batches and want an 18L keg for lawnmower/SMASH brews and a 10L for high gravity ones that I can bottle condition the other half of. I'm so done with spending the whole afternoon sanitizing, filling and capping bottles lol.

Also tap installation/maintenance is a very niche subfield of plumbing and you can probably get paid pretty well if you start working commercially. When I managed a bar there were literally only 2 guys in the entire city who did it and bars would be waiting weeks for one of them to show up and install a new tap line or just to clean them out every couple of months.

>>2872262
>I'm not certain about the sanitation of dosing wort with cold water though.
Been just filling up a bucket with tap water and dechlorinating with campden tabs, should be fine I'd think. Works fine making mead and wines anyway, never bothered boiling.

Had another thought, since I'm not confident in my mash efficiency (being that I've never done it before), but would it be a terrible idea to just add some glucoamylase enzyme to the mash to help, just in case?
Also thought about adding a bit of rolled or steel cut oats, just for a bit of something extra. I've seen some recipes for similar beer include a bit of wheat malt, but I forgot to add any to my order. But with the glucoamylase I should be able to break down the starches anyway even thought it's unmalted, right? Or maybe I won't bother and just go simple this time, no reason to overcomplicate stuff aside from fun and (lack of) profit.

Have any of you tried using citrus peels to flavor your brews? What were your results?

>>2872366
Personally I feel like you're going ham on this idea, but if a beer with "all the fixins" is what you want, enjoy.
I've heard external enzymes don't give the same flavor, but that wouldn't stop ME. Just be aware that the more complicated you get the harder it'll be to replicate

>>2872368
I made a spiced Christmas ale last year using Papazian’s “Holiday Cheer” as a base but also zested a few oranges and a few Yuzu and added near the end of the boil. Came out very nice. I’d recommend zesting over adding the peel in entirely because pith might make it astringent.

>>2872654
Forgot to mention, It depends on what you’re going for but you can get nice citrus while adding zero peels as well. Use some Voss Kveik and ferment it hot as fuck and you’ll get really nice orange marmalade flavor from the esters. I’m just now finishing a keg of APA I made with zero fruit additions but I fermented at lime 32C the entire time and it gave it a lot of citrus characteristic when paired with the healthy dose of citrus hops.

>>2872654
>>2872655
Neat. I'll probably try that.

>but I fermented at lime 32C the entire time
What does this mean?

>>2872654
where tf did you get yuzu, and do the citrus oils affect the head?

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First time bottling and the hand capper is a PITA. The caps come out slightly crooked as the capper clips on the ridge of the bottle (even though I'm wrapping a towel to prevent it as much as possible). I am also crimping it multiple times, each time rotating the bottle 90 degrees. Will I be fucked and they wont hold pressure? I'm gonna also use some PET bottles to safe at least a little bit of beer

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>>2872829
Update: was already in bed but decided to go to the shop and use the drillpress as a benchtop capper. Just placed the bell between the bottle and the drill chuck. Went surprisingly well, redid 2 bottles where i could easily twist the cap.
Question: is it normal that the cap can be rotated after capping with retard strengh?

I'm thinking of brewing sake but I'm worried about how I'll be able to steam rice on a large scale and repeatedly
What's the easiest set up for steaming rice?

>>2872742
Sorry I meant to say I fermented at like* 32 c the entire time. If you use Voss Kveik it can handle crazy high fermentation temperatures before throwing off bad tasting esters. The esters it produces in the high 20s-mid 30s are very citrusy and enjoyable

>>2872792
I live in Japan and got them from the market. I think it might effect head retention, I was able to pour with a very nice head still but it dissipated quickly. It was one of my first brews though so it also might have just been my general technique that could have impacted it as well.

>>2872861
When I bottled I was never able to twist a cap after fixing it on using a hand capper with relatively normal amount of force behind it. Are you using proper bottles? If the bottles you’re using are beers that were previously twist off I’d pitch them because maybe that’s impacting it. Also check if the oxygen seal is seated properly around the lip of the bottle while you’re capping. You want that shit tight trust me. My first ever batch I boiled the bottle caps which fucked up the rubber air seal on the inside of them and resulted in an imperfect seal. The cap wasn’t twistable on the beer bottle but if I held it upside down and waited it would drip a few drops of beer after a few seconds. The result? Beers that had the improper seal were flat, oxygenated and in some cases infected. I still drank through all 20 liters (as atonement for my mistakes) but it would have been a much more enjoyable experience if I hadn’t fucked the capping up.

TL;DR: take a few of those bottles and flip them upside down/shake them around and see if any liquid comes out. If it does, you don’t have a full seal and the beer will probably come out of the bottle flat and maybe very gross.

>>2872920
>Are you using proper bottles?
Yes, I guess at least. I think the problem in my case was the geometry (or spacing) of the shoulder where the capper pulls against. funny enough, the only bottles that capped properly with the handheld capper were 2 twist-off bottles that I used to test if they really are not suitable for homebrewing. thankfully I also bottled two 0.5 l swingtop bottles and two 1.5 l PET bottles. Those should carbonate properly.
> Also check if the oxygen seal is seated properly around the lip of the bottle while you’re capping
how do you do that?
> take a few of those bottles and flip them upside down/shake them around and see if any liquid comes out
This morning I held one upside down and gave it a little shake, no leaks so far. fingers crossed that the whole batch is safe

>>2873028
>how do you do that?
If the cap feels tight on the bottle I'm sure it's fine. Mine got fucked up because I listened to the (wrong) advice in "The complete joy of homebrewing" that tells you to boil caps to disinfect them. It caused the rubber/plastic air seal to come lose and not create a firm seal on the bottle.
>This morning I held one upside down and gave it a little shake, no leaks so far. fingers crossed that the whole batch is safe
You're probably fine then. Try with a couple more bottle and also in a few days after it's had time to carb in the bottle and if you don't get any leakage you're more than likely completely fine.

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>>2872907
You don't have to steam it, you can just boil it and get decent results. If you do want to steam it, dunno. I made a bunch of Chinese style rice wine before and I steamed the rice, but I just did it in multiple batches since it needed to cool down anyway. It was a huge pain in the ass.

Best bet may be getting on of those Vietnamese style rice steamers, the big conical bamboo basket thing. You can get them pretty big, and just put it on top of your largest pot of water, might work alright.

>>2872829
>The caps come out slightly crooked as the capper clips on the ridge of the bottle (even though I'm wrapping a towel to prevent it as much as possible)
The picture of the cap shows that it's gone completely wrong, but I don't understand what you're trying to say. Perhaps if you could illustrate with a photo with the capper on the bottle?

>>2872861
>Question: is it normal that the cap can be rotated after capping with retard strengh?
No and you shouldn't need to press that hard. When you push to hard the pin in the "bell" makes depression at the top of the cap (obviously this doesn't happen when you use the drill press).

The only ways I can think of is that the stopper pin is set to far down so that the "bell" can't get down far enough to fold in the sides. Or you got a capper with the wrong or an extra "bell", that's made for the 29mm champagne caps (beer caps are 26mm) and it's just too wide to fold in the sides of the cap.

I've made about 20 gallons of mead over the last few years, but I've always used cheap clover honey, and wildflower honey gifted/traded from friends with hives. I am currently making my first gallon with a real varietal honey (blackberry blossom) and My God... The smell coming from the airlock is mouthwatering. It smells like melomels I've made with 20lbs of fruit, but it's just 3lbs of honey. What are some other varietal honeys I should try?

>>2873196
You might find buckwheat honey novel. You may not find it good, it's a strong tasting honey

>>2873057
thanks brethren :3

>>2873110
>I don't understand what you're trying to say
meant to say that the capper slips on the shoulder of the bottle, where it's supposed to pull against
I used the right size bell (both sizes came with the capper)
>When you push to hard the pin in the "bell" makes depression at the top of the cap (obviously this doesn't happen when you use the drill press).
the depression actually happened with the drill press and not the handcapper. i have to check if there is a burr on the hole and will prob chamfer it anyways.
>The only ways I can think of is that the stopper pin is set to far down
man i may be retarded. i searched the damn thing for adjustments but couldnt find anything to change.

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>>2873246
>meant to say that the capper slips on the shoulder of the bottle, where it's supposed to pull against
>I used the right size bell (both sizes came with the capper)
If yours is like pic then you also need to remove and flip the plastic parts or equivalent (some come with two sets and they are usually metal) as it's set to the wider 29mm bottles.

>>2873246
>man i may be retarded. i searched the damn thing for adjustments but couldnt find anything to change.
Probably not retarded, almost none are (it could still be set too low:-)

If I want to get into all grain, what's the best equipment setup? Is it worthwhile to get a boilpot ( 8 gal megapot with spigot and thermometer) and mash tun (10 gal cooler) setup, if it's reasonably cheap (used stuff from facebook market)? Or should I keep looking for a used all in one electric system, or buy the cheap vevor one? Or should I DIY my own electric setup with a 15 gal keg? What other stuff might I need? Is it better to just do BIAB in the megapot and skip the cooler mash tun?

I'm sticking to 5 gal batches (maybe even 3 dunno) and would like to be as frugal as possible.

>>2873431
>as frugal as possible.
Why that's 2 or 3 buckets and one spigot. Google Zapap tun, the only reason I don't brew 5 gallon batches is because I don't have a fermenter of an appropriate size.

>>2873457
Well I've got plenty of buckets and stuff, but how do you maintain the mashing temp? Also still gotta figure out how to boil a large quantity of liquids and need a vessel to do it in...

Also a general question: What is the equivalence between extract and grain? Like 1 lb of extract is equal to how much grain, given some average efficiency? I want to get into all grain for versatility, but (equipment aside) curious how big a difference there would be cost wise.

>>2873462
>but how do you maintain the mashing temp?
Boiling water infusions. You'll have to play with mash thicknesses that suit, I've overshot my lauter tun capacity a few times, a zapap tun only has a max capacity of ~4 gallons of mash

I've never used extract, but google says ~.75lb of liquid extract = .6lb of dry extract = 1lb of malt and extracts are universally more expensive per unit even accounting for actual extract value.

I just heard a noise from my bottle conditioning beers... Like if I lightly bumped into a box of bottles. Should I be worried? I've got a few in plastic and they're firm but not rock hard, and I've drank a few and they're carbed a bit but not overly so.... But some of those have been in twist off bottles so maybe they've been letting off pressure. Hope shit doesn't explode.

>>2873505
They’re releasing mustard gas. R.I.P.

>>2873505
F

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>>2873275
fugg they were already in the correct orientation. but didn't know you could rotate them, thanks for the info!

>>2873474
>.6lb of dry extract = 1lb of malt and extracts are universally more expensive per unit even accounting for actual extract value.
Messed around with some recipes and that seems right. But damn, ritebrew has 3lbs DME for $9.39 and most base malts are like $1.80 or so (plus like 10 cents per lb to grind them), so on a high gravity beer that would save me like $3, plus I need a bunch of extra equipment and time.

Now I'm kind of wondering if it's even worth it over doing extract or partial mash to get some fancy grains in. If I milled my own grains and bought in bulk the economics would be different, but then that another like $200 for a grain mill.

what the best method for the most neutral, reflux distilled spirit? carbon filtering? triple distill? im trying to make clean liquors and everclear sucks ass

>>2873638
ATF is going to shoot your dick off

>>2873625
>like $200 for a grain mill.
I use a corona hand mill, they're pretty cheap even though they aren't ideal
All sorts of DIY mills too

>>2873625
The point of full grain isn’t primarily for the savings. It’s because it gives you more control over the beer (mixture of malts) and it tastes better (inb4 extractfags try to act like their beers don’t have the unmistakeable extract twang in them)

If your primary concern is cost over flavor/time enjoying the hobby why don’t you just go buy a 24 pack of natty and call it a night?

>>2868574
The meads been going for a month and has seemed to pause. Doesn't smell rotten but doesn't smell great. I don't think I want to try wild yeast again I think controlled fermentation is better. I'm cheap so I'll just harvest yeast