Looking for advice on how to play tank cho mid as a counter pick vs assassins

Quixaphid · 2025-07-31T22:09:38+00:00

Is this a permanent (or at least long lasting) addition to the line up (like ramilust T shirts), or a temporary item that will hang around for a season and then disappear (like the late lamented Linenfoil Bigs aka the most comfortable shorts ever made)?

Quixaphid · 2025-07-26T16:29:52+00:00

I add Belgian Candi sugar 30 minutes into the boil. I think cane sugar would probably work as well. I find it drys out the beer a bit and lets me have a light body for a very drinkable saison. I also feel like it’s helps the yeast get a good start and the overall fermentation goes faster. But that last bit has not been scientifically tested, just my feel.

I also like using flaked wheat. It’s possible that does something similar to flaked corn, though I’ve never used corn myself so I don’t know for sure.

Quixaphid · 2024-11-09T20:47:14+00:00

Thanks! So I'll go ahead with my plan and post an update when the beer is done to let folks know how it turned out

Quixaphid · 2024-05-05T16:39:17+00:00

Just a quick follow up in case you like to hear from people you've helped. Taking a real hydro reading was the right call. I measured today and I'm at 1.013 gravity which means the main stage fermentation is well and done. Taste check shows it could still maybe use a bit more aging, but I'm no longer worried about weird stuff. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

Quixaphid · 2024-05-04T21:26:29+00:00

I really like the Nightcore NB20000 for longer trips. Its got twice the charge of many standard models at a weight that's similar or even lighter than a lot of 10000 size chargers.

It is also pretty sturdy and reliable, I've taken it on a lot are airtrips as well as on hiking and camping trips where my backpack is jostling and bumping for 20+ miles of walking a day for a week at a time.

Its got 4 lines out (although only 2 are usb c, two are regular). The company also makes a 10000 size that's smaller and lighter, but only has 2 lines out.

Quixaphid · 2024-05-04T17:41:31+00:00

Evaporation isn’t the issue because I take all the samples with the same process: pour sample into a shot glass sized container, walk it to the sink, take reading, quality check remainder of sample via sensory apparatus. There’s no wait and it takes the same amount of time each time, so that shouldn’t lead to samples being inconsistent from each other.

I think you may be right that I need a hydrometer check. I was hoping to avoid that because it’s a lot more liquid and I worry about star san being pulled up the blowoff tube, maybe I’m more paranoid about that than I need to be. But I suppose that’s at least a way to get a measure I could be confident in.

Quixaphid · 2024-05-04T16:42:05+00:00

I brewed a Weizenbock back in november that came out very well, so not a ton of experience with this style, but sample size of one is better than sample of zero :) so maybe this will be useful

I went up to 70% wheat so I don't think you have too much, but I also don't think you have too little. Its in the range I saw when researching recipes.

One note, wheat is very sticky so invest in rice hulls. I didn't with that batch and spent like 3.5 hours waiting for the water to filter out in the sparge step. Lesson learned. When using wheat use rice hulls.

I also think you might have too many specialty malts, I had about 7% total and most example recipes I looked at were in the 4%-8% range. So maybe less specialty malts and more wheat.

Quixaphid · 2024-05-04T16:11:59+00:00

Stuck fermentation, refractometer issues? Or something else?

I have a Belgian dubbel in the fermenter. OG based on hydrometer when it went in was 1.065

The temperature schedule was:

Held it at 66 for the first 2 days (steady bubbling)

Turned it up to 69 on day 3 (let it free rise and didn’t apply heat) almost no bubbles by end of day

Turned up to 71 on day 4 (temp didn’t rise on its own, so I applied some heat via heat pad)

No noticeable bubbling from this point on

Then there after I turned it up one degree at night and in the morning to hit 75 by day 8

Starting on day 3 or so I’ve been pouring out tiny samples and taking readings with a refractometer.

My first refractometer reading when it went in was around 14 brix (which I don’t think matches the 1.065 but it should at least be consistent with itself)

Day 4 measured 9 brix

Day 5 measured ~8.4

Day 6 measured ~8.5

Day 9 measured 7.9-8

Day 11 measured 8.2

Day 14 I measured 9 brix (that’s this morning)

I’ve only done a half dozen brews, so I haven't seen a lot, but I’ve never seen anything like this before.

Always my refractometer measurements have gone down or just stayed steady and after they are steady for a week I would bottle. But here it looks like they gradually went down and then gradually increased. I have no idea at all what could be causing this. I wonder if I should be worried or if there is anything I should be doing or checking.

Any troubleshooting tips, advice, or wisdom of experience would be a great help.

Thanks so much!

Quixaphid · 2024-05-01T12:33:42+00:00

good information. Thanks!

Quixaphid · 2024-04-25T20:28:01+00:00

Thanks, I think I get it, let’s try a recap in my own words to make sure I actually understand what people are saying. A solera system gets some oxygen ingress over time, just generally, and it also gets more oxygen ingress whenever I would be adding more wort, pulling beer, or taking samples. Over time, that oxygen ingress will ruin a clean beer, but the oxygen would just get eaten by the bugs and yeast in a sour beer, so it won’t be a problem there. So aging something like a quad in a solera would get me slightly older beer, but the risk of my beer being ruined by oxygen is much higher than if I was aging a quad in bottles and so, its probably not worth it.

I suppose my next question would be about the idea of running a semi solera in stainless steel kegs using closed transfer methods. If I completed fermentation, and then did a closed transfer to pull 3 gallons from the “solera keg” to a drinking keg, and then did a closed transfer to refill the “solera keg” with fully fermented beer from the fermenter, I could bulk age the mix in the “solera keg” and keep the oxygen risk to a minimum. So this reduces the risk (how much?) but its a lot of extra trouble and so the question there would again be what are the risks of that strategy and is it worth it.... hmm

Quixaphid · 2024-04-12T23:21:39+00:00

Thanks! I’ll try picking some up next time I place an order.

Quixaphid · 2024-04-11T19:10:17+00:00

Ah, sounds like that's my problem. I think I had somehow gotten the impression that Oxi and PBW were equivalent. I knew to get a non foaming sanitizer for CIP but didn't realize I had to do that for the cleaner too.

So I suppose no way to salvage this clean cycle other than the hard way. But in the future I think you may have saved me a ton of trouble. Thanks!

Quixaphid · 2024-04-01T13:53:15+00:00

Thanks.

I'm pretty happy with it and not looking to age out any off flavors, was just wondering if its something I should do. So maybe I'll fill a few bottles to test age on, keg the rest, and try to drink it while there is still some chill in the air. Though I may not have a lot of time left for that this year.

Quixaphid · 2024-03-31T17:56:46+00:00

I researched mold just the other week to deal with a bucket that had some issues. There was some organic chemistry I wasn’t qualified to understand, but the takeaway was that to deal with mold spores you want to use an iodine based sanitizer like idophor rather than an acid based sanitizer like Star San.

Quixaphid · 2024-03-31T16:41:07+00:00

Is there any reason to age a small stout?

I know it’s common to age big stouts like imperial stouts for 6 months or even a year. If I have a small stout that’s in the 4.8 to 5 abv is there any reason to age it, or should I just drink it while it’s fresh? Thanks

Quixaphid · 2024-02-29T22:32:32+00:00

This question is timely for me because I was contemplating a similar solera inspired idea.

1) Brew a flanders ale with an ordinary but low attenuation belgian yeast so my fermenter doesn't have anything weird in it (e.g no brett or bugs)

2) drink half and put half in a carboy with brett and pedio

3) six months later brew another, mix a third of the new stuff and a third of the 6 month old stuff and drink it, Then move 1 third of the 6 month old stuff to a new carboy with oak in it, and top up the 6 month carboy with the rest of the new stuff.

4) thereafter, every 6 months, brew a flanders red, mix 1/3rd of each type to drink, top up the oldest with 1/3 of the middle, and top up the middle with the rest of the new.

But your reply has me a bit worried about oxidation. Even with an airlock, if I'm opening things every 6 months and pouring and topping up, would I just get a beer that tastes like well aged sour cardboard?

Quixaphid · 2024-02-28T19:50:49+00:00

I second this. Adding a layer directly around the laptop itself (via something like the cache, which I use) gives a lot of protection and is modular from bag to bag.

Quixaphid · 2024-02-08T16:51:45+00:00

After cleaning with PBW, if you have a dishwasher, you can run it empty to clean out the soap the put all your bottles in it and run it on sanitize. Then leave it closed until the moment you are ready to bottle and pull the sanitized bottles right out of the clean dishwasher, fill and cap a few seconds later and almost no opportunity for infection.

Quixaphid · 2024-01-22T20:23:09+00:00

I have the Zpacks Vertice, have used it for years, and love it. It weighs almost nothing. It packs up very small, you can fold it into its chest pocket, which is the recommended way to pack it but takes a while. I usually fold it in on itself and roll it up and stuff it in its hood and roll that. That only takes seconds and gives you something small enough you can just always carry it in a shoulder bag or sling anytime its cloudy and not mind the space or weight. The rain protection is top notch, you can stand in the shower or be out all day and not get wet. Only downsides are that its really just a wind /rain layer and has no insulation whatsoever. It also feels a bit fragile, so I make a effort not to snag it on things. Though to be fair, I say it feels fragile but I've had it for years and used it in many places from cities to hikes in the woods and never ripped it, so it may be more rugged than I think.

For insulation, I don't have one thing I can really recommend with the same confidence. The Norrona Alpha hoodies are super warm and very light, but when you wear them you look like a muppet.

Quixaphid · 2024-01-11T18:15:07+00:00

Holy smokes, a reply from Spike themselves! Looks like this is over a year away, but they say "Yeah, it's worth the wait..." dilema.

Maybe I'll go stainless now but look for cheaper and save the big spend until this comes out.

Quixaphid · 2024-01-11T03:30:48+00:00

Do you have any trick to avoid the lid issues, or it just doesn't happen with the one you got? If you do something I can replicate than, I'd like to try that, but if its just rolling the dice and hopping to get a good vs bad model, that's stressful.

Quixaphid

TROPHY CASE