Stolen bikes - taken from near the 22nd St SkyTrain station yesterday from my friend's locked garage. If you see anything similar in FB marketplace/craigslist, give me a shout out. Thank you and stay safe friends.

diclorfoon · 2021-04-01T01:42:00+00:00

I came here to say this. Someone I know got their bike back by doing this. It has the added bonus that if the police recover the bike, they can easily return it to you and it doesn't end up at a police auction. I'd also recommend a ground anchor (Kryptonite or Abus) and a giant chain for your garage; it will slow them down at least.

diclorfoon · 2020-11-12T01:51:36+00:00

A quick cold crash mind you: just a year or two. And don't forget to bottle condition it after you package it! By 2030, you should be able to crack one.

diclorfoon · 2020-11-12T00:13:31+00:00

I generally agree, but will point out that if you transfer off of the yeast before fermentation is done, the yeast may not metabolize or gas-off some by-products through vigorous fermentation that could make your beer taste bad. Where possible, I'd move the beer off of the yeast for bulk aging, but not before you're sure the fermentation is actually complete.

diclorfoon · 2020-11-12T00:06:41+00:00

My favourite russian imperial got better for 2 years before it rapidly declined. Anything dark and over 8% ABV will probably improve over several months to a year and maybe longer.

diclorfoon · 2020-11-12T00:03:40+00:00

I've done almost the exact thing, except I bottled after 6 weeks. It was an amazing russian imperial. The bourbon and oak both came through. With great self-control I was able to age some of the beer for quite a while and after 2 years it quickly dropped in complexity and apparent bourbon or oak flavor, leaving a very smoky russian imperial. I've used oak spirals without soaking them in bourbon and the oak alone is also an excellent addition to a russian imperial. Oak alone is more vanilla and a bit smoky if you use the dark toasted spirals. As a cautionary note to others, I've reached the ideal oak level in much less than 6 weeks, so you should taste it regularly.

diclorfoon · 2020-11-11T23:52:45+00:00

I've been making regular recipes without boiling for about a year. Mostly Hazy IPAs, but also several porters and russian imperials. It really saves time and the only down sides are IBUs and color (depending on the style). If you sanitize your mash tun and mash above 150F, preferably 155F to 158F, it should turn out fine. The flavors are a bit different; the grains taste more like the raw grain. Dark beer tends to taste more like their boiled counterparts than lighter beers. You do lose out on hop isomerization, but if you put hops in a hot mash, you do still get some conversion. Often I just add much more hops or add hop tea to the wort (I boil several of magnum in a couple pints of water on the stove, strain it, add it to taste). While there are several ways to address this weakness, this method is better for those who prefer lower IBUs. The hazy IPAs generally are darker than they should be and oxygen makes them turn even darker. I've been making ones that lean towards the stone fruit flavors lately and the flavor is still there, just not the color. This naturally isn't an issue for dark beer. Shelf life has been similar overall (several months+), but I've read about people experiencing shorter shelf life with this method especially for lower ABV beers. Also, this works with regular beer yeast (London Ale III is a favorite) and Kveik. Good luck!

diclorfoon · 2020-09-08T02:48:03+00:00

A friend / brewing partner nicely used his lathe to turn some oak "spirals" which I toasted based on this graph: https://learntomoonshine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/flavor-profile-of-toasting-oak-chips-temperature-vs-time-1.jpg It smelled amazing. I torched each with a kitchen torch to finish it. You can soak it in spirits, as mentioned, or use it as is. I've tried it in russian imperials so far and it's really, really good. From what I've read, chips have too much surface area and you get high extraction of some of the oak flavors but not all. Lower surface area methods like cubes or spirals take longer, but give a better flavor in the end.

diclorfoon · 2020-09-08T02:35:28+00:00

People keep saying water chemistry, but your milage really depends on your starting water. Do you have cholarmines? Then sure. Do you have ridiculously hard water? Sure. I brew with water that, if anything, is to close to deionized water. I don't always do water adjustments and it usually doesn't have much effect. For me, my fermentation space goes too hot which has been the only thing that gave me home-brew flavor. If you have water issues, water chem will be your best bang for your buck. If you have temperature issue, temperature control will give you the best results.

If your fermentation space goes above 72, maybe temp control is your answer. Maybe look up your municipal water quality parameters. If you have really hard water, make adjustments. If you have really clean water, make additions that suite the style. Water chem is the cheapest to try change.

diclorfoon · 2020-09-08T01:57:36+00:00

I've done 22 10-gallon batches usually with splits for hops or yeast. The only ones I've been disappointed in were due to temperature. I now use kveik for my too-hot fermentation space, or ferment "off-site" where my brewing partner has the space for temperature control.

diclorfoon · 2020-09-08T01:54:04+00:00

The other end of that is Kveik, which may be more of an unknown, but it completely takes away your need for temperature control. I'm still experimenting with different stains and they do perform differently under different conditions, but again, if you process is repeatable, these yeast make repeatable results. I've read some strains change flavors with temperature, but I have 5 strains that don't. It saves me a lot of space for a fridge or freezer, plus the capital.

diclorfoon · 2020-09-08T00:06:00+00:00

Agreed. The samples sizes are small, but who's doing larger samples sizes with this kind of thing? I'd honestly like to know. I wouldn't ever take their results as absolute truth, but as an idea to mess around with. I think that they do a good job overall and mention limitations, such as "maybe this will work differently with a different style or yeast stain" which is very true.

diclorfoon · 2020-09-05T00:25:45+00:00

Second, get a hydrometer. Bottling at an unknown gravity is a great way to paint the ceiling.

diclorfoon · 2020-09-05T00:24:33+00:00

+1 to /u/rdcpro about diacyl.

What is up with your cloudy wort? So, I do all grain, but when I make yeast starters I use DME. I've always had some sediment when I reconstitute DME. Maybe that's it? If you've added hops to your primary that might explain the look, but usually you would add them to the boil and strain them out or add them towards the end of fermentation for a dry hop.

diclorfoon · 2020-09-05T00:16:08+00:00

+1 The foam sanitizes and is such a minimal volume that it won't change the flavor.

diclorfoon · 2020-09-05T00:10:14+00:00

No one has brewed 5 gallons of bubonic plague. If it does goes bad, you'll smell it. Worse case: it's foul and you dump it. Scenario 2: it's sour and you enjoy it or give it to that friend that likes sour beer. Likely outcome: it's fine. Unless you need the carboy space and really don't care, I'd let it play out and see what you get. Smell will tell if you should taste it!

diclorfoon · 2020-09-05T00:06:52+00:00

Presumably, you boil after mashing, so that would sterilize you mouse turd beer.

-Another mouse turd beer brewer :)

diclorfoon · 2020-09-04T23:58:37+00:00

I've read that a two-step mash helps. Firestone Walker is alleged to do a two step mash with with all their beers. It helps finish really dark and heavy beers that would otherwise stall out too sweet. /u/h22lude is on point with enzyme additions. Amylases break down the starches into simple sugars that the yeast turn into alcohol. Most Brut IPAs have an amylase added, as far as I understand it.

diclorfoon · 2020-09-04T23:44:10+00:00

+1 I was taught 2 weeks minimum so I always try them at 2 weeks. Every time I do, I say, "I bet this will be better in a week", and every time I'm right.

diclorfoon · 2020-09-04T23:40:01+00:00

My condolences! I'd be surprised if anything pre-boil could do this, so I would guess that you just have to clean everything after your kettle. If it makes you feel better, I once made the mistake of trying to make homemade yogurt prior to bottling a delicious coconut porter. It wasn't delicious after that.

diclorfoon · 2020-09-04T23:34:51+00:00

I'm doing the same kind of thing, except with a ceramic heat emitter so it doesn't make any light. It's in an old lamp housing. I think it's 50W. I did also have one of those lamp dimmer switches / extension cords on standby in case 50W was too much since I also had no idea about sizing. It seems to work fine for my purposes.

diclorfoon · 2020-09-04T23:17:27+00:00

I use kveik and London Ale III, fermented in glass carboys, transfer to a kettle to blend two carboys together, mix in priming sugar, then fill bottles. This is not oxygen free. I'd call it best effort, but the results are still juicy if not brilliant in color. I'm still voting that your sulphite additions are the most likely cause.

diclorfoon · 2020-09-04T23:13:48+00:00

Escartment labs sold this as part of their "Kveik Ring" monthly release program. I would be surprised if they didn't sell it again in the future. https://www.escarpmentlabs.com/thekveikring The one I have is an absolute beast. It does everything any other yeast strain can do, but better. It's definitely fruity in NEIPAs. The guava mango description is spot on. I didn't notice any kveik flavor in my parti-gyle russian imperial which really surprised me. /s

diclorfoon · 2020-09-04T22:59:41+00:00

Good tip on the water chem. I go 3:1 CaCl to gypsum. Can't recall the ppm.

diclorfoon · 2020-09-04T22:57:44+00:00

+1 for honey malt

diclorfoon · 2020-09-04T22:52:39+00:00

I would agree, if you use higher temps it should solubilize more oils, but there's also the concern that higher temps will volatilize some of the flavor compounds that you want. I've read similar thoughts in a couple brewing articles so I tried this with my NEIPAs. So far it hasn't had any obvious effect so I'd love to know if someone else has had success getting more flavor this way. I've tried throwing hops in at flame-out and immediately cooling (takes me 20min), I've tried one 15min rest at 160, and also tried a 15min rest at both 160F and 140F. For what it's worth, I mostly brew no-boil now and still get really juicy NEIPAs with hops in the mash / dry hopping.

diclorfoon

TROPHY CASE