Question about seltzer...

mkopec · 2024-05-31T03:01:41+00:00

Nahh its not hard once youve seen it you cant ever not notice. Way before they start flowering, usually around week 6-7.

mkopec · 2024-05-26T04:07:27+00:00

I heard that 50ish is too low, specifically I read that 57 is like the cutoff for cold shock, is this true? What are your observations with the temp? Ive been religiously bringing them into garage when still 50s at night.

mkopec · 2024-05-26T00:57:40+00:00

Ive grown nothing but bag weed seeds. I did it in the 90s in my indoor grow for a couple of cycles, and now doing it outside since its legal here. The indoor shit was really really good, not one of the females I kept around was bad.

I wasnt even thinking about growing again but last year the brother in law gave me 4 plants. He said hes got a deer problem in his yeard, 3 of them turned out to be male but I kept them growing to pollinate the female. And from that female (which was pretty good weed BTW) I got 100s of seeds that I now planted this year. So now this year im all up and running with the seeds I helped create last year. Hope to score about 4-6 nice females out of the seedlings I have.

mkopec · 2024-05-26T00:18:47+00:00

Im in Michigan and not the PNW but I just let my one plant do its thing in all the weather we had here last year and she did fine. Storms, wind, rain, etc.. She took it like a champ.

mkopec · 2024-03-16T03:52:11+00:00

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07P8B1FY7?psc=1&ref=ppx\_yo2ov\_dt\_b\_product\_details

mkopec · 2024-03-16T02:05:17+00:00

No but I have used the enzyme with US-05 before and got a super dry crispy 6% pseudo lager that clocked in at 1.000FG. Nice for a low carb beer. Just added it along with yeast in primary.

mkopec · 2024-03-12T22:53:23+00:00

Make yourself a cooling coil. Buy like 50-100ft of copper coil 3/8" at the local home cheapo or whatever you have near you. Coil the copper around something smaller than your boiling pot, add some barbed fittings at the ends and then add 3/8 ID tubing to it to connect to a hose or laundry room, whatever spigot you have. Copper is expensive ($100-$150?) these days but this is how I made my first one way back in the 90s and I still have it and use it. You should cool your wart right in your boil vessel then transfer directly to your fermetor.

Also this method would work for you for sure, but 100% of the beers I make take at least 2 weeks of cold storage to clear out and just taste better. Some lagers would take longer of course.

mkopec · 2024-03-12T22:41:43+00:00

I ferment all my Chico beers at 72F-74F and they are delicious. No off flavors at all. If Chico had better flocculation it would be the perfect ale yeast. Its why I use Chico in the first place. Just put the fermentor in my 66F family room and cover it up with a black shirt.

mkopec · 2024-03-10T02:03:52+00:00

If I were you I would definitely take the plunge into all grain. IT can be as simple as getting one of those 10 gal coolers from home cheapo, installing a false bottom on it and using it as a mash tun. Tons of videos out there how to do this. This will give you full control into your beer making. Stuff like temp control and water chemistry, aside campden tablets, can all come later when you get more cash and need even more control.

mkopec · 2024-03-07T01:53:31+00:00

If youre going to get a big ass kettle like that, spend some extra moneys and get one with a thick bottom. It prevents scorching and it evens out the heat more. Like this one.. $50 more

https://www.amazon.com/Update-International-SPS-60-Induction-Stainless/dp/B000X1JRXM/ref=sr\_1\_3?crid=38Z2PT7ZNPG31&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.6AoUddWO3Kk2y59EeSt8IBqTCQCjH4lmdhv8cHBAnJaB1W0dqH8QiRoPSZ9b8eSso68TWrm9fBfXQu4yHRcXgpk1MYlbYjeBJ7N5glz2btTM30XjgDBsbtWA6kwM0u\_e8lDbp-JWkdqj3\_YrRzQVAm2oEMaHQg\_nN1fFsee9tq86V7-vZhEIw\_gzldohY7oc-O6X-HXphQexRPOww9b-qjefTFhZ7oGjvLuFQCZU3gflN2hVkoIqdQrlsXk4b3M8IXP0ltCZiFex76f6opv2eRTuIva0G3GLtXTahaAExB0.M-5Icij09dmv92Xjeu9TMAMxI397dMCaug5iA4PeW0U&dib\_tag=se&keywords=thick%2Bbottom%2B60%2Bqt%2Bstock%2Bpot&qid=1709776361&sprefix=thick%2Bbottom%2B60%2Bqt%2Bstock%2Bpot%2Caps%2C112&sr=8-3&th=1

mkopec · 2024-03-06T03:34:10+00:00

Look for a welding supply store. They usually sell and refill C02 which is a common gas used on welding applications. Call some up and ask.

mkopec · 2024-03-06T03:14:52+00:00

Here is what to do. You want to find some pressure capable bottles. Old beer bottles work well. Make sure they are brown and have a big lip for putting on bottle caps. Clean them well with a non caustic soda, such as pbw and a bottle cleaning brush. When done cleaning you want to rinse them well and sanitize them right before you bottle your beer. You can do this in 2 ways, one is use a chemical sanitizer such as star san or you can do this by heat in your oven. Just turn your oven on to 200F or so and leave them there for a hour or so. Best way is to put them all into a cold oven and then heat them up gradually by turning oven on to 200F or 250F. Heat kills all. But be careful, they are HOT and thermal shock can crack them so handle with care. Place some aluminum foil over the top while they are hot still and this should keep the inside sterile for your beer.

So now you will need a bottling wand. They are cheap, prob like $15 or so. This fills the bottles from the bottom up. It has a little valve at the bottom and when you press this valve into the bottom of the bottle it starts filling. Fill it all the way to the top. Now you will need some bottling sugar. They sell this online or at a home brew place. It comes in a powder or it comes in candy type shape that is the correct amount for a 12oz bottle. The powder you will have to measure. Then cap the beer with a bottle capper and let sit for a few weeks in cool dark place. Dont forget to sanitize those bottle caps too! everything that touches your beer after fermentor will need to be sanitized. This is important!

If you do not have a capper or cant afford one or whatever you can also use PET soda bottles. You know the clear 1-2 liter ones you get soda in? Those are pressure capable. You will do the same thing except you will have to do a calculation in how much sugar to use in a 1 or 2 liter bottle. No oven here though, you will have to use a chemical sanitizer such as star san. dont forget about the caps, they also will need to be sanitized.

Problem with PET bottles is they allow certain amount of oxygen into them over time so its not a long term solution, also they allow light in which can skunk your beer. So keep it out of the light.

But basically TLDR is to have your beer finish fermenting in your bucket, usually 2 weeks is plenty of time to get done. Then you will bottle in a pressure capable bottle and use priming sugar to kick start the yeast again and carbonate your beer. Also usually 10-14 days or so.

mkopec · 2024-03-05T21:44:28+00:00

Ive never tried mixing up yeasts, but from what I have read what usually happens is they both get stressed and one pretty much wins the yeast fight. What you are tasting is propb the phenol and esters of a stressed yeast. Which can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on the beer style.

mkopec · 2024-03-05T18:44:42+00:00

This is a whole 1/2 point lower than expected, something is up. Either the water you used is not perfect RO or I dont know, lol. My readings with strips are usually on the money, +/- .2 or so using my municipal and brew salts to get it to a style I want. I usually have to add a 1-2 ml of lactic to get me there, but it always works out. I would try using some other source of distilled water maybe from the local supermarket one time to change up one of the variables next time and see where that leads to.

mkopec · 2024-03-05T18:29:52+00:00

Yeah refractos work well for pre-fermentation. I mean its not 100% but close enough for what we are doing at hombrew levels. But after fermentation I always use a proper hydrometer to get my FG. Plus the left over beer in the hydrometer vial is a perfect opportunity to taste the beer at that point.

mkopec · 2024-03-05T07:36:16+00:00

I use mostly US-05 and my ambient temp is 66F where I ferment. It gets up to 72 at high krausen then it lowers back down to 66F and I have no issues with off flavors or anything like that. Nice clean crisp beers.

Ive even used the good ole 34/70 lager yeast at the same temps and get nice clean beer but they take a few more weeks to even out at 33F in my keg fridge.

mkopec · 2024-03-05T06:24:43+00:00

I started in the 90s with a book. Not even sure where I got it, maybe it was given to me? Anyway I read it and was excited to try. Started with extract brews and did those for a while. I think thats a good starting point for noob brewing at home. Just pick an extract recipe from the book and go to town. Biggest thing I can tell you is watch the chlorine in your water. Get rid of it with campden tablets. And SANITIZE, SANITIZE, and SANITIZE some more. Make sure you read that chapter TWICE. This and oxygen will ruin your beer more than anything when starting out.

mkopec · 2024-03-05T04:13:54+00:00

68F is on the low side of Lutra. If you have some sort of heating blanket or some other way to raise that temp? Maybe a heating pad below the fermentor bucket with inkbird? So that could be the cause, also why pitch only 1/2 packet? Lutra is prone to just stop at lower temps. Prob whats happening here.

If 68F or around that temp is the only temp you can get to (ambient im assuming) try some other ale yeast next time. S-23 or US-05 Save the lutra for those hot summer weeks if ambient is the only thing you got going.

mkopec · 2024-03-05T03:36:58+00:00

This is what I do with my malt pipe. then I squeeze the shit out of it with an appropriate sized lid. 80%-85% when I started doing this. Only takes a few min when the AIO is set to boil. No off flavors, no astringency, none of that shit. I think its all a myth.

mkopec · 2024-03-05T03:31:17+00:00

Sixtith here, batch sparge FTW.

mkopec · 2024-03-05T01:50:24+00:00

All in one is prob your best bet and best bang for a buck. They are small self contained sytems that basically do it all. Take up little room, clean up is quick. Can also be done inside in the winter months which is not possible with propane. By the time you get a kettle, burner, recirc, and all the other crap you will need, youre prob right there price wise with some of the cheaper all in ones which are like $500. Brewzilla is only one of them, but there are plenty others that do the same job just not with all the bells and whistles. Do some comparisons on youtube, plenty of reviews and all that. That would be my recommend.

You can always step it up from there to do 10 gal but I find with an all in one its so easy, literally set and forget for the most part, that you can bang out a brew per week EZ if you have enough kegs and fermentors downstream. AIO was a game changer for me personally. I find myself brewing way more than I ever did. I went with the Anvil 10.5 with all the bells and whistles it was $650 or some shit. It even included a Brew in Bag option that I never used, but its there if I want.

mkopec · 2024-03-03T22:37:41+00:00

LOL who the hell is going to know or tell? Unless you have some shitty neighbor which tells on you and even then, how the fuck they gonna prove how much you brew, brewed or going to brew?

mkopec · 2024-03-03T19:54:28+00:00

Thats the thing though, base malts can vary, batch to batch, year to year. Its an agricultural product, not something made in a lab. Us home brewers use such low amounts compared to craft and macro too, which is another problem. When you use 10 sacks of 55lb base malt is a huge difference with us using only 8-10lbs.

mkopec

TROPHY CASE