Home Brewing- Post your beer brewing questions Here

Open the fermenter and look inside. Many times, the lids of fermentation pails do not seal perfectly and the gas will escape without going through the airlock. If you see signs of foaming or signs that the beer had foamed up and then fell back in, the beer is finished. Rack it to a secondary.

Another good test is to taste it. If it tastes like yeasty flat beer (and not unfermented wort), it is done. Rack to a secondary.

Blichmann burner review:

The Blichmann Top Tier Burner commands a premium price, which may put a lot of people off. When you can get a burner for $29.99 that does an adequate job of heating wort, why pay five times that amount for equipment that does essentially the same thing? I too was skeptical at first, and started off with a basic Bayou Burner. I had to burn the paint off of it before I used it to brew. No biggie, but I didn't want the paint residue landing in my wort.

Then my adult kids bought me the Blichmann for Father's Day back in 2012. I would not have bought this for myself because I'm cheap (see first paragraph), but I was really pleased when I saw it. After all, it is a big, beefy piece of stainless steel art in my opinion. Let me say that if mine was destroyed, stolen, or lost, I would not hesitate to buy another one to replace it.

Blichmann Top Tier Burner Review - "FoamFollower" - burner-1-2698.jpg

Quiet, Powerful And Built To Last

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I can get 2-3 times the brewing time per propane tank with the Blichmann Top Tier. With my old burner brewing extract recipes, I could safely get about 3 brews out of a 20 lb tank of propane, with only a little gas to spare. Using the Blichmann burner, my last tank of propane lasted me 5 all-grain brew cycles, as well as several meals cooked on my gas grill. That's heating the mash water, the sparge, and then full-boiling the wort. Blichmann Engineering's claim that it "sips" fuel is NOT marketing hype. This thing will pay for itself soon at $3.99 a pound for propane here.

The Bayou Burner should have been named the "Jet Burner," or something like that. I hated the sound of it. I could not listen to the radio while it was running, and holding a conversation with a fellow brewer is out of the question unless you are at least 20 feet away. The Blichmann on the other hand is whisper-quiet, even at "full throttle". You may think this is a minor thing (as did I, once), until that burner is shrieking in your ears for a solid hour and half.

Blichmann Top Tier Burner Review - "FoamFollower" - burner2-2699.jpg

Quality Construction And Energy Efficient Design

You can argue about cost and value all day, and these points may be valid, but you cannot argue about the quality of the Top Tier Burner. It's a heavy duty, stainless steel piece of steampunk-style industrial bling that works, and it works well. I had one boil-over, and the dang thing never even missed a beat. No flame out or plugged holes when I was all done.

I lent mine out to friend whose turkey fryer cast-iron burner had cracked over the winter in his garage. That's where I store my burner too, but no problems in that department with the Blichmann. After he used it, he asked if he could keep it for another 2 weeks to brew with another friend. When he returned it to me, he said that his friend had decided to buy one on just the quietness factor alone. As my friend reluctantly handed it over, he admitted that he had thought the hype over Blichmann stuff was way overblown, but now was not so sure after using the Top Tier Burner.

Blichmann Top Tier Burner Review - "FoamFollower" - burner3-2700.jpg

It's More Than A Purchase, It's An Investment

So, if you are on the fence, if you think Blichmann is all hype, try and find one to borrow, or go to brew club and ask questions. I think you'll find the only complaint is the price, but guess what: you get what you pay for. Other than the upfront cost, everyone LOVES the burner. I gave away my Bayou burner to a novice homebrewer, who was glad to get it; for me it was just a waste of money. You can't go wrong with the Top Tier Burner, and if you lose interest in homebrewing down the road, your Blichmann is still going to sell easily, even if well-used. You won't be giving this unit away. I can't recommend it enough.

Steeping Specialty Malts

What is steeping? Steeping is the process of crushing grain and adding to hot water to draw flavor and color out of the specialty malt. For best results steep at 150° F to 170° F and "dunk" or somehow agitate the grain and water to improve the extraction. Steep for about 30 minutes.

What malts can be steeped? It is not recommended to steep Base Malts, Pale Ale Malt, Munich Malts or other malts with a mealy endosperm because starch could be extracted which would interfere later in the brewing process. These malts need to be partial mashed or mashed, which activates the malt enzymes and converts the grain starches into fermentable sugars.

Briess malts suitable for steeping include:

Carapils® Malt (a unique dextrine malt different than other dextrine malts on the market)

Victory® Malt

Special Roast Malt

Extra Special Malt

All Caramel Malts (Crystal Malts)

All Dark Roasted Malts

All Roasted Barley

Steeping Grains for Extract Brewers

The simple technique of steeping malts makes it possible for extract brewers to brew virtually an unlimited variety of beer styles. Put the crushed grains in cheesecloth, a nylon stocking or any fine mesh material to make it easier to separate the spent grains from the wort:

Fasten your mesh bag with a string, clothespin or chips clip.

Fill a stainless steel pot about one-half to two-thirds full of water. Heat the water to 150F - 170F. Turn off the heat.

Put the bag in the hot water and steep for 30 minutes.

Remove the bag from the water.

Sparge the remaining flavor and color from grains in the bag. To do this, put the bag in a strainer, hold the strainer over the pot and pour hot water over the bag of grains.

Begin the basic extract brewing process using the flavored water.

Benifits of CBW from Briess- Briess malt extract syrups

The benefits of brewing with Briess brewer’s grade CBW® Pure Malt Extracts

Posted on December 30, 2015 By Mercedes Hemmer

Briess_CBW® stands for Concentrated Brewers Wort, which is exactly what these brewer’s grade, pure malt extracts are — concentrates of brewers wort.

Briess CBW® Pure Malt Extracts are produced in a 500-barrel, state-of-the-art brewhouse — the second largest in Wisconsin — using a multiple step infusion brewing process for high fermentability and FAN, which is critical for brewing. After lautering, the wort is gently vacuum evaporated to maintain its rich, full flavor and lessen color development. Most Briess CBW® Pure Malt Extracts are available in both liquid (LME) and dry (DME) forms.

Briess CBW® Pure Malt Extracts are all malt, so you can preserve the “all malt” character of your brew. All of their color and flavor are developed from base and specialty malts, never through additional boiling. Briess CBW® Pure Malt Extracts are unhopped and non-diastatic for flexible, creative brewing.

Shorten your brew day with extract beers. Or realize these benefits of supplementing your all-grain brews with CBW® pure malt extracts:

Increase capacity and boost productivity

Boost gravity

Improve body and head retention

Propagate yeast

Adjust color

Adjust flavor

Briess CBW® Pure Malt Extracts are rich, full flavored and fresh because they’re made in the U.S.A. and spared the harsh conditions of transoceanic travel.

What catagory would the white house ale and porters fall into

I would enter a beer with honey in the Specialty category. You can read about it here:

http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style23.php

23. Specialty Beer

This is explicitly a catch-all category for any beer that does not fit into an existing style category. No beer is ever “out of style” in this category, unless it fits elsewhere.

The category is intended for any type of beer, including the following techniques or ingredients:

Unusual techniques (e.g., steinbier, ice/eis beers)

Unusual fermentables (e.g., maple syrup, honey, molasses, sorghum)

Unusual adjuncts (e.g., oats, rye, buckwheat, potatoes)

Combinations of other style categories (e.g., India Brown Ale, fruit-and-spice beers, smoked spiced beers)

Out-of-style variations of existing styles (e.g., low alcohol versions of other styles, extra-hoppy beers, “imperial” strength beers)

Historical, traditional or indigenous beers (e.g., Louvain Peetermann, Sahti, vatted Porter with Brettanomyces, Colonial Spruce or Juniper beers, Kvass, Grätzer)

American-style interpretations of European styles (e.g., hoppier, stronger, or ale versions of lagers) or other variants of traditional styles

Clones of specific commercial beers that aren’t good representations of existing styles

Any experimental beer that a brewer creates, including any beer that simply does not evaluate well against existing style definitions

Victorious Vienna Lager

Posted on January 28, 2016 By Aaron Hyde

Briess_PaleAle_Sometimes it’s the simplest flavors that make a lager perfect and complex. This recipe is just a few ingredients, but it’s an excellent showcase for the depth of flavor you’ll find in Briess’ CBW® Goldpils® Vienna Extract.

Type: Lager

Style: Vienna

Batch Size: 5 gallons

Recipe Type: Extract with grain

Recipe Contributed By: Briess Technical Services Staff

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient Comment

6.6 lbs Briess CBW® Goldpils® Vienna Liquid Malt Extract

60 min boil

1 lb Briess Caramel Vienne Malt 20L Steeping Grain

1 oz Hallertau Hops (4.5% AAU) 60 min boil

1 oz Hallertau Hops (4.5% AAU) 5 min boil

2 packs Fermentis Saflager W-34/70 Lager Yeast Fermenter

Procedures

Bring 2.5 gallons of water to 154ºF and steep Caramel Vienne Malt 20L for 30 minutes.

Remove grains and stir in 6.6 lbs of CBW® Goldpils® Vienna LME.

Bring water to a boil and add 1 oz of Hallertau Hops.

After 50 minutes, add 1 oz of Hallertau Hops.

Boil 10 minutes and turn off heat.

Cool beer to 56ºF.

Transfer to fermenter.

Fill to 5 gallons with cold water.

Pitch 2 packs of Fermentis Saflager W-34/70 Lager Yeast

Primary Fermentation: 2 weeks at 53ºF – 56ºF

Secondary Fermentation: 2 weeks at 48ºF – 53ºF.

Original Gravity: 1.048

Final Gravity: 1.012

Alcohol by Weight:

Alcohol by Volume: 4.8%

IBU: 26

Color: 12

I have seen some comments on the internet with regard that (at least a few years ago) Muntons "Carb Tabs" would on occasion leave floaters or undissolved chunks in bottles. Do you know if this is true, and if so, if it has since been fully resolved?

Hi Lawrence. If it is a concern, I would not use them. I have still had customers complaining about them not fully dissolving.

Thanks

John

John: I have a carboy question. i'm pretty diligent about keeping my brewing equipment clean. I usually rinse carboys out with hot water after use. I then add a tbsp. of "easy clean sanitizer" to 5 gal of hot water & let the carboy sit until future use. this usually works out fine until yesterday. after many rinsings of hot & cold water, the inside of the carboy has a frosted appearance.. what caused this, & how do I get rid of it? is it safe to use?

Viktor

Hi Viktor. I don't think the discoloration is any issue. I have seen the ez clean leave a film behind. I would try soaking the carboy in a dilute solution of bleach and see if that removes it (1 tablespoon bleach per gallon of cold water).

Thanks

John

I am looking for a recipe for Schneider Weisse Aventis Tap 6. 8.2% ABV

I want to brew a 6.5 gallon all grain batch.

If anyone has a good recipe I would surely appreciate your input.

Thanks

I am looking for a recipe for Schneider Weisse Aventis Tap 6. 8.2% ABV

I want to brew a 6.5 gallon all grain batch.

If anyone has a good recipe I would surely appreciate your input.

Thanks

I am adding fruit purée to my secondary, any tips on how to add this for the least amount of sediment in final product? Stir? Just looking for some tips.

I am new to all grain and am using a Brewzilla 35L and making Cream ale 5 lbs 2-row pale, 5 lbs Pilsner and 1 lbs Flaked corn I figured the mash water

to be 3.1 Gallon to mash before sparge. I am not sure about that figure?