re: Homebrewing: In-Process Thread

Just playing around with the recipe, this is what i got.

Estimated OG: 1.057 SG
Estimated Color: 13.8 SRM
Estimated IBU: 26.1 IBUs

Ingredients:
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Amt Name Type # %/IBU
6 lbs 8.0 oz Pilsen (BestMälz) (1.8 SRM) Grain 1 36.6 %
3 lbs Pale Ale Malt 2-Row (Briess) (1.8 SRM) Grain 2 16.9 %
1 lbs 12.0 oz Caramel Munich 80L (Franco-Belges) (80.0 Grain 3 9.9 %
8.0 oz Vienna (BestMälz) (4.1 SRM) Grain 4 2.8 %
0.50 oz Warrior [15.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 5 22.8 IBUs
0.50 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 10.0 Hop 6 3.3 IBUs
1.0 pkg French Saison (Wyeast Labs #3711) [50.28 Yeast 7 -
5 lbs Fruit - Turkey Figs (0.0 SRM) Adjunct 8 28.2 %
1 lbs Honey (1.0 SRM) Sugar 9 5.6 %
0.50 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Dry Hop 5.0 Days Hop 10 0.0 IBUs

Estimate FG = 1.006

Sounds somewhat odd for beer but worth a shot I guess.

quote:

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I think that process would work well in a dubbel but for a saison that would get syrupy quickly I imagine.

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You are probably right. Still need to find some turkey figs though. I have a buddy that has some, but i don't feel like driving 40 minutes there to go get them.

Good list. Only thing I'd omit would be The Thermapen and Keg lines. I went thru several cheap thermometers before getting a Thermapen and always had a little bit of uneasiness relying on them, and they'd always need a decent tweek when recalibrating. The Thermapen has been spot on since day one.
And with the keg lines, I've never had a horrible experience with regular food grade vinyl tubing but the Accuflex tubing I use was fairly inexpensive and I have never had flavors carry over.

I got a late jump last night so I let it cool down over night inside. Wort was still at 120 this morning so I added a lb of 6 row and put it in the shed. Hopefully it gets sour enough today and tonight so I can finish it up in the morning. If not I'll wait until tomorrow evening

what kind of pH meters do you guys use? I figure since I have a couple sours going now I might want to check the pH

I use this Hanna pH checker:
Hanna

I calibrate and test mash pH every time I think about it and add a little lactic acid if needed to adjust pH.

I'm not interested in the number enough to spend $75-$100 on one

quote:

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Thanks for that.

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Honestly, I've purchased and not used/under used so much brewing equipment over the years it's stupid.

Actually instead of homebrewing tips I can provide a list of shite I would/wouldn't do/buy again...

Things I would NOT do again..

pH Meter - As noted above I rarely use it

Plate Chiller - duda diesel kind of screwed me on this one. They (after asking over the phone) sold me a plate chiller they knew wouldn't work for brewing. It didn't chill any faster than an immersion with whirlpool AND was a pain in the arse to sanitize/clean.

Direct fire MT without a RIMS - I built a direct fire keggle MT so I could mash larger beers and it worked, but was a complete pain in the arse in winter. So I went from cooler to direct fire MT w/ no RIMS back to cooler finally to direct fire with RIMS... want to mash more grains? buy a bigger cooler.

Fancy paintball CO2 regulator - Works great, way overpriced at the time I bought it never use it. I would use it more if it didn't take forever to refill paintball CO2 canisters.

SS Perlick Taps - These were awesome, looked great, and worked as advertised, but when my last kegerator died I sold them and really don't miss them at all. All the kegs in my kegerator are on picnic taps now and they work fine.


Things I would do again..

Sterile Siphon Starter w/CO2 connection - I've set this up to use my CO2 tank to push from my carboys to the out post of a CO2 purged keg. Cheap, Clean, Works great

Secondary Regulator Bank - I sold this at the same time I sold the perlick taps.. I really miss this. It was nice to be able to force carb one batch while keeping the rest of the kegs at serving pressure. I will end up buying another bank at some point.

RIMS - Hitting my mash temp and maintaining it over the hour drove me a little batty (this was before beersmith2). For me RIMS was the brewing equivalent to set it and forget it. I get my strike water close, add grains, hit a few buttons, and walk away.

RO Water System - I like the idea of working from a blank slate that you get with RO. It makes salt/acid calculations simple and makes it easier to share recipes across water sources. **I had guilt for a while about all the waste water. I use it for star san, cleaning, and watering plants now.**

7G Chronical Fermenter - Totally unnecessary and kind of expensive, but it's a lot of fun and super easy to clean.

TriClover Fittings - I tried a ton of different connectors before landing on these. I really like these; they are clean, easy to sanitize, and don't leak. They are also REALLY expensive and don't add any value to your beer in any way. They should probably be somewhere between would and wouldn't. I don't regret buying them, but I could have used elsewhere.