Craft Beers, Microbreweries and Homebrewing

  • Thread starter Astronuc
  • Start date
In summary, Bell's Brewery is a good brewery. Some American beers are brewed with top or bottom yeasts, but ultimately it depends on the style.
  • #211
Insanity said:
Hops on hand; centennial, cascade, hallertau, saaz and an unknown variety.

Wow, you don't mess around with your hops!
 
Physics news on Phys.org
  • #212
nismaratwork said:
Wow, you don't mess around with your hops!

barely touched the local shop selection, last time I counted 28 varieties there.
 
  • #213
Insanity said:
Hops on hand; centennial, cascade, hallertau, saaz and an unknown variety.
Dear Beer Guru,

How long can you store hops? And how do you store it?

btw: I knew I couldn't just drink one.
 
  • #214
Insanity said:
barely touched the local shop selection, last time I counted 28 varieties there.

Hmmm... yet another similarity between hops and marijuana... tons of varieties raised to what seems a mystical level.
 
  • #216
dlgoff said:
If I wanted to start some hops this spring (I've got a perfect spot). Would this be an okay one?

http://seedrack.com/indiv/humulus_lupulus.html?gclid=CI-A_pu3z6cCFYvsKgodpj64EA"

Expensive little seeds aren't they?
They look nice, Don. And not too pricey compared to what I pay for chili seeds. Give them a shot. I have no idea what hops my old neighbor had growing up the side of his horse-barn years ago when I was making beer, but they looked quite similar. I'd gather the hops, boil the the crap out of them to make a strong astringent tea, and add it to the crock with all the other cooled ingredients. Hop-tea seemed to go best with a corn-malt or corn/barley-malt base. Lots of people preferred the richer and less hoppy all-barley-malt brew in the winter, though it was brewed in cold temperatures and took a long time to mature. I only did that a couple of years and didn't have time to learn the proper lessons.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #218
dlgoff said:
If I wanted to start some hops this spring (I've got a perfect spot). Would this be an okay one?

http://seedrack.com/indiv/humulus_lupulus.html?gclid=CI-A_pu3z6cCFYvsKgodpj64EA"

Expensive little seeds aren't they?

Doesn't really say what type they are, all hops are Humulus lupulus. They could be Cascade, Apollo, Amarillo, Fuggles, Kent Goldings, doesn't say there as far I saw. I'd ask them if possible.

$3.62 / 50 seeds really isn't bad for the potential number of plants. Local shop usually sells hops rhizomes $7.50 each, so if you could get half to grow, you did quite well.

I'd get them soon, not sure what the seasons are like near you, but might be good to get seedlings going before actual planting time. A little headstart.

**Edit: sent them an email, depending on the answer, I may get some.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #219
How long to do the seeds keep? Could I buy some and plant next season?
 
  • #220
nismaratwork said:
Given how much they'll yield, I'd sy go for it.
Yield is quite low compared to fruits, vegetables, berries, etc. Those little hop-fruits are very light, so you need a lot of plants in a sunny location to satisfy a home-brewer.

When you see claims of $$$/lb in bulk, remember that those little pine-cone shaped fruits weigh not much more than a cotton ball. You need a lot of them to get money from your crops, so there is a need for (fixed or replaceable) structures to support the vines in acres and acres of fields, and you need to figure out how to till, fertilize, tend, and harvest them efficiently.

I hope to buy back my brewing equipment and give it another shot, but I won't need much more than a couple of sunny walls and trellises to start tinkering with hops again. It will be slow going, but I hope to have the time to tune in some decent beers.
 
  • #221
nismaratwork said:
How long to do the seeds keep? Could I buy some and plant next season?

Other then I know the germination percentage drops the longer seeds in general are kept, don't know. A year may not hurt.

Looks like I am Zone 5b/6a, those may do well here.
 
  • #222
turbo-1 said:
Yield is quite low compared to fruits, vegetables, berries, etc. Those little hop-fruits are very light, so you need a lot of plants in a sunny location to satisfy a home-brewer.

When you see claims of $$$/lb in bulk, remember that those little pine-cone shaped fruits weigh not much more than a cotton ball. You need a lot of them to get money from your crops, so there is a need for (fixed or replaceable) structures to support the vines in acres and acres of fields, and you need to figure out how to till, fertilize, tend, and harvest them efficiently.

I hope to buy back my brewing equipment and give it another shot, but I won't need much more than a couple of sunny walls and trellises to start tinkering with hops again. It will be slow going, but I hope to have the time to tune in some decent beers.

Well, in a wayward youth I bought a similar plant which operates under similar weight/volume principles... potency was the issue there. If you're not making something like an IPA, do you really need a ton of hops?
 
  • #223
turbo-1 said:
Yield is quite low compared to fruits, vegetables, berries, etc. Those little hop-fruits are very light, so you need a lot of plants in a sunny location to satisfy a home-brewer.

When you see claims of $$$/lb in bulk, remember that those little pine-cone shaped fruits weigh not much more than a cotton ball. You need a lot of them to get money from your crops, so there is a need for (fixed or replaceable) structures to support the vines in acres and acres of fields, and you need to figure out how to till, fertilize, tend, and harvest them efficiently.

I hope to buy back my brewing equipment and give it another shot, but I won't need much more than a couple of sunny walls and trellises to start tinkering with hops again. It will be slow going, but I hope to have the time to tune in some decent beers.

If he gets half the seeds to germinate into mature plants, he'd probably have enough for him for sure, and maybe other brewing friends. Fairly sure each plant can produce 1-2# a year, even if only 10 mature, still 10-20# a year. 160-320 oz is a lot when you only use a few oz per batch. Not enough really to sell as a business to local breweries, but enough likely for homebrew.
 
  • #224
Insanity said:
Other then I know the germination percentage drops the longer seeds in general are kept, don't know. A year may not hurt.

Looks like I am Zone 5b/6a, those may do well here.

OK, excellent, thanks.
 
  • #225
Insanity said:
If he gets half the seeds to germinate into mature plants, he'd probably have enough for him for sure, and maybe other brewing friends. Fairly sure each plant can produce 1-2# a year, even if only 10 mature, still 10-20# a year. 160-320 oz is a lot when you only use a few oz per batch. Not enough really to sell as a business to local breweries, but enough likely for homebrew.
Certainly. I harvested enough off the side of my old neighbors' horse barn to hop a few batches of beer every year. I was flying blind, though. This was 30+ years back with no guidance, except from the old-timers that had made home-brew back in the bad old days.
 
  • #226
nismaratwork said:
OK, excellent, thanks.

Montgomery Burns - "Excellent"
 
  • #227
turbo-1 said:
Certainly. I harvested enough off the side of my old neighbors' horse barn to hop a few batches of beer every year. I was flying blind, though. This was 30+ years back with no guidance, except from the old-timers that had made home-brew back in the bad old days.

Heck, if you just want to make beer, do whatever...add 4oz of mystery hops. Most of the styles came from people doing whatever they had to to make beer.

The dark color of the scottish ales comes from the tradition of skimming the floaties grain, that never malted, from the top of the mash, roasting them and adding them to the next mash vs. throwing them out.

Rule #1: Relax, have a hombrew...
Rule #2: Relax, have another homebrew...
Rule #3: Err...what?
 
  • #228
:smile:

There should be a 'Brumeister 2011' award, and you should have it Insanity.
 
  • #229
Insanity said:
Heck, if you just want to make beer, do whatever...add 4oz of mystery hops. Most of the styles came from people doing whatever they had to to make beer.

The dark color of the scottish ales comes from the tradition of skimming the floaties grain, that never malted, from the top of the mash, roasting them and adding them to the next mash vs. throwing them out.

Rule #1: Relax, have a hombrew...
Rule #2: Relax, have another homebrew...
Rule #3: Err...what?
I think I recognize that plan. :-p
 
  • #230
nismaratwork said:
:smile:

There should be a 'Brumeister 2011' award, and you should have it Insanity.

Nice...thanks. Brewing is a science.

turbo-1 said:
I think I recognize that plan. :-p

After about 6 pints, you stop worrying about silly things.
 
  • #231
Insanity said:
After about 6 pints, you stop worrying about silly things.
I could never have drunk 6 pints of anything I brewed. Wow!

Good rule about rules, though.
 
  • #232
6 Pints of beer and I'm officially drunk, but I'm a big guy in every dimension, an half Russian-Polish, and the other Greek... so... yeah.

Still... 6 pints of liquid is a looooooooot of liquid!
 
  • #233
turbo-1 said:
I could never have drunk 6 pints of anything I brewed. Wow!

I was determine to drink 6 pints that night. I was successful, intoxicated, but successful.
Was home, so no major challenges getting to bed. Just the hallway, the bedroom door, the bed.
 
  • #234
Assuming weather stays how it is, 60-70's, I plan on brewing this weekend.
Additionally might participate in the National Homebrew Competition the following weekend, don't need to be present and the local shop is offering to drive entries to Indianapolis at a fee less then shipping.
 
  • #235
Insanity said:
Assuming weather stays how it is, 60-70's, I plan on brewing this weekend.
Additionally might participate in the National Homebrew Competition the following weekend, don't need to be present and the local shop is offering to drive entries to Indianapolis at a fee less then shipping.
Wow. Good luck on the competition.
 
  • #236
Insanity said:
Assuming weather stays how it is, 60-70's, I plan on brewing this weekend.
Additionally might participate in the National Homebrew Competition the following weekend, don't need to be present and the local shop is offering to drive entries to Indianapolis at a fee less then shipping.

Hey, take some pictures of your brews; I know that I for one would love to see them. I'd add, kick butt at the competition with your suds.
 
  • #237
Pictures of the beers, or pictures of the brewing?
A glass of beer, while quite tasty and refreshing to drink, is not necessarily as refreshing to look at.

Here is a picture of the brewing gear, the larger pieces belong to my club, I've simply been using them.

[PLAIN]http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/7672/imag0288m.jpg

The large kettle in the background on the left is a 32gal kettle, I've only used when making a 15gal batch. In front of it is a Rubbermaid 10gal cooler that has a ball valve and false bottom strainer inside, used as a mash tun. On top of the mash tun is a sparge arm, it spins slowly spraying hot water evenly to sparge (rinse) the grains slowly, to get as much of the converted sugars out of the grains.

In the back on the right is a Budweiser keg that has been made into a kettle, ball valve attached as well.

The smaller kettles are my own, good for partial mashes or extract, but not for all-grain really, cutting too close on the volume. The larger of the three is a aluminum turkey fryer pot (7.5gal I think), the others are a 4.5gal and 3gal?, both stainless steel. On the smaller pot is a copper coil immersion chiller, used to bring the hot wort down in temp so you can pitch the yeast quickly.

When I picked up the club equip this past spring, I've brewed about 40gals with it. Got to considering it my equip with how often I used it. Looking to get my own equip this year as I don't want to do anything but all-grain now.

Another note, got my German Kolsch yeast and spices today, hopefully brewing tomorrow.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #238
Insanity said:
Pictures of the beers, or pictures of the brewing?
A glass of beer, while quite tasty and refreshing to drink, is not necessarily as refreshing to look at.

Here is a picture of the brewing gear, the larger pieces belong to my club, I've simply been using them.

[PLAIN]http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/7672/imag0288m.jpg

The large kettle in the background on the left is a 32gal kettle, I've only used when making a 15gal batch. In front of it is a Rubbermaid 10gal cooler that has a ball valve and false bottom strainer inside, used as a mash tun. On top of the mash tun is a sparge arm, it spins slowly spraying hot water evenly to sparge (rinse) the grains slowly, to get as much of the converted sugars out of the grains.

In the back on the right is a Budweiser keg that has been made into a kettle, ball valve attached as well.

The smaller kettles are my own, good for partial mashes or extract, but not for all-grain really, cutting too close on the volume. The larger of the three is a aluminum turkey fryer pot (7.5gal I think), the others are a 4.5gal and 3gal?, both stainless steel. On the smaller pot is a copper coil immersion chiller, used to bring the hot wort down in temp so you can pitch the yeast quickly.

When I picked up the club equip this past spring, I've brewed about 40gals with it. Got to considering it my equip with how often I used it. Looking to get my own equip this year as I don't want to do anything but all-grain now.

Another note, got my German Kolsch yeast and spices today, hopefully brewing tomorrow.

Very nice setup, and congrats on your yeast and spice aquisition! Did you end up going for grains of paradise?

By the way, shine some bright white light into a diffusing screen, and you can get some lively shots of actual beer. True, it's not refreshing, but the color and head can be judged at least. :biggrin:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #239
Yes, got paradise seeds as they were called, brewing shop has some spices and herbs, wasn't sure if they'd have it but they did.

Paradise seeds
Rosehips
Chamomile flowers - tea shop carries some herb teas, figure it work fine.

Not going to use a lot of them, maybe 1/2 oz of the chamomile, 1/8 tsp of the paradise seeds, 1/4 oz rosehips.

I always forget to brew green beer, and not just by adding green food coloring. Thinking a mint tea added for subtle flavor, and green tea for coloring.

Rosehips are high in vitamin C, so a health beer.
 
Last edited:
  • #240
Insanity said:
Yes, got paradise seeds as they were called, brewing shop has some spices and herbs, wasn't sure if they'd have it but they did.

Paradise seeds
Rosehips
Chamomile flowers - tea shop carries some herb teas, figure it work fine.

Not going to use a lot of them, maybe 1/2 oz of the chamomile, 1/8 tsp of the paradise seeds, 1/4 oz rosehips.

I always forget to brew green beer, and not just by adding green food coloring. Thinking a mint tea added for subtle flavor, and green tea for coloring.

Rosehips are high in vitamin C, so a health beer.

Health beer... heh... still that sounds like a nice aromatic and spicey mix. I look forward to your inevitable tasting and report.

*bows* Brumeister.
 
  • #241
Thanks for posting a picture of your equipment Insanity.

15 gallon batches....Outstanding.
 
  • #242
yep, friend asked me to brew a keg for his son's wedding over the summer, made an american pale ale, a lot of it.
 
  • #243
Beer Prayer

Our lager
Which art in barrels
Hallowed by thy drink
Thy will be drunk
Thy kegdom come
I fill thee mug
At home as in the tavern
Give us this day, our foamy head
And forgive us our spillages
As we forgive those who spill upon us
And lead us not into inebriation
But deliver us from hangovers

Barmen
 
  • #244
Insanity said:
Beer Prayer

Our lager
Which art in barrels
Hallowed by thy drink
Thy will be drunk
Thy kegdom come
I fill thee mug
At home as in the tavern
Give us this day, our foamy head
And forgive us our spillages
As we forgive those who spill upon us
And lead us not into inebriation
But deliver us from hangovers

Barmen

*applause*

Now that is good stuff.
 
  • #245
Qapla'

The brewing is done.

The paradise seeds defnitely come through, but not overwhelming, primarily in the aftertaste. I think its a good balance.

Used what Saaz and Hallertau hops I had, not as prominent bitterness as the first koslch I made, but the paradise seeds make the rest I think. Can tell more once it ferments through.

My final specific gravity was a bit lower then I wanted, but I think my volume was a bit more too.

Chamomile aroma barely detectable, and the rosehips did add a slight reddish color.

Here is a picture of before and after spices added to boil, but no fermentation.

On the left is the before, on the right is after. Not the best quality though.
[PLAIN]http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/4074/imag0068m.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Hot Threads

Recent Insights

Back
Top