The Beer Thread • Page 62

Those both sound like things I'd be down to try at least though, may have to see if I can find this.

 

I enjoy spicy things in general so pepper in my beer was a no brainer for me. I know it is a limited run but not sure of the duration. Happy hunting!

 

I've like so few beers with peppers in it. I find it just overwhelms beers that have them in it, save for a couple here and there.

 

Anyone have any advice for trying to brew/ferment beer in a third floor apartment? I'd love to start brewing regularly, but fermentation is a big problem because my apartment is in the 70's from like April-October.

 

Brew saisons.

 

I want to brew more than just saisons, though.

 

How high in the 70s are you getting? The high end of most ale strains is usually around 72, so you may be able to swing most stuff if you're that low. But if you're higher than that, it's mostly just Belgian stuff and wheat beers that typically ferment in that range. You could brew some sours as well, since those are anywhere in the 70-90 range, usually.

 

Get a cooler that will fit your fermentation chamber and fill it with water and put frozen water bottles or bags of ice in there to keep the water cool. Change them out every day or so, at least for the first few days to week when it's most important.

 

Fermentation temperature is typically about 10 degrees (or more) higher than ambient temperature during the height of fermentation so you need to be careful there.

@bigmike you could get a mini fridge and a temperature controller, which is what I use, or otherwise you'll need to make a swamp cooler and frequently change out the frozen water bottles.

Or given where you work, would you be able to bring the beer there to ferment? There has to be a temp controlled space you could put a bucket.

You could also try a yeast like this that's made to ferment very warm but stay clean: HotHead Ale

 

I found an old minifridge at a yardsale that fits my ferm tank, and I turned the temperature up inside of it and bent back a small section of the lining to vent some of the cooler air. Its not perfect and its definitely a little redneck looking, but it works. And its not nearly as bad on my power bill as I thought, even with it constantly leaking and replacing cool air.

 

How Craft Beer Became the Budweiser of American Politics

 

Yeah, I found one on Craigslist that fit a standard fermentation bucket and was free for pick up. I just stripped the door and shelving, carefully bent down the freezer/cooling unit, and actually added some insulation, and picked up a manual temperature controller for about $40. It worked really well, but the fridge finally died after about 4 years.

 

Four years of work out of a free fridge and a $40 temp controller is awesome!

 

Yeah, I was amazed it lasted that long and sad when it died. Luckily I have a basement now that stays cool, and a real fridge down there that I can use if I need it.

And like @DontTellMom said, it's only a short time that you really need to worry about temperature (within reason). If you can get the wort down to the lowest point of the yeast's temperature range before pitching and keep it within that range for a few days, you should be fine.

Most of the ester formation happens during the growth/lag phase so should be done within ~24 hours, and most ale fermentation should be complete within 3 days. Just make sure you're pitching the right amount of healthy yeast (make a starter and pitch that while it's still actively fermenting) and make sure your wort has all the right nutrients (add yeast nutrients!) and you should be good.

 

You won't be able to find it out in OR. Starr Hill only distributes on the East Coast, sadly.

 

I'm in the same situation as you... Summer is always brutal.

 

Depending on how much time you take you can definitely do both. And if you're hitting Philly I'd def parlay an NYC trip. 90 minutes through NJ and you're there.

 

Chicago people, my dad, uncle, and I are gonna hit up a brewery or two on Friday. Already have done Lagunitas (though might again because that was before their new tasting room was finished), Revolution, and are looking for something likely in close-ish proximity to one another. I know a lot of the Chicago/suburbs breweries but wanted to see if anyone had any particularly good recs for places that are worth going to/have good food?

 

Hit up the Lincoln Square area if you're looking for something a bit different. Bad Apple has some of the best burgers in the city (IMO) and is actually pretty reasonably priced. Their tap list is always changing too, and it always feels like I've never had half of them. It's also right across the street from the Half Acre tap room (which has food now too. I've heard it's decent). You're also within reasonable distance of Fountainhead (awesome beer and whiskey bar) and Begyle (which is decent).

Also, here's a good reference of beer bars and breweries in the city:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1cv4wXprF-vhNIl8W3GjPtYhHiTM

 

I adore Bad Apple haha top 5 place in the city for me, and strangely even though I've been there a bunch and lived a neighborhood over I never made it to Half Acre, this reminder might change that.

 

I'm about to go grab a lunch beer. Angry Chair's Fionn hazelnut coffee porter.

 

Probably around 75, honestly. And we have a shitty AC unit as well. But the posts below are very intriguing to me.

That'd be a last resort for me, to be honest. It probably sounds lazy, because it is, but I'd rather not deal with all of that, haha.

Interesting. I'll look into it. We went out with some friends to a local brewery that was having a brewing club meeting going on and my girlfriend is insistant on moving to a new place next year with a basement where as I'd like to stay put because this place is so cheap and we can start banking some good money in the meantime so when we move we can get new furnature/dining room table/bed/etc. But she's also super anxious to start brewing again, and so am I. I'll bring this up to her.

How much did it raise your power bill? that's the other thing that I'm keeping in mind, though, if push came to shove I would just cover it in my half of the bills.

Good info! How much do you brew these days?

Our place sucks because for whatever reason, our heat only turns off when the complex manually shuts it off. If we turn our heat off at the thermostat, it continues to run.

We're thinking of like a week. At least that was the original plan. Not exactly sure. We may just stay in the Midwest this year and venture out east next year, I don't know. Depends on how much we want to spend, really. I know we could hit NYC and I'd be able to taste almost every NE brewery I want on tap, though.

 

Maybe a couple bucks? I mean, most of those things are pretty good on power to begin with since they're designed to be always-on. I don't brew a lot, and probably only run it for a few weeks every other month... but its never caused a noticeable increase in my bill, at least not outside of the range of usual month-by-month fluctuation.

 

Oh my god I came into my local craft store to grab a six for my fiance's moms birthday and they literally just came in with a single case of Sip of Sunshine. One per customer, no one else here

 

One per customer.... one CASE per customer?

I've tried SoS once... cannot wait until I can get my hands on more.