Any brewmasters out there? (home brewing)

[lowkee]

Re: Any brewmasters out there? (home brewing)

The difference between the bottles and kegs is more likely a cleanliness issue with the bottles...and you did not say where they were stored.

What are the mini-kegs made of and how do you carbonate the beer?

I initially thought about the cleanliness as well, but out of 3 bottles, all of the bottles tasted the same (really skunky). You would think the flavor would vary per bottle. I used sanitizer on all bottles and kegs, so I'm not sure what would skunk just the bottles. Everything is stored in a closet, away from any light sources at ~71F.

The minikegs are made out of aluminum which seems coated and I carbonated the beer by adding corn sugar to the entire batch prior to packaging it. I did it that way so everything would be uniformly carbonated, which seemed to work.

I hope I can figure out the bottling issue, as I have some friends I would like to swap bottles with, and I don't want to be shipping them crap beer.

 

[i386]

Re: Any brewmasters out there? (home brewing)

Clean bottles are also the only thing I can think of. I've never had any issues with that. Mine are sanitized upside down in a very hot dishwasher just prior to bottling. The bottle caps are also boiled to kill anything that might be on them. Beer apparantly contains plenty of nutrients for bacteria to flourish.

My beer always a bit cloudy. I always assumed it was because 1) I didn't have a secondary fermentation vessel and 2) It's not filtered like the store bought stuff.

 

[rolmops]

Re: Any brewmasters out there? (home brewing)

that sounds great.
One thing though,
If you live in a dry county,is it legal brew alcoholic beverages in that county?

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Any brewmasters out there? (home brewing)

If you live in a dry county,is it legal brew alcoholic beverages in that county?

Who cares!

I have been wanting to start brewing for the longest time. I need to go over to my friend's house the next time he does a batch. He has a great setup from what I hear.

 

[salty87]

Re: Any brewmasters out there? (home brewing)

a 7 pack mini keg....genius.

do you think beer will keep overnight?

 

[Tim Frank]

Re: Any brewmasters out there? (home brewing)

I initially thought about the cleanliness as well, but out of 3 bottles, all of the bottles tasted the same (really skunky). You would think the flavor would vary per bottle. I used sanitizer on all bottles and kegs, so I'm not sure what would skunk just the bottles. Everything is stored in a closet, away from any light sources at ~71F.

The minikegs are made out of aluminum which seems coated and I carbonated the beer by adding corn sugar to the entire batch prior to packaging it. I did it that way so everything would be uniformly carbonated, which seemed to work.

I hope I can figure out the bottling issue, as I have some friends I would like to swap bottles with, and I don't want to be shipping them crap beer.

Yes, bulk priming is absolutely the way to go.
You'll get a better beer if you use malt extract instead of sugar. I have used 100% malt for some years now. Sugar is for cereal or cofee....not for brewing.
It might be the sanitiser. Believe it or not the residual is not much different in the kegs vs bottles unless you rinse the bejabbers out of them....and the proportional volume is way higher for the bottles.
I have had a few batches soured by cleaning chemicals.

 

[lowkee]

Re: Any brewmasters out there? (home brewing)

a 7 pack mini keg....genius.

do you think beer will keep overnight?

That is one falsehood I thought prior to learning about brewing as well. I thought beer would go bad, or flat, or something not good if you left it sitting. The reality is, beer gets better age and will keep at room temp for a year or more. The only time brewed beer needs to be chilled is just before you drink it, and only then if you like it chilled. There is no requirement for it. You can take a minikeg camping for a week and be fine.. not that it'd last a week.. not because of going bad, but because of being good

 

[lowkee]

Re: Any brewmasters out there? (home brewing)

It might be the sanitiser. Believe it or not the residual is not much different in the kegs vs bottles unless you rinse the bejabbers out of them....and the proportional volume is way higher for the bottles.
I have had a few batches soured by cleaning chemicals.

That just might be it. I used 'no rinse' sanitizer, but of course I know there is really no such thing, so I did rinse, but possibly not enough. If I were to guess, I'd estimate the potency of the skunkiness was likely right around the 7 times stronger in the bottles (it's pretty awful) versus the minikeg. That sanitizer could very well have changed the flavor. Next batch will see a lot more rinsing.

I've read too many times about the importance of being obsessive about cleaning when brewing. I should have used that logic in cleaning out the cleaner.

 

[mike64]

Re: Any brewmasters out there? (home brewing)

that sounds great.
One thing though,
If you live in a dry county,is it legal brew alcoholic beverages in that county?

I think it's only illegal to sell alcohol in a dry county-- I believe the Jack Daniels distillery is in a dry county. But laws might vary in different areas.

Anyway, like bruceb says, who cares? i don't think the Untouchables are going to be knocking on your door if you brew up a batch

Lowkee, what sanitizer did you use? I've always used a sulfite solution, then rinsed with water, and I've never had a problem with contamination.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: Any brewmasters out there? (home brewing)

Great thread lowkee, good info for others to get started. My brother-in-law has been doing the same and I will look into it this winter

Mini-kegs are perfect I agree

 

[lowkee]

Re: Any brewmasters out there? (home brewing)

!EMERGENCY! !EMERGENCY! !EMERGENCY! !EMERGENCY! !EMERGENCY!

I'm on my last minikeg and haven't begun my next batch.. I can't go back to drinking commercial beer.. I just can't!

I tell ya, nothing beats minikegs. I never realized it before, but there are often times I would like a small bit of beer and now I can have it. When I just had bottles I'd forego the beer since I didn't want a full bottle. Sort of the equivelant of taking a nip of tequila just because you want some, not because you want to get buzzed.

 

[Tim Frank]

Re: Any brewmasters out there? (home brewing)

!EMERGENCY! !EMERGENCY! !EMERGENCY! !EMERGENCY! !EMERGENCY!

I'm on my last minikeg and haven't begun my next batch.. I can't go back to drinking commercial beer.. I just can't!

.

Good news/bad news.
The good news is that you just need to get another batch underway.
The bad news is that you are out of beer for about 3 weeks......

 

[lowkee]

Re: Any brewmasters out there? (home brewing)

Brewed another batch of Pale Ale. This batch went much more smoothly than the first. Using a concave screen for filtering the wort and a giant funnel to pour the wort directly into the carboy, we skipped the median step of using a bucket, which will hopefully cut down on bacteria and wild yeast quite a bit. Initial fermentation was crazy fast. It was a veritable volcano out of the spout for a good 24 hours or so. Much more active than the first batch. Considering we are out of the first batch.. we'll have to slum it and drink commercial beer for a few weeks.. ugh!

In order to prevent running out again, we went out and bought a second mini-keg kit, so we can have multiple types of brew at once and have two taps. After all, what is the point of brewing your own if you have no options while drinking it?