Everything Homebrew!

reply to post by TXRabbit


True. I tried to write a business plan for a brewery for a class but it was too complicated because I didn't have the right information and couldn't find a source that would provide it.

I think there's a site where you can pitch an idea like this and interested people will respond, etc. I should try that sometime. Write up a proper a business plan and submit it.

reply to post by jeantherapy


Troll much?

If the topic does not interest you, then please show yourself out.

reply to post by TXRabbit


That brings up another question I've had. Is it really necessary to do secondary fermentation. The original purpose behind it was to get the beer off the yeast cake, but with modern strains of yeast it doesn't really seem like the yeast cake will affect the beer much. I could potentially see a need for high gravity beers that need a month or more to ferment but for most beers I don't really see the need.

We came up with some awesome brews in lock up...using some age old convict recipes!

Hooch...some might say...or pruno!

I understand though that as of recent...the penitentiaries quit using yeast in the bread making process...to prevent so much hooch making on the inside!

I have some interesting recipes though if anyone is interested...some confiscated brews were over 60% ABV...which is amazing given the simplicity of jail house brew!

Anyway...nice thread OP...lots of helpful hints!

Originally posted by Xcalibur254


That brings up another question I've had. Is it really necessary to do secondary fermentation. The original purpose behind it was to get the beer off the yeast cake, but with modern strains of yeast it doesn't really seem like the yeast cake will affect the beer much. I could potentially see a need for high gravity beers that need a month or more to ferment but for most beers I don't really see the need.

That's a good question and unfortunately I don't have an answer for you. I'll poke around because you've piqued my curiosity

found some info for ya'z from Homebrewjunkie.com

If you are doing any kind of standard ale like an IPA, Pale ale, Wheat, Stout, Porter, pretty much any kind of ale recipe, then you don't have to do a secondary fermentation. Just let the beer sit for 2-3 weeks for all the yeast to flocculate out and then bottle or keg your beer as normal. However, if you are adding anything to your beer after it's done fermenting, that's when I suggest to do a secondary fermentation. Adding things to beer . . . what's that? If you are adding vanilla beans, fruit, dry hopping, coffee or anything else, then absolutely, do a secondary fermentation. Why not add to primary fermentation? Well, during primary fermentation there is so much activity going on that a lot of the flavors and aromas that you want to extract from the addition of other ingredients will more than likely get blown out during primary fermentation, which means you won't have as much flavor in your finished beer. This is the only time I do a secondary fermentation.

Lagers and Big beers (a.k.a. High gravity beers) need secondary fermentation. Lagers do because you need to rack out of the primary and into the secondary in order to actually "lager" your beer at 34 degrees for a month or so. With big beers, it's necessary to rack off of the yeast and let them sit to mature a little longer and finish up their secondary fermentation, and because primary fermentation may last up to one month with big beers. I've racked big beers from secondary to a tertiary (third racking) for a few months. Then I'll add new yeast and bottle.

So if a recipe calls for racking to secondary, ask yourself if you're adding anything more to that beer, and if you aren't then I wouldn't recommend racking. By not racking again you eliminate possible oxidation and contamination to your beer. Just have some patience, leave it sit another week in the primary and then rack off. All will be fine.

reply to post by Xcalibur254


There are a few legitimate reasons for a secondary.

Big beers for one. Leaving a barley wine sitting on some old cake for 9 months can create a little off flavor. Not to mention an addition of fresh yeast might be wanted for a number of reasons.

Clarifying is another. Some folks are so nuts about clarity they'll rack into a third or fourth vessel. Risking infections isnt worth it to me as my beers arent necessarily for show. Someday though I might try for ultimate clarity just to see if I can.

Adjuncts that you dont want to be exposed to all that much cake.

More in line with meads or ciders but blending is another.

A lot of the "you must secondary" stuff came from a long held myth that autolysis will turn your beer into rubber tasting garbage but that has been proven false again and again by both science and by homebrewers leaving beers sitting in primary for years and still ending with a drinkable product.

I always liked the excuse of having to secondary as an excuse to have more primaries around the house.

reply to post by Xcalibur254


Secondary fermentation is more of a refining process, and almost a necessity when doing all grain recipes. If an ale, the yeast settles to the bottom, and the sediments from the wort collect there, especially the hops. By siphoning into a secondary, you naturally filter out the residue, aereating the wort so the yeast can continue working, and the end result is a clearer beer come bottling time. It's also a good time to get another gravity reading, play with the numbers to extrapolate FG, add any final adjuncts, and to take a sample taste.

reply to post by jerryznv


Your recipes would be interesting to hear. Please share....

The highest ABV I've gotten was 12 %, with a Bock I did.

I'm planning on adding a few of my own recipes as well.

reply to post by Druid42


Probably one of the more known recipes for hooch with a high alcohol content is as follows (bearing in mind this is done is a prison cell):

4 cups of uncooked white rice.

2 cups of tomato ketchup.

6 cups of sugar.

1 cup of baker yeast (that is usually substituted with 8 slices of white bread).

2 1/2 gallons of water (approximately).

6 whole oranges (sliced and squeezed really well).

This concoction is usually made in a large garbage bag...but considering none of us are in prison...use a five gallon bucket.

Boil some water and add sugar until you have a syrup of sorts...then add the ketchup and rice. Add the yeast (or white bread) and get the fermentation started while you slice and prepare you oranges in a separate container. Add the water and oranges to the concoction mixing it gently.

Here is the trick to a high alcohol content...as this concoction brews...usually four to six days...and becomes jail house wine...it is re-brewed. After you filter this brew...add 6 cups of sugar and another half a cup of yeast...and let the brewing begin again! A steady stream of really warm water around the (garbage bag) brew and plenty of time to keep an eye on (and burp) this concoction will yield you some very strong brew!

Now it should be mentioned that it is a foul concoction...and if not done right will be barely drinkable...and very hard to get past the taste buds without puking...but if done right...it can be quite a tasty drink that somewhat resembles orange vodka!

Lots of filtering too...almost can't filter this stuff enough...coffee filters are best and I filter it twice in most cases!

By the way...rumors of going blind...never seen it...ever...so I think it is a myth!

Anyway that is one of the better known jail house brews!

reply to post by jerryznv


I probably wouldn't recommend this to anyone as it's very risky to make alcohol in a prison cell.

Know people who did it though.

Well, I brewed a Cyser tonight, got pics, but gotta upload them.

I'm waiting to pitch the yeast. My OG was 1.062. The recipe:

Fermentables:
6 lbs. Wildflower honey.
2 qts. Apple Juice.
2 Tbsp. Lime Juice concentrate..
2 Tbsp. Lemon Juice concentrate.

Yeast Culture:
1/4 cup priming sugar.
4 oz. Active dry yeast. (RedStar)
2/3 cup settled water.

2 Gallons settled water in brew pot. Add Fermentables, raise to 160 F, and hold for 30 minutes to pasteurize. Stir periodically.

Cool to 75 F, then pitch yeast.

Rack into primary, wait 1 week, Get gravity reading.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The recipe is on hold. Gotta let it ferment one week.

Pics with explanations to follow.

Originally posted by The Sword
reply to post by jerryznv

 

I probably wouldn't recommend this to anyone as it's very risky to make alcohol in a prison cell.

Know people who did it though.

It's very risky to be in a prison cell...whether your making anything or not!

But you do make a good point...although if you think about it...the brewing process they used over a thousand years ago was just as crude...and probably a whole lot less sterile!

Today there are so many brewing kits...and so much to offer for clean brewing that a recipe like this would only be done in prisons...so with that being said...I would not recommend it for anyone not incarcerated too!

I just thought it would be fun to share some of the more crude forms of brewing (like the hooch/pruno made in prisons)!

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


Well, I left a cider sitting for well over a year.

It is closer to vinegar now but still has a bit of that cidery twang.

reply to post by jerryznv


True.

Just worried that the mods would shut this down. That's all.

reply to post by Druid42


Cyser. Combination of honey and apple, right?

Never made it.

Speaking of apple, a buddy of mine made an excellent apple wine.

Originally posted by The Sword
reply to post by jerryznv

 

True.

Just worried that the mods would shut this down. That's all.

Okay...thanks for worrying...but I am pretty sure that falls under the "Everything Homebrew"...considering any brew can be dangerous if it is not done correctly...even fatal in some cases!

So with that being said...maybe there should be a section of this thread devoted to the safety in brewing...and sterilization (I saw a bit of this mentioned earlier in the thread)!

Here is a on going discussion about brewing safety...LINK!

reply to post by jerryznv


Never leave a boiling wart to its own devices.

If you're using a turkey fryer, you want to monitor that every minute.

My friend and I have both had problems in the past with boilovers. The more powerful the burner, the more likely it can boil over.

Of course, common sense should rule when handling wort or anything beer-related.

reply to post by The Sword

Of course, common sense should rule when handling wort or anything beer-related.

Of course!

Common sense...but it is not so common anymore...your might just as well of said "...in the rare sense..."!

Your point however is valid...whether cooking turkeys...or brewing home brew...some details need to be examined and studied throughly!

Not sure if you were trying to insult me or not...so I will leave it at that

Ok, I snapped a few pics of my Cyser brewing, and just finished resizing and uploading them. A Cyser is a Mead (fermented honey) with apples. Add grapes, it's Pyment. Add spices, it's melomel, or something other variety. This was my first mead, and I'm pushing to have it done by May 5th, which is National Homebrew Day. From my calculations, I'll have about a case and a half of 12 oz. bottles, and will be sampling it over and over, just to see how it's finishing. Well, the basics, first....

Since this is a first attempt, I'm not going to spend a lot of money on anything. I even went cheap on the yeast, buying a 3-pack of bread yeast for $1.59. Call it fifty cents for my yeast. It's dry active yeast, so I decided to culture it first. Normally, you'd add a tsp of yeast nutrients to the "must" specifically for wine/mead, but I'm going cheap. I used 1/4 cup priming sugar to 1 cup of water in a paper cup. 1 minute in the microwave, and it's time for a temperature check. The package said to pitch at 110-115 F, so I got a temp reading.

Yikes. 1 minute in the microwave jacked it to 155 F. Gotta let that cool down. I still have to sanitize everything, so I mixed a gallon of "Easy Clean", by LD Carlson, a brand of one step sanitizer especially for brewing.

Here's my simple yeast culturing apparatus. (I just sanitized it.) I had to drill a small hole in the lid, fit it with a grommet (they cost 25 cents), and insert the also sanitized fermentation lock. They are like $2.50, but I have a couple already. It's ready for yeast as soon as the "nutrient mix" is done. To activate this yeast, all I really needed was 1/4 tsp to 1/4 cup water, so my ratio I used is sort of like steroids for the yeast. I want a good colony of yeast started once I pitch them into my must. The more yeast added initially, the quicker it should finish. Mind you, yeast are microscopic, so the only way to detect their presence is by observing their behavior. The whole idea behind the fermentation lock is to reduce the number of microorganisms in the air into your wort or must. The CO2 the yeast produce escapes, causing the inner lock to bubble up and down, and you note the rapidity of bobbing to scale the amount of CO2 being released. A lot of bobbing, a good yeast culture.

Closer, no yeast yet.



Checking back to my "nutrient mix", I see the temp is just above pitching temp, about 118 F. Shoot, it'll cool down by the time I add it to the mason jar. Temperature loss factored in, it'll be the right temp.


Yeast freshly pitched. I am now waiting for 15 minutes, to see an indication of bubbling in the water/priming sugar/ yeast mixture. If there's bubbling, I have an active culture. If not, well, I have two more packages to start. Bad ratio, try again.

I set this on top the fridge, so it doesn't get bumped or knocked over, and it's a few degrees warmer there than on the counter.

I have other stuff to do while waiting for my yeast to culture. One is bringing the brew water up to temp. With this recipe, I am going to bring the water temp up to 160 F, and hold it there for 30 minutes, a bit I picked up while I was researching this recipe. In homebrewing, the thermometer is your first best friend, the second is the hydrometer. I picked that thermometer up years ago, I think for $5.95, and it has served me faithfully ever since. Temperature is one of the most important factors when calculating fermentables. I did a triple decoction last year for NHD, and had three temperature rests that I had to meet in order to extract the maximum amount of sugars from the grains I was using. Bocks are very tricky.

While the yeast is culturing, and my water is heating, I have one last task ahead of me. Cleaning the fermentation bucket.

It's a 6 gallon fermenter I did buy online, $15 bucks. It gets re-used, and re-used....

Before I put my must in it, it needs a good cleaning and sanitizing.

After that was done, I checked my yeast again. Holy crap! Full of massive bubbles, it's percolating away, and I smile. The point being is that I am going to be feeding them something super sweet, and they are going to make me alcohol to drink. If they don't act like they're active, and up for the job, I would be worried about my mead fermenting. No question about that now, I have a super healthy culture in about a half hour after pitching.

My fermentation bucket is assembled and sanitized.

I'm using 6 pounds of honey. I still have over 24 pounds left from the last harvest.

I am using a wildflower variety, and the color gets lighter from left to right.
(CONT)