Sounds like an awesome time, can you post the link to your blog? I think I saw it a while back but never book marked it.

I'll also link on the blog roll on my blog as well.

gatorbeer.blogspot.com

Hey Coff,

Do you know anything about saving bugs on oak? I have a sour with a barrel stave in the carboy that I'm looking to bottle and want to try to keep the bugs on the oak. Any way I could dry the stave similar to what Vinnie from RR did when he gave out oak cubes at the AHA conference?

PtE,

That'd be a great question for Brandon at Embrace the Funk (embracethefunk.com). Tweeting would probably get you a fairly quick response, asking through the website might take longer.

PtE, I just read every post on your blog. Great TRs.

What kind of system are you brewing on? All BIAB?

I've been researching homebrewing for a while now but still indecisive about a setup. I have a few k to spend but have slowly talked myself out of a bling setup for now. Ideally I'd like to brew 2.5 gallon batches indoors year round with precise mash and ferm temps.

I used to brew on a full 5 gallon system complete with a igloo cooler mash tun and bayou burner, but I moved to an apartment and have been doing a modified BIAB on the stove for ~2.5 gallons. I'm all grain, I mash in a bag, but instead of stopping there, I also sparge in my bag. Not a true BIAB, but not a true normal system either.

Kinda over the moon that homebrew batches 3 and 4 are excellent after batches 1 and 2 came out terribly for me. I realize I used bad recipes and boiled the hell out of the grains.

If I can suck at brewing and produce something as good as I achieved, it's encouraging what'll happen as I get better.

I'd like to brew 2.5 gallon batches in a "normal system". The only equipment I have is 4 12" 32k BTU propane burners, a commercial vent hood, and bulk CO2. Also have a commercial convection oven with 1* temp controls as low as 140*F. I know these aren't conventional items, but I think they could be used in some capacity.

How do you precisely control your mash temps on a stovetop? Could I reasonably use a Blichmann kettle as my MT with a pump to a HERMS coil inside an HLT/Igloo cooler? Then use the pump to transfer to another Blichmann Boil kettle?

Is the fermenting vessel important or is temp control the #1 priority? ie Will I see much better results using a conical fermenter vs a glass carboy?

The HBT forums are intimidating and I don't know many good AG brewers around here.

Lots of attention.

You could, but jumping straight to AG HERMS is kind of weird. Why not just brew a few batches first and see how much you care about this sort of precise control?

Also, I don't think Blichmann makes a kettle small enough for 2.5g batches.

And I've never seen a conical small enough for 2.5g batches. Temp control is much, much more important than fermentor geometry on homebrew scales.

RunDownhouse has great advice, the best way is probably to monitor it like a hawk.

I personally turn my oven on the lowest temp possible (probably around ~150-170), then after I'm done mashing in, I stick my pot aka mash tun into the oven and turn it off. That keeps temperatures warm, and I see little movement in the temperature of my mash during the 60 minutes (1-2 degrees). I'd honestly worry about fermenter temperature control more than hitting your mash temps, but I may be in the minority there.

Happy Hopslam day guys

Stupid weather has delayed our hopslam shipment. I'll get my normal 6er and if anyone wants to trade, PM me. I'm always looming for anything that isn't available for me in Chicago

Doubt you're in the minority, the impact of fermenting at 72 v. 68 will be much more pronounced than mashing at 154 v. 150.

RDH,

Speaking of mash temps and such, I heard somewhere that since most of our grain is so modified nowadays that temperatures really don't play that big of a part in fermentability, etc. Is that correct or did I mishear?

RDH would know for sure, but I believe both time to convert and temperature is far more forgiving than it used to be.

I've never heard that, but I've never actually experimented myself. I do know that if I'm mashing super low, I've gotten worse extract when mashing 60m as opposed to 90m. Whether you'll ever notice 151 v. 152 is something I doubt. I'm inclined to think that how well-modified your grain is will dictate what kind of mashing regime you'll need, but even when you can do a single infusion, whether you do it at 148 or 158 is going to make a difference. The amylases just work in different ways and are most active at different temperatures, I don't think there's too much dispute about that.

Got a 38 score in my first beer competition entry (an imperial stout with arbbol chilies added).

It didn't place, but I'm pretty happy with that result. It's all subjective of course, and I'm hoping I'll still get the detailed sheet notes (that's really why I submitted).

Nice job! That's an impressive score.

Slow pony....

I have no experience doing that so I can't be of any helpd.

Besides reaching out to Brandon you could Try Michael Tonsmeire from the Madfermentationist. Or Jeff Crane from http://jeffreycrane.blogspot.com/ I know Jeff dried some oak cubes and shipped them to Thailand once ad the guy had great results.

Let us know what you find out.

So I tweeted at Michael Tonsmeire and Embrace the Funk and they said to just let it dry on a rack. Michael said it's an OK option and he's recommend pitching dregs over it. I'm going to try it and when I want to use it again, try to get a starter going from it.

Anyone in Indy going to Winterfest Saturday?

We just got this at the Whole Foods in Chadds Ford, PA. total of 3 cases wheeled in at 2:30 and enough people waiting for it that it never got unloaded

I was excited to try it but found it disappointing. no clue how it scores 100 on beeradvocate

Last year's was the first time I'd had it (bottle), and I had it again a couple days ago (draft). Totally agree, it's somewhat unremarkable to me. Definitely glad I didn't shell out ~$17 for a sixer, which I would have done if I'd run across one before I'd seen it on tap somewhere.

Ive had Hopslam only the last 3 years and I completely agree that its very overrated. Don't get me wrong its a good beer, but I find it forgettable. I will say this years is much better then last, the 2013 version came off as musty old honey to me.

I buy 1 single bottle each year, I'll probably continue to do so assuming I dont have to wait in any lines or something absurd.

I'm guessing you are in Philly. I use Phillytapfinder with great success. Real time updates of what's on tap where and searchable by brewer or location. Also shows how many total places are carrying so you can find some pretty rare offerings. I don't think it's an app but you can follow on twitter

I saw the Plinian Legacy Kit on NB and snapped one up, and now I'm a little intimidated by it. Does anyone have any advice for a beginner?

Specifically, I just got one Safale US 05, but I'm reading that some suggest that two packs is probably better. Should I get another pack and if so, what do I need to look for to determine whether I should add more yeast?

Vinnie's recipe says "Mash out at 170° F (77° C) and sparge. Collect 8 gallons (30 L) of runoff, stir in dextrose, and bring to a boil." 8 gallons? I'm not sure I have the equipment for 8 gallons of anything. What's going on here and what can I do to make this successful in a 5-gallon context? Any ideas if I can incorporate Vinnie's recipe with the NB kit recipe to improve it?

If, as it says, the hop bill is so large that a full wort boil is recommended, can I split the wort between two large pots to achieve the 8-gallons? Any problems or things I should know? Will I end up with a 5-gallon end-product at some point?

Apologies in advance if these questions aren't suitable for this thread.