Rairdog's Shanks on sale 1.27 $/lb

If it wasn't for you brewing, I would be procrastinating on my brew day, I think ...
 
I have to clean up from last brew, brew, and clean ahead of this kettle last brew for the forseable future (coming quickly behind this brew) ...
 
:cheers:
 
She is pretty dark.
 

 
I finally found a use for this spigot....and a plug for my LHBS lol.  They are having a 20th anv party today but I don't mix with crowds anymore.  Much slower sparge at 170 this time.
 

 
 
 
 
tctenten said:
Looks good so far Jim. I am loving the fall weather, great time of year.
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Thanks bud...haven't forgot about your honey.  I need to get a shipping cost.  I don't know if shipping a glass qt jar is safe. 
 
 
My Sierra Navada clone at 21 days.  It is goooood!  My beers will probably always be cloudy but I like them that way.  No since adding Irish moss or spending money.
 

 
MY command center lol.  PC is linked to UHD tv, stereo and phone for music control.  I can watch the beer boil from here as I type.  The GH and seed starting chamber are also in view.   
 

grantmichaels said:
If it wasn't for you brewing, I would be procrastinating on my brew day, I think ...
 
I have to clean up from last brew, brew, and clean ahead of this kettle last brew for the forseable future (coming quickly behind this brew) ...
 
:cheers:
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I have spent maybe 30 min tending to the brew today and most of the time reading and enjoying music.  Missy is a freak when it comes to cleaning and is grabbing stuff from my hands on a normal brew day, saying "is this ready".   It really helps to have everything clean and sany before hand. 
Crap, I forgot to put the chiller in 15 min before end of boil to sterilize.  I will boil it for 5 to 10 min and go over on my boil...no sweat.  
 
I am still getting that green apple aluminum after taste that doesn't seem to go away.  It's not bad but it needs addressed.  I just figured it was green beer and it needed to age more.  I am thinking the ph of my water needs some acid malt or lactic acid.  You really don't notice after one or two beers....but it builds up.  My cheap chinese ph meter will register 6.3 on the mash but it is not consistent at 7.0 with distilled water.
 
I haven't had the ester/phenol problems that I had in early batches since I started to filter my tap water and ensure cool enough temp for earliest fermentation, from 12-72 hrs ...
 
Hopefully I've pinned the off flavor down to oxidation.  I was using the tube off the racking cane for a blow off tube and it was hard to clean.  I bought a new tube and it was slightly loose sliding it onto the end of the racking tube.  This was causing air bubbles to come in at this connection and a big 8 in air gap at the top of the tube.  I racked a beer into the keg this afternoon and the gap/bubbles were evident.  I put a zip tie on the connection, the bubbles stopped and the air gap went away.
 
From reading the oxidation will give a wet cardboard metallic taste that gets worse.  Hopefully this will solve the problem.  It was really evident towards the end of the Hefe keg.  I notice it slightly in the APA keg but the bittering hops cover it up somewhat.
 
The first to kegs had no off flavor and the old tube fit very tight with no bubbles.  I've been raking my brain over this.  Was it ferm temps, infection, wild yeast, star san, saving yeast, dirty keg line, improper sanitation, sourdough/kimchi/pickles and other ferm stuff in the fridge with the saved yeast....the list goes on. 
 
It was too a point that I was not confident to brew the next batch and give up on saving yeast.  The best option seems to be drink it quick because it will get worse and BREW ON! 
 
I haven't looked too deeply into that, but I think the deal w/ that is that it causes staling reactions to speed up ...
 
I've poured every beer into their final kegs so far, actually ... I've tried to purge the headspace in the keg after to minimize it, but there's def been some contact w/ the air ...
 
I think things like stable ferm temp for the 1st three days, not allowing chlorine/chloramines/StarSan -> chlorophenols in the yeast cells, and not ending up under-pitched (more yeast dead than expected) are probably more likely to contribute to off flavors than some bubbles of O2, but maybe ...
 
I was relieved when I tasted my oatmeal stout after fermentation was complete today. I was worried because of that last sour batch. But it tasted great so all was well.
 
After a lot of reading, the oxidation makes sense.  The keg tasted good at first, was very drinkable but had the green beer flavor.  Then it peaked and had great flavor....I was braggin.  Then it went downhill each day.  An infected beer will progressively get worse. Any other off flavors will get better with time.  A beer that peaks and then goes downhill seems to be from oxidation from my research. 
 
Rairdog said:
After a lot of reading, the oxidation makes sense.  The keg tasted good at first, was very drinkable but had the green beer flavor.  Then it peaked and had great flavor....I was braggin.  Then it went downhill each day.  An infected beer will progressively get worse. Any other off flavors will get better with time.  A beer that peaks and then goes downhill seems to be from oxidation from my research. 
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I would say that that sounds consistent w/ staling ... right? ...
 
I also feel like mentioning that there's definitely been fluctuation in the taste of my beers throughout their service period from the keg ...
 
And I've noticed it more w/ the lighter color beers than the dark one's ...
 
Did you brew those beers that are having that using 6-row or pilsner? ...
 
Staling...as in fermenting not kicking in?  I'm saying once a beer has been oxygenated, pitched and fermented it should never get anymore oxygen via splashing or bubbles when transferring to secondary or keg.  I purge the kegs with Co2 before transferring and make sure the racking tube is under beer so as not to splash.   
 
Most all of my beers have been 2 row and/or wheat predominantly.   
 
Rairdog said:
Staling...as in fermenting not kicking in?  I'm saying once a beer has been oxygenated, pitched and fermented it should never get anymore oxygen via splashing or bubbles when transferring to secondary or keg.  I purge the kegs with Co2 before transferring and make sure the racking tube is under beer so as not to splash.   
 
Most all of my beers have been 2 row and/or wheat predominantly.   
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No, staling as in the beer aging once there isn't a yeast cake to condition anything, and/or the yeast have been removed and/or put into deep hibernation by crashing ...
 
 
 
It seemed like your beer was getting consumed pretty readily ...
 
 
 
I haven't done that right to date, and aren't having that problem, is why I'm looking for something else ...
 
There isn't a beer of mine yet, that I didn't transfer by pouring from fermenter to keg ... in the open air ... into a non-purged keg ...
 
I purged the headspace after, to minimize the damage, but haven't yet done a closed-system transfer to the keg, or from keg to keg ...
 
 
 
 
It'll be interesting to see what Wheebz says, I guess ...
 
Iron pipes?
 
My pipes are all cpvc.  No iron stains in my sinks or toilet if that's what you mean.  I have to scrub the toilet weekly for lime buildup and my shower/faucets will clog up with lime.  They have to be soaked in CLR yearly.  That's why I'm planning on a 50/50 RO water to well water next brew.
 
Rairdog said:
My pipes are all cpvc.  No iron stains in my sinks or toilet if that's what you mean.  I have to scrub the toilet weekly for lime buildup and my shower/faucets will clog up with lime.  They have to be soaked in CLR yearly.  That's why I'm planning on a 50/50 RO water to well water next brew.
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Mine's like that too ...
 
Lots of calcium and lime build-up ... and pH from 6 or 7 up to 9+ ...
 
Brewing the PDG PA (pretty darn good) and grooving to 80's classic rock.  The mash is holding perfect at 152 with the ski jacket while it's 50f outside.  Got the hops schedule plugged into Brew Timer app....on cruise control.
 
 
grantmichaels said:
Nice ... sounds relaxing compared to my usual brew experience ...
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The only stress is being there in case of boil over to stir and reduce heat.   The rest is just stress of what you read and presume from others on forums...lol
 
That part doesn't stress me ... then again, I don't read HBT or Aussie Homebrewer's ...
 
The part that stresses me is being at capacity, where the lid doesn't close and the hose is barely in there, and knowing it would take about 20 seconds for the pump to saturate the crappy particle board cabinetry in this house's kitchen into a sugar-water disaster ...
 
Which is why I'm going outside ...
 
There's been no peace inside ... I still get hot and sweaty from the steam from the humidity and boil/steam, and I can't really feel comfortable walking away from it during the mash, the boil, or the chilling ... so, fuck it.
 
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