23 replies to this topic

[SchwanzBrewer]

I forgot to buy cheese cloth bags for the hops so I went to the supermarket and got some pantyhose. So far its floating and seems to have some air trapped in it (not really sure). Do I need to do anything special so I get the correct amount of bittering, or should I relax?BTW: MLPA, 60 min boil, 1 oz 5.2% Mt Hoods.GO!Cheers,Rich

[cavman]

As long as the hose have no dye I'd say relax.

[SchwanzBrewer]

As long as the hose have no dye I'd say relax.

They are traditional brown regualr style "sweetbay" brand pantyhose

[toonces]

i agree with cav.

[CarlosM]

As long as the hose have no dye I'd say relax.

pretty much this. I dont think I ever used panty hose for boiling though, What I suggest is getting one of those grain steeping bags for whole hops and just at them in there as you go.The only reason I say this is because i wonder what the melting point of nylon undergarments are and with the steeping bags we know at least they are good til 150ish degrees.Degenerate.

[Brian72]

You're good. I use these to bag my hops with and they work good. Nothing to worry about here...

[RommelMagic]

Yes, you're fine. I'd only suggest that next time get the biggest sized Nude colored hose rather than brown.

[SchwanzBrewer]

Yes, you're fine. I'd only suggest that next time get the biggest sized Nude colored hose rather than brown.

They don't match my eye's as well. Well, I learned a valuable lesson: Don't fall asleep in the middle of a brew.I finished steeping the 2nd beer (stout) and turned up the elements to bring it to a boil. Sat down in the comfy chair and fell asleep.Well a half hour later I woke up and the wort is boiling. So i figure great, lets add the hop bag (I cut a section of the steeping bag away and tied it at both ends for the hops on this one instead of using the panty hose). So I add it and go back to the chair to see how the packer game is coming......a minute later I realize CRAP I forgot to add the DME!!!So I hop up and pick out the hop bag so I don't break it while stirring and start adding the DME.I get to the last bit stirred in and I realize the wort is still near boiling and the foam on top is creeping up to the top of the pot a bit fast. So I turn off the elements and get my big hot break spoon that I use for skimming the hot break off the surface and start bailing the foam. Well, it wasn't enough. I had a massive boil over onto the stove all over the elements and I knew if I turned the heat back on that the sugars would burn and smell like crazy. So I cleaned up the spillage the best I could and moved the pot over to the other two elements and cleaned up the rest.So now, I don't really know how long the wort has been boiling so my volume is gonna be off a bit, and the IBU's might be higher than the recipe calls for, but its my first stout so I doubt I will be able to tell anyway.This is the first time I have tried 2 beers in one day. Man its tiring. The first is still cooling and isn't quite ready to have the starter pitched on it. Probably another 3 hours before I am all done.Cheers,Rich

[SchwanzBrewer]

Finished about 11:30. Someone has one of my swamp coolers so I took the 120 quart that I used to chill with and warmed it up to 58 deg (water) and put the two carboys in. They should be fermenting nicely by the morning. If they are like the last beer I made with a starter the airlock will just about blow off.Cheers,Rich

[SchwanzBrewer]

I think I might have messed up the MLPA. When I sterilized the carboy I only rinsed the Starsan out once and then dumped the wort on top of it. I think the starsan might have been a little too concentrated and killed a bunch of yeast because the MLPA is not fermenting nearly as much as the stout, even though I used the same yeast and starter size.It is fermenting, just not frothing like I am used to seeing. The stout is going nuts like I figured it would.

[Deerslyr]

I think I might have messed up the MLPA. When I sterilized the carboy I only rinsed the Starsan out once and then dumped the wort on top of it. I think the starsan might have been a little too concentrated and killed a bunch of yeast because the MLPA is not fermenting nearly as much as the stout, even though I used the same yeast and starter size.It is fermenting, just not frothing like I am used to seeing. The stout is going nuts like I figured it would.

When you say you rinsed it out once, what exactly does that mean? The StarSan is a no rinse product. Assuming StarSan would even kill yeast, I highly doubt you put straight, undiluted StarSan into the carboy. No... I think the yeast is just fermenting differently. Could be ambient temps are lower, could be oxygen levels, etc. If you used diluted StarSan per manufacturers instructions, you should be fine.

[Stout_fan]

Diluted starsan is a source of nutrients for yeast and various organisms.At least that's what they say.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

Diluted starsan is a source of nutrients for yeast and various organisms.At least that's what they say.

allegedly...j/k - don't fear the foam!seriously though - I think we need some sanitation process info from the OP...

[CarlosM]

its hard not to fear the foam, It took me a while to do so because it just didnt look right.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

its hard not to fear the foam, It took me a while to do so because it just didnt look right.

BAM!! FOAMIST!!!!

[SchwanzBrewer]

I have the concentrate. I take a cap full and dump it in the carboy. Then I spray water in the carboy with the hose, shake it up, dump it out, and do it again. There is always foam left in the carboy and I'm not worried about that. What worries me is that for the MLPA carboy I only rinsed once, so the starsan was in a much higher concentration when I poured the wort and starter in.I used 1056 for both beers. I made two starters 20 hours before I racked. They had both fermented equally in my jugs over that time. They are both sitting in the same 120 quart cooler filled with water at 60-65 degrees. The krausen on the last batch of MLPA went nuts like my stout is using the same technique. It looked like the beer was boiling in the carboy.It'll be beer. I just hope there are enough yeasties to clean it up properly. My last MLPA was clean as a whistle and uber tasty, no off flavors whatsoever.

Edited by rcemech, 18 November 2009 - 04:20 PM.

[djinkc]

I have the concentrate. I take a cap full and dump it in the carboy. Then I spray water in the carboy with the hose, shake it up, dump it out, and do it again. There is always foam left in the carboy and I'm not worried about that. What worries me is that for the MLPA carboy I only rinsed once, so the starsan was in a much higher concentration when I poured the wort and starter in.I used 1056 for both beers. I made two starters 20 hours before I racked. They had both fermented equally in my jugs over that time. They are both sitting in the same 120 quart cooler filled with water at 60-65 degrees. The krausen on the last batch of MLPA went nuts like my stout is using the same technique. It looked like the beer was boiling in the carboy.It'll be beer. I just hope there are enough yeasties to clean it up properly. My last MLPA was clean as a whistle and uber tasty, no off flavors whatsoever.

I wouldn't worry about it. FWIW I use a 1/2 gallon sprayer of mixed StarSan for this kind of stuff. It'll keep a long time in the sprayer and you don't have to worry about rinsing.

[SchwanzBrewer]

I wouldn't worry about it. FWIW I use a 1/2 gallon sprayer of mixed StarSan for this kind of stuff. It'll keep a long time in the sprayer and you don't have to worry about rinsing.

I do that too, but I just figured too much was enough to slow the fermentation.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

I have the concentrate. I take a cap full and dump it in the carboy. Then I spray water in the carboy with the hose, shake it up, dump it out, and do it again. There is always foam left in the carboy and I'm not worried about that. What worries me is that for the MLPA carboy I only rinsed once, so the starsan was in a much higher concentration when I poured the wort and starter in.I used 1056 for both beers. I made two starters 20 hours before I racked. They had both fermented equally in my jugs over that time. They are both sitting in the same 120 quart cooler filled with water at 60-65 degrees. The krausen on the last batch of MLPA went nuts like my stout is using the same technique. It looked like the beer was boiling in the carboy.It'll be beer. I just hope there are enough yeasties to clean it up properly. My last MLPA was clean as a whistle and uber tasty, no off flavors whatsoever.

This isn't really the proper way to use starsan. Your second "rinse" is probably way too low of a concentration. You should make up some starsan/water mixture with the correct amounts (I think 1oz per 5 gallons of water) and slosh some of this solution in the carboy a few times to make sure everything gets nice and exposed. Dump out this mixture and rack in your beer (NO RINSING!)

[Stout_fan]

Right zym. The container has a level gauge. 1 oz per 5 gal. If you want to reuse it mix with filtered or better yet distilled water. Interactions between the phosphoric acid and heavy metals in the water ids what causes precipitates and drops the ph into the ineffective range.