Recent content by DaveNH

I'm still working my way through this thread, but in researching the possibility of integrating an induction coil into a kettle, I came across this for those without induction ready kettles: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/747044530/miito-the-sustainable-alternative-to-the-electric...

Just wondering. I was at a state fair recently and the sugar house had a small evaporator that looked like it might be a nice, self contained option. Gas fired, large capacity, and spigot(s) built in. I would think that the boil off rate would be high due to the surface area, which might...

http://www.rickety.us/2012/07/extra-fizzy-homemade-carbonated-beverages/ This appears to meld the op's process without having to shake the bottle constantly. It is similar to relying on the release valve for a corny, but with less disastrous potential consequences. Just add the dry ice, cap...

So people may be aware of northerners who should be used to snow, freaking out over a little storm. So I decided to brew today with what I had on hand. I had leftover grain and a packet of US-05, but didn't have time to pick up some hops on Monday. While not a traditional gruit in terms of...

I suppose I should explain why I'm going out into left field with this experiment.Two reasons. 1. I'm not interested in relying on added enzymes, and was curious if there could be alternatives to the fairly complex mashing schedules I've seen for gf brews. I'm not celiac, or diagnosed gluten...

Checked again after getting home from work. This is approximately 24hrs of a "no heat" mash. The left is a sample from near the surface. The right is from about 1/3 up from the bottom. Looks pretty decent. Just to be sure, I pulled a sample from the very bottom, where sediment had...

So after letting the puree steep for 3 hours then straining, the starch test still wasn't great. But I decided to let it sit overnight. This morning, here is the result: The sample was taken from near the surface, so to be safe, I tested a sample from a deeper level. Still not...

The test again at mash temps yielded no appreciable conversion. So I'm seeing better results at 65-70F. Next step is another "no heat" mash, but adding the full daikon puree instead of just the juice. I still think I need to give malting the seed a try once this phase is over.

Slight change to my plan from yesterday. I decided to try both a "no heat" as well as another attempt in mash temp ranges. I also tried to filter through some rice hulls and mesh bag, but that didn't make much of a difference. I added 1 cup instant rice to 44oz boiling water, let sit 10-15...

One concern regarding my tests today, particularly the second. I just strained the rice through a colander and took a sample from the strained water. It was absurdly cloudy, and I'm wondering if by not adding rice hulls and draining in my tun, that starch particles were throwing off my tests...

So after a 75 minute "mash" with the juice, I had no apparent conversion in the full batch. With such a small volume in a 12qt pot, I lost quite a bit of heat (145F to 130F). I am thinking the no heat mash might be the way to go, although I'm hoping it will not require a 1 to 1 ratio as in the...

There may be some hope... I actually boiled 2.5qt before adding the instant rice in experiment #2. Initial starch test, as expected, came up dark blue. As a small nano scale test, I took 1 tablespoon each of the liquid from the rice and the daikon juice. I mixed them in a 1 cup, copper...

For the second test I have pureed 1# of daikon in the food processor, then put the puree in a mesh hop bag (1g paint strainer), and squeezed the juice out. I got a little over 12oz of liquid from the daikon, which I well add to 1# of minute rice (at 1.5qt/piund), again looking for a mash temp...

At 1 hr. I'm calling it.

So I'm running some small scale experiments today. The link I found to a study of daikon indicated beta amylase activity in the tap root. Other links indicated that the juice of the daikon was flash with enzymes. Given that I can get daikon locally, I figured I'd tried that first before...