a few questions

The only question that I have input on is the hop filtering question. I personally do not filter out my hops. Having hops in your fermenter will not impact the flavor of your beer. There is no need to filter out hops.

Cheers!

 

In regard to question one: do you have a dog, or know someone with dogs? I have a great recipe for spent grain dog treats.

That's all I have input on as I am currently just a homebrew lingerer... Cheers

 

A little bit of kettle trub in the fermenter is okay, and probably beneficial. But a lot is not. I strain my wort on its way to the fermenter. Others use hop bags, or hop blockers, or carefully rack off of the kettle trub.

 

Compost that spent grain.

 

Your ice bath doesn't mix with your wort, does it? If it's not being added to the wort, there's no need to boil it.

 

I usually make granola with spent grain: bake it on a cookie sheet, 300 for about 2 hours or until fairly dry. I periodically mix in honey, brown sugar and trail mix and let it air dry for a few hours.

 

Assuming you're not adding ice water directly to the wort...it's OK to use unboiled ice water in the bath to chill.

Adding unboiled ice water to the wort to chill ==> may turn out OK but definitely not a best practice.

 

That sounds good. (You didn't say, but I'm assuming it is or you wouldn't have passed along this recipe.) I'm going to try that. Thanks.

 

Yeah it's worked pretty well this far, but the flavor/texture is quite different depending on what grains are used. It's not a traditional granola per se, but it work well with yogurt or fruit. I bet it'd be awesome if you threw in some toasted oats as well. I used natural peanut butter last time and that was tasty too.

 

1. I compost my grains as well, though you have to mix in some grass clippings or it will start smelling really bad.

2. Just pour your wort through a big strainer. Not only does this remove the hop debris, it helps to aerate your wort.

3. As others have mentioned, you don't need to boil the water if you're using it to cool outside of the pot.

 

- Compost. Or leave it out for the birds. Or leave it out for bait to shoot the squirrels. I do all three. Depending on my temperament and how much the squirrels are wreaking havoc in the garden.
- I never filter. When you rack it to the secondary, the hops and trub go away. Leave it in the primary 2 weeks minimum and everything drops out, rack to secondary to bottle or keg. Irish moss or Campden tablet if you like.
- I'm really hoping not in the wort, as do others.

 

What is the Campden tablet for??
To the OP, whirlpool the wort while it chills and most of the hops will settle out. Depending on how you transfer wort to fermenter that may be good enough. Regardless, there will soon be a layer of dead yeast and trub covering anything that makes it from the kettle to the fermenter.
Realistically, your tap water should be sanitary enough to brew with-if not you'll be having much bigger health problems to deal with long before that infected beer finishes fermenting.

 

Geese love spent grain. I dump over 50 lbs. at a time and by the next day its all gone.

 

I use some for bread - I keep a quart or so out for that.
Some for mulch in my garden,
most will go into the "back forty" (my term for the compost bin)

 

Thats really shitty to want to feed some starving kids some tasteless spent grain..

Kidding aside, you can compost, or eat it. Give it to a local farmer for feed, or make something with it. I'm not feeding my dogs grain, and while I have room to compost, I have no need or desire. So I dump it in the trash can.

The hop debris, just whirlpool it and let it settle, it'll help alot, but any that gets in, is perfectly fine.

And rule of thumb for not just water, but anything that touches the wort after a boil, needs to be sanitary, period.

 

I would be up for the recipe!

Cheers

 

Tru'dat unless OP's tap water has chlorine and chlorine-like by-products which are driven-off by boiling or...did I doze off in class?

 

I forget that my water is unusual, it's a rural co-o with no chlorine or chloramines. It's hard as concrete but no added chemicals