Topics

1

Ingredients / Sorachi Ace in single hop wheat

« on: May 28, 2012, 10:32:11 am »

Looking to do an American wheat with Sorachi Ace.  First time using this hop.  Right now my hop schedule is .5 oz FWH, .25 oz at 60 min, and .25 oz at 0 min.

Looking around it seems like this hop can be a little overpowering but I'm intrigued by the "lemon/dill" description.

The base beer is a 1.044 American wheat using wheat malt, 2 row, and flaked wheat.

Thanks

2

All Grain Brewing / PH question

« on: April 22, 2012, 08:42:00 am »

Just tested the PH on an ordinary bitter mash.  Mash tested at 5.4 at 66F.  Not that I'm real worried about it but Bruunwater estimated my mash PH at 5.2.  I am planning on doing at least one batch of BoPils this summer and would like to be able to hit a low mash PH.  I seem to consistently run .2 high.  I have a recent Ward labs water test and I use a Hanna PH meter that was calibrated this morning.  Any thoughts?

Thanks

3

Ingredients / Lack of hoppiness?

« on: March 16, 2012, 03:21:46 pm »

Just tapped an APA that is really lacking in hop aroma and flavor.  I experimented with this hop bill as follows:
1 oz Cascade FWH
.75 oz Horizon @20 min
.5 oz Horizon @15 min
.5 oz Horizon @ 10 min
.5 oz Centennial @5 min
1 oz Cascade @ 2 min
.5 oz Centennial @ 0 min

This is a 1.058 APA with 73% American 2 row, 9% Munich, and some wheat malt and caramel malts.  I used a hop spider for the first time on this brew (only have 3 hop bags).  Is this just not enough late hops?  Will dry hopping help the aroma or am I just stuck with a ho-hum APA?

Thanks

4

Kegging and Bottling / Another force carb question

« on: February 24, 2012, 03:46:37 pm »

Normally I am a "set it and forget it" guy when force carbing but I'm kind of in a hurry to get a beer carbed.  I just kegged an IPA that I would like carbed and ready to bottle by next Thurs.  I don't like the idea of turning the gas way up to speed up the process.  Could I set the gas correctly (11.5 psi @ 43F) and shake it a few times a day to speed up the process?  Does shaking the keg force CO2 into solution faster?  Are there downsides to this method?

Thanks in advance.

5

All Grain Brewing / water/grist ratio and efficiency

« on: February 18, 2012, 09:51:37 am »

Quick question.  I'm a batch sparger and I seem to achieve a better efficiency with a higher water to grist ratio.  Today I mashed with a 1.9 qt/lb ratio and achieved a 78% efficiency.  Generally I'm closer to a 1.5 qt/lb ratio and a 73% efficiency.  Is there anything to this or should I look in another direction to explain the jump. 

I mill my own and haven't changed the settings.  PH was at 5.6 (a little high).