Topics

1

All Grain Brewing / Adjusting RA with Lactic - How much is too much?

« on: December 31, 2009, 09:58:17 AM »

I have very hard water (great for SRM of 26+) and have been diluting my water with as much as 75% RO for a light colored beer to get RA in line with Palmer's spreadsheet (and then adding back the minerals needed to get balanced again). This means as much as 4+ gallons for a 5.5 gallon batch. At $1 a gallon, that adds $4 to each batch.

Although hard, my water has well balanced minerals. So..... I am wanting to make the adjustments with Lactic acid instead of RO and salts. Apparently I need to add 3 ml of 88%-lactic acid to get the RA where it needs to be to get the proper pH.

Is there a limit as to how much lactic can be added before flavor starts to suffer? 

Thanks!

2

Ingredients / Oops... wanted Munich but ordered "Caramel Munich"

« on: December 17, 2009, 03:12:16 PM »

Oops....

Is Caramel Munich just a crystal malt? Does it actually have any Munich qualities? 

I will be making a Scottish that calls for a pound of caramel 60 and a half-pound of Munich. Can I just substitute the pound of  "Caramel Munich" for the Caramel 60 and still add the half-pound of Munich??

If not, what would you recommend?

Thanks

3

Yeast and Fermentation / Mash pH at room temp or mash temp?

« on: December 13, 2009, 07:39:18 PM »

My notes show that I should have a mash pH between 5.1 and 5.5 at mash temp.

But, due to using a pH meter that is ATC (automatic temp correcting) that I need to subtract .3 from my readings to get to the mash temp readings. So a reading of 5.7 on my meter would be 5.4 at mash temp.

Is this correct? 

I don't remember where I got those notes. 

What should my mash pH reading (range) be on my ATC meter? 

Thanks

4

All Grain Brewing / Wheat Beers - short lived?

« on: November 26, 2009, 05:08:39 PM »

I remember reading something about wheat beers having a very short life and that they should be consumed young.

I like Hefeweizens and Dunkelweizens but now sure just how long is too long 

Although they may not last very long at all , I was wondering just how long they would be good for.  Will they just gradually go downhill and lose its banana and clove features or will they just go bad (such as taste bad)?   Are we talking 3 months? 6 months? or a year? They will be kept refrigerated all the time.

Thanks

5

Yeast and Fermentation / WL300 and HefeWeizen brew - best temp for banana/clove

« on: November 13, 2009, 04:46:46 PM »

I'm a newbie who just brewed an all grain HefeWeizen with WL300 yeast. I wanted a LOT of banana and clove and was told to ferment very cool... like at 62-64*F to get the most banana and clove. I also thought I read that somewhere.

BUT, I just saw a post on another forum where someone was told NOT to ferment cool if desiring banana and clove.

I'm confused.... What is the best temp to get the most banana and clove ... cool or warm??

Thanks for any help....

6

General Homebrew Discussion / Great Forum !

« on: November 04, 2009, 07:07:33 AM »

Hi...

I'm a newbie still very thirsty for knowledge.  I'm a lifetime winedrinker and winemaker that got "bit" by this beer brewing bug about 6 months ago. Now I have made 13 all-grain batches and having a great time. I just joined AHA a few days ago.

I've already seen some familar posters that have helped me quite a bit in other forums.

I learned so much on forums and this looks like it will be a great one!!!!

Thanks...