Messages

1

Zymurgy / Re: Zymurgy Magazine?

« on: March 01, 2013, 11:39:26 pm »

March 1st and I'm still waiting. Last issue didn't arrive until it had been in my LHS for 3 weeks.

2

All Grain Brewing / Re: My First Batch Sparge

« on: February 18, 2013, 10:51:14 am »

Beersmith IS a tool, and a very adaptable one. You can set you mash profile to anything you'd like. No sparge, batch sparge, mash out and batch sparge, etc., etc. Pay no attention to it's defaults. Go into the equipment and mash pofiles and set it up to work the way you want to do it.

Thanks Diane. I was just speaking about the vast amount of differences between not only the software, but a lot of the published brewers. Most of everything that I've read in Denny's posting and interviews seems to be spot on with my own observations. I'm still tweaking things in the software to match what I see after the fact. Pretty soon I hope that I will have figured out any minor corrections that I need to make on my side to make even better beer. My first AG was a Sweet Stout I did on 1/1 and it is a very enjoyable beer.

Mouse

3

All Grain Brewing / Re: My First Batch Sparge

« on: February 18, 2013, 09:32:02 am »

Nope, it really doesn't have anything to do with modification.  It's becasue in batch sparging you get to a boil much more quickly than in fly sparging.  Keep in mind that Beersmith is a toll to help you brew the way you want to brew, not instructions about how to brew.  You don't have to use the steps it defaults to.  Unless you can't fir all the sparge water in your cooler at once, I'd advise you do do the mash runoff, then all all your sparge water in one step.

Thank you again for being a great sage adviser! There will be plenty of room for all the sparge water to fit after the run off (probably could put all the grain and the entire amount of water for this brew in the cooler at once). I'm taking your advise on mashing at the lower temperatures and sparging at a higher temp then the software suggests.

Mouse

4

All Grain Brewing / Re: My First Batch Sparge

« on: February 18, 2013, 08:38:33 am »

A mashout really doesn't matter in batch sparging, and unless you hold a temp of 170 for 20 min. or more you aren't really doing one.  I usually use sparge water around 185-190F so that I can be sure I've gotten complete gelatinization and conversion, not for a mashout.

Am I correct in presuming because of the highly modified grains we use that mash out isn't really a necessity? I'm currently in the early stage of my 90-min 148F mash and looking at all the time information from brewsmith 2, it seems to want a 2 tier mash out/rinse schedule. I've fly sparged previously because I was using a round cooler, but moved from the 5 gallon system up to a 52-qt and will be doing batch sparging for the first time today.

Mouse

5

All Grain Brewing / Re: 5-gallon vs. 10-gallon cooler?

« on: February 18, 2013, 07:25:39 am »

As for tun size, considering my 48-quart cooler can be a bottleneck for really big beers, I recommend the 10-gallon at least.

ajk

Am I missing something here? a 48-qt is a 12 gallon cooler. How is that a bottleneck for really big beers? I was able to get a 'big beer' in a 5 gallon cooler, but it was very iffy because I couldn't stir if it got stuck early. I've since moved on to a 52-qt and can easily mash 30-32 pounds of grain.

Mouse

6

All Grain Brewing / Re: Mash Schedule help please

« on: February 17, 2013, 01:04:41 am »

I, too, am doing a Pilsner heavy Belgian Specialty Ale and I was wondering the same thing. Using 5oz of Columbus @ 17.5% AA, so it will be borderline IPA.

12 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 85.7 %
1 lbs Abbey malt (Castle Malting) (22.8 SRM) Grain 4 7.1 %
1 lbs Rye Malt (4.7 SRM) Grain 5 7.1 %

So I think just mashing @ 148F for 90 minutes seems to be where I'll get my best efficiency? This is the largest grain bill I've tackled yet, but I'm pretty confident that it will be fine.

Any suggestions?

Mouse