Messages

361

All Grain Brewing / Re: I have been reading up on decoction mashing again

« on: April 02, 2010, 01:46:39 PM »

I read the chapter in Brewing with Wheat on the weiss beers of Southern Germany yesterday, and I was surprised to learn how many of the breweries use a decoction mash for their hefeweizens. I didn't realize that was traditional.

Also interesting was the fact that Spaten abandoned decoction mashing in favor of a single infusion at 144F for their Fransizkaner Hefeweissbier. According to the head of brewing operations (Dr. Jorg Lehmann), they did a series of blind taste tastes in which participants couldn't tell the difference. By way of explanation, he is also quoted as saying "The malt quality has improved very much."

I do plan to try a decoction mash on my next hefeweizen.

Another thing I found interesting (which has nothing to do with decoction mashing but rather it reminded me of Kai's experiments with skimming) is that many of the brewers interviewed for the book talked about skimming the yeast and protein material from the top of the beer during fermentation. One of them notes specifically that this has to do with furthering the smoothness of the beer and is not just for yeast propagation purposes.

362

All Grain Brewing / Re: How do you handle the very last of the runnings?

« on: April 02, 2010, 01:00:43 PM »

Me too, must be the braid.

Fine, I'm switching and will report back...

I just tried the braid for the first time. The wort cleared much more quickly, I was able to run it off faster than before (without chunks of grain coming through), and it stayed clear until the end.

I know other people have had great success with the bazooka tube, but, at least for my setup, the braid seems to work much better.

363

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Brew Balls?

« on: March 19, 2010, 04:54:11 PM »

I actually think they are kind of cool.

I ferment in 10 gallon cornies so I either have to reach my hairy arm way in there with a wine thief or use CO2 pressure to push a sample out through the liquid QD. I can do both, but it'd definitely be easier to just shine a flashlight in there and check which balls are still floating.

I agree that the default range is pretty useless. I wouldn't mind having a set calibrated at 1.016, 1.014, 1.012, 1.010, and 1.008.  Not that I'm actually going to spend the money on them, but I could definitely see them being useful - provided they actually work of course.

364

The Pub / Re: Well that will certainly keep you awake.

« on: March 18, 2010, 06:31:45 PM »

Just preparing to go to bed at 4 PDT when suddenly 15 miles away.. a 4.4 magnitude.

Knocked a couple things off the wall and pretty much scotched the idea of sleep anytime soon.

http://quake.usgs.gov/recenteqs/Quakes/ci14601172.htm

Yeah, this one woke me up.

365

The Pub / Re: Odd Ways You Never Thought to Make Money

« on: March 18, 2010, 06:27:03 PM »

I hope to finally get started on a book I've been talking to Brewers Publications about.

It's about time.   

366

All Grain Brewing / Re: How do you handle the very last of the runnings?

« on: March 09, 2010, 11:49:35 AM »

Me too, must be the braid.

Fine, I'm switching and will report back...

367

All Grain Brewing / How do you handle the very last of the runnings?

« on: March 08, 2010, 04:13:20 PM »

I find that during sparging, the very last of the runoff (maybe the last 1-2 quarts) get very cloudy and full of grain particulate. I think this is because the liquid level is now well below the level of the grainbed and therefore is not being well filtered.

At this point, I stop the flow into the kettle, prop one side of the tun up with a large book, and drain the last of the runoff through a fine mesh hop bag into a pitcher. The hop bag catches all of the little grain particules but there is some white fluffy stuff that it does not filter out. This stuff is very fine and looks a lot like cold break. It does eventually settle out to the bottom of the pitcher, but it takes a while.

My questions are (1) what is this stuff (protein?) and (2) is it a bad idea to add it to the boil kettle? It's nice to be able to drain pretty much all of the wort out of the tun and add it to the boil but if this stuff is detrimental to the beer I'll start discarding it. My guess is that it's harmless and probably settles out with the break material during chilling, but I want to know what you all think.

368

The Pub / NY times article on beer travel

« on: February 26, 2010, 12:29:52 PM »

I thought this was pretty interesting:

http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/travel/28journeys.html?sudsredirect=true

369

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Kegkits/Tom Hargrave

« on: February 25, 2010, 11:12:54 AM »

Why don't you guys just hire an attorney and file a civil suite - a class action on behalf of everyone who has been ripped off?

You could probably find someone to take it on contingency, especially in this economy.

370

Equipment and Software / Re: Anyone use this fermenter before?

« on: February 17, 2010, 05:19:22 PM »

a poster on another board had drilled holes around the outside of the top so it would flex some to get the whole top off. wish i could remember who or witch board he was on, he had detail instruction on how to get the top off.

This might be what you are looking for:

http://www.thebeerjournals.com/Fermenter_Page.html

371

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What's Brewing This Weekend - 2/19 Edition

« on: February 17, 2010, 05:14:14 PM »

Belgian Rye IPA, hopefully on Friday...

372

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Stepping up a Starter

« on: February 15, 2010, 02:50:44 PM »

Very little krausening, a few patches of foam, very thin skim across the top for awhile.

Is this the excpeted result? 

Yeah, starters don't have much krausen. I never have anything more than a few patches of foam swirling around on the surface.

373

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: What to expect from cultured dregs of Orval?

« on: February 06, 2010, 02:23:46 PM »

I believe what I would like to do is to culture up some dregs from a bottle to pitch into an already fermented Saison, yet to be brewed.

I've got a saison like this on tap now. I fermented it with WLP565 from 1.060 to 1.019 and then pitched the dregs from two bottles of Orval. After 3 months it was down to 1.009 and had a noticeable brett character. I let it age another 3 months before I kegged it though it did not drop any lower.

374

All Grain Brewing / Methods to reduce astringency of roasted barley

« on: February 05, 2010, 10:39:16 AM »

In an attempt to reduce the astringency of roasted barley, does anyone have any experience or advice regarding (a) adding it late in the mash, (b) subbing some debittered black malt or duhusked Carafa for some of the grist, or (c) cold steeping it overnight and then adding that water back to the boil?

Does one of these methods work better than the others?

I am already making the necessary water adjustments and keeping an eye on the mash ph but want to take a little of the edge of off an oatmeal stout recipe.

375

The Pub / Re: Ween

« on: February 01, 2010, 07:54:08 PM »

I thought Ween WERE huge?

Maybe that's just in my social circles.

Seriously. Doesn't everyone listen to Ween?