Messages

1

Equipment and Software / Re: Fred Francis from Monster Mills....???

« on: November 27, 2012, 12:54:05 PM »

I had e-mailed him and I finally got an e-mail this afternoon.  They say my new mill will be on its way this week!!!

Thanks!!

2

Equipment and Software / Re: Fred Francis from Monster Mills....???

« on: November 27, 2012, 12:13:18 PM »

Yea Tod I thought it strange enough to post on all the forums I frequent to see if I can get in touch some how.  I hope I hear from him soon!!

Thanks for the welcome back!!!  I was out 100 days this time.  These trips keep getting longer and longer!!

Brewing a Barleywine Thursday Morning!!

3

Equipment and Software / Fred Francis from Monster Mills....???

« on: November 27, 2012, 08:52:23 AM »

Does anyone know him?  I sent him my three roll malt mill for repairs 4 months ago and now he won't return my calls.  I hope there is a good explanation for him not to return my calls.  I really thought he was reputable.

4

Ingredients / Raw Wheat vs. Flaked Wheat.....

« on: September 28, 2011, 01:02:58 PM »

Wanted to brew a clone of the Bruery Black Orchade and it calls for 5 pounds of Flaked Wheat.  I have Raw wheat instead.  Can I use this with similar or prehaps better results?

Would I just mash it along with the Pilsner and Malted Oats?  How fine should I grind this?  Does it require special mash schedule such as a Decoction or will a single infusion mash do the trick to convert it?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!!

Richie

5

Yeast and Fermentation / My BDG is Hot!!!!

« on: May 26, 2011, 08:02:45 AM »

I brewed an Artisanal version of a Biere De Garde as per Markowski's Farmhouse Ales.  Followed the recipe as per the book, also followed the mash schedule for a fermentable wort as per the book and I used the following yeast...

Wyeast 3725-PC Bier de Garde Yeast
Beer Styles: Saison, Biere de Garde, Belgian Blonde Ale, Belgian Pale Ale, Belgian Golden Strong Ale
Profile: Low to moderate ester production with subtle spiciness. Malty and full on the palate with initial sweetness. Finishes dry and slightly tart. Ferments well with no sluggishness.

Alc. Tolerance 12% ABV 
Flocculation     low
Attenuation      74-79%             
Temp. Range   70-84°F (21-29°C)

The beer went from OG 1.081 to FG 1.011.  It looks great, smells great even tastes great at first but it finishes hot with fusels!!  This is usually a yeast by product when fermenting too warm but this yeast temp tolerances are from 70 to 84 and I fermented at 70 degrees ambient temperature.  I would have thought that wouldn't have been a problem but now my beer is hot with fusels.  This is frustrating to say the least.  Any idea what culd have happened here?  If this beer salvageable?  Will the heat subside over time??

Richie

6

All Grain Brewing / Re: First no-sparge batch

« on: April 21, 2011, 04:31:39 AM »

I think that viscosity does have somewhat of an effect.  I often direct fire step mash on my stove with grain bills of up to 20 pounds.  While adding heat to the mash I am constantly stirring gently to avoid scorching.  I observed that as the temp steps move up it get easier to stir so I would rather think that the higher mash out temp does aid in lautering.  I could be wrong though.

7

All Grain Brewing / Re: Mash/Lautering in the same pot?

« on: April 20, 2011, 09:23:20 AM »

What I do sometimes is mash in my brew kettle so I can step mach and or decoct, then I transfer the mash to my cooler mash/lauter tun (in these cases it's just a lauter tun) then lauter as normal in the kettle I just used for mashing (after rising is to get any grain particle left behind after transferring the mash to the lauter tun).  I don;t know if this helps.

Cheers,

Richie

8

All Grain Brewing / Re: First no-sparge batch

« on: April 20, 2011, 09:18:06 AM »

One way to increase efficiency could be by performing a mash out.  By adding additional hot water to reach mash out temps and letting it sit 10 to 20 minutes.  I found that with my system (recently converted back to fly sparging) every time I do a mash out I get much better yield.  The higher temps makes the sugar far less viscous IMHO.  I would also think allowing to drain slower so that the grain bed remain as much in suspension as long as possible will allow for a better lauter.   Rice hulls also would assist as well.  Rice hulls mixed well throughout the grain bed will again IMHO make it porous and allow the wort to flow easier throughout your whole grain bed and reduce channeling. 

I haven't done a no sparge but if I did I would do this to improve the efficiency as much as possible. 

My $0.02.

Cheers,

Richie

9

Pimp My System / Re: My setup: TheElectricBrewery.com

« on: April 19, 2011, 04:12:36 AM »

Kal,

is it practicle to have a similar system when the volumes get bigger?  For example the Blichmann 55 gal Boilermakers.  Would those require 2 heating element?

Richie

10

Ingredients / Re: Golden Naked Oats vs. Flaked Oats

« on: April 18, 2011, 07:12:52 PM »

Thanks for telling me that.  I will do better research before I do that.  Thanks again!!

11

Ingredients / Golden Naked Oats vs. Flaked Oats

« on: April 18, 2011, 05:06:34 PM »

Are they totally different?  I was thinking of subbing GNO for Flaked Oats.

Any thoughts?

Richie

12

Pimp My System / Re: My setup: TheElectricBrewery.com

« on: April 14, 2011, 09:15:50 AM »

That's really good to know.  That was my concern with electrical systems.  Never thought of the fact that as the wort boils it is in constant movement.  I've always wanted to move my set up to the basement and I think this is totally the way to go.  Thanks for posting.  Spectacular job, really!!

And thanks for posting!!

Richie

13

Pimp My System / Re: My setup: TheElectricBrewery.com

« on: April 14, 2011, 06:25:35 AM »

Very impressed!!  I love your setup. 

Question.  Does the heating element in you kettle scorch or caramelize or whatever the term I am looking for you wort to any difference than say a direct fire  kettle operation does?

Richie

14

All Grain Brewing / Re: How Necessary is Decoction Mashing in Wheat Beer?

« on: April 11, 2011, 05:02:27 PM »

My Recipe was as follows:

5.7# Pilsner
2.1# Malted Wheat
2.0# Raw Wheat
0.2# Munich Malt

0.3 oz Sorachi Ace (14.9 AA) 60 Min
0.4 oz Sorachi Ace (14.9 AA) 15 Min

WB-06 1/2 Gal Starter

Mashed at 104 at 2.0 qt/lb for 6.5 Min, infused with 4.5 qts of boiling water to raise to 122 for 25 Min, then pulled 2.6 Gal of thick mash and decoctioned at 145 for 15 Min then raised to 155 for 15 Min and then boil the decoction for 10 min, when reintroduced to main mash main mash stabolized at 145. Held main mash at 16 for 15 min and pulled 3.2 Gal of thick mash and raised to 156 for 15 min and then reaised slowly too a boil. Reintroduced the decoction to the main mash and it settled at 168 where it stayed for 15 Min. Sparged with 2.5 gal of 170 degree water really slowly about an hour.

After the boil chilled to 68 degrees and pitched 1/2 gal starter of WB-06.

Ended up with 5.5 Gal of wort at 1.056 (I was expecting 1.045)

This was my first time doing a Decoction Mash and it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I would do it again.

I usually use 1/2 tsp of Wyeast yeast nutrients btu forgott to add it. Also I did not use kettle finings like Irish Moss as I was trying to make that cloudy look a Hefe should have.

If fermenting stronly in my basement at 64 degrees.

I will do this again.  It tastes great!  I will enter this in a few competitions.

Richie

15

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Belgian saison

« on: April 10, 2011, 05:42:19 PM »

I pitch at around 65 DF and let raise to the mid to high 70s, low 80's even. 

I love Saisons.  My favorite beer to brew and drink.