Topics

226

All Grain Brewing / Water volumes for low gravity beers

« on: May 01, 2011, 08:32:05 AM »

I'm wondering how I would manage the water volumes for a lower gravity brew?
Right now, I'm putting 22-23L of water into my tun which equates to about 2L/lb because I'm usually at about 10 lbs total grist.  From this I normally get about 14L of wort at around 1.070-1.072.  I then add 16 to 18L of hot water, batch sparge and get about 16L of second runnings for a total of 30L which works out very well for my 23L fermenters.  I don't take the gravity of the second runnings but I do take the gravity of the final pre-boil volume which has been about 1.044 or so the last couple times.  

But, I want to reduce the gravity of my beer down to 1.040 OG, post boil.  I will reduce my grain bill accordingly but what do I do with the water volumes?  If I stay at 2L/lb, I'll only put in about 12L at the start and I expect I'll only get about 8L back from that.  Do I then put 22 more in the tun for the sparge or should I stick with the 22/16 ratio?  I know less grain will hold less water so I may not get as much absorption so 20/14 may give me what I need but I'll still have over 3L/lb in the mash tun.  Is this a problem?  I see most people are somewhere around 1-1.5L/lb, I started there but got better efficiency at 2L/lb.  

227

Yeast and Fermentation / WLP001 vs Wyeast

« on: May 01, 2011, 08:18:38 AM »

I'm not gonna mention the Wyeast # because I don't want this to turn into another Rush discussion but are WLP001 and Wyeast California lager the same yeast?  I brewed the other day with WLP001 and right now things look very very similar in terms of how the yeast is acting.  Given that White Labs call theirs a California Ale and not a lager, I was thinking I'd see more aggressive fermentation and more krausen but right now, not much. 

Anyway, just wondering if there is any appreciable difference between the two.
Thanks

228

Ingredients / "Sparkloid" finings

« on: April 30, 2011, 02:17:53 PM »

Anyone ever heard of these?  I got them at my local (and can I say, crappy) wine shop to try to clear up some beer but I have no idea what they are.  I asked they girl at the store if they were gelatin or what they were.  She said "No, they're sparkloid".  Apparently that is one of the elements missing from my periodic table.

There's no instructions for use on the package, all it says is "Enough to clear 90L of wine". 

Yes useless, but it's all they had and for a couple bucks I brought them home hoping that someone on here was smarter than the lady at the wine shop.

229

All Grain Brewing / 2 - Weeks to get it done

« on: April 28, 2011, 10:10:21 PM »

I know dbeechum has a thread going on fastest turn around but I don't want to hijack it so here goes.
My neighbour is having his birthday party 2 weeks Saturday.  He mentioned to my wife today that he should have put in his order for beer before and that now it's too late.  I'm wondering if it's not too late. 
What's the best suggestion for style and OG to get this done.  I'm thinking 11 days in primary and then right to the keg to force carb.  Want to make sure I clean up any diacetyl so I want to leave it on the yeast as long as I can.
Here's what I have to work with:

Pale and MO malts
Chocolate, carafa ll, roast barley, crystal 45, 1 lb flaked corn, malted rye ( 5 lbs), Vienna ( 5 lbs) - saving the Vienna for an O'fest.
Northern Brewer, East Kent Goldings, Amarillo leaf, Cascade leaf, Liberty leaf, Hallertau pellets, Tettnanger pellets ( was keeping the Hallertau and Tettnanger for an O'fest but if i have to...)
White labs California Ale X 2, harvested Wyeast London III, harvested Wyeast 2112 California lager.  Both the harvested yeast probably need a starter. (Also have WLP833 but not using that).

What about this for 10 gals? (2X5 gal glass carboys)
12 lbs of Pale
1 lb crystal 45
1 lb flaked corn
1 oz NB at 60
1/2 oz of EKG at 15
WLP001
Any reason to add rye malt to this?  Bought the rye for Cali Common clones which I keep hearing may have some rye in them.
I may consider adding a touch of carafa II because my friend really likes a cream ale we have here that is more amber than pale, I think that this will add some colour without adding a lot of flavour and impacting the mouthfeel I'm after with the corn.  Thoughts?

Beertools says that this would be close, but not exact for a cream ale, marginally too bitter and marginally too dark but pretty close.  I'm looking for something in the 4 - 4.5 % ABV range.  I'm using 83% for my efficiency calculation based on my last few batch sparges. If I closely manage the temps, can this be done and decent tasting in 2 weeks?

Please make suggestions but I'll probably give this a try tomorrow, Saturday at the latest.
Thanks.

230

All Grain Brewing / Using whole kernel corn

« on: April 28, 2011, 09:37:49 AM »

I was wondering if anyone has used whole kernel dry corn instead of the flaked corn?  I'm assuming you'd need to gelatinize the starch.  I was thinking of running through the grain mill and then cooking it.  This would be for a cream ale.  Not 100% sure about using corn at all (bit of a traditionalist) but it seems appropriate to the style.   

Also, I saw a link to an article on cereal mashing but can't find the thread again to find the article.  Can someone refer me to it please?
Thanks

231

Equipment and Software / What's the best cleaner?

« on: April 25, 2011, 12:23:57 PM »

I was given 4 glass carboys. One has some algae growth in it, the others just need a darn good cleaning. What is the best to really get these sparkling clean. Normally, I'd wash them out with TSP and bleach the heck out of them but is there a better option?

232

All Grain Brewing / Decoction mashing with a cooler

« on: April 20, 2011, 09:51:17 AM »

So, I've been reading a lot about decoction mashing and although I'm still not 100% if it actually makes any difference, I'm thinking about trying one with my next lager.  All I have to work with is a pot and a cooler.  Here's what I'm thinking of trying, please tell me if this is a waste of time.
I'm going to be using regular 2-row barley, Wyeast Bavarian Pilsner harvested from an existing batch that is in primary and Hallertau and Tettnanger hops (on order), volumes to be determined.

Mashing Proposal: 5 gal batch.

Add 1.2 quarts of water per lb of grain (probably 11 lbs total) to cooler at 145 degrees.  Add grain and adjust water temp to hit mash temp of 133F.  Leave for 20 mins. 
Add boiling water to raise temp to 144-146.  Close cooler for 30 mins. 
After 30 mins,remove thick mash and transfer to kettle.  Boil thick mash 10-15 mins and add back to mash to raise temp to 155-158.  Close cooler.
After 45 mins, drain off a volume of wort and boil, return to cooler to reach mashout temps.  Batch sparge as per usual.

Thoughts?

233

The Pub / Man, work is p!$$!ng me off.

« on: April 19, 2011, 08:31:28 PM »

Nothing any of you can do, just venting!

234

Ingredients / Using 2-row for lagers

« on: April 16, 2011, 09:20:19 AM »

I'm thinking about doing a lager, not sure exactly what yet but probably a pilsner and I'm wondering if it essential to use pilsener malt?  Besides colour, what is the advantage of pilsener malt over standard 2-row?  I'm not that concerned with it being as light as possible in colour, more concerned with how it tastes and how it works in a batch sparge application. 

I guess the bigger question is what I can make if I buy 55 lbs of 2-row instead of worrying about buying smaller lots of various other malts.  I know I'll need to add a few different specialty grains into my inventory but for now, what would be the most diverse base grain to have on hand?
Thanks.

235

Yeast and Fermentation / Wyeast 2112

« on: April 15, 2011, 09:10:39 AM »

Is this yeast slow to get going?  I pitched some about 18 hours ago and no activity that I can see.  Not worried yet but I just wondered if this is common for this yeast.
I pitched the yeast from a 3L starter that I prepared from a previous starter.  Visually it appeared to be a pretty good amount based on how much sediment I got when I made the original starter with the smack pack. 
For those of you who've used this yeast, how long would you expect to wait to see some activity?  Just want to know when I can start worrying.  I can't RDWHAHB - no HB on hand.
Thanks

236

The Pub / Brew Your Own place

« on: April 14, 2011, 02:33:47 PM »

I went into a local BYO place today because I was told that I might be able to order grain from them.  Turns out they were very willing to order grain for me from their supplier when they order LME and specialty grains so that was positive. Gotta wait a bit but at least I will get 25kg bags of 2-row without the 2 hour drive I was doing before.

But, we got talking about beer, brewing etc and I was so sadly  disappointed to see what they considered a "Recipe".  Basically, every recipe they showed me was:
X lbs LME
X time 2 glucose.
Probably 1/3 LME and 2/3 corn sugar in all of their recipes. They also only used dry yeast and all of the beer was fermented at 68 degrees regardless of whether it was a lager or an ale.  Just so sad.

I did see an interesting way to ferment though.  They had 50L plastic barrels with holes cut in them and then a plastic bag put into the barrel.  The beer was put in the bag and a twist-tie put on the bag.  That's it.  No fermentation lock or anything.  2 weeks in that, filtered and bottled for a week. and you have beer.   Or what they called beer.

237

Kegging and Bottling / Using a keg as a secondary

« on: April 14, 2011, 09:48:21 AM »

I've seen some posts about this and I'd like to put 5 gals of beer into a keg this afternoon but I have two questions.
First of all, the beer isn't 100% done fermenting yet.  It's slowed down an awful lot and only bubbles occasionally but there is still some fermentation going on.  Is this a problem?

Secondly, what is the best procedure.  I was going to keg it, seal it and give it a shot of CO2 to set the seals and then leave it for a week or so before putting it back on the CO2 to carbonate.  Should I just put it on and leave it on the gas while it settles?  I don't need the CO2 for anything else right now.

Thanks

238

Equipment and Software / Hops "Plants"

« on: April 14, 2011, 07:14:09 AM »

Has anyone ever gotten hops in any other form but rhizomes?  I've been looking for hops and the ones I've found either don't ship to Canada or they require an extra payment for a phytosanitary certificate which I understand but don't want to pay.  So, I ordered some Nugget and Cascade hops from a Canadian supplier but they come as "plants" not rhizomes. 
Does anyone know when it would be best to plant these?  I hope they are plants derived from rhizomes or they may be pretty darn small.  Not sure when I would see a cone.

One other question, I don't have a very sunny back yard.  Will they take shade?  I have a lot of trees and I was thinking of trying to train them up some strings hung from the tree branches but if they won't handle shade at all, then I'll have to put them in a sunny spot.  I have one, it's just not that big. 

I am also going to order some Northern Brewer rhizomes from another supplier but he doesn't have any Cascade (sold out).  Is there a minimum distance you need to have them seperated or is it just enough that you can tell them apart at harvest?  The NB will likely go to my friend who has a gazebo that we are going to cover in hops.  May as well make it more valuable.

Thanks

239

All Grain Brewing / Watering down beer

« on: April 07, 2011, 06:39:36 PM »

This question will likely seem like sacrilege to many of you but I'm wondering what your thoughts are on adding water to beer after the initial fermentation has slowed.  I don't really want an above normal alcohol content in my beer (normal being about 5%) and I'm looking for a session style beer that I can drink with friends for an evening and not get too loaded or too hung-over the next day. 

My last 3 brews have higher than expected extraction so my beer is a bit higher alcohol potential than I'd like.  Also, I overfilled my carboy today so I am expecting to lose a good amount through the blow off tube.  Can I just top it up with boiled and cooled water after the initial krausen surge is over?  Will this make it too watery?  I am sure that if I had more room to ferment, adding water prior would have been preferred but all I have available is one 5 US gal carboy. 

I used 9 lbs MO, 1 lb of Crystal 40  and ended up with 1.062 OG instead of the 1.058 I got last time.  I really wanted something in the 1.050 - 1.054 range so next time I'm taking the crystal and MO each down 1/4 lb.

Anyway, should I leave well enough alone or should I water it down a bit?
Thanks

240

Equipment and Software / Prepping a cooler

« on: April 07, 2011, 09:57:24 AM »

I am using a coleman Extreme cooler, 50 quart I believe and I've got a couple questions on how you guys prep these on brew day.
I have seen posts that say they don't lose a degree in the hour you are mashing but today and last time, I left the thermometer in and both times, the final temp was about 10 degrees below the start temp.  For example, today it started at 154 and an hour later the thermometer is reading about 144.  I'm guessing I'm losing a lot of heat to warm the cooler so I'm wondering what you do.  My brews have been thinner than I've wanted and I wonder if this is part of the problem.

All I've been doing is adding a couple quarts of 180 water and sloshing it around a bit and letting it sit for 5 minutes and dumping it. 
Suggestions?
Thanks