Topics

1

All Grain Brewing / build water from distilled

« on: March 27, 2013, 06:38:20 AM »

I recently listened to an old podcast from Basic Brewing Radio and they did an experiment using water built from R.O. specifically for stouts (dark beers) and one specifically for pale ales (light colored beers). They also brewed the pale ale with the stout water and vice versa. The results were that these beers didn't taste nearly as good when they were brewed with the wrong water.

My question is,  where can I go to find help building a water from R.O. for a particular type of beer?
Are there published standard formulas for water additions for each style of beer?

2

General Homebrew Discussion / Ward Labs

« on: March 26, 2013, 12:13:14 AM »

I received the results from Ward Labs the same week the water company sent me their published results AND they are really different.  The water company was kind enough to give me the readings from every month last year.

Ward has the sulfates really low at 37 Has anyone else thought that Ward is off on sulfates?

Calcium 41
Magnesium 17
Sodium 67
Potassium 4
Bicarbonate 116
Sulfate 37
Chloride 78
Hardness 173
Alkalinity 111
 pH 8.2

Any tips ?

3

Yeast and Fermentation / San Diego Super Yeast

« on: February 20, 2013, 05:55:21 AM »

I used a starter of 2 vials of wlp 060 San Diego Super Yeast, o2 injected, half gallon size starter, on a stir plate for 4 days. It is an 11 gal batch size at a controlled temperature of 66 degrees.

My OG was 1.074 and after 20 days it's now only 1.026.

 

4

All Grain Brewing / beer changes flavor

« on: February 02, 2013, 10:14:02 AM »

I have 2 beers on tap which were aged 3 and 5 months respectively. ( an imperial amber lager 8% and an Irish red ale 5.3%). Both tasted very good when I tapped them and now after sharing and enjoying these great beers, 2 weeks later they both taste different. I know there is a lot more head space in the kegs but what could cause these new flavors? The kegs are only half empty. Bad gas? bad tubing?

5

Ingredients / FRESH MILLED GRAIN

« on: January 09, 2013, 09:13:23 AM »

I had a fellow brewer tell me not to mill the whole bag of grain at once because in 4-5 weeks it won't be fresh and taste the same. I don't have my own mill so it's handy to mill it in advance.

Is that true?  Will there be a difference in taste or performance?

6

Yeast and Fermentation / tricks to kick into ferm mode

« on: September 27, 2012, 08:19:05 AM »

I have a lager that won't get down to the correct final gravity. I'm using wlp830 lager yeast, starting gravity is 1.065 and it's now only 1.030 after 7 weeks at 53 degrees. This yeast was a second generation lager yeast, I put the new beer right on top of the yeast after I kegged up the previous beer. The first generation wlp830 started at 1.080 and ended at 1.018.

I just raised the temp to 65 for the next 3 days and I'll check the SG later this week. 

Is there anything I should do to kick this beer back into ferm mode?

7

Equipment and Software / efficiency false bottom vs bazooka

« on: August 19, 2012, 11:33:52 PM »

Is my low brew house efficiency due to the Bazooka screen ?
Is a false bottom better for this purpose ?

8

Equipment and Software / Thermowell for a Ranco

« on: May 16, 2012, 12:22:38 AM »

The 1/4" dia. probe on my Ranco fits loose in my thermowell   .I think it's made from 5/16" tubing.

I am getting low readings of about 10-12 degrees and I'm not sure if it's a bad probe or should I buy a tighter fitting thermowell?  Say .260 ID.?

 

9

Equipment and Software / volume gauge

« on: April 16, 2012, 12:35:04 AM »

Is there a piece of equipment that can measure the volumes of CO2 in the keg? For me there is a fine line between under carbed and foamy. I can't seem to get it perfect.

10

Ingredients / Water, how important is it?

« on: April 10, 2012, 08:19:10 PM »

I've visited 4 small breweries in different areas of California in the last month and each of them said that they don't treat their cities water, they only filter the water. Their beers tastes great and in some cases very great.

I have been adjusting my water using the profile supplied to me by the city. In the case of real light colored beers, I've been cutting the city water with distilled to get the elements to the correct PPM and then adding calcium chloride and other things.

How important is it to get the water elements to the perfect PPM? And why don't they treat the water?

11

All Grain Brewing / astringency and over sparging

« on: April 10, 2012, 08:04:21 PM »

I have also been getting some overly astringent beers and I am wondering if I am over sparging. What is over sparging? I'm usually brew 10 gal batches.

Currently I fly sparge. I strike at 168* to get the the mash to 150*-154*.  When the mash gets below 150. My Ranco starts the pump and recirculates the liquid through the HLT and moves it back on top of the grain to bring it up to temp. The pump isn't always recirculating but it could be on periodically throughout the 60-90 min. mash time.

I'll drain slowly for about 30-45 min into the boil tank while adding 180* water over the top of the mash. I'm careful to keep the pH of the mash around 5.4 using lactic acid if needed. I usually add about 3 ml. of lactic acid per 6 gal of sparge water for tap water that has a pH of 8.0.

Does it sound like I'm doing it right?

12

Yeast and Fermentation / can you repair a beer

« on: February 28, 2012, 01:00:01 AM »

I started to brew an IPA Saturday but only came up with a OG of 1.050. I was shooting for 1.068 What a disappointment. Can I do anything now to save it?

It has been fermenting for only 2.5 days.

It took 29 lbs of grain for a 12 gal batch. Calif V yeast. and I kept that mark of 153 exactly for 1 hour.

13

Yeast and Fermentation / lager starters cooled?

« on: February 22, 2012, 09:38:11 AM »

Do you grow your starters at room temps or are they grown at ferm temps?

14

Yeast and Fermentation / Mr malty

« on: February 21, 2012, 09:20:13 AM »

Am I using this calculator correctly?

Mr. Malty calls for a 4 quart starter with 7 vials of White Labs liquid yeast. The batch size is 12 gal. of lager using a stir plate for an OG of 1.056.

Does this sound like a lot of yeast?
That is a huge starter?
That is about $45 wort of yeast.

If you wanted to use only 3 vials of liquid yeast Mr. Malty calls for 3 gallons of starter. WOW! That is 25% of the entire batch.

Who has a starter flask this big?

15

Kegging and Bottling / serving pressure

« on: January 18, 2012, 01:30:52 AM »

I've been having trouble with my serving pressure. I keep the beer in the keg at 38°F with a pressure of 11 psi to
maintain 2.5 volumes of CO2 as the beer is served....

BUT...I am using Euro Alpha faucets. These faucets have a 1-1/2" Stainless tube at the end and I think the inside diameter is smaller than a normal faucet. This choke point causes the velocity of the beer to increase and rush out quite fast sometimes causing it to over foam or de-gas the beer.  If I turn down the pressure for a good pour then the beer eventually gets under carbonated. 

Any advise........I already read the link on the previous thread.....Can I lower the pressure at the faucet by increasing the length of the beer line? Say, 10-12 feet. Right now I'm using about 6 feet on each faucet.