Messages

16

All Grain Brewing / Re: Best mash/lauter tun and hot liquor all-grain system?

« on: October 19, 2012, 05:09:50 PM »

I have this system from homebrewstuff.com - http://www.homebrewstuff.com/15-gallon-mash-tun-w-hlt-kit.html. I like it b/c it's got the built in sparge manifold, so I just put 168F water in another cooler, break the wrist and walk away. I also love the John Guest Brand snap in plumbing tubes, etc. I suppose you could find all this stuff, buy it, put it together, etc. but I just bought it outright. This is a 15gal setup but I'm sure they make a 10 or 5 gal. Ditto to the 10 gal comment - I can only make 10 gal batches in my 15 gal system.

17

All Grain Brewing / Re: Another water question - too much CaCO3?

« on: September 02, 2012, 08:04:57 AM »

Ok so I bought a $8 scale that measures to the tenth of a gram and can now mass my salts. I'll also measure out 3 or 4 times a tsp. of various salts, average and record it for the future if my scale breaks. Thanks, this discussion has helped me understand measuring salts better. Let's hope it makes better beer too!

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All Grain Brewing / Re: Another water question - too much CaCO3?

« on: September 01, 2012, 12:06:07 PM »

My 5 tsp calculation all rely upon Palmer's "How to Brew" webpage that states there are 1.8 grams per level tsp of CaCO3. I calculated I needed 9g total but didn't have a scale to measure that fine of a measurement. So I converted it to 5 tsp. Based on your calculations there is a lot more than 1.8 grams per tsp.

ukolowiczd,

1.8g per tsp is much less than I measured. I got about 4.5 g/tsp for chalk. If you look at my water spread sheet (http://braukaiser.com/documents/Kaiser_water_calculator_US_units.xls) you'll see that at the bottom (row 84 on the basic sheet) you can select the unit in which the salt additions are given. This makes it easier for brewers who don't have a gram scale or if the scale is broken.

On the "constants" tab you can see the per tsp weight for various salts.

Kai

Ok so that's 2 tsp. of chalk. That makes way more sense. I'll check out your spreadsheet. Thanks for all the help.

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All Grain Brewing / Re: Another water question - too much CaCO3?

« on: September 01, 2012, 06:06:39 AM »

ukolowiczd,

I finally got to run your numbers. 5 tsp chalk is about 19g and in 9.5 gal water this amounts to 100 ppm Ca and 320 ppm bicarbonate or 260 ppm alkalinity as CaCO3. The residual alkalinity is about 190 ppm. That's on the high side and I doubt that you need that much in your stout.

When you say you want to get to 150 ppm alkalinity, do you mean residual alkalinity? Most likely you do, since that's what matters for us brewers.

Since chalk is actually not all that efficient in raising mash pH it may not matter if you add too much. If half or more of the added chalk doesn't dissolve it will be left behind in the spent grain.

Do you have means of testing mash pH?'

Kai

My 5 tsp calculation all rely upon Palmer's "How to Brew" webpage that states there are 1.8 grams per level tsp of CaCO3. I calculated I needed 9g total but didn't have a scale to measure that fine of a measurement. So I converted it to 5 tsp. Based on your calculations there is a lot more than 1.8 grams per tsp. So it looks like I'll have to take more than a couple of minutes to look at Bru'n water as suggested by mabrungard.

20

All Grain Brewing / Re: Another water question - too much CaCO3?

« on: August 30, 2012, 04:48:10 PM »

Thanks guys, looks like the verdict is in - CaCO3 is pointless. It definitely doesn't dissolve in water and thus my question. So why and/or how should I increase my carbonate for darker beers? I'm going off of Palmer and the most recent BYO which had dark beers in the 150-250ppm carbonate category. Is this just pointless?

There's only a very loose correlation between required alkalinity and the color of the beer. For instance, if you use a bunch of crystal 60 malt, vs a bit of black barley, it's possible the beer with the crystal malt will require more alkalinity than the beer with black barley, even though the color is darker in the latter.

In any case, I haven't ever needed more than 150ppm alkalinity in any beer I've made, and many dark beers have required more in the 100ppm range. But, without going too deep into the weeds, it also depends on the Ca/Mg concentration too.

Download Martin's spreadsheet 'Bru'n Water,' forget everything Palmer said about water chemistry, and you'll be in a much better place.

Well I still don't understand how to get 150ppm of alkalinity w/o 5 tsp of CaCO3. How much lime adds approx. 150ppm? Is it liquid or powder (CaOH?). I did download "Bru'n Water" once but I found it mind-blowingly complicated. I'm making 5 or 10 gallon batches of beer not running a microbrewery. I didn't think putting all that effort into water would make my beer any better. My water is pretty much very soft as I used bottled water, so in some beers I want to up the Ca, alkalinity and sometimes the sulfate. I get gypsum, but again am confused about alkalinity.

21

All Grain Brewing / Re: Another water question - too much CaCO3?

« on: August 30, 2012, 01:48:47 PM »

Thanks guys, looks like the verdict is in - CaCO3 is pointless. It definitely doesn't dissolve in water and thus my question. So why and/or how should I increase my carbonate for darker beers? I'm going off of Palmer and the most recent BYO which had dark beers in the 150-250ppm carbonate category. Is this just pointless?

22

All Grain Brewing / Another water question - too much CaCO3?

« on: August 29, 2012, 02:38:38 PM »

I'm making a 5.5 gallon batch of imperial-ish stout with 18 lbs. grain so I will use about 9.5 total gallons of water for my mash/sparge. I calculated that I need to add 5 tsp of calcium carbonate to 9.5 gallons of RO water to make it ~100ppm Ca and ~150ppm CO3. 5 tsp seems like a lot of CaCO3. Is it? Anyone ever use that much for a dark ale? Am I taking crazy pills?

23

Equipment and Software / Re: efficiency false bottom vs bazooka

« on: August 22, 2012, 02:26:53 PM »

Like I said, same system gets me 83% when I fly sparge for an hour.

What's your conversion efficiency? It sounds like you aren't finished at the end of the mash rest, and the long sparge is giving you extra time to get full conversion.

Not sure what conversion efficiency is but I mash for 60-90minutes, depending on the beer and always raise my mash to 168 by adding boiling water to stop conversion/allow for better sugar extraction. For batch sparging I drain and then add my sparge water and drain again. I do this as fast as possible but like I said my outlet tube is small. Maybe it's not draining fast enough. I don't mind. I just set my efficiency on Hopville to 70% when I know I'm going to batch sparge and I get good results.

24

Equipment and Software / Re: efficiency false bottom vs bazooka

« on: August 21, 2012, 06:33:52 PM »

I use a braided hose probably 20 or so inches in circumference and get 83% fly sparing and 68% batch sparging. What efficiency are you getting? System?

Wow, that's a huge difference.  I got 86% on a batch sparge yesterday.  Wonder why you get such a difference

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

I don't know either. I actually got 71% on Monday but I did some pre-boil calculations and decided to boil for 90 minutes to get it there. My out tube is pretty small 3/8"? I think. Could a slower b/c of constricted tube cause lower efficiency. Like I said, same system gets me 83% when I fly sparge for an hour.

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Equipment and Software / Re: efficiency false bottom vs bazooka

« on: August 21, 2012, 04:12:58 PM »

I use a braided hose probably 20 or so inches in circumference and get 83% fly sparing and 68% batch sparging. What efficiency are you getting? System?

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All Grain Brewing / Re: Considerations for 3-gallon all grain batches

« on: August 19, 2012, 04:41:17 PM »

I love that DIY mash tun. My mash tun (although 15 gallons) uses the John Guest Brand fittings. They're these plastic snap on tubes, valves, etc. They're great. You can buy them anywhere but I just bought an already made mash tun from Homebrewstuff.com. I absolutely love it. No stuck mash and so easy to clean.

http://s3.amazonaws.com/homebrewstuff/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/a/2/a20792b12851aa9b6bd606_m.jpg

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Wood/Casks / Re: Oak Chips in a Farmhouse?

« on: August 11, 2012, 08:43:13 PM »

I have yet to oak anything and have it come out bad. I agree with the split batch. Then you'll know what you like.

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All Grain Brewing / Re: First All Grain Batch

« on: August 11, 2012, 08:40:31 PM »

Depends how it comes out. Usually for a low alcohol/OG beer it's 45 minutes but batch sparging is like 10 minutes or so. I bet you get great beer regardless.

29

All Grain Brewing / Re: Malt Analysis

« on: August 11, 2012, 08:36:30 PM »

Not sure what you're getting from malt teas. Are you tasting them? How are you quantifying them? My suggestion is like someone said in this post - go make a lot of beer and figure it out from there.

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Ingredients / Re: Rosemary Dry hopping

« on: July 17, 2012, 07:21:55 PM »

Great idea. Love to hear to the results!