Messages

106

All Grain Brewing / Next Step-Water

« on: March 05, 2013, 11:17:17 am »

Looking to take the next step towards improving my beer:

I have been brewing all grain now for two years. The first year I spent improving my process and equipment to achieve consistency with my efficiency which I have now gotten to 82% across the board consistently!

The second year I spent refining my beers to the point where I have a nice line up of "house beers"
 that are in regular rotation, some have one me some medals along the way!

Now into my third year it is time to take the next step. For ease of conversation I will divide into light color and dark color beers. My light color beers are primarily by Belgians, Pales and IPAs, my darks are my holiday ales and porters. My concern with my pales and IPAs are hop presence. Bittering appears and tastes to be good but I know I can improve aroma and flavor but trust me, it is not due to not using enough hops!

I am in the 'burbs of Chicago and the info I have recieved in my report is:
Ca: 37ppm
Mg:14ppm
Na:17ppm
Cl:16ppm
SO4:26
CaCO3: 100ppm

My batch size is always 6.25 gallons and I have never had a problem with PH, whether dark or light the grain bill always and consistently brings me to 5.4-5.6 levels.

For my lighter beers I am trying to figure out what the best additions would be to bring out more of the hop flavor and aroma. I have downloaded Bru'n water and have done some initial reading but it's quite involved, or seems to be.............Trying to get a starting point of things I should be looking at!

For my dark beers I would like some input in my process as well as water. While I don't think astringency is a problem I think the overall quality of the beer can be improved with the water as well and how I should be handling the darker grains. Currently I mash them as part of the entire mash.  PH as mentioned always settles where it should be and I never sparge with water above 168F. Should I be adding the dark grains at batch sparge instead? My darker beers always seem to score lower than I think they taste and the comments I receive are always quite obtuse with really no defining reason. IMO, I feel as though a lot of people say astringent but it seems like a general catchall for a default flaw. When I and fellow drinkers have them we do not get the characteristics of astringency-confused

My final question would be how and water water to adjust. My set up involves a 7 gallon kettle for my strike and sparge water (basically strike water is heated first and used for mash, then filled again and heated for sparge) Should the adjustments be made to both water fills? Only Strike, or only sparge?

A little long winded I'm sure but I appreciate the help! Any other input or suggestions are greatly appreciated as well!

107

Yeast and Fermentation / Using clarifier at the end of fermentation

« on: March 05, 2013, 08:55:54 am »

If I cold crash it, do I still need to add more yeast at bottling time? I appreciate everyone's input and suggestions - thanks!

I have found that 1-3 days of cold crash at 35-45F has worked really well and I have not had to ever add yeast.

I have found that carbonation and conditioning has taken 3-5 days longer as the beer needs to warm back up properly for the yeast to go about their business again

108

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Using clarifier at the end of fermentation

« on: March 04, 2013, 03:21:41 pm »

I see you are in IL, me as well! With the cold weather why don't you just cold crash it in the garage for a day or two. You will, IMO, achieve the same clarity you are looking for without adding something else to the beer.

As already mentioned, there will always be a small amount of sediment in bottle conditioned beer, no way around it!

In addition, if you are sure to keep the beer refrigerated after carbing  up but prior to drinking, for at least 1 week, the sediment will compact nicely and with a gentle pour it will not wind up in the glass.

109

Ingredients / Re: dry hopping

« on: March 04, 2013, 03:15:52 pm »

I agree with too many transfers and steps, I wait until FG and krausen drop, dry hop in the primary for 5-7-10 days depending, cold crash a day or two and bottle

110

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Yeast harvesting question

« on: March 04, 2013, 07:37:02 am »

I gave up yeast harvesting like this and now do the following:
1. Make my starters about 500ml larger than I need
2. Once fermented out on the stir plate I pour off the extra 500ml into a small, sanitized mason jar and place in fridge
3. Decant off clear beer
4. Take another smaller mason jar, fill half way with boiled water and cool and then pour slurry into it, label and fridge to store
5. Next time I plan on brewing I use this harvested yeast for the starter

I do this for all the regular strains I use and it works great, each batch of yeast comes directly from the starter and have saved jars as long as 6 months with no problems.

111

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Pics of recent brews?

« on: March 04, 2013, 07:30:33 am »

That must be some pretty stiff foam to keep the beer in the glass when it's sideways like that!

LMAO! The picture is vertical on my phone and when I uploaded-Doh!

112

Ingredients / Commercial examples of hops

« on: March 04, 2013, 06:56:05 am »

I've also found that if you find a beer you like and search it on the web or brewery's site, many will list a general grain bill as well as hops used

Unless you try to email Lagunitas when you fall in love with DayTime... my emails fell into a black hole out in Petaluma. 

Had the Same experience with 5 Rabbits here in Chicago, asked some basic questions regarding their 5 vultures chipotle spices beer and never got a reply, not even a thanks for raving about the beer! Shame......

113

General Homebrew Discussion / Pics of recent brews?

« on: March 03, 2013, 12:30:20 pm »

Belgian Blonde

114

Equipment and Software / Re: promash vs beersmith vs others

« on: March 03, 2013, 09:22:30 am »

I use Beersmith 2 as well and really like it. Great for recipe creation, completely manageable in terms of being able to edit ingredients, add, keep and track inventory, play with mash schedules, create brew day sheets, brew day timers with alarms, print comp sheets, etc.

115

Ingredients / Re: Today's question...

« on: March 03, 2013, 09:19:12 am »

On bottling the  Baltic Porter (fermented with lager yeast):  I have never bottled, I have only kegged.  This beer has been lagering at ~34* for 6+ weeks in the keg.  Do I need to add yeast with the priming sugar?  If so, how much and what kind?

If it's in the keg you can force carb it and then use a beer gun to go to bottle

If you are planning on bottling the whole keg you can suck up some of the yeast cake as you rack and that should work perfectly fine. If you want to add yeast I would use the 05 as you will want to place the bottles somewhere around 70-75F for about 3 weeks to naturally carbonate. Also be sure to weigh out the priming sugar as it is more exact then measuring by cups, make a simple syrup with about 1 cup of water, pour it into the bottling bucket and rack the beer on top to self mix thoroughly.

116

Ingredients / Re: Commercial examples of hops

« on: March 03, 2013, 09:13:06 am »

I've also found that if you find a beer you like and search it on the web or brewery's site, many will list a general grain bill as well as hops used

Indeed. It's the reverse that's harder!

Yes it is! I just consider research and development

117

All Grain Brewing / Re: MY First All Grain Experience(Long)

« on: March 03, 2013, 09:05:56 am »

Questions/comments I have about the process.
 We didn’t adjust our Water in any way.  We used Tap water, I don’t know what the mineral profile is for the Water we use, but we need to address that
We didn’t check PH in any way shape or form.  I did try once with the PH Test strips I had purchased, but the color on the Strip wasn’t anything near any of the example.  When should we be checking PH and does anyone have a PH meter they recommend?
We made a 1.5L starter for this beer, which is currently working away. Is one vial of yeast enough to make a starter of that size?
How do people clean their Kettles? 15G Pots are huge and just don’t fit in sinks.
The Propane Burner we used had most of the paint charred off due to the heat, is there a way to protect this piece of equipment from the rust im sure will be forming on it in the near future?
I tried doing a starch test and I never saw the color change that was suggested would happen.  I purchased Iodine at CVS, But it was Called Iodine-(something) is there a specific type of iodine needed for this test? Will a refractometer be better for me?

1. IMO, if your water is fine and tasty to drink there is nothing to worry about
2. Unless your water has extremely high PH, adjustments are not necessary, the grain bill itself will usually drop the PH to an appropriate level
3.The starter was probably adequate but get in the habit of using a calculator like www.yeastcalc.com-plug in the numbers and it will give you the appropriate pitch rate
4. I brew outside and do everything outside, even in the dead of winter:)
5. Really no maintenance required, if the holes get plugged up with debris just ream them out
6. Never have done a conversion test, most grain today is highly modified and easy to convert
7. Refractometers are good for taking readings until alcohol is present so pre-boil and post boil are good but to find FG they can be innacurate and require conversion which can still be un-reliable. I just use a hydrometer

A couple notes: Crush is the first thing to look at when gravity is not being met, a poor crush can lead to poor mash/lauter efficiency-if you plan on continuing with AG brewing invest in a mill for a consistent crush. Use a couple handfuls of rice hulls in the mash to prevent stuck sparges. Wrap a blanket around your mash tun to prevent heat loss or cut a piece of foam board insulation to lay over the mash if there is room. Stir the mash several times and prior to sparge to increase efficiency. Get some brewing software to help with your brew day process and take notes. There are many to choose from, some are free and some are not, I like BeerSmith.

All in all it sounds like you had a great day so RDWHAHB and as you get some more AG beers going it will all become a lot easier!

118

Yeast and Fermentation / High Gravity 1.095 situation

« on: March 02, 2013, 04:14:52 pm »

32lbs of maris otter, 1lb of crystal 120, 1lb of victory
mash temp 149
Cal ale 001 3 vials in 2400 ml of starter wort
fermenting at 67

+1 to the yeast energizer and gently agitate the vessel to rouse the yeast, give it another week as its probably still working for you and yes, RDWHAHB!

119

Yeast and Fermentation / High Gravity 1.095 situation

« on: March 02, 2013, 02:48:46 pm »

What yeast?
What temp?
Recipe/grain bill?
Mash temp?

At one week it is probably still slowly working, answers to the above would help with a course of action

120

Ingredients / Commercial examples of hops

« on: March 02, 2013, 12:02:31 pm »

I've also found that if you find a beer you like and search it on the web or brewery's site, many will list a general grain bill as well as hops used