Messages

31

Equipment and Software / Re: Is there a small, cheap, good quality glycol chiller out there?

« on: November 25, 2012, 03:32:49 PM »

It's going to make very little to no difference plate-chiller vs IC in an ice-water recirc.

I think it does make a difference in that chilling with tap water first won't work with a plate chiller the same way it would with an IC since you are not attempting to bring the entire kettle down to any temp prior to transferring to your fermenter.  I agree with the assertion that I don't imagine there would be any improvement using glycol vs ice water, though.

Also, it is a poor practice to try and emulate professional-scale breweries at the homebrew level.

But by all means waste your time, effort and money. I won't stand in your way.

Agreed.  I think I misunderstood your original quote about only seeing glycol used for fermenters.  I'm guessing now you were only referring to homebrew equipment... whereas I originally thought you meant anywhere.  Sorry about that.

32

Equipment and Software / Re: Is there a small, cheap, good quality glycol chiller out there?

« on: November 25, 2012, 01:00:37 PM »

Well an ice-bath prechiller is very inefficient and a waste of ice. The ice would be better served being used once ambient tap-water temp has been reached in the wort. Then once that has been achieved, using the ice-water in a closed loop is extremely effective and efficient. So if the jjflash changes his method slightly he will achieve what he desires without buying more equipment- potentially expensive equipment with unknown efficacy.

That may be true for an immersion chiller... but the OP stated that he is using a Therminator.  For a plate chiller, the wort will be chilling on the way to the fermenter which will require the ice water/glycol be used for the entire chill/transfer process.  Efficiency improvements with this type of setup would be to slow the flow of ice water/glycol or increase the flow of wort based on chilling rate for maximum efficiency.

My concern is that a glycol chiller would not be able to regenerate the cooling fluid fast enough if used. It might work better substituted for the ice-water recirc described above but I doubt it. I've only heard of glycol chillers being used to keep fermenters cool.

Glycol plate chillers are very common in breweries.

33

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: stuck at 1.020

« on: November 24, 2012, 01:01:09 PM »

Both are good advice.

+1.  Great advice in general... not just for your current issue.

34

Equipment and Software / Re: Sparge for Picnic Cooler Tun

« on: November 24, 2012, 09:58:02 AM »

Why not just batch sparge?

+1!  Would save a lot of time and energy compared to what you are doing now.

+2!  One of the best process changes I've made.

35

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What's Brewing This Weekend - 11/16 Edition

« on: November 24, 2012, 09:44:21 AM »

Gonna try the B3 Tart of Darkness kit this weekend.

36

All Grain Brewing / Re: I am back!

« on: November 22, 2012, 03:58:58 PM »

Awesome!  Congratulations on making it through chemo and getting back to  your life!

37

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: stuck at 1.020

« on: November 21, 2012, 10:28:21 AM »

Sparging with boiling water is not a good plan.  You are likely extracting harsh tannins, which may or may not be the "starchy" flavor you are referring to. 

It's the pH, not the temp, that's the culprit in tannin extraction.  If not, no one could do decoction mashes.

That's an interesting point, Denny.  As I understand it, both PH and Temp are factors... but that does lead to questions about how it isn't an issue in decoction mashing.

From How to Brew: http://www.howtobrew.com/section3/chapter17.html

Quote to note from chapter:
"Sparging is the rinsing of the grain bed to extract as much of the sugars from the grain as possible without extracting mouth-puckering tannins from the grain husks. Typically, 1.5 times as much water is used for sparging as for mashing (e.g., 8 lbs. malt at 2 qt./lb. = 4 gallon mash, so 6 gallons of sparge water). The temperature of the sparge water is important. The water should be no more than 170°F, as husk tannins become more soluble above this temperature, depending on wort pH. This could lead to astringency in the beer."

38

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: stuck at 1.020

« on: November 21, 2012, 10:18:58 AM »

I'm sure thetooth meant:  I highly recommend "NOT" sparging with boiling water. 

Oops... that is what I meant.  Do NOT sparge with boiling water.  LOL

Sorry for any confusion there.

39

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: stuck at 1.020

« on: November 20, 2012, 10:22:14 PM »

Sparging with boiling water is not a good plan.  You are likely extracting harsh tannins, which may or may not be the "starchy" flavor you are referring to.  Whether it is a contributor to this issue or not, I highly recommend sparging with boiling water.

Have you ever tried doing a simple infusion mash.  Basically a rest around 152 degrees for about an hour, then sparge with around 170-ish water?  That's pretty much all I do (I'll go lower to 148-ish for more attenuation and up to 156 for beers where I want more body).

40

Equipment and Software / Re: Pumps

« on: November 20, 2012, 05:28:52 PM »

I have a march pump and it works fine.  I don't know that there is much of a difference between the march pump and the chugger pump.

All of them will handle boiling temps, even with the plastic head.  I've had one with the plastic head for years and it's been great.  I'm sure the stainless head is cool and looks nice, but it's definitely not necessary.

41

Other Fermentables / Re: Favorite book on mead

« on: November 20, 2012, 01:50:08 PM »

+2 to The Compleat Meadmaker

Add me to the list of people that highly recommend that book.

42

Going Pro / Re: What have I done?

« on: November 15, 2012, 05:23:14 PM »

Best of luck to ya, Sean!  I imagine it feels like buying your first house.

Especially since I'll be living upstairs. 

You definitely won't be complaining about your commute!

43

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Accidental Sour

« on: November 15, 2012, 05:02:31 PM »

It tastes good now, so i can't go wrong with just drinking it I guess!  I'll stow a couple away for the sake of science.

Funny... I was about to suggest that exact thing.

44

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: These guys need to clean up their act

« on: November 14, 2012, 12:16:36 PM »

No confusion here - tongue was firmly planted in cheek!

Yeah, I got that and was just having fun with it.  Sorry if it came across badly.   

45

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: These guys need to clean up their act

« on: November 13, 2012, 12:58:34 PM »

Are these US-only trademarks? Because I'm pretty lazy when it comes to naming my beers... Perhaps I should file for the trademark here in Europe... "Phil's Two-Hearted Evil Cousin 'Old Rasputin' aka Raging b**** Boston Lager"

Just send me 3 bottles and a mortgage payment for all those "g"s and we're good. 
As for General Motors...they're lucky I havent' gone after them!

I had the same thought about US versus rest of the world.  Not gonna hire a lawyer to find out but I'm curious.

Too late - I just registered "Strange Brew", "Strange Brewing" and any derivative thereof in English, French and Spanish in both Canada and Mexico.   Now let's see ... I need to write two cease and desist letters to make sure no sales occur in either of those countries!!  I see how this works.  Much better than creating a real business.

Sorry, I don't think you understand it yet.  What you want to do is wait for someone to actually make sales in those countries, then you sue them for a portion of those royalties for violating your trademark.  LOL