Messages

31

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: PH adjustments

« on: April 10, 2013, 08:48:58 am »

Yes, adding the acid to the water along with the salts is fine.  Sure, the pH of that water might be lower than you expect (in comparison to a mash pH), but it all works out once the grain is added for the mash.

32

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: PH adjustments

« on: April 09, 2013, 11:15:46 am »

Um??

The mash system is a huge buffer.  Adding acid to RO water WITHOUT any malt in there is likely to drop the pH out of sight.  But adding that same amount of acid to the malt AND water is more likely to produce the intended pH. 

There was no need to dump out that acidified water even though its pH was far lower than your intended mash pH.  If you had added the malt, the mash pH would likely have BUFFERED its way back to the intended pH. 

33

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: PH adjustments

« on: April 09, 2013, 10:50:35 am »

That is one way to do it, but you can alter the character of you wort if the pH in the mash is outside the 'desirable' range of 5.2 to 5.6.  Correcting the pH of the wort in the kettle helps avoid some other problems for the beer taste and character, but if that mash pH was way out, then those problems may not be correctable.  In general, keeping the mashing and sparging pH within range will avoid any need to correct the wort in the kettle.  By the way, a 5.2 mash pH is getting kind of low.  It can be OK for some styles and detrimental in others.

34

All Things Food / Re: Avocados

« on: April 07, 2013, 05:59:16 pm »

Birds and squirrels and possums and probably raccoons live around here.  Trouble is they just take a few bites and then decide to leave them on the ground.  I hate that.

That is what a high-velocity air rifle is for!

35

The Pub / Re: I'm honored

« on: April 05, 2013, 06:34:51 pm »

There is a reason. Knowledge and skill are valued.

36

Commercial Beer Reviews / Re: La Folie

« on: April 05, 2013, 06:32:17 am »

Wait, if the beer is great, then the name couldn't be pretentious!

37

All Grain Brewing / Re: Whirlpooling

« on: April 03, 2013, 06:05:54 am »

I have used whirlpooling quite effectively for over a decade.  A fairly decent stirring to get the wort mixed and moving well and then a 15-minute stand.  The trub cone is well formed.  Another technique to help stabilize the cone is to use a portion of whole hops in the hop schedule.  The whole hops sort of 'stack up' the cone the help it stay together as the wort is drained. 

Another important thing about whirlpooling is to draw off the wort at the periphery of the kettle bottom.  You need to create a manifold pick up tube that circles the periphery of the kettle bottom so that it avoids drawing a lot of the cone.  By the way, if you are boiling in a tall kettle with a relatively small diameter (like a 15 gal keg), then you are more likely to have the cone spread all the way across the kettle bottom.  Then you have no choice but to draw off wort higher off the kettle bottom.

38

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Brett in Berlinner?

« on: April 02, 2013, 12:50:07 pm »

+1 to Jeff's comment.  Mostly lactic, but a note of brett is an enhancement to flavor.

39

All Grain Brewing / Re: Extreme Efficiency Boost!

« on: March 31, 2013, 06:34:03 am »

Are you performing a mash out step to raise the overall temperature of the mash to near 168F?  If not, and you are just applying higher temperature sparging water, I can imagine that the higher water temp is the primary reason you are seeing higher efficiency. 

I do perform a mash out step and see several points increase as the temperature rises (I use a RIMS). The use of higher temp sparging water could simulate that effect.  If you are just doing single temp infusion, I think that a mash out step infusion could provide benefits too.

40

Equipment and Software / Re: Must PRVs be mounted vertically?

« on: March 29, 2013, 09:17:34 am »

If they are spring-loaded, then orientation won't matter much.  If they are gravity-style (like a pressure cooker), then orientation is everything.  If you shake them and they rattle, then they are gravity-style.  The spring-loaded valves won't make a sound.

41

Ingredients / Re: ACIDULATED MALTS

« on: March 28, 2013, 12:59:16 pm »

Boy, I echo the comments above.  Why use acid malt at all? Its imprecise and more expensive and a work-around that was fostered by that ill-conceived Reinheitsgebot.  Do the 'right' thing and use liquid lactic acid that you know the strength of and can dose accurately. 

I do not buy the notion that acid malt adds nuances to the beer that liquid lactic acid does not.  When either is dosed properly, they should generally be at or below the taste threshold.   

42

Ingredients / Re: ACIDULATED MALTS

« on: March 28, 2013, 07:52:44 am »

As long as you are performing typical mashing and boiling practices, there should be no contamination with lactic bacteria.  Any bacteria are left behind in the mash or killed in the boil.  All malt typically has lactic bacteria and other organisms on it.  All killed by the boil.

43

Ingredients / Re: BLackprinz malt in Brun' Water

« on: March 28, 2013, 05:32:50 am »

It should still be entered as a Roasted malt.  It has undergone the high heat that produces the same reaction products as any other roast malt.  I find that the dehusked roast malts perform the same as husked roast malts.

44

All Grain Brewing / Re: build water from distilled

« on: March 28, 2013, 05:28:39 am »

Are there published standard formulas for water additions for each style of beer?

 I've had the same question. Seems to me if R/O water is all the same , it would be easy to come up with standard additions for different beer styles ?
  If two people use BrunWater to design a water for a stout using 100% R/O water, won't they get the same results?
  So why not just say make a list of additions to R/O water for different beer styles?

There are sort of recommendations for additions, but each brewer's preference is likely different.  That is the Brewer's Art.  I've included my interpretations of additions as part of Bru'n Water, but that is just a starting point.  One point that is quite important is that brewers should avoid excessive additions since they tend to produce minerally or harsh flavor in beer.  In most styles, let the malt and hops shine, not the water.  I'm thinking of a parallel to the "children should be seen and not heard" for water...maybe 'water should be supporting and not overbearing"? 

45

All Grain Brewing / Re: Hard packed grain bed - efficiency spike

« on: March 23, 2013, 09:17:25 am »

I'm assuming the flow rate for your run off was slower than usual?  If so, that is likely the reason your efficiency was improved.  If you are willing to spend the time, high efficiency is possible.