Messages

2446

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Desperately need some yeast advice!

« on: January 03, 2012, 09:22:33 PM »

002 and 007 would be among my top choices for a pale ale. Either will be much more flocculant than 001, so they should help with your fast turnaround. Nothing wrong with S-04 either.

2447

All Grain Brewing / Re: Double Choc Stout help

« on: January 03, 2012, 04:55:48 PM »

The only thing that seems to be missing is the dark crystal from the original. That, and you may want to up the maltodextrin and/or mash really high to get the same fermentability as the dark extract.

2448

Ingredients / Re: Enzymes and water pH

« on: January 03, 2012, 01:22:49 PM »

Edit: Tom beat me to it.

2449

All Grain Brewing / Re: poor all grain efficiency, don't know why

« on: January 03, 2012, 09:49:26 AM »

The pH doesn't change with temp just the reading. at least that is how I understand it. thw quoted 5.2 ideal pH is a reading at room temp. so that may mean a reading of 5.0 at mash temp but I am not sure that it is linear.

No, the actual pH also changes with temperature, and it goes the other way. 5.2 pH at mash temp is ~5.5 pH at room temp. It's more or less linear when you're talking about a variation that small.

The reasons for measuring pH at room temperature are; first, that high temperatures are rough on pH probes; second, that there will be slight variations in the temperature dependence for different solutions; and third, that you need to have a standard in order to be able to share data, and 20°C is convenient for most people.

2450

All Grain Brewing / Re: poor all grain efficiency, don't know why

« on: January 02, 2012, 09:29:19 PM »

beersmith said I should have a 5.2 mash and a 6.0 sparge.  any advice on how to bring that up?

Did you bring the sample down to room temperature?

2451

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: non boiled all grain

« on: January 02, 2012, 11:14:33 AM »

One thing I never understood about no-boil beer is why there isn't a risk of botulism.  Is it because these beers would usually go sour and end up with a low pH?  In that case, would an un-soured, no-boil beer still be safe?

Low pH, plus the alcohol. So a non-soured beer should still be highly toxic to Clostridium.

Can one even make a non-soured beer without boiling, though? I guess technically you can pasteurize at sub-boiling temperatures. That's splitting hairs though IMHO.

2452

Equipment and Software / Re: Immersion Chiller Efficiency

« on: December 31, 2011, 08:50:34 AM »

It will be more efficient if you put the coolant in at the top, but you wouldn't even be able to measure the difference.

ETA: I think people are assuming this is for the kettle, rather than the fermenter.

2453

Kegging and Bottling / Re: Crash cooling question

« on: December 30, 2011, 06:20:26 PM »

The beer will need to be warmed back up in order to carbonate, but whether you do that in the fermenter or in the bottles doesn't matter.

2454

Ingredients / Re: Durst Pale Malt

« on: December 30, 2011, 01:21:16 PM »

An English pale *ale* malt, yes. 3-3.5 SRM vs. 1.5-2 SRM for most "pale" malts. There isn't really an equivalent from any Belgian maltster AFAIK.

2455

The Pub / Re: What's the Weather Like Where You Are?

« on: December 30, 2011, 08:09:53 AM »

We got maybe 1/4" last night. I can't believe I'm even counting that as snowfall.

2456

Beer Recipes / Re: Amarillo & Citra IPA

« on: December 29, 2011, 02:38:08 PM »

Rager's formula does give substantially higher IBU estimates than the others, FWIW. Tinseth puts that at 30 IBU.

2457

The Pub / Re: What's the Weather Like Where You Are?

« on: December 29, 2011, 07:55:12 AM »

3 day "Wind Event" gusting to near 70 mph. Sustained 35-45 mph. Started yesterday and still howling this morning. NWS says it is to continue till tomorrow....on the up side,
it was a balmy 43 degrees above zero last night for the low...snow is melting fast.

Man, I'm glad we aren't getting that. Highs in the 30s, though, and no snow in the forecast.

2458

The Pub / Re: Blargh

« on: December 28, 2011, 09:59:07 PM »

Truth be told, I started off with a shower martini. Things get fuzzy from there, but there were probably two or three beers.

No standing water left at this point, but things are still damp. I have space heaters going 24/7 to make sure no mold grows. Once the mud turns back into dirt, it'll just be a massive sweeping operation.

2459

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: 34 days and counting

« on: December 28, 2011, 09:57:01 PM »

Eek. I wish I knew where I'll be living come June.

Is it too early to start talking roommates? I call dibs on whoever's coolest.

2460

All Grain Brewing / Re: poor all grain efficiency, don't know why

« on: December 28, 2011, 08:03:44 AM »

If you ended up with 6.5 gal of 1.060 wort, that's about 60% efficiency by my math. What would your typical efficiency be for a smaller beer? Lauter efficiency for that mash (it sounds like you were batch sparging) would be ~80%, so your conversion efficiency is in the 75% range.

Have you calibrated your thermometer(s) and hydrometer(s)? Did you check mash pH? Generally, for conversion efficiency to suffer, either the temperature or the pH has to be out of range.

No matter what, I'm thinking you may have some volume measurement error, since 10 gal - 18 lb * 0.12 gal/lb = 7.84 gal. Unless you're mechanically squeezing the mash dry, you shouldn't have been able to get 8+ gal out of it.