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Author Topic: Stop That Lager!  (Read 7359 times)

Offline yso191

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Re: Stop That Lager!
« Reply #30 on: January 23, 2014, 09:16:23 am »
Am I reading between the lines correctly that the refractometer calculator in BeerSmith may be inaccurate when calculating fermented/ing wort?
Steve
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Offline blatz

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Re: Stop That Lager!
« Reply #31 on: January 23, 2014, 09:30:23 am »
Am I reading between the lines correctly that the refractometer calculator in BeerSmith may be inaccurate when calculating fermented/ing wort?

once i got my correction factor adjusted through some trial/error, mine has never been off my hydrometer.  I do both on occasion and they always match within .01 gravity points.  and this has been the same through 3 hydrometers over the years.

not sure why some folks have problems.  starting to think its guys who wear glasses or something...

The happiest people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have.

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Offline denny

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Re: Stop That Lager!
« Reply #32 on: January 23, 2014, 10:11:22 am »
It is a 10% solution, so 90 gr water and 10 gr sugar.

Thanks, Jeff.
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Offline Pinski

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Re: Stop That Lager!
« Reply #33 on: January 23, 2014, 10:34:49 am »
Am I reading between the lines correctly that the refractometer calculator in BeerSmith may be inaccurate when calculating fermented/ing wort?

once i got my correction factor adjusted through some trial/error, mine has never been off my hydrometer.  I do both on occasion and they always match within .01 gravity points.  and this has been the same through 3 hydrometers over the years.

not sure why some folks have problems.  starting to think its guys who wear glasses or something...

What correction factor do you use?
Steve Carper
Green Dragon Brewers
Clubs: Oregon Brew Crew & Strange Brew
BJCP Certified

Offline blatz

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Re: Stop That Lager!
« Reply #34 on: January 23, 2014, 11:25:12 am »
Am I reading between the lines correctly that the refractometer calculator in BeerSmith may be inaccurate when calculating fermented/ing wort?

once i got my correction factor adjusted through some trial/error, mine has never been off my hydrometer.  I do both on occasion and they always match within .01 gravity points.  and this has been the same through 3 hydrometers over the years.

not sure why some folks have problems.  starting to think its guys who wear glasses or something...

What correction factor do you use?

will need to check at home.
The happiest people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have.

BJCP National: F0281

Offline a10t2

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Re: Stop That Lager!
« Reply #35 on: January 23, 2014, 01:01:01 pm »
Got any tips on calibration and use?

Jeff pretty well covered it:

  • I calibrate with water (tap or distilled, you can't measure the difference) before every brew session.
  • When I do my quarterly brewing checklist, I also calibrate against a 20°Bx sucrose solution.
  • I keep the refractometer in my fermentation chamber, unless I'm fermenting a lager, in which case I keep it in the house. The closer to the calibration temperature (mine is 20°C), the better.
  • If the grain bill isn't similar to something I've checked before, I take both refractometer and hydrometer OG readings and record the WCF. The FG equation is cubic, so small errors in the WCF will be compounded.
  • I use a small syringe to pull ~1 mL of beer, and discard it twice to "rinse" out any sanitizer before taking the sample for testing.

That's all that comes to mind. A two-point calibration is definitely where to start.
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Offline Jeff M

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Re: Stop That Lager!
« Reply #36 on: January 23, 2014, 05:04:32 pm »
Sean, do you have a link to a good set of pro brewer level hydrometers?

Would be interesting to look at the difference between those and the cheap ones we use:)

Jeff
Granite Coast Brewing Company.
Building a clone of The Electric Brewery to use as a pilot system for new recipes!

Offline el_capitan

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Re: Stop That Lager!
« Reply #37 on: January 23, 2014, 05:40:03 pm »
Did you happen to use Rahr Pilsner malt as your base grain?  It's thought to be pre-acidified by the maltster, causing its acidity contribution to the mash to be greater than other base malts.  That could result in better attenuation than expected.

Interesting.  I haven't heard a lot of positive feedback on Rahr pilsner, but I use Rahr 2-row quite a bit.  For this batch I used the end of a bag of Best Malz pilsner.  Good stuff! 

Offline a10t2

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Re: Stop That Lager!
« Reply #38 on: January 25, 2014, 11:59:47 am »
Sean, do you have a link to a good set of pro brewer level hydrometers?

Any decent supplier will carry them as a set of three. They're large (~16" long) for high precision, generally cover something like 0-8, 8-16, and 16-24°P, and have a thermometer and correction scale. Just an example: http://www.gwkent.com/plato-hydrometers-with-build-inthermometer.html If you have a Foxx account, theirs are about half the price.

I have one of these and it's nice, but annoying since it's only marked in SG. They're more delicate than the "pro" ones and not as large: http://www.williamsbrewing.com/BREWERS-EDGE-BOTTLING-HYDROMETER-P529C74.aspx
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Offline ynotbrusum

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Re: Stop That Lager!
« Reply #39 on: January 25, 2014, 01:00:28 pm »
Had one of these - I broke it after less than a year:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/lad-grade-hydrometer-980-1-020.html

It was nice, but I can't trust myself with the thin stem, so I use an el cheapo and a refractometer.
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Offline blatz

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Re: Stop That Lager!
« Reply #40 on: March 02, 2014, 12:53:34 pm »
Am I reading between the lines correctly that the refractometer calculator in BeerSmith may be inaccurate when calculating fermented/ing wort?

once i got my correction factor adjusted through some trial/error, mine has never been off my hydrometer.  I do both on occasion and they always match within .01 gravity points.  and this has been the same through 3 hydrometers over the years.

not sure why some folks have problems.  starting to think its guys who wear glasses or something...

What correction factor do you use?

1.00386
The happiest people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have.

BJCP National: F0281

Offline Pinski

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Re: Stop That Lager!
« Reply #41 on: March 02, 2014, 12:57:19 pm »
Am I reading between the lines correctly that the refractometer calculator in BeerSmith may be inaccurate when calculating fermented/ing wort?

once i got my correction factor adjusted through some trial/error, mine has never been off my hydrometer.  I do both on occasion and they always match within .01 gravity points.  and this has been the same through 3 hydrometers over the years.

not sure why some folks have problems.  starting to think its guys who wear glasses or something...

What correction factor do you use?

1.00386

Cool, thanks Paul!
Steve Carper
Green Dragon Brewers
Clubs: Oregon Brew Crew & Strange Brew
BJCP Certified

Offline quattlebaum

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Re: Stop That Lager!
« Reply #42 on: March 02, 2014, 03:37:59 pm »

Any other good resources for lager brewing?
[/quote]

http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=Fermenting_Lagers

Great All around resource!
It seems everyone does it a little different. I somewhat follow Schedule (F) under Maturation of beer in this link except i pitch around 45 F let rise to 48F till near done. I dont secondary and lager on yeast in primary for around 3 to 4 weeks then rack to keg and hold at 30F for a month and carb and drink:). 

Offline Thirsty_Monk

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Re: Stop That Lager!
« Reply #43 on: March 02, 2014, 05:51:24 pm »
Sean, do you have a link to a good set of pro brewer level hydrometers?

Any decent supplier will carry them as a set of three. They're large (~16" long) for high precision, generally cover something like 0-8, 8-16, and 16-24°P, and have a thermometer and correction scale. Just an example: http://www.gwkent.com/plato-hydrometers-with-build-inthermometer.html If you have a Foxx account, theirs are about half the price.

I have one of these and it's nice, but annoying since it's only marked in SG. They're more delicate than the "pro" ones and not as large: http://www.williamsbrewing.com/BREWERS-EDGE-BOTTLING-HYDROMETER-P529C74.aspx
I got those from Foxx and I like them.
I really like that they have thermometer and adjustment scale build in.
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Offline klickitat jim

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Re: Stop That Lager!
« Reply #44 on: March 03, 2014, 04:07:36 am »
Dang, now there's something else I can't live without