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So I'm interested in brewing an all-grain beer. I'd like to make an IPA, and some recipes require nearly 15 pounds of grain. Given that most resources recommend 1.5 quarts of water per pound, and at least as much for the sparge, this would leave me with approx 9 gallons of mash (after accounting for the water absorbed in the grain). It seems like this could take many hours to concentrate this for a 5 gallon batch. Am I missing something here? It's my understanding that using less water in the mash will give me fewer fermentable sugars (and overwhelming sweetness is contradictory to the style), and not sparging enough will create quite a bit of waste. What to do?
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Oct 15, 2008 22:26
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| # ¿ Apr 25, 2024 05:38 |
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Thanks for the info. When you add more water to batch sparge, do you generally shoot for water in the 150-155*F range? Or is it advisable to deactivate the enzymes with something in the 170* range?
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Oct 15, 2008 23:12
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I'm not dry hopping my current IPA, but I do believe I'm going to try it with the next one. My plan is to use a decent amount of bittering hops for the 60 minute boil, and then backload the hell out of it with some good, citrusy, west coast hops, and then dry hopping it with a bit more. My favorite beer is probably Green Flash West Coast IPA, if that gives you an idea of what I'm after (mid-high alcohol percentage, high IBUs, and a taste / aroma profile similar to sticking your nose in a bag of fresh, citrusy hops). Thanks again for the info...I feel like my head is swimming with beer theory that I've been reading, and I'm probably making the process seem more elaborate and difficult than it actually is.
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Oct 15, 2008 23:33
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So I just bought one of these for some all grain brews. $60 shipped seemed like a reasonable price, and it's much cheaper than anything I could have found local (outside of a lucky thrift store find or something).
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Oct 16, 2008 01:42
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Drunkboxer posted:What do you guys think the most cost effective way to ferment 10 gallons? I've been doing 5 gallons in a bucket so far, I'd like to do a double batch this time. Should I just get another bucket and divide the batch? You could get a 10 gallon bucket if you don't want to split it up. Your batches may be a bit more consistant that way, if you care about such things. They sell them here: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/products/ProdByID.aspx?ProdID=6009 But I'm sure you could find them easily anywhere.
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Oct 16, 2008 17:08
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Does anyone have any tips for putting together a mash tun? The water cooler method seems nifty, but putting together the necessary copper piping system seems like a bit of a pain. Does anyone use the double bucket method these days?
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Oct 16, 2008 23:34
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BerkerkLurk posted:Here's the plan I used, which doesn't use copper piping: http://brewing.lustreking.com/gear/mashtun.html This kit actually looks pretty easy to put together. How much should I expect to pay for the hardware (not including the cooler)?
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Oct 17, 2008 02:35
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Does anyone have any experience with this kit at amazon?: http://www.amazon.com/Homebrew-Lauter-Picninc-Cooler-Conversion/dp/B000EBIDF4/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=miscellaneous&qid=1224258900&sr=8-10 Not a bad price--I'm mainly concerned if it will work OK.
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Oct 17, 2008 16:56
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So I'm going to be bottling my first batch of beer tomorrow. I am planning on filling my bottles with bleach solution overnight (or possibly just a few hours), and then draining them in the morning, and rinsing with hot water. Do I need to allow the bottles to dry entirely before filling them (as is the case with canning)? Do I need to boil the water that I'm going to be rinsing them with?
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Oct 17, 2008 21:03
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Drunkboxer posted:I don't (to both the drying and boiling). And I only leave the solution in for like 10 minutes. I've never had any problems. Sounds good. Do you typically allow the entire bottles to soak in a large container, or just fill them to the brim?
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Oct 17, 2008 21:12
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vwman18 posted:My mild ale kit came from Northern Brewer today. I ordered the dry yeast thinking I would be getting a "smack pack" but its just a packet of dehydrated yeast. I guess I'll be making a starter with this, right? Anything to pay attention to that's not typically included in the instructions? The Danstar Windsor Ale Yeast that came with the kit can be pitched without a starter.
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Oct 17, 2008 21:21
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Josh Wow posted:tablespoon? teaspoon? Traditionally, T = Tablespoon; t = teaspoon Cooking class in middle school was pretty nifty. Drunkboxer posted:I fill the bottling bucket with the bleach and then use it to fill the bottles up to the brim. Sweet, this is exactly what I was planning on doing.
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Oct 17, 2008 22:45
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vwman18 posted:So, what's the advantage of liquid over dry then? Dry is certainly cheaper, easier to ship I would guess. What does liquid get me? There are a lot more available strains in liquid form, and some will insist the quality is higher.
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Oct 17, 2008 23:53
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I bottled my first beer today. It tasted promising. Can't wait for it to finish conditioning!
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Oct 18, 2008 23:07
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So just how much does bottle-conditioned beer improve over time? I hear it peaks right around 3-5 months, but there's no way I can hold out that long. I'm thinking I'll give it a try after a week, and then "debut" it on election day or so, and then save a few 22s for a few months to see how they change.
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Oct 20, 2008 18:17
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Thanks for the info (again). It's going to be a long wait until saturday.
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Oct 20, 2008 23:43
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vwman18 posted:Life sucks sometimes, you know? I wasn't able to brew last weekend like I hoped, but will be doing so tonight instead. I've got a few last minute questions. How long should I expect to be working on a typical extract kit? 2hrs or so? Also, I picked up 5 gallons of bottled drinking water for the beer. Is there some way to make my tap water safe for future batches? I'd like to use the tap water for convenience. You shouldn't have a problem using tap water. If it tastes bad, don't use it. If you think the chlorine content is high, boil it first.
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Oct 22, 2008 21:06
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So I started my first all-grain beer. I used a PVC-pipe water-cooler mash tun, and it seemed to work OK. However, the piping had a tendency to float on top of some of the mash, which made me lose out on some of the sugars. This seems pretty ineffecient--does anyone have any tips in general on how to improve effeciency? Also, I couldn't believe how quickly my propane stone burned off water--I lost about 4 gallons in a two-hour boil, and had to add in a bunch of top off (though the 6 ounces of hops I added probably absorded their share of the volume as well). Next time, I'm only going to do a 60 minute boil. Finally, I have quite a bit of sediment collected at the bottom of my carboy. Is this standard with all-grain beers, or should I try to do a better job sparging cleanly next time? EDIT: Also, I pitched WLP001 without making a starter (OG was about 1.050 or so) at 65*. No signs of fermentation when I woke up this morning (about 11 hours after pitching). At what point should I be worried? It should be aerated pretty well, as I gave it a vigorous shake and used quite a bit of cool, unboiled top-off water. il serpente cosmico fucked around with this message at 22:35 on Nov 10, 2008 |
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Nov 10, 2008 22:22
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Welp, fermentation started so I don't have to worry about that.
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Nov 11, 2008 01:26
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Jo3sh posted:What was your actual efficiency? Or what was your volume, OG (both before topup), and grain bill? I used 12.25 pounds of 2-row pale, and .5 pound of 20L crystal. OG after topoff was ~1.050. I didn't take it prior to that. Volume is just under 5 gallons.
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Nov 11, 2008 01:41
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Jo3sh posted:Yep, that's pretty low efficiency - in the neighborhood of 55%. Of course, that assumes the topping water got well mixed, etc. Do you have any tips on how to keep the manifold secured on the bottom? The PVC pipe really liked to float. Is there some kind of tape I should think about using?
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Nov 11, 2008 02:21
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Here is the kit I have: http://www.amazon.com/Homebrew-Lauter-Picninc-Cooler-Conversion/dp/B000EBIDF4/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=miscellaneous&qid=1226379483&sr=8-5 I was thinking about canning the manifold portion and using one of those stainless steel braids. I take it this would take care of the flotation problem.
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Nov 11, 2008 06:02
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I added some simcoe and cascade hops to my fermenting IPA last night to dry hop it. It smells really hoppy and delicious. I can't wait to try it out. Waiting sucks.
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Nov 14, 2008 16:38
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jailbait#3 posted:There's no point in waiting for the wort to cool - let it get cool enough to handle with potholders and pour it into your carboy. The extra water should bring it down to pitching temperature if it's been refrigerated. Glass carboys are big enough that cracking the glass from thermal shock is not really a big concern. Add the hot wort and cold water gently and it should be find. No, No, NO. I have an exploded carboy that resulted from this method. Cool the wort first. In addition to preventing against thermal shock, you'll also get the added benefit of a "cold break," which will get some proteins to settle out of your beer. If you don't have a wort chiller, you can fill up a bath-tub (or any other large vessle) with ice water. Stick your pot of hot wort in there, and stir the liquid around to cool it down quickly. Be careful not to get the bathtub water in there, as that would be gross, and would possibly result in infection. il serpente cosmico fucked around with this message at 00:08 on Nov 18, 2008 |
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Nov 18, 2008 00:05
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ashgromnies posted:It's a good thing I didn't switch over to the airlock yet, the hose is spewing brown hoppy foam all over the bucket I set up to catch it. That sucker sure does make a lot of foam! It's probably fine. Plenty of people skip that step without any problems. You won't be able to tell if it's infected or not until it's finished fermenting. If it tastes and smells sour, it's infected.
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Nov 18, 2008 00:45
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vwman18 posted:Paranoid newbie question: Should I prevent my beer getting cold too early? My mild ale has been in bottles for a week at temps in the low 70s. Not thinking about it, I left them outside yesterday and it ranged from about 65 down to about 48 last night. How bad will this slow down the carbonation? Its supposed to get colder over the next few days, so I'm bringing all the bottles inside. Should I "rouse" them once they've warmed up? Mild ales carbonate quickly. I wouldn't worry about it. You're beer is probably as carbonated as it's going to get at this point. The taste will continue to improve over the next couple weeks (months?) but it'd be fine to drink right now.
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Nov 18, 2008 03:06
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vwman18 posted:Well, after a few of you said my mild ale should be ready, I went ahead and popped a bottle. I grabbed the short bottle (the one that didn't quite fill at the end of bottling) and drank. I was thinking to myself "Hey, this aint half ba..oh what the hell is that?" The beer tasted pretty good, but has a noticeable kind of stale plastic aftertaste. Its also barely present in the aroma. Now I'm not real inclined to drink the rest of the batch. Crap. I'm going to let it bottle condition for another week or so and try it again. The taste should continue to improve. Even if it still isn't great, you can also make better batch next time.
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Nov 18, 2008 18:29
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I'm fermenting my current IPA at an ambient temp of 60 degrees. I'm using white labs california ale yeast. Is this a bit too chilly, or should it be fine? Should I get one of those carboy heaters for next time? It's been two weeks, and the yeast is still in suspension, which didn't happen with the dry stuff I used. Not much is in suspension, and it's still bubbling a little bit. I'm just worried I may have slowed fermentation way down with the cool temperatures. I remember reading though that you should add 5 degrees for the added heat during primary fermentation? It definitely took off pretty good the first 3-4 days, and a lot has fallen out of suspension to make a cake on the bottom.
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Nov 22, 2008 21:14
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I finally bought some star san today. Anything I need to know about using it? Is it important to let all of my equipment dry after using it? I hear once the PH gets above a certain point it essentially acts as yeast food?
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Nov 23, 2008 02:41
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Is there anyway my champagne yeast survived a day in the freezer? It's since been placed in a refrigerator.
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Nov 24, 2008 04:37
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See if you guys can find a local person that presses pairs. I don't know if it'd cost anymore than apple cider, but there is someone at the farmer's market here that sells organic, unpasturized cider for $6/gallon.
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Nov 24, 2008 17:49
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I'm thinking of repitching my yeast in the next batch of beer to save a little bit of cash. The problem is, I'm currently dry hopping in my primary. Does anyone have any good tips to get as much of the yeast out without getting the hops and trub along with it? Would a strainer be advisable?
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Nov 26, 2008 20:40
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That washing method looks nifty. I used whole flowers, so I think I'm going to sanitize my strainer and dump the slurry through that. Wouldn't it be difficult to get a steeping bag in and out of a carboy neck? Thanks for the info guys.
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Nov 26, 2008 23:37
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I just realized that I only used a half ounce of star san to make my 5 gallon solution yesterday for bottling. I let everything sit for a good 15-20 minutes instead of the recommended three. Is star san still effective at this rate, or is it likely I infected my batch?
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Nov 29, 2008 18:39
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Sorry guys. It's just that this batch was particularly tasty.
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Nov 30, 2008 20:39
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I just tried my first all-grain beer. It's a dry hopped IPA. Despite being a bit too thin from the inefficient mash, it's really good. It's only been in bottles for a week, so I'm anxious to see how it improves. The dry hopping made all the difference, I think. I'm actually confident that I can make some good beer now!
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Dec 5, 2008 02:16
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Is it necessary to allow your equipement to dry when sanitizing with a no-rinse solution of star san? I see there's a little bit of isopropal alcohol in there.
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Dec 5, 2008 21:10
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Jo3sh posted:Well, all fruit (my mother tells me when we make jam together) has pectin in it to some degree. I'm not expert on what fruits have how much, but pears and apples are at least somewhat related, so I would expect them to have at least some. You might try adding some pectic enzyme to the existing wine to see if that breaks up the thickness, but I'm not sure if it works in the presence of alcohol - it may be denatured. You guys have a pretty amazing collections of citrus down there though, so that's something.
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Dec 11, 2008 23:28
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How necessary is it to re-circulate the first few quarts out of your mash runoff? I haven't found that this makes much difference in clarity of the sparge.
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Dec 14, 2008 00:12
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| # ¿ Apr 25, 2024 05:38 |
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Does anyone have a good mash efficiency calculator tool? I just got 1.065 out of my IRA. Grainbill is as follows: 6.5 pounds pale 2 row, 5 pounds munich malt, and 1.5 pounds 60L crystal. I'm thinking this is right around 75%. Any help would be much appreciated. Also, I used 1.6 quarts of water per pound of gain. EDIT: Google is your friend. I just calculated it out--I'm almost exactly 75%. Yay! il serpente cosmico fucked around with this message at 06:25 on Dec 14, 2008 |
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Dec 14, 2008 06:04
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