125 replies to this topic

[ChicagoWaterGuy]

2015 Brewing Goals:

 

Finish off some existing long term projects (bottling barrel and sour stuff, dump stuff that's past it's prime)

Start new long term stuff (brett beers)

Implement RIMs step mashing for lagers

Enter more contests  

[denny]

Topic for a different thread I know but seeing I am the OP I can hijack .  How were the best brewers determined? 

 

A number of ways...awards, sure, but not just that.  Innovative ideas, info sharing, stuff like that.  we've started discussions on FB, Reddit, and the AHA forum to get people's ideas about what makes an all star.

Edited by denny, 17 December 2014 - 11:37 AM.

[HVB]

A number of ways...awards, sure, but not just that.  Innovative ideas, info sharing, stuff like that.  we've started discussions on FB, Reddit, and the AHA forum to get people's ideas about what makes an all star.

Cool.  I think now I remember commenting on a FB post about it.  Mind is scattered these days!

[Howie]

Now that we are reasonably settled in the new house , I'd like to brew again. I think it has been five or six years. I might test the waters with a couple of extract batches first to get back in the groove.

Edited by Howie, 17 December 2014 - 11:51 AM.

[SchwanzBrewer]

Now that we are reasonably settled in the new house , I'd like to brew again. I think it has been five or six years. I might test the waters with a couple of extract batches first to get back in the groove.

 

I would brew whatever way you think you are going to end up brewing the most. Extract is easy enough and there's nothing wrong with it, but it's like riding a bike, don't worry about the brewing so much, you'll be able to do it no matter what. Now, if you are buying all new equipment then I'd say ease into it.

[neddles]

Now that we are reasonably settled in the new house , I'd like to brew again. I think it has been five or six years. I might test the waters with a couple of extract batches first to get back in the groove.

Try this. Quick and easy. I have not made it but if fermented well I would bet it's a very nice beer.

https://beerandwinej...inute-pale-ale/

[positiveContact]

Try this. Quick and easy. I have not made it but if fermented well I would bet it's a very nice beer.

https://beerandwinej...inute-pale-ale/

 

that sounds awesome!  It would be a really cool way to do a quick demo for a small group of people interested in  home brewing.  one thing I wonder is about using the full volume of water to steep the crystal.  Would it be necessary to treat the water with gypsum or acid to make sure the pH is appropriate?  it would certainly be good for the final product but is it necessary to avoid tannin extraction?

[neddles]

that sounds awesome!  It would be a really cool way to do a quick demo for a small group of people interested in  home brewing.  one thing I wonder is about using the full volume of water to steep the crystal.  Would it be necessary to treat the water with gypsum or acid to make sure the pH is appropriate?  it would certainly be good for the final product but is it necessary to avoid tannin extraction?

Hmm. interesting thought. Crystal 60 should bring some acidity to the table but I think the answer to your question is that it would depend on how much bicarb you water has that would need to be neutralized. Starting with DI/RO water it wouldn't be a concern.

 

ETA: Wait, don't you have to be over 170F and pH above 6.0?

Edited by nettles, 17 December 2014 - 01:10 PM.

[positiveContact]

Hmm. interesting thought. Crystal 60 should bring some acidity to the table but I think the answer to your question is that it would depend on how much bicarb you water has that would need to be neutralized. Starting with DI/RO water it wouldn't be a concern.

 

ETA: Wait, don't you have to be over 170F and pH above 6.0?

 

I used to think that but the board of blue has enlightened me.  I think tannins are always there - it's just a matter of how much.  obviously higher temp and higher pH are going to hurt you but either one being high creates some impact.

 

I'm thinking I'd need to put some gypsum in with say, 1lb of crystal and 6ish gallons of water to get my pH in the right ballpark.

[neddles]

I used to think that but the board of blue has enlightened me.  I think tannins are always there - it's just a matter of how much.  obviously higher temp and higher pH are going to hurt you but either one being high creates some impact.

 

I'm thinking I'd need to put some gypsum in with say, 1lb of crystal and 6ish gallons of water to get my pH in the right ballpark.

I thought you had low bicarb in your water?

[positiveContact]

I thought you had low bicarb in your water?

 

I do but that's not a lot of grain for a lot of water.  I have not run this through bru'n water to check though.  when I make a pretty big stout I land around 5.5ish pH with no additions.

[neddles]

Again I guess it would depend on how much bicarb your water has. Without any buffering power the pH of your water should drop pretty quick even with a small amount of acidity added. 

 

Back to that recipe… as I said I have not made it before but I almost did a couple of times when finding time to brew got real tight. I may have to resort to it at some point if I really want something on the taps quickly and have no time.

[BarelyBrews]

" I hope to someday make lagers. My goals are to re-make some brews i made in the past (larger scale) . Patersbier,and  Scottish Ale of some sort again,and a Barleywine. If i could bottle some for a time i would be happy with those goals."-2014 Goals from earlier thread.

 

I made another Scottish ale. And i am set -up to make some lager beer now. To find the time before this year ends i don't know. I did Venture off into the Water World- and that has changed my beer a lot.

[positiveContact]

Again I guess it would depend on how much bicarb your water has. Without any buffering power the pH of your water should drop pretty quick even with a small amount of acidity added. 

 

Back to that recipe… as I said I have not made it before but I almost did a couple of times when finding time to brew got real tight. I may have to resort to it at some point if I really want something on the taps quickly and have no time.

 

so I just simulated this on a 10 gallon batch.

 

2lbs of crystal 75.  11 gallons of water.  pH would be 5.7.  I'd probably want to add some gypsum to get me down to 5.4ish.  although I'm not sure what would happen to the overall pH when I put the DME or LME in.

[neddles]

so I just simulated this on a 10 gallon batch.

 

2lbs of crystal 75.  11 gallons of water.  pH would be 5.7.  I'd probably want to add some gypsum to get me down to 5.4ish.  although I'm not sure what would happen to the overall pH when I put the DME or LME in.

Oh cool, thanks for looking at that. What I think I would do would be to check kettle pH pre-boil with the LME/DME in there and then adjust it to 5.3-5.4 with gypsum. Kinda like you would (could, I don't usually) if you had just finished collecting your wort in an all-grain batch pre-boil. Do you think that makes more sense?

[positiveContact]

well I think my pre-boil kettle pH is typically higher than my mash pH.  I don't treat my sparge water although there isn't much these days.  So you are probably on the right track.

[Big Nake]

I remember being an extract brewer and reading about adding some LME or DME to the water when you steep your grains. I bounced it around on some boards and most of the other n00bs were all, What the hell for!?!? and I remember regurgitating something like, I dunno... something about pH or some such nonsense... Makes perfect sense now. If you had water with a pH of 8.0 or 9.0 and dropped some crystal malt in there, I would assume the grains would lower the pH but maybe not by enough. One local brewer I know has "village water" (not Lake Michigan water like most areas here) and his water's pH was over 9 out of the tap.

[denny]

I used to think that but the board of blue has enlightened me.  I think tannins are always there - it's just a matter of how much.  obviously higher temp and higher pH are going to hurt you but either one being high creates some impact.

 

I'm thinking I'd need to put some gypsum in with say, 1lb of crystal and 6ish gallons of water to get my pH in the right ballpark.

 

I haven't found that.  If my pH is OK, I can go way higher than 170.  After all, how could you do a decoction mash otherwise?

[positiveContact]

I haven't found that.  If my pH is OK, I can go way higher than 170.  After all, how could you do a decoction mash otherwise?

 

that's a good point.  I think high pH on it's own can create some detectible increases in tannins though.

[denny]

that's a good point.  I think high pH on it's own can create some detectible increases in tannins though.

 

Agreed.  It's a much bigger factor than temp.