That and a low attenuating yeast was what I was thinking. I just wasn't sure about the astringency/harshness effect of mashing with dark malt. But maybe I've got a solution for that (half and half in mash and after mash). Will see. Thanks for your help.

No, I don't think that the pH of the non-dark grain mash would be prohibitive, but want to see if my assumption was in line with people with more experience. I may split the dark malts half and half in mash and post mash and see what the resulting pH is. I just want to avoid astringency which...

Yes, my preference for oatmeal in a stout is the smooth mouthfeel. I've heard that slightly baking the oatmeal will give a very light taste as well. For sweetness, my approach is to use a fairly low attenuation yeast (english ale) and ferment at low temps to reduce yeast taste contributions...

I'm planning to brew an oatmeal stout and read that Gordon Strong recommends keeping the dark grains separate and adding after mashing out or steeping prior to mash. Reasoning is to avoid prolonged heating which increases harshness/astringency. My source water is good but just barely into the...

I just did my first brew (Double Diamond) using my new Klarstein "electric mash tun" (I don't use it for boiling, just mashing), and ran into a couple of problems. The first may be similar to other such devices -- there's two gallons of mash water below the lower screen plate which means that...

OK, I can believe that, at least in the initial, more active, part of fermentation, that there aren't large differences in temp within the fermenter due to the churning that is observable. But the concern I have is how far the temp may rise by relying on ambient temps within the freezer, that...

That sounds like a reasonable solution to preventing some sort of layering of various air temps within the freezer. Would placing the carboy (I don't have a valve at the bottom of the carboy, just siphon off the beer) in a small container of water help to even out the temp swings, or do you...

OK, I know this is probably an issue many of you have addressed a billion times, but I couldn't find what I needed from the forum archives. I'm seriously close to buying a chest freezer (7 cubic feet) and have a controller to keep fermentation temps down. I've read that the temp inside the...

I agree about the rather dramatic action to drop something like SO4/Cl ratio from our vocabulary. If there is evidence that we should, I'd really like to hear from the advocates of such action the basis for that. So far, I haven't heard anything substantive. However, I do agree that focusing...

OK, let me throw out an example -- I've read on this site and in "Water" that Mg need not be added to mash water since there is plenty of Mg available due to the grains. Is this another misinterpretation of the availability of Mg? Or does the organically bound Mg satisfy the requirements for...

Just re-read your post and the investment I was concerned about, fiscally, is an RO water filter set up. I know you can get RO water at a variety of stores, but it does mean more lugging of heavy stuff around whereas a RO filter at home would be far more convenient, but cost more for the...

I want to get these ideas into some useful way for me to digest them, so let me ask -- if I were to use a mineral profile from the "Water" book's chart I noted above, so that all of the mineral concentrations are well within "safe" concentrations for beer, then does the SO4/Ch ratio become more...

Ooof, 4:1? Not that I'm doubting you, but where did you find this information on the contribution of minerals from malt? I'm interested to look into this since I want to brew some nice English bitters with an appropriate hop bite. I was calculating mineral contributions with the SO4/Ch ratio...

I'm curious, given that there's apparently lots of Mg in mashed grains, in what styles have you used MgSO4 additions?

Just to help me take the plunge, do you believe that those profiles have been beneficial to the beers you brewed using the profiles? After looking around at the issue, it seems like the most logical way to approach water chemistry. But I realize there's an art side as well. Gordon Strong...

Yes, I've been developing several recipes I've done in the past successfully using water profiles that are appropriate for their styles from the Palmer/Kaminski "Water" book table I referenced above, but more laboriously by plugging in additions that fit those profiles until all aspects of the...

I'm relieved to hear that most feel that adding epsom salt is not necessary -- didn't like the idea of it. Having said that, I tend to believe that some manipulation of water chemistry can be helpful. While I'm not into IPAs, I do intend to increase sulphate and chloride concentration levels...

I've read in "Big Book of Brewing" that magnesium should be in brewing water at a minimal level of 10ppm, but have also read online that mashed grains will provide an adequate level of Mg for the sake of yeast health. My source water has a level of Mg at 1ppm, so I'm wondering whether I need to...

Once again, thanks for you help. Keep in mind, I'm trying to get as comfortable with the many aspects of brewing as I can, so I have to ask questions that exist because of brain cobwebs plus the tools that I now have that I didn't before. I'm trying to get all things organized before I do my...

Thanks again for your input, Silver. I used to add acidulated malt and did some rudimentary calculations to try to get a mash pH that was acceptable. But I didn't have a pH meter (am now planning to buy one), so I didn't have a clue as to whether the acid malt worked. I've read that most...