- Joined
- Feb 18, 2017
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I've been brewing pretty regularly for the past 4 or 5 months and have learned lots of good techniques while still not brewing really good beer. Some due to brain farts but other times not sure why the mediocre results. So, I'm standardizing my process and would love some feed back.
Clean - pbw, no detergent, no hard scrubbing, but everything gets clean and dry.
Water - RO. Nice starting point and predictable.
Recipe - start with a reviewed recipe and adjust for size (probably big issues here). Double crush my grain. Using hop pellets, not leaf.
Brew day for May - Sept in California.
1) Get the RO water. I do both 5 and 3 gallon, but settling on 3 to save my back.
2) Set all the kettles, equipment, supplies, ingredients out on a towel and ready to go. Prepare 1 gallon Starsan w/ 1.2tsp.
3) Brewer's Friend log printed out and ready. Log everything as it happens.
4) Fire up the water on propane burner. Hit strike temp.
5) Minimal salt additions. Usually just a bit of gypsum. Mix it good. In goes the bag, In goes the grain. Avoid the dough balls. I don't have a ph meter and will wait to buy a good one. The strips were a joke. So, so ph control for me.
6) Let it sit a minute so I am sure I hit the right temp. Wrap it up good. Check at 30 minutes, adjust as necessary.
7) Heat to 170. Lift the bag, twist and squeeze. Hit that target boil gravity! Taste the wort. Mmmmmm!
8) Usual process with bittering hops, yada yada, follow the recipe. Use a hop bag.
9) 15 minutes. Irish moss. In goes immersion chiller. Sterilize everything now.
10) Final hops in. Immersion chiller on (depending on recipe). Usual about 20 minutes to 75 or 80.
Now it gets a bit more interesting.
11) I can't seem to whirlpool in this kettle, so I strain into the sterilized carboy (forgot that once). Into the beer fridge with controller to drop it to 62. Ah hour or so.
12) Sterilized stone in and aerate it well. Yeast has either been hydrated per recent Palmer or at room temp for pure pitch. Pitch it! Fermentation always seems to be about what is expected. Only one blowout due to bad temp control.
13) Inkbird controller set to 62, 1 degree drift up allowed. 10 minute delay to save the compressor.
14) 3 - 5 days until quieting down. Raise 1 degree morning and evening until 68. Let it sit on the cake for up to 2 weeks. Check gravity with a refractometer using a small thief. Adjusting for alcohol to get gravity. Seems to work fine and same number when I use the hydrometer at bottling. I have controlled the banana flavors and esters following this.
15) Bottling is awkward and I'm petty sure I am sterile. Only one bottle bomb so far. The poor flavors don't seem to we wild yeast.
16) It has been a hot summer, and just thought about that. I put the bottles in a cooler location of the garage, but I suspect it has gotton warm in there. Hmmmm.
17) I do get some acetaldehyde and a bit of alcohol sharpness. Carbonation is inconsistent, though I usually target 2.2. Foam is better on older bottles (1 - 2 months).
Suggestions for me?
Clean - pbw, no detergent, no hard scrubbing, but everything gets clean and dry.
Water - RO. Nice starting point and predictable.
Recipe - start with a reviewed recipe and adjust for size (probably big issues here). Double crush my grain. Using hop pellets, not leaf.
Brew day for May - Sept in California.
1) Get the RO water. I do both 5 and 3 gallon, but settling on 3 to save my back.
2) Set all the kettles, equipment, supplies, ingredients out on a towel and ready to go. Prepare 1 gallon Starsan w/ 1.2tsp.
3) Brewer's Friend log printed out and ready. Log everything as it happens.
4) Fire up the water on propane burner. Hit strike temp.
5) Minimal salt additions. Usually just a bit of gypsum. Mix it good. In goes the bag, In goes the grain. Avoid the dough balls. I don't have a ph meter and will wait to buy a good one. The strips were a joke. So, so ph control for me.
6) Let it sit a minute so I am sure I hit the right temp. Wrap it up good. Check at 30 minutes, adjust as necessary.
7) Heat to 170. Lift the bag, twist and squeeze. Hit that target boil gravity! Taste the wort. Mmmmmm!
8) Usual process with bittering hops, yada yada, follow the recipe. Use a hop bag.
9) 15 minutes. Irish moss. In goes immersion chiller. Sterilize everything now.
10) Final hops in. Immersion chiller on (depending on recipe). Usual about 20 minutes to 75 or 80.
Now it gets a bit more interesting.
11) I can't seem to whirlpool in this kettle, so I strain into the sterilized carboy (forgot that once). Into the beer fridge with controller to drop it to 62. Ah hour or so.
12) Sterilized stone in and aerate it well. Yeast has either been hydrated per recent Palmer or at room temp for pure pitch. Pitch it! Fermentation always seems to be about what is expected. Only one blowout due to bad temp control.
13) Inkbird controller set to 62, 1 degree drift up allowed. 10 minute delay to save the compressor.
14) 3 - 5 days until quieting down. Raise 1 degree morning and evening until 68. Let it sit on the cake for up to 2 weeks. Check gravity with a refractometer using a small thief. Adjusting for alcohol to get gravity. Seems to work fine and same number when I use the hydrometer at bottling. I have controlled the banana flavors and esters following this.
15) Bottling is awkward and I'm petty sure I am sterile. Only one bottle bomb so far. The poor flavors don't seem to we wild yeast.
16) It has been a hot summer, and just thought about that. I put the bottles in a cooler location of the garage, but I suspect it has gotton warm in there. Hmmmm.
17) I do get some acetaldehyde and a bit of alcohol sharpness. Carbonation is inconsistent, though I usually target 2.2. Foam is better on older bottles (1 - 2 months).
Suggestions for me?