How do you Brew

Mase

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Hanging around this forum for the past 3 years +/-, I’m so impressed with the various approaches members take to yield their beloved Home Brew. Some brew with scientific like approach and precision (and expense), while others take a less detailed approach and the rest of us fall somewhere in between.

I thought it’d be kind of cool to see how everyone does homebrew by describing their approach.

The level of detail is up to you, but to stay things off, here’s my approach to a typical brew from concept to first pour.

We typically brew 5 gallon batches on Sundays early in the morning around 5:00am in the detached garage and are ready for yeast Pitch by 9:00am the same day. We spin up a yeast starter by 8:00pm the previous evening.

We use a 3 tier All Grain system with a Box store converted Stainless Steel 5 gallon HLT with a 3 piece valve and thermometer that I DIY’d. The Mash Tun is a 10 gallon converted round cooler with a stainless steel false bottom. The boil kettle is a purpose purchased 10 gallon boil kettle from Spike Brewing that has just a 3 piece valve on it. I use a Blichmann propane burner to do all the heating.

Since our well water is high in iron, we use bottled spring water for every brew. We don’t make water adjustments, nor do we test pH at anytime during brewday.

We ferment in an Ss Brewtech, 7 gallon BrewBucket, with a heating belt that is controlled by and Inkbird temperature controller.

First thing I do when I get to the garage is use the Brewers Friend Infusion Calculator to determine how much and what temperature the strike water needs to be for mashing. Once the strike water volume and temperature is met, I transfer via gravity,to the mash tun onto the grains that are already in place. Mix thoroughly and take a temp check to assure mash temp is correct. We place a foil cap over the mash and place the lid on the mash tun and wrap the tun with an old blanket/comforter. While the mash is underway, I fill the HLT with sparge water and slowly heat it to around 170 (f). When the mash is complete, we remove the blanket, lid and foil cap and verify/document the end mash temperature. We vorlauf and lauter enough to where there’s no more grains coming out. We lauter over a spaghetti strainer with a small foil square on the bottom and swirl the lauter so as not to allow channeling. Then we open the valve around halfway and drain through a silicone hose directly into the Boil Kettle. We usually end up with around 2.5 gallons of first runnings.

For sparging, we add water with a pitcher until the grain bed in the mash tun is just covered with sparge water, then gently stir the top third of the grainbed and repeat the vorlauf and lauter described above and resume draining to the boil kettle. We try to keep sparge water level just above the grain bed. We keep pouring until we reach kettle volume, then move the boil kettle onto the propane burner and start the boil. The remaining wort in the mash tun is drained and fed to the deer along with the spent grains.

During the boil, we don’t use a hop spider or similar filter bag to manage the hop debris, we collect all that when transferring to the fermenter.

We add yeast nutrient and Whirl floc With 10 minutes left in the boil.

We haul the boil kettle back to the house and place the boil kettle directly into the laundry tub with a cookie cooling rack placed in the bottom of the tub. We fill the laundry tub with water and ice and stir the ice for around 15 minutes to get to yeast pitch temperature.

We transfer everything in the boil kettle directly into the fermenter, but use a hop filter to catch the flow between the boil kettle and the fermenter to remove all the hop debris and other materials while aerating at the same time by splashing its way into the fermenter.

I seal up the fermenter and give it a good shake for no more than 5 minutes, pull a sample for OG, then pull the yeast starter off the stirplate and pitch the yeast, then connect up to the Inkbird temperature controller and the fermenting begins.

I don’t use the “Brew it” feature on brewers friend as our process is so ingrained in our routine that the checklist is not necessary for us.
 
I've often wondered how other people "do it", Brew that is. Here's my Brew Day routine:

1. The day before I brew I start a Yeast Starter. Always 2 Packs Liquid Yeast (the most expensive single part of the purchase)
2. I put my equipment together the night before I brew. (My rig is a total knock down, I brew outdoors)
A 3 tier setup using 7 Milk Crates, a 10 Gallon Igloo Cooler Mash Tun with a SS False Bottom, a 3 Gallon Igloo for a Sparge Tank & a 9 Gallon Kettle with a Turkey Fryer stand & a 100K BTU replacement Burner.
3. Purchase 10 gallons of Distilled Water & use Bru'n Water to make up the water additions & place it in a small container. I also make up my Hop additions, weighing them out & putting them in small containers.
4. On Brew Day AM I pour all the water into the Tun, add minerals to the water, stir well & drain Strike Water into Kettle. The Sparge Water is drained into the 3 Gallon Sparge cooler.
5. With the Tun empty, I heat the Strike Water to 10 Deg above the 1st Step temp. Connect the Kettle Drain Valve to the Pump Suction & the Pump Discharge to the top of the Tun. I use that water to pre-heat the Tun & hold it for 15 Minutes. Drain the Pre-heat water back to the Kettle & return the Strike Water to 1st step temp. (usually not more than a couple of degrees)
6. Meanwhile, I pour the Grain into the hot Tun. I connect the Kettles Drain Valve to the Pump Suction, the Discharge to the bottom of the Tun & fill the Tun from the bottom. Keeps the air bubbles to a minimum. I use a Paint Mixer (brand new) & a drill driver to stir the Grain/Water to a soupy mix. (my grain bill always includes 1/2 LB of Rice Hulls, eliminates stuck sparges)
7. While the Mash starts, I heat the Sparge Water to 170 Deg & return it to the Sparge Tank.
8. When its time to move to next Temperature step I connect the hose from the bottom of the Mash Tun to the top of the Kettle, the Pump Discharge to the top of the Tun & start the burner to heat to the next step.
9. I circulate continuously as the Mash Water is heating bringing the Grain up to Temperature over about 10 minutes. Then hold until the next step temp is needed. Open the Tun Drain Valve & circulate to next/last step temp & hold for the last of the Mash time.
10. When Mash time is complete I drain the Tun into the Kettle & start the Sparge. I use a Sparge Manifold to prevent channeling.
11. When the Kettle is up to boil volume, I divert the rest of the Tun drain out into clean carboy. I usually use these 2nd Runnings to make a small beer.
12. I use a large Fine Mesh Hop Bag in a Hop Spider with the First Wort Hop & make Hop additions as the Wort boils. Add Irish Moss at 10 Minutes remaining.
13. When Boil is complete, I shut off the Burner, add Steep Hops & put on the Lid on the Kettle. After about 10 Minutes, I start the Whirlpool/Cooling. I have a 25 gallon wash tub full of Ice & water, I circulate Wort from the Kettle Drain Valve through the Immersion Coil in the wash tub. The Cooled Wort returns to a Dip Tube which goes to the bottom of the Kettle. The Dip tube lays on the bottom of the Kettle & spins the Wort in a Whirlpool.
14. When the Wort is at Pitching Temperature I drain the Kettle, leaving the Trub behind, into a Clean/Sanitized Fermentor & Oxygenate it. I take an Specific Gravity sample, record the SG & the Temperature.
15. I move the Fermentor into the Cooling Chamber & set the Inkbird Controller to the temperature from the Yeast Package. The Inkbird can switch between Heat & Cool automatically.
16. I have been using a Blow Off Tube into a Bottling Bucket with an Air Check, the Sanitized Bottling Bucket collects Yeast from the Fermentation & I use it when I make the 2nd Runnings Batch.
17. After Fermentation is complete I take another SG Sample & record it with the Temperature. Then I syphon from the Primary Carboy to the Secondary & return it to the Conditioning Chamber to hold it for about 1 week. I always Dry Hop in the Secondary.
The day before I move it from Secondary to the Keg, I add Gelatin as a Fining. That lets me leave the Fall Out in the Secondary rather than the Keg.
18. Most of the Beers I make seem to share the 3 Atmospheres Carbonation level, that seems to take about 2 or 3 days. I find that it takes about 2 weeks in the Keg in the Fridge before I'm happy with the taste.

I've been brewing since 1999, Extract for about half that time & All Grain for the last 10 years. As most of us are, I'm self taught with the help of Charlie Papazian, Michael Steele, conversations with other brewers at Brewers Night & consultations with staff at Brew Hut. As a self taught student of a complex & highly personal product, I am sure I have great gaps in my knowledge. I have recently been using Bru'n Water & Water Knowledge with good results & I recommend it.
 
I typically brew Friday night after work. Yeast is usually pitched around 11:00pm. I mostly make lagers and they take more time. Longer mash, boil and chilling. Most beers I brew go into a competition, I get a lot of fun out of it.

My system is a mix between gas and electric. My mash tun is a Brew Magic tun, expensive, but it by far the best on the market. I designed and built the RIMs control system and I use a Watlow PID as a controller that drives the stainless heater tube. All components are stainless steel with silicon tubing. The RIM system is my secret to winning competitions, consistent and very predictable outcome every time. It’s a joy to brew with it.

The HLT and boil is a simple gas burner, simple and easy. I always say “I brew the finest beers under the crudest of circumstances”. The worst is brewing in the winter, I have had lids freeze onto the kettles after chilling the wort. It’s gotten down to nearly -20F on a brew. I still enjoy it. I’m sure most people who brew at home do it not because it’s easy, but they get a lot of joy out drinking a finely crafted beer they’re proud of.
 
I brew whenever I feel like it, usually Friday morning while I "work" from home or on the weekend.
I do a lot of ales, usually requests of some type as I like pale ales and generally only make those for myself.
I did compete a lot my first year, but I've largely stopped as I don't really value the judging anymore and some of them just pissed me off.
(Having the same beer have a 30 point spread between judges really makes you wonder about objectivity)

I use a propane 3 tiered gravity rig system and usually do 10 gallon batches (42L to be specific, to fill kegs)
I got cheap stainless kettles from OBK but they work well enough, use a banjo burner for boiling.
I have a larger Coleman chest cooler I use as a mash tun, I paid $20 for it used, it works great I lose less than 1C over 60 minutes.
I ferment in either Fermonsters or SS Brewtech Brewbuckets depending on what is available.
I tend to use Kveik strains these days due to summer heat and temperature control issues.

For process, I have a bunch of Rubbermaid totes I keep my bulk grains in and then smaller containers for specialty grains.
I use a digital kitchen scale and a Pyrex measuring cup to scoop my grain into a 5 gallon bucket
My mill is a corona mill "custom" mounted into another 5 gallon bucket, I use a concrete mixing drill to grind it up.
I use a Brew Bag (tm) bag to Mash In A Bag which lets me get the crush quite fine.
I heat the hot liquor and then gravity drain it into the mash tun ( I need a better way to do this in the winter than lifting 8 gallons of water overhead)
I mash per how I assume everyone does and if I do 5 gallon batches I no sparge, if 10 I batch sparge. Once I finish the sparge I use a rope and pully system to lift the brew bag and drain it.
I boil off 4-6L per hour at my setup so I aim high.
I First Wort hop almost all the time, I generally don't do mid hops in favour of 10 minute and flame out hops.
I use a Jaded Hydra IC and have a janky chilling system that involves a 55 gallon drum, a looted air conditioner, and multiple pond pumps. It saves a lot of water overall.

I then take the fermenters into my basement usually and pitch the yeast, I generally only do 12-24 hours of starter building on my yeast and I reuse a lot of yeast. It saves a lot of money and I've yet to have an issue.

I am sure I've missed some steps but I find it's pretty easy and someday I might record a youtube of it for people that are intimidated.

I'm probably the slackest ass brewer on this forum and I haven't truly wrecked a batch of beer yet in 2+ years of brewing.
 
I brew on random spur of the moment last minute oh I got an few hours spare.
I'll make a starter fom previous brews wort sometimes a week before brew and have that chilled ready to decant and warm or If left to last minute pitched whole once wort is ready.
Most brew days arena 4-5hour affair from set up to clean down.
I brew/mash in a 50lt converted keg with two 2400watt elements one from a cheap 9$ kettle from big W the other keg king element. Mash temp control is via STC 1000 plugged into a power watt controller so I can alter current to element so mash temps are kept within 1c stable.
I use two stage carbon/10micron filter to collect wort I add Camden tab to this as it's heating. I mill my grains on a glorified blender a Thermomix not much More than flour.
I usually add salt additions and acid to the mash going by the BF water calculator.
Hops are usually weighed out after mash in is sorted most mashes are stepped most have a low step high step then used to mash out but skip that now.
Sparge is acidified with a drop or two lactic88 I draw the Biab bag up pop it in a pot with holes drilled out the bottom that fits in the top of the kettle. It's a 15min excecise of scoop and pouring water over the grain bed.
Spent grain goes to Chooks and little wort to the k9 brew assistant always sniffing for some brewery waste:p.
Never have issues with boil overs.
I consistently wait till break has diminished until I start the count down timer and mostly FWH some magnum as bittering.
Now I use a pump to continually recirculate mash and wort whilst heating to boil once boil has begun I kill pump untill I put imersion chiller in.
During boil I'll take a starter collection to cool for next batch usually 2lt.
I ferment in a freezer with stc to control temp I usually ferment in the sweet spot of most yeast temp ranges. I shake to airate wort and ferment in a plastic bucket heat belt probe taped to side under stubby cooler.
I usually have that beer off the yeast and packaged withing the fortnight.
Carb is burst 30psi 24 Then set and forget at 10psi beer is good after a week in keg.
I love the brew process love the end product and love chewing the fat here on the forums;).

Sorry for spelling mistakes and bad grammar :p
 
Been brewing for 11+ years and pretty much have my recipes dialed in to where I want them. Went through the progression from can & kilo kits to extract w/steeping grains, partial mash, all grain batch sparge, BIAB, and finally arrived where I am today. Most everyone has seen the post linked here with pics and a description of how I brew now:

I'm old fashioned and brew APAs and West Coast IPAs for the most part, but starting to do a few seasonals as well as ciders. C hops are still my favorites and 90% of what's in my allotted freezer space. Usually keep about 12 to 15 lbs.

I buy hops by the pound when they're on sale and base malts by the sack. Mangrove Jack's yeasts are my preference and I do make starters for anything over about 1.048. RO water is a necessity here unless you like to brew with 500+ ppm water with sodium and calcium making up most all of the TDS.

I'm old, arthritic and lazy, so generally plan 3 day brew windows rather than specific days. Fermentation is in an upright fridge that will accommodate two 7 gallon Fermonsters. I use a Ranco 2 stage temp controller and a thermowell. My Keezer holds 4 kegs and has 3 faucets, one of which is dedicated to cider.
A few pics below:
 

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I run small batches, 2.5 gallons at a time.

I create all of my own recipes and buy grain and hops in bulk.

I use a modified BIAB system. I now use a Gigawort electric kettle for both the mash and boil. I have a nice little grain mill that I power with a Dewalt drill.

For the mash, I placed a 9" wire cooling rack in the bottom of the vessel so that the grain bag does not contact the heating element. I heat the water to about 5 degrees above target, lower the sack of grain inside, stir and get out the dough balls, and mash for 60-70 minutes.

I pull out the grain bag, let it drain, and fire the vessel up to high temperature for the boil. While it's heating, I pour in the last of the wort, and prep the hops. I'll use somewhere between a 30 minute and 60 minute boil, depending on the recipe.

After the boil and the hops additions are complete, I drain directly from the Gigawort to the fermenter. I have them staged so that I do not need to lift several gallons of boiling wort. I use a 3.5 gallon SS Brewtech fermenter with a heat exchanger coil in the lid. I place the lid on and connect the chilled water and cool down the wort inside the fermenter. One of the advantages of this is that the wort temperature helps to kill any bacteria or wild yeast that I might have missed.

After cooling to 75 °F or so, I pitch the yeast and set the temperature controller to target. I also sanitize and insert the Tilt hydrometer. I have a keezer next to the fermenter, with a section of the keezer dedicated to a chilled water reservoir.

After fermentation, I keg the beer in 2.5 gallon kegs. I almost always carbonate using natural carbonation in the keg.

For brew days, I can sometimes complete everything in under 2 hours. 15 minutes prep, 60 minute mash, 30 minute boil, and 15 minute cool down and yeast pitch.
 
Nosy's basic brew day:
- Measure strike water
- Measure salts and add
- Measure acids and add
- Heat strike water
- Set hoses to pump water from HLT into mash tun
- While strike water is heating, calibrate pH meter, set timer to rest time
- Empty grains into mash tun
- When the water is hot, pump into mash tun (underlet)
- Stir, set hoses to recirculate, turn on pump and RIMS. Start timer.
- Monitor RIMS. Turn off if heat goes more than 1 degree F above desired temperature, turn on if the temperature goes below.
- If using an infusion to raise temperature, dechlorinate water with metabisulfute, add to HLT, heat to boiling
- If using an infusion, add the water and stir when the timer goes off (I generally pour the infusion in, as it's only about 5 quarts)
- If ramping, set the RIMS to the next mash temperature and allow it to heat the wort
- If ramping, monitor the mash temperature and turn off if the RIMS overshoots.
- Reset and start timer for next rest.
- Sometimes I will do a decoction, steps not listed here
- Measure, treat and heat sparge water.
- At the end of all rests, reconfigure to run off wort. Open valve and let the wort drain slowly from the mash tun into the kettle.
- Reconfigure the hoses to pump sparge water into the mash tun from above using the recirculation manifold
- When the tun is empty and the sparge water is at temperature, pump the sparge water over the grain bed.
- Set timer, activate.
- Reconfigure the tun to drain. When the timer goes off, drain the sparge slowly into the kettle. Stop sparging when the desired volume of wort is obtained.
- Place the kettle on the heating unit (induction). Fix the hop screen to the kettle wall with a c-clamp. Turn the heat on high.
- Measure hop and other additions. Label the time to add.
- Set the timer.
- When the wort has come to a boil, start the timer.
- Add hops and other additions per recipe.
- When the timer goes off, measure the wort volume. Configure the hoses for recirculation. Turn on the pump, let the temperature drop to 180 degrees. Put the immersion chiller in the wort to pasteurize and add whirlpool hops.
- Whirlpool for the required time, then turn the immersion chiller on. Let the wort cool, uncovered, until 120 degrees, then cover and continue to chill.
- Start sanitizing the fermenter, hoses and anything else that will come in contact with the chilled wort.
- When the wort has reached 80 degrees F, oxygenate using the formula 1/32 lpm x 1 minute per desired ppm of O2.
- Run off the wort into the fermentor.
- Pitch yeast.
- Place the fermentor in the fermentation chamber.
- Clean up.
- Have a beer.
 
Nosy's basic brew day:
- Measure strike water
- Measure salts and add
- Measure acids and add
- Heat strike water
- Set hoses to pump water from HLT into mash tun
- While strike water is heating, calibrate pH meter, set timer to rest time
- Empty grains into mash tun
- When the water is hot, pump into mash tun (underlet)
- Stir, set hoses to recirculate, turn on pump and RIMS. Start timer.
- Monitor RIMS. Turn off if heat goes more than 1 degree F above desired temperature, turn on if the temperature goes below.
- If using an infusion to raise temperature, dechlorinate water with metabisulfute, add to HLT, heat to boiling
- If using an infusion, add the water and stir when the timer goes off (I generally pour the infusion in, as it's only about 5 quarts)
- If ramping, set the RIMS to the next mash temperature and allow it to heat the wort
- If ramping, monitor the mash temperature and turn off if the RIMS overshoots.
- Reset and start timer for next rest.
- Sometimes I will do a decoction, steps not listed here
- Measure, treat and heat sparge water.
- At the end of all rests, reconfigure to run off wort. Open valve and let the wort drain slowly from the mash tun into the kettle.
- Reconfigure the hoses to pump sparge water into the mash tun from above using the recirculation manifold
- When the tun is empty and the sparge water is at temperature, pump the sparge water over the grain bed.
- Set timer, activate.
- Reconfigure the tun to drain. When the timer goes off, drain the sparge slowly into the kettle. Stop sparging when the desired volume of wort is obtained.
- Place the kettle on the heating unit (induction). Fix the hop screen to the kettle wall with a c-clamp. Turn the heat on high.
- Measure hop and other additions. Label the time to add.
- Set the timer.
- When the wort has come to a boil, start the timer.
- Add hops and other additions per recipe.
- When the timer goes off, measure the wort volume. Configure the hoses for recirculation. Turn on the pump, let the temperature drop to 180 degrees. Put the immersion chiller in the wort to pasteurize and add whirlpool hops.
- Whirlpool for the required time, then turn the immersion chiller on. Let the wort cool, uncovered, until 120 degrees, then cover and continue to chill.
- Start sanitizing the fermenter, hoses and anything else that will come in contact with the chilled wort.
- When the wort has reached 80 degrees F, oxygenate using the formula 1/32 lpm x 1 minute per desired ppm of O2.
- Run off the wort into the fermentor.
- Pitch yeast.
- Place the fermentor in the fermentation chamber.
- Clean up.
- Have a beer.
Quite an operation. Impressive!
 
Ooh salts and acids, I do those when I remember to.
 
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I try to keep it simple most of the time and I brew 5 gallon BIAB batches. I don't have a grain mill, so I buy my grains crushed from my LHBS. I use a standard propane burner that I got from Fleet Farm.

Day before: I plan what I am going to brew & the steps or requirements of that batch. I test the pH of our tap water. Then I use BF to determine strike water temp & lactic acid needed to achieve the proper pH for mashing. I'll also assemble the kettle valve & thermowell.

Brew day:
1) Fill my kettle with tap water that goes through a filter before the spigot. I'll fill it at a ratio of 2 lbs of grain to 1 gallon of water. I'll check to see if there are leaks from fittings. Fix issue if there is any. Insert temperature probe in the thermowell.

2) Add the lactic acid and heat to strike temp. Place the brew bag in a bucket & secure with binder clips. I further attempt to crush the grains by punching & rolling the plastic bag the grains came in. I'll fill the brew bag with the grains.

3) When strike temp is reached I'll kill the flame, place the brew bag in the kettle, & mix the grains to get rid of any dough balls. Place lid on kettle & cover with towels. Let mash go for 60 minutes unless style or kit recommends otherwise.

4) Remove bag & place in strainer placed over a plastic bucket. Turn on flame and heat to a boil. I'll squeeze the bag & let drip into bucket while temp is rising in the kettle. Add squeezed wort to the kettle & wait for boil to start.

5) Once boiling I'll start the boil timer & follow the hop schedule. With 10-15 minutes left in the boil I'll place the wort chiller in the kettle to be sanitized. At flameout I will kill the flame & turn on the water to start chilling. With about 5 minutes left I'll start sanitizing the siphonless brew bucket. If the recipe calls for a flameout/whirlpool addition, I'll chill down to 165F & add the hops then. Now I will stir enough to create a whirlpool without splashing. Once temp reaches 70F I turn off the water & remove the chiller. If I am below my target level I'll add preboiled & cooled top up water.

6) I spray down the bucket and airlock again with sanitizer. Dump out any pooled sanitizer & place the bucket on a bucket dolly. Then I start transferring the wort through the ball valve keeping the hose at the top of the bucket to promote splashing in the bucket. When about 1/2 the wort is in the bucket I'll close the ball valve & dump the rest in. The idea is to promote significant splashing/aeration.

7) I will take a wort sample & place that in the hydrometer test tube. While that sits there, I will place the sanitized lid on the bucket & shake the bucket back and forth up to 2 minutes to aerate. Then I pitch the yeast, put the lid on again, & insert the thermowell bunge and airlock. I fill the airlock with sanitizer.

Fermentation
1) I will place the brew belt around the bucket, plug it into my controller & insert the temperature probe into the thermowell. The bucket is wheeled into the fermentation chamber & the door closed. Set the controller temp. Room temperature varies between 62F & 66F & the controller will kick in when the probe registers 2F below the set point. So I tend to set the controller 1-2 F above my target fermentation temp. I will take temp of the sample & take an OG reading. If needed I use the BF hydrometer temp correction calculator to get my official OG reading.

2) Depending on style will determine primary & secondary times. Generally ales with SRM <7 will sit in primary 1 week. Darker ales & lagers will sit in primary 2 weeks. Then I will transfer to a 5 gallon siphonless Big Mouth Bubbler using the spigot on the primary bucket. I take a gravity reading at this time.

3) Ales will sit for 1-2 weeks at the same temp as primary. Lagers will go in beer fridge which is set at 37F for 4 or more weeks. Since I can keg now, I will cold crash ales in the beer fridge for 2-3 days before kegging.

Packaging
1) I take a sample & place it in the hydrometer test tube. I will let it sit until I'm done packaging, then I'll take temp & FG reading from the sample. Again if needed I'll use BF hydrometer temp correction calculator.
* Kegging: empty into sanitized keg using gravity feed through spigot. I'm still working out the carbonation method here, but for now force carb @ 35 psi 24 hours then lower to serving pressure. Test 3 days later.
* Bottling: if lagered or cold crashed, I remove fermenter out of fridge afternoon before bottling to come up to room temp. Boil appropriate amount of light DME or dextrose & yeast nutrient for 10 minutes. Sanitize the bottles during this time. Then cool down the priming solution to wort temp & empty it into a bottling bucket through the spigot. Stirring gently to mix priming solution evenly. Fill a bottle & place a cap on it while I fill another bottle. When wort is gone I use a capper to seal all of the bottles. Then they are placed in 12 bottle boxes &/or 6 bottle carriers. Then those are placed in a big box to keep light out & placed in a room that will maintain appropriate temp to carb. I will test a bottle after 2 weeks. If it's not ready I will test a bottle 2 weeks later. Then store them in the beer fridge.
 
I've been brewing off and on since the early 80's, at first kits then All grain BIAB setup with a BruHeat Boiler, took a long break up until 5 years ago, started partial extract brewing until now back to full grain. Things have changed when I left the Colonies were not famed for their beer, amazing what can happen when you don't have tradition holding you back.

Anyway I find that I have a day off and check that I've taken the dog out for a walk
I then see if I have in what I'm going to need
Put the pot on kitchen hob and heat up 35l of water, I'm not big on water treatment as I think what I brew should reflect where I am, which is Bristol UK, to quite alkaline water best for darker beers, so I tend to make better strong bitters with darker crystal malts that lighter ones, but I also managed a great wheat beer earlier this year. Add half a camdem tablet to release the chlorine Wessex Water puts in the tap.
Measure out the grains, simpler is better, at most three varieties, (two is best) and put into my mash tun
Strike water at 74C put in at 2.5l / kg
An hour to go and dig out hoses for transfer and fermenting bin and wash and sterilize.
Bring remaining water up to 78C for sparge.
Remember where I've put an old fermenting bin to use as a grant, and then sparge and collect wort, aiming for about 28l
Transfer wort into pot, put on gas burner in the garden and start the boil, when rolling add hops start timer, usually starting with "Hey Siri"
Last 10 mins Irish Moss and wort chiller in situ.
Chill
At about 20C transfer with as much splashing as I can manage into fermentor, pitch yeast (almost always dried these days)
Set up inkbird and fridge for 19C
Start cleaning
Wait

Do you think its possible that we become accustomed to our usual diet, just that despite falling in love with NEIPA, AIPA, APA and all the Frankenbeers that are created over the pond, I really do like a good pint of bitter with a cheese and raw white onion sandwich.
 
I've been brewing off and on since the early 80's, at first kits then All grain BIAB setup with a BruHeat Boiler, took a long break up until 5 years ago, started partial extract brewing until now back to full grain. Things have changed when I left the Colonies were not famed for their beer, amazing what can happen when you don't have tradition holding you back.

Anyway I find that I have a day off and check that I've taken the dog out for a walk
I then see if I have in what I'm going to need
Put the pot on kitchen hob and heat up 35l of water, I'm not big on water treatment as I think what I brew should reflect where I am, which is Bristol UK, to quite alkaline water best for darker beers, so I tend to make better strong bitters with darker crystal malts that lighter ones, but I also managed a great wheat beer earlier this year. Add half a camdem tablet to release the chlorine Wessex Water puts in the tap.
Measure out the grains, simpler is better, at most three varieties, (two is best) and put into my mash tun
Strike water at 74C put in at 2.5l / kg
An hour to go and dig out hoses for transfer and fermenting bin and wash and sterilize.
Bring remaining water up to 78C for sparge.
Remember where I've put an old fermenting bin to use as a grant, and then sparge and collect wort, aiming for about 28l
Transfer wort into pot, put on gas burner in the garden and start the boil, when rolling add hops start timer, usually starting with "Hey Siri"
Last 10 mins Irish Moss and wort chiller in situ.
Chill
At about 20C transfer with as much splashing as I can manage into fermentor, pitch yeast (almost always dried these days)
Set up inkbird and fridge for 19C
Start cleaning
Wait

Do you think its possible that we become accustomed to our usual diet, just that despite falling in love with NEIPA, AIPA, APA and all the Frankenbeers that are created over the pond, I really do like a good pint of bitter with a cheese and raw white onion sandwich.
I believe you're on to something. A good German Lager (American Lagers are still pi×× in a can) and good food... Seems to be a trend.
 

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