Intermediate Brewing

1. Recommend Homebrew books for Xmas?

   9 Replies 12567 Views

   First post by shetc, 11 years ago

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   Hi All,
   
   Thanks to BIAB, I pretty much have all the equipment I really need to brew beer. I'm guessing that my family would like to give me something beer-related for a Xmas gift. Are there any books containing recipes with integrity that would make a good reference to have?
   
   Thanks,
   Steve

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   I got 'The Complete Beer Course' for Christmas last year, and although its not a book about brewing, it is what got me started brewing. Great easy read about every style, the history behind them, and '2 to taste' commercial examples of each with several backups. Awesome book...
   9 Replies
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   Last post by goulaigan
   11 years ago
2. Brewing Classic Styles (BCS) recipes and hop adjustments.

   19 Replies 23546 Views

   First post by bundy, 11 years ago

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   There has been some discussion on the recipes contained in the popular book Brewing Classic Styles written by John Palmer and Jamil Zainasheff.
   
   Although considered a high integrity source of recipes for both All Grain and Extract there was debate in regards to the conversion of the Hop bill from Extract to All Grain and Hop utilization between both brewing styles. (Both recipe versions carry the same Hop Bill)
   
   This thread hopes to clear up that confusion and continues on from here
   
   From my...

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   Excellent work Bundy. This is very informative and interesting.
   Thank you for taking the time to chase this down.
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   Last post by Lumpy5oh
   11 years ago
3. EZ Water and Bru'n Water First time out

   5 Replies 8127 Views

   First post by andyisavinit, 11 years ago

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   Hi people
   
   Hope you can help by looking at my ez water and bru'n water files and sanity checking for me. My main concern with both of these files is that they call for 10ml (ez water) and 18ml (bru'n water) so a 8ml difference. I'm using 80% lactic acid. I have hard water - 260 CaCO3
   
   I have actually brewed this as I was confident I knew what I was doing hahahaha – I ended up using the bru'n water additions of acid i.e. 18ml after slowly adding acid to my total water it did take 18ml to get...

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   Andy, I've not been able to get Bru'n Water to work for me ,but, using ez water works about 1/2 the time for me. I've used Brewers Friend with limited success too.
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   Last post by jhough
   11 years ago
4. recipe check ... and a couple of questions

   27 Replies 31894 Views

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   First post by BDP, 11 years ago

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   Hi Folks,
   
   Converting Graham Wheeler's Guinness Extra Stout recipe, and had a couple of questions. I've attached the BIABacus:
   BIABacus PR1.3T - Dry Stout - Guinness Extra Stout - Batch A0.xls
   
   The original recipe lists a color of 203 EBC, but the BIABacus calculates it as 75.8 (substituted = 68). This seems like too large a disparity to go unchecked (203 vs. 68). After searching online for a color scale, it would appear that 60+ EBC is the darkest end of the scale, so I'm guessing that the...

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   Hey PistolPatch & Mally,
   
   I believe I understand bullet #15 now. I'd say it's analogous to the quality of the fuel in PistolPatch's car journey posting:
   
   Thanks again,
   BDP
   27 Replies
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   Last post by BDP
   11 years ago
5. Starter gone wild

   3 Replies 6549 Views

   First post by Strengthnhealth, 11 years ago

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   Have you ever had a starter this active?

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   Was a little worried, as never had one this active before. Tasted the beer on top when stepping it up & it was fine so should be good to go:)
   First 10 gal batch this week.
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   Last post by Strengthnhealth
   11 years ago
6. templates

   6 Replies 9411 Views

   First post by alanem, 11 years ago

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   Recently I queried about using my old Ipad out in the shed with Biabacus installed to edit and such as I go along instead of having a pile of scribbled and hard to decipher notes to copy into my Biabacus page when I went back into the house.
   I have now devised for myself 2 simple templates that keep my figures tidier and much easier to copy onto the main sheet back at the house, also they give me an indication as I brew of my measurements / Vol. etc,..... it suits the purpose well for me.
   The...

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   Just let me know of any alterations if you see the need for such, as I say the idea was just for my basic brews and to make it easier to keep records I take into the house after brewing to enter into Biabacus :)
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   Last post by alanem
   11 years ago
7. Where do you add the Trub loss in a cube in Biabacus

   3 Replies 5674 Views

   First post by dom, 11 years ago

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   Hi,
   I've started no-chill and when I rack into the FV from the cube I get approx 1.4 litres left in the bottom of the cube. My current KFL is 2.2 litres (ie trub in kettle) - do I just add the 1.4 to the 2.2 and stick that in as the new KFL figure ?
   
   seems i'll need a little more water to boil with doing no-chill to cater for the extra loss.
   
   Cheers

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   Sounds good/sensible to me Dom :salute:.
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   Last post by PistolPatch
   11 years ago
8. Thoughts on the importance of stirring during mash.

   12 Replies 14553 Views

   First post by goulaigan, 12 years ago

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   Hey folks, just wondering what the general consensus is on the importance of stirring during the mash.
   
   :scratch:
   
   I've got my first 4 BIABs bottled or consumed now, the 5th is almost done in my fermenter, and 6 and seven planned and ingredients in the mail. Looking at my numbers it would seem that, at least for me, stirring during the mash doesn't really effect much, except for the temp.
   
   Now that being said, I really don't have enough brews done, (and none the same recipe) to really make a...

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   I stir at the start to knock out the clumps
   
   I stir in the middle because I want to check the temperature before firing up the element and bringing it back up to temp.
   
   If the mash is supposed to be at 66'C, I fire back up at 64'C which is about 45min in. I'm only using a sleeping bag and a duvet cover to keep the heat in - and they're often cold when I put them on.
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   Last post by tim_n
   11 years ago
9. multi-step infusion using boiling water addition

   4 Replies 6998 Views

   First post by BDP, 11 years ago

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   Hi Folks,
   
   I would love to brew a dry stout from BCS, but the unmalted barley requires a beta glucan rest (according to the recipe). My propane burner is too weak to raise the mash temp up by the recommended rate of 1C per minute. I was thinking of using a boiling water addition to help raise the mash to sach rest temp, instead of heating via the burner. I tried the latter approach on a previous recipe, and it was a hopeless fail.
   
   I would have to play around with the boiling water addition...

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   Hi PistolPatch,
   
   Last time I tried to raise the mash temp to the next rest, it took too long. The resulting beer had no 'body', head retention, and tasted 'thin' (over-attenuated).
   
   Hi BobBrews,
   
   That's exactly the advice I was hoping to hear :salute: . The recipe calls for 900g of flaked barley. I'll mash the whole grain bill at the sacch rest temp.
   
   Hi Joshua,
   
   Thanks for the suggested formula. Good to know this is a workable approach ... I'll keep it in my back pocket as an option for the...
   4 Replies
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   Last post by BDP
   11 years ago
10. Consistently miss efficiencies .. time to tweak Section X?

    14 Replies 15429 Views

    First post by BungBrew, 12 years ago

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    So I have 11 FVM BIABs under my belt and produced some very good beer! :champ:
    
    All my brews have been on the same equipment so now I am looking closer at processes.
    
    I have noticed that on all my brews I have missed the mark on my efficiencies:
    
    All figures below are Estimated - Actual..
    
    Batch 7
    EIB -10.2%
    EAW -19%
    EIF -14.4%
    
    Batch 8
    EIB -3.3%
    EAW -2.8%
    EIF -1.6%
    
    Batch 9
    EIB -0.1%
    EAW -2.6%
    EIF -2.3%
    
    Batch 10
    EIB -6.9%
    EAW -13.7%
    EIF -12.1%
    
    Batch 11
    EIB -3.9%
    EAW -8.1%
    EIF -6.2%
    
    What...

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    Thanks PP.
    
    I do ensure the hydro sample has cooled to ambient before accepting the reading and my process it to pull the bag at the end of mashout, stir the wort and then take the sample. I do notice however the preboil sample usually has floaties in it .. perhaps proteins? but these typically settle before the sample has cooled (an issue?)
    
    I will borrow some scales from a local brew mate next brew to see if that is a contributing factor..
    
    One thing that has occured to me reviewing the data...
    14 Replies
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    Last post by BungBrew
    11 years ago
11. Mash and Boil Times, do they need to be changed?

    14 Replies 16290 Views

    First post by Rigging65, 12 years ago

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    Hey there,
    
    I'm entering a new recipe for conversion into BIABacus. A strange as it may be, this is the first recipe I've converted that doesn't call for 90 min sparge and 90 min boil. My understanding is that 90/90 is pretty much an unofficial standard for BIAB, for various, well thought out reasons.
    
    My question is this: the recipe is for a Witbier, it calls for 60/60. It's a 11 gallon-ish VAW that I'm converting to a 6 gallon-ish VAW. Should I enter my times in BIABacus as 60/60, or 90/90?...

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    @PistolPatch
    Thanks for the private message mate. I felt that after my initial post and further response I was pushing this thread too far away from its original discussion on general boil time considerations, and I was just happy to move on.
    
    I also think I made a mistake in mentioning the BIABacus in this context – which I think was due to my greenness with it. That little field that says boil time , and the sections that @bundy mentioned above (thanks again), are all I need if I want to play...
    14 Replies
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    Last post by celeryness
    11 years ago
12. Adding fruit juice to secondary

    3 Replies 5574 Views

    First post by goulaigan, 12 years ago

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    I decided to try and brew a fruit beer. Don't get me wrong here I love a face-puckering hoppy kick in the mouth as much as the next guy, but I appreciate most styles of beer and like a fruit beer once in a while, as long as it isn't sweet and still tastes like beer.
    
    I actually even enjoy a Sam Adams Cherry Wheat once in a while :sneak: , so I decided to brew something along that profile with a simple 45% 2row, 45% wheat and 10% munich grain bill and just a bit of tettnang.
    
    My original plan...

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    Excellent PP, I figured there was a way. I haven't actually used too many of those extra sections in Biabacus since the necessary ones and the defaults are all I have required so far to make what I consider to be some really great and predictable beer.
    
    Your suggestion makes sense and I will follow it if this beer turns out as good as it was on bottling day and I brew it again. Think I still have the containers actually so I could probably play around with my file as it is too...
    
    Anyway,...
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    Last post by goulaigan
    12 years ago
13. What to do with Left over hops?

    13 Replies 13792 Views

    First post by bundy, 12 years ago

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    Guys, just wondering what you do with left over hops from previous brews?
    
    I seem to be getting a stock of a bit of this and a bit of that laying around and may never use them again. If it's a hop I use regularly it's not an issue, but some brews I've tried I'm very unlikely to bother with again.
    
    Are there any smart ideas to use these hops up or is it pretty much a case of not worth the hassle?
    
    I've read some people substitute bittering hops with something similar, but has anyone tried doing...

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    That's a great idea from BlackIslandBrew and a hopped starter is preferable if my memory serves me correctly. Welcome aboard BIB :peace:. ...If I use bittering hops that are totally not suitable to a brew style will they not be tasted down the track? Will they affect the beer adversely in any way?
    Eg using Hallertau hops as bittering in an APA would that just be stupid or wouldn't really matter? Two things here that I should have mentioned above...
    
    1. Don't necessarily do a complete...
    13 Replies
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    Last post by PistolPatch
    12 years ago
14. Biabacus Gone loopy

    8 Replies 11794 Views

    First post by alanem, 12 years ago

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    Hi,
    I put down a brew of APA the other week and when I went back into checking the recipe out today I noticed a huge difference between the original ingredients and the What you will need ingredients in both the hop bill and the grain bill ( Sec.C) and (sec. D) which in turn has made my water measurements in section K all loopy.
    
    I dont know a lot about spreadsheets (lets be honest, I know stuff all about spreadsheets!) but can I remove the contents of a recipe in Biabacus and then replace it...

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    Yes GM and John I was still wondering on that question and I thank you for that information, it sounds good and in future that is what I will do. (Next wet and cold winters day I will find a blank biabacus form and sit down and fill out a few with the standard entries for future recipes.)
    
    Cheers and Thanks :salute:
    Al
    8 Replies
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    Last post by alanem
    12 years ago
15. So much to brew, not enough kegs

    2 Replies 5113 Views

    First post by BungBrew, 12 years ago

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    I am trying to get a variety of competition entries together for my local beer comp in Sep & Oct and trying to get the beers brewed now so they can settle down and age a little prior to the comps. I brew a batch large enough to fill 6 x 740ml bottles + a keg.
    
    I'm at the situation now where my three kegs are filled, I have an IPA in secondary and a APA in primary with a Black IPA begging to be brewed in the next week or so.
    
    Given in Canberra this time of year it is getting down to zero deg C...

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    I'm a bit unclear on your question Bung. I think Bob has read it well but I am wondering...
    
    Why are these beers in the garage? Why not just put them inside?
    
    My next questions are, when are you going to bottle them and at what temp are you going to keep those bottles and for how long?
    
    My final question is, why aren't you bottling now, keeping them inside for two weeks and then letting them sit in your garage?
    
    They are my thoughts :think: :salute: :)
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    Last post by PistolPatch
    12 years ago
16. The grain bill

    9 Replies 11276 Views

    First post by BDP, 12 years ago

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    Hi,
    
    Me again :) . I'm planning my 3rd BIAB, and I noticed that this time around the adjusted grain bill comes in lower than the original. My first two BIAB's did not display such a discrepancy between original and adjusted, so naturally I thought that perhaps I've done something wrong this time around. Could someone please have a quick look and provide some feedback? Much appreciated.
    
    BIABacus PR1.3K - English Brown - Nutcastle - Batch 0.xls
    
    Cheers,
    BDP

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    I think this is a rather clever, and appropriate analogy. :salute: I think I will read this daily for the next week :P, and all will be well.
    
    BDP
    9 Replies
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    Last post by BDP
    12 years ago
17. Volume into FV is always too low

    24 Replies 21454 Views

    First post by dom, 12 years ago

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    Hi,
    
    I've done 3 BIAB brews now and each one I am under when draining into the FV. Sometimes more than others. Todays brew I hit my gravity targets (in fact that hasn't been the problem in all three brews) - its the volume. So I have tried the calculator, Biabicus and Beersmith side by side. Of course all three give me different instructions for starting volumes :-D
    So todays brew I thought I'd give the Biabicus a go after reading a few of PistolPatchs posts on how more appropriate it is for...

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    Great! That is the way you want it. Topping up in the fermentor is much better than ending up with weak wort. Perfect!
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    Last post by PistolPatch
    12 years ago
18. Oatmeal Stout finished high

    1 Replies 4654 Views

    First post by BungBrew, 12 years ago

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    After some advice (as always).
    
    This was my 12th BIAB with all others being relatively successful.
    
    I decided to rebrew my Oatmeal Stout which was a great tasting brew but used a new malt on the market here locally Voyager.
    
    Everything went well on the brew day but for some reason it has finished at 1.022 instead of the 1.013 I was expecting.
    
    I originally used US-05 and kept temps between 18-21 deg C.
    
    After I had seen it had stalled after 5 days I gave it a stir and left it for a further 2...

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    BungBrew,
    
    If the mash temperature was lower than expected due to faulty thermometer or misreading it than you will have a more fermentable beer with a lower final gravity. The opposite is true also. If you mash higher than you expected to do, than you will cause the wort to be less fermentable by denaturing the grain. It will never reach the expected final gravity!
    
    I know your worry about bottle bombs. They are dangerous or at least they will be gushers and be only (openable?) above the...
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    Last post by BobBrews
    12 years ago
19. Low Sugar Yield

    35 Replies 33297 Views

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    First post by drtablet, 12 years ago

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    Hello all,
    I'm hoping for some advise from one or two experienced BIAB brewers to see if I can improve the amount of sugar I get from the grain.
    I've a few MiniBIABs under my belt but they have all been much lower Gravity into Boil (GIB) and Gravity of Ambient Wort (GAW) than what I was expecting from using the BIABacus.
    
    For example.
    Expecting GAW of 1.048 - actual 1.038
    Expecting GAW of 1.065 - actual 1.044
    (all readings taken when normalised to 20C)
    
    I have read the previous forum post...

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    Way to go drt. Thanks for updating... That's the only way we can help! Plus ...(don't take this the wrong way) But, we ALL learn from each others mistakes as nobody has the Midas Touch !!
    35 Replies
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    Last post by jhough
    12 years ago
20. Water treatment for FVM systems?

    3 Replies 6266 Views

    First post by aamcle, 12 years ago

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    I'm thinking about going beyond adding a Camden tablet to my water, its very hard and at least getting the alkalinity down would be a good idea.
    
    I've had a look at a few calculators and the seem to expect 3V with a sparge.
    
    Is there a calculator for FVM? I should read up on water treatment is there a link you can recommend?
    
    Many Thanks. Aamcle

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    I have been using Brewer's Friend, Bru'n Water and E-Z water calculator for my last 7-8 brews. I also have a pH meter. I build my water starting from RO water from the store. So far I have found Bru'n Water ( pain version) and Brewer's Friend Advanced (free) to be pretty close to what my actual readings are with the pH meter. E-Z water always predicts higher than what I get. Most of my brews have only required adding gypsum and/or CaCl2 to the RO water but I finally had to get some phosphoric...
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    Last post by monkeyman
    12 years ago
21. BIABacus conversion to 10 gallon batch

    5 Replies 8233 Views

    First post by blancasterb, 12 years ago

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    Maybe I have overlooked it, or just not input the correct search terms, but how do you do a 10 gallon batch with BIAB and BIABacus? I am using a 15.5 gal converted keg as my kettle.
    I grabbed the BIABacus that was put out in another thread by PP since I know it will have integrity.
    
    Obviously Section B I would need to increase VIF. If I use 37.85L there, this increases my water volume to 14.77gal
    Once I add my grain, Im way over my kettle volume. I think I would use section W to adjust. I just...

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    Thank you both for the helpful knowledge, I am understanding how this all works... I think ! :headhit:
    I plan on converting a recipe I have made a few times as a 5 gal batch over to a near 10 gallon this weekend
    I hope all goes well! Wish me luck!
    :luck:
    5 Replies
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    Last post by blancasterb
    12 years ago
22. HELP, I've made beer

    9 Replies 14004 Views

    First post by hashie, 12 years ago

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    Sampled my latest beer this weekend. It's the beer I'm doing the crown beer experiment on. And it tastes great, just not what I expected.
    
    The recipe is as follows and apologies if the format is incorrect.
    
    3.6kg Marris otter
    1.15kg Munich
    0.7kg Dark Crystal
    
    1tsp salt
    
    37 litres strike water
    mashed at 64°c 90 minutes
    mashout at 77°c 20 minutes - Dark Crystal added at this step.
    
    Boil 90 minutes
    
    Northern brewer 52g 60 minutes
    East Kent Goldings 27g 15 minutes
    East Kent Goldings 10g 5 minutes...

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    I think it's the yeast.
    At first I thought it must have been an infection, albeit a good one. However I believe my sanitation process to be robust enough to counter this thought. I brew in a 30 litre stainless conical fermenter with 2 x stainless ball valves. The valves are stripped and sanitised between each brew and the fermenter is sanitised before each use with Starsan . I think there are a number of factors such as;
    under pitching, double pitching and perhaps a triple ferment.
    
    I first...
    9 Replies
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    Last post by hashie
    12 years ago
23. brew day review help

    10 Replies 10960 Views

    First post by monkeyman, 12 years ago

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    I have been working on an American Amber Ale. This is version 3. It is basically the BCS recipe with Special B in place of the Crystal 120. The predicted pre boil gravity was 1.041. I ended up with 1.047 so I added 1200 ml of RO water to the sweet liquor prior to the boil. That dropped the gravity to 1.044 ( I wanted to add more but was out of RO water). The OG ended up pretty close to the predicted 1.052 ( 1.051 as best as I could tell with my equipment). My question is, how do I put my final...

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    No banana - lol!!!
    
    majorphill - Sorry major, I missed your post #5 above somehow. I'm guessing that monkey's VIB included his 1200 ml top-up. This plus a GIB of 1.044 gives him an EIB of 97.9% which is pretty possible on a small batch size where the bag can be squeezed a lot easier thatn a larger bag.
    
    monkey - Sorry mate, I forgot to add the file in above but basically, assuming what I wrote to majorphill above is correct, then your EIB and EAW were pretty close to each other which tends to...
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    Last post by PistolPatch
    12 years ago
24. Best way to maintain mash temp in the cold weather

    3 Replies 6758 Views

    First post by ohstone, 12 years ago

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    Brewing outside this time of of year can be tough, especially when mashing in a metal pot that conducts heat easily. What are some effective ways to prevent heat loss when brewing inside isn't an option?

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    I use the old Hot Water heater insulation cover.
    3 Replies
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    Last post by DrummoRC
    12 years ago
25. Half the hops ... Damn it

    3 Replies 6030 Views

    First post by BungBrew, 12 years ago

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    I brewed a Kolsch tonight but it wasn't until I was putting in the OG that I noticed on BIABacus somehow I had put entries in the hop substitute rows at twice the AA% (must be reuse error).
    
    Now I have a Kolsch that will only have 14 IBUs approximately. I haven't pitched the yeast yet and won't for 8 hours.
    
    I'd there anything I can do to correct the IBUs? Or should I just pitch it and chalk it up to a brew error?
    
    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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    It's in the keg, it is certainly drinkable with a grainy/slight malty profile.
    
    Certainly not my best beer but will be a good session beer with some IPAs in the mix.
    
    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    3 Replies
    6030 Views
    Last post by BungBrew
    12 years ago