Review of my brewing process

The Homebrew Forum

Help Support The Homebrew Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

seanmppp

New Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2013
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Hi, I am new to the forum and would like to know if anyone has any pointers for my brewing process. Any helpful adjustments or suggestions for more efficient processes are welcomed!

Thanks!


----------INGREDIENTS----------
oWATER
5½ gallons water
1 tsp gypsum salt

oGRAINS
11 lb Maris Otter 2-row
1 lb English crystal 40
¼ lb honey malt
¼ lb dried oats (oatmeal)

oHOPS
½ oz Nugget | 60 minute hops [bittering]
2 oz Cascade | 5 minute hops [flavor]
2½ oz Cascade | Flameout hops [flavor/aroma]

oOTHER INGREDIENTS
½ tablet Worfloc clarifier
California Ale Yeast (WLP001) or Safale US-05 Dry Yeast
4 oz corn sugar

----------SUPPLIES----------
oBREW DAY
PBH cleaning solution
Lauter tun
8 gallon stainless steel pot (with lid)
Submersible thermometer
Charcoal water filter
Bathroom towel
6 quart stainless steel pot
Long stainless steel spoon
Scale
Wort chiller
Racking cane
6 gallon fermentation bucket with spigot [primary fermenter] (with lid, stopper, stopper plug, and airlock)
Small space heater [if fermenting space is too cold]

oSECONDARY
PBH cleaning solution
5 gallon glass carboy [secondary fermenter] (with stopper and airlock)
4 foot ½“-I.D. clear plastic hose

oBOTTLING DAY
PBH cleaning solutionr
Charcoal water filter
Small saucepan
Larger saucepan (large enough to fit small one inside with some room to spare)
55 12-oz bottles
55 bottle caps
Racking cane (with bottle filler)
Small bowl (for discarding racking cane water)
Bottle capper


----------INSTRUCTIONS----------
oBREW DAY
1. The golden rule of brewing: Don't be lazy with sanitizing!

2. Set lauter tun in brew pot, then fill with 4 gallons carbon filtered water. Place on burner and bring to 160°F.

3. When water reaches 160°F, mix in gypsum salt, then add grains into lauter tun, cover brew pot with lid and towel, and let sit for 45 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, fill 6 quart pot with 1½ gallon carbon filtered water (this’ll be the sparging water) and bring to 160°F by the end of the 45 minute mashing in step 3.

5. Slowly lift lauter tun above water line, allowing wort to drain out of the grains. Then slowly trickle the sparging water over the grains in the lauter tun. When sparging water stops dripping from the grains, remove the lauter tun and discard grains.

6. Rinse out the lauter tun, then return it to the brew pot. [The lauter tun is changing functions and is now called the filter)

7. Bring mash to a boil, then add 60 minute hops. Boil aggressively for 60 minutes.
20 minutes before end of boil, add Worfloc.
5 minutes before end of boil, add the 5 minute hops.

8. At the end of the boil, turn off the flame and let brew pot sit, uncovered, for 5 minutes to cool just slightly.

9. Add flameout hops, then mix vigorously for 10 seconds. Let sit, uncovered, for 30 minutes.

10. Mix again, then lift filter out of the brew pot.

11. Add wort chiller and cool to <.75°F.

12. Remove wort chiller. Place brew pot 3 feet off the floor and mix vigorously for 60 seconds to create a whirlpool. Cover the brew pot and let rest for 30 minutes. This should create a cone of trub at the middle of the bottom of the brew pot.

13. Transfer wort to the primary fermenter with the racking cane:
Start at the top of the wort and slowly work down at the side of the brew pot, avoiding the trub cone. Hold the end of the racking cane at the top of the primary fermenter to allow it to aerate as much as possible. Pitch yeast into the primary fermenter half way through the transferring process.

14. Place lid, stopper, and stopper plug tightly on the primary fermenter. Shake the primary fermenter vigorously for 2 minutes.

15. Place airlock in place of the stopper plug.
Place primary fermenter
a) in a small insulated space with a heater set to 65oF (when ambient temperature is below 65oF)
b) in a non-insulated space, in the 8 gallon brew pot filled with water, and a towel half in/half out of the pot (when ambient temp is above 65°F)

o SECONDARY (FIVE OR SIX DAYS AFTER BREWING)
1. Place primary fermenter 3 feet off the floor and let sit for >2 hours (to settle out any trub).

2. Attach hose to nozzle and fill secondary fermenter (at the bottom to avoid oxidation). Leave behind any trub in primary fermenter.

3. Place stopper and airlock atop secondary fermenter and return to the fermentation space.

4. When haze drops to the bottom of the secondary fermenter, the beer is ready to bottle (~10-16 days).

oBOTTLING
1. Boil 2 cups carbon filtered water in a small saucepan, add corn sugar and mix until dissolved. Fill the larger saucepan with cold water and then place the small saucepan inside to cool for 5 minutes.

2. Place secondary fermenter 3 feet off the ground, then pour in sugar water and gently mix with the racking cane (avoiding aeration but mixing sufficiently). Return airlock to and let sit for 1 hour (to settle out any trub).
Meanwhile, wash bottles in dishwasher (without soap).

3. Boil 2 cups water in a small saucepan, place bottle caps inside for 2 minutes, then strain.

4. Fill racking cane and hose with water. Bend hose at the half-way point, allowing water to drain out the open end.

5. Place racking cane half way into secondary fermenter, then push filler valve down in the bowl until beer reaches the valve.

6. Fill each bottle to the top, allowing the displacement of the bottle filler to bring the beer down to ¾” below the top.

7. Allow bottles to sit for 10 minutes, then cap in the order they were filled.

8. Let bottles sit in a dark, temperature-controlled closet for 14 days, then drink.
 
Hi , i would recommend you mash for a longer time , around 60 mins maybe 90 , you may not have finished converting all starch to sugar with 45mins mashing (get some iodine and do a test to see if all starch has converted to sugars , black/blue means still starch available but light brown/orange means all done) . I would also recommend raising at the end to 76c (168f) for 10 mins .
What is your mash temp ? Your strike temp is mentioned so i guess it's 66c , :)
 
I'm not seeing any Campden tablets in use. How are you dealing with chlorine and chloramine in the water?
 
WelshPaul, I am carbon filtering the water to take care of that stuff.

pittsy, thanks for the info. I will try the iodine trick to see if I am in fact mashing for too little a time. Also, can you describe to me the benefit of raising the mash temp for the a last ten minutes?
 
Hi yes , if you mash in on the low side(63c) you will get short sugar thus more fermentable and if you move the mash temp higher you will get longer sugar thus more unfermentables (more body) but if left at this temp for a long period the longer sugar may get broken down into short sugar and raising the temp to a mash out temp (76c) will stop all actions taking place and also will change the structure of the wort slightly so an easier run off is possible . If i did a mash and wanted a dryish beer with body i might mash at 63c for 30 mins and then up to 72c for 20/30 mins to get the best of both but if i left it at 72c for an hour or so then it would loose body and become more fermentable and would be almost like mashing in only at 63c for an hour .
I'm not very good at trying to explain myself in real science talk but i do understand what's what and to explain fully would take many pages of type ,
Also be careful of using a carbon filter , i would send a sample away for testing as it may be stripping vital ions out of your water , but it may be needed depending on your water .
 
How do you sanitise your wort chiller? I put mine in 15mins before the end of the boil.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top