Recent content by bspisak

If you have a straight braid, batch sparge. If you want to fly sparge, use a manifold or false bottom or you're efficiency will drop. See my previous post

Of course I want one!

Weyermann has both Bohemian Pilsner and Bohemian Floor Malted Pilsner. They aren't the same malt. If you are concerned about cost and aren't trying to clone the beer exactly, then I would just use what you have. It sounds like you're an intermediate brewer, and if so, then you probably won't...

I assume the ABV of this beer has been increasing over the years to keep up with what it means in the marketplace to be "Imperial." Imperial versions of beers usually benefit from a lower mash temperature than typical for the style to keep them from being too sweet. The first post in this...

Ditch the Carafa and go with Black Patent. You can add it just before mashout to reduce bitterness/astringency. If you do this, don't count its contribution to OG and make up the difference with base malt.

That sure seems like a long time. I did 20-25 minutes at 350F. Even then, I found that they added a harsh astringency to the beer. I've since learned that it's recommended (for any toasted grain) to let it rest for a week or more in a paper bag. The more toasted, the more they should rest to let...

The rate you drain the tun won't affect your efficiency. However, you may find that you still need to start slow and gradually open it up as you still need to set the grain bed for filtration. I find that about 2/3 open is where I typically end up. Vorlauf as usual. Brian

That's basically it. You'll want to choose a strike temperature for your sparge water (it's not necessarily 185F) to bring your mash to mash out temp without exceeding 170F. It will depend on the amount of grain, your grain temp, ambient temp and heat loss of your tun (after you take your...

It's your straight braid. To prove it, try batch sparging and you should see 70%. The idea is to raise the temperature of the mash (mash out) to kill enzyme activity (thus locking in your sugar profile) and to improve lautering. Without the ability to heat the mash to mashout temps (either...

Well, this is fly sparging plain and simple. The method of delivering the water to the top of the grain bed is irrelevant. How fast you drain the tun is irrelevant. Not matching flow rates of sparge and runnings is irrelevant. What is relevant is that you set the grain bed and add water...

FWIW, this recipe is the same as the one in Clone Brews by Tess and Mark Szamatulksi. One thing to note is that this book is geared to the extract brewer. Although they give all grain equivalents, all of their recipes say to mash at a sacch rest of 150F. I would probably try something closer...

How does that make sense? Carapils adds unfermentables that affect mouthfeel and head retention. Krausening just adds actively fermenting wort to help fermentation along and reduce diacetyl and/or to carbonate. Perhaps they krausen with a different wort that has more unfermentables than the...

Scratches in plastic buckets or vinyl tubing that leave places that harbor bacteria and resist sanitation is another common issue.

The worst kind of infection is the one that isn't so obvious. I had one recently that I didn't catch before it was kegged and carbonated. The carbonation breathed life into it. So pour that hydro sample into a wine glass, swish it around and breath it in. It can be much more subtle when...

sour beers are their own universe. ;)