Recent content by leesmith

Strange...isn't that set up supposed to be stainless? True stainless isn't magnetic.

Yeah I had the Riwaka Pale Ale there. Frankly (this is my favorite brewery) it wasn't that expressive. At the time I was enthralled with Mary on draft....so that could have been clouding my judgment. Thanks for replying...just curious what another brewers experience was with it....considering...

Have you used Riwaka on its own? I’m curious if it stands up to a single hop beer.

From Bru-N-Water: Magnesium is typically the secondary ion creating hardness in water. It accentuates flavor with a sour bitterness when present at low concentration, but it is astringent at high concentration. Magnesium is a yeast nutrient and an important co-factor for certain enzymes...

I’m not familiar with the style but that’s not a good approach to any beer.

The reason I dose my acid at the beginning of the boil is for control. I’ll mash out to 170...remove the grain...then hold at 170 until I’ve dosed...taken a measurement and either dose again if needed to hit desired ph or start to raise the temp to boil. Doing it towards the end when I’ve got...

How have you found your own results align with this recommendation?

Above or below mash temp?

So if the top 6 inches of your mash is at your desired mash temp with the separate thermo...what temp does the installed probe read at the bottom?

Is your system a home made system? I made my single vessel system from scratch and used to get quite a temperature stratification due to the location of the probe which controlled the heating element. Any chance this could be going on?

Do you mind providing a detailed recipe and brew day process? How your mashing...what kind of vessel, bag, heat source... Where your fermenting...controlled temp...ambient...

I went and looked at my records... I've brewed about 35 times with 1318 and got 75-80% attenuation at 152f mash temp. At a higher temp than that and it starts to creep into the 70-75% range.

I do too....that's the reason I switched to using a hydrometer for final gravity. But that doesn't solve her problem. 1.011 to 1.013 isn't as far off as 1.011 is to 1.020 or even 1.013 to 1.020. I think there is more to the problem than just the right calculator is what I'm saying.

From my experience, Terril's calculator was within a point or two of what was measured with a hydrometer and no where near that far off from what was expected. BUT she should get a hydrometer and check against the refractometer regardless. If they both line up...then go back to process and...

Of course...samples should be as clear as possible. For a mash sample I'll stir the mash...wait a minute or two and take the clear wort from the top. For boil or after...I'll let the sediment settle in the bulb (takes seconds) and then gently put a drop on the refractometer. If it's still too...