Yossarian_nz
New Member
Hi all, I'm a relatively new HB'er: My first kit brew (a cezch pilsener) went well, so I decided to move up to adding specialty grains as well as hops a brew time.
The second recipie I thought I'd try was a Stout. I used Munton's Stout kit, 1kg of Brewcraft "Irish stout" DME as my main fermentables and steeped 600g Crystal malt and 400g Chocolate malt as specialties.
Now, the instructions I had were to NOT boil the grain, but to bring it up to a simmer; no temperature guidelines. I did so, but I'm sure (now) that the mash got too hot for too long. It smelled great at the time, and the hops made it smell wonderful!
Anyhow, two weeks in the primary and it tastes like I made very strong tea. It's pretty much undrinkable at this point. I decided to do some research and found that PVPP and Gelatin are good for removing polyphenols, so I visited my LHBS and came away with what they had: Kwik-Clear (Kieselsol and Gelatin). I added some of this to the primary, and while the tannin taste is reduced, it's still quite noticable.
It's now 3 weeks on the primary, and I want to get this into bottles. I've got some unflavoured, unsugared Gelatin (powdered form) and I'm considering adding this to the primary, as it'll be stronger than Kwik-Clear (AFAICT, the Kieselsol reacts with the Gelatin to deactivate it). So, loooooong story short, I have some questions.
1. Anyone had any problems with tannins, and how did you reduce them?
2. Opinions on addition of more Gelatin as a way to get rid of the remaining tannins?
3. Three parter: Will I still be able to bottle carb after so much Gelatin? Would it make sense to add more yeast before bottling? If so, how would I accomplish this?
Any tips are welcome! Have at it.
(FWIW: I now have a good thermometer and will endeavour to keep the mash below 65 degrees Celcius next time!)
The second recipie I thought I'd try was a Stout. I used Munton's Stout kit, 1kg of Brewcraft "Irish stout" DME as my main fermentables and steeped 600g Crystal malt and 400g Chocolate malt as specialties.
Now, the instructions I had were to NOT boil the grain, but to bring it up to a simmer; no temperature guidelines. I did so, but I'm sure (now) that the mash got too hot for too long. It smelled great at the time, and the hops made it smell wonderful!
Anyhow, two weeks in the primary and it tastes like I made very strong tea. It's pretty much undrinkable at this point. I decided to do some research and found that PVPP and Gelatin are good for removing polyphenols, so I visited my LHBS and came away with what they had: Kwik-Clear (Kieselsol and Gelatin). I added some of this to the primary, and while the tannin taste is reduced, it's still quite noticable.
It's now 3 weeks on the primary, and I want to get this into bottles. I've got some unflavoured, unsugared Gelatin (powdered form) and I'm considering adding this to the primary, as it'll be stronger than Kwik-Clear (AFAICT, the Kieselsol reacts with the Gelatin to deactivate it). So, loooooong story short, I have some questions.
1. Anyone had any problems with tannins, and how did you reduce them?
2. Opinions on addition of more Gelatin as a way to get rid of the remaining tannins?
3. Three parter: Will I still be able to bottle carb after so much Gelatin? Would it make sense to add more yeast before bottling? If so, how would I accomplish this?
Any tips are welcome! Have at it.
(FWIW: I now have a good thermometer and will endeavour to keep the mash below 65 degrees Celcius next time!)