What did you learn this week?

Everyone in here is a newbie (2 months for me), and we are all seeing the same stuff, and approximately the same time, and we are all learning from each other, as well as from the experienced hands in here who help us all out.

My bet is that we all tend to learn things in approximately the same sequence, too.

And we've all asked the same questions (like, "Did I ruin my beer?").

So, let's share.

What did you learn this week?

I learned two things this week.

1. I learned to divide up the DME, and add some at the beginning and some at the end, made a huge difference to the color, and the flavor and texture of the wort.

2. The really big thing I learned is how to use IBU's (rather than weight) for the hops additions. Huge difference when you can look at the package of hops, and KNOW how to adjust on the fly to achieve the result you want.

So, how about you

Learning how to program an Auber ramp/soak temp controller. Will be used for brewing beer, and for a glass kiln.

Also cold crashing for the first time, which I suppose also includes learning enough patience while brewing to get that far before wanting to hurry up and drink the beer

I learned not to take a hydrometer reading from the brewpot, which is going to have 2 more gallons of water added to it in the fermenter. I learned that I should mix the wort and added water well if I would like a reliable OG reading. And, I learned that the OG specified in my extract kit can be relied upon as accurate, weather I measure it or not.
Thanks HomeBrewTalk!!!

roger on the patience thing


I'm also learning how to wait for the beer to finish conditioning before I drink it all, but I haven't quite mastered that one yet.

I learned about combining DME with water to create a slurry before adding to the boil. Haven't tried this yet but plan to give it a shot during my next brew day.

why would you do that? just to keep it from clumping up, or is there another reason?

i've just been using a kitchen whisk, and whisking it in.

it's to help with clumping/make it easier to mix, yea. Sounds like an interesting concept and figured I'll try it out next time.

Yesterday I was reading about the importance of water and mineral content, hard or soft water.

I learned that they make 1/2 inch ball valves that have a manual bleed on the side. Now I don't need four valves for each pump.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005OA2JZ0/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

not exactly related to beer, but i learned that having a jug of sanitizer and water under the kitchen sink comes in very handy when cleaning up after preparing poultry (in this case a very large turkey).

Doctor_Wily said:

it's to help with clumping/make it easier to mix, yea. Sounds like an interesting concept and figured I'll try it out next time.

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i wonder if you could make that slurry by dipping out a bit of the wort from your pot. that way it's already hot and up to temp, and doesn't mess up your water measurements and volumes.

dadshomebrewing said:

i wonder if you could make that slurry by dipping out a bit of the wort from your pot. that way it's already hot and up to temp, and doesn't mess up your water measurements and volumes.

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I thought about either doing that or just reserving a bit of water (i use bottled since my faucet tastes like it comes from the city pool) to mix it up with.

it's an interesting idea... i use tap water so it would be easy for me to do, and i can see where it might be a benefit.

let us know if/how it works out

Will do, I plan to put together a kit soon so if I end up with some DME i'll give it a shot.

another thing i did, is i weighed an empty white labs tube (51g), and a full white labs tube (90g), giving the net weight of the content (39g).

so, i know that when mrmalty says I need .3 or .4 of a tube of yeast, what the total net weight of the yeast and tube i'm pitching will be.

so, if i want .4 (40%) of a tube, then it's (3.9g * 4) + 51 = 66.6 g (rounded up to 67g).

much more precise, at least for me, than using the old eyeballs.

I learned that adding 11 lbs if dme + 1.5 lbs of cane sugar + 1 lbs of candy sugar into 1.5 gallon of water is a pain in the ass !!! ... And I also learned that after adding all that to the pot and get it mixed up I shouldn't walk away until after the hot break .... Catastrophic boil over

Does anybody have any tips for adding Large amounts of dme ? Tips for keeping the clumping down

Doctor_Wily said:

I learned about combining DME with water to create a slurry before adding to the boil. Haven't tried this yet but plan to give it a shot during my next brew day.

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^^ Try this and tell us how it goes.

ifearnothing0 said:

Does anybody have any tips for adding Large amounts of dme ? Tips for keeping the clumping down

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I use a whisk, works great. You'll want to use some anti foam agent such as Fermcap if you use this or any similar method that aerates the wort.

ifearnothing0 said:

Does anybody have any tips for adding Large amounts of dme ? Tips for keeping the clumping down

Click to expand...

i use a whisk, but i like the slurry idea

^ Did it last night, in small scale, when I made starter wort. It worked quite well.

I learned I should always use a yeast starter after buying 4 bad packs of Wyeast and pitching them in my brew. I will never trust that yeast packs are good just because the date is 'fresh'.

Almost $30 down the drain. Yeast starters from now on.

I learned that my kitchen scales aren't sensitive enough to weigh small quantities of hops.

I learned that trying to brew while the wife is trying to prepare dinner in the same space is tricky. Having a clear kitchen for several hours is necessary.

I learned that preparation is one of the most important steps. Have a recipe, have a checklist, get everything sanitised, sterilised, wrapped in cling film if necessary before firing up the burner.

I also learned that small errors will not automatically ruin your beer. My mash temperature wandered about a bit, I pitched too warm and I didn't rehydrate the yeast or make a starter, I just sprinkled the contents of the packet onto the wort... but one week in the fermenter and the beer's looking and tasting great! No hint of off flavours... yet.

I learned that it's a bad plan to move a full keg out to the back patio just before brewing a new batch. Especially if it's a really good one. Makes finishing the current brew difficult. (but accomplished).

Dup

jakeperks said:

I learned that my kitchen scales aren't sensitive enough to weigh small quantities of hops.

I learned that trying to brew while the wife is trying to prepare dinner in the same space is tricky. Having a clear kitchen for several hours is necessary.

I learned that preparation is one of the most important steps. Have a recipe, have a checklist, get everything sanitised, sterilised, wrapped in cling film if necessary before firing up the burner.

I also learned that small errors will not automatically ruin your beer. My mash temperature wandered about a bit, I pitched too warm and I didn't rehydrate the yeast or make a starter, I just sprinkled the contents of the packet onto the wort... but one week in the fermenter and the beer's looking and tasting great! No hint of off flavours... yet.

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If your kitchen scale can do it, consider converting to grams instead of pounds and ounces, for more precision.

hmmm... someone else told me something like that in high school. ah, nevermind... wrong forum.

Keep your grain warm, especially when mashing in cold weather. Also, don't try to "squeeze" in a brew session. Rushed it trying to make everyone happy. Pretty sure the boil was 10 minutes short. 7 gravity points off. Now I've got 6 gallons of a small, pale ale. Next time, back to the way it should be done.

I learned that a fermentation chamber with a Johnson A419 controller beats the crap out of changing ice bottles in a swamp cooler!!

i learned i spend way too much on brewing equipment...

i learned this lesson of course, after picking up a blichmann floor burner with leg extensions and ordering a 20g Blichmann boilermaker kettle

I learned I must practice before tossing in the grain. Next practice is how to maintain mash temp with the existing equipment.

That what I thought was approx 5.5 gals in my fermenting bucket overflowed my 5 gal corney with 1 gal still left in the bucket.

Looks like I need to learn exactly where 5 gals is in my bucket

Toy4Rick

Learned my apt. electric stove just does'nt have what it takes to boil 2 1/2 gallons of wort. But had a burner waiting to take up the slack.

learned lots over the last 3 weeks about wtf dycatel is and how to make a starter and why it is important ( under pitched a batch with liquid yeast last Sunday and over pitched a batch last Monday wont hurt anything btw just a thinner or more estery product) a little about partial mash not enough though made some recipes today with my new knowledge of late extract brewing so should be brewing up some all round better beer for cristmass and new years its been a long and fun journey i should have paid more attention to how the beer was made rather than making a nice ass keggerator

Learned in real world terms the difference between fermenting Wyeast 1968 at 64 degrees versus 68 degrees. Over the last 10 years I was never really afforded the chance to play with different strains and temps. Now I am free to play, and have been experimenting with this strain on both my ordinary bitter (68 deg) and my session version of a west coast amber (64 deg). Bitter is fruity with discernible esters, while the west coast amber at 64 degrees is clean and unobtrusive in terms of ester production. Always knew it on paper, but was gratified at the difference in reality.

dadshomebrewing said:

If your kitchen scale can do it, consider converting to grams instead of pounds and ounces, for more precision.

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I'm British, I already work in grams ;-)

carguy13 said:

hmmm... someone else told me something like that in high school. ah, nevermind... wrong forum.

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thank god i'm not the only one who learned to convert from oz to grams, and back, in high school "for another reason".

jakeperks said:

I'm British, I already work in grams ;-)

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I work in Chicago.

Toy4Rick said:

That what I thought was approx 5.5 gals in my fermenting bucket overflowed my 5 gal corney with 1 gal still left in the bucket.

Looks like I need to learn exactly where 5 gals is in my bucket

Toy4Rick

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i saw a suggestion in here once... brewer had marked his spoon with a sharpie at strategic intervals (3 gal, 5 gal, etc.)

then he just stuck the spoon in the pot, and didn't mark up the inside of the pot.

i'm a one-gallon brewer, so it's not an issue for me, but it's a thought

I learned that taking your brew kettle off your heat source before adding your LME is a good idea to avoid scorching since it is so much more dense then water is.

I also learned that I should have done more research before brewing my first batch of beer as there are so many variables when it comes to your brew. And there is better information online and in forums than the information I got at my local home brew shop, not that I didn't get good info but after researching more online I was more disappointed at the lack thereof.

And I am learning to be more patient with my brews. I am on my 3rd batch now and I really and making myself wait it out to produce a good result. Also learned that this is one of the most enjoyable hobbies I have taken up, and relatively low-cost to get into extract brewing.