I've been brewing off and on for a couple of years. I'd like to think I've learned quite a bit, but as I start planning my next batch I have so many questions I've just gotta put them here.
I brew eBiab in a 24L kettle. Recirculating mash, no sparge. I brew mostly IPAs and APAs. Next up is a NE IPA based on Braufessor's recipe. Citra, Mosaic and either Galaxy or Simcoe.
Here are my questions:
1. Grain conditioning - I've been doing this about 15 minutes before brewing and then letting the grain sit in a large bowl until I mill it. Would I do better to condition it 20-24 hours in advance instead and put it in a plastic bag until it is time to mill? How far ahead is too far ahead?
2. Water - I build from PO water. I am going to follow advice from an AHA seminar in Baltimore and bring the water to a very brief boil prior to bringing it back to 160F or so and mashing in. The idea is to reduce the oxygen level of the water and thereby reduce oxidation in the early brewing phases. Question - Should I add my "salts" and then boil, or boil and add the salts? Assuming it does not really matter, I am inclined to add the salts first on the idea that they are mostly more soluble at lower temps.
3. pH measurement - Since learning about the importance of pH, I have mostly relied on BeerSmith to prescribe my lactic additions and trust everything to come out OK. This time, I plan to calibrate my measuring device and figure out how to use it. My goal is a pH in the 5.30 to 5.45 range. When and how often should I measure?
4. Dextrose - This recipe does not really call for sugar, but I may add some to boost my ABV, depending on how my gravity numbers are looking. When should I add it? I've always thought sugar was added to the boil, but I've recently read that it is better to add it when I pitch my yeast. Is this so?
5. Yeast - This is where I feel dumbest. I started out simply oxygenating and pitching a package of US-05. My batches are roughly 2.5 gallons, so I figure one package will always be enough. More recently, I've gone liquid first with San Diego Super and then with Gigayeast Vermont IPA (Conan) in the so-called doublepitch package. Again, my prep was not much more complicated than bringing the package to room temp, oxygenating, and pitching. In all cases, I simply discarded the yeast after brewing, until I read that Conan tends to work a lot better when harvested for later generations.
So, I took Braufessor's advice and brewed a batch of Biermuncher's Centennial Blonde (a very low hop and low ABV brew) with the primary objective of harvesting some nice clean yeast for a future IPA or two. After fermentation was complete, I left about a pint of beer on the yeast cake, stirred it all up, poured the results into two 16 oz Mason jars, screwed the lids on loosely and put them in the fridge, where they've been for about a month now. Each jar contains a layer of beer, a very thin layer of trub, and a much thicker layer of yeast.
Now what do I do? My brewday is about a week away. I suspect I can simply oxygenate and pitch the entire contents of one jar as I've done with packaged yeast before, and let my 2,5 gallon batch size absolve me of any sins. But what is the preferred technique, and how do I apply it? I want to harvest more yeast in the future, so I am willing to devote both time and money to the task. It's just that I really don't know how to think about this from here. Can someone point me in the right direction? Also, if I get lazy or swamped for time, is my default idea of simply pitching the contents of one jar a viable alternative?
I brew eBiab in a 24L kettle. Recirculating mash, no sparge. I brew mostly IPAs and APAs. Next up is a NE IPA based on Braufessor's recipe. Citra, Mosaic and either Galaxy or Simcoe.
Here are my questions:
1. Grain conditioning - I've been doing this about 15 minutes before brewing and then letting the grain sit in a large bowl until I mill it. Would I do better to condition it 20-24 hours in advance instead and put it in a plastic bag until it is time to mill? How far ahead is too far ahead?
2. Water - I build from PO water. I am going to follow advice from an AHA seminar in Baltimore and bring the water to a very brief boil prior to bringing it back to 160F or so and mashing in. The idea is to reduce the oxygen level of the water and thereby reduce oxidation in the early brewing phases. Question - Should I add my "salts" and then boil, or boil and add the salts? Assuming it does not really matter, I am inclined to add the salts first on the idea that they are mostly more soluble at lower temps.
3. pH measurement - Since learning about the importance of pH, I have mostly relied on BeerSmith to prescribe my lactic additions and trust everything to come out OK. This time, I plan to calibrate my measuring device and figure out how to use it. My goal is a pH in the 5.30 to 5.45 range. When and how often should I measure?
4. Dextrose - This recipe does not really call for sugar, but I may add some to boost my ABV, depending on how my gravity numbers are looking. When should I add it? I've always thought sugar was added to the boil, but I've recently read that it is better to add it when I pitch my yeast. Is this so?
5. Yeast - This is where I feel dumbest. I started out simply oxygenating and pitching a package of US-05. My batches are roughly 2.5 gallons, so I figure one package will always be enough. More recently, I've gone liquid first with San Diego Super and then with Gigayeast Vermont IPA (Conan) in the so-called doublepitch package. Again, my prep was not much more complicated than bringing the package to room temp, oxygenating, and pitching. In all cases, I simply discarded the yeast after brewing, until I read that Conan tends to work a lot better when harvested for later generations.
So, I took Braufessor's advice and brewed a batch of Biermuncher's Centennial Blonde (a very low hop and low ABV brew) with the primary objective of harvesting some nice clean yeast for a future IPA or two. After fermentation was complete, I left about a pint of beer on the yeast cake, stirred it all up, poured the results into two 16 oz Mason jars, screwed the lids on loosely and put them in the fridge, where they've been for about a month now. Each jar contains a layer of beer, a very thin layer of trub, and a much thicker layer of yeast.
Now what do I do? My brewday is about a week away. I suspect I can simply oxygenate and pitch the entire contents of one jar as I've done with packaged yeast before, and let my 2,5 gallon batch size absolve me of any sins. But what is the preferred technique, and how do I apply it? I want to harvest more yeast in the future, so I am willing to devote both time and money to the task. It's just that I really don't know how to think about this from here. Can someone point me in the right direction? Also, if I get lazy or swamped for time, is my default idea of simply pitching the contents of one jar a viable alternative?
