Dialing In My Process

[Brew_G]

Bottled up a primarily Centennial IPA this afternoon. FG sample smelled tasted absolutely fantastic! Started off at 1.064 and ended at 1.011, which is right in my personal wheelhouse for IPAs, so it got me really excited to see how this carbs up. That said...

I had a terrible bottling session! I started racking to my bottling bucket before I took my FG sample, so I ended up trying to pull my sample directly from the auto siphon; this means that I pulled the end of the tubing out of the half-filled bottling bucket to take the sample. Fine...but I ended up pulling the siphon from out under the wort, so I had to pump it again. But in that next step, I accidentally pushed the siphon down into the trub, and in so doing I pulled a ton of crap into it. I had to pump again, which pushed more air through the tubing and into the beer. Repeat three times...

So despite my excitement about tasting this beer, I'm also unhappy about the amount of crap that will be in the bottles, plus the very real fear of oxidation. I *should* be drinking/serving most of these beers before oxidation has a chance to really set in, but I'm still pissed about how poorly today went!

 

[RM-MN]

Bottled up a primarily Centennial IPA this afternoon. FG sample smelled tasted absolutely fantastic! Started off at 1.064 and ended at 1.011, which is right in my personal wheelhouse for IPAs, so it got me really excited to see how this carbs up. That said...

I had a terrible bottling session! I started racking to my bottling bucket before I took my FG sample, so I ended up trying to pull my sample directly from the auto siphon; this means that I pulled the end of the tubing out of the half-filled bottling bucket to take the sample. Fine...but I ended up pulling the siphon from out under the wort, so I had to pump it again. But in that next step, I accidentally pushed the siphon down into the trub, and in so doing I pulled a ton of crap into it. I had to pump again, which pushed more air through the tubing and into the beer. Repeat three times...

So despite my excitement about tasting this beer, I'm also unhappy about the amount of crap that will be in the bottles, plus the very real fear of oxidation. I *should* be drinking/serving most of these beers before oxidation has a chance to really set in, but I'm still pissed about how poorly today went!

Relax. I quite often get some trub sucked up and into the bottling bucket. By the time I have the bottle filling wand hooked up and bottles ready to fill, most of the trub has settled again and I get very little in the bottles.

 

[MattyIce]

I bet your beer still turns out great! These are pretty minor "issues."

 

[Brew_G]

Relax. I quite often get some trub sucked up and into the bottling bucket. By the time I have the bottle filling wand hooked up and bottles ready to fill, most of the trub has settled again and I get very little in the bottles.

Oh...I understand getting some trub in the bucket, but this was a ton. I usually have nice clear beer going into my bottles, but this time the beer was really cloudy with obvious hop particles and yeast in it.

It'll settle in the bottles, but it's just an indicator of his poor my process was today.

 

[Brew_G]

I was supposed to brew last weekend, but life got busy and I wasn't able to get at it. Now, this weekend has creeped up on me and I'm not really ready.

F***! I want to brew but I'm neither mentally nor physically (don't have all my ingredients squared away) ready. Ugh...

 

[Brew_G]

Got around to brewing the "Winter Brown Ale" yesterday. Things went great for the most part, especially using the new bag and hop sack I got from @wilserbrewer. Fantastic using a high-quality bag!

I'm still running into the issue of having a BG at or over the estimate, but then having a OG at or lower than the estimate. I had a really strong boil yesterday and hit my 5 gallons on the nose, so I still don't know why this is happening. Yesterday's BG was 1.054 (estimated 1.049) and OG was 1.066 (estimated 1.068). I'm not unhappy with the OG reading, but the difference between BG and OG is really bugging me!

One other thing...I had about 10 oz of Star San in my fermenter that I forgot to pour out. That's not so bad, but I also completely forgot to sanitize the funnel I pour wort through! Normally I pour a little Star San through the tunnel into the fermenter, the. Swish it around and pour it back out, but it simply didn't happen this time. I had everything set up to do it and I completely spaced out in that five-minute span! Oh well...we'll see what happens!

 

[RussPDX]

Sounds like your volume markers are off or you are taking volume readings at different temps without correcting. If you had 1.066 chilled OG at 5 gallons (330 gravity points) your pre boil volume at 1.054 should have been 6.11 gallons.

I see about a half gallon extra in my 10 gallon setup for readings at high temp, so if you assume a quarter gallon in a 5 gal setup the. You would be looking at just less than 6.5 gallons pre boil.

Does that seem like what you are seeing? Or am I totally off base?

 

[Brew_G]

Sounds like your volume markers are off or you are taking volume readings at different temps without correcting. If you had 1.066 chilled OG at 5 gallons (330 gravity points) your pre boil volume at 1.054 should have been 6.11 gallons.

I see about a half gallon extra in my 10 gallon setup for readings at high temp, so if you assume a quarter gallon in a 5 gal setup the. You would be looking at just less than 6.5 gallons pre boil.

Does that seem like what you are seeing? Or am I totally off base?

I do correct for temperature when I take gravity readings, so that shouldn't be a factor. I suppose one or two points could be off with the calculations, but that doesn't account for such a discrepancy.

Interesting thought about volume markers being off. Thing is, I started with just about seven gallons (per my marks), so that would be a massive discrepancy. Since I started brewing outside, I've been boiling off nearly two gallons per hour, which certainly surprised me!

It's interesting that this is a pretty consistent "problem" I'm having, but at least it's not all over the place! I just want to figure it out, so I really appreciate the feedback.

 

[RussPDX]

I would start by calibrating/checking everything. I would test my hydrometer with a measured solution by weight and double check those volume markers. Rule one thing out at a time. The nice thing about math and science is some things just have to add up, so in this case it sounds like a measurement is off someplace and I would atartvwoth the tools you use.

 

[Brew_G]

Oh...I understand getting some trub in the bucket, but this was a ton. I usually have nice clear beer going into my bottles, but this time the beer was really cloudy with obvious hop particles and yeast in it.

It'll settle in the bottles, but it's just an indicator of his poor my process was today.

Quick follow-up on this...

I've had a few of these over the last week or so, and the beers have generally been in the fridge for about a week. They get some chill haze, but otherwise they've been clear before being chilled.

I'm fairly certain these oxidized some, but I'm not 100% sure. The back end has what I would call "dustiness" to it, although it may be from the Columbus I used along with the Centennial, as I've noticed a similar flavor in other beers that I'm fairly certain have Columbus in them. I added 1.5 oz as FWH and an ounce at flameout and dry hop. For the FWH, I got up to a boil pretty quickly, so I may have gotten a bit more bitterness in it than I wanted, but it's definitely still drinkable.

 

[Brew_G]

I would start by calibrating/checking everything. I would test my hydrometer with a measured solution by weight and double check those volume markers. Rule one thing out at a time. The nice thing about math and science is some things just have to add up, so in this case it sounds like a measurement is off someplace and I would atartvwoth the tools you use.

Hydrometer is on point - measures right on at 60F. I also checked the volume markers in the kettle, and they're a little low by about maybe 0.10 gal as you get to 6-7 gallons.

I've been measuring BG at a fairly high temp and then converting that reading down to the hydrometer's calibration temp. Perhaps the conversion could be off. Then again, I could be misjudging the amount of room-temp wort I have in the kettle (volume increase with temp increase) and not getting the boil off that I think I am.

Hmmm...

 

[Brew_G]

Decided to do a 30-minute "hopstand" in wilser's hop bag for an IPA I'm brewing today. I started it at around 165F and it's currently still in the kettle. I've got 0.75 oz or each of Centennial, Nelson Sauvin, and Galaxy in there. I know it's not a massive stand, but I'm really curious to see if it'll make any difference in the final product. Of course, my dry hop of 1.50 oz of Galaxy and 1.00 oz of Nelson and Citra may have something to say about that!

 

[Brew_G]

Wow...I only just realized how long it's been since I last posted in here. I had a grueling job search and bedding-in period for a new (and very different) job, so I'm back at it!

The above beer was absolutely phenomenal. Centennial, Nelson, Galaxy, and Citra? Come on now...how couldn't it be good?! I then brewed a Kölsch in the beginning of March that turned out really good, but then went on hiatus until the beginning of last month when I brewed an American Wheat, then an IPA about two weeks ago.

I'm pretty happy with where I am right now, but I'm about to get into a pretty aggressive brewing schedule (for me, at least!), so I'm hoping to come out the back end with some good beers to pop into my new keezer...once I build it!

 

[Brew_G]

I brewed a hoppy brown ale this past Saturday and will be brewing an Oud Bruin later this week. Four beers in that span is much more than I've done at any time, and I'm really feeling it now.

The wheat turned out well - more of a wheat pale ale - and I sampled the IPA this past weekend after just a week in the bottle. The IPA was really juicy and pretty much awesome thanks to the Nelson, Citra, and Centennial!

I'm pretty regularly getting 73% efficiency, though I'm still figuring out exact boil-off rates. Still...it's good not to have any surprises in terms of efficiency. I'm looking forward to the brown ale, as that's been a real winner in terms of malt/hop balance in the past, and the change from Bell's yeast to 1968 should be an interesting one. I have no idea what to expect from the Oud Bruin, but I suppose I have a long time to ponder that one!

 

[Brew_G]

Yeah...at 7.3% the IPA is money. Bordering on NE IPA but without *quite* the creaminess that gives that feel of real juiciness. Can't wait to try out making an out-and-out attempt at a NE IPA.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1472257709.269307.jpg

 

[Brew_G]

Brewed up an RIS for the first time yesterday. I wasn't quite sure what to go with for efficiency for a big beer like this, so I assumed 65% based on some reading.

Total of 17.6 lbs of grain, with 3 lbs of pilsner DME to meet my desired OG. I've only got a 36-quart kettle, so it would be tough to go completely al-grain extra 5 lbs of grain, and while the DME is pricey, it worked perfectly. I hit my numbers dead on - OG is 1.113. Turns out that I'm getting a really good handle on/feel for my own process!

I squeezed the ever-loving snot out of the bag - felt like I had Popeye arms by the time I was done! I used the pulley system that Wilser provides to hang it over the kettle from a stepladder. It took a little setting up, but I don't think I could have been successful without it.

Really looking forward to this one. I'll be putting it on a Knob-soaked oak spiral for a while, then bottling and letting it age until next fall/winter. It's going to be a killer waiting all that time!
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1484592136.698110.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1484592150.184603.jpg

 

[RussPDX]

The pulley is very helpful. I use the same bag. I squeeze with 2 lids, got tired of burning my hands.

Glad you are getting it dialed in. I moved this year and took some non voluntary time off from brewing. Just did two batches and my volumes are not quite where I expect them. Only 1 way to fix it. Brew more!

 

[Brew_G]

The pulley is very helpful. I use the same bag. I squeeze with 2 lids, got tired of burning my hands.

Glad you are getting it dialed in. I moved this year and took some non voluntary time off from brewing. Just did two batches and my volumes are not quite where I expect them. Only 1 way to fix it. Brew more!

Yeah, the pulley was massive for me. I usually lay the bag on a large colander over a second pot and squeeze into that, but this was too much grain for the bag to fit in the strainer. I use those big silicone BBQ gloves to squeeze. As long as I don't handle the bag for too long a period without a break (maybe 20 seconds or so), it's OK.

Bang on the money about the one way to fix any inconsistencies. Definitely brew more! Good luck getting back on it!

 

[Brew_G]

Man...it's been a while since I've posted. Life has gotten in the way, and this spring I vowed not to brew again until I had my keezer build done. That's like 98% of the way there, so I should pick things back up again this fall!

In any case, I bottled my RIS about 5-6 weeks ago. Added about 1/3 of a pack of CBC-1 along with enough sugar to get to about 1.9 vols, and that did the trick perfectly! Beers were carbed up in about two weeks.

The only issue with this beer is that I think it got a bit oxidated due to being secondaried in a 5-gallon better bottle from March-August. I had planned on bottling it in late-April/early-May, but that whole life-getting-in-the-way thing...got in the way. It's got plenty of oak and vanilla, but there's a soy-sauciness on the nose that's bordering on overwhelming. Even so, at 13-ish% it's really easy to drink and should help warm me and the wife on the upcoming cool autumn nights!

 

[Brew_G]

On Friday, I finally got around to brewing for the first time since March, and I have to say that it was great to get back in the saddle!

This beer was a NE IPA - first time brewing one with my new keezer setup, so I'm really hopeful.

Grain Bill
9.5 lb Briess 2-row
1.5 lb Weyermann Wheat Malt
1.5 lb Rolled Oats
5 oz Honey Malt
4 oz Acidulated Malt

Hop Bill
0.50 oz Magnum (12.4) - 60 mins
2.00 oz Galaxy (13) - Hopstand @ 160F for 30 mins
2.00 oz Mosaic (11.6) - Hopstand
1.00 oz Amarillo (9.7) - Hopstand
2.00 oz Galaxy - Dry Hop (Day 2)
2.00 oz Mosaic - Dry Hop (Day 2)
2.00 oz Amarillo - Dry Hop (Day 2)
1.00 oz Galaxy - Keg Hop
1.00 oz Mosaic - Keg Hop
2.00 oz Amarillo - Keg Hop

Yeast: Wyeast 1318 - London Ale III (1.25L starter pitched at high krausen)

Ferm Temp: 68F in basement swamp cooler, bumped to 71F about 60 hours after pitching.

The OG came in lower than I expected, but I'm going to assume it was more to do with older grain than anything. Even so, 1.067 (actual) v. 1.071 (expected) isn't too bad in the grand scheme of things. One thing I will say is that the wort was T-H-I-C-K, which I attribute to all the oats. It'll be interesting to see how that translates to the finished product.

I popped in the dry hops yesterday afternoon with the gravity at 1.024 - a bit lower than I expected on Day 2, but the batch was rocking pretty good so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Tricky thing was that I had never used a bag for dry hops before, so I didn't have a plan on whether to drop the whole bag in or suspend it somehow. I ended up hanging the top of the bag out of the top of the fermenter, which means that there's not a tight lid seal. It's not open, but I'm just a little nervous about it.

The krausen was incredibly creamy and was as high as I've ever seen - probably only 3-4" of room left at the top of my 30L Speidel. Pretty wild. I wasn't planning on crashing this beer, but all that krausen might mean I've got no choice but to help it drop out if I want to get this kegged up in good time.

Really excited about finally having a keezer to house these beers. I can't wait to get it on gas in the next couple weeks!