jimbrew_jr
Member
Hi everyone I am looking for some advice on what to concentrate on in order to improve my brewing.
Right now I always brew in a bag, on my stove, trying to really hit my mash temps as best I can then I add about 4 lbs LME depending on the recipe. I usually have a boil volume of 4 gallons and top it to 5.5 as I am cooling my wort in the bucket. I also run my hot wort through a rough mesh strainer to filter out all the hop gunk. Idk why I started this I just do. I always use hop pellets and I always use liquid yeast WITHOUT a starter. I have used 100% filtered or distilled water in the past but lately I have been experimenting with 1-2 gallons of unfiltered tap and haven't noticed much of a difference in my beers. I always rack to secondary after 1 or 2 weeks and then bottle my beers.
Options to improve:
I have a Turkey friar and a large 8 gallon? aluminum pot I could brew in to get a full boil but I have not made the jump yet because I am unfamiliar with brewing this way and I didn't think a full boil of an extra gallon would really improve my beers. I could also use this to move to more of an all grain style but I would still try to brew in a bag as I don't have the equipment to do a true all grain brew.
Filtering hot wort - The strainer allows everything but the hop gunk through. Could this negatively impact my beer?
Yeast starter - doesn't seem hard at all, how important is it?
Water - Do not use any unfiltered tap water? Matters?
Hops - Will moving away from pellets help?
Racking to secondary - I have never had an issue with infection racking to secondary and have always waited an to at least 8 or 9 days to rack. Is this a needless step?
I am happy with how my beers have been turning out as they have been improving but I would really like to continue to improve. Anyone who has more experience that could evaluate my process and provide some insight would be very much appreciated.
Right now I always brew in a bag, on my stove, trying to really hit my mash temps as best I can then I add about 4 lbs LME depending on the recipe. I usually have a boil volume of 4 gallons and top it to 5.5 as I am cooling my wort in the bucket. I also run my hot wort through a rough mesh strainer to filter out all the hop gunk. Idk why I started this I just do. I always use hop pellets and I always use liquid yeast WITHOUT a starter. I have used 100% filtered or distilled water in the past but lately I have been experimenting with 1-2 gallons of unfiltered tap and haven't noticed much of a difference in my beers. I always rack to secondary after 1 or 2 weeks and then bottle my beers.
Options to improve:
I have a Turkey friar and a large 8 gallon? aluminum pot I could brew in to get a full boil but I have not made the jump yet because I am unfamiliar with brewing this way and I didn't think a full boil of an extra gallon would really improve my beers. I could also use this to move to more of an all grain style but I would still try to brew in a bag as I don't have the equipment to do a true all grain brew.
Filtering hot wort - The strainer allows everything but the hop gunk through. Could this negatively impact my beer?
Yeast starter - doesn't seem hard at all, how important is it?
Water - Do not use any unfiltered tap water? Matters?
Hops - Will moving away from pellets help?
Racking to secondary - I have never had an issue with infection racking to secondary and have always waited an to at least 8 or 9 days to rack. Is this a needless step?
I am happy with how my beers have been turning out as they have been improving but I would really like to continue to improve. Anyone who has more experience that could evaluate my process and provide some insight would be very much appreciated.