Hey gang, I just had a question on the volume of water used for the mash. With a false bottom, hoses, and coil (herms) I have to add more to get the water level above the grain bed.
I just made the leap to all-grain a few months ago and the results have been underwhelming (reminds me very much of what I was making with the Mr. Beer kit a couple of years back). Now that I've started digging into potential problems, I've pretty much convinced myself that it is at least partially due to my local water profile. The bicarbonantes are off the brewing charts at 459ppm. So I've loaded up on RO water and all of the various salts to make my own water next time around (plus ColorPhast strips to actually see what I'm doing rather than winging it and hoping the beer gods are smiling on me ).
I have high hopes of that change alone making a noticable improvement, but in researching the off flavors I'm getting (closest matches I've been able to make are apple'ish / clove'ish. Noticable, but not overpowering) I ran across at least one reference talking about making sure the mash water volume was correct. After my first batch, I didn't even bother measuring the rest... Just made sure that it covered the grain bed when the recirculation was going. I know that tons of folks use false bottoms and lots recirculate in some form or fashion, so I was just wondering if needing more water than is called for is really a factor or not.
Anyway, what I've made so far is drinkable (and will be drank!).... I was just hoping for more after 3 months labor and an untold sum of money building my Brewflex. Want to tackle as many potential problems as I can for the next brew.
Thanks!
Jason
I just made the leap to all-grain a few months ago and the results have been underwhelming (reminds me very much of what I was making with the Mr. Beer kit a couple of years back). Now that I've started digging into potential problems, I've pretty much convinced myself that it is at least partially due to my local water profile. The bicarbonantes are off the brewing charts at 459ppm. So I've loaded up on RO water and all of the various salts to make my own water next time around (plus ColorPhast strips to actually see what I'm doing rather than winging it and hoping the beer gods are smiling on me ).
I have high hopes of that change alone making a noticable improvement, but in researching the off flavors I'm getting (closest matches I've been able to make are apple'ish / clove'ish. Noticable, but not overpowering) I ran across at least one reference talking about making sure the mash water volume was correct. After my first batch, I didn't even bother measuring the rest... Just made sure that it covered the grain bed when the recirculation was going. I know that tons of folks use false bottoms and lots recirculate in some form or fashion, so I was just wondering if needing more water than is called for is really a factor or not.
Anyway, what I've made so far is drinkable (and will be drank!).... I was just hoping for more after 3 months labor and an untold sum of money building my Brewflex. Want to tackle as many potential problems as I can for the next brew.
Thanks!
Jason