Recent content by aaronbeach

not to put a damper on the scientific method... but most of us are probably not scientists first and homebrewer second. The ultimate goal is making beer (no?) So I would see the main question not as "How efficient does OO replace oxygenation and what are the byproducts/effects?" but rather...

I didn't mention clearly that one of my primary goals was that conversion efficiency stay consistent and in a healthy range no matter the size of the beer. I understand efficiency goes down with higher gravity, and that's ok - my point in caveat#2 is that if you have appropriately sized mash-tun...

I have a simple 2-vessel (mash tun + kettle) HERMS, I prefer to no-sparge or minimize sparge volume as its just another step (I collect water from my kettle/heating vessel when draining and then pour it in the mash after the wort's pumped out). Anyhow - I spent a while digesting BrauKeiser's...

It works for small beers - the mash is just thinner - and braukeisers model covers this (maybe really small batches could be hurt, but that would depend on how you heated it, etc...)

Interesting - have you been following the rule of thumb I mentioned above? I haven't intentionally followed this yet - I just observed that based on BrewKaisers batch sparge model it would 1) keep brewhouse efficiency pretty consistent, 2) keep total mash size down allowing for big beers and 3)...

right - I don't know what Strong actually does - just says he's CS in his book I wonder how many people would pick up on the && (either both are true or the statement isn't)

I suspect this has been identified before? From what I've read Paul Sangster, Gordon Strong and Jamil Zainasheff are all computer science / software engineers. Soooo... the last 5 and at least 6 of the last 8 Ninkasi awards have been won by computer science / software engineers... It's been...

After going over BrewKaiser's batch-sparge analysis I've come up with a SUPER SIMPLE rule of thumb for calculating initial mash liquid and batch sparge liquid. This simple rule of thumb keeps you very near 75% brewhouse efficiency (based on his model). Here's the rule: Mash with your boil...

I haven't brewed anything large enough to require extra water - I suspect I could collect up to 3 gallons of the heating water easily (I can lift and pour a 3 gallon pot easily) and add that while pumping into the kettle - if I needed more water for a monster 10 gallon beer I guess I could leave...

It's just the easiest thing for me - I've been trying to understand whether or not there are drawbacks - most of the literature seems to assume that while thin mashes are often more efficient they may not be "worth it" - but if your system is oversized and you are running a simple two-vessel...

Due to a compromise between brewers were planning to make a stout: a. with lager yeast (probably WLP833) b. WITHOUT black patent or roasted barley c. with coffee Any thoughts or experience of building a stout-dark beer with munich malts dominating the base? Any thoughts on building a...

I think most (modern/american/craft) beer drinkers tend to share an intuitive sense of where porter leaves off and stout picks up (however I may be wrong here). I'd say the dividing line between porter and stout tends to be agreed upon nowadays in terms of how roasted the beer is and not so...

For the purposes of sharing/growing knowledge among homebrewers it might be useful to adopt some models for how strain mixing is done. For instance, a particular strains maybe be found to be a great "finisher", a particular pair maybe be found to be "complimentary primary" or an ale-to-lager...

So I've been thinking about default variables and structure for my regular lager fermentation/cooling schedules leading up to botteling/kegging. Variables: P: Primary temp, usually 48-52F L: Lagering temp, usually 40-45F for quick lagering C: Clearing temp, usually 32-34F for my freezer setup...

this might make sense - considering that many say one should drop the temp to lagering once 3/4 of attenuation has occurred. In my case (12 days 50F + 2 days 60F) I suspect it has almost completely attenuated (due to the yeast starting to clear and settle)... but I do think it is common for...