Recent content by HighVoltageMan!

Thank you for the information. I will look into. It mills very nicely, but running it twice solves another problem of torque. It's not bad with domestic malt, but continental malt is much more plump and I have to hang on tight to the drill when it catches. I run about the same gap and with...

The ungeared mills have a tendency to fail to start if the gap is set to tight. The grains don't get between the rollers or the force needed to keep both rollers going exceeds the ability of grain to maintain it since it is friction driven. In other words the mill will sometimes start, then the...

I double mill mostly because I brew with a lot continental (European) malt. If you brew with North American malt, the grain size is typically smaller and running it through once works fairly well. Continental malt has a larger kernel size and it requires a lot more force to mill it to the proper...

It may have nothing to do with your system. The higher the pH in the boil, the darker the beer at the end of the boil. If the pH is high enough, it can have an impact on the color of the finished beer.

Yes. Calcium chloride has a saturation point of @750 grams per liter, compared to 2.5 grams per liter for gypsum. Calcium chloride dissolves quickly and increases solubility as the temperature rises. Gypsum is lower in solubility as the temperature rises. So when added directly to the mash...

It will likely dropped out of suspension. Calcium sulfate exhibits retrograde solubilty, meaning the hotter it is, the less it dissolves. When I use gypsum, I dissolve it the night before. It is not only retrograde, it is also slow to dissolve. It hits a saturation point of 2.5 grams per liter @...

Likely a poor connection or loose wire/hardware. Check for corrosion on the connectors, poor or loose connections with the wires. Small variations in circuit impedance will cause the PID to indicate temperature swings. It's possible, but not as likely, that the RTD itself is faulty.

Sorry, I fat fingered a bunch of stuff. I'll start over. I make enough wort to to get very clear wort into the fermenter. Like you I add the nutrient to the fermenter by boiling 3/4 cup of distilled water and add the nutrient and Fermcap. This helps dissolve and sanitize the nutrient and the...

Thanks! I also got a gold for my Cold IPA. That gave me 18 points and I believe the NIkasi winner got 20 points, So I was just shy of winning both. BOS isn't bad either, I'll gladly take it. I honestly was expecting to be skunked this year. That competition is brutal. Yes. I used it on all tree...

I’ll resurrect this old thread for selfish reasons. I got second place in the 2021 NHC finals to the American Lager made with LME that went on to win Best of Show. This year I redeemed myself. I placed 1st in the Pale American Lager finals and went on to win BOS and AHA Homebrewer of the Year...

Diacetyl is only reduced by active yeast, so it needs a little bit of sugar/carbon/food to convert the diacetyl to something that is undetectable. Leaving the beer at 62F leaves you a better chance to rid it of the nasty butter aroma/flavor. Lagering does not reduce diacetyl.

Final beer pH is yeast strain dependent. The important part often missed by home brewers is the pH at pitch. Typically it should be 5.05-5-2 for light beers and 5.2-5.3 for darker beers. The pitch pH sets up fermentation so the yeast can hit it's typical pH at FG. Lagers almost always hit a pH...

Minute Rice. Open box, dump it in the mash. Done. Flaked rice needs to be fresh and can stale over time. Minute Rice keeps for a very long time.

I started winning at NHC finals. So yeah, I would say my beers improved. But I made several changes, including pressure fermenting, so I can't say objectively that step mashing did it or whatever. All I can point to a that it may be a combination of things. That's why it's difficult to say step...

There are so many ways to effect foam stability in beer. All the way from grist to fermentation. I have long been a proponent of step mashing, but I really don't have any solid data that it produces a better beer, but it does improve extraction efficiency. I have notice that my beers have...