Recent content by John Burns

I've been very curious about this approach as well. I do BIAB method. How does raising the temp to 170F improve efficiency? Does it cause the alpha amylase enzymes to increase in productivity because they usually work at higher temperatures. Just curious. Would like some insight behind the...

Thanks I will definitely go out and buy one. My local brew supplier crushes the grain for me and I've told him it's BIAB but maybe I need to do it myself to be sure.

I have a local brew supplier that can crush the grain for you. I told him I brew in a bag and to finely crush it but maybe your right. I'll try to buy a mill and maybe do it myself.

Hi guys, I've been brewing for over a year now. I have been doing partial mashing since I started however, recently I switched to all grain method using BIAB style. What I've been having some difficulty getting is my target efficiency. The first time I brewed I only reached 50% and had to use...

Yes my brewing efficiency has been 50% and really needs improved. To answer your questions. For thermometers I use the dial thermometer and no I kept it in the same location, crushing I watched him crush the grain myself this time, the first time I did not watch. I did stir the grain throughout...

I've been brewing for a year now and I usually do partial mash brews which most of my beers came out great however, I decided to switch to all grain mash. My last 2 beers I've brewed both ended 20-30 pts below my target original gravity I feel like I followed all the procedures correctly but I...

So I'm going to try to get clarity in my beer by using whirlfloc tablets however, I've been hearing mixed opinions when to add the whirlfloc tablet during boiling. The bottle says 1 tablet fro 5 gallons at the last 15 minutes of boil however, I've heard others say to add the tablet the last 5...

When you are mashing how do you keep your temperature constant? I've seen people just keep the flame to a low setting but I've also seen others turn the heat off and use a insulating blanket too.

Gotcha, so does each type of base grain has a different temperature range to get the most out of the grains or is 150 degrees a universal temperature?

Thanks for the advice, I found a recipe online that I'm copying just to get practice. I used 5 lbs of 2 row, 1 lb of honey wheat, and 1 lb of carapils. I steeped for 30 minutes between 150 to 170 degrees. I also do use a recipe building app it's called "Wort" it's free on the galaxy phone. I...

That's very informative and thanks for the reply. I wasn't sure if their was a difference was between steeping and mashing. I have a local brew store in my city which I got my supplies, I used 5 lbs of 2 row base malt, 1 lb of carapils, and 1 lb of honey malt after steeping and had the...

Hey guys, this is my first post. I've been brewing for the last 5 months now. I'm switching up my style from using mostly liquid malt syrup to using more grains in hopes to eventually go all grain. However, I've got mixed suggestions on how long to steep grains for. The batch recently made, I...