Recent content by rel

I couldn't find anything on this subject. I really look forward to your response. I brew an amber ale. While very different than Fat Tire, I love the softness and low carb on that beer. The brewer says one of the tricks to the beer is aging it. I wasn't sure if I should leave it in the keg...

I was expecting hio3791 to go on with the story, explaining how he eventually went on to buy a full scale brewery for 10 gallon batches! Jokes, aside, thanks for the reality check. I'll be doing a little more homework before this first 10 gallon brew. Chezhed, thanks for the brewstick idea...

Awesome username! I saw this in Germany:

Hello, So I'm hoping you guys could give me some feedback on expanding to 10 gallons batches. I want to do it with my current equipment, minimum changes. Thanks in advance! MASH Batch sparging with a 10 gallon cooler with ball valve (pictured) as a mash tun. I don't think anything needs to...

Thank you BKnifefight

I am going to make chocolate oatmeal stout using BCS's McQuaker's Oatmeal Stout recipe as my base. This recipe has a target ABV of 5%, and I want to up to 6.5-7%. I don't think adding sugar is a good idea because it will dry out the beer, not desirable in the oatmeal stout. I increased all of...

AnOldUR is definitely corrent. Your sparge water is too hot and raising the temperature of the mash over 170. Your strike water was calculated by beersmith as to raise the temperature of the grains and mash tun, which are at room temperature, to reach the desired mash temperature. When you...

Hello, Thanks for the response. Step 1: I top off to reach half the batch size in the first running. I guess I was aiming to perform a mash out here before collecting first runnings, but the top off is never enough volume to raise the temperature to 168F. Hence my question, is it more...

Using 2 step batch sparge, is it more important to: 1. Aim for equal runnings OR 2. Raise the temperature of the mash to 168F before the first runnings My next brew: 16.5 lbs of grain 7.5 gallons pre-boil volume To mash in, we use 22.6 qts (1.2 qts/lb-grain plus 2 qts dead...

Thank you to everybody for your input!

Thanks, that is a much simpler way to think about it, and I will probably just stick to this on brew day. However, I usually like to figure out why something works the way it does. In this case the software accounts for variables which are important in understanding your system. For the mash...

HelloGunfighter04, Thanks for the quick response. Please see my equipment setup, mash profile below.

Hello, I am a little confused by BeerSmith’s batch sparge calculation. My pre-boil volume is 7.5 gallons. I have 10.75 lbs of grain, mashing at 151 F. All things accounted for (dead space: 0.5 gallons, grain absorption: 0.125 gallons/lb), I should add 1.3 gallons for the first batch, and...

Absolutely. Didn't know that when I brewed this one. Everyday you pick up three more tricks...

Hey Rick, I unfortunately did not use any whirfloc, but I have made it a habit since then. Cold crashing is not an option yet as that would require a new fridge in the Miami weather. Hopefully soon I'll be kegging and cold crashing. Cheers!