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I used 60% and 80% to illustrate a point (and I do get ADF in those ranges depending on the beer). I specifically tailor my mash schedule, yeast selection, and fermentation temperature in part to determine my intended attenuation. I'm not sure if ADF is what you're talking about here...

I have a new calculation that I've been using when determining the expected balance of my beer recipes. It is a child of the commonly-used Bitterness Ratio (BU:GU), and the numbers output can be read in the same way as BU:GU. However, the one thing that is taken into account with the Relative...

Great charts! Linked 'em on my site. I was about to make a lot of these charts myself and found that you'd already done them. These will be printed up and pinned in my brewhouse (aka basement).

The chemistry of the water is important during the mash for pH and proper conversion. However, the concentrations of ions within the water impact the overall flavor of the beer no matter when they are added (you could even add them at bottling if you are weird). I concern myself primarily...

You're welcome. Yeah, the bitterness is the issue I tend to have problems addressing in sweet stout. It's easier for me to build the water for a sulfate-heavy dark beer than a chloride-heavy dark beer. Magnesium Sulfate is an easy way to get a lot of Sulfate without dropping Residual Alkalinity...

I should have also elaborated a bit on when to combine the wort from the steeped roasted grains with the mashed wort: Do it at the beginning of the boil. There are a number of reasons to do this, such as: Maillard reactions/melanoidins To sanitize the wort To drive off unwanted volatiles...

Tea leaves would be good to put into the steep. Lactose would be added during the boil in either case (you still want to boil what you steep, just not mash it), so you'll have to account for its gravity during the boil... Unless, you add it when bottling. I usually add my lactose with my...

Note: Also available over at Mad Alchemist Creating the perfect water profile and mash for a sweet stout is an exercise in contradiction. You want the beer to be very dark, sweet, malty, and full-bodied. It should have some roasted and toasty notes without astringency. To me, that translates...

I decided to test the extreme case of only balancing pH during my brew yesterday based on some responses by A.J. deLange. During the mash, I only added Sodium Bicarbonate to get the pH around 5.2-5.3, and ignored all other minerals (starting with a base of distilled water). I then added my...

Something I've always wondered that would help me with mashes for very dark beers: Is it okay for me to add nothing but Baking Soda (Sodium Bicarbonate) to the mash to raise the mash pH in a very dark beer? Does the mash actually need Calcium, or can I add my Calcium Sulfate, Calcium...

Bottled today. Tasted outstanding. It is reminiscent of Sam Adams Boston Ale, but the yeast I used (Wyeast London Ale) significantly changed the character. It's at once malty and somewhat sweet like the Boston Ale, but has a dry and crisp finish thanks to the yeast. It's a bit toasty, and the...

Awesome, thank you Berlbrew. The only reason I didn't choose that yeast is because it lists the minimum temperature at 68, and I wanted to ferment at 60. I'm switching my recipe out to that yeast for next time for sure.

I went ahead and made a number of adjustments to the recipe based on feedback. I increased the percentage of crystal 60 from 10% to 15% to get it a bit darker and sweeter. I reduced bitterness to 20 IBU by changing the proportion and time of the hop additions (0.25 oz of each at 45 minutes left...

It's certainly possible, yes. I was aiming for a pretty balanced level of bitterness, and anywhere from 25-32 seemed fairly balanced to me based on the gravity. If you want to go lighter on the bitterness, feel free to reduce the amount of hops or the time it's in the boil.

Wow, I just learned something! I've krausened before... both ways. I thought skimming the krausen layer off was krausening, and adding freshly-fermenting wort to carbonate your beer was just a method to carbonate. Thanks!

Note: I’ve written a new post entitled Samuel Adams Boston Ale Clone if you’re looking for a Boston Ale recipe. The process of figuring out the clone can still be seen below and in the original post. I decided I’d go for a simple recipe for my brew session this weekend. So, I...

Do you check your pH during the mash? That could be your problem. You might need to adjust your water to raise the pH, because the darker grains will drive your pH down. You'll want to be in the 5.2-5.6 pH range. I err high on stouts to produce a generally thicker beer (5.4 or 5.5). A lot...

I'm posting the entirety of a blog post I just wrote here, but if you want to see it at its original location, you can find it here: http://www.madalchemist.com/archives/brew-...electric-fryer/ I got all of my equipment for my indoor brew-in-a-bag experiment this week. My plan was to wait...

Thanks much. I've actually listened to the BrewStrong water podcasts twice through. :) These were the main questions I had after listening, because I've decided to focus a lot more on my water as the next place to improve my brewing.

Most of the literature I read talks about maximum ppm for various ions. Bicarbonate tends to be suggested up to 250 ppm, with an absolute max of 300. However, the famous Dortmund water has 550. Calcium tends to be recommended up to 150 ppm. However, Burton on Trent has 295, Dortmund has...