Search results

That's what I currently do. The last two brews I over corrected, which led to frustration and leading me down this path. This is exactly why I was thinking of going this path. Actually your standalone and a few others were some of my inspiration. I want to keep my HLT a separate boil vessel...

I've been contemplating adding a HERMS or RIMS add on to my brew system. This would include a PID/control panel for controlling. However before taking this leap. I'm second guessing if this is the path I want. Let me first describe my current system. Two propane burners for HLT and BK...

I have a Blickman 7 gal fermenator. I've only used it twice so far. I use the bottom valve to remove yeast trub after the fermentation is complete. I have a question about the racking arm. The first time I used it, I noticed how much beer was left in the fermenator (yes I did rotate it down)...

I entered a few, 5 to be exact.

You are correct that the enzymes have been denatured. So this would mean there would be no more conversion of anything in the grain bed. However, there was left sugars in the grain bed. I was attempting to extract any sugars that were left there in the initial mash/sparging. I wish I could have...

Yes, that's what was concluded. I wanted to share the outcome. I should have pointed that my set-up was a batch sparge. I think the original problem was having too much water in the initial mash, and not enough water left for the 1st and only sparge. My thoughts were that a lot of sugars were...

Yesterday's brew session had some problems with hitting the numbers. I had an extremely low efficiency (51% vs typical 68%). I think I know the reason(s) and is not the topic of the post. I had already collected all of my wort in the the kettle when I observed the poor efficiency. I decided...

This is an ATC model. I thought that waiting 30 seconds to a couple minutes was all that was needed to allow the boiling wort cool down & ATC to adjust. I also blew on sample that was on my spoon before placing on refractometer.

I got to use my refractometer for the first time over the weekend. I got a lot of false readings during my pre-boil & boil. First, I think the false readings were due to not getting a clear sample. I had lots of hop bits. It often read higher than I would have thought. Am I understanding...

Thanks Yooper. I think you pointed out some key points that determined why I have such a difference in efficiencies. I'm probably not consistent enough with "stir like your life depended on it". I think that some batches I give it a quick stir, other batches I would stir it more. Thank you...

I'm referring to the first initial sparge. This includes the original mash water + a little extra get 1/2 the total pre-boil volume in the kettle. This only is about 2-3F above the original mash temperature. Maybe I'm labeling "first" sparge incorrectly. I only drain the mash tun twice. Once...

This is what I do, but it seems like I never get the grain bed up to 168. Usually it's a matter of mash tun size limit and trying to get equal volumes on the two sparges. I can't add enough boiling water to increase the temperature much.

jsled was right. My concern wasn't the enzime but to increase efficiency. I thought that I read that increasing the temperature would make the sugars more soluble. Maybe I remembered wrong. For my last brew session. I did my mash around 149 for 60 minutes. I typically add water at the end...

The problem that I'm facing is more specifically doing batches with OG of > 1.065 so I can only make the mash so thick. Even with the thich mashes, and adding some near boiling water ontop of the mash before the 1st sparge. I'm still only in the 158-160F range. I was thinking decoction or...

I do batch sparging when brewing. One thing that I've noticed is that my first run off is never that hot (<160). And this mashout temperature is never consistent. This is probably due to the thermal properties of the mash compared to the differences of water on that first sparge. That is if I'm...

So I've been brewing for about 16 years and have never had a "stuck fermentation" until now. Its a barely wine and has been on the primary for about 3 months when I finally got around to move it to the secondary. The OG was at least 1.100 (I don't have my notes with me). When moving to the...