2nd Batch.. Got some questions that need answered!

[Zrab11]

Alright.. Well I have my second batch in the Fermentor right now..

My first Batch didn't come out very well. Definitely made beer but wasn't too tasty. So I got some help from you fine people and the 2nd batch brewing process went alot smoother I felt. Hoping this one tastes alittle better this time. As I was brewing this time I had a few questions during the 3 hr brew. and thought I would ask you fine people.

Ok So I brew out of a 15 gal Keg. and do 5 gallon batches.. Just doing extract kits right now.. So here are my questions

1. When I am steeping the grain. what temperature range do you like to stay in.. I know you aren't supposed to go OVER 170. So I get my water to 150 and then steep grains for 20 min and just make sure to not go over 170. But should I work on trying to get it to stay a constant 155-160 range or as long as I am in the 150-169 range I will be fine? Just curious if its better to be closer to 150 or closer to 169 or if it doesn't really matter?


2.Now before you add your LME and DME it tells you to bring the water to a boil and then pour in the LME and DME.. So I brought my water up to 212 and then took it off the burner and added my LME and DME for the next few minutes. Is that the correct process? Or should I leave it on the burner the whole time I am adding that? Or should I leave it boiling at 212 for a few minutes? Or let it get hotter than 212?

3. So after adding the LME and DME the water has cooled down just a tiny bit. So I bring the water back to 212 and then I start my boiling process. Now is there a temperature I SHOULDN'T go above when doing my 60 min boil. I stayed between 218 and 235 the whole boil. Should I aim for a lower of higher number when doing the Boil or does it not matter as long as I am above 212?

4. Now after I have cooled the wort with my chiller. I had in the meantime rehydrated my yeast packet by adding it to 1 cup of 100 degree water and letting it set at room temperature for 15 min and then stirring the yeast and letting it set again for 15min. This is what the instructions in Palmers book say to do it. Is that correct? Is there anything else I need to do to better rehydrate the yeast.?

5. Once I pitch the yeast.. or pour the yeast on top of my wort that is now in my carboy. Should I shake the carboy or anything? It says to stir it but I don't have a spoon long enough and small enough to fit down in the carboy. So should I just slosh the carboy around for a minute of 2? Or how long?

6. Both Beers I have made so far I have Transferred to a secondary. Is that necessary or is it better to leave it the whole time in the primary fermentation?

7. Also when I transfer. Am I doing anything wrong? Clean and Sanitize carboy,Bung,Airlock, Auto siphon.. then I siphon all the beer from the fermentor into the other carboy. Putting the hose at the bottom of the carboy and try to minimize splashing. Put the bung and airlock in and put back in fermentation chamber. I know air is bad for beer. so i am wondering if transferring the beer from one vessel to another is exposing it to too much air or not?

I think that is all for now. I know these may seem like dumb questions But i just want to get my brewing process down as best I can.. thanks for any help on these questions.

 

[woozy]

1. Doesn't matter. You want to avoid 170+ because tannins could be extracted. Below... well, I'm not sure but I don't think it matters.

2. You might want to read about late additions. None of this really matters. You just want to avoid scorching the extract or boiling over. Some folks don't like their extract to taste "cooked" so they only put a small amount at the start of the boil and leave the rest to go in at flame-out. (This is called a late addition.) The extract needs to be mixed but it doesn't need to be cooked so however you get it into the water is fine. The thing is you don't want to be boiling your hops, add some LME and have the cold LME disturb the boil. Thus most people put the LME either before the hops and sometimes at flameout. Also people don't like the taste of it overcooking (and the color is darker) so they don't put it in until the water is boiling but before the hops.

If you want to try late additions, you can put 1/3 of the extract at the beginning of the boil and the rest at flameout.

It doesn't really matter.

3. Um, i could be wrong but I was under the impression that boiling was the highest you can get a liquid. Okay, maybe a degree or two higher do to the soluable sugar, but 215 tops. It's not physically possible to heat a liquid above that. Right? I'm not a physicist but ... liquid has a boiling point. The liquid will boil and evaporate before it gets to a higher temperature, right?

So I think you are simply mistaken on this point. Get it to a rolling boil and keep it there.

Um, how much LME and how much water did you have? It seems to me that if you achieved a temperature of 235 your wort most have had an abnormally high percentage of sugar, i.e. you were basically cooking syrup. Maybe I'm wrong about this.

4. That's correct. There's absolutely nothing more that can possibly be said on the issue of re-hydrating yeast. (Other than it's not that big a deal.)

5. Shaking's a good idea. This is the one and only time you want to aerate and you can aerate any way you can. Stirring, shaking, running through a blender, they're all good. How long? Hmm, not sure. The idea is you want to make a good environment for the yeast to thrive. Frankly, those buggers are *healthy*. They'd probably do fine no matter what you do. Just how much you're willing to pamper the little beasties' oxygen needs is up to you. Two minutes is fine. The thing is you can't over-aerate so there comes a point where you and your arms just have say enough is enough. I'd say 2 minutes is plenty. I'd say 7 seconds is plenty.

6. Can of worms. Every-one has an opinion. But no, it's not necessary. I'm not going to say any more.

7. Method good. Air is bad and transferring the beer from one vessel to another exposes it to *some* air but if you do it right you aren't exposing it to too much. (But if you do it wrong you are.) This is an argument many people use to argue against transferring to secondary; it's an unnecessary risk. It's a valid argument. But the counter argument that if you do it carefully it's an acceptable controlled risk is equally valid. As I said; can of worms. I'll say no more.

 

[Zrab11]

Thanks "woozy" for taking the time to answer my questions