Beer #2 in the fermenter!

[matt-tastic]

So, i've got my second beer, a Kolsch extract recipe, happily chilling in my SoFC i built (see design here)! I don't have much airlock activity, but i'll check back in the morning to see what we're up to. I also did the whole brew with just tap water, as opposed to filtered. Curious to see if it affects flavor.

A few issues, as i'll list below, and some good learning points.

1) My first time using a propane burner, and had 2 boilovers. Both were when i added DME, and got close with my hop addition, but was able to stir it down. I also couldn't keep the temperature low enough for my initial steep. even with the regulator as low as possible (nearly off) and the flame pulling as much oxygen as possible (as orange of a flame as i could get), the lowest temp i got was 180 for most of the specialty grain boil. I cut the boil short to reduce tannins, I'll find out in a couple months how i fared

2) I broke my thermometer when i was cleaning it. it rolled off the table, and the top shattered when it hit the floor. no fun there.

3) I get a lot of condensation on the bottles for my SoFC. It doesn't seem to be dripping, but i'm more worried about the box itself getting gross with the water soaking into it. I'll try it for a while, and if necessary, i'll seal it all up after a few uses.

Does anyone know specs on a decent propane burner? how many BTUs do you really need to get 4Gal of water/wort to 200 degrees? I think if the pot was higher off the flame, or i could regulate less propane into the burner, i may be able to control the temps better.

I got a decent 1.051 OG on the worth at about 76 degrees. The temp in the box is about 68 degrees, and my stick-on thermometer says wort is 74. I think this setup may just work!

 

[Andrew5329]

Well for controlling the temp of a mash/steep where your using any kind of grains the best way to do it is to get your (soon to be) wort to a few degrees higher than you want it, then remove it from the burner and add your grain which will lower the temperature to your ideal temp. From there incrementally add hot(boiling) or cold water as needed to adjust and maintain the temperature. Wrap it in a towel/put on a lid and you have a stable and easily controllable vessle. The issue with uncontrolled mash temp, is that a mash that's too hot can potentially extract tannins from the grain husk adding an undesirable bitterness to your beer. There are a lot of formulas and calculations that will tell you exactly how much water to add to a given volume to change the temperature by X degrees, but as long as you get a new thermometer and use common sense you'll be fine.

You might want to get the temp a bit cooler for your fermentation, 74F is a touch high for most yeast strains. If it hasn't cooled into the 60s already, maybe throw a few bags of Ice around the fermenter just to get it into the 60s, after which your setup should be sufficient to keep it there.

If your doing an almost full boil (4+gallons) you should probably buy or build a wort chiller anyway which should negate the above issue.

You should be fine with the burner you have, the boil-over doesn't mean the burner was too hot, it means you probably need a bigger pot/need to stir more right when you add extract.

One last pointer, whenever you do your next partial-grain, do a protein rest at about 130F for half an hour before you increase the temp to start conversion, you'll see a noticeable difference in both head retention and the overall quality of your beer as compared to skipping that step.

 

[matt-tastic]

I've got an 8gal pot, but the stirring is probably the issue. I turned to put the bag of DME down, and that was my first boilover. I'm thinking maybe go ahead and get a good cooler, and use it for the specialty grains, That way, i'm ready to go all grain when i have the room and time.

The burner was borrowed, so that was my main reason asking questions. if there were good differences or necessary specs on a burner, that'd be good to know. On the bright side, because it was so hot, i barely used any propane! the valve on the bottle, as well as the regulator were 80% closed the entire time

I can now say my wort is now a solid and stable 70 degrees. That is about the middle for US-05, and worked just fine for my last brew. I may need to give it a good shimmy however, as there is very little airlock activity after 24 hours. I have to hit the LHBS tomorrow anyway (replacing broken thermo), may as well pick up an extra yeast and pitch it.

 

[Andrew5329]

Well if your doing only a pound or two of specialty grains dont use a large cooler that's capable of handling 10-15lbs of grains as it's probably more hassle than using an extra pot, only because the cooler itself will cool the small volume of liquid faster than the pot because of the large surface area/the temperature of the cooler itself, so you'll make more temp adjustments as compared to a smaller pot wrapped in a towel. Of course, if you had a suitable size cooler laying around, that's the way to go