I started home brewing about six months ago.
In May i moved to all grain and did my first Biab brew. Since the weather was hot (over 22 C inside) i chose a Saison for my first experience.
Did a 5 L test batch: pitched 2 grams of mangrove jacks M41 Belgian Ale @ around 25 C.
In June i repeated the recipe: this time 16 L batch, same yeast 6 grams @ 25 C.
Both these batches had tap water (it's good water, 7 ph, low mineral content).
Both fermented at 26-28 C. The result was a very estery beer, that actually was "undrinkable" after 1 week in the bottle (and another 2 weeks in primary fermentation).
Both had an OG of 1060ish and came down to 1004 fairly quickly (about 4 or 5 days).
No starters, just hydrated the yeast.
Moving on to 4 days ago:
Brewed the same recipe grain bill wise, but changed two things: used bottled water that i then treated with Calcium Chloride and Magnesium Sulfate to meet minimum requirements for the style and made a 1 L starter 24 hours before pitching. Same yeast, half a packet into the starter. Batch size 20 L. SG 1062 (again!)
Just four days into fermentation i can actually say this will be a lot less estery...i mean A LOT! Just took a sample and it reads 1.007. Same fermentation temp as the previous batches.
Tasted the sample and i can actually drink it now. No overwhelming esters as before.
So far i'm tempted to think: this time i actually pitched the correct amount of yeast, plus it was in a starter, meaning less of a lag phase. Couldn't be the water alone to make such a big difference, right?
I mean...the beer tastes cleaner now than after bottling the previous batches.
Oh man, this is getting fun!
In May i moved to all grain and did my first Biab brew. Since the weather was hot (over 22 C inside) i chose a Saison for my first experience.
Did a 5 L test batch: pitched 2 grams of mangrove jacks M41 Belgian Ale @ around 25 C.
In June i repeated the recipe: this time 16 L batch, same yeast 6 grams @ 25 C.
Both these batches had tap water (it's good water, 7 ph, low mineral content).
Both fermented at 26-28 C. The result was a very estery beer, that actually was "undrinkable" after 1 week in the bottle (and another 2 weeks in primary fermentation).
Both had an OG of 1060ish and came down to 1004 fairly quickly (about 4 or 5 days).
No starters, just hydrated the yeast.
Moving on to 4 days ago:
Brewed the same recipe grain bill wise, but changed two things: used bottled water that i then treated with Calcium Chloride and Magnesium Sulfate to meet minimum requirements for the style and made a 1 L starter 24 hours before pitching. Same yeast, half a packet into the starter. Batch size 20 L. SG 1062 (again!)
Just four days into fermentation i can actually say this will be a lot less estery...i mean A LOT! Just took a sample and it reads 1.007. Same fermentation temp as the previous batches.
Tasted the sample and i can actually drink it now. No overwhelming esters as before.
So far i'm tempted to think: this time i actually pitched the correct amount of yeast, plus it was in a starter, meaning less of a lag phase. Couldn't be the water alone to make such a big difference, right?
I mean...the beer tastes cleaner now than after bottling the previous batches.
Oh man, this is getting fun!
