Hello all,
Today I brewed for the first time, vaguely following a recipe I found here (Peroni Clone)
I started with 5L of water, and 630g of pale malt and 210 g of maize flakes.
I mashed for 2h30 at 65C. I used my inkbird connected to an electric stove to regulate that emperature, but the heat inertia and time to heat up of the stove means it kept going from 62C to 70C. Is that a massive problem? Do I have to improve that next time, or is staying between those temperature OK, doesit have an impact on finished product? Anyway, I believe this is not my biggest problem.
After mashing, I measured the gravity, and it gave me 1.021... quite far off from the 1.055 I aim for. Anyway, I just boiled it with hops and all, and let the trial jar on the side with the hydrometer. It raised to 1.035. I read later that it does raise when it cools, but calculator tell me it shouldn't raise that much. How to measure gravity when the liquid is hot? Do you just wait 5 minutes every time?
At the end of the boil, I was left with around 2.5L or maybe 3L, but less than I expected. I cooled it and managed to do it quite fast, then measured the gravity. It was 1.065 (I aimed for 1.055). I thought I needed to dilute it, but boiling water to sterilise it to do it would mean I'd raise the temperature... which I was trying to cool as quickly as possible. I just left it like that. How do you do to adjust gravity?
While I'm talking about water, here comes my biggest mistake. I had some gypsum to lower ph, but I thought it had to be done after wort boiling and cooling. So I measured the ph as the wort was cooling down to pitching temperature, and it was above the 6.2 that my strips can measure, so I added gypsum. And I added more gypsum, and more, and more, and more... until I probably added about 30g and nothing happened. I realised, but too late, that my water filter brings the pH to 9.5, and that gypsum should be added way earlier. I managed to let most of it in the pot while transfering to the demi john, but I'm not sure if that much gypsum is even drinkable! I will definitely start with lower pH water next time, but when and how much gypsum should I add if it's still above 6?
I finally had about 2.5L in my demijohn, and I sprinkled yeast on it (Mangrove Jack M84) when the temperature was 20C and I put it in my fridge with inkbird to regulate at 12C. I hope I got this part right at least? Or is a half demi john not full enough?
I don't think it could've gone much worse, I will see if what comes out is drinkable, but I might do another batch before this one is finished, as I'm sure I could correct those mistakes.
Thanks for your advice!
Today I brewed for the first time, vaguely following a recipe I found here (Peroni Clone)
I started with 5L of water, and 630g of pale malt and 210 g of maize flakes.
I mashed for 2h30 at 65C. I used my inkbird connected to an electric stove to regulate that emperature, but the heat inertia and time to heat up of the stove means it kept going from 62C to 70C. Is that a massive problem? Do I have to improve that next time, or is staying between those temperature OK, doesit have an impact on finished product? Anyway, I believe this is not my biggest problem.
After mashing, I measured the gravity, and it gave me 1.021... quite far off from the 1.055 I aim for. Anyway, I just boiled it with hops and all, and let the trial jar on the side with the hydrometer. It raised to 1.035. I read later that it does raise when it cools, but calculator tell me it shouldn't raise that much. How to measure gravity when the liquid is hot? Do you just wait 5 minutes every time?
At the end of the boil, I was left with around 2.5L or maybe 3L, but less than I expected. I cooled it and managed to do it quite fast, then measured the gravity. It was 1.065 (I aimed for 1.055). I thought I needed to dilute it, but boiling water to sterilise it to do it would mean I'd raise the temperature... which I was trying to cool as quickly as possible. I just left it like that. How do you do to adjust gravity?
While I'm talking about water, here comes my biggest mistake. I had some gypsum to lower ph, but I thought it had to be done after wort boiling and cooling. So I measured the ph as the wort was cooling down to pitching temperature, and it was above the 6.2 that my strips can measure, so I added gypsum. And I added more gypsum, and more, and more, and more... until I probably added about 30g and nothing happened. I realised, but too late, that my water filter brings the pH to 9.5, and that gypsum should be added way earlier. I managed to let most of it in the pot while transfering to the demi john, but I'm not sure if that much gypsum is even drinkable! I will definitely start with lower pH water next time, but when and how much gypsum should I add if it's still above 6?
I finally had about 2.5L in my demijohn, and I sprinkled yeast on it (Mangrove Jack M84) when the temperature was 20C and I put it in my fridge with inkbird to regulate at 12C. I hope I got this part right at least? Or is a half demi john not full enough?
I don't think it could've gone much worse, I will see if what comes out is drinkable, but I might do another batch before this one is finished, as I'm sure I could correct those mistakes.
Thanks for your advice!