Improving my beer

[BigTerp]

Been brewing for about 4 years now and I feel I'm to the point where I make some really good beer. Recently went from bottling to kegging and it has kind of re-excited me about brewing. So I have been thinking of ways to help step things up a notch and wanted some ideas to maybe get my beers just a tad better.

My first step is to get serious with proper pitching rates and rehydrating when using dry yeast. Before when I would calculate how much yeast I needed for a batch, if it was over 2 liters I would just make a 2 liter starter and call it good. Which was a lot of the time since I do 10 gallon batches. For dry yeast I have always pitched right from the package, never rehydrated dry yeast. For my batch this weekend I'm doing a step starter using YeastCalc to try to get the proper pitching rate.

Not sure what else to improve on. I ferment at the proper temperatures based on the yeast I'm using and my sanitation practices are good. What small things have you guys done in your brewing regimen to help get a little better end product?

 

[j1n]

Seems like you have your bases covered.

 

[wilserbrewer]

How's your water?

 

[two_one_seven]

2nd the water. Get a copy of Palmer's Water book. There is a lot of information in there but the chapter on adjusting water to style is worth its weight in gold. If you get a copy of your water report and learn calculate your residual alkalinity you can pretty easily adjust your water with a couple different brewing salts to suit the style of your beer. This has made a huge difference if my beer quality and I have been brewing since 1996……..

Cheers!
Brian

 

[dsaavedra]

x3 for water. Using treated RO water, batch sparging in an IGLOO cooler to maintain temps, and using fermentation temp control made my AG batches go from virtually undrinkable to the best beer I have made.

 

[BigTerp]

Thanks for the replies!!

I had a Ward labs report done right after I started brewing. I use Bru'n water to figure out mineral composition based on style and build my water with the ezy water calculator. I focus on achieving the appropriate mineral composition and mash ph. I've never really understood nor paid attention to residual alkalinity. Just worried about final mineral profile when building my water. Maybe residual alkalinity is something I need to read up on?

And here is what my water looks like....

Ph - 7.6
Total hardness - 194
Bicarbonate - 221
Total alkalinity - 181
Calcium - 51
Magnesium - 16
Sulfate - 4
Chloride - 5
Sodium - 3

 

[J-Drew]

I'm not sure how steadily you hold your fermentation temperature when you say "I ferment at the proper temperatures based on the yeast I'm using," but if you don't have one, you might want to think about a temperature controlled fermentation chamber.

 

[Bellybuster]

I'm not sure how steadily you hold your fermentation temperature when you say "I ferment at the proper temperatures based on the yeast I'm using," but if you don't have one, you might want to think about a temperature controlled fermentation chamber.

this right here is a huge step in beer improvement

 

[Komodo]

I encourage you to get Gordon Strong's book Brewing Better Beer: Master Lessons for Advanced Homebrewers. It's aimed squarely at you.

Also get Yeast by Jamil and Chris White.

 

[j1n]

I encourage you to get Gordon Strong's book Brewing Better Beer: Master Lessons for Advanced Homebrewers. It's aimed squarely at you.

Also get Yeast by Jamil and Chris White.

Thanks for posting this. gonna buy this book now.

ive read palmers book how to brew and the series yeast, and water. havent read hops yet. im pretty comfortable with my process and is dialed in. this is the book i need right now.

 

[Komodo]

Np. Personally, whenever I start new beers I like to delve into the history of the style. There always seems to be an ingredient, or a process, or even some insight that lights my imagination even if it doesn't translate to the final brew. Brew Like A Monk was huge for me and got me back into brewing again.

 

[Natdavis777]

As for fermentation, I like to ferment on the colder end of the spectrum... I pitch most ales @ 60F (even some that say that is too low) and hold until 80% attenuation and raise temps. This had def given my beers cleaner fermentations and still allows the beer to ferment out fully.

I also second water evaluation. A good brewing app like Brun Water will help you dial in beer flavor profiles.

Since you recently started kegging, another tip (something I started doing in the last year) would be to CO2 purge your kegs before transferring. A good amount of Co2 through the dip tube before a transfer can def help reduce oxidation to the beer.

 

[BigTerp]

Thanks again.

Currently I ferment in my spare bathtub. Works great as basically a giant swamp cooler. I too ferment most of my pales and ambers at about 62 or even lower. I can keep temperatures rock steady at 61-63 using my bathtub. A dedicated chest freezer for fermentation will be in my future though. I'm currently stepping up my WLP005 British Ale yeast for 10 gallons of a northern brown that's to be brewed tomorrow. Going to shoot for 65-67 for fermentation temp.

Good idea on purging kegs with co2 before transferring. I'm 3 kegs in and am loving it over bottling!!! Beer seems to disappear quicker though. Most likely because my kegerator is in my kitchen.

 

[Bassman2003]

Once you get the basics of wort production, sanitizing and fermenting, the next steps are more tweaking to your liking and or process improvements. Here is my list, some have already been mentioned:

Water Treatment/Ph
Yeast health/management
Wort Chilling
Mash Programs (step mashing)
Fermentation Programs
Oxygenation of your Wort

I have been brewing for 13 years and each year I have tried to improve on my setup and process just as you are doing. Over time you will whittle it down to what works best and what you need. Since it is hot here in Texas, I focused on wort chilling and getting a fermentation fridge pretty early on. But as mentioned already, water is probably most important beyond fermentation temp control.