Incoming first brew day. Here are a couple of questions.

[Brimania42]

So my sink facilities are pretty small, and I'm not sophisticated enough to own a heat exchanger. As far as cooling my wort, is there such a thing as too fast? I ask because I'm considering using the -10 degree air on my deck to do the job. Can you shock wort to a disadvantage?

My other question has to do with the ABV of my final product. I like a higher ABV beer, but I've come across a couple of bits of advice I would like to run past the community, as well as a thought I had.

Firstly, I've been told that I should go for flavor first. This seems like solid advice for a first time brewer. I think I might take it for the first 5 or 6 runs as I hone some skills.

Next, I've read that if you are going to increase your sugars, to do it proportionally. Could I not accomplish this by increasing my boil by 15-30 minutes? I'm guessing a get a slightly lower yield, but outside of that are there any drawbacks to a longer boil? What about increasing the steep time on my grains?

Anyway, like I said, I probably won't mess with that the first time out. I do look forward to some input.

Cheers,
Brian

 

[parrothead64]

With wort chilling, the faster the better. No such thing as too fast. Higher ABV beers are harder to make, especially if your not making yeast starters, start with a 5% ABV. Steeping grains longer will not get more fermentable sugars out of them. A longer boil will increase ABV slightly but you could also just start with less water and do the same thing. Congratulations on your first brew. Your going to like this hobby.

 

[Remos112]

As far as cooling my wort, is there such a thing as too fast? I ask because I'm considering using the -10 degree air on my deck to do the job.

I use a plate cooler which chills my wort from boiling to about 18c in 10-15 minutes. No way cold air could cool 20 liters in that amount of time so I wouldn't worry about cooling it too fast, just dont get it too cold before pitching the yeast.

You could go for high ABV. even on your first brew, there are however more challenges to overcome like, getting mash tun that would fit enough grain, you would have to pitch a lot more yeast then a lower ABV brew, which means either making a starter or pitch several packs of yeast. Also with higher ABV the need for aerating the wort is higher. Also keep in mind that higher ABV beers usually have to "mature" longer than lower ABV. brews.
So basically it's up to you where you want to start.

The adding sugar in portions is sometimes done on high abv to keep the yeasts going. Basically you let them ferment the "difficult" sugars first from the grains, and when that slows down you add the "simple" sugars to keep the fermentation going.

The duration of the boil is open for debate, I almost exclusively do 90 minute boils as 9-10 of my beers has Pilsner as base malt and it is said you need to boil Pilsner for 90 minutes to boil off all the nasty byproducts.

A long/shorter mash will to some degree influence your effiency.
But after conversion is complete there is not much sense in doing a much longer mash.

 

[myndflyte]

So my sink facilities are pretty small, and I'm not sophisticated enough to own a heat exchanger. As far as cooling my wort, is there such a thing as too fast? I ask because I'm considering using the -10 degree air on my deck to do the job. Can you shock wort to a disadvantage?

Can never happen too fast. I think you'll see that trying to use ambient temps (even at -10) will take several hours to cool the wort.

My other question has to do with the ABV of my final product. I like a higher ABV beer, but I've come across a couple of bits of advice I would like to run past the community, as well as a thought I had.

Firstly, I've been told that I should go for flavor first. This seems like solid advice for a first time brewer. I think I might take it for the first 5 or 6 runs as I hone some skills.

That's good advise. My guess is you're using a kit, which is good, and allows you to focus more on the actual process. Work your way up to those higher ABV beers.

Next, I've read that if you are going to increase your sugars, to do it proportionally. Could I not accomplish this by increasing my boil by 15-30 minutes? I'm guessing a get a slightly lower yield, but outside of that are there any drawbacks to a longer boil? What about increasing the steep time on my grains?

You can boil longer but why not just add more malt and not spend more time? Of course then you'd have to adjust your hops to account for more malt or smaller volume, if you boil longer. As for steep times (not mash), 30 mins is probably sufficient.

 

[Brimania42]

Thanks guys. As I said, I'll probably just follow the recipe that comes with a kit for the first few batches. As far as my "outside" cooling process, I'm not just looking to the air. I'm gonna use a nice mound of snow, and some cold water.

Great advise all around.

 

[RM-MN]

Thanks guys. As I said, I'll probably just follow the recipe that comes with a kit for the first few batches. As far as my "outside" cooling process, I'm not just looking to the air. I'm gonna use a nice mound of snow, and some cold water.

Great advise all around.

If you have a tub of water that you can partially submerge the pot into (lower than the level of the wort) then you can dump snow into the water to chill it which chills the wort faster. Setting the pot into a mound of snow actually slows the cooling because the snow melts away from the pot and then becomes an insulator.

 

[wallyLOZ]

I tried the same thing as you, Brian. Last Friday I set my brew kettle outside to take advantage of the cold weather. Nope, didn't work. At roughly the same time as an ice bath would take, my wort was still at 180. Brought it inside and finished in an ice bath. Lesson learned.

 

[parrothead64]

Also, the biggest mistake new brewers make is messing with the fermenter after the yeast are pitched. They worry about fermentation and constantly open the bucket to see how things are going. When the wort cools to the high 60’s, add oxygen, put the yeast in and leave it alone. Pay no attention to the air lock. Beer will happen, anything you do at this point is going to make it worse(oxidation). Make sure the fermenter is in a cool place but it is more important to have a consistent temperature. Keep it away from windows, doors and heating vents.

 

[Brimania42]

Also, the biggest mistake new brewers make is messing with the fermenter after the yeast are pitched. They worry about fermentation and constantly open the bucket to see how things are going. When the wort cools to the high 60’s, add oxygen, put the yeast in and leave it alone. Pay no attention to the air lock. Beer will happen, anything you do at this point is going to make it worse(oxidation). Make sure the fermenter is in a cool place but it is more important to have a consistent temperature. Keep it away from windows, doors and heating vents.

I was actually curious about this parrothead. I know I want to fuss with my fermenter as little as possible for reasons of contamination. However, don't you also determine when the process is done by taking readings? Is there a trick to do this without thieving beer from my carboy?

 

[DublinOhioBrewer]

I saw a video on YouTube where a guy chilled his wort in less than 5 minutes by pouring refrigerated overnight jugs of water into it from up high into a fermenting bucket. He also introduced a ton of oxygen into his Wort This Way. He was pitching the yeast about two minutes later. I went ahead and bought a wort chiller before I ever started Brewing so I never had to consider this option but it looked like it worked. If you're using a fermenting bucket instead of a Carboy this is something you could try

Heres a link to it:

 

[DublinOhioBrewer]

Start watching at about 6:40

 

[myndflyte]

I saw a video on YouTube where a guy chilled his wort in less than 5 minutes by pouring refrigerated overnight jugs of water into it from up high into a fermenting bucket. He also introduced a ton of oxygen into his Wort This Way. He was pitching the yeast about two minutes later. I went ahead and bought a wort chiller before I ever started Brewing so I never had to consider this option but it looked like it worked. If you're using a fermenting bucket instead of a Carboy this is something you could try

When I was doing 2.4 gallon extract batches, I'd use a similar process except I would sanitize a tupperware container, fill it with spring water, and freeze it. When it came time to cool, I'd dump that huge ice cube in and it would cool it down in no time.

 

[Brimania42]

When I was doing 2.4 gallon extract batches, I'd use a similar process except I would sanitize a tupperware container, fill it with spring water, and freeze it. When it came time to cool, I'd dump that huge ice cube in and it would cool it down in no time.

What I like about that is that the size of the "ice cube" can be calculated in terms of how much energy is required to melt it. Great idea.