Hello all,
Getting back into the all-grain game after a few year hiatus. I have been having issues the past few batches with boring watery results after fermentation. This is especially odd considering I have been brewing stouts which should have pretty robust roasty character. I have read that mash and boil pH which is too high can cause these insipid results. I do not currently measure pH during my process. However, I have been brewing exclusively with R.O. water with 1 tsp of CaCL2 and no lactic/sauermalz per 5 gallons following AJ's water primer for roasty beers. I treat all ~10gallons before brewing.
Could my mash pH still be too high? My most recent recipe reads a lil' something like this:
9.5lb American 2-row
3lb Munich I
1.25lb Flaked barley
1lb Roasted Barley 500L
12oz Chocolate malt 350L
1oz Mosaic @ 60min
0.5oz Mosaic @ 10min
Whirlfloc/yeast nutrient @ 10min
*edit* forgot to mention I mashed this at 154F (measured) for 60 minutes, then sparged with 168F water
Starter of WLP004 Irish ale yeast, cooled in <15 minutes with a copper immersion chiller and manual stirring for a whirlpool. What I would consider quite a bit of cold break does make it into the fermentor. The beers ferment out almost completely in 4-5 days in my fermentation chamber set at 60F (thermometer sticker shows the beer itself at ~65F). I then warm up to around 68F (thermometer sticker temp) for three or four days to let the yeast clean up, then cold crash 48ish hours and keg.
The beers pour perfectly from my picnic tap and look fantastic with a nice thick foam, but are just very boring in both flavor and aroma. Where I expect burnt coffee roast aroma and flavor, I am getting only a very slight astringency with little else of note. Should I focus on measuring mash pH or look at something else first?
Getting back into the all-grain game after a few year hiatus. I have been having issues the past few batches with boring watery results after fermentation. This is especially odd considering I have been brewing stouts which should have pretty robust roasty character. I have read that mash and boil pH which is too high can cause these insipid results. I do not currently measure pH during my process. However, I have been brewing exclusively with R.O. water with 1 tsp of CaCL2 and no lactic/sauermalz per 5 gallons following AJ's water primer for roasty beers. I treat all ~10gallons before brewing.
Could my mash pH still be too high? My most recent recipe reads a lil' something like this:
9.5lb American 2-row
3lb Munich I
1.25lb Flaked barley
1lb Roasted Barley 500L
12oz Chocolate malt 350L
1oz Mosaic @ 60min
0.5oz Mosaic @ 10min
Whirlfloc/yeast nutrient @ 10min
*edit* forgot to mention I mashed this at 154F (measured) for 60 minutes, then sparged with 168F water
Starter of WLP004 Irish ale yeast, cooled in <15 minutes with a copper immersion chiller and manual stirring for a whirlpool. What I would consider quite a bit of cold break does make it into the fermentor. The beers ferment out almost completely in 4-5 days in my fermentation chamber set at 60F (thermometer sticker shows the beer itself at ~65F). I then warm up to around 68F (thermometer sticker temp) for three or four days to let the yeast clean up, then cold crash 48ish hours and keg.
The beers pour perfectly from my picnic tap and look fantastic with a nice thick foam, but are just very boring in both flavor and aroma. Where I expect burnt coffee roast aroma and flavor, I am getting only a very slight astringency with little else of note. Should I focus on measuring mash pH or look at something else first?
