Keep It Simple Ale Test (extract)

[glutarded-chris]

EDIT: This turns out to be a lesson in what NOT to do (post #6).

original post:
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I realize that this is more of a process post than GF, but I think us GF brewers may be more driven to something like this. Sometimes you just want to put some beer in the fermenter with a little less production. That is what this test was intended to investigate. It is not actually faster, just less production. For me, another advantage is if it is really hot or cold outside, it would allow me to do more inside with my weak electric stove.

Summary:
It was less production
It seemed to ferment just fine
Jury is still out on if it produced an adequate beer!

I would be interested in any comments or experience with similar processes.


I was intrigued by some of the concepts in the HomeBrewTalk article “4 Tips for Making Great Beer in 15 Minutes”
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/four-tips-making-great-beer-15-minutes.html
Some of my immediate questions were echoed in the comments at the bottom of the article, although I thought some were unnecessarily hard on the author. Tough crowd.

For a relatively simple process, I am always amazed at how much stuff I pull out to make a batch. The process I tested below cannot be new. The green beer had a definite citrusy sorghum twang. Not sure if that is just because it is an extract batch or if this process just exposes the negative aspects of the sorghum.

Process:

The idea is to have a small volume regular gravity boil for the hops, and have enough cold water to bring down to pitching temperature without needing wart chiller.

5 gallon batch:

Boil water: 1.5 gallons of tap water or bottled water
Top off water: 5 gallons of bottled water. Put 4 gallons in an ice bath well in advance of boil and save the other for backup.

Note: The bottled water is used because it is sanitized and can be added at the end. The water used for the boil does not need to be bottled.

With a 3 to 4 gallon brew kettle, there is plenty of head space to avoid boil over and gives extra space to add cold water at the end before transfer.

Steep 1 lb crystal in 1 to 1.5 gallon water at 160F for 30 minutes
Pull bag and top off to 1.5 gallon

Add a portion of the fermentables to bring boil gravity to 1.045 to 1.055.

Boil and follow your normal hop schedule.

Add remaining fermentables at the end and boil for 5 minutes. Let sit 10 minutes after flameout to insure pasteurization. The end of the boil is extremely high gravity so finishing hops may not do much. It could be benneficail to put in the flavoring hops a little earlier than normal so they spend some time in the lower gravity wart.

Add a gallon or two of the cold water from the ice bath to bring the temperature down before transfer to the fermentation vessel. I don’t use glass but if you do, you may want to put in a small amount first to bring the temperature of the glass closer to the wart temperature before bulk transfer.

Top off to 5.5 gallons (this gets the final volume after fermentation closer to 5 gallons). The temperature should be close to 80F now.
(1.5 gallon @ 210F) + (4 gallons @ 32F) = ~(5.5 gallons @ 80.6F)
With a little extra boil off, the temperature will be lower.

Since this is intended to be super simple, after agitating the wart with a sanitized whisk I just pitch the yeast on top of the wart.

 

[Legume]

I have been brewing (extract and partial mash) for 20 ish years,, and I just got my first wort chiller for christmass (last week).

I have always done a 3.5 gal boil, and used 1.5 gal of sanitary ice and then cold water to bring the wort up to final volume.
It will get you close to pitching temperature in a reasonable amount of time.

Its not nessassarilly the best practice... but as you said, its easier and requires less equipment.

I am doing more all grain now (with full volume boil), so the wort chiller is coming in very handy.

 

[Osedax]

So basically you are reducing time and equipment by prechilling top up water. I think a lot of people do this. I just used ice to top up on my 1 gallon batches.

On a side note, there is a debate as to whether quick cooling the wort is necessary. It is good for protein coagulation and sanitation without a doubt but, aerating above 80F might not be as bad as everyone says. Some just throw the hot wort in a bucket (never glass) and wait until the next day to pitch the yeast. I have never done it personally. Just a thought.

 

[glutarded-chris]

Yes, just keeping the boil volume low enough so that the chilled top off water brings it down to pitching temp. Also keeping the gravity of the first part of the boil right for bittering and flavoring hops. With ice instead of chilled water, the boil volume could be raised further, but I didn't bother to dig into the heat balance calculation with the ice.

The thing I am wondering is if the large amount of late additions of sorghum syrup contributed to the extra citrus taste. Up to now I have operated on the assumption that boiling the sorghum syrup did not have much of an effect on the taste from the sorghum. Maybe it does!

I did see a write up somewhere talking about Australians just letting the hot wart sit in the sanitized fermenter and pitching the yeast when it naturally reached room temp. They say that any negative impacts on flavor are not noticeable. I'm sure the vikings and German monks would tell us they had been doing these things a thousand years ago
I have not been bold enough to try it as I fear ruining a batch from infection and having to pour all my effort down the drain.

 

[Legume]

I have also heard the recient discussions about no chill brewing...and am similarly afraid of ruining or negativly affecting a whole batch just to test it.

 

[glutarded-chris]

OK, the latest article shows the error of my ways. Apparently the solubility of the hop oils is limited and a saturated small volume diluted to pitching volume limits the amount of bitterness you can get. That is probably one of the reasons that the citrus twang of the sorghum came through more than I am used to. My test batch is getting better with another week of aging, but it still is not my favorite. The article goes into elaborate "hop tea" methods which I don't think I am going to get into. Chalk this up to a learning experience!!! Disregard this thread.

 

[JMath]

Chris, would you mind posting the recipe you used? I know this is an experiment but I'm always interested in your recipes.

I am planning my third GF extract batch and I am still debating when to add the Sorghum. I've tried it both at the end and the beginning, with mixed results. It seems most recipes call for it at the end of the boil, but you seem to be a proponent of throwing it in for the full boil.

 

[glutarded-chris]

Sure, here it is. Sort of just threw a batch together to test the process.

1 lb millet crystal cracked and steeped for 30 minutes at 160F
6 lb sorghum syrup
1 lb brown rice extract (dry)
1 lb D45 Belgium Candy Syrup
0.5 lb honey
0.5 lb maltodextrin
8 grams coriander
8 grams dried orange peel
3 teaspoons yeast nutrient
1 whirlfloc tab
1.5 sache of Safale US-05 yeast (cast on surface)

Hops:
0.7 oz Columbus (50 min boil time)
0.3 oz Columbus (20 min boil time)
0.1 oz Amarillo (20 min boil time)
1.0 oz Amarillo (10 min boil time)
1.0 oz Amarillo (Dry Hop)

I was shooting for 40 IBU but small volume boil process killed that and I am not sure what I got. With a proper 3 gallon boil it probably would have been good.

For a partial boil my general practice has been to put the sugar's and other things that I want to preserve flavor at the end of the boil. I put enough of the sorghum syrup in at the beginning to bring the boil gravity up between 1.045 and 1.050 and the rest goes at the end. I figured that since the sorghum syrup is created by lots of boiling, that my boiling is not going to change anything it brings to the table.

 

[JMath]

I figured that since the sorghum syrup is created by lots of boiling, that my boiling is not going to change anything it brings to the table.

That's a very good point, thanks.

 

[mergs]

I have also heard the recient discussions about no chill brewing...and am similarly afraid of ruining or negativly affecting a whole batch just to test it.

I can attest, it works!

Its winter** in the PNW and so I've been using mother nature as a chiller: my last 3 batches have come out fine.

I have a new kettle with a tight fitting lid and the evening have been 25-45F at times and I find that if I flame out at say 8pm, drop the lid, I can walk away and by the time 9am rolls around my wort is 68-72 degs. That's when I rack to primary, aerate and pitch.

**I won't be able to do this in the summer but I don't mind using the wort chiller in the summer because the water goes into a rain barrel for the garden. Call me a hippy but it drives me nuts to see 50 gals of water just pouring out onto the ground or down a drain.