Lots of newbie Q's

[Dilligaf76]

A buddy and I are currently fermenting our second batch of extract and seem to have been bitten by the brewing bug. I have a handful of questions regarding brewing and beer in general.
1. When we have added our specialty malts to our wort, we tie a knot in the muslin bag and toss it in. The sack is then tear dropped in shape and about the size of a cantaloupe. Should we try and get the sack larger to allow the grains to spread out in the wort? Im assuming we're trying to simulate a mash. We've come in consistently under our target OG by 0.01. Could this be the culprit?

2. With the specialty malts, should we be concerned about temperatures? The first batch we followed the (vague) instructions and just had the water temp at "medium high" until it began to boil then removed it. The second I aimed for 150-160-165 degrees. (came in at approximately 165). Still under target OG by 0.01. The first batch tasted great but was clearly a little light on the abv. Not a big deal but I want my beer with a kick!

3. Can we pitch our yeast then transport the wort to another house? Maybe a 30 minute ride?

4. When chilling Wort, would it be acceptable to sanitize some of those "Blue Ice" packs from a cooler and toss them in? Seems like it would make a great low budget chiller.

5. I've always heard it was taboo to have a beer cold and allow it to get warm again, as far as taste is concerned. I cant see how this could affect the beer as long as it has finished priming.

6. Why does marriage suck so bad? Wait, wrong forum.

Any and all help is appreciated. Just cruising this site has already helped tremendously.
Thanks
Jason

 

[Yooper]

1. For steeping, you definitely don't want the grains packed tightly. They should be very lose so that all of the grain is in contact with the water. Either get bigger bags, or use two (or more) bags so that you can stir the grain well. Think of it like making tea- a tea bag has those "flow-thru" bags so the water can touch all of the tea leaves. It's the same with grain.

If you're steeping, and you're OG is off by .010, it's not because of the grains. There must be something else going on. Do you measure your water when you top off to five gallons? I made a "5 gallon" mark on my fermenters, so that I can ensure I'm adding the right amount to my fermenter.

2. It's nice if you can stay in the 150-160 area, but if it drops a little, that's ok.

3. That doesn't matter at all. Either way.

4. Yes, that would work fine if you want to do that. Just make sure whatever you use is "food safe" and won't melt from high temperatures.

5. It's fine to take beer out of the fridge if you need to. It won't hurt it.

6. It's always the man's fault.

If you give a typical recipe where your OG was .010 low, and the amount of volume you used, I can take a look and see if the issue is your technique or within the recipe itself.

Welcome to the obssesion.

 

[smagee]

1. Steeping grains are (virtually) entirely present for color and a bit of flavor. Consequently, they should contribute extremely negligible amounts to your gravity. That said, allowing them more room to breathe is certainly beneficial simply because it allows for better extraction of those attributes you *are* trying to get out of them.

2. You should try to keep steeping grains below 170F, as after that you start extracting tannins from the grains, which can impart unpleasant qualities to the beer. You're not quite simulating mash conditions (either the temperature or the time), but you certainly can do it that way and suffer no ill effects.

3. I can't think of any reason you couldn't. Although try to be gentle .

4. I did that very thing with a batch this weekend. So long as you know the packs can handle the heat (and in general, I can't think of any that cannot), go for it. Still slow going, but it'll get the job done.

5. Serving temp depends on the type of beer, if that's what you're referring to. In general, the "heavier" the beer, the warmer you'll want to drink it for optimal flavors. As for chilling and re-warming without opening, I've never had any problems with that, but I may just not be observant enough to notice a difference .

 

[Hernando]

Could the issue be the hydrometer is oof by .010? I know mine was off by a little and I had taken note of that and made adjustments accordingly.

Marriage sucks cause temptation is a ******!

 

[Dilligaf76]

The recipe is this one: http://www.ebrew.com/amber_ales/english_india_pale_ale.htm
My buddies wife broke our first hydrometer, we replaced it so if they're both off thats some bad luck. Our Arrogant Bastard clone we just brewed was targeted at 1.073 and we came in at almost exactly 1.061 with .002 added for temperature which brings us to being .01 off. Both hydrometers were purchased from the same manufacturer. I checked the first one in water and it came up dead on 1.000 so at least it was right.
The bucket were fermenting in has labels for 5 gallons and this time we were about a half inch below 5 but ran out of good water. We decided that was acceptable. Were using DME and specialty grains but what else can cause a low OG? We're straining the wort through a muslin bag and strainer. I'm a civil engineer by trade and remember from soil mechanics that the specific gravity of a soil has a relationship with the amount of suspended material in a sample. Not sure where that comes in for beer.
the Arrogant Bastard style is this one: http://www.ebrew.com/amber_ales/belligerent_sob.htm

If I could find a beer my wife would drink life would be better. As it is she thinks all beer tastes like Bud Light and hates them all. If I could find a recipe that tasted like vampire sweat she would be all over that!

 

[Pappers_]

If you're steeping, and you're OG is off by .010, it's not because of the grains. There must be something else going on. Do you measure your water when you top off to five gallons? I made a "5 gallon" mark on my fermenters, so that I can ensure I'm adding the right amount to my fermenter.

Congratulations on your two batches, Jason!

As Yooper suggests, either your volume is off or the extract and topping-off water isn't entirely (and evenly) mixed. That's about the only way your gravity could be off by that much, using extract with steeping grains.

 

[Qhrumphf]

A couple ideas:

1) Not sufficiently mixing top-off water can skew your SG reading

2) Is your hydrometer accurate? Read it in water at whatever temp its calibrated for (mine is 60 degrees, I think most are in that neighborhood) and make sure it reads 1.000

3) What temperature did you take your reading at? If you're reading at a higher temperature you need to adjust your reading accordingly.

4) Are you basing your target OG based on what a kit says, or off of brewing software? I've noticed that some software (hopville's beer calculus for example) seems to assume conversion from specialty grains and boosts the OG when in reality there's no base malt with diastatic power to cause conversion. If you're using software, base your target OG on the extract, and assume a couple points higher for the tiny bit you get from the specialty grains.

My 2c. Hope it helps.