Share a tip

[MHBT]

I love the foam, makes me feel better knowing there is a barrier on the surface protecting plus most gets pushed out of the fermenter as it fills

 

[Homebrew Harry]

Yummy

 

[McMullan]

Repitch fresh yeast. You can't sell it, so very few mention it.

 

[bracconiere]

That says that you are not achieving full conversion during your mash period due to poorly crushed grain and are getting more conversion by pushing the mash temp into the range of the alpha enzyme at the expense of denaturing more quickly the beta enzyme. You could probably get the same efficiency bump by crushing finer, extending the mash period, or both. Try a longer mash to see if that helps.

well i got into the habbit of doing it, because i kinda have to with my homemalt...and when i broke down and bought malt, did the same thing..got the same increase. i assure you my malt is crushed plenty fine enough.

and that is if some of your starch has a significantly higher gelatinization temperature than the rest of the starch

hmmm, could be! maybe ALL barley can be rung out a bit more! and at 162f alpha is still active to convert it...

 

[tracer bullet]

1) Mist / spray some water on your grains a few minutes before mashing them. They'll make a much smaller mess of dust everywhere afterwards. This might be dependent on where you are and your humidity levels...

2a) Make a reasonable attempt to "calibrate" your kettles, fermenter, etc. so you know where 5 gallons sits vs. the markings on that device.
2b) Know that for about 6 gallons of water at room temp, it'll expand to nearly 6.125 gallons at mash temps and 6.25 gallons at boil temps.
(these helped me become a lot less confused at the end of the brew day when the volume I thought I had was nowhere near what I actually had).

 

[suzeQ]

If you struggle to find enough hours in a row to brew because your free time is stretched thin, try out no-chill brewing. I'm a total believer in this now. I can start a brew on a weeknight after the kids go to sleep and once the boil is done I just put the lid on and shut the kettle off and go to bed. I let it cool naturally in the garage and transfer to fermentors the next day. Breaking it up like this opens up way more opportunities to brew, at least for me.

Is this is exactly what it sounds like? I think I'll try this on my next red ale. Off to research.

 

[TLaffey]

Use your refractometer and Kai's "table 1" (Understanding efficiency) to determine when the mash is nearly done. For me, 60min is never enough.

 

[WesBrew]

I halfway agree with that, i use refractometer throughout brewday for OG but still use hydrometer post ferment for FG

i did the same for years but started using the brewers friend calculator for alcohol present and abandoned the hydro altogether. definitely far better for checking conversion and og

 

[MHBT]

i did the same for years but started using the brewers friend calculator for alcohol present and abandoned the hydro altogether. definitely far better for checking conversion and og

Definitely agree on that, i love using it while im brewing, only few drops needed at a time and can check few times during the mash, sparge if you do that, in the kettle pre/post without wasting nearly close as much wort

 

[Quentin Nelson]

Some will laugh or scream, but this has worked great for me for years:
I start fermentation in my 15 gallon boil kettle. 11-12 gallons after boil, cooled, medical oxygen, pitch lots of harvested yeast, loose lid with hole for long thermometer, relax & go to bed. Rapid fermentation by early next morning, it’s 90% done in 3 days, then transfer to 2 serving kegs for a couple more days at 68-70, (ales) fermentation is DONE, cold crash & carbonate. Grain to glass in less than 7 days always.

 

[tracer bullet]

Some will laugh or scream, but this has worked great for me for years:
I start fermentation in my 15 gallon boil kettle. 11-12 gallons after boil, cooled, medical oxygen, pitch lots of harvested yeast, loose lid with hole for long thermometer, relax & go to bed. Rapid fermentation by early next morning, it’s 90% done in 3 days, then transfer to 2 serving kegs for a couple more days at 68-70, (ales) fermentation is DONE, cold crash & carbonate. Grain to glass in less than 7 days always.

Seems like a good opportunity for a spunding valve and self-carbonating right there in the keg.

 

[MHBT]

Some will laugh or scream, but this has worked great for me for years:
I start fermentation in my 15 gallon boil kettle. 11-12 gallons after boil, cooled, medical oxygen, loose lid with hole for long thermometer, relax & go to bed. Rapid fermentation by early next morning, it’s 90% done in 3 days, then transfer to 2 serving kegs for a couple more days at 68-70, (ales) fermentation is DONE, cold crash & carbonate.

Totally, that’s usually me too, if you pitch healthy yeast and get good fermentation its not needed to keep beer in primary the classic “ 3 weeks” i had a 9%er hit FG in under a week and tasted good of coarse i will let it condition in the package

Seems like a good opportunity for a spunding valve and self-carbonating right there in the keg.

no better way to carb a beer

 

[pc_trott]

If you struggle to find enough hours in a row to brew because your free time is stretched thin, try out no-chill brewing. I'm a total believer in this now. I can start a brew on a weeknight after the kids go to sleep and once the boil is done I just put the lid on and shut the kettle off and go to bed. I let it cool naturally in the garage and transfer to fermentors the next day. Breaking it up like this opens up way more opportunities to brew, at least for me.

This sounded like such a wonderful idea, I had to try it immediately. Started a brew two days ago at about 7PM. Finished it around 9:30. Transferred to primary at 7AM yesterday, topped it off to 5 gallons, measured SG and pitched the yeast. It's been going strong all day today. Worked like a charm! Thanks for the tip, I may make this my regular routine.

 

[MaxStout]

Brew what you like to drink. Don't worry about your beer fitting into a particular BJCP category. If you want to add something unique to the recipe, then do it.

Of course, if you want to enter your brew in a competition, it should fit into one of the categories. Otherwise, if you're brewing for your own enjoyment, make it yours.

 

[Broken Crow]

To avoid fretting over losses to hoses and such when your brew is finished, drain your hoses, sample jar and whatnot into your crockpot over a pork roast, or tinfoil wrapped ribs for the BBQ.

 

[McMullan]

Support your LHBS; not the one with enthusiastic backing from parasitic corporate investors.

 

[Homebrewer20]

Use rubbing alchohol on your keg posts as well as your faucet instead of Star San..

I learned this after my beers kept getting contaminated after putting them in the kegerator!
Cheers!

 

[Broken Crow]

Use rubbing alchohol on your keg posts as well as your faucet instead of Star San..

I learned this after my beers kept getting contaminated after putting them in the kegerator!
Cheers!

..and don't forget to use a cheap basket coffee-filter for the wiping...cheap and less particles left behind.