Stepping up your brewing game.

[bobcatbrewer]

So I'm headed onto my fourth batch now, to date I have made a belgian, pumpkin porter (still aging), and I also have a Old Ale still sitting in the primary. So far my beer has turned out pretty good. I noticed a little inconsistency in the first batch but overall it was great.

My question is what really separates the good brewers from the bad and what good habits should you practice while brewing. I understand sanitation is important so I'm always sure to do a good job with that. What about things like wort temps, water types, etc?

Thanks in advance,

 

[tally350z]

The first thing I focused on when I started was my yeasties. Mainly my pitching amounts, pitching temps, aeration, and fermentation temps. I think that is a good starting area.

 

[amandabab]

My question is what really separates the good brewers from the bad
Thanks in advance,

repeatability

 

[bobcatbrewer]

tally could you go a little more in depth? By pitching amounts are you talking about how much of a yeast starter you are making? Also what are preferable temps for your yeast starter. I have had mine going at room temp for 24 hrs prior to pitching it. Also could you talk more about aeration?

Thanks,

 

[tally350z]

tally could you go a little more in depth? By pitching amounts are you talking about how much of a yeast starter you are making? Also what are preferable temps for your yeast starter. I have had mine going at room temp for 24 hrs prior to pitching it. Also could you talk more about aeration?

Thanks,

Well, for me at least each time I make sure I go to mrmalty.com and check my pitch rates to make sure I am pitching the most viable yeast. Also making sure you aerate your wort well. Using pure O2 or shaking. Also to ferment at the proper temps to prevent any off flavors that can result.

 

[estricklin]

Keep a brewing journal so that you can look back at what you've done in the past.

I pay a lot of attention to my mash, the temps and how long so on and so on.

As for fermentation I try to keep it at a decent temp, I don't get too anal about it but I do write down what the temps were; unless it's a lager in which case I am critical about temperature.

Read some books on brewing if you haven't already.

The most important thing I can tell you is take other brewer's advice with a grain of sand. My beer got a lot better when I started thinking about what i was doing, and stopped being afraid of messing up, because at that point brewing got way more FUN!!

 

[Odin_Brews]

Im with amandabab, repeatability. I keep a detailed journal and focus on hitting my mash temps, volumes and gravity(s). That way you can make a beer as planned or make the same beer over and over once you find that magic recipe you need as a house staple

 

[william_shakes_beer]

As stated above, keep a brew journal that records what the recipie said to do, what you actually did, and tasting impressions of the first beer, and at least weekly until the batch is exhausted. I have found, for instance, that head improves with time on some batches but not with others.If you don't know where you've been you can't figure out where to go next.

 

[duboman]

I too agree with repeatability and consistency as well as paying attention to the yeast. The yeast make the beer and the happier they are the better the beer will be. If you have not read the book "Yeast", I highly recommend it. It is the one book besides Palmer's that has really improved everything I do about making great beer!

 

[unionrdr]

Patience is the big one in brewing,I think. Give the yeasties a good wort,good temps,& time to do their thing. Beer is like bbq,it's done when it's done. Then allow time to clean up & settle out clear before racking to bottling bucket. Be sure kegs or bottles are clean & well sanitized. Use a priming calculator to style to get better flavor/aroma for the style brewed. Makes it more enjoyable I think.

 

[beergolf]

I agree with keeping a good log with notes about each brew. Write down everything you did in the process. Take tasting notes.

The three main things that will go a long way towards making good beer.....

Sanitize very well.
Pitch the proper amount of healthy yeast.
Control fermentation temperature.

Do those things and your brews will improve. Ater that it is paying attention to the small details.

 

[Odin_Brews]

Beer is like BBQ, ha, excellent!

 

[unionrdr]

^ Ha! Yeah,it's one of those basic truths that do seem to fit well together.

 

[Ogri]

I agree with keeping a good log with notes about each brew. Write down everything you did in the process. Take tasting notes.

The three main things that will go a long way towards making good beer.....

Sanitize very well.
Pitch the proper amount of healthy yeast.
Control fermentation temperature.

Do those things and your brews will improve. Ater that it is paying attention to the small details.

+1 Very wise words

 

[hogwash]

like beergolf said

 

[UtahNate]

^ Ha! Yeah,it's one of those basic truths that do seem to fit well together.

Loved the BBQ reference. I've had butts ready for pulling in less than 6 hours and I've had others take 18+. It's done when it's done... Patience really is a virtue when it comes to BBQ. I'm sure brewing is the same way.

Come to think of it, there are lots of similarities between BBQ and brewing...

• Quality ingredients
• Patience
• Temperature control
• Variety of equipment
• Chemical reactions
• Etc., etc., etc...

 

[unionrdr]

You got all that right! I'll be pit bbq'n the turkey next month. Boy,is that good with some of this wood from the tree by my driveway. It looks like a cottonwood without the cotton. Ash maybe? Makes a light side of medium smoke.
Today,I'm having to settle for brewing my 1st partial mash. Heatin the mash water now. Hope I get it right. This could be really good...Cascade pale ale. with pit bbq'd turkey next month. Oh yeah!

 

[bobcatbrewer]

Thanks for the replies everyone! So I have a fermentation chamber that I make sure stays at the appropriate temps and I have begun to keep a log of each one of my beers. When I printed out the sheets I just wasn't sure which information was really important. The only other thing I have some confusion about was about pitching the proper yeast amount. If I purchase it with a kit shouldn't that be the right amount? I have look at the calcs but I'm a little confused about it all.

 

[stillbrewin]

The old saying practice makes perfect.

If you brew something new every time you will never know if you have improved your skills.

At the same time if you do not try different things you will never discover what you like.

Find a style that you love and practice brewing it a lot.

 

[bobcatbrewer]

Good call stillbrewin i'm all over the place right now I should refine my craft on one then move on. I'm still very curious about the science behind the yeast though.

 

[pernox]

Thanks for the replies everyone! So I have a fermentation chamber that I make sure stays at the appropriate temps and I have begun to keep a log of each one of my beers. When I printed out the sheets I just wasn't sure which information was really important. The only other thing I have some confusion about was about pitching the proper yeast amount. If I purchase it with a kit shouldn't that be the right amount? I have look at the calcs but I'm a little confused about it all.

Record everything you can, and as you gain experience you'll decide what you really want to track. It's always better to have too much information recorded than too little!

What kind of kits are you buying? Boxed off-the-shelf kits will often come with highly suspect dry yeast in undersized packets. Kits from reputable online brew suppliers will come with enough fresh dry yeast, or liquid yeast that you'll want to make a starter for in most cases.

Here's a handy website for calculating pitch rate; http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

Sticking with dry yeast for your first few batches wouldn't be the worst idea if the yeast starter issue seems imposing; lots of good beer is made with dry yeast, and you can cover most styles adequately with what's available.

 

[HerbieHowells]

Enter one of your beers into a competition, or find experienced brewers in your area and ask them to critique your beer. I can tell you from experience that you can read all of these threads and think you are getting it, and then discover that you glossed over something really important after reading suggestions on a score sheet. I missed the whole "remove the chlorine and chloramine from your brewing water" step until a beer judge docked me for band-aid flavor in the first beer I entered into a competition. Be ready to take a little ego hit (I was down in the dumps for a day or two), but if you listen and focus on improving, the comments will help you make better beer. People who have not tasted your beer can tell you to focus on x, y, and z, and it will be good advice, but the best advice you can get is from someone who has tasted your beer and can diagnose specific issues.

 

[bobcatbrewer]

Record everything you can, and as you gain experience you'll decide what you really want to track. It's always better to have too much information recorded than too little!

What kind of kits are you buying? Boxed off-the-shelf kits will often come with highly suspect dry yeast in undersized packets. Kits from reputable online brew suppliers will come with enough fresh dry yeast, or liquid yeast that you'll want to make a starter for in most cases.

Here's a handy website for calculating pitch rate; http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

Sticking with dry yeast for your first few batches wouldn't be the worst idea if the yeast starter issue seems imposing; lots of good beer is made with dry yeast, and you can cover most styles adequately with what's available.

Austin Homebrew is my local shop, I'm doing extract recipes. Two of the beers I made I used liquid yeast and poured it right in after I put the cooled wort in the primary and then sealed it.

The last beer I did with my buddy I had a smack pack and I made a starter over two days with some of the DME I had. After looking at Mr. Malty it looks like I need to add a little more science into what i'm doing.

What is really the benefit of doing a starter as opposed to not?

 

[chickypad]

What is really the benefit of doing a starter as opposed to not?

http://www.mrmalty.com/starter_faq.php
pretty much covers the basics of why

http://www.mrmalty.com/pitching.php
covers the basics of how

 

[bobcatbrewer]

http://www.mrmalty.com/starter_faq.php
pretty much covers the basics of why

http://www.mrmalty.com/pitching.php
covers the basics of how

Awesome! This is perfect. As a side note any opinions on if I should dump my beer if the tip of my therm broke? I really don't want to ditch my old ale, I'm kind of thinking about filtering it. Is that even possible?

Thanks for all the replies

 

[helibrewer]

Yeastcalc.com is another good site for starters, it is especially useful for step-ups. I find it's graphic nature easy to use and seems a bit more straight forward than mrmalty. It also tells you your actual pitch rate (cells per ml), both required and final.

EDIT: For Production date: As listed on Wyeast smakpac....4 months prior to "Use by" date on White Labs.

 

[tgmartin000]

Austin Homebrew is my local shop, I'm doing extract recipes. Two of the beers I made I used liquid yeast and poured it right in after I put the cooled wort in the primary and then sealed it.

The last beer I did with my buddy I had a smack pack and I made a starter over two days with some of the DME I had. After looking at Mr. Malty it looks like I need to add a little more science into what i'm doing.

What is really the benefit of doing a starter as opposed to not?

Fermentation is the most important part of beer making. That, and being 21.

Your yeast control the fermentation. As far as benefits of doing a starter vs not, that's like asking what are the benefits of being alive vs not. There is no non benefit of making a starter. It's one of the most important things.

Unless you use dry yeast, most people don't use starters for dry. Just pitch enough packets.

Also, enter some contests. Feedback is so huge.

Read a lot. Yeast, brewing classic styles, designing great recipies, etc. Learn to taste.

Etc, etc, etc.

 

[bobcatbrewer]

Fermentation is the most important part of beer making. That, and being 21.

Your yeast control the fermentation. As far as benefits of doing a starter vs not, that's like asking what are the benefits of being alive vs not. There is no non benefit of making a starter. It's one of the most important things.

Unless you use dry yeast, most people don't use starters for dry. Just pitch enough packets.

Also, enter some contests. Feedback is so huge.

Read a lot. Yeast, brewing classic styles, designing great recipies, etc. Learn to taste.

Etc, etc, etc.

Entering contests seems to be a recurring theme, I think I'm going to do my best to perfect this old ale that I'm brewing and try to find a way to put my own spin on it then enter my beer during the springs sometime.

Any good recommendations on how to design recipes or is it just something that you figure out after awhile?

Also if anyone has any comments on the old ale I have fermenting that has a small amount of glass in it i would be all ears. I'm thinking of tranferring to the secondary tonight. I would really love to keep it :/

 

[freisste]

What do you use to transfer? If you transfer via siphon, you will likely not even be able to pick the glass up.

Especially if you have a racking cane like mine (are they all the same?). It has a cap on the bottom so the liquid is pulled from above. I think it would be almost impossible to pick up glass with it.

Also, just because I know people are going to ask - why are you using a secondary?

 

[bobcatbrewer]

What do you use to transfer? If you transfer via siphon, you will likely not even be able to pick the glass up.

Especially if you have a racking cane like mine (are they all the same?). It has a cap on the bottom so the liquid is pulled from above. I think it would be almost impossible to pick up glass with it.

Also, just because I know people are going to ask - why are you using a secondary?

Some were recommending it if you had a broken therm. I have read that transferring to the secondary isn't really necessarily in general so I was planning just to leave it on the yeast cake for 4 weeks.

So you think I'm good to go? I would of course siphon a few inches off the trub just to be safe.