Trying to Improve My Process

[Captain_RedBeerd]

Hello all, like the title states, I am trying to overall improve my brewing process and have some questions I am having trouble finding clear answers to.. I'm a newer brewer doing extract brewing and would like to hone in my process before moving on to bigger batches and trying my own recipes.

1) I am doing 1 gallon kit recipes right now. I am currently doing a boil with the 1 gallon and adding more water into my fermentor after cooling to get back up to the 1 gallon mark. Is this OK to be doing, or should I be starting my boil with more water, aiming for the 1 gallon mark after the 60 min boil?

2) I recently purchased a hop bag for filtering my wort when bottling and am thinking about using it for the boil as well. If I boil the hops in the bag, should they be removed before I start the ice bath or afterwards? Or should I just keep with throwing them in the boil and using the bag to filter while transferring to the fermentor?

 

[ncbrewer]

You can top off after boiling or boil a little more and not top off - either works. Boiling extra is preferred by most.
- It eliminates the need to treat the top-off water for chlorine/chloramine if you're adding tap water (The boil water still needs to be treated).
-And once you chill to your pitc hing temperature, you won't be changing the temperature by adding water.
- Also, if you're going for really high IBUs, you won't be diluting this with the added water. This is not likely - it only matters if you're going for close to 100 IBUs.
- Hop utilization is higher with a lower boil gravity, but the effect would be minor - adjust with your hop charge.
- There is less wort darkening with lower boil gravity, but it should be very minor.

 

[canehdianman]

1) Best practices would be to top up before boiling. This would remove the possibility of an infection being introduced through that water addition.

2) I would recommend using the bag for the hops while boiling only. Filtering your beer through the bag while bottling will oxygenate the beer more than not filtering.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

@Captain_RedBeerd - I also do 1-gallon batches. I currently just add top-off water after the boil, and it has always worked well. One thng I do is start the brewing session with 2 gallons of water ready to go - that way, if I need to top off etc., the water will be ready and available.

As for your second question, I've tried a few different things, and so far, this seems to work the best: an 8-inch funnel with a medium and fine screen. After cooling the boil down, I run it through the medium screen, then through the fine. My brews have improved since doing this, but the amount of trub seems to be about the same. Cold-crashing is the best remedy that I have found, as it compacts the trub.

 

[Gytaryst]

The water in the boil boils off but the minerals in that water don't. To me, that would be the primary concern in topping off vs. starting with more water. And with 1 gallon batches I'm not sure the difference would even be perceptible. As long as you do it the same way every time I think either way is fine. The only thing I would add is that topping off with water after the boil is really an extra, and unnecessary, step - and the more steps you add to the process the more chances you're providing for things to go wrong.

As for the second question I agree that you are better off using the bags in the boil and not trying to filter after fermentation. Time is one of the best filters. When you go from the boil to the fermenter try to leave as much of that trub behind as possible. Then after fermentation is complete, cold crash 2 days minimum, (3 or more days is even better). Then if you really want to get extreme, throw some gelatin in. That should get you as clear as you want to get without adding any oxygen.

 

[Jimbodaman]

IMO don't waste your time with bagging hops everything goes into the fermenter trub and all. All you need for clear beer is either a lot of time and/or gelatin, which unless I'm making a Pilsner I don't worry about. Cheers.

 

[RM-MN]

The water in the boil boils off but the minerals in that water don't. To me, that would be the primary concern in topping off vs. starting with more water. And with 1 gallon batches I'm not sure the difference would even be perceptible. As long as you do it the same way every time I think either way is fine. The only thing I would add is that topping off with water after the boil is really an extra, and unnecessary, step - and the more steps you add to the process the more chances you're providing for things to go wrong.

As for the second question I agree that you are better off using the bags in the boil and not trying to filter after fermentation. Time is one of the best filters. When you go from the boil to the fermenter try to leave as much of that trub behind as possible. Then after fermentation is complete, cold crash 2 days minimum, (3 or more days is even better). Then if you really want to get extreme, throw some gelatin in. That should get you as clear as you want to get without adding any oxygen.

Dump it all into the fermenter. Anything that is not solid left behind contains potential beer. The yeast seems to like the trub and it will all settle out if you give it time.

 

[yourlastchance89]

Dump it all into the fermenter. Anything that is not solid left behind contains potential beer. The yeast seems to like the trub and it will all settle out if you give it time.

I've been doing this a lot recently as well. In addition to getting more wort going into the fermenter, it's easier, it reduces headspace and the increased risk of infection that comes with headspace, it all settles out to trub over time, and the macronutrients in that trub promote yeast health. I've noticed no negative effects from doing this with me still producing clear and tasty beers (one of which medaled fairly recently).

 

[ncbrewer]

Dump it all into the fermenter. Anything that is not solid left behind contains potential beer. The yeast seems to like the trub and it will all settle out if you give it time.

I've been doing this for several years, and I like the results. I add the hops loose, so they go into the fermenter, too. Maybe if you left it in the fermenter for a long time, the hops might start to give an off flavor. I don't know since I only leave it for 2 - 3 weeks.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

I'd say the big consideration - keep in mind this is 1-gallon brewing - is that the trub interferes with yield. For this reason, I try to minimize it and get it compacted down, but there's only so much that can be done.

 

[Captain_RedBeerd]

I'd say the big consideration - keep in mind this is 1-gallon brewing - is that the trub interferes with yield. For this reason, I try to minimize it and get it compacted down, but there's only so much that can be done.

I have this same concern with my 1 gallon brews. I will try not filtering going from pot to fermenter this time and see how many bottles I can get out of it. Will try the cold crashing as well.

 

[Sadu]

There are 2 main reasons to top off after the boil. One is if your pot isn't big enough to boil everything together. The other is that you can top off with cold water and that makes it faster to reach pitching temps. Neither of these are a big deal with 1 gallon anyway. The downsides as already stated is that hop utilisation is slightly affected and its an extra lot of water to treat separately.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

This might be helpful: http://blog.eckraus.com/lose-less-homebrew-beer