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21 thoughts on “Connect”
If malted grains are so great these days compared to years prior then there should be no need to step mash. Is there a difference between two beers with identical modern grain bills when one undergoes a protein and saach rest versus just a saach rest?
That’s a great question.
Recently I had a problem with a Witbier, especifically with head retention. I used 60% Pilsen and 38% Wheat Malt and 6% Flacked Oats. I figured that the protein rest broke the medium proteins which helps the head retention. There is no need for a protein rest with our modern modified malts. BUT if you use 25%+ of non malted grains, YES you should do a protein rest at least for 15″.
Paul,
I just found your site after a friend and I brewed our first Lager, an Oktoberfest. We were searching for a way to speed up the lagering process so that we could enjoy the beer during an annual Oktoberfest block party. You provided the answer.
In your Lager Method post you write that you “turn most ales around in 2 weeks, something [you] caught some flack for when it became [your] norm.” I’ve read through your posts looking for your Ale fermentation method but haven’t found anything.
Will you expound on your two week ale fermentation method and why others found it controversial?
Thanks and keep up the great work! I love your passion for beer and exploration.
Matt
“Controversial” only because many ferment for 2-4 weeks then condition for another week. Here’s my schedule:
– Chill wort to 64˚F, pitch yeast, set regulator to 66˚, ferment for 3 days
– Bump regulator up to 72˚F, let it go another 4 days
– Remove probe from side of fermentor and knock regulator to 30˚F, let it sit 2 days to clear
– Keg and put on 30 psi for 2 days
– Purge keg and reduce to 12 psi, let it sit for another 2-3 days to finish carbonating and clearing, drink.
I have not been brewing with ferm temp control so my ferm temps have been upwards of 68 degrees. It seems that my beers start out with a lot of dactyl and other flavors that seem strange, but clean up nicely with about 3-4 weeks in the keg at serving temp. So, is it fair to assume that temp control results in better beers, or better beers sooner?
That’s probably a good assumption, but I’m not terribly certain.
Thanks for an enjoyable read and some new tricks…
I noticed that for lagers you set the fermentation chamber temperature to 46F and leave the wort to cool overnight to pitching temp? Is there a reason that you don’t let the chest freezer run “full bore” down to around -10F to speed up the chilling?
I tried this on my last batch and found I was able to chill a 5 gallon bucket fermenter from 58F to <50F in ~90 minutes. (I put a temperature probe in a separate 5 gallon bucket filled with water to verify that I was reading the temperature of the wort and not just the sticker on the side.)
Huh, I guess I just never thought to try it, perhaps I will next time. Thanks!
Good Morning Marshall and all at Brülosophy!
I am an avid homebrewer in the UK using all SS Brewtech gear and making 1/2bbl batches.
I have recently come across your site and podcast and I have to say, I can’t get enough. I listen everyday to your podcast and have learned so much. I feel that I have a much better grasp on some topics within brewing, that were previously ambiguous.
What a great resource for brewers and please continue!!
Cheers!
Guy Latimer (Catslide Brewing Company)
Marshall-
I really enjoy your site. I recently also got a Black Box and am stoked on using it (5 cu ft chest freezer for christmas :).
Question: You brew a shit-ton! How do you manage to clean all those carboys so much? Personally, I let it soak in PBW then rinse with a jet washer.
What tips do you have to make cleaning less of a pain in the ass?
-Max @ http://www.thebeginnersbrew.com
I clean the same way as you, amigo, I hate every minute of it… but the beer makes it worth it.
I love this website. I have learned from this site to stop ‘sweating the small stuff’ when it comes to brewing beer. I’ve also learned that water adjustments may actually be important…. I am just starting to get into adjusting water, and have to admit its confusing. A method article on water adjustments (or at least how you approach them) would be great. Ideally adjusting from tap water if possible, unless its the same process from RO.
I also have one burning question, that I’m sure I’m not the only one who wants to know…. How small are the brulosophy glasses actually??? Sometimes the glasses look like ‘normal’ pint size (or similar) glasses, unless your hands are in the shot…. They look super tiny in those shots. I struggle pouring from a tap into small glasses, as I tend to get a lot of foam…
Haha. Some are 5 Oz can glasses and others are 9 Oz Willi glasses.
“Once 50% attenuation is reached, remove the probe from the side of the fermentor so it measures ambient temp in the chamber and start bumping the regulator up 5°F every 12 hours until it reaches 65°-68°F (18°-20°C). Allow the beer to remain at this temp until fermentation is complete and the yeast have cleaned-up after themselves, which can take anywhere from 4 to 10 days.”
Our beer temperature went up to 22.3. Is that too high? even though the chamber is at 18-20, or should we regulate it to be lower?
regards from Finland
I think you should be just fine.
Marshall, this was the only way I could find to ask you a question on converting LP to NG on your burners. I apologize for crashing this discussion. When you converted, are you able to adjust the flame low to high? I want to be able to put this in a smoke house for various things or to get say 250 /300 F, or when you converted you are full blast to get to your temps? Hope this makes sense and thank you again.
Hi Douglas,
Seeing as I did this conversion 10 years ago, I struggle to remember everything, but I documented the process in this article. The little converter (there’s a pic in the article) has an adjustable valve that allows for some control over the flame strength.
Sir,
Thank you for your great site! So much information that helps demystify homebrewing!
I have a suggestion (or a pick your brain question) regarding the no-chill method and your observations on hop schedule impact. Assuming a 5.5gal (final) batch of beer would it be possible to brew a 4.5gal base with the bittering hops and “chill” that like you would any other no-chill brew and then the following day do a hop tea with a 1 gal stovetop (water and hop) according to the desired hop schedule and then dump that tea and your wort into the fermenter (effectively quick chilling the tea and bringing the total volume up to 6.5gal) and pitching the yeast?
I just kegged a trial run using this method this morning but was curious what your thoughts might be?
Sanitisation in home brewing is an accepted article of faith. Every post and text I’ve read stresses this above just about any other topic
I’m a sanitisation sceptic.
I’ve been brewing for over 30 years and at the start of my journey observed my brother-in-law spending as much time cleaning and sanitising as brewing. Thought that it was too much trouble so stopped sanitising and I have a very simple cleaning regime.
Until recently, I brewed exclusively with malt extract cans. I very well know a “poor” beer as for many years, I used a “home brand” can and a kg of table sugar but I was poor. But it was not a “bad” beer. I then progressed to adding a partial mash and hop additions. Unsurprisingly, quality increased! I started all grain brewing about a year ago and have been amazed at the diversity, taste and quality I’ve achieved.
My brewing equipment consists of a 65L Brewzilla, a 40 year old black plastic 46L fermenter inherited from my late father-in-law, and a 23L white 20 year old plastic fermenter and 2 5L glass carboys for experimental batches. The 46L fermenter is always hardest to clean as it gets a hard krausen ring near the top. It needs a very hard scrub with a synthetic scourer and the whole fermenter has a lot of scratch marks.
I haven’t yet started kegging, seems a bit complicated for my needs. Maybe in the future.
So to the history of my bottles. They range from 15- 30 years old. I lived in Chicago from 2002-2006 and brought home a lot of craft brewed bottles which bring back great memories. The rest date from the early 90’s.
My long standing cleaning regime is to rinse each bottle 4 times under hot tap water, let it drain for 24 hours, put the cap on and put on the shelf in my shed where it might sit for 6 -12 months. Then I fill it without any other cleaning or sanitising.
In 30 years, I have never had an “off” batch. I have occasionally had, as John Palmer describes, a “gusher bug” where a bottle empties itself, maybe 1 in 500 bottles. It’s actually so infrequent that when it does happen it makes a huge mess as I’m not expecting it!
I started holding my bottles up to the light recently and was amazed (horrified!) at how much crap was on the inside, yet it still produced great beer. A bit ashamed after reading all the advice, I’ve now started to use a bottle brush for the first time. I figure that once I really clean my 500 bottles, I can then dispense with the brush for another 30 years!
I live in Canberra, Australia and am not sure if our water quality is so outstanding that I can get away with this approach. I do know it is heavily chlorinated but I use it without modification.
I recycle my rainwater tank to cool my wort. Works brilliantly but recently had a disaster where my homemade copper immersion chiller, with a join in the middle, leaked about 3L tank water into my cooled 5L wort. God knows what sort of leaf material or other contaminants were in the tank. The Irish Red Ale predictably came out with an ABV of 1.8% and while tasting a bit thin, was otherwise a good drinkable beer.
I only ever dry pitch yeast, really don’t know why anyone would bother with the whole yeast rehydration process. Looks like too much work for no gain.
Maybe others have horror stories about bad batches, but my approach could potentially save countless hours of brewing time which could be more productively spent in drinking time!
I recognise that it would be difficult to design an exbeeeriment on this topic as it would need to be undertaken over a period of time, but I’m laying out the challenge. The payoff, if successful, would be a massive time saving for brewers worldwide.
Love your site, my absolute favourite out of so much out there. I’m especially taken with your short and shoddy techniques which I’m about to implement, saving an hour on my brew day. I’ve already save more time with my short and shoddy sanitisation technique!
Cheers, Jim
Howdy. I just wanted to suggest that you look into do some mastering or equalizing of your voice levels on the podcast. Sometimes Andy is really quiet and Marshal is much louder. I find myself constantly adjusting the volume. I most recently noticed on episode 281. Not a criticism. Only a suggestion.
Thanks,
Mike
Olympia, WA