So you have made the jump to all grain brewing. Your mash tun has the kinks worked out of it, your sparge methods are pretty sound, and your efficiency is consistant. There is no need to change a thing with your process right?

Well that is a matter of opinion. For most everyone in the AG world, we do not have direct fired msahtuns. This makes temperature control possible by only two means. One is infusion of more water to the mash at a higher or lower temperature to adjust the overall mash temp, or transferring the heat from another source to the mash.

Why is this even necessary? Well many recipes call for a certain mash temperature to be held. A lot of mash tuns can lose heat over the course of the mash, mashtun efficiency can vary but a swing of 3 to 5 degrees during the duration is not uncommon. The lower end of the temperature window will produce a higher fermentable wort with a thinner body, more alcohol and less mouthfeel. The higher end of the window will produce a less fermentable wort, with a thicker body and provide more mouthfeel. Knowing this, many of us want to have a target mash temp and stick to it.

There are also advantages to a stepped mash. The starch to sugar conversion happens within two seperate ranges. Without getting into chemistry and keeping this simple the optimal ranges are 142-145 degrees, and 153-156 degrees. Most who do a single infusion mash will pick a temperature of say 150 degrees and try to get the best of both worlds, but are not hitting optimum circumstance. To do this a mash rest at 144 deg for an hour and 155 deg for 1/2 hour would be better. Some pilsner malts also benefit from a protein rest at 122 deg as well. Almost all other malts are “well modified” and the maltsters say a protein rest is not necessary.

So how do you get complete control over your mash without a direct fire tun? You could start with a thick mash at your first target temp, then add another infusion of near boiling (200 deg) hot liquor. How much to add can be tricky, I’ve played with this a bit and need far more than recommended to move the temp, failed attempts and definately not pinpoint accurate. That leaves us with the other option which is heat exchange.

There are two methods that are widely used in the homebrew world, A Heat Exchanged Reciculated Mash System (HERMS) or a Recirculating Infusion Mash System (RIMS). The latter of the two incorporates a heat source (usually electric) element that is included in the plumbing of a recirculating system. The wort is drained slowly out of the tun and passed through plumbing which heats the wort to a higher temperature then pumps it back into the tun. A HERMS does pretty much the same thing except the wort stays contained amd the heat is transferred to the lines by an out of plumbing source, usually hot water.

This is my simple design. A 25 foot immersion chiller works great. If you do not have an immersion chiller you can take a lesson out of a previous blog well written on how to make one. If you use your immersion chiller to do your actual chill then quick disconnects might be a good idea. You want to set the circuit up to go from your mashtun drain valve, to your pump inlet, pump outlet to your IC inlet, Your IC outlet to your mash tun inlet. The IC you want to place into a boil pot, (I use my keggle). The wort will then be pumped out of your mashtun, into the IC, (which is now doing the opposite of its intended use- it is heating the wort not cooling) then re-introduced back into the mash thus raising the overall temp.

A typical mash cycle may include striking the grains with 159 degree hot liquor getting an initial mash temp of 144 deg. After 1/2 hour a drop of 1-2 degrees may occur, that is when you would recirculate and have the water surrounding the IC (your new heat exchanger) at 170 deg. When this loop runs for a few minutes the mash will go back up to 144 or 145, shut down or restart the loop to maintain within a couple degrees your target. After an hour, have the exchange water heated to 180 deg, and turn the loop on again, depending on the coil diameter, coil length and mash volume, you should be able to raise the temp from 144 to 155 in about 8-12 minutes. Then after it rests at 155 for 20-30 minutes, crank the heat exchange water up to 200 deg. Run the loop again and a mashout temp of 168 deg should be reachable in another 8-12 minutes. After playing with the system some you can figure out how long it takes to raise the exchange water temp up so it is ready when your mash is.

Besides absolute control over your mash temp to within 1-2 degrees of accuracy, there are a couple of other benefits. Because of the constant recirculation, a nice clear wort will be produced making vorlauf unnecessary. When it is time to drain and sparge, open your drain tube and fill your kettle with clear wort void of husks. The second is improved efficiency. With a proper conversion temp, a proper mashout temp, and constant grain rinsing, just about every bit of soluble sugar is collected. A higher efficiency means less necessary grain making life easier and brewday a little cheaper.

A couple of quick tips. First, there should be some type of sparge manifold or diverter above your mash during the re-introduction of the wort. If not, like fly-sparging the new wort can cause channelling and not be raising all of the grains’ temp. The other is to clean out the IC, by disconnecting the line from the mashtun and reconnecting it to a hotwater source, then pump the hot water through to clean out any wort back into the tun, when it runs clear, you’re clean!

This may not be a must have for everyone, but I figure if you are doing 10 gallon batches or larger, a pump is probably already in place, why not add some more control to your fingertips.

Prost!

So there is no argument, most everyone will agree that a proper yeast count will yield a healthy fermentation, which will lead to proper attenuation as well as yeast performing in a comfortable lower stress environment. This equates to the most accurate flavor profile of your beer. Some may say that underpitching stresses the yeast and leads to a different, sometimes desirable flavor (some Belgian practices), however at the homebrewing level I can’t see a way to regulate this. That being said it is very hard to “over-pitch” your yeast when you look at the optimal pitching rates. The hobbyist go to cheat sheet http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html is very accurate and makes the adjustments necessary for how much yeast is needed.

Without getting into a long winded discussion on starter techniques and efficiencies, there are a couple things all starters must possess: a sugar/malt concentration of 1.030 to 1.045 gravity, and a sterile environment. Both of these can be accomplished in many different ways, but most will include an addition of Dried Malt Extract (DME) to healthy water and then a boil for solubility and to sanitize everything that your yeast will be in contact with.

If most are like me, different methods have been tried to minimize transferring from pot to starter vessel with varying advantages. If you boil in a pot much larger than your starter/fermenter, you will need to transfer from the boiling pot, after cooled to the new vessel, possible contamination, but little chance of boilover. If you boil in a heat safe starter/fermenter like an Erlenmeyer flask, there is less contamination chances but a high risk of boilover. If your starter requires large capacity say 3-4 quarts, a very large flask is necessary but becomes expensive, and still needs to have a hawkeye kept on it throughout the boil to avoid a messy mishap. A compromise may be the necessary solution.

My solution is to use sanitary ingredients in a sanitary container. My vessel of choice is Carlo and Rossi’s 1 gallon wine jugs. Either dump the wine out (yeah right) or use it as you wish, but when empty give it a good PBW (powdered brewer’s wash) soak and then fill with sanitizer. When you are ready to build your starter just dump out your sanitizer (no rinse preferable) and swish to rinse it clean with a cup or so of distilled water. If I need a huge starter 1-2 gallons, I just split my yeast/slurry into 2 of these jugs. You can buy glass 1 gallon jugs at many places for around $5, I like to pay the extra $5 and get some wine out of it. Any other clean and sanitized container will work, I happen to find these the best. A screw cap top is also great and allows you to shake things up periodically safely, then the cap can be loosened to allow for escaping CO2.

Now we need some contents. Malto Goya can be purchased at most mega-marts. Mine sells them for $.40 per bottle. The drink is a sanitary malt beverage that holds a gravity of about 1.075. I dillute it with distilled water at the rate of 1 12oz bottle to 1 cup of distilled water. This provides you with a starter wort of a 1.040 gravity.

Most of the time I build 3 quart starters. To do this I open 5 bottles of the Malto, sanitize the top with some spray no rinse, then dump it into my sanitized jug. There is a small amount of bottled CO2 (not really carbonated) so when you first pour in it will have a foamy head. Swish it around to degas it and wait a few minutes, once the head dies down it will not come back up, then add your distilled water to desired solution, (I usually pour a little extra to get a 1.035 wort less yeast stress). Then add your yeast. Simple as that!

I have done this method many times and have always had normal starter activity and the yeast settles out fine. There is one caveat- if you pitch the whole starter without chilling and decanting, the malto may add 1-2 SRM to the finished color of your beer. It would be up to you to decide if that is acceptable. I pitch the whole thing into stouts, porters even darker IPA’s, but for belgians and beers I try to pay attention to color, I choose to chill for a day and decant off the spent wort.

If you are using specific equipment and have a routine down that is fool/fail proof, then good for you. I on the other hand was able to accomplish a boilover regularly and cursed out the day of the week when I would need to make my starter wort, chill, clean off the stove, etc. Now it is pretty pain free and costs about $2.50 each time. This is a necessary pre brewday task that I do not mind doing anymore. Hope this little tip is helpful and can save you time and money in the future- for more beer!

Prost!

The mash tun is a piece of equipment used by the “all grain” brewer. Put simply, it is a vessel, in which the milled, malted grain is placed with hot water to release the sugars necessary for fermentation.

The mash tun is one of the easiest, yet most confusing pieces of equipment to the new brewer. There are so many configurations, it would be impossible to nail down the “best” way to mash your grains. One person may say the round cooler, another may go the route of the 5 day Wally world special. The simple answer, is even more confusing.

Your mash tun is a direct reflection on how you brew… If you are a quick and easy bewrer, you most likely have a 5 or 6 gal round cooler with a false bottom. This is a great way to mash. You can buy the whole set up, no fuss no muss. However, it does however have some limitations.

Another option is the rectangle cooler or as I call ‘em, the 5 day’er. It is just another shape of the concept of the round cooler. It has the same benefits and limitations of the round cooler, with the added benefit of a greater capacity. To the naked eye, its benefits stop there. However, I would like to point out, with the larger surface area available to the “grain bed”, I think that sparging is more efficient in this type of setup than the round cooler. There by getting more sugars / alcohol out of your grain.

OK, here is where the metal meats the road. the cooler is fine for simple, fixed temperature mashing. You add hot water to reach a “strike” temperature, and let it sit for a prescribed amount of time. Then you sparge. That’s about it. It works really good too. Generally, you can achieve 70% to 75% “efficiency”. Scenario…10# grain, add 2.5 gal of 170*F water, your temp stabilizes at 154*F. you let that sit for 60 Min’s and sparge with 3.5 gal 170*F water for a yield of about 5.5 gal wort, boiled down to 5 gal, racked to the primary. Original Gravities around 1.052. Actual results may vary depending upon too many variables to mention.

Now, lets get really confused. I don’t use either. I mash in my brew pot. I have made an insulated cover that fits nicely around it. (my better half quilts so I had the raw materials). In reality, all you need to do is fashion a way to insulate the pot. (it doesn’t take much). Now, I don’t have a spigot, that would be nice, but it is just a regular 30 qt turkey fryer, Stainless steel. I step mash, bringing up my temps +/-…130*F, for 30 Min’s, to 155*F, for 6o Min’s. to 170*F,to complete conversion. All of my temps are a combination of hot water and direct heat. I even vary my temps to adjust the particular brew I want to achieve. This type of mashing is impossible to achieve with the cooler. I like the option of adding direct heat when necessary. When conversion is complete, I dump the whole mess into a “Lauder tun” (a cooler with a filter attached to the valve. (also serves as a hop back) this is where I sparge. I use the same big rectangle cooler mentioned earlier. ( 5 day ‘er) I generally reach 78% to 83% efficiency. Its a small increase for the amount of trouble, I am just particular that way. By the way, I started single temp mashing, and moved over to step mashing because I was bored just waiting around for conversion to finish. I just recdedicated my equipment.

Everyone has style, when it comes to their beer. Your method is simply a reflection of your style.

Face it, making beer can make you paranoid. Everything has to be spotless and sanitary. The boil has to be watched carefully to ensure that the new brew isn’t scorched or doesn’t boil over. Hops have to be added at just the right time. Temperatures have to be monitored so that the delicate new yeast can catch hold, grow and thrive. We worry about oxygen levels. The temperature needs to be consistent. Sunshine is the enemy.

So, after cleaning, sanitizing, boiling, cooling, oxygenating and pitching, we find a warm, dark, safe spot for the immature beer, and we lovingly seal it away hoping that all is well. At this time, the thing most likely to horrify us is the thought of bacteria, because we know that bacteria are evil little freeloaders who have a sadistic desire to get into and destroy our delicate, helpless beer

After the brewing is done, after the pots are scrubbed and the cooking tools put away (and after we check the airlock even though we know nothing is happening yet), we sit back, relax, and have a home brew. We check the airlock (again) before going to bed and feel relieved satisfaction to see the beginning stages of fermentation. But the next day, when we get out of bed and check our fermenter, our cautious satisfaction crumbles. We experience a moment of stunned disbelief when we see that krausen has crawled out of the bucket! The lid has blown off of your fermenter (or the airlock has shot out of the top) and there is a gaping hole between the safe confines of the fermenter and the bacteria infested air.

We immediately assume that at some time while we were sleeping, bacteria climbed into our fermenter and is now merrily slaughtering the yeast and altering the taste of our beer. We become frantic to find a way to save our beer even though we are secretly convinced it is doomed.

You already have all the facts regarding this particular fiasco, you just haven’t realized it. Now is a good time to take a deep breath and review the basics (right after you frantically snap the lid back on the fermenter). Your beer is going to be fine.

yeast + sugar = alcohol & carbon dioxide.

When carbon dioxide is being produced at a rapid rate, it sometimes pushes the top of the fermenter off or blows the airlock out of the lid, but just because there has been a breach in fermenter security does not mean that the yeast has stopped doing its thing. The yeast is still munching away, growing, thriving, multiplying and most importantly (at this point) producing more carbon dioxide. That means that there is still a light but persistent push away from your beer and out of the fermenter. Most of the time this is sufficient to protect your beer. Why? Because bacteria floats, and the carbon dioxide breeze moving away from your beer is a very effective barrier.

Also, it’s important to remember that yeast and bacteria are natural competitors; they both eat the same things. Bacteria generally multiply at a much faster rate than yeast which is why protecting against bacterial exposure is especially critical in the beginning stages of the process. But if the yeast has managed to blow off your lid or airlock, you can be confident that at this time the yeast is strong, healthy, well established and multiplying like crazy. Billions of yeast have a pretty good chance of making sure that a couple of stealth bacteria cannot establish themselves sufficiently enough to affect your brew.

So if you discover that the top of your fermenter (or the airlock) has blown off, try not to worry too much. It’s unlikely that any spec-ops bacteria have managed creep past the defensive barrier of air-flow and carbon dioxide. Even if a couple of particularly diabolical bacteria have managed to use ninja skills and avoid the carbon dioxide barrier, you can comfort yourself knowing that the yeast has effectively claimed your beer as its territory and it won’t be taking kindly to strangers.

One final note: Just because your yeast may have managed to discourage the growth of bacteria in this instance, do not assume that your beer is safe forever more. Once high krausen is a thing of the past, bacteria can easily invade and overtake your brew. Your yeast has partied hard and will again become too weak to protect itself so continued protective measures (ie sanitization) remains critical.

After reading many posts over several months on various forums, there seems to be one thing evident with this hobby/obsession that I share as many others may. I thought I could dive in with the basic start up kit and make some OK beer to satisfy my craving for a hobby that produces an end product which I have adored for many years.

My conclusion is that I could make the OK beer, and I bet with experience even really great beer with the equipment I had, which included the “optional” glass primary and glass secondary carboys. I am sure there are many homebrewers out there that do just that, and with experience, (albeit a lot) anybody can make toe curling beer even with these basics. I on the other hand wanted it now, and was willing to pony up a little to do it. Not to say my beer is better than anyone else’s, however with a lot of research and upgrades the quality definately improved rapidly.

After 3 or 4 batches I realized that All Grain brewing may be the thing for me. My brewpartner was faithful and contributed to every batch thus far, and we agreed let’s make the jump to AG. With the new processes added to brewday and my 5 gallon rubbermaid mashtun and 5 gallon rubbermaid hot liquor tank, seemed like all the bases were covered.

Then I realized that you can only mash so many pounds of grain in a 20 quart MT, so I needed a bigger tun! Got a nice 60 quart MT, and figured once again I am all set to brew even the biggest of beers if I would like. I of course needed to also upgrade from my 20 quart aluminum brewpot to a stainless 40 quart pot. All was well for a few batches.

Then we realized that with two of us brewing each week, and the mashtun had the capacity to do 10 gallon batches (would of course need another brewkettle to handle the volume) it would make sense to finish the day each having our own carboy filled. So naturally I needed more primaries and more secondaries as well as my brewpartner getting well invested. So up to 10 gallon batches and 15 gallon boils we went.

Now the old equipment was building up somewhat like a homebrew graveyard of extra stuff. We figured out a way to incorporate all these extras into the cycle of a normal brewday, whether it is hauling water out in an old pot or using the old mash tun as a second HLT. Keep everything. I have so many spare parts of stainless braid, bazooka tubes, rubber hosing, (old immersion chiller turned into a HERMS), never know what you may need when upgrading your process or equipment.

Now with that all being said is the point to my article. When choosing an upgrade from your basics that you thought were all you needed, keep in mind that it is exactly that- an upgrade. When making the decision to invest the question you need to ask is “will this upgrade support future needs and upgrades?” Then the more important question, “is this a permanent or trial upgrade?” If it is a trial upgrade, then the beer forum is a great place to check out advice on other’s trials. If it is permanent then advice is always great but make sure you get exactly what will fit your application.

Now budget always seems to come up as well. Although there are many items that are just plain and simple come one way, there are also many things like a mashtun or chiller that you can spend $20-$400, then another big question needs to be asked, “if I do not get the better or bigger one, will I eventually wind up replacing it?” Some items in my process I know will never change, so I know when it comes time to replace, get the best available. A burner would be a great example.

 All of this comes down to the level of passion and commitment to this hobby/obsession. Again some seem happy with brewing a few times a year and like to keep hauling out the “brewday gear” as simple as possible. Others may brew with the frequency of several times a month or even week, and look at the operation in a different point of view.

The last thing to think of is equipment that truly will enhance the quality of your beer. These may include water filtration, oxygenation systems, yeast starter and propegation equipment, counterpressure or beergun fillers, etc, etc.

The list can go on and on, if I knew all this when I first started buying eqipment, I would have wanted to look at a catalog of equipment to try to prioritize and simplify my future upgrades. Fortunately many of these catalogs exist and most are free when making an online order, many things I laughed at before thinking “why would I ever need one of those”, I now find I can’t live without. (i.e. march pump)

I shared this again because I see so many posts asking things like “should I select fermentation buckets, glass carboys or better bottles?” Is there really an answer? You can look at everyone’s advice, or you could get one of each and try yourself. Extra brew equipment never goes to complete waste and may wind up in a future project!

Whatever your passion level may be, make sure it is always fun on brewday, and always keep dreaming of great beer!

 Prost!

Home Brewer’s Ultimate Recipe Book

Hell Gate Porter

I don’t know how other people decide what they are going to brew, but often I will begin a recipe because I like the name of the beer; especially if the ingredients are unique or interesting to me. The name “Hell Gate Porter” catches they eye because it just sounds cool, and the recipe itself is intriguing. Aside from the unusual combining of both honey and molasses in a porter there is a detailed hops list with very specific call times which appealed to me. Admit it, sometimes just standing over the pot and watching it boil for an hour gets a little stale…

So, this recipe fit my criteria for “sounds cool, looks fun to cook and has some interesting ingredient variations”. Decision made, I gathered all the supplies and started cooking. Don’t start this one unless you are ready to stand over the pot, watching the clock, the hop addition times are specific and although I have no idea what happens if you vary the call times, I do know that following this recipe to the letter produces a delicious porter.

The end result is a nice clean porter with a rich dark cola color and a creamy dense tan head. It has a sharp beginning taste with a very light mouth-feel. The flavor quickly smooths out but maintains a nice clean bitter taste with a slight bite. There is almost no nutty character to this one but the molasses is more noticeable in the smell than in the taste. Because of the light mouth-feel, this is a dark beer that would be very enjoyable in the summer time.

Overall this is a good porter; most of the people who tried it liked it and went back for more, but there weren’t any rave reviews or requests for another batch. I think that it would benefit from some malto-dextrine just to give it a little more substance.

SG 1.066
OG 1.019
ABV 7%

Fermenting temp 66º-69º
1 Week Primary
2 Week Secondary
10 days bottled

I brewed this up last month and at first tasting it is very very good. This isn’t your typical peach flavored wheat, as it doesnt employ apricot or peach flavorings from your LHBS, or from real peaches. Instead, its a sort of herbal beer that I flavored using perfect peach tea bags from bigelow teas. They contain rose hips, hibiscus, orange peel, lemon peel, apple and strawberry leaves, and roasted chicory. Some of these are mentioned in the book sacred and herbal healing beers, and the others i found reference to wine making. This recipe is a for a 2.5 gallon “partial mash,” which only uses 1lbs of amber malt extract to boast alcohol content. The only reason I added this was to compensate for a low post-mash gravity reading. My efficiency was pretty low (high 50s/ low 60s), which may have been caused by the large quantity of adjuncts that I used.

Perfect Peach Ale

Ingredients

2lbs Belgian pale malt
0.25lbs Carahelles
0.25lbs 20L Crystal malt
0.50lbs Toasted oats
2lbs Flaked wheat
1lb Dry amber malt extract
0.5lbs honey
.25oz Cascade hops (first wort hopped)
.1oz Cascade hops (flameout)
2bags of Perfect Peach Tea from Bigelow Teas
Wyeast American Ale (.5L starter)
3/8 cups priming sugar

Mashed at 128F for 30 mins, then rose temp to 150F for 50mins. Recirculated 3L wort then ran off into kettle with the cascade hops. I then sparged with 6L at 170F. Added enough water to make 3 gallons, and brought it to a boil. I then added the peach tea and boiled for an hour. I added the honey and the dry malt extract in the last 10 mins and then added the remaining cascade hops at flameout. Chilled, racked to the primary, aerated, and then pitched the yeast. It was in the primary for a week, the secondary for three weeks, and then primed and bottled.

I tasted a week after bottling and I am very happy with the flavor of this beer, its smooth and citrusy with a light peach undertone. The cascade hops are slightly noticeable and blend together nicely with fruit flavor. There is also a slight tang, possibly from the hibiscus or the lemon peel, that goes well. Its appearance is very very very hazy, im guessing its from the high oat and flaked wheat content. Its aroma is light with scents of peaches, orange, and is lightly floral. The head retention is surprisingly good for being freshly bottled.

Overall, I loved the way this one turned out. I think this herbal peach tea is a very good substitute to peach flavoring and adds an added complexity because of the combination of herbs. However, time will tell if this flavoring ages well. According to Radical Brewing, the nature flavoring in peaches can somehow be digested or altered by fermentation and the resultant taste ends up being gummy and unappealing

The wort chiller, is simply that, a piece of equipment to cool your wort down from boiling temperatures low enough to pitch your yeast. They come in many different configurations, and can cost a bundle. The simple way to cool your wort is an ice bath, just put your brew pot into the sink with ice water, and wait. This method while effective, is quite time consuming. When extract brewing, and only boiling a partial wort, it can work just fine. When doing full boils however, it really doesn’t work all that great. Thus the need for a chiller. There are simple copper coils, you immerse them into your hot wort, and run cold water through them. Probably the simplest of the chillers we will talk about. There are plate chillers, your wort passes through a series of metal plates that can be externally or internally chilled. These are very effective, but hard to clean and sanitize, and can be pretty expensive. There are counter-flow chillers, where cold water passes through a copper line inside a length of tubing , and the wort is circulated through the tubing itself. Another very effective set up, but again, it can be difficult to clean, and it’s expensive. All these chillers can be purchased either on line, or at your local home brew store.

If you have a little time, you can fashion a very effective imersion type chiller yourself. Simply buy some 1/4″ or 3/8″ copper tubing, Length depending on budget and chiller size, 12′ to 15′ minimun. (the longer the more effecient) And a couple fittings. Bending the copper can be difficult, it tends to crimp easily. You can buy a bender or If you bend it carefully around something hard and round, say a 3# coffee can, you can make coils without crimping the line. The fittings should be compression type, with standard male hose connections. Look at a photo of one, and you will get the idea. Make one, and you can save a few dollars, Purchase one and you won’t be sorry. A wort chiller can make brew day a lot shorter and easier.