tentacles Posted February 24, 2008 Posted February 24, 2008 Today's brew - this is definitely NOT in category: Belgian Wit - Witbier Type: All GrainDate: 2/18/2008 Batch Size: 5.50 galBoil Size: 6.41 galBoil Time: 45 minEquipment: Brew Pot (6+gal) and Igloo/Gott Cooler (5 Gal) Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.0 Taste Notes: Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU 8.0 oz Rice Hulls (0.0 SRM) Adjunct 3.8 % 5 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt, Ale (IMC) (2.0 SRM) Grain 42.0 % 5 lbs 8.0 oz White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 42.0 % 8.0 oz Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 3.8 % 1.00 oz Hallertauer [5.00%] (45 min) Hops 14.1 IBU 0.35 oz Hallertauer [5.00%] (15 min) Hops 2.7 IBU 0.50 oz Coriander Seed (Boil 15.0 min) Misc 1.00 oz Orange Peel, Sweet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc 1 lbs 1.6 oz Honey (1.0 SRM) Sugar 8.4 % 1 Pkgs Bavarian Wheat (Wyeast Labs #3638) Yeast-Wheat Beer Profile Est Original Gravity: 1.068 SGMeasured Original Gravity: 1.072 SG Est Final Gravity: 1.017 SG Measured Final Gravity: N/A Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.6 %Bitterness: 16.8 IBU Calories: 327 cal/pint Est Color: 5.6 SRM Color: Color Mash Profile Mash Name: Temperature Mash, 2 Step, Medium Body Total Grain Weight: 12.00 lb Sparge Water: 4.35 gal Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F Protein Rest Add 15.00 qt of water at 131.2 F 122.0 F 30 min Saccharification Heat to 154.0 F over 15 min 154.0 F 45 min Mash Out Heat to 168.0 F over 10 min 168.0 F 10 min Mash Notes: Two step profile with a protein rest for mashes with unmodified grains or adjuncts. Temperature mash for use when mashing in a brew pot over a heat source such as the stove. Use heat to maintain desired temperature during the mash. I did a step mash using my steam manifold and the pressure cooker - it worked great! The extra bit of back pressure from the depth of the cooler helps keep the steam temperature high. Also washed some yeast from the Dunkel and put it in jars, then drew off as much dunkel from the yeast cake as I could, and pitched this new beer on top. It's bubbling away happily in the living room.
Mumbles Posted February 26, 2008 Posted February 26, 2008 I just racked over my belgian wit. It tastes quite good, but the oranges make me want to go on a stabbing spree. I don't know if I was supposed to leave them in the primary fermenter, but I did and it tastes fine. However they kept clogging up my racking tube. I guess I cut them the perfect size to fit inside the end, but not travel through. ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG! I tasted very little to any diacetyl this time, which is good. I think it is pretty close to being done. It finished off at 1.010 final gravity. Sure doesn't taste like 6.6% alcohol. Tentacles or Frank, I did have yet another question since you both at least have some experience with mashing. I am going to try a partial mash on my upcoming Maibock. The extract doesn't quite equal the grain needed I am aware of the general procedure. I think I have an acceptable lauter-tun type setup available, at least for small batches. I was probably just going to use a SS pot for the mash itself inside the oven. Anyway, the question is, in addition to the mashing water/liquor how much additional room would the grain take up? Say I had 4lbs of grain, would the total volume exceed say 6qts assuming 5qts mash water? Obviously the grain takes up space, but it also absorbs water.
tentacles Posted February 26, 2008 Posted February 26, 2008 Sure doesn't taste like 6.6% alcohol.I know what you mean! Also, I started putting my orange peel in my hops bag, along with the coriander. This really cleaned up the process a good deal. When I mashed that last batch, with 11.5lbs of grain and 8oz (actually 6.2) of rice hulls, I was able to fit the mashing volume of 3.75gal in the 5 gallon cooler, with just a bit left over. If you've got 4lbs of grain (1/3 of what I had) you would need like 1.25gal of water, and the grain would take up... .416qts? It should *just* fit in a 6 qt container. I'm sure it can depend on the type of grain as well. I have to say, I am *very* happy with my mash tun. I've discussed making a false bottom with Bonny, and he thinks it's feasable - and can weld SS.
Mumbles Posted February 26, 2008 Posted February 26, 2008 Here is the weekend plan. I shall finally get around to maibocking. Mumbles' Maibock 6lbs Pilsen LME4lbs Munich Malt1lb Vienna Malt maybe 2lbs1lb Pilsner Malt.5lb carapils malt 1.5oz Hersbrucker @ 3.3 AA 60 min.5oz Mt. Hood @ 4.2 AA 60 minIrish Moss 15 min Ferment with California Lager @ ~60F Late addition on the majority of the LME.
FrankRizzo Posted February 27, 2008 Posted February 27, 2008 5-6lb of grain will just fit comfortably in 10qt of volume if you miss your mash-in temp and end-up running close to 1.5qt/lb after adjusting your temperature with boiling water. You need a bit of room to stir without slopping over the edges. What kind of mash schedule are you looking at? Tentacles: How did you attach your steam manifold to the cooker? Did you drill and tap a new hole, or attach a tee to the rocker port?
Mumbles Posted February 27, 2008 Posted February 27, 2008 For the first mash, I am looking at simply a sacc mash. Mash in around 156-158F until conversion is complete(45 min to an hour), and then ferment on. I will easily have enough mash room. The sparge will be a bit "ghetto rigged", but we shall see how it works. We have a random straining pot here. It really looks like a normal pot with a bunch of holes drilled in it. The homebrew shop grinds a bit fine, so I was going to fit a strainer over it. Plus there are holes in the side as well as the bottom. If it tastes good, a full on full grain setup(10 gallons or so) shall likely be in the works before summer. The holes in the side really prevent a true sparge. The liquid which would normally sit above the grain bed would drain right away. Maybe I'll only wrap the cheesecloth around the sides to kind of guide the sparge water on downward.
tentacles Posted February 27, 2008 Posted February 27, 2008 5-6lb of grain will just fit comfortably in 10qt of volume if you miss your mash-in temp and end-up running close to 1.5qt/lb after adjusting your temperature with boiling water. You need a bit of room to stir without slopping over the edges. What kind of mash schedule are you looking at? Tentacles: How did you attach your steam manifold to the cooker? Did you drill and tap a new hole, or attach a tee to the rocker port? I just drilled and tapped a hole - I could have used one of the safety ports, but then I'd have had to find like 1/16" pipe fittings, or make something. Up here at least, pressure cookers have a pressure relief, and something that appears to be a tin alloy disc that melts at an appropriate temperature to fail and relieve pressure.
FrankRizzo Posted February 28, 2008 Posted February 28, 2008 For the first mash, I am looking at simply a sacc mash. Mash in around 156-158F until conversion is complete(45 min to an hour), and then ferment on. I will easily have enough mash room. The sparge will be a bit "ghetto rigged", but we shall see how it works. We have a random straining pot here. It really looks like a normal pot with a bunch of holes drilled in it. The homebrew shop grinds a bit fine, so I was going to fit a strainer over it. Plus there are holes in the side as well as the bottom. If it tastes good, a full on full grain setup(10 gallons or so) shall likely be in the works before summer. The holes in the side really prevent a true sparge. The liquid which would normally sit above the grain bed would drain right away. Maybe I'll only wrap the cheesecloth around the sides to kind of guide the sparge water on downward. In that case Mumbles, you'd be much better off using the bucket-in-a-bucket false bottom method. Your efficiency will be cruddy without having a decent grain bed depth.
Mumbles Posted February 28, 2008 Posted February 28, 2008 I did describe it rather poorly. It will essentially be a bucket in a bucket false bottom type of thing, just rather unconventional looking. Perhaps I'll look around for an old plastic tub to drill out and make into an acceptable filtration unit.
FrankRizzo Posted February 28, 2008 Posted February 28, 2008 Were you able to find a turkey fryer or something to do full boils?
tentacles Posted February 28, 2008 Posted February 28, 2008 I managed to ruin the canning pot I've been using, so now I'm in the market for a good beer kettle :/ It really sucks b/c it's my MIL's! How did I ruin it, you ask? Well, it's funny you should ask.. I had 9 quarts of 12% H2SO4 mixed up to anodize my pressure cooker with, and wanted to store it until I got some jugs to put the acid in, after all, who doesn't need to anodize stuff all the time? Well, apparently that black finish is NOT porcelain, because that weak H2SO4 took it off like paint stripper! I ended up pouring the acid down the drain after all, unsure as to the integrity of the pot and the purity of the acid. On the plus side, my pressure cooker is nicely (if none to prettily) anodized now. I was getting tired of having cloudy yellow water after boiling in it, and the aluminum getting oxidized in strange ways.
Mumbles Posted February 28, 2008 Posted February 28, 2008 Yes, I think I mentioned it elsewhere. My mom got me a turkey fryer for Christmas. It was in regard to my question if aluminum was just as safe as stainless steel. So that shouldn't be a problem. I just have to go get it from home this weekend, and pick up a propane tank. I shall probably be brewing sometime next week, and give it a full 2 months of fermentation and conditioning however long that may be. As an aside my mom is way too supportive of my weird sciency hobbies for my own good.
TheSidewinder Posted February 28, 2008 Posted February 28, 2008 As an aside my mom is way too supportive of my weird sciency hobbies for my own good.I put her up to it, at the first Guild meet I met her, when you weren't around. You owe me, pal.
Mumbles Posted February 28, 2008 Posted February 28, 2008 Oh, I think you're 6 or 7 years late for this one. She bought my my first 10lb bag of KNO3 when I was about 15, and it just went downhill from there.
TheSidewinder Posted February 28, 2008 Posted February 28, 2008 Ooops... guess I was a bit late. I *did* tell her that you definitely came to the right place to learn pyrotechnics, just like I had. Does she like your beer, too?
Mumbles Posted February 28, 2008 Posted February 28, 2008 She wasn't a fan of the first beer. However to put it in perspective, she doesn't like her beer much darker than miller lite. My beer was something on the order of this http://static.flickr.com/137/324155053_bce30650e5_m.jpg I am slowly bringing her over to the side of good beer. Luckily enough there is a microbrewery around here that makes several lighter beers, and she seemed to be receptive to beer that actually tastes like beer. This latest batch is a blue moon clone I hear, which she also kind of likes. The blue moon clone should look something like this, though it appears to be a touch darker.http://www.sudsgear.com/ProductImages/blm-bluemoon/glasses/BMPSN-l.jpg
tentacles Posted February 28, 2008 Posted February 28, 2008 I imagine that even with extra light DME, duplicating the color of anything that BMC brews (even something tasty like blue moon) is nigh impossible, unless you go with some adjuncts like flaked rice or whatnot. I managed to score 3 500g bags of muntons light (or is it X light?) DME for $10 yesterday, a big advance for my yeast preserving/starter making efforts. One of the bags says it's "hopped" but in the amounts I'll be using it shouldn't matter.
Mumbles Posted March 5, 2008 Posted March 5, 2008 I just converted my bottling bucket into a makeshift lauter tun for about $5. Have a nifty little adapter*, and an 8" piece of braided SS tube for a toilet. Seeing as how I am probably going to be batch sparging this, some of the smaller coolers I saw just wern't going to cut it. If this goes well, I have a feeling the 48qt icecube cooler that's on sale will soon be in my kitchen with a SS ball valve attached to it. Planning on brewing the maibock this weekend. Did some calculations and added a little extra grain to get it up to the correct gravity. 7.5lbs being mashed in all. 6lbs pilsen LME4lbs light Munich2lbs Vienna1lb Pilsner.5lbs carapils .5g Hersbrucker @ 3.3AA and 60 min1.5g Mt. Hood @ 4.6 AA and 60 min Fermented w/ California Lager yeast at around 58-60F
tentacles Posted March 5, 2008 Posted March 5, 2008 Mumbles: My local walmart has 48qt coolers on the cheap right now in the hunting section, the camo colored ones for like $18. I would have gone with one but felt that the grain bed on an ordinary brew would have been too shallow. I couldn't find one of those nice 10gal round jobs either. I'm happy enough with the 5 gal round, I think I could squeeze 1.070 out of a 5 gallon batch with the one I have.
Mumbles Posted March 5, 2008 Posted March 5, 2008 Yeah, I have been considering a smaller 5 gallon one at first. I figure if I wanted to make any higher gravity beers, I could always supliment it with extract. Fortified all grain beer has a nice ring to it In all seriousness though, the reading I have done on batch sparging has stated several times that grain bed depth doesn't matter any. At least is not nearly as critical as with fly sparging I believe it's called, where the water is continuously added at approximatly the rate is is being drawn off. The square ice cube coolers I saw didn't look nearly as wide as some of the other coolers I've seen people using. Eh, if a 48 qt cooler turns out to be too big, I have a nice sized beer cooler or lagering bucket. The 60qt one sure did look pretty large though, much wider than the 48qt one, which is why I kind of shyed away from it. This will take a bit more theorizing.
tentacles Posted March 5, 2008 Posted March 5, 2008 For me the size (and shape) was very important, given storage considerations. Even the 5 gallon, I'm kind of like WTF do I do with this between brews? The big 48qt coolers are gigantic. I usually stuff the cooler full of brewing paraphenalia when it's not in use.
Mumbles Posted March 7, 2008 Posted March 7, 2008 Tentacles, and Frank, I love/hate you both. On the good side, I just tried the first bottle of the wit, and it is delicious. Not fully carbonated yet, but delicious. On the badside, I don't think I will ever again be able to not have at least a few dozen on hand.
FrankRizzo Posted March 7, 2008 Posted March 7, 2008 LOL..you're welcome I just finished the primary on a batch of a wit myself, so I've got a nice yeast cake waiting. I'm trying to find a nice clone recipe for Delirium Tremens to do as an all-grain. I found a great discussion over on the Northern Brewer forums, so that's giving me some ideas. If you get a chance, pick-up a bottle of Delirium Tremens...it's damn tasty.
Mumbles Posted March 7, 2008 Posted March 7, 2008 Bottle my ass. There is a bar on campus that has it on tap. mmmmmmmmmmm
FrankRizzo Posted March 7, 2008 Posted March 7, 2008 There is a bar on campus that has it on tap. mmmmmmmmmmmTrès magnifique, sir! My dinky town isn't cool enough to have it on tap, though the bottled version does have a slightly higher alcohol content *and* you can harvest the yeast. http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e57/Casinochild/del2.gif
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