re: Homebrewing Thread: Volume II

quote:

---

What's the size comparison of one of those in the stand. I ferment most of our stuff in a mini fridge. Normal car boys and buckets fit just fine is it about that size?

---

that's where you will run into a little trouble. i can fit it in a stripped down old refrigerator but probably not a chest freezer. it's probably a foot taller than a standard carboy. i can get an exact measurement from floor to top of airlock later if you want...

quote:

---

You can also mod it for closed transfers to keg with CO2 at approx. 1-2 psi.

---

quote:

---

y I_heart_beer

---

I dropped off your beer.

10-4. Thanks. Will have to check out my fridge.

Bug, I remember you saying you used a 2:1 chloride to sulfate ratio, do you just use regular ole Baton Rouge Water and calcium chloride and gypsum to get there? What numbers are you aiming for?

quote:

---

Bug, I remember you saying you used a 2:1 chloride to sulfate ratio, do you just use regular ole Baton Rouge Water and calcium chloride and gypsum to get there? What numbers are you aiming for?

---

First off, i picked up your beer and did not throw it on the ground this time. Secondly, thanks for the compliments.

For my sulfate to chloride levels i use regular old baton rouge tap water and add my salts to get to the desired profile.

So in beersmith, for that beer you have, the water profile i used was

ph: 5.4
Ca: 135 ppm
Mg: 1 ppm
Na: 10 ppm
SO4: 71 ppm
Cl: 186 ppm
HCO3: 0 ppm

My salt additions were

Mash (4.92 gal)
7.01 g CaCl
2.31 g Gypsum

Sparge (5.0 gal)
roughly the same amounts.

ETA: Also, you will have to acidify your mash water to end up with a ph of 5.4. For acid amounts, i use brewersfriend.com's advanced water profile tool.

quote:

---

And just a little personal rant of mine, but pH pens piss me off. I have a decent Hannah pen that I've had for a couple years and I wanted to change the probe out since it's been giving me a hard time trying to calibrate it. The stupid probe is close to the price of a whole new meter /rant

---

Honestly, i stopped checking ph for all my clean beers. I input my water profile and grist information in that brewersfriend tool, and it gives me an amount of acid i need to put in my mash water to result in the desired ph. I checked when i first started doing it and it was pretty accurate, so i quit checking over the year or more.

And yes, water chemistry will get you the mouthfeel you are looking for with the "juicy" style ipa's. However, there are other things that help as well. Up to 14% of my beer was a mixture of oats and spelt to further aid in the mouthfeel.

Then there is your hop additions. I did 1 bittering addition because i like a small amount of hop bitterness in these styles. About 50 IBU's worth. Then i do a whirlpool charge of about 4.5 oz @ 165-175 degrees. Then once fermentation starts, i waited 3 days then pitched 3 oz. of hops for the biotransformation addition. Then after ferm stopped, i added another 3.5 oz. of hops.

At least, this is what i did for my first NEIPA that you have. Others may have slightly or maybe completely different ways of getting their desired profile for their beers.

Update on the Kettle Sour

Unexpected low Ph. I pre-acidified like i've done in the past, but i pre-acidified a little too much. Instead of being at 4.5 ph, i was at 4.2. I pitched the Omega lacto blend and let it ride for about 40 or so hours. Final ph in the kettle was 2.98. I did some whirlpool hopping and will do some dry hopping which should raise the ph a little. I'd like for it to finish around 3.2 but that may be hoping for too much. Tastes good though. Not as tart as i thought it would be. Checked the ferm freezer this morning and it is bubbling up nicely.

In about a week or so i'll be adding 3 lbs of pureed blueberries and 2 lbs pureed blackberries.

Skipped going into work today so I could brew a saison. If you have days off then you might as well use them right?

//edit: I'm pretty sure I'm a better brewer in mornings with coffee than afternoons with beers. This is the second beer in a row I've started in the am and hit 80% mash efficiency (batch sparging) instead of my normal 73%...

Upon reflection, maybe the mill at the place I get grain is just a little smaller. That could explain slightly better efficiency and slightly more difficulty getting the wort clear during vorlauf.

This explanation conveniently lets me crack open a beer :)