A Dumb Question About Beersmith

[delboy]

ok i have been playing with the beer smith recipe data base and i have noticed that carbonation always seems to be in reference to "corn sugar" for carbonation ?? now excuse my thick head today but is that the same as corn starch? and why would you use that if it is the same ? or is it just a yank name thats used .
cant seem to change it unless i am missing something.
also when setting up your own "my equipment profile" how do you work out the mash tun dead space and litres lost to trub and cooling?
i havent use the AG set up i have built yet but any help here would be nice so i can get the recipes correct.
for a single infusion mash batch sparge.

equipment profile is

30 hlt , 50 ltr keg mash tun fitted with a 10 inch false bottom, a 50ltr keg kettle, plate wort chilla.

any help ?
PM me if you require any more info :beer:

thanks in advance


del

 

[shmick]

ok i have been playing with the beer smith recipe data base and i have noticed that carbonation always seems to be in reference to "corn sugar" for carbonation ?? now excuse my thick head today but is that the same as corn starch? and why would you use that if it is the same ? or is it just a yank name thats used .
cant seem to change it unless i am missing something.
also when setting up your own "my equipment profile" how do you work out the mash tun dead space and litres lost to trub and cooling?
i havent use the AG set up i have built yet but any help here would be nice so i can get the recipes correct.
for a single infusion mash batch sparge.

equipment profile is

30 hlt , 50 ltr keg mash tun fitted with a 10 inch false bottom, a 50ltr keg kettle, plate wort chilla.

any help ?
PM me if you require any more info :beer:

thanks in advance
del

G'day delboy

I think corn sugar refers to dextrose which is a sugar rather than a starch and would also generally cover sucrose, priming tabs etc.

Mash tun dead space = (Water in) - (liquid held in grain) - (wort out)
In other words whatever liquid is left in the bottom of the mash tun after draining.
My false bottom tun drains completely from the bottom centre so has a dead space of zero.

Cooling loss is the standard 4%

Loss to trub & chiller I have set to 3litres which seems to work for me but is heading down the slippery path to efficiency calcs which have been talked about on other threads. Calibrate your kettle volume (post boil) then measure what you get out after draining it.

As a start would also guess at Mash tun weight = 15kg and
Mash tun specific heat = 0.120 cal/g-degC
It works for but some tweaking may be required after your first brew.
Dont forget to tick the 'adjust temp for equipment' box and measure the MT & grain temp before mashing in.

It took me a few brew before I got things to where I'm happy.
Take a few extra temperature and volume measurements along the way and fix as you go. :chug:

 

[Adamt]

In America, corn sugar = dextrose. The confusion between all the corn s* products is why us smart and innovative Australians use names that are more different.

Most people set loss to trub and cooling to 0.

I've never set up specifically for my equipment so I'm not sure how useful people find it.

 

[Ross]

Loss to trub & chiller I have set to 3litres which seems to work for me but is heading down the slippery path to efficiency calcs which have been talked about on other threads.

Shmick,

Setting your loss to trub & chiller to 3 litres will not only throw out your efficency, but also your bitterness.
Set it to "zero" & increase your batch size by 3L.

cheers Ross

 

[delboy]

yes thanks for that

i thought the set up on the programme would take a couple of brews to iron out the bugs.

well soon to be doing a batch a bit scarey of f@#k1ng it up hopefully soe one will come and help me out when i do the brew day.

del

 

[pint of lager]

The corn factor always confuses new brewers.

In America, dextrose is known as "corn sugar" and made from corn. Many US recipes talk about priming with corn sugar.

In Australia, we call dextrose by its correct name.

It can be made from any starch. Commonly in Australia it is made from wheat.

Dextrose is often called its longer chemical name, dextrose monohydrate. This means that it has a water molecule attached to the dextrose molecule. This is why, when replacing plain table sugar (sucrose) with dextrose, if you want the same alcohol result, you add more dextrose. Another name for dextrose is powdered glucose.

The real confusion arises when you add "corn syrup" to the equation. A better name is maltodextrin, which avoids the confusion. Maltodextrin is often used in small quantities to give body to kit brews. It does not ferment out, gives only a small amount of alcohol and is useless for priming.

Always try and use the terms dextrose and maltodextrin, rather than corn sugar and corn starch.