AG Brew #2 - Improving brewing methods

[JDW81]

Whats the reason shaking the beejesus out of the cold wort (which is in your fermenter)?

It adds oxygen to the wort to allow a good and healthy start to fermentation. Yeast (at least initially) prefer to work in an environment where there is oxygen. Once they kick off they'll happily revert to anaerobic fermentation.

JD

 

[robbiep]

Aaah, great little tip

 

[fcmcg]

Wort agitation helps put oxygen into the cooled wort for the benefit of the yeast.
At the start of their life cycle , at the growth phase , yeast need oxygen.

 

[jaypes]

the shaking aerates the wort to introduce oxygen for the yeast before pitching, either that or a wort oxygenation kit (expensive)

Looks like your carafa 3 is going to be in there!

 

[wbosher]

Wort agitation helps put oxygen into the cooled wort for the benefit of the yeast.
At the start of their life cycle , at the growth phase , yeast need oxygen.

Just to make it clear though...after fermentation, beer does not like oxygen.

 

[fletcher]

Whats the reason shaking the beejesus out of the cold wort (which is in your fermenter)?

- to aerate the wort so the yeast can thrive (from what i've read).

edit: beaten

 

[robbiep]

thanks guys

 

[Byran]

There are many ways to reduce sediment in your batch before bottling,
Sitting in primary in the fridge for a couple of weeks works a treat to drop the yeast, But I always seemed to get a blob or 2 of trub, yeast into the beer when transferring which adds sediment to bottles and clouds kegs for ages.

I have been going the whole hog on beer clearing lately with great results. After primary fermentation has ceased I have now started chilling the primary in the fridge until reasonably clear, anywhere from 2 days for a lager to 2 weeks for an ale. Then I prepare a gelatin mix, (1 spoon of gelatin in 1 cup of boiling water).
Pour the mix into a secondary container with a tap fitted. Then i transfer the cold primary container into the secondary container onto the hot gelatin mix.
Any crap that gets into the secondary binds with the gelatin and drops out super quick, after a day in the fridge, longer if it needs it.
Then when you transfer to bottles or keg you dont have any sediment at all (or at least a shit load less) to worry about. I've done this with bottling and there is always still enough yeast in the beer for carbonation.
Makes it a bit of a job to get from fermenter to Keg/bottle but it works really well for me. Ive done it without the secondary plenty of times and have been dissapointed many times due to sediment in the primary getting into my kegs and bottles.
Nothing worse than brewing a beer for a month and have it turn to mud because a lump of yeasty crap got in there out of the primary.
I want (most) of my beers crystal clear.

Rant over.

 

[Nick JD]

I suggested to take out the Carafa 3 because I never made that recipe with the primary goal of taste - the goal was to illustrate a wide range of malts (and also the reason why I used both hop flowers and pellets).

There's a dextrine malt, a cara malt, and a dehusked roasted malt and a base malt - the novice brewer has seen the range from super pale to super dark in their first beer.

That over 50 people have brewed it still cracks me up. Carafa 3 is a beast of a spec malt - personally I prefer to get colour and maltiness from large amounts of dark-ish malt than small amounts of black stuff. Some people like the toastiness it add though, I've heard.

It's still a decent beer, just was never engineered for taste. It's a mongrel.