How Can I Improve My Brewing Processes

[Adrianpc]

Hi,

I'm looking at taking my brew quality up a little. I brew kits such as Thomas Coopers Selection and Morgans with liquid malt and generally discard the suppled yeast for premium yeast. Im after a bit of general advise on how can I improve my brewing processes (without going to AG).


In the past I have relied on a fairly stable temp 1/2 underground garage to brew ales at around 18Deg C. In winter I brewed lagers at around 11DegC. Anyway Ive moved house and dont have as good a temp garage.

For $70 I purchased a second hand Dome 24 Thermoelectric Wine Cooler which can be set between 9 and 16 DegC, and from tests holds it's set temp within 0.9DegC. It fits all my Carboys with air locks perfectly unlike many minibar fridges.

This temp range might not be ideal for ales (isnt 16DegC a bit low??) but I figure brewing lagers (such as Saflager) at a controlled 11-12DegC in this cooler will work great.

Sorry for the long winded blurb! Now for the questions

1) Does cold conditioning help & will my wine cooler work or does it have to be cooler.

2) Can you cold condition if you bottle (Vs Keg). Doesnt cooling the beer to near zero kill yeast? If Im bottling and need yeast to prime and preserve the beer when in the bottle.

3) I generally ferment (1-2wks depending), rack for approx. 2wks using gelatine as finings, bulk prime with dextrose and bottle into 330mL green/brown bottles. Where exactly in this process would I cold condition?

4) Also when storing bottles prior to drinking what temp should I store the bottles at? For ales in my last garage they were around 18Deg C. Now that Im going to brew Lagers do the bottles need to be stored at a different temperature?

Thanks to all those that take the time to assist a fellow home brewer.
Cheers.

 

[manticle]

The following linked document was written by Thirsty Boy and linked in a recent thread.

I thought it was a pretty good run down - I'd like to see it make its way into the articles section. Some of it you've already figured out but there is a section on cold conditioning and fining.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1A2j_MO6...c/edit?hl=en_US

To answer your cold conditioning question - cold conditioning for any length of time really helps smooth a brew and accelerate maturation in my experience. The beer should be as cold as possible - 0 -4 degrees is good. If I were you, once you know the beer is finished and has had a few days resting in contact with the yeast, I would then cold condition. You can do this in conjunction with adding your finings.

Cooling will not kill the yeast - it makes it go dormant but will wake up again when the temp springs up. There will be enough yeast remaining in suspension to carbonate unless you cc for more than about 3 weeks (arbritary figure but 1-2 weeks should be fine).

16 degrees is fine for some ale yeasts (US05 will work that low) and hybrid type yeasts such as kolsch and alt yeasts. Fermentation also generates heat so 16 in the fridge might mean 18 or 19 in the wort during the active part of ferment.

Store bottles at ale fermentation temperatures to carbonate. Once carbonated they will last better stored cool or cold if you have the space. Lagers will carbonate at lower temps but you can carbonate them higher. 18 is good.

 

[pk.sax]

Just a cautionary word about those wine fridges... If its a thermoelectric fridge (I'm guessing it is since you seem to imply it doesn't have a hump), they have a rating as to how low below ambient temperatures will they bring the contents to. If you have a ferment going in there, it might actually be able to stay at a little above the rated max, just means you get more to play with. I know my thermo car fridge does this and some wine fridges I researched for possible conversion to keg fridges said they behave in that way too. Find the manual for the fridge and see what it says, most likely, you will get more flexibility than you are assuming at present

PS: AS Manticle said, US05 @ 16C works great.

 

[Cocko]

Are you adding hops?

I would say that the addition of hops to a kit makes the world of difference, mini boil or even dry...

I know you didn't mention hops in your OP and you are mainly talking temps, which is a, if not the, very important step... as replies above!

But look into hop additions to your kit and I think you will find a dramatic flavour change for the positive in your brews.

18.6 cents [USD]

Cheers

 

[ekul]

investigate ditching the kit and playing around with extracts. Neills centarillo is a great recipe and is easy to do. The malt profile of that one is a great for playing around with different recipes. But for the money you'll spend on extracts you may as well go AG or use fresh wort kits. Even using 50% grain in your recipes will bring your cost down if using extract, and you probably already have the equipment at home. My extract beers were way better than my kit beers, but they were probably double the price at around $40 a throw. Still cheap beer, but not cheap homebrew!

Kudos on your fermenting fridge, sounds like the bomb!

 

[Florian]

I second manticle's advice to have a good read of the document linked. While reading your very first sentence I was trying to remember the name of the thread in which TB linked to that document, but fortunately that work was already done, as I still cant remember it.

Great write up that should get a prominent and permanent place on here.

EDIT: 'All tastes the same' I think was the name of that thread (which is not really worth reading btw)

 

[Adrianpc]

Hi all & thanks for the few replies.

Yes I have been using Hops. Type and amount dependent on the beer I'm brewing. Generally I steep 1/2 for 5-10min for bitterness, and ad the remaining 1/2 in to the brew for aroma.

Also forgot to mention I installed a two stage water filter to clean my tap water up as well.

I have done a few St Peters / Brewers Selection fresh worts. They were great, but a bit costly (~$47) for 20L. Plus don't think they made a light colour, easy drinking beer... The summer ale was awesome all the same.

Practicalfool, yes It's a thermo fridge. Yes you are right manual says 9-16DegC is based on 25DegC ambient. But having said this generally thermo coolers will knock off 25-30Deg below ambient anyway & I don't think my garage would exceed 25DegC except for the odd summer day.

If the thermostat Max temp is 16DegC like Manticle said the fermenter is probably going to be 18-19 inside anyway. Worst case I could use an old "wheel" mains timer that cycles the fridge on 15min then off 15min. With some testing I reckon the temp would rise a bit for ale yeasts without too drastic temperature high/lows. After all it's a thermo cooler not a compressor and it's got 2" of insulation around the cabinet to stabilize the internal temp.

So it sounds like 9DegC is not going to be cold enough for Cold Conditioning. Is it worth doing at 9DegC at all?

I read the link https://docs.google.com/document/d/1A2j_MO6...c/edit?hl=en_US it mentioned cold crashing. Is there advantages apart from cleaning the beer? Finings (and or time) do a good job of making my beers very clear, I'm more interested in possible gains to taste.

 

[manticle]

Clearing the beer of yeast has a profound effect on flavour. During cold conditioning other compounds drop out too.

I no longer fine at all - just cold for me. Beer matures quicker in bulk and better in cold conditions.

The cooler the better so 9 is better than 18.

 

[Tanga]

Nottingham works great at cooler temps too. I'm so jealous of those with a cheap wine fridge. Been keeping an eye out... but SA people want new price. >.<

 

[Adrianpc]

It's been a little while since I posted this forum question. I figured that I'd share the results of brewing my first brew in theDome 24 Thermoelectric Wine Cooler. I brewed a Morgans blue mountain lager using SafLager yeast. Cooler was set to 9DegC and had been running for a few days, I added all the ingredients, yeast was pitched at 22DegC, and the carboy was put in the cooler. Fridge temp rose to about 14DegC, and carboy temp wasabout 18DegC. After about 24hrs the wine cooler was 11DegC, and the carboy 15DegC. Second days was similar temps as the yeast started to kick in generating it's own heat. I adjusted thermostat temp colder slightly and gott he carboy temp and fridge temp to about 11.5DegC. That's where it stayed forthe remainder of its 18day brew.



Initially I didn't think the wine cooler was warm enough for brewing ales, butfrom this first brew I think there would be no issues brewing at 21DegC. Thethermostat setting for the lager brew above was about 4/5 i (i.e. set at thecolder or MAX end of the range), so if I set the thermostat to a warmer settingI think 21DegC is achievable.


I figure that this info may help someone who is considering using a wine coolerto brew in. I've listed my brand/model above FYI. But I have no preference really,it's just what I bought on eBay that I knew would fit my largest 30L carboywith airlock on top.