OG not right

[philrob]

I know it's the latest "hot" technique, but I still don't understand why "pressure" fermenting is so popular.
I've been brewing AG for 15 years, and have never suffered from what pressure is supposed to suppress or cure.
YMMV.

 

[DazGore]

From my experience pH can really make a difference to efficiency.

 

[MHB]

There are lots of things that affect efficiency!
As mentioned so far L:G, pH, Time, Sparging... But king among them is temperature.
Worth pointing out that the test "Congress Mash" is conducted in distilled water with no salts or pH modification at a L:G of 8:1 by the end. We as home brewers are happy to get close to the "Test" value, but if all the other factors were all that influential we should be able to get way more. In fact you can, yields around 105% are possible, mind you, you won’t like the beer much.

There is a lot of good basic free info out there for people who want to understand the brewing process better.
How To Brew isn’t a bad start.
All of Braukaiser is worth reading.
The IBD Learning Resources are excellent.
And here is the Congress Mash, complements "A Handbook of Basic Brewing Calculations" (my most used book).
Mark

 

[duncbrewer]

@MHB
Think I'll break out the old Casio FX 180p for the congress mash book and handbook of basic brewing calcs.

 

[MHB]

Nah, no need its really all just fingercounting, you just need to know which fingers to count.
It will be the best money you ever spend on a brewing book.
Mark

Edit
If you do get one, please let people here know what you think of it.
M

 

[duncbrewer]

Oh please can I use the calculator, it still works after 35 years. So a much longer life than a mobile phone with an app.

 

[MHB]

Had an old Fx-80 that got me through some of high school, a trade and most of a Dip in Chem.
You won’t need any of the blue buttons but if it works Feck Yes, nice to see a tech survivor.
Mark

 

[Coalminer]

Much more info in the up to date paid version of Palmers book
biggest bonus is it has real numbers included