Palmers Method

[flanbos]

no im not talking bout ms palmers and her daughters......... ive just started readin the how to brew by john palmer.....

in his first chapter he says to boild up all ya stuff for ya wort kits an all....... ive always been told just to add it all into some hot water and stir!!

is there any real difference in taste between these two methods?????????

cheers - confused flanb0os :blink:

P.S just put in a batch of thomas coopers aussie bitter....og ended up at 0.022 !!!!

and i havent got any ferementaion yet..........gawwd i sware the beer gods have been after my last few brews hahaha <_<

 

[jayse]

Hi flanbos,

You'll read the chapter starts with 'brewing with malt extract' Ie it is unhopped pure malt extract, You need to boil hops in this extract for the 'bitter'.


Jayse

 

[pint of lager]

To boil or not to boil?

When making AG brews, hot and cold break is removed. This gives the beers cleaner flavours.

When the manufacturers are making LME, which is boiled under a vacuum, the hot and cold break is not removed. The same with DME, it is spray dried and still contains the break material.

So to get rid of the break material, you will need to water down your malt extract, boil it and cool it.

But wait, there's more. The isohops extract that is used to bitter the kits is adversely affected by boiling it.

So there is no simple answer. I suggest that the extra effort you will go to will not be worth it to boil the kit.

With your og sample, did you give the whole lot a really good stir before taking the og? Maybe you got a lower sg sample from your bucket. 1.022 is way too low. So long as you put in the tin and the 1 kg baggie, you will be right.

Always keep a spare yeast on hand. If there is no sign of avtivity after 24 hours ( airlock moving, foam on surface, brown scum forming) pitch another yeast. Borrow a yeast from a tin of brew and replace it next time you are at the hbs.

 

[flanbos]

yeah i took the sample right, cuz i checked it 2day ( 24hours later) and its still on the same og. i have a nice foam happening but no air lock bubbles

 

[Chatty]

You've got fermentation then. In your case I reckon you haven't got a seal on the fermentor. Try tightening the lid again and test the seal by squeezing the sides to push a bubble out. If the levels in the airlock equalise then you haven't got a seal.

At the end of the day, look at the beer. If it's got a head on it it's fermenting. Don't use the airlock as the only sign.

As for the sg staying the same, you may have some form of stratification going on which is contributing to the false readings. I would suggest racking to mix everything back together and get the brew off the trub at the same time.

Chatty

 

[pint of lager]

The following reasons can cause a low og.

Poor quality kit
poor quality additives
dud hydrometer (the glue fails and the paper slips, check in plain water for reading of 1.000)
sg sample is at incorrect temperature
drinking too much beer causing operator error
stratification



If it is stratification, no need to rack, just get a sanitised spoon and gently stir.

If you have foam on the surface, you have fermentation.

Taking an sg reading now will be meaningless as you are halfway through fermentation. You will not get an og or an fg, just a half way fermentation gravity.

I agree with chatty, you probably haven't got a good seal on the fermenter and the airlock is not gloomping. This will not harm your beer. So long as you keep the bugs out and tehre is foam on the surface, everything will go ok.

 

[flanbos]

thanks guys........i love this site