Pearls of wisdom

[Adr_0]

Wanting to start a thread, just full of good tips or things not to do that you've picked up over the years, that those in the beginner-intermediate range can benefit from, e.g.

- When brewing a Belgian, although you may want lots of esters, don't go past __ (25-26°C?) or you will start to introduce higher alcohols/fusels

- Don't add sulphate past __ppm (150-200ppm?) for dark beers as you will probably get too sharp a taste with the roasted malts and the sulphate

- Don't skimp on the boil time for lagers/pilseners if you are trying to go light, as you may end up letting DMS through and countering any incremental colour improvement

- Make sure you boil water for 10-15min with that you are diluting with to minimise the impact of chlorine/chloramine...

 

[Adr_0]

don't forget to do a thorough diacetyl rest at 17-18°C if you're going to submit a lager for a comp...

 

[pk.sax]

If you want to do a very pale ale/lager:
a) don't use any crystals
b) instead of a light boil, boil hard but have more volume (sparge a bit more) to start. I've made a couple of very very pale ales with pilsner malt that are lighter in colour than a heineken even!

 

[Smokomark]

don't forget to do a thorough diacetyl rest at 17-18°C if you're going to submit a lager for a comp...

Or if you want something drinkable

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

How do you get a lighter colour of water...??

 

[manticle]

Close the tap.

 

[tazman1967]

Drink a Corona.. or some Blonde thingy..

 

[Adr_0]

for at least 2 out of 3 brews, aim to put the false bottom in before the grain

 

[Judanero]

Calibrate hydrometer(against water @ 20oc should read 1.000), calibrate thermometer (in a glass of mostly ice, bit of water should read 0oc)


Take notes on what happened on brew day, unless you are into the pints before mash in.. then all bets are off.

 

[toncils]

Close the tap.

AND, check you've closed the tap, before you check it again...
...every f-ing time. :wacko:

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Yes....the old "why is my toe warm" followed by the " aagh....holy **** I left the tap open"...


This gets followed up with "****....how much did I loose" and " is my beer ruined"

 

[pk.sax]

How do you get a lighter colour of water...??

Some would say freeze and thaw to concentrate the colour out! Heard it recently.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Some would say freeze and thaw to concentrate the colour out! Heard it recently.

For some reason......I beleive you. ......I mean it does make sense ........sort of....

Now if you could dry that concerntrated water colour you could then darken water to whatever shade you wanted.

 

[pk.sax]

Lol, taking this a touch OT. Latest pale, I've posted a pic once, is a tad too bitter and fairly hoppy. Without the body.
So, I blended in a can of Heineken to see how it'd go and that darkened the beer in the glass. I didn't dig this blend. Prefer body to dilution.

 

[mje1980]

Wanting to start a thread, just full of good tips or things not to do that you've picked up over the years, that those in the beginner-intermediate range can benefit from, e.g.

- When brewing a Belgian, although you may want lots of esters, don't go past __ (25-26°C?) or you will start to introduce higher alcohols/fusels

/unless you're brewing a saison

- Don't add sulphate past __ppm (150-200ppm?) for dark beers as you will probably get too sharp a taste with the roasted malts and the sulphate

- Don't skimp on the boil time for lagers/pilseners if you are trying to go light, as you may end up letting DMS through and countering any incremental colour improvement



- Make sure you boil water for 10-15min with that you are diluting with to minimise the impact of chlorine/chloramine...

 

[mje1980]

If you pitch enough healthy yeast cold, a d rest isn't always necessary for lagers, for some strains.

 

[Adr_0]

If you pitch enough healthy yeast cold, a d rest isn't always necessary for lagers, for some strains.

This may be true, but I think practically speaking for most brewers the security far outweighs the effort. This is particularly true if you consider that the precursor may be there in a decent quantity and not detected tasting cold fermenter samples. In that case, you then have to rely on extending your lagering more than you would need to with a d-rest - assuming you have treated the yeast kindly and not crashed it out.

 

[DJ_L3ThAL]

always re-hydrate your yeast

h34r:

 

[Judanero]

always re-hydrate your yeast

h34r:

Hahaha I was going to say the exact same thing. h34r:

 

[sp0rk]

always re-hydrate your yeast

h34r: