Signs of a good brew

[TimT]

I'm interested what signs folks look for, especially during the mash and sparge, to check on the progress of their brew, without using modern technology (thermometer, computer software, etc). I've got a couple myself:

During mash
- A foam can form at the top of the pot during the mash - I could be wrong but I take this as a sign that the starch-to-sugar conversion is working, and the sugars are seeping out into the water.
- Checking temp by just sticking finger in/taking a spoonful and testing it with lips or letting a bit drop onto the back of your hand. (I once read somewhere that mash temp should be just so hot that you can hold your finger in it, but no cooler - 50-60 may be just bearable).
- Smell - increasingly malty, sweet aroma.
- Feel - texture of mash (now I go for a consistent, porridge-like texture), and whether parts of the mash are sticking to the pot.
- Taste - should be increasingly sweet: perhaps a spoon is best for doing the taste test as the salt on your finger may alter the flavour.

After sparge
- Taste - the grain really should taste 'spent' - all the sweetness drained out. The wort should now have a diluted sweetness.

During boil
- Foam also forms at the top of the pot during the boil (this becomes the trub, no?)
- Smell - you should smell the maltiness, and of course the hops that you add during the boil. Towards the end, you should be able to smell the addition of aroma hops or other herbs.
- Taste - should taste increasingly sweet as it boils down, with added bitterness from the hops.
- Look - my system is very minimalist and low tech, so I judge how low the wort has boiled simply by immersing a thermometer and using that to judge height as well as temp (making adjustments for hop bags/adjuncts if they have been thrown into the boil as well).

Cooling down
- I immerse the pot in the sink so I judge the temp partly from the temp of the surrounding water and the heat of the pot itself.
- Also taking a bit out with a spoon and dropping it onto the back of my hand - another way to judge temp. (20 degrees celsius and below will feel very cool, though not freezing - body temp is 37, so anything around that range feels like a pleasant bath; room temp is around 25 degrees celsius, so temps around that will feel comfortable. Below 20 feels - well - "a wee bit nippy").
- Taste: the hopped but unfermented wort will give you a good indication of what the final brew will taste like. After I do a gravity test I usually set aside that for taste testing.

 

[Yob]

refractometer and a pipette.. you stop running off at 1010 or full volume is achieved.

plenty of ways to cock it up after these processes above, cold side treatment and attention to detail there is arguably more important than what you do during Mash, Sparge, Chilling/NC...

if you cock it up during the ferment all good work previous is for naught anyway

 

[elcarter]

+1 for the foam "enzyme activity" on top of the mash tun.

If any one area in the mash tun has less foam I move the recirculating wort hose to help maintain / regain my desired temp in that area. After a few minutes I gain more of this foam. I continue to see small increments in brewhourse efficiency as a result.

 

[mje1980]

If it tastes good it's good. I really only check gravity samples and make sure temps are close to what they should be, and check volumes.

 

[TimT]

move the recirculating wort hose

Heh. I stir with a spurtle. Or a stick in less fancy-shmancy terms.

 

[TimT]

I haven't heard the phrase 'cold side treatment' before - I assume you mean treatment of the brew once it's the right temp and yeast has been added. I'm not too fussy about that to be honest - just stick the fermenter in my study so I can keep an eye on it.

I wouldn't know what to do without my thermometer admittedly. Mostly though I keep it all very low tech; these signs help a lot.

 

[fletcher]

during the mash, a simple iodine test is a good indicator of conversion.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Iodine_test

 

[Northside Novice]

Glass is full , haven't pist swmbo off too much ,
And all taps are in the 'off' position
Are all very good signs

But seriously it all is in the planning ! Like any construction !
If you have the brew planned out well you are more looking for things going wrong .
Ag isn't hard , a good mash can be let down by a bad ferment .
A good ferment can have no chance after a bad boil (hop addition)
A good sign is more that you understand what your doing . Mash looks like porridge ? Check
Temp in the correct zone ?check , drained all the sweet wort as possible ? Check
Not too drunk haven't fucky up any of the above yet ? Check
Boil on hop freely and enjoy

 

[manticle]

You're not amish are you Tim?

 

[TimT]

Nope: just weird. And lazy.

 

[TimT]

Now I'm wondering if you've been sneaking a look at my pics on facebook - the beard, the big black Fedora hat.... (I don't mind if you have! But then again, an Amish surely wouldn't have a computer, much less Facebook...)

I guess I'm interested in doing things in a way that is a bit more traditional and simple: the challenge appeals to me. And I think I get a better intuitive feel for the beer that way. (I have somewhere a book about sourdough in which the author talks about how when she gives classes, even when her students have a breadmaker, she teaches them first up to go through the whole traditional mixing/kneading process because they learn more about the process in depth, and I feel exactly the same way about beer making). And I cook a lot - so I'm also interested in brewing with just ordinary kitchen equipment.

 

[elcarter]

Every additional temperature controller and more dialed in temperature probes I've added at first make it easier for me to stuff another element of my beer up.

In the early days I just threw some warm water in, stirred it far too often, boiled it then threw some hops at it.
Completely ignorant to the science and method behind each step. To my amazement / luck it always turned out far better than I deserved.

I feel that my particular brewing generation, myself in particular is far to reliant on these instruments.

I think these observations are exceptionally important to learn and experience. You never know when that trusty "made in china" temperature controller's going to say bye bye. I'd prefer to just go with my gut, intuition and an old brewers advice then swap out a temp controller in record time to have it pop again.

With all my trusty technology I'm achieving what I thought I wanted to do then a wiser brewer will always just say a word or two of golden advice that will count so much more towards what I wanted to achieve.

Temp controllers have only ever told me two things, you wired me up wrong and your so not anywhere near that temperature you wanted.

 

[fletcher]

Every additional temperature controller and more dialed in temperature probes I've added at first make it easier for me to stuff another element of my beer up.

In the early days I just threw some warm water in, stirred it far too often, boiled it then threw some hops at it.
Completely ignorant to the science and method behind each step. To my amazement / luck it always turned out far better than I deserved.

I feel that my particular brewing generation, myself in particular is far to reliant on these instruments.

I think these observations are exceptionally important to learn and experience. You never know when that trusty "made in china" temperature controller's going to say bye bye. I'd prefer to just go with my gut, intuition and an old brewers advice then swap out a temp controller in record time to have it pop again.

With all my trusty technology I'm achieving what I thought I wanted to do then a wiser brewer will always just say a word or two of golden advice that will count so much more towards what I wanted to achieve.

Temp controllers have only ever told me two things, you wired me up wrong and your so not anywhere near that temperature you wanted.

I stopped reading this after your sly racist remark about things made in China.

 

[mr_wibble]

I guess I'm interested in doing things in a way that is a bit more traditional and simple: the challenge appeals to me. And I think I get a better intuitive feel for the beer that way. (I have somewhere a book about sourdough in which the author talks about how when she gives classes, even when her students have a breadmaker, she teaches them first up to go through the whole traditional mixing/kneading process because they learn more about the process in depth, and I feel exactly the same way about beer making). And I cook a lot - so I'm also interested in brewing with just ordinary kitchen equipment.

I agree wholeheartedly with this sentiment.

But...

Measuring stuff does not detract from the traditional process (which is essentially the same as it's been for thousands of years), but it does let you know that your brew is coming along OK. A batch of beer takes me about 6 hours to make, including cleaning, mashing, boiling, cooling, fermenting, kegging, etc. etc. etc. I don't begrudge the time, I enjoy the whole process - but I also *need* that beer to be as perfect as I can make it, otherwise it's just a waste of time.

I had some recent problems with achieving a good mash efficiency, which was easily fixed after some great advice form members here. The bulk of that advice was first to measure what was happening, so I could correct the part that was not working so well. So armed with new thermometers, iodine (which I always think of as Pirate Roberts' Iocane Powder), pH strips, and my trusty sachrometer, I set to brewing; measuring all this new stuff filled the corners of my brew sheet, I recorded everything imaginable. For me it added to the brewing process rather than detracting from it.

It allowed me to learn that I was sparging a little too fast, and leaving sugars behind in the mash.

Before this I was just taking it on faith that I should rinse with /X/ litres of sparge water, and that would give me the right gravity after the boil.

Since then I went on a course and got to use a refractometer - these are feckin' awesome. You don't have to wait for the wort to cool before you can take a reading. Using one of these, you can just keep sparging (as Yob points out) until you have a low enough gravity wort coming off the mash. Then you can boil it, and check the gravity as excess water boils off. It helps keep the basis of the beer on track. So if you do something knuckle-headed (like add 25% less sparge water because you miscounted jug-fulls), you see straight away in the higher gravity, not 2 weeks later when you measure the FG and scratch your head as to why it's wrong. Again.

Regarding putting your finger in the mash ~ That's the rule of thumb also for scalding chickens before plucking (at ~70C). I tried this a few times, but I could just not feel much difference. One thing I really do like is listening to the kettle - it makes different noises as the bubbles form etc. At about 80C it starts to make that subtle hiss, that's my alarm to turn it off.

anyway, enough rabbiting on.

 

[manticle]

Now I'm wondering if you've been sneaking a look at my pics on facebook - the beard, the big black Fedora hat.... (I don't mind if you have! But then again, an Amish surely wouldn't have a computer, much less Facebook...) I guess I'm interested in doing things in a way that is a bit more traditional and simple: the challenge appeals to me. And I think I get a better intuitive feel for the beer that way. (I have somewhere a book about sourdough in which the author talks about how when she gives classes, even when her students have a breadmaker, she teaches them first up to go through the whole traditional mixing/kneading process because they learn more about the process in depth, and I feel exactly the same way about beer making). And I cook a lot - so I'm also interested in brewing with just ordinary kitchen equipment.

Have you tried using hot rocks a la stein brewing?

 

[elcarter]

I stopped reading this after your sly racist remark about things made in China.

If I made a comment about a German product with poor components and quality control would it still be considered racist?

Seriously?

I just laughed at your comment and thought man I don't want a beer with that guy.

 

[Scooby Tha Newbie]

It wasn't a sly remark about Chinese made products. I've a temp probe controlling my beer fridge. Its Chinese,cheap as ($14) supa dogie lookin it don't trust it at all. Thats why I bought two.At least it's not made in Australia. It would have been $72. And shat itself a month ago.

 

[Tex083]

The more high tech I get the better my results have been. Since going from a stove top 2v system to a HERMS with PID and pump the beer has been heaps better, is it my understanding? Or equipment?
I like the idea of simplifying the process.
The PID is from Auber and has high quality RTD sensors. The HLT is controlled by a STC1000 which is not as good, but cost a lot less.

Learning about the process is most of the fun about the hobby, drinking the product is the best bit!

 

[MartinOC]

'Did everything by "feel" for years & made some great brews. The technology is good & can do things I couldn't possibly hope to have achieved in years past (but I'm embracing it all now). The difference is the knowledge & experience of doing multiple brews & noticing the differences & understanding not just WHAT you're doing, but also WHY. Eg. I always taste my sparge runoff by just sticking my finger in it & can get pretty close to knowing when to stop. A refractometer will now just confirm what I already know.

If you can learn to trust your senses at each stage of production (that includes the cold-side), then the technological toys just become confirmation, rather than something to slavishly rely-on.

 

[brentice]

i like home brewed beer ....true story