What improvements to your process are you planning in order to brew be

[Stouter]

Reading, reading and more reading. Then putting it into practice. I recently got the book 'yeast' (by Chris White and Jamil Zainashelf) from the Brewing Elements Series of books. 'Malt' is in the post, due tomorrow.
In terms of practical improvements I reckon I need to hit on a recipe that's a proven performer, one I can brew consistently in one of my F.V fridges that I enjoy drinking, while the other fridge I'll try to use for a bit more experimental brews. This might mean moving to smaller F.Vs so I can fit two or even three in the one fridge without committing to full batches over the similar timelines.

Oh..... yeah, and probably improving on my calculations, measuring, interpretation of spreadsheets, record keeping.....

 

[manticle]

Really keen to buy an oxy setup from brewman.

Have to put money aside for my tax bill, an MRI and physio - then if the results of the latter two are OK, a trip to Sydney for futsal National competition in Jan so it keeps getting that bit further away. Definitely the next bit of gear I'm getting though - mostly for lagers and maybe some high grav stuff.

 

[Bribie G]

Finally waved the white flag and got a stir plate.

Thanks to Tidal Pete for assembly. He should be cloned and sent to colonise Mars on the first expedition, he'll sort it all out.

 

[welly2]

Really keen to buy an oxy setup from brewman.

Do it. Do it. Do it. Your wife and children will admire you more for being a better man. And you'll have the bonus of better beer.

 

[husky]

My least favourite part of brew day is the time between the end of boil and seeing yeast activity in the fermenter as I'm paranoid about infection. This makes me super anal about cleaning and sanitation which I would like to make easier.
Plan is to slightly modify my brewery to allow me to:
Chill in the kettle with an air tight lid seal(currently can but need to add a fitting to pump in some C02 to counter wort contraction and sucking the lid hard against the pot)
Remove the break and hop material off the bottom of the kettle once cooled(still fully sealed)
Oxygenate once cooled using an air stone that has been in the wort since the boil for sanitation(oxygen also to improve yeasties health and kick off fermentation quicker as currently use pond pump)
Transfer from kettle to fermenter possibly by pressurising the kettle and transferring via a keg style dip tube that sits in the kettle permanently

The key will be to have a fully sealed system after the boil ends so I can relax more about when I transfer to the fermenter.

Also working on a stainless fermenter that I can steam sterilise and also use gas to transfer to the keg after ferment via a keg style dip tube. Basically I want a conical that acts as a keg.

Basically trying to improve hygiene and make life easier for all post boil tasks. The brewery itself runs like a champ so cold side is next to tidy up.

 

[SBOB]

Oxygenate once cooled using an air stone that has been in the wort since the boil for sanitation(oxygen also to improve yeasties health and kick off fermentation quicker as currently use pond pump)

not sure how a air stone will last in the entire boil
I would be looking at doing in-line aeration as you transfer to the fermenter (aka how the "pro's" do it), and sanitising the air stone stand alone should be a very simple task (even if you are super paranoid about infection)

 

[husky]

not sure how a air stone will last in the entire boil
I would be looking at doing in-line aeration as you transfer to the fermenter (aka how the "pro's" do it), and sanitising the air stone stand alone should be a very simple task (even if you are super paranoid about infection)

I did think of inline aeration and even brought all the bits needed but haven't done anything with it yet. I currently throw the air stone in the boil right at the end and intermittently turn the pond pump on as its cooling to make sure its not blocked. Once it was blocked and the piss weak pond pump couldn't push any air through so I had to give it a quick C02 squirt to clear, but with a compressed oxygen cylinder should be fine even if the stone is a bit flooded with wort(which it will be).
If it fails me I will go inline

 

[DUANNE]

for me it is setting up a tank to catch rainwater. ive done a couple of brews now with rainwater caught in whatever was handy and using it as a blank slate for mineral additions. so far i think my beer has improved for it ever so slightly but noticebly.

 

[capsicum]

I realise this will be the subject of much debate, but I'm interested in what people think is a reasonable order to pursue improvements? Presumably you would want to get the stuff that is easy and beer quality is more sensitive to first (low hanging fruit) to get the most value.

I've been brewing for quite a few years and have tinkered with process and equipment along the way, but it's hard to say whether I did it in the right order.

This isn't the way I did it but what do you reckon for order of importance? Many would probably be in parallel too.

1. Keeping detailed notes
2. Cleaning and sanitation
3. Basic understanding of what ingredients do and/or recipe design (unless using existing recipes)
4. Brewing software or ability to do hand calcs
5. Effective mash temperature control (if AG)
6. Ferment temperature control
7. Yeast starters and yeast breeding
8. Water analysis and chemistry control
9. Mash pH control
10. Aeration/oxygen (more than agitation)

Not too sure about the last three, at my level they're all "nice to have" but not essential unless you have a highly developed palate or are entering competitions.

Kegging and bottling would probably have their own lists too.

 

[SBOB]

I realise this will be the subject of much debate, but I'm interested in what people think is a reasonable order to pursue improvements? Presumably you would want to get the stuff that is easy and beer quality is more sensitive to first (low hanging fruit) to get the most value.

I've been brewing for quite a few years and have tinkered with process and equipment along the way, but it's hard to say whether I did it in the right order.

This isn't the way I did it but what do you reckon for order of importance? Many would probably be in parallel too.

1. Keeping detailed notes
2. Cleaning and sanitation
3. Basic understanding of what ingredients do and/or recipe design (unless using existing recipes)
4. Brewing software or ability to do hand calcs
5. Effective mash temperature control (if AG)
6. Ferment temperature control
7. Yeast starters and yeast breeding
8. Water analysis and chemistry control
9. Mash pH control
10. Aeration/oxygen (more than agitation)

Not too sure about the last three, at my level they're all "nice to have" but not essential unless you have a highly developed palate or are entering competitions.

Kegging and bottling would probably have their own lists too.

Id be bumping these to the top
2. Cleaning and sanitation
6. Ferment temperature control
7. Yeast starters and yeast breeding (add yeast health as a general dot point)

 

[Black Devil Dog]

1. Cleaning and sanitation
1. Yeast Care/Handling.
1. Ferment temperature control
2. Basic understanding of what ingredients do and/or recipe design (unless using existing recipes)
3. Brewing software or ability to do hand calcs
4. Effective mash temperature control (if AG)
5. Mash pH control
6. Aeration/oxygen (more than agitation)
7. Keeping detailed notes
8. Water analysis and chemistry control

The first 3 are so important that I don't think you can give preference over one to either of the other two. I've re-named the yeast one as I think the way you care for/handle your yeast is more important than starters or breeding.
2 - 6 I've numbered according to the order in which I adopted them, so whichever seemed more important at the time, was the one I adopted.
7 Other than gravity readings and volumes, my note taking is pretty much non existent.
8 I haven't bothered with water chemistry, (other than mash ph) so this will no doubt be more important to others than it is to me.

 

[Brewno Marz]

1. Not rushing...plan ahead and think about what could go wrong & what could cause it to go wrong...ok I didn't foresee the dog running off with the teflon seal from a 3 piece valve when I had it apart for cleaning...
2. Monitor and record to better control the variables...grain crush, pH, volumes, temperature, weights, times etc.
3. Get better weighing scales
4. Don't have beers before flame out...mmmmm...beer...well at least before mash out!

 

[yum beer]

Now I have finally worked out how I want my system to run, I will be upgrading to matching equipment...most likely from Cheeky Peak.
Probably take best part of twelve months, but its all part of a bigger final picture.
ATM.....recipe development is top priority....need to nail down a few house brews.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Failure of planning to prepare is planning to fail, and depending on your matrimonial harmony don't forget to factor in the Dragon.

 

[Adr_0]

My only hesitation in putting water chemist at the end is chlorine removal. I'm sure most of you live in Victoria where nothing grows, but anywhere that has sunlight generally has chlorine or chloramine which will give the beer a nasty smell and taste - particularly when the dosage increases at the start of summer.

I look back through all of my notes over the years and mash temperature control, volume measurement and efficiency issues stick out in terms of challenges that I had.

I think the list is pretty comprehensive and BDD's pretty on the money but I think taking notes is pretty important:

1. Cleaning and sanitation and understanding the correct chemicals to use when and where - eg sodium percarbonate for cleaning, Starsan/phosphoric acid sanitisers
1. Yeast Care/Handling - basic storage, selection, rehydration, getting into starters
1. Ferment temperature control
2. Taking measurements and keeping detailed notes: preboil and post boil volumes (boiloff rate), first runnings vs strike volume, volume leftover, gravities, lessons learned - all of these help for improvement and consistency
3. Basic understanding of what ingredients do and/or recipe design (unless using existing recipes)
4. Chlorine/chloramine removal
5. Brewing software or ability to do hand calcs including measurements of your actual system volume(s), measurements from above - you need to take notes before you get value out of this
6. Effective mash temperature control (if AG)
7. Mash pH control
8. Aeration/oxygen (more than agitation)
9. Water analysis and chemistry control
10. Reducing oxygen exposure prior to pitching and after fermentation
11. Getting beer off trub/hops quickly - through blowoff with nearly full primary fermenter or to secondary after a few days

 

[Grott]

This is not a criticism but where you see yourself at this stage of life and circumstances. I no longer brew with such complexities as mentioned above and now produce what I believe are top drops without much effort or worry.
The importance is a proven set of processes that give you consistent results and you stick to these processes as if you could do them in your sleep. This relates to the whole process of wort, fermentation, bottle/keg preparation and filling plus carbonation.
This however does not stop improvements as they then enhance the process.
My latest improvement has been the introduction of a filter inside the fermenter which has reduced sediment in kegs by 50%.

 

[Danscraftbeer]

My latest improvement is to truly purge receiving keg when doing co2 pressured transfer.
I make up 20lt of Star San and fill the keg. Then a jumper lead to next keg, (or into the 20lt cooler that I store it in).
With co2 pushes all the sanitizer out of the keg it is now fully purged with co2 and ready to receive the beer.
Completely eliminating any oxygen exposure.
Also having that 20lt cooler with Sanitizer on tap is very handy too rather than mixing lots of small amounts.

 

[malt junkie]

Have to agree the lists above as pertinent as they are eventually become routine and learned, once you have your process, system, and local water dialed in, there are things you just skip testing. There are even a few members who will near eyeball (rule of thumb) an entire brew, and be close, real close on expected out come. Yeah mostly they're running numbers in their heads, but a lot is down to experience. Still the routine , process, system and other variables that apply specifically to your brew house need to be learned. Refinement of processes is never ending and hence the slippery slope.


If anyone sees a grits hydrator going cheap......

 

[Coodgee]

Have to agree the lists above as pertinent as they are eventually become routine and learned, once you have your process, system, and local water dialed in, there are things you just skip testing. There are even a few members who will near eyeball (rule of thumb) an entire brew, and be close, real close on expected out come. Yeah mostly they're running numbers in their heads, but a lot is down to experience. Still the routine , process, system and other variables that apply specifically to your brew house need to be learned. Refinement of processes is never ending and hence the slippery slope.

4 out of 5 times I can extract almost exactly 1.5ml of starsan in my syringe without looking

 

[Grott]

I bet you peep