The Homebrew Thread

[Chicken_Hunter]

Should keep me busy for a while!

I also just got a detailed water report email to me from QUU for my address. After putting it all in to Bru'n Water it appears that my mash PH is way too low. Next time I'm at the LHBS i'll pick up some appropriate water salts to try fix it up.

I'm hoping it increases mash efficiency!

Where do you live? And where is this calculator. My local council has a water report on their website.

If my water is making my mash Inefficient then I would rather a cheap additive over buying water.

Might have a look at that oatmeal stout. What do oats add to a brew? Also what alternative hops would be good. I have a fair amount of hops in my freezer I want to use up. I have Columbus, haltertau, cascade, east Kent goldings, citra and saaz, would any of those work?

Any ideas on what combinations to use with the above hops for a simple pale ale or lager?The Columbus and cascade are great in my Amber. Citra is great by itself. ekg and halertau go good together any other ideas?

 

[Frank_Grimes]

Saaz goes great on it's own in a lager - you could try a Czech pilsner

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

The lager I have in the fermenter at the moment is 95% pilsener, 5% munich I. 20g Cascade at 60 and 20g cascade at 20min.

I probably only have maybe 15-20g of saaz there so would have to combine it with something. I could Bitter with the cascade and put the saaz in @ 15min.

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

Where do you guys normally find your recipes?

 

[Frank_Grimes]

Usually from Aussie Homebrewer - their recipe database is pretty extensive. Or just through googling various home brew sites. I have used this site a fair bit:

www.[B]bertusbrewery[/B].com

Generally I find a craft beer I like and then search for the clone recipe.

 

[Frank_Grimes]

Brewed the Mandarin IPA yesterday and I think it will now be more of a Mandarin Golden Ale as I missed OG by 11pts...

Expected ABV will now be around 4.5-5% rather than the 6.2% I was shooting for.

I ended up with 1.5L more than target volume in the fermentor so I assume my water measurements were off - most likely in the sparge volume. I have only been using a hastily made measuring stick for the kettle and 1L measuring jugs for the sparge pot. I've probably added an extra litre in sparge water by mistake.

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

I have never tried any kind of fruit beer, chocolate beer, pumpkin beer etc before. Such a craze with home brewers. I'd like to try some before attempting to brew one.

 

[Frank_Grimes]

I have never tried any kind of fruit beer, chocolate beer, pumpkin beer etc before. Such a craze with home brewers. I'd like to try some before attempting to brew one.

If you can find it at Dan Murphy's or wherever - Sam Adams Grapefruit IPA is a great drop to try for a fruit beer.

Zesting the Mandarins was a bit of a chore on Saturday night. I went through about 20 of them to get 50g of zest. Lucky I have two full garbage bags of free mandys from the mother in law's tree.

Adding the zest to the boil was an experience in its own. The smell was incredible and they made an amazing crackling sound as they went in.

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

are fruit beers different from those lime infused girly beers that you can get>?

 

[TiggaPlease]

Where do you live? And where is this calculator. My local council has a water report on their website.

If my water is making my mash Inefficient then I would rather a cheap additive over buying water.

I live in Brisbane, on the Southside - the water report available on the website didn't have all the info I required.

For my next 2 recipes I'm adding Gypsum and a small % of Acidulated malt, which will hopefully give me some extra efficiency and accentuate the flavours I'm after.

I'm using the Bru'n water spreadsheet: https://sites.google.com/site/brunwater/

 

[TiggaPlease]

In regards to recipes I look at AHB and other various forums to get a rough idea of what I'm after then I use beersmith and generally come up with a recipe which is nothing like the ones I've been researching!

 

[TiggaPlease]

Brewed the Mandarin IPA yesterday and I think it will now be more of a Mandarin Golden Ale as I missed OG by 11pts...

Expected ABV will now be around 4.5-5% rather than the 6.2% I was shooting for.

I ended up with 1.5L more than target volume in the fermentor so I assume my water measurements were off - most likely in the sparge volume. I have only been using a hastily made measuring stick for the kettle and 1L measuring jugs for the sparge pot. I've probably added an extra litre in sparge water by mistake.

Sucks about the OG - I bet it will be an awesome beer anyway.

I use a stainless steel ruler for my volumes, works an absolute treat.

Somehow ended up buying another 400gms of hops today when I was putting through a grain order, so I'll do my best to only use hops on hand until I start running low.

 

[Frank_Grimes]

are fruit beers different from those lime infused girly beers that you can get>?

Definitely. Most times the beer is much higher in bitterness and alcohol content to balance out the sweetness of the fruit.

But something like a raspberry saison will be not sweet at all and quite tart.

 

[Frank_Grimes]

Sucks about the OG - I bet it will be an awesome beer anyway.

I use a stainless steel ruler for my volumes, works an absolute treat

I think it may have been the sparge water where I went wrong. Counting out 12L of 1L jugs out of the tap can be difficult when the GF is distracting you with questions about other stuff. I think I'll use one of those 9L buckets with markings until I can make a more accurate volume stick.

I'm still getting great efficiency from the mash:

Conversion: 66.4%

Pre-Boil: 84%

Ending Kettle: 64%
Brew House: 54%

My limited analysis of the above numbers leads me to believe that I'm getting decent numbers at mash, but something happened between the start and the end of the boil.

 

[TiggaPlease]

Will put this one down on the weekend - My favourite amber ale malt bill with a touch of Acid malt and Gypsum to improve mash efficiency and accentuate malt and hops.

Going the Galaxy Cascade combo for this one so it will hopefully have a similar hop profile to Mountain Goat Fancy Pants.


BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Galaxy Amber
Brewer: TJ
Asst Brewer:
Style: American Amber Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 29.49 l
Post Boil Volume: 26.19 l
Batch Size (fermenter): 22.00 l
Bottling Volume: 20.60 l
Estimated OG: 1.049 SG
Estimated Color: 29.2 EBC
Estimated IBU: 40.6 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 74.4 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
3.00 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 mins Water Agent 1 -
4.00 kg Pale Malt (Barrett Burston) (3.9 EBC) Grain 2 73.8 %
0.50 kg Munich I (Weyermann) (14.0 EBC) Grain 3 9.2 %
0.40 kg Gladfield Medium Crystal Malt (111.0 EBC Grain 4 7.4 %
0.25 kg Acidulated (Weyermann) (3.5 EBC) Grain 5 4.6 %
0.20 kg Gladfield Dark Crystal Malt (190.0 EBC) Grain 6 3.7 %
0.07 kg Gladfield Light Chocolate Malt (900.0 EB Grain 7 1.3 %
10.00 g Hallertau Magnum [14.00 %] - Boil 60.0 m Hop 8 15.1 IBUs
0.50 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 5.0 mins) Fining 9 -
40.00 g Cascade [5.50 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 20.0 Hop 10 7.2 IBUs
40.00 g Galaxy [14.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 20.0 Hop 11 18.3 IBUs
1.0 pkg American West Coast Ale (Danstar #BRY-97 Yeast 12 -


Mash Schedule: BIAB, Medium Body
Total Grain Weight: 5.42 kg
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Saccharification Add 32.80 l of water at 70.2 C 66.7 C 75 min
Mash Out Heat to 75.6 C over 7 min 75.6 C 10 min

Sparge: If steeping, remove grains, and prepare to boil wort
Notes:
------


Created with BeerSmith 2 - http://www.beersmith.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

Let me know how you go, I am in Ipswich and I think we get the same water. I looked at our water report and it didn't have calcium to input it into that spread sheet.

Care to share the results you got from your water calculations?

 

[TiggaPlease]

Let me know how you go, I am in Ipswich and I think we get the same water. I looked at our water report and it didn't have calcium to input it into that spread sheet.

Care to share the results you got from your water calculations?

I've attached my water report - I used the mean values for all my calculations.

Basically to get my PH in the ideal range I've needed to add acidulated malt and gypsum. At some stage it looks like I'll need to use lactic acid to lower the bicarb levels as well, but I thought I'd try take baby steps.

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

Thanks. Do you live in Acacia Ridge? Thats where I work. Small world.

 

[Frank_Grimes]

I was chatting to a friend of mine a while ago who is a chemist for Gold Coast Water and Brisbane Water before that. He mentioned that the Gold Coast water is PH neutral and quite good, but Brisbane water is not good at all. Something to do with the river he said, but I can't remember exactly what.

What is the ideal number to look for?

 

[TiggaPlease]

Sure do mate, been there for about 3 years now. Very small world mate, will have to give you a sample of my brews at some stage.

Will be testing the mash adjustments on Friday night. I'll report back here when done. Hopefully i'll squeeze a few more points out.