Bender_
X
There was lots of pictures.
Toast Beer / Homebrew Thread
- Thread starter SpaceClef
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There was lots of pictures.
Bender_
X
John Palmer's book, though informative and comprehensive almost put me off. Way too much technical info had my head swimming at some points.
Yeah I've read through his online stuff a bit. Pretty old school info tho I reckon
Wife works in a lab at Pzifer doing quality control stuffs. Reckon she would smash all the pH levels and such. Might have to get her involved.
Asked her if she could "borrow" a hydrometer and refractometer - reckons the refractometer they have is some big expensive unit that prints out all the info.
So no, she can't borrow it
Asked her if she could "borrow" a hydrometer and refractometer - reckons the refractometer they have is some big expensive unit that prints out all the info.
So no, she can't borrow it
Wife works in a lab at Pzifer doing quality control stuffs. Reckon she would smash all the pH levels and such. Might have to get her involved.
Asked her if she could "borrow" a hydrometer and refractometer - reckons the refractometer they have is some big expensive unit that prints out all the info.
So no, she can't borrow it
pH meter would be so helpful for brewing
Bender_
X
Yeah def get her on board. Also can she get Pfizer pharmaceuticals for free?
Might need some for the footy next year
My initial thought was that there's better things you can find at Pfizer.
Yeah but once Willie debuts no one will need Viagra
It's fairly advanced mate.
Without having completed a BJCP course I'd argue that you couldn't even tell the difference between a beer made from tap water and one that has had its water profile adjusted.
The homebrew group im in carried out a few side by side tests.
Packet yeast US05 VS a US05 starter
Rainwater VS tap water VS adjusted Rainwater
****ed if anyone could tell much of a difference
And boy they're crying out for it since Butler's retirement
Even this backyard brewer has a refractometerWife works in a lab at Pzifer doing quality control stuffs. Reckon she would smash all the pH levels and such. Might have to get her involved.
Asked her if she could "borrow" a hydrometer and refractometer - reckons the refractometer they have is some big expensive unit that prints out all the info.
So no, she can't borrow it
They're $20-30 on eBay.
Awesome for taking gravity readings during brew day and adjusting on the fly
Bender_
X
I thought as much. From what I can grasp there's a lot of superfluous stuff that seems to make it unnecessarily complicated. Unless you're entering competitions I guess.
I've seen kit beers win categories in beer comps before
The amount of s**t that's going on at a molecular level from when that first barley seed is germinated to when the last of many billion yeast cells has converted it's last strain of simple sugar is almost impossible to replicate without spending millions of dollars and hiring a bunch of scientists and s**t.
Make beer and have fun with it. The results will come from setting up good brewing practises that you can replicate at a hobbyist level.
Anything you can control (other than yeast culturing and water profiles) is where the biggest gains are made.
Anything else and you're approaching commercial brewing IMO
Thoughts on a sessional red ale?
New Recipe (American Red Ale)
Original Gravity (OG): 1.042 (°P): 10.5
Final Gravity (FG): 1.008 (°P): 2.1
Alcohol (ABV): 4.46 %
Colour (SRM): 21.5 (EBC): 42.4
Bitterness (IBU): 41.4 (Tinseth)
66.67% American - Pale 2-Row
11.11% German - CaraMunich I
11.11% German - Munich Light
5.56% German - Chocolate Wheat
5.56% German - Wheat Malt
0.9 g/L Bravo (15.5% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil)
0.4 g/L Cascade (7% Alpha) @ 30 Minutes (Boil)
0.7 g/L Cascade (7% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Boil)
Single step Infusion at 66°C for 60 Minutes. Boil for 60 Minutes
Fermented at 22°C with Safale - American Ale Yeast US-05
Recipe Generated with Brewer's Friend
New Recipe (American Red Ale)
Original Gravity (OG): 1.042 (°P): 10.5
Final Gravity (FG): 1.008 (°P): 2.1
Alcohol (ABV): 4.46 %
Colour (SRM): 21.5 (EBC): 42.4
Bitterness (IBU): 41.4 (Tinseth)
66.67% American - Pale 2-Row
11.11% German - CaraMunich I
11.11% German - Munich Light
5.56% German - Chocolate Wheat
5.56% German - Wheat Malt
0.9 g/L Bravo (15.5% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil)
0.4 g/L Cascade (7% Alpha) @ 30 Minutes (Boil)
0.7 g/L Cascade (7% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Boil)
Single step Infusion at 66°C for 60 Minutes. Boil for 60 Minutes
Fermented at 22°C with Safale - American Ale Yeast US-05
Recipe Generated with Brewer's Friend
Gladfield malt (I think) say to aim for 32-36 EBC for a vibrant red. 80% attenuation with spec malt and 66deg mash may be a little ambitious, but give it a go and set a baseline to tinker with
Have some leftovers and some time this afternoon, going to give a mongrel saison/IPA a try. Low IBU, balanced with saison yeast flavouring and a little aroma from the whirlpool, hoping the wheat gives me some head retention and the dash of carafa III makes it a little scary looking. Looking to take on board what I've learnt with previous high gravity and hopefully get this down to something like the 1.016 planned.
Original Gravity (OG): 1.082 (°P): 19.8
Final Gravity (FG): 1.016 (°P): 4.1
Alcohol (ABV): 8.59 %
Colour (SRM): 27.0 (EBC): 53.2
Bitterness (IBU): 28.9 (Tinseth)
47.06% American - Pale 2-Row
20.59% Belgian - Munich
20.59% German - Dark Wheat
9.41% United Kingdom - Crystal 60L
2.35% German - Carafa III
1.1 g/L Magnum (15% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil)
1.1 g/L Cascade (7% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Boil)
1.1 g/L Simcoe (12.7% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Boil)
Single step Infusion at 66°C for 60 Minutes. Boil for 60 Minutes
Fermented at 23°C with Belle Saison Yeast
Recipe Generated with Brewer's Friend
Original Gravity (OG): 1.082 (°P): 19.8
Final Gravity (FG): 1.016 (°P): 4.1
Alcohol (ABV): 8.59 %
Colour (SRM): 27.0 (EBC): 53.2
Bitterness (IBU): 28.9 (Tinseth)
47.06% American - Pale 2-Row
20.59% Belgian - Munich
20.59% German - Dark Wheat
9.41% United Kingdom - Crystal 60L
2.35% German - Carafa III
1.1 g/L Magnum (15% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil)
1.1 g/L Cascade (7% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Boil)
1.1 g/L Simcoe (12.7% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Boil)
Single step Infusion at 66°C for 60 Minutes. Boil for 60 Minutes
Fermented at 23°C with Belle Saison Yeast
Recipe Generated with Brewer's Friend
Will come out as a black IPA that one. If that's what you are going for great.
Also if the Saison yeast works as it should then your FG should be sub 1.010.
Cant help but think that between big malts, late hops and saison yeast that it will be a very confused beer but hey, that's how new stuff is discovered, it may come out awesome.
Throw some ale yeast like Nottingham at it and reduce your OG down to around 1.060-65 and you will end up with an American Porter.
Also if the Saison yeast works as it should then your FG should be sub 1.010.
Cant help but think that between big malts, late hops and saison yeast that it will be a very confused beer but hey, that's how new stuff is discovered, it may come out awesome.
Throw some ale yeast like Nottingham at it and reduce your OG down to around 1.060-65 and you will end up with an American Porter.
Cant agree on this one.
Chloramines.
Tap water is treated with Chlorine and it definitely has a bad impact on beer, particularly lighter ones.
Chlorine will be driven off during heating however the chloramines wont and you will end up with phenolic tastes such as bandaid or burnt rubber. It may not be particularly evident if you haven't recognised it but if you have a side by side with comparable brews, one with chloramines and one with out then you will quickly be able to identify the faults every time.
One way to get rid of chloramines is filtering. The other is chemical additions. Sodium Thiosulfate or Ascorbic acid do the trick. Ascorbic acid is very easy- go to a pharmacy and get pure (no flavouring) vitamin C powder. Costs about $10 for 100g which will last a life time. Add a tiny pinch to your strike and sparge water and you are done. Very simple, no calculations required and a cheap way to enhance your beer.
I also add CaCl2 and CaSo4 to my water depending on the type of beer and it really helps to push forward the malts or hops but agree it is not necessary to make good beer but will improve it once other more important factors are taken care of (sanitation, temp control, yeast care etc.)
Black Belgian IPA. Mash lower. 63-64
Well half a glass of this just put me on my arse - 9%
I'm happy to say that I think my Black IPA's hold up to this style of beer, I'm absolutely amazed at how rewarding homebrewing is so far!!
I'm happy to say that I think my Black IPA's hold up to this style of beer, I'm absolutely amazed at how rewarding homebrewing is so far!!
I've used campden tablets before and always use whirlfloc tablets but that's about it from me and although chloramine can contribute to phenols is much more commonly caused by poor yeast management.
so one too many adult beverages while watching the game and brewing:
- I have no idea how long my boil went for or how late I added my finishing hops, I 'fell asleep' on the couch during half time and the rest is a blur
- I forgot to take a gravity reading
On the other hand
+ I hit my post boil volume of 4.5L
+ My starter looks to have worked, I woke up at 2am and there is plenty of airlock action
- I have no idea how long my boil went for or how late I added my finishing hops, I 'fell asleep' on the couch during half time and the rest is a blur
- I forgot to take a gravity reading
On the other hand
+ I hit my post boil volume of 4.5L
+ My starter looks to have worked, I woke up at 2am and there is plenty of airlock action
Not all city tap water contains chloramine (though obviously it all has chlorine).
As you say chlorine evaporates through boiling and even just letting it sit overnight I think, but chloramime doesn't
Bender_ it's worth going to the website of the water supplier of your local area (is perth all just water corp?) and looking at the breakdown of water molecules/treatment chemicals etc
Yarra Water in Melb doesn't have chloramine but I think if you're living out in semi rural Melb some of the suppliers have chloramine.
I think campden tablets remove chloramine ?
Bender_
X
Yeh gotta go into dat annual report and see the proper breakdown. All tap water will have fluoride and chlorine, it's the rest that you need to suss out. But if you're living within 15 km of any cbd I reckon tap water is totally fine unless you're being judged by competition judges
