12 votes

Any suggestions for getting a thick (almost chewy) body and mouthfeel when brewing a Milk Stout?

Some things I can think of to increase body: Milk stouts use lactose, or milk sugar, to increase perceived body and sweetness. Lactose is unfermentable by yeast and so passes to the finished beer. ...
Franklin P Combs's user avatar
10 votes
Accepted

What are the effects of adding water after the boil?

If you have designed your recipe to account for adding the extra water at the end of the boil, then I see no issues what so ever. I would personally add a couple of litres of boiling water every 10 ...
Mr_road's user avatar
  • 7,018
9 votes
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Interpreting single-infusion mash instructions with two temperatures listed

The first temperature is of the water you are adding while the second is the expected temperature of the mash after it has been added. So by adding 12.81 qt of water at 163.7 F to the grain (...
thesquaregroot's user avatar
  • 1,900
9 votes
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Does diastatic power reduce with age? Old grain

The only definitive information I could find specific to your question was in the book Malts and Malting: '[Malt] must be stored cool and dry in sealed stores [...] to arrest the decline in enzyme ...
Franklin P Combs's user avatar
7 votes
Accepted

How to achieve an "OJ looking" Pale Ale (a la Trillium/Tired Hands)

The prevailing wisdom on these so called "east coast" IPAs is three fold: The use of ~10% of flaked oats in the grist. A combo of super huge late kettle additions as well as dry hopping. Lastly, the ...
brewchez's user avatar
  • 36.2k
7 votes
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Why do all-grain when you can do BIAB?

Well BIAB is all grain brewing. Not to be confused with just steeping specialty grains in extract brewing. If you have a kettle big enough to do a full mash, doing a partial mash and extract is ...
Evil Zymurgist's user avatar
7 votes

Slight difference pre and post boil gravity

Q1) No chance of off flavors just from this. Q2) Yes, this is normal. The post boil gravity will always be higher than pre boil because of the water lost to evaporation. In your case about 12% of ...
Evil Zymurgist's user avatar
7 votes

What are the effects of adding water after the boil?

There are two potential, but not serious, issues with boiling the volume lower than full: 1. Maillard reactions (not caramelisation) at higher wort gravity tend to be more prominent. Sometimes it's ...
Roman's user avatar
  • 1,498
6 votes
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Can wet crushing impede mashing?

Brewing textbooks I referred to universally state that the gap between the rollers of the mill needs to be much closer together for wet-milling. You don't mention making any adjustments, so I'll ...
Franklin P Combs's user avatar
6 votes
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Would an all grain brewer ever want to steep grains?

Well you don't steep any grain "during the boil". But to avoid upsetting mash pH you can steep all your non mash required grains in the wort during runoff in the kettle before you start the boil. I ...
brewchez's user avatar
  • 36.2k
6 votes

What are the effects of adding water after the boil?

I add nearly freezing water to chill it quicker to pitch temperature. 1 gallon of near frozen I add to 4 gallons of wort to chill it to lager pitch temperature quicker. Once my immersion chiller ...
med116's user avatar
  • 203
5 votes
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Necessity of hot liquor tank

There are two answers, depending on size: In largish setup, you may want to be able to heat water for second batch when you are mashing first one. To heat water fast, you want heating element to ...
Mołot's user avatar
  • 3,718
5 votes

All Grain vs Dry Malt Extract

Control over color is the first thing and the biggest. Even the lightest DME will make beer darker than an all grain made with pilsner to the same gravity. Control over body. All extract, DME ...
brewchez's user avatar
  • 36.2k
4 votes

Why do all-grain when you can do BIAB?

BIAB IS all grain brewing. But it's not traditional multi-vessel brewing. Some batch sparge with a cooler, others fly sparge with a sprinkler, some use a bag for the whole water amount (BIAB). All-...
JPicasso's user avatar
  • 366
4 votes
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What happens if you mash only roasted grains?

It's not really mashing if there are no enzyme present. It's just a big steep. But for the sake of argument... Yes, it's mostly starches. Depending on the speciality malt being 'mashed' in this ...
brewchez's user avatar
  • 36.2k
4 votes
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Cannot avoid boil-over without turning down heat

The only way to prevent a boil-over is either larger volume kettle/ lower volume batch size lower temperature active negotiation (spray bottle, fermcap (see related here)) You can also scoop the ...
Wyrmwood's user avatar
  • 2,178
4 votes
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About reusing spent grain

I use second runnings / Parti-Gyle as often as I can. But as my primary mash efficiency rises theres less and less usefulness in the parti-gyle. As for me using the grains, it's compost or given away ...
Evil Zymurgist's user avatar
4 votes
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What's going on with these gravities?

Your mash temp favors beta-amylase which makes a more fermentable wort. While beta-amylase denatures beginning at 149°F / 65°C it takes a little time. It's possible your thermometers are slightly ...
Evil Zymurgist's user avatar
4 votes

All Grain vs Dry Malt Extract

Cost - It costs much less per batch (in the long run) to make beer from grain Control - You have much more control over the brewing process. Time - I know you said you know this, but this is the main ...
farmersteve's user avatar
  • 3,012
4 votes

All Grain Brewing

Yes, your thinking is on the right track. Mashing with crushed grains at an appropriate temperature (about 150 F or 65 C) for at least 45-60 minutes then draining off basically creates your own "...
dmtaylor's user avatar
  • 3,417
3 votes
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Hefeweissen ingredients question

It's basically as straightforward as you think. Weissbier/weizen recipes vary, but you're looking at 40-60% wheat malt, with the balance being mostly pilsner or pale/2-row malt, maybe a touch of ...
jsled's user avatar
  • 10.1k
3 votes

What can I do with my spent grain after mashing?

all you composters. Add your trub to compost. its a great way to get and keep your compost process going. bugs love food and moisture. I actually eat some of it like cereal on brew days. Some of ...
3 votes

What influences the finishing taste in your beer?

A lot of times, you can add something to the secondary fermentation for a finishing taste. For instance, if you added cocoa nibs to secondary, you'd end up with chocolate on the finish. If you added ...
CharlieHorse's user avatar
  • 1,152
3 votes
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Did I add too much chalk?

It's impossible to say without knowing the recipe, and your existing water etc.. It could go either way, but I'd be inclined to say you'll be fine. It does sound more than we'd typically add to a 5 ...
mdma's user avatar
  • 27k
3 votes
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Swapped sparge by mash water quantities

1.5 gallon batch? You should fine. The higher grain to water ratio may result in a slightly high pH but you should still be well in the range for enzymes to do their work.
Evil Zymurgist's user avatar
3 votes
Accepted

Is Amber Malt suitable to use as a primary grain?

No diastatic power Means that this malt does not have the required enzymes to break down starches into sugars. In other words, you need to add some malt that has diastatic power in conjunction to ...
Philippe's user avatar
  • 4,806
3 votes

How can i stop losing so much water during brew

There are two stages you are "loosing" water, and each have different mechanism: Mash and sparge Boil Let's talk them one at a time. Mash & Sparge loses There are two reasons for that. First ...
Mołot's user avatar
  • 3,718
3 votes
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How can i stop losing so much water during brew

Losses of water in the brewing process are common. There are some that are unavoidable and some that are controllable to a point. 1. Absorption by Grain: Your dry grain will absorb water at a rate of ...
John's user avatar
  • 608
3 votes
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What does a good grain crush look like?

That actually look really good. Looks like the moisture is keeping the husk from shredding and you have nice crush on the grain. I'm constantly pushing finer and finer for more efficiency. As we all ...
Evil Zymurgist's user avatar
3 votes

Odd mash schedule

There really is no point to boiling the flaked grains. Really only needed for unmalted whole grains, to gelatinize the starches. Some rolled / flaked can benifiet from a boil but usually the hot ...
Evil Zymurgist's user avatar

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