11
votes
Accepted
How to increase thickness in beer?
Thick mouthfeel and body can come from a few sources and even more methods to manipulate them. Most how to brew books have an entire section dedicated to the topic. But here's some bullet points to ...
9
votes
Cold Crashing techniques
I give fermentation 4-5 days at 63°F, then bump up the temp to 70-72°F for maybe another 3 days. Then I crash to 33°F for 3-5 days until the beer clears.
7
votes
Cold Crashing techniques
I am not sure exactly what you are defining as efficient, so I am going to answer this assuming time efficiency is your primary goal.
Denny's advice is good advice for a general approach without ...
7
votes
Accepted
Starsan in double bubble airlock keeps getting sucked into fermenter - why and how to prevent?
This is caused by a drop in temp before co2 is being produced. Just cap the fermenter in sanitized foil until you're past the lag phase, or cooled to fermentaion temp. Though a little bit of starsan ...
7
votes
Accepted
Names for when you use hops
From Brewtarget (brewing software):
Mash hopping: adding hop in the mash
First wort: adding hop in the boiling kettle and then lautering the wort in the kettle
Boil: Adding hop when the wort boils, ...
6
votes
Accepted
Is it acceptable to use a UV sanitizer light on a finished product?
I don't think it's a good idea, but might depend on product. You know why brown bottles are more popular than green or clear? Because light creates bad flavor and aroma in most beers. In my country it'...
6
votes
Accepted
How can I minimize methanol/fusel alcohols in wine?
Make sure you have a healthy yeast in the proper pitch amount.
Ferment primary at the cold end of the yeast strains tolerance.
A long secondary / aging helps break down fusel alcohols.
Yeast needs ...
6
votes
Accepted
What are the essential data one should collect when brewing beer?
I'd collect:
The recipe: grain bill, hops and their times, adjuncts and their times, amount of water. That way you can try to recreate the same beer if it was good. You can tweak any of grain bill, ...
6
votes
What are the essential data one should collect when brewing beer?
Here's a couple reading I find important that many over look.
All-grain. Mash pH is very important.
Doing an iodine test during the mash is a good practice to check if conversion is done. Why mash ...
6
votes
Accepted
Using candles to take out oxygen in fermentation chamber?
If you are fermenting in a chest freezer, I don't think oxygen will be a problem for you. Just after you pitch, you want as much oxygen you can get in solution. When fermentation begins in earnest, ...
5
votes
Accepted
Is juiced Ginger root fermentable?
Ginger juice alone does not have enough sugar to be fermentable. However, ginger beer is a popular, slightly alcoholic beverage made from ginger root, sugar, water and citric acid. Take a look at this ...
5
votes
Should the wort be boiled?
Follow the instructions.
Not all adjuncts are suitable for "no boil" brew.
Adjuncts could have microbes that may be dormant without oxygen and need the boil to kill them.
Also the recipe may need ...
5
votes
Step by Step homebrewing from extract - need verification and clarification
IMHO there is too much "all grain brewing tehcnique" being used in an extract brew process.
There is no particular need to steep the grains at 70C. They are providing some flavours and body to the ...
5
votes
Accepted
Priming solution or add sugar to individual bottles?
You do have the answer in your question. When brewing my first kit, I put the sugar in each bottle and here is my experience:
Have to measure sugar for each bottle, difficult and time consuming when ...
5
votes
How to make Sweet beer
Honey is almost 100% fermentable, so if added at bottling, it can increase carbonation and potentially result in gushing overcarbonated bottles or even explosions. You can however use it to prime the ...
5
votes
Hydrogen peroxide to remove chlorine from brewing water
Congratulations, you made me pull out my ancient chemistry knowledge and periodic table data. (I'm a chemical engineer by degree, but that was more than 20 years ago. Hope I still know what the heck ...
4
votes
What is a grant?
As a professional beer brewing equipment manufacturer,we would like to make a detailed clarification for the device "wort grant" here.
The wort grant is generally being installed between the lauter ...
4
votes
What is a grant?
I also wants to share my experience with this device (Lauter grant).
Actually I am chemical engineer and working in brewery designing company.
Advantages of Lauter grant:
It acts as buffer tank ...
4
votes
Experimenting with primary-only and primary-secondary fermentation
Here is a good test of what you are looking to do.
http://brulosophy.com/2014/08/12/primary-only-vs-transfer-to-secondary-exbeeriment-results/
Here is the conclusion of the test:
Once all the ...
4
votes
Accepted
Berliner for the people
There's a few ways to get to a Berliner Weiße:
Sour mash: introduce lactobacillus to the mash, hold around 120°F (and ideally anaerobically) for 2-3 days to sour. Boil and ferment normally and ...
4
votes
What's the best method of storing yeast for 4 to 6 months in the refrigerator?
Just do it
Nothing you described is needed or beneficial with modern liquid yeast packages. For example Weast's Activator:
The Activator™ package was designed with superior UV light- and oxygen-...
4
votes
Accepted
Will Potassium Metabisulfite prevent store-bought Grape Juice from fermenting?
While I am no expert on this topic, I did a little bit of research to help you out. It is generally understood that in winemaking metabisulphite inhibits bacteria and yeast growth, so I would think ...
4
votes
Accepted
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 ...
3
votes
Accepted
How does corn sugar affect the beer vs cane sugar?
Corn sugar is a monosaccharide where cane sugar is a disaccharide. Both are entirely fermentable but the disaccharide must be cleaved first. If your yeast are stressed they'll have a easier time with ...
3
votes
How does corn sugar affect the beer vs cane sugar?
In short corn sugar is more similar to the sugars in the wort so it's easy for the yeast to consume both. Other sugars are harder or easier for the yeast to consume and come with their own issues. ...
3
votes
Are there any tricks for removing labels from bottles?
Stainless Steel Scrubbers
These make quick work of a labels and adhesives.
Soaking the bottles does make it a lot easier, but these scrubbers work even without soaking.
Warm water with a little ...
3
votes
How can I minimize methanol/fusel alcohols in wine?
Methanol is formed when fermenting beverages high in pectins - eg grapes and berries. The methanol comes from the pectin, which mainly composed of methyl esters of galactose. When pectin breaks down, ...
3
votes
Accepted
Why are some of my batches too sweet in the bottle, and can I rescue them?
Temperature is your most likely culprit.
Other possible cause could be not enough yeast in suspension. Typical if fining agents are used in secondary.
You're probably past the window for only temp ...
3
votes
Not enough wort after boil
Reduce your heat, you only need a low rolling boil.
Reduce the surface area of the wort. ( Use a narrow pot)
There's nothing wrong with topping off with sanitary water. Its a common practice known ...
3
votes
Viscosity of a Russian Imperial Stout
Oats, long boil, higher mash temp, Cara malts, protein rest, and unconverted starches when applied properly will aid to give that thick body and viscous mouth feel.
The mouthfeel comes from medium-...
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