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  • #16
    Carbonation drops are just dextrose - and stored properly should not expire in a long time. As it is HIGHLY unlikely though that this is what is causing the lack of head, I am not sure that that is the reason. Head usually correlated to the proteins in the beer, but I am speaking under correction here.

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    • #17
      Hi tones store them in a fridge eventually they will clear up can take up to two weeks, some wheat , will help with head retention, secondly its definitely got to do with proteins as toXxyc has said. What I've noticed sometimes a bit of break not bad

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      • #18
        Originally posted by Tones17 View Post

        2. Instead of re-hydrating the yeast, I will just sprinkle it over the wort
        I am just curious as to why you want to make this change if you are happy with the 'unyeastiness' that you got with this batch?
        Cheers,
        Lang
        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        "Dudddde...Hold my beer!".... ; "I wonder what will happen if I ...."

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        • #19
          Give the carbonation a bit more time, move to warmer are for 7 days or more. 1 drop in a 440ml bottle at low temp can take 3 weeks or more to propperly carbonate. Head formulation and retention will also improve when fully carbonated.

          Your beer looks fine, dont worry too much about the appearance of your 1st all grain beer , get your AG process dailed in and your beer will improve even more. Add some whirflock in the boil and cold crash if you can to improve clarity. Imo beer head formulation and stability has a lot more to do with brewing process than just adding prot

          Good reading regarding bear head without getting too technical.
          Harhm
          Senior Member
          Last edited by Harhm; 29 July 2018, 17:03.
          2017 SANHC-Finals-German Pilsner.2019 Academy of Taste-1st Lager +1st Overall-German Leichtbier.2019 Free State Fermenters-1st Place-Australian Sparkling Ale.2019 SANHC-Final Round-German Leichtbier.2020 SANHC-Top 5-EishBock.2021 SANHC-Low Alcohol Cat: 2nd-2%Lager, Over All Cat: 2nd-Schwarzbier.2022 Free State Fermenters-1st-American light Lager.2022 Fools and Fans National Competition-Top 5-Dunkles Bock

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          • #20
            Hi everyone,
            It's been a while since I was last here on the forum due to some issues and other commitments and thought I might as well revive my first thread and almost re-introduce myself to the new guys here and also say hallo to the old faithful members here.

            Looking back at my first entry here about 4.5 years ago, I can confidently say that I believe I have improved as a homebrewer and still enjoy the hobby as much as when I started.
            I thought some might like to see how I upgraded my system compared to back when I started.

            I have added a HLT and a quite good looking mash tun in my opinion.

            Let me walk you through with what I have currently:
            • My HLT urn is probably the most expensive addition I made to my setup. Bought it of a friend with a copper coil and assembled it to the current HERMS vessel you see now.
            • My mash tun which is probably my favourite part of the setup. I got this pot for free from an uncle of mine as it was collecting dust in his Wendy house. This is a 31L double walled SS pot used to keep chocolate molted back in the day. I guess something along the line of oil or something was poured into the jacket as it is fitted with an element as well which was used to keep things warm as intended. I do not use this part, but covered the vessel in an exercise mat (believe its put to much better use anyway) and then a sort of tinfoil tape sourced from my local Chinese importer. For the base and lid, I am using polystyrene also covered in the same tape. I found the pot to be very efficient with heat retention and therefore a success. I again made a similar manifold as in my previous cooler box mash tun as it worked quite well and did not found a reason to deviate from this design. In the lid, I constructed DIY showerhead when I recirculate my mash and used this from an idea found on YouTube and it works quite well. On the outlet, I found a WIKA probe at my brother-in-law's house where he moved into at one point. I asked him what he was going to do with it and he mentioned something about chucking it out. I graciously volunteered to do this for him. SCORE!!!
            • For my Boil kettle, my trusty old urn from back when I started is still doing me a great service. Nothing really changed here.
            • For my pumps, I am using old appliance pumps that came with with the mash tun. Another score, I know. LOL. I fitted them with some hoses and reducers to accept the camlock male ends it currently has.
            • For my hoses, Santa spoiled me and brought me some proper silicone hoses which is way better that the reinforced PVC hoses I used to run with. I am using plastic camlocks currently as they fit my purpose, but maybe sometime in the future all my camlocks might get upgraded to the metal ones.
            • For cooling down my beer after the boil, I am repurposing my HLT and mash tun. I will fill my HLT with ice and water and the mash tun with water only. This water will then be circulated from my mash tun through the HERMS coil and then through the immersion chiller in the boil kettle. Works quite well, but if I m lazy, I'll just put the lid on the Boil kettle after the boil and do a no-chill.
            Things that I am looking into for further updates.
            • A proper and safe control panel of some sorts. Plugging things in and out is getting old and also I think quite sketchy considering the floor is most of the time wet.
            • A counter flow chiller to make cooling less of a drag, but after looking into some prices of materials required, I might have to get use to my current method.
            • Experimenting with water profiles as I just use water from the tap as is.
            • A fermentation chamber
            With that said, I hope to me more frequently on this forum again and to explore this hobby together with the rest of you.

            Cheers.
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