American blonde BIAB

[groenspookasem Banned Find all posts View Profile Close groenspookasem]

Finings for clarity, check out brulosophy.com, I now fine with gelatin before kegging and achieve crystal clear end results. Cheap as chips too.

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[groenspookasem Banned Find all posts View Profile Close groenspookasem]

No photoshop, balanced my Burton IPA, 14days grain to glass on a led torch and snapped the pic in the dark with the phone. Tried to snap it in front of the fireplace, but the end result was too grainy. Anyway, do try the east kent goldings english ipa.

5g (unflavored) gelatin dissolved at 65c in 250ml water, added to the ferm vessel at 4c for 2 days pre-keg


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[Harhm Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Harhm]

So I beat SAB on flavor and price I guess I can lose on clarity. I setup a tasting session with another brewer in my area for this week. He brewed this exact beer in his grainfather so I'm excited to compare and see where I can improve

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Great job !!! Looks great and sound like a very good beer, you never know your friend with the GF might be the one that need to improve.

In my last 2%:abv Cream Ale split batch the K97 took a bit more time than the S-05 to clear. I actualy liked the K97 beer more

At what temp did you ferment with the K97?

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[jannieverjaar Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jannieverjaar]

I got it to 18 to 24C that's using my stc but eskom gave me some long waits. Thought that's not to bad for temp control. Didn't like the floculation on this yeast. He also used the same yeast so well have to do another side by side to compare yeast. He's got a few more brews under the belt then me so it's more about him being more dilled in then the GF. But that also helps reduce variation

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[jannieverjaar Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jannieverjaar]

Time to share the side by side results.
Other then the GF my friend also has temperature controlled fermentation. It was set to 18. He mashed at a chilly 63.5C compared to my 71-64 ish
AND he cold Crashed
His version is FAR superior!
Crystal clear
Much less of the yeast flavor and smell
Tastes cleaner overall.

In short better control in every step ensured a much more enjoyable beer.

In this case the biggest difference is by far the fermentation temp control, the stress I placed on the yeast because of my lack thereof and the flavors it caused.

It's also not that hard to fix. I have an stc 1000 and an old fridge in storage 300km away so with a bit of travel my beer quality can increase hugely.

In hobbies we can sometimes obsess over minor details and blow it up into a big deal just to get more kit. I thought this is the case with temp control. I mean I can keep it to a 6C swing, that's not bad..... how wrong I was!

Cheers
Jannieverjaarkoeldrank

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[The Flying Brew Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close The Flying Brew]

Hi jannie, thanks for sharing! glad that you were able to do a side-by-side test and figure out pretty quickly the importance of temp control. Next, you probably will find that yeast strain, health and pitch rate is pretty much as critical to the outcome/quality of the final liquid in the glass.

As a tip, the fridge doesn't only help for cooling but also assists hugely with certain style such as Belgian beers where you might want to push temp up during the course of fermentation. Especially in the winter I'd recommend a cheap reptile heating pad (about R80) which you can place between two floor tiles below your fermenter. Your stc1000 will switch between the fridge and pad to adjust temp. I also recommend taking some extra measures to insulate the probe on the side of your fermenter and not only using foil.

Let us know what you brew next and what your considerations are.

[jannieverjaar Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jannieverjaar]

For just R80 that sounds like a deal. I'm really considering a do over to dial in my American blonde. I cant remember who said so. Think it was the Sage but if I can brew a good blonde with my kit I can brew most other styles without off flavors

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[jakeslouw Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jakeslouw]

I reckon of all the things that are mentioned, two stand out when it comes to brewing reliably:

- reasonable mash temp control
- fermentation temp control

I'd invest in those issues way before I invest in anything else.

[groenspookasem Banned Find all posts View Profile Close groenspookasem]

No temp control guarantees unreliable results in both mash and fermentation.

When you have those two fundamentals dialed in, then you've reached a higher plane of precision.

[Bergenson Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Bergenson]

Great pic!

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[jakeslouw Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jakeslouw]

I cant remember who said so. Think it was the Sage but if I can brew a good blonde with my kit I can brew most other styles without off flavors

That's usually my statement but it is common knowledge. Blondes and lagers will test your process.

[JIGSAW Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JIGSAW]

Welcome to the forum Bergenson

[jannieverjaar Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jannieverjaar]

Must have been you then Jig. Great advice man. I have to say the yeast overplayed in this round. I'm planning something new. Will update you on another thread

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[jannieverjaar Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jannieverjaar]

A few weeks later and it has definitely improved. It's still not one I would distribute but its actually close. Tastes and looks like the one my friend brewed. It just took more time to get there. The head, clarity and color is really good!

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[JIGSAW Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JIGSAW]

Looks Good!