Brewer's Notes
Palmer and Kaminsky, as well as AJ deLange and Martin Brungard, have lately laid out arguments that largely debunk the sulfate/chloride ratio as only effective within a certain range of amounts of ions. This makes sense, as concentration (ppm) of a given mineral drives to a flavor threshold, and
Measurement
There has been a flurry of interest in brewing water management for the homebrewer, largely coinciding with the release of the book "Water - A Comprehensive Guide for Brewers" by Palmer and Kaminsky. And as a book, targeted toward professional brewers enters the collective conscious of homebrewers, questions
Measurement
From a procedural perspective, the single most important brewing issue is temperature. Temperature dictates the accuracy of most of the brewing specific measurements. It drives specific enzyme and protease activity in the mash. Heat is required to boil, and most importantly, specific temperatures for fermentation are necessary to avoid off
Brew-Magic
I get mixed responses from other homebrewers and professional brewers when I mention that I brew on a Brew-Magic system. They range from awe to comments about having money to burn, and even some very snarky suggestions that imply a real homebrewer builds his/her own system. Truly a mixed
Rambling
I am hoping that I can release a walk through soon on using Martin Brungard's Bru'n Water spreadsheet. It has been a great tool for me getting a handle on my water chemistry and improved my end product significantly. Coming soon... In the meantime, while watching
Brewer's Notes
Well, I had hoped that the funny taste in the overpitch was just green character and from such a massive blow off. It is now clear that the overpitch batch is infected somehow. This yields an inconclusive result and requires a do-over. I hate to admit failure, especially to admit
Brewer's Notes
Boredom causes me to do some stupid things. Like, open up the week-old "control" conditioned bottles for the experiment. These have only been conditioning for a week now, so they are not really ready for consumption and need some aging. I didn't have high hopes at
Brewer's Notes
Pitching Rates Revisited I continue to struggle with whom I should believe relative to pitching rates of DRY yeast. Both Wyeast and White Labs products seem to accurately present the home brewer with a clearly known and validated yeast cell density – as well as accurate “born on” dates that allow
Brewer's Notes
So I jumped the gun. The fermentation had finished. Just conditioning sitting on the lees. I bottled after a cold crash to 40F to drop some of the yeast. Henceforth, these shall be called White (Batch A), Green (Batch B) and Blue (Batch C), well after this post. That is
Brewer's Notes
As I have received a note telling me that I talk too much... and should let the data show speak for itself... I have moved the fermenters into a warmer room to condition for another week. It appears that all three have reached terminal gravity, although the under-pitch may have
Brewer's Notes
Finding consistent and credible information on yeast pitching rates is a bit like religious theology. Trying to find out how many yeast cells are in a pouch of yeast is like trying to find out how many angels can dance on the head of a pin! A lot of people
Brewer's Notes
Took another refractometer reading today and looks like the underpitch is catching up. I am also at the point where the refractomer is going to be fairly useless to determine accurate gravity readings... so will leave these alone now until next week. At that point I would expect terminal gravity,