beer My Homebrews

[HigherThisHeat]

So here is some insider info
 
from Russian River, SHHHHHHHHHH, he gave me his recipe for an irish stout and let me tell you what, its f**king money, ill just give you the grains
 
marris otter
flaked oats
flaked barley
roasted barley ( i used debittered because I think it tastes better)
 
in 5 gallons its .5 pounds of oats, .5 pounds of barley, and 1 pound of roasted

Similar to what I used minus any oats. I'll have to make it again using oats.

Anything you can tell me about the mash schedule? Protien rest, sacc rest temp etc?

With all the flaked grains I'm sure it would benefit from a rest. And I'm guessing saccharification will be done on the lower end?

 

[wheebz]

single infusion at 154 

 

[Jobu]

Similar to my recipe. If I want that slight sour tang, I sub 1 lbs. of the Marris Otter with 1 lbs. of Acid Malt.

 

[wheebz]

phosphoric acid 

 

[RocketMan]

Wheebz, is that in the typical use, like say adding 0.1 - 0.2 ml / Gallon to the sparge water or are you using it in a different way to gain the slightly sour, Guinness like flavor?

BTW, if you like Guinness, try this, just the ticket for St. Pattys Day

Dark Chocolate Guinness Cake with Baileys Cream Cheese Icing

1 cup Guinness beer
1 cup + 1 Tbs butter
100g cup cocoa powder (2/3 cup)
400g caster/superfine sugar (1¾ cups)
140ml sour cream (2/3 cup)
2 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
250g plain flour (2 cups)
2½ tsp bicarbonate of soda/baking soda


Baileys Cream Cheese Icing

500-600g sifted icing sugar/powdered sugar (4-5 cups)
100g butter at room temperature (1/2 cup)
250g cream cheese at room temperature (8oz)
4-6 tbsps Baileys Irish Cream (to taste)

Instructions
Cake
Preheat oven 180°C/350°F and butter and line a 23cm springform tin.
Melt the butter into the Guinness in a saucepan over low heat.
Whisk in the cocoa and sugar and take the saucepan off the heat.
Beat the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla in a separate bowl until combined, than add to the beer mixture.
Whisk in the flour and bicarb until combined.
Pour the cake batter into the tin and bake for an hour. The middle of the cake may still be slightly wet when you take the cake out, but it will firm up as it cools down.
Leave to cool completely in the tin as it is quite a damp cake and could collapse.

Icing
Cream the butter and icing sugar together until well mixed.
Add the cream cheese in cubes slowly until incorporated.
Add in Baileys. Continue mixing for 5 minutes until the icing is light and fluffy.
Dollop lashings of the icing onto the top of the cake to recreate the froth on a glass of Guinness. If you are feeling particularly dexterous, slice the cake length-wise and fill the cake with the icing too (there will be definitely be enough icing).

 

[wheebz]

I use phosphoric acid, CaSO4, CaCl2, and MgSO4 to alter my mash water, not my sparge water
 
the goal is so create the perfect environment in your mash for conversion for whatever type of beer you want
 
on average here, I use around 300ml of phosphoric acid for a 30bbl batch, in addition to everything else
 
you can also use citric acid, which is another one of my favorites, and you can find that at like a chicken feed store or an agricultural store
 
I shoot for a 5.4 to a 5.6 mash pH most times, but it depends on the beer

 

[Bumper]

Yeah man. Stull doing 5gal batches. I like it and I dont. After about 5 gallons worth I tend to be over that beer, so 2 kegs worth would take up precious space and I'd be over drinking the same beer.

However when I have an exceptional beer, 5 gallons just ain't enough and goes super quick.

It does make it so I have quite a variety at any given time though. I have 5 different beers on tap ATM and 2 in primary. Not bad for a lowly homebrewer!

This is me in a nutshell, although I have 3 taps  .  The only time I do double batches is when I am brewing a batch for my old man.  
 
 
 

quite a number of people who brew beer have thought that i would love doing it ...

in a way that added some pressure to it ...

i'd looked at gear and got caught up pre-gaming it all, and then backed out when it felt like "too much" ...

the other day I got the whim again, but just quickly bought a small-scale kit so I wouldn't get caught up w/ equipment before I've even tried brewing ...

.gol .elttob

 
You could always have a look at BIAB as an entry into all grain - waiting for flaming from the multi pot riggers  , but I have one local beer comps with mine, and a guy up in Queensland took out the pilsner gold at our nationals with similar set ups, countering the claims you can't make a clear beer with the approach.  If $ are less an issue have a look at braumeister gear, single pot, integrated systems - dial it in and walk away for the most part.  
 
A fridge with temperature control is the single most important bit of kit I have.  Even if you go the extract or partial grain approach, your beers will be better with temp control with dual heat and cooling inputs, a heat belt and a beaten up functional old fridge out the back! 

 

[wheebz]

clear beer is so fucking easy to do on any scale its just overlooked beyond belief
 
and BIAB, i mean come on man
 
TO ALL YOU EXTRACT BREWERS OR BIAB BREWERS, KNOCK IT THE FUCK OFF, DO IT RIGHT OR DONT DO IT AT ALL!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Pepper-Guru]

Bout to start brewing again. Good to see this thread going strong.

 

[grantmichaels]

I do life the hard way, so I'm sure ...

 

[Bumper]

clear beer is so f**king easy to do on any scale its just overlooked beyond belief
 
and BIAB, i mean come on man
 
TO ALL YOU EXTRACT BREWERS OR BIAB BREWERS, KNOCK IT THE f**k OFF, DO IT RIGHT OR DONT DO IT AT ALL!!!!!!!!!!!

As you would know it can be hard to get clear beer at home without a filter, or finings, or gelatine, or more than a bit of knowledge of temperature control, hot and cold breaks and dropping yeast out after fermenting, or all or some over these.  Filters aren't needed, hitting your temps and cold crashing are. Which a newbie will not know.  
 
With respect to rig of choice - whatever man, I can and have made any beer I wanted to, and very successfully, so whatever works for you is fine by me.    
 
Respect to you if you managed to get a job as a brewer, most home brewers have no idea how far from a 5 gallon batch of work it really is.  A few of my mates work in them and they are heavy going at times.  
 
FWIW, there aren't too many brewers who didn't start with extract. As you know it serves as an entry into the hobby!  
 
Or were you just being provocative?

 

[grantmichaels]

decided to pick up an extra fermenter, and the grapefruit honey ale and chocolate maple porter ...
 
it didn't seem like it would be fun not to have a 2nd coming behind the 1st, when it's only a gal ...
 
now it's 3 gal for 3-6 weeks from now - which makes so much more sense, lol ...

 

[Gotrox]

clear beer is so f**king easy to do on any scale its just overlooked beyond belief
 
and BIAB, i mean come on man
 
TO ALL YOU EXTRACT BREWERS OR BIAB BREWERS, KNOCK IT THE f**k OFF, DO IT RIGHT OR DONT DO IT AT ALL!!!!!!!!!!!

You don't win NASCAR before learning to drive.
 
If I had never done "insta-beer", I never would have been interested in making better.

 

[wheebz]

nah I was just being an ass for the sake of being an ass
 
I started out with an extract kit as well
 
took me 3 brews before I said this is garbage and went to all grain

 

[Bumper]

nah I was just being an ass for the sake of being an ass
 
I started out with an extract kit as well
 
took me 3 brews before I said this is garbage and went to all grain

I'm clearly a slow learner, it took me 6 cans of muntons and a copy of  Palmer's How to Brew before I realised what was possible. That and a well timed tax cheque    

 

[ronniedeb]

clear beer is so f**king easy to do on any scale its just overlooked beyond belief
 
and BIAB, i mean come on man
 
TO ALL YOU EXTRACT BREWERS OR BIAB BREWERS, KNOCK IT THE f**k OFF, DO IT RIGHT OR DONT DO IT AT ALL!!!!!!!!!!!

 
What's the big difference between BIAB and other All Grain?

 

[wheebz]

a boatload of left over sugars, improper distribution of temperature throughout the sparge, but REALLY easy clean up which is cool

 

[ronniedeb]

a boatload of left over sugars, improper distribution of temperature throughout the sparge, but REALLY easy clean up which is cool

I think I understand. Any chance of a few photos of your own set up?

 

[wheebz]

sure
 

my pilot system is back behind the bottling line sitting underneath the lauter tun

 

[Bumper]

a boatload of left over sugars, improper distribution of temperature throughout the sparge, but REALLY easy clean up which is cool

Yep.  
 
With persistence and squeezing I can get most of the sugars out, and I tend to adjust my recipes to allow an extra couple of litres of sparge water to do this.  My efficiency now averages 75% which is not too shabby.  I have an electric winch to hold the bag up so I can spend a bit more time trying to counter this drawback and let it drain right out and pour the sparge over the top of the grain while it is hanging over the pot and give it a squeeze.  Not as pretty as pumps doing it for you, but space is an issue for me in my garage so it works well on that front.  
 
That is one well organised and spotless brewery wheebz! 
 
The other minor drawback from brewing on other rigs you seem to get a bit clearer wort going into the boil kettle with a separate mash tun. 
 
I just kegged an English Special Bitter and an American IPA (mosaic and freshly dried homegrown cascade hops for flavour and aroma additions mmmm)   I'll post some pics next week once they are carbonated. Flat beer never makes a good photo.