What's brewing??

[wartyOne]

The California Common has been on yeast for 15 days now and all the sudden I get a wild hair up my ass and decide I want to lager it. Actually the temp is supposed to be just above freezing for the next 8 days so it works out perfectly for lagering. Should I leave it on the yeast for the amount of time I will lager for or should I transfer. I am thinking transfer, but I know there was a discussion about that on here, I just can't find it.

Absolutely transfer off the yeast cake. Even at cold temps, you're still going to impart flavors from yeast autolysis if you let the beer sit on the cake.

 

[wartyOne]

any of you gents brewed in your garage before?

I've always done my all grain batches outdoors, tomorrow is supposed to be a brew day, but just checked the forecast...rain and/or snow all day

My last 15 batches were brewed in the garage. Just make sure you have the door open. Or you'll suffocate.

 

[757Hokie83]

it was a rough brew day yesterday.

heated up my water for the mash, didnt get it right, had to add another gallon or so of hot water to bring it up to temp.

then had a stuck mash, heated another gallon to add in, and stir the grain bed trying to get it moving. No luck. So i next scooped out all of it, ran it through a fine strainer to get my first runnings. Made sure the manifold was clear, added the grain back to the mash tun, added sparge water....stuck again, scooped it all and strained it again to get my second running.

Everything from there went smooth, but damn it getting there was a pain. While cleaning i found out that some of the wheat got through the manifold and clogged my ball valve on my mash tun

 

[757Hokie83]

this is what i brewed yesterday

5lb Briess Pale Ale Malt
4lb Weyermann's Pale Wheat
1lb Crystal 40L
.5lb Rice Hulls

1.5 oz UK Kent Golding (60)
20z UK Kent Golding (20)
1 oz UK Kent Golding (5)
Outer zest from 1 sweet orange (5)
Outer zest from 1/2 grapefruit (5)

was supposed to be East Kent Golding hops, but they were out of stock

Belgian Ale yeast

 

[Sleepy T]

it was a rough brew day yesterday.

heated up my water for the mash, didnt get it right, had to add another gallon or so of hot water to bring it up to temp.

then had a stuck mash, heated another gallon to add in, and stir the grain bed trying to get it moving. No luck. So i next scooped out all of it, ran it through a fine strainer to get my first runnings. Made sure the manifold was clear, added the grain back to the mash tun, added sparge water....stuck again, scooped it all and strained it again to get my second running.

Everything from there went smooth, but damn it getting there was a pain. While cleaning i found out that some of the wheat got through the manifold and clogged my ball valve on my mash tun

Damn man, sounded like a pain in the ass. I have heard that wheat can cause problems. Haven't brewed with it yet. What type of manifold do you use?? One built with copper pipe slotted with a hacsaw or a true false bottom?

I bottled my DFH60 type IPA this weekend after dry hopping with 3 ounces of hops (Amarillo, Glacier, Simcoe) per 5 gallons (2). I hope it tastes as good as it fucking smells! Gonna try and get another 5-10 going in the next few weeks.

 

[757Hokie83]

that is not mine, but the same thing basically...1/2" pvc with holes drilled into it on the under side of the manifold

my last 2 batches have resulted in a stuck mash, both with wheat...my next batch also has 5lb of wheat . I've still got some pipe laying around, i may rig up another manifold with small holes drilled...that or take a muslin bag and put the manifold inside of that before hooking it up in the mash tun...got to figure some way to keep it from getting in and clogging up the works

 

[wartyOne]

that is not mine, but the same thing basically...1/2" pvc with holes drilled into it on the under side of the manifold

my last 2 batches have resulted in a stuck mash, both with wheat...my next batch also has 5lb of wheat . I've still got some pipe laying around, i may rig up another manifold with small holes drilled...that or take a muslin bag and put the manifold inside of that before hooking it up in the mash tun...got to figure some way to keep it from getting in and clogging up the works

You're using rice hulls with your wheat beers, yeah?

 

[wartyOne]

it was a rough brew day yesterday.

heated up my water for the mash, didnt get it right, had to add another gallon or so of hot water to bring it up to temp.

then had a stuck mash, heated another gallon to add in, and stir the grain bed trying to get it moving. No luck. So i next scooped out all of it, ran it through a fine strainer to get my first runnings. Made sure the manifold was clear, added the grain back to the mash tun, added sparge water....stuck again, scooped it all and strained it again to get my second running.

Everything from there went smooth, but damn it getting there was a pain. While cleaning i found out that some of the wheat got through the manifold and clogged my ball valve on my mash tun

In this event, try underletting (if you have a pump; without a pump, you can use hot tap water, but I don't recommend it). This is where you hook a water line up to the outlet, and force water back up through the system. This also has the added benefit of refloating your grain bed without disturbing it the way digging it out will do.

 

[757Hokie83]

You're using rice hulls with your wheat beers, yeah?

yup

In this event, try underletting (if you have a pump; without a pump, you can use hot tap water, but I don't recommend it). This is where you hook a water line up to the outlet, and force water back up through the system. This also has the added benefit of refloating your grain bed without disturbing it the way digging it out will do.

i read about that, but dont think i have a means of doing it. dont have a pump, I suppose i could rig up something to go from an outdoor hose to a small hose connected to the outlet of my mash tun, but i'm not real keen on the idea of infusing our not so great tasting well water into the mash (i brew with store bought spring water)

 

[wartyOne]

yup



i read about that, but dont think i have a means of doing it. dont have a pump, I suppose i could rig up something to go from an outdoor hose to a small hose connected to the outlet of my mash tun, but i'm not real keen on the idea of infusing our not so great tasting well water into the mash (i brew with store bought spring water)

Yeah, that's a bad idea. Adapter from faucet inside, run through a filter at the other end?

 

[757Hokie83]

thats a thought, i may look into that

 

[Sleepy T]

that is not mine, but the same thing basically...1/2" pvc with holes drilled into it on the under side of the manifold

my last 2 batches have resulted in a stuck mash, both with wheat...my next batch also has 5lb of wheat . I've still got some pipe laying around, i may rig up another manifold with small holes drilled...that or take a muslin bag and put the manifold inside of that before hooking it up in the mash tun...got to figure some way to keep it from getting in and clogging up the works

I built mine (per a design warty told me about) where I cut slits with hacksaw about 1/2" apart and about a 1/3 of the way through the pipe. I haven't brewed with mroe than a little bit of wheat with trhis rig..but it has worked great. I don't know if that would work any better than drilling holes in the PVC? PVC is pretty cheap..I dunno... may be worth a try..

 

[757Hokie83]

im going to chalk it up to the wheat gumming up the works, i think, as the last two had a hefty amount of wheat, cause i've mashed with that manifold numerous times before without issue.

i wonder if I were to cut a few small squares of a muslin bag, then take my manifold apart, and at every "T" connecter, i put the cloth over it before connecting the pipe, that way if it gets into the manifold, the muslin would catch it before it got to the ball valve faucet, but still allow liquid to flow past...

 

[wartyOne]

im going to chalk it up to the wheat gumming up the works, i think, as the last two had a hefty amount of wheat, cause i've mashed with that manifold numerous times before without issue.

i wonder if I were to cut a few small squares of a muslin bag, then take my manifold apart, and at every "T" connecter, i put the cloth over it before connecting the pipe, that way if it gets into the manifold, the muslin would catch it before it got to the ball valve faucet, but still allow liquid to flow past...

What temp were you mashing at with the high wheat content (and how much of the grist was wheat, percentage-wise)? Wheat gelatinizes at a much lower temp than barley. That's why the mash can get "gummy," and the same is true for flaked maize, flaked rice and rye. I wouldn't adjust your mash temp, because you want the alpha-amylase to work (this will dry your beer out; necessary for IPA's, not as much so for some of the Belgians). I would decrease your wheat, and boost your base malt.

 

[757Hokie83]

this recipe was mashed at 148 (or that was the goal anyways, i think i was a degree or two higher) and i believe the wheat accounted for about 40% of the bill

 

[wartyOne]

this recipe was mashed at 148 (or that was the goal anyways, i think i was a degree or two higher) and i believe the wheat accounted for about 40% of the bill

Those are good parameters.

Hmmmm.

Are you stirring your mash bed once the mash water is in?

 

[757Hokie83]

i typically put the mash water in, then stir in the grain...not dumping too much at a time, to avoid getting any "dough balls" from clumping up, but once i've stirred in all the grain/wheat i dont mess with it any more until the mash is done

 

[Gatorchip]

I've got a partial mash wheat porter in the primary. First brew day in nearly a year.

It's been sitting in the primary for nearly 2 weeks though! I need to transfer it.

 

[wartyOne]

i typically put the mash water in, then stir in the grain...not dumping too much at a time, to avoid getting any "dough balls" from clumping up, but once i've stirred in all the grain/wheat i dont mess with it any more until the mash is done

All this is correct.

What about your recirc? Are you pump-recircing?

 

[757Hokie83]

All this is correct.

What about your recirc? Are you pump-recircing?

eh?


my brew day goes like this...

after getting equipment and ingredients ready-
heat the mash water, pour mash water into mash tun, slowly stir in grains, assuming i hit my target temp, close lid, and let sit.

during the last 10 or so minutes of the mash, i start heating my sparge water

when the mash is done, vorlauft, then take my first runnings. then pour in the sparge water (i just batch sparge, works for me)...let sit for 10 or so minutes, vorlauft, take second runnings.

then boil