Last night I went down to the kegerator to get a nice refreshing home brew off the tap. Something didn't seem right about the pour so I checked the co2 pressure. To my surprise, my 10 lb tank was empty! This tank was on its 5th keg and at 10 lbs there so be no reason why it would be empty already.
I went down tonight and found I had a leak in the tube going to my manifold from the regulator. This may have been the first time I checked the gas lines. I check the beer lines when I change out kegs, but never the gas lines (this was only the 5th keg I've ever had on tap)
So this is you PSA for the day, check your gas lines and make sure everything is tight and sealed.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Friday, October 7, 2011
Water Chemistry Tools
Since my second batch of all-grain, I've been adjusting my water with brewing salts to try to get the mash pH in an acceptable range (5.2-5.6ish). I had my water tested through Ward Labs (Test W-5) so I knew what my existing water was (I take it from a spigot not connected to my water softener).
I've been lucky that up to this point only having to put in around 2 grams of CaCl2 (Calcium Chloride) in each mash. That's because I've used very little Crystal malts in "pale" ales. However, this weekend I'm going to brew a porter and my crystal malts (C-40) makes up around 9.5% of my grist. This causes a little trouble with my pH. I'm not going to go into why this is causes issues with my water chemistry. You can learn more about that here. I do want to talk a little about some water chemistry tools that's I've used. I believe you want to do the least amount of adjustments as possible!!!! There are negatives to adding brewing salts as well.
From the beginning, I've used "EZ Water Calculator" and its been great. Its very easy to use and gives a simple output. I highly recommend it if you are doing light colored pale ales.
I was not as comfortable with it however putting in my numbers for the Porter. The numbers just seemed too low and it seemed like I had to make some wild adjustments to get it within a good range. This could very well be the case, I'm not blaming the software for my pH, but it sent me to the message boards to get some answers to questions about what I should do. My post received a reply talking about "Bru N' Water". I think I actually like this water chemistry tool better. It is definitely much more robust and one could easily get caught up in all the numbers if they have never done any water chemistry before, but I found that it does a great job in showing what it is doing. I like to see why, I can't just accept it.
Excluding the pH, all of the numbers match up pretty well between the two tool. The EZ Water Calculator had me almost 0.2 pH lower than the Bru N' Water. It did make me feel more comfortable on how much more information Bru N' Water asked me about my existing water. It helps as well that Gordon Strong mentions Martin Brungard as one of his go to water people in "Brewing Better Beer" (Read it! Was hoping to write a review but haven't got around to it yet).
Though I have not test the Bru N' Water estimates yet to see if it actually works better, we'll see on Sunday and I'll plan to give a report on that.
I recommend you give them both a shot. I'm not going to write some drawn out thing about how to use them, blah blah blah. But I wanted to at least give you some sources of where to get tools for water chemistry and I'll let you decide what you like best. Like I said, they are both good, I just prefer one over the other now.
John Palmer also has his own here, but I seemed to like that one the least. Though he gives detailed instruction, I still am now on the Bru N' Water bandwagon.
What this whole thing did teach me is that I may not mash my crystal malts with my base malts anymore, especially if it will greatly impact my pH like my porter recipe seems to be. You don't really need to mash your crystal malts. Gordon Strong talks about that in "Brewing Better Beer". What you do it steep them like when you did extract batches with specialty grains and then add to the boil. By doing this, you don't run into as many pH issues by having only base or roasted grains in the mash. I've always had my LHBS mill all my grains together, this is likely the last time.
I've been lucky that up to this point only having to put in around 2 grams of CaCl2 (Calcium Chloride) in each mash. That's because I've used very little Crystal malts in "pale" ales. However, this weekend I'm going to brew a porter and my crystal malts (C-40) makes up around 9.5% of my grist. This causes a little trouble with my pH. I'm not going to go into why this is causes issues with my water chemistry. You can learn more about that here. I do want to talk a little about some water chemistry tools that's I've used. I believe you want to do the least amount of adjustments as possible!!!! There are negatives to adding brewing salts as well.
From the beginning, I've used "EZ Water Calculator" and its been great. Its very easy to use and gives a simple output. I highly recommend it if you are doing light colored pale ales.
I was not as comfortable with it however putting in my numbers for the Porter. The numbers just seemed too low and it seemed like I had to make some wild adjustments to get it within a good range. This could very well be the case, I'm not blaming the software for my pH, but it sent me to the message boards to get some answers to questions about what I should do. My post received a reply talking about "Bru N' Water". I think I actually like this water chemistry tool better. It is definitely much more robust and one could easily get caught up in all the numbers if they have never done any water chemistry before, but I found that it does a great job in showing what it is doing. I like to see why, I can't just accept it.
Excluding the pH, all of the numbers match up pretty well between the two tool. The EZ Water Calculator had me almost 0.2 pH lower than the Bru N' Water. It did make me feel more comfortable on how much more information Bru N' Water asked me about my existing water. It helps as well that Gordon Strong mentions Martin Brungard as one of his go to water people in "Brewing Better Beer" (Read it! Was hoping to write a review but haven't got around to it yet).
Though I have not test the Bru N' Water estimates yet to see if it actually works better, we'll see on Sunday and I'll plan to give a report on that.
I recommend you give them both a shot. I'm not going to write some drawn out thing about how to use them, blah blah blah. But I wanted to at least give you some sources of where to get tools for water chemistry and I'll let you decide what you like best. Like I said, they are both good, I just prefer one over the other now.
John Palmer also has his own here, but I seemed to like that one the least. Though he gives detailed instruction, I still am now on the Bru N' Water bandwagon.
What this whole thing did teach me is that I may not mash my crystal malts with my base malts anymore, especially if it will greatly impact my pH like my porter recipe seems to be. You don't really need to mash your crystal malts. Gordon Strong talks about that in "Brewing Better Beer". What you do it steep them like when you did extract batches with specialty grains and then add to the boil. By doing this, you don't run into as many pH issues by having only base or roasted grains in the mash. I've always had my LHBS mill all my grains together, this is likely the last time.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Hop Season 2011 in the Books
Today was the official end of my first hop growing season. I'm not even sure I can say that I grew hops this year. I grew bines, but got zero cones. I have to admit I'm pretty disappointed, but oh well, we'll try again next year.
In preparation of 2012, I made some changes to my beds. After cutting down my bines today, I dug up the root bulb. I then build up the beds with 2 courses of Castlewall stone. To try to condition the soil better, I added a bunch of peat moss to help break up the clay as well as some quality potting soil.
With the hops raised up, this should drain water much better. After I got them in the ground, I put a nice layer of peat moss over top of them to give them a blanket for winter.
I was sad to cut the bines down. With each snip I hoped that I was doing everything right to give them the best chance for some form of harvest next year. I just have to remember, they are pretty hardy plants and are build to survive. I (as well as mother nature) may have not given them the best conditions this year to flower, but I'm sure as hell trying my hardest to get them ready for next year.
In preparation of 2012, I made some changes to my beds. After cutting down my bines today, I dug up the root bulb. I then build up the beds with 2 courses of Castlewall stone. To try to condition the soil better, I added a bunch of peat moss to help break up the clay as well as some quality potting soil.
With the hops raised up, this should drain water much better. After I got them in the ground, I put a nice layer of peat moss over top of them to give them a blanket for winter.
I was sad to cut the bines down. With each snip I hoped that I was doing everything right to give them the best chance for some form of harvest next year. I just have to remember, they are pretty hardy plants and are build to survive. I (as well as mother nature) may have not given them the best conditions this year to flower, but I'm sure as hell trying my hardest to get them ready for next year.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Learning from Critiques
Finally got a hold of my scores from the Dayton DRAFT Brewfest '11.
I received a 32 for my flight winning Amber Ale. The highest score a 34, the lowest a 30. Both judges seemed to really like the beer. One said he would have liked a little more hop aroma, the other a little more malt aroma. You can't please everyone...hehe.
My Cream Ale, which didn't place, got a 29.6, with a 32 for the highest score and a 28 for the lowest. They all seem to like the beer, but I got dinged for little to no carbonation. I'm actually OK with that. Since the flavor was liked, that tells me I brewed the beer well. I can always fix carbonation for future contests. I actually plan to reenter this one in CMI's Zinzinnati Oktobersbest and make sure have better carbonation. I have high hopes for it!
Overall, I'm very happy with the scores and critiques I got from my first competition. I'm hooked to compete more!!
I received a 32 for my flight winning Amber Ale. The highest score a 34, the lowest a 30. Both judges seemed to really like the beer. One said he would have liked a little more hop aroma, the other a little more malt aroma. You can't please everyone...hehe.
My Cream Ale, which didn't place, got a 29.6, with a 32 for the highest score and a 28 for the lowest. They all seem to like the beer, but I got dinged for little to no carbonation. I'm actually OK with that. Since the flavor was liked, that tells me I brewed the beer well. I can always fix carbonation for future contests. I actually plan to reenter this one in CMI's Zinzinnati Oktobersbest and make sure have better carbonation. I have high hopes for it!
Overall, I'm very happy with the scores and critiques I got from my first competition. I'm hooked to compete more!!
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Winner, Winner Amber Dinner!
Today is a very proud day for me in my efforts to become a better brewer. I found out today that I came in first place in the "Amber Ale" flight at the Dayton DRAFT's 2011 BrewFest! I'm so excited! I also entered a Cream Ale, but unfortunately that didn't place. But to have my first contest end with at least one beer in a first place finish is so rewarding!
The interesting thing about this win is that I won on the Amber Ale, previously posted, which I considered dumping early in its life. Again, it teaches me and it should teach you that as long as a beer is not infected that you should give it time to see how it turns out.
I'll get my score sheets this weekend. I'm excited to read the critiques on both beers.
I'm already planning to enter another competition next month with two different beers.
The interesting thing about this win is that I won on the Amber Ale, previously posted, which I considered dumping early in its life. Again, it teaches me and it should teach you that as long as a beer is not infected that you should give it time to see how it turns out.
I'll get my score sheets this weekend. I'm excited to read the critiques on both beers.
I'm already planning to enter another competition next month with two different beers.
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