TETB’s Brewdays

[marshbrewer]

now I remember why I stopped doing this

That's why I switched to Phosphoric acid - I was getting through AMS like, I don't know, something you get through a lot of

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

That's why I switched to Phosphoric acid - I was getting through AMS like, I don't know, something you get through a lot of

Yes that’s a good shout MB - in the past I used to use lactic in the mash and AMS in the sparge so as to tread the fine line between too much lactate and pushing the minerals a bit high, but this time I couldn’t remember the calculation so I just went with AMS and also a bit of CaCl2 to balance it up afterwards. Bru’n Water did wail at the prospect of sulphate and chloride levels up over 200ppm but I have a feeling it’ll be fine :-)
I‘ve got a mate up the road who uses phosphoric for his water treatment but my normal suppliers don’t seem to sell it. Isn‘t there something about it effecting calcium, too?

 

[Agentgonzo]

I need to get some of that. My water is very hard (>250ppm) and the lactic acid isn't really strong enough.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

I need to get some of that. My water is very hard (>250ppm) and the lactic acid isn't really strong enough.

I often dilute about 50% with RO - I got a cheap 3 stage aquarium filter for about £40 and although it’s a bit slow its saved me using a lot of acid and it’s pretty much the only option when I do Pils

 

[marshbrewer]

Isn‘t there something about it effecting calcium, too?

Yes, I've read that it precipitates out some calcium, but in my usual unscientific way, I don't worry about that too much as mine is around 90ppm.

 

[Agentgonzo]

I often dilute about 50% with RO - I got a cheap 3 stage aquarium filter for about £40 and although it’s a bit slow its saved me using a lot of acid and it’s pretty much the only option when I do Pils

Interesting. Is that an RO filter or "close enough"? Do you have as link?

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Interesting. Is that an RO filter or "close enough"? Do you have as link?

Yep - it's a proper RO filter
This is the one, £39.99 direct from Waterfilterman: 248-17-reverse-osmosis-water-filter-for-aquarium-discus-fish-marine.html (also available from Amazon etc)

It's fine as it is but I uprated the membrane and flow restrictor to get a better output rate (see this thread) and also added an external de-ionising (DI) stage just because I had some resin bed that was otherwise going unused.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Today's brew (GH Southern Brown Ale) went smoothly and as an added bonus I even remembered to add the kettle finings at the end of the boil (ha).

OG looks like 1.044 - higher than the recipe as expected but not by as much as I thought it might be. Possibly I overdid the AMS and got the pH too low: my meter said the cooled sample was about 5.2 although I'm not sure I trust its accuracy.

Anyhow it's a nice dark brown colour and it smells like beer so what's not to like :-)

 

[Agentgonzo]

Today's brew (GH Southern Brown Ale) went smoothly and as an added bonus I even remembered to add the kettle finings at the end of the boil (ha).

OG looks like 1.044 - higher than the recipe as expected but not by as much as I thought it might be. Possibly I overdid the AMS and got the pH too low: my meter said the cooled sample was about 5.2 although I'm not sure I trust its accuracy.

Anyhow it's a nice dark brown colour and it smells like beer so what's not to like :-)

View attachment 85740

5.2 is still in the recommended range, so it should be fine! Looks lovely

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

5.2 is still in the recommended range, so it should be fine! Looks lovely

Thanks AG - I’m a little nervous that it might taste ‘minerally’ with the chloride and sulphate levels quite a lot higher than I’m used to (199 and 155ppm respectively) but the water itself didn‘t taste odd :-)

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Holy Fermenters, Batman!

Looks like Monday's Vienna Pils is already down to about 1.022 (from about 1.047) ... that's caught me a bit by surprise; definitely time to start ramping the temp

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Meanwhile yesterday's Southern Brown Ale also seems to be cracking on at pace: a good 2" of frothy kraüsen has developed

Clearly that Lalbrew English Ale yeast is vigorous stuff: I've got it at 20ºC (recommended range 18-22)

 

[Agentgonzo]

but the water itself didn‘t taste odd :-)

"If it's good enough to drink, it's good enough to brew with". It'll be interesting to see if you get any mineral tastes - but if you can't taste them in the water at the start I'm sure it'll be fine.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Just doing a gravity check on last week's Brown Ale... well, it sure is brown - and possibly the murkiest beer I've ever brewed: completely opaque.

Given the vigour of the initial fermentation I thought it might have finished by now but it still seems pretty active. Too many bubbles on the hydrometer to get a reliable reading but it still looks about 1.016 or 18. Think I'll give this one another week before I chill it down.

Flavour seems good: really quite a distinctive "traditional" ale taste.
I guess that reflects the grain bill:

• 3.5 MO
• 0.3 crystal
• 0.11 Choc
• 0.055 Black
• 0.1 torrified wheat

maybe also the relatively high mineral levels (155 Sulphate, 200 Chloride)

 

[Agentgonzo]

It does say low flocculation on the yeast! But wow, that's like pond water

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

It does say low flocculation on the yeast! But wow, that's like pond water

Heh - maybe it was a misprint for no flocculation

Cold crash and finings will sort it I'm sure

 

[soupdragon]

Got some different finings to try this time... I've seen mixed reviews as to whether they are as effective as the two-part ones

View attachment 85469

How did you get on with the finings?

Cheers Tom

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

How did you get on with the finings?

Cheers Tom

Just got back from a few days away so haven't had a chance to try them yet Tom; I'll probably put them in later today.
The instructions say to add to the FV towards the end of fermentation, but I'm going to cold crash and rack off into a clean bucket before I do so.
The two brews I've got on at the moment will certainly be a good test as they are still both pretty cloudy. Especially the brown ale which still looks like pond water (!)

 

[soupdragon]

Did you ever risk using the Clear-It finings after their use by date? You don't get long after their opened do you

Cheers Tom

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Did you ever risk using the Clear-It finings after their use by date? You don't get long after their opened do you

Cheers Tom

Oh yes, I used them a month or two after the use-by without any adverse effects on either the beer or the beer drinkers.
IMHO as there's no mention of any restriction on shelf-life (i.e. before opening); they have preservatives in and they're going into beer containing alcohol, that's fine so long as I'm careful with hygiene and keep them refrigerated after opening. I'm sure someone will now tell me I'm at risk of giving someone botulism