Now I'm a bear with very little brain, and so I am trying to put together a very simple table of "cause and effect" for grain brewing. I suppose I am trying to make my mistakes "virtually" before I start my first AG brew aqnd use the vast amount of knowledge you good folks have to save my first brew being ercycled as drain cleaner.
I have been through many links talking about enzymes and alphas and betas and all kinds of things that I didn't understand at school, before I set out on a life times passion of brain cell killing. I have no chance now!
This is what I have collated so far.
Mash - at 68-70c for 90 minutes using 2.75l water / kg of grain
less water leads to a less fermentable wort and a thicker beer.
Sparge at 75 - 80c being sure not to disturb the grain bed.
During run off and sparging return the first, cloudy liquer back to the mash vessel.
Question - How much water should I use to sparge, my total brew size or just a small part?
Boil for 90 minutes adding the bittering hops 60 minutes from the end, flovour hops around 15 mins from the end and aroma hops 2 minutes from the end or at the start of fermentation.
Cool the wort as quickly as possible - can it be cooled too quickly? What is the best end temparture at which to add the yeast (I always rehydrate and prestart yeast - is this a good idea?)
Taking over from my practice with kits now .....
Stir vigorously to incorporate oxygen
Ferment at 18-20c for 7 days
Transfer to a secondary fermenter for a further 14 days
transfer to keg for 21 days
enjoy!
If anyone would like to correct any howlers I have made, or add any comments such as "fermenting at too high a temperature causes xyz to happen" then please feel free. I shall then update my notes and start looking through the recipes as to what to tackle first.
Making it simple?
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PieOPah
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confused
thanks Daab and POP, this is just the sort of thing I need to get a handle on. It's easy to establish what qualities different ingredients bring to the finished beer but I want to get a basic undersatanding on how the brew process effects things.
Presumably it's a hotter mash that gives a sweeter beer and a cooler mash for drier, the opposite of what i first thought!
Keep the advice coming, My weekend will be spent emptying the coal store and turning it into a brewery, then I have a Nelson's kit which will go forst to make sure I get something drinkable but as I have two complete set ups for fermenting / kegging then as soon as it is in the fermenter I will have a bash.
Presumably it's a hotter mash that gives a sweeter beer and a cooler mash for drier, the opposite of what i first thought!
Keep the advice coming, My weekend will be spent emptying the coal store and turning it into a brewery, then I have a Nelson's kit which will go forst to make sure I get something drinkable but as I have two complete set ups for fermenting / kegging then as soon as it is in the fermenter I will have a bash.
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PieOPah
Just one thing to add; you mentioned that using less water produces a less fermentable wort.
While that's true, it's best not to use that factor to control how your wort turns out. The effect is quite small compared with other things, i.e. temperature and pH (pH is an indication of acidity) which is affected by the minerals in your water supply and the amount of dark malts in your recipe (to put it simplistically, but you get the idea).
Basically, high temperatures (up to 68C) produce a less fermentable wort, as do higher pH values.
The effect on the final beer is that a less fermentable wort will produce a beer with more residual sweetness, which some people describe as having more 'body'.
While that's true, it's best not to use that factor to control how your wort turns out. The effect is quite small compared with other things, i.e. temperature and pH (pH is an indication of acidity) which is affected by the minerals in your water supply and the amount of dark malts in your recipe (to put it simplistically, but you get the idea).
Basically, high temperatures (up to 68C) produce a less fermentable wort, as do higher pH values.
The effect on the final beer is that a less fermentable wort will produce a beer with more residual sweetness, which some people describe as having more 'body'.
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Matt