The 'Top Tips' Thread!

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Beer O'Clock
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Re: The 'Top Tips' Thread!

Post by Beer O'Clock » Mon Sep 09, 2013 3:22 am

Acquire or nurture some patience. That is all [-X
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WishboneBrewery
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Re: The 'Top Tips' Thread!

Post by WishboneBrewery » Fri Sep 13, 2013 6:56 am

Thanks, but I don't think I said that, the only times I've sparged more is to wash more sugar out of a strong mash prior to a long boil of an imperial stout or barley wine. :-)

DustyDog

Re: The 'Top Tips' Thread!

Post by DustyDog » Thu Oct 03, 2013 9:40 pm

Aye, i agree with a good few of the top tips here, getting the missus on your side, great idea, what about the mother in law, (who lives with me and wifey) now THAT would make a brew day better, if not so sure about something; ASK! Someone on JBK will know the answer. Interested in the 'no prime bottling' will have to ask more about this, as i said, ask. 8)

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orlando
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Re: The 'Top Tips' Thread!

Post by orlando » Fri Oct 04, 2013 8:43 am

Interesting thread. I don't believe I read anything about mash pH though. After sanitation and controlled fermentation, this has been the single biggest influence on the quality of my beer, along with the water treatment to get the mineral profile right. Add that to the old adage that "brewers make wort yeast makes beer" and you have the other crucial dimension in brewing.
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mentaldental

Re: The 'Top Tips' Thread!

Post by mentaldental » Fri Oct 04, 2013 10:19 am

Naich wrote:
Blackjack wrote:Use Irish Moss ( in the copper! Chris :wink: ) and your yeast will settle better in the FV while whirlyfloc and protofloc will turn it into a clumpy flumpy nuisance.
I only used 1/2 a whiryfloc tab in the last brew (23L) and it cleared it nicely without producing those huge clumps of cotton wool. It seems that not overdosing on whirl/proto is quite important when it comes to clarity. Prior to using Whirlfloc, I found irish moss to be pretty ineffectual.
Its a very complex problem because the dose rate of copper finings should be in proportion to the amount of protein present in the wort, which we have no way of assessing. One PF/WF tablet per 23l batch is certainly massively overdosing and will result in fluffy, non-clumping cold break (not yeast). I aim for 1/3 of a tablet which works much better.

To see the effect take a small sample of the run-off from your copper and keep it in a small bottle/jar. Over the next few hours you will see the cold break form and, hopefully, precipitate.

Have a look at this thread where you should find a spreadsheet of numbers to back up the above.

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Deebee
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Re: The 'Top Tips' Thread!

Post by Deebee » Thu Oct 17, 2013 9:59 am

Hi all,

For some beer i always use dry yeast. I don't like to sprinkle this om the wort as i have found that there can be a fair lag.. and this always scares me.
I have started doing the following.

1. Sterilize the FV the evening/day before brewing and put the airlock in so that it remains sealed and clean.

After the wort has boiled for 10 minutes i decant around 200ml into the fv right from the tap on the boiler and reseal. he steam acts as another form for sterilizing as well.

When the wort has cooled ( and at present i have only around 8 degrees in the brewery so it does not take long) i sprinkle the yeast onto the wort in the fv. By the time i get to dropping from the boiler the yeast has had a good hour or more to play with the sugar in the wort and takes off in usually less than 30 minutes.


2. Although oportunist brews are great they often cause problems. So i tend to at least plan for them a little.
I have an dark airtight container that i use for the ground malts. After i have finished one brew i have started always grinding the next batch of malt and sealing in in the container. I also weigh out the hops into sealed bags, that are marked and put into the freezer. I have a chalkboard on the wall of the brewery that i write the next recipe and mash/sparge volumes on after everything is prepared.

IF an opportunity arises i just need to measure the water and i am good to go. The rest is already done and waiting for me.
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poolking

Re: The 'Top Tips' Thread!

Post by poolking » Wed Oct 30, 2013 12:50 pm

Just a quick tip sure many know... After using your syphon tube rinse it well, run sterilizer through and chuck it in the freezer, you won`t get any nasty dots / spots of mould etc growing inside it which are a real pain to remove. When your ready to use again chuck it in warm/ hot sterilizer... done. :D

sjw7

Re: The 'Top Tips' Thread!

Post by sjw7 » Mon Nov 25, 2013 6:11 pm

Note how long it takes your equipment to get the water from room temperature up to 70C so that you will know when to start the heating process when the mash is on. This has saved a lot of time for me while brewing.

molehill

Re: The 'Top Tips' Thread!

Post by molehill » Fri Apr 25, 2014 12:11 pm

I learnt most about brewing on this forum, reading wheelers book and more recently yeast.

16 months later and after 21 brew days producing 480lt of beer the best tips I can offer are....

1. I could not survive without my beer fridge. I have a controlled envioronment I can ferment beer, drop chill, step up yeast and condition beer.
2. Stick your temp control sensor to your FV or glass vessel when stepping up yeast and you'll be more exact on the temp targets.
3. A home made stir plate, which is cheap and easy to make.... Since I started making my own slants and stepping up my yeast, the flavour of my beers have improved 10 fold. From one yeats slope I have enough for a dozen brews.... sooooo cheap its a no brainer and you don't get the back taste you get from dry yeast.
4. No need for 90 minute mash or boil. 60 minute mashes followed by two 15 minute soak and sparge and 60 minute boil and I still hit my numbers, while saving on energy and time.
5. I now transfer from FV to secondary vessel and add gelatine for 36 - 48 hours before transfering to bottler. All beers drop out clear and stick to bottom of bottle.
6. Get into the habit of rinsing your bottles out straight away, spray a little no rinse steraliser and cap with a plastic bottle cap. When it comes to bottling up, simply pull lids and stick on bottling tree. My water is metered and this method saves time and money.

Finally, I agree with earlier comments regarding to concentrating on one or two recipes. My goal at the moment is to perfect a Harvey's BB clone (Harveys of Lewes) I am tweeking it slightly each time to create a beer that suits my pallete and this is one of the best bitters ever produced..... In my opinon! :|

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johnmac
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Re: The 'Top Tips' Thread!

Post by johnmac » Mon Jan 11, 2016 11:55 pm

Want to improve your extraction efficiency? Simple - use more sparge water.

BrewHouse

Re: The 'Top Tips' Thread!

Post by BrewHouse » Sat Nov 12, 2016 2:35 pm

If you are bottling, get some sheets of 25mm round label sheets for the printer. 70 labels per sheet. Once you have set up the template in something like excel you can print off 40 labels that stick to the crown cap. There is just enough space for a few lines in small print which is enough for name, date, abv etc. The label then goes in the bin with the crown cap. You never need to remove a beer label again.

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