Tech Talk & Other Thoughts

Some nerd talk by Brian and other random thoughts

Trub impacts to volume measurements and calculations

September 22, 2014 in Beer Projects, Beer Topics, Forum by Brian Thompson | No comments

homebrewtalk.com forum

I’ve been working to understand my various volume measurements throughout brew day and wonder how Trub and other material is handled. For instance, from my batch sparging I have an idea how much grain absorption and MLT losses to expect, but I know when I do a pre-boil volume measurement there is a fair amount of material in there that is going to add to the measurement.

Also, when doing a, lets say, 5g recipe I assume the is the amount of wort into the fermenter. Is this correct? I know that the amount of trub carried into the fermenter various by beer and beer maker so how does one account for the variations?

Trub impacts to volume measurements and calculations

Priming Suggestion

September 20, 2014 in Beer Projects, Beer Topics, Forum by Brian Thompson | No comments

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Currently I gravity feed my immersion chiller. I’ve used a pump in the past, but from what I’ve discovered it isn’t the rate of water that is effecting the rate at which i can chill the beer (gravity is just fine) it is the amount of wort that comes in contact with the beer. So to help things along I’ve been stirring with a spoon. I’m working on adding a pump into my brewing setup to make life easier on me, but I’m not too sure how to go about priming the pump. I plan to have a simple inlet and outlet pipes with 90 bends to push the water around and through the coils of the chiller. I’m not going for a whirlpool affect, at least for now, with my wimpy pump but am just trying to move the wort around the coils without me stirring. For the record i have a valve on my kettle, but I don’t want to use that as I have a filter around it that I want to keep clear until I transfer to the primary. . Anybody have any suggestions of how to go about priming my setup? I know adding another valve would solve my problem, but I’m looking for other ideas as I’m not too keen on this idea as I want this idea to work with several other kettles. Thanks.

Priming Suggestion

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Chugger Pump Head – PP vs SS

September 5, 2014 in Beer Projects, Beer Topics, Forum by Brian Thompson | No comments

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I’ve been looking around for differences between the plastic and stainless heads on the chugger pumps. Of course most people say go with the stainless, but I’ve yet to see any rational for it other than fear that the plastic might break (haven’t seen anyone actually report one breaking).

I’m looking to hear from those that have plastic heads or have converted from plastic to stainless what their experiences are.

Chugger Pump Head – PP vs SS

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Double gelatin – primary and secondary

September 3, 2014 in Beer Projects, Beer Topics, Forum by Brian Thompson | No comments

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I’ve used gelatin in a secondary and have been able to bottle condition just fine. I’m working on making a Kolsch and want to see how clear I can get this to be. Any experiences or thoughts on cold crashing and using gelatin in the primary and repeating it again the same steps later in the secondary?

Double gelatin – primary and secondary

Magnum hops in a Kolsch?

August 25, 2014 in Beer Topics, Beers, Forum by Brian Thompson | No comments

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I’m copying the (Black Widow Kolsch recipe, but have made some adjustments for my efficiencies and losses which puts my hops Hallertauer hops to 1.25oz (60min boil). Since the hops come in 1oz bags I’m thinking about just using 1oz of Hallertauer and then using 0.25oz of Magnum which is leftover from my last batch. Seems to look like the profile is about where I want it (brewtoad recipe), but I’m wondering if anyone has any thoughts on the taste/smell impact as I’ll know is what I’ve read from freshhops

Magnum hops in a Kolsch?

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