Process Break Down
Ingredients
Beer traditionally has 4 ingredients, malt barley, hops, water and yeast. As I am looking to perfect my process I am trying to ensure I use the highest quality ingredients.Water
Water plays a key role in brewing and can have a large impact on the final beer. I want to understand the composition of my water and make sure it is suitable for brewing bitters and pale ales.
Im using the water calculator provided on thehomebrewforum.co.uk
The following are per the water report from Thames Water
Sulphate 52.8 mg/l
Sodium 31.6 mg/l
Chloride 52.3 mg/l
Not all required data was available from Thames Water, so some testing kits from Salifest were used to measure the Calcium content and the Alkalinity of the water, the results as follows:
Ca = 95mg/L
This dat was then fed into the water calculator which shows that for optimum results for brewing a Bitter I should tread my water as follows:
To remove chlorine use 0.5g of Camden per 4.5litre batch, stirred into the total water before it is heated. This will act almost immediately.
1ml of CRS per Litre of water, added to the total volume of water pre mash
0.5g per litre of Gypsum added to the water pre mash.
CRS and gypsum are easily available from most homebrew shops.
As I am doing a Brew in a Bag brew I will only need a single vessel, into which we initially add the total volume of water that will be required. This consists of the amount of beer I want to end up with, in this case 4.5litres, the amount that will be absorbed by the grain (about 1litre per kilo) and the amount lost due to evaporation during the boil (this will be 3.5litres in my setup).
So total water required will be 9 litres.
Im using the water calculator provided on thehomebrewforum.co.uk
The following are per the water report from Thames Water
Sulphate 52.8 mg/l
Sodium 31.6 mg/l
Chloride 52.3 mg/l
Not all required data was available from Thames Water, so some testing kits from Salifest were used to measure the Calcium content and the Alkalinity of the water, the results as follows:
Ca = 95mg/L
Alkalinity = 12.1 dKH, 4.33meq/L = 216.5 mg / L CaCO3
This dat was then fed into the water calculator which shows that for optimum results for brewing a Bitter I should tread my water as follows:
To remove chlorine use 0.5g of Camden per 4.5litre batch, stirred into the total water before it is heated. This will act almost immediately.
1ml of CRS per Litre of water, added to the total volume of water pre mash
0.5g per litre of Gypsum added to the water pre mash.
CRS and gypsum are easily available from most homebrew shops.
As I am doing a Brew in a Bag brew I will only need a single vessel, into which we initially add the total volume of water that will be required. This consists of the amount of beer I want to end up with, in this case 4.5litres, the amount that will be absorbed by the grain (about 1litre per kilo) and the amount lost due to evaporation during the boil (this will be 3.5litres in my setup).
So total water required will be 9 litres.
Yeast
For the yeast I will be using dried S-04 Ale yeast.
This should be rehydrated in a cup of boiled water which has been cooled down to room temperature. I will boil and start cooling the water when the mash is on to ensure it is properly rehydrated when I need to pitch it.
This should be rehydrated in a cup of boiled water which has been cooled down to room temperature. I will boil and start cooling the water when the mash is on to ensure it is properly rehydrated when I need to pitch it.
Malt
As I am brewing a bitter the malt used will be British Maris Otter pale malt with some British Cystal malt to add colour and malt flavour.
Hops
For a British Bitter I will be using East Kent Hops, a variety of hop often used in traditional British ales.
Recipe
Process
As I am brewing a bitter the malt used will be British Maris Otter pale malt with some British Cystal malt to add colour and malt flavour.
Hops
For a British Bitter I will be using East Kent Hops, a variety of hop often used in traditional British ales.
Recipe
Process
BIAB
Yeast - re-hydration in advance - how long?
Clean / Sterilise all kit thoroughly before starting brew
OxyClean -
V18 - 0.7ml/Litre for no rinse.
OxyClean -
V18 - 0.7ml/Litre for no rinse.
Mash
Mash Temp to 67C - Use BeerSmith to calculate strike temp given the amount and temp of grain per the recipe.
10l of water at 68.5C
2) 8 litres at 73
2)Mash temp about 70C
Ensure bag tied off OR doubled backed over top to avoid grain spillage.
10l of water at 68.5C
2) 8 litres at 73
2)Mash temp about 70C
Ensure bag tied off OR doubled backed over top to avoid grain spillage.
Ensure good mixing every 15mins to try to avoid stratification of temps. Insulation will help reduce this. stirred at 30mins and turned the hob on for a few mins to maintain temp. Lowest 66C.
Need to insulate pot well during mash to hold temperature - Camping/yoga mats
Monitor temp with arduino & ds18b20s - log and review/compare.
Raise for mash out? 75C. Is this even needed for BIAB?
Lauter
Colander on top of pot, mash bag in colander to drip back into boiler whilst boiler comes to the boil.
Dont Squeeze.
Boil
Ensure good rolling boil throughout.
Hop socks so easier to transfer to FV - must be loose to allow plenty of agitation in boil.
Irish moss / protofloc in last 15mins 1/8th tablet.
Cool
Sterilise lid & spoon during last 15mins of boil.
Sink full of cold water & ice.
Lid on pot.
Stir carefully to cool every 5 minutes.
Replace water in sink every few 5 minutes.
Aeration
Move pot onto side and stir in circular motion, let sit for 5 mins to allow centrifuge to bring bits into the middle of the pot.
Transfer
Gently Stir to whirlpool
Alternative - Syphon out of brew kettle - YES
Transfer onto yeast to ensure good mixing.
Fermentation
Temperature & Time
Conditioning - Temperatures & Times.
Conditioning - Temperatures & Times.
Bottling
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