Brewer's Friend Home Brewing Software

Broken Carboy Alert

To everyone who is using glass carboys, you may find this of interest.  This is a re-post from a wine maker we know in the area who had some serious trouble with glass carboys breaking lately!

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This morning I discovered a small pool of wine underneath a 5 gallon glass carboy I was using to put some Merlot through malo. I immediately racked off (without moving the carboy) into a PET 5 gallon and discovered a small crack running halfway around near the base. This is the THIRD time this has happened to me. The first was last year when I was carrying a carboy to the kitchen, I heard a small click and the bottom suddenly came loose in my hand, I managed to get to the sink before the bottom dislocated and wine ran EVERYWHERE. I got cut but was lucky to avoid anything serious. A couple days later I noticed a carboy with a small pool of wine at the base, foolishly tried to slide it to see if the pool was just a spill and the base separated once again, with the subsequent loss of the entire 5 gallons, fortunately into the bathtub. I realized that these 2 carboys were part of a batch of 3 that I bought from someone used, though they appeared to be in good condition, and I destroyed the third one.

Since then I’ve worn welder’s gloves when lifting and have otherwise BABIED all of my carboys, setting them down very carefully and avoiding subjecting them to temperature extremes, except for cold stabilizing when I put them outside on the patio, each on wood platforms in order to avoid getting the bottoms too cold. All of these 3 failed carboys have been 5 gallon CRISA’s, which are manufactured in Mexico and are commonly sold at wine/beer supply houses. I’ve looked them over and notice that they generally have an uneven nature to the thickness of the glass at the base, probably a sign of poor manufacturing technique, and that may cause them to have uneven structural integrity or could cause differing amounts of expansion/contraction with temperature change, eventually resulting in failure under load.

Below are some pictures, I’ve got a number of these but will destroy them all now. I have had good success with the 5 gallon Vintner’s Harvest models sold at Main Street and also the 6 and 6.5 gallon versions made in Italy. At this point however I’m moving to PET (plastic) carboys, since I’ve now heard of a number of very serious injuries people have sustained carrying glass carboys, and since now PET is a proven, safe material to make wine containers out of.

So, not saying all glass is a problem, but please be extra careful if you lift them when they are full. Buy some heavy gloves!

Post and images by Phil

Posted in Equipment | 7 Comments »

January 2013 release is live – Shopping List, Inventory Update, Yeast Updates

The January 2013 release is live. The My Brewing section got a lot of attention – Shopping List, Inventory Sorting, and My Brewing notes. The Recipe Editor has three new fields: target fermentation temperature, yeast pitch rate, and award winning. The Yeast Pitch Rate and Starter Calculator is more tightly integrated with the Recipe Editor, and gets a correction to the dry yeast count.

The majority of this release addresses items from the feature request forum. Fellow brewers, thank you for your input, and happy brewing!

My Brewing section updates:

• The My Inventory listing is now sortable.
• A shopping list section has been introduced that works similar to the My Inventory section. Shopping List items can be propogated to invetory using the ‘Convert To Inventory’ button at the top of the My Shopping page.
• In a future release, we will allow a recipe to be added to the shopping list (optionally accounting for what is already in inventory). That will complete the circle of ingredient tracking – from planning all the way to brew day.
• A simple My Notes section has been added that allows free form tracking of brewing ideas.

Recipe Editor updates:

• Yeast section now has target fermentation temperature, and taret yeast pitch rate. While this may seem like too much for beginning brewers, we want to put it front and center how important these concepts are to brewing excellence. The fields are not required, and all existing recipes will simply show a blank.
• A link has been added directly to the Yeast Pitch Rate and Starter Calculator. When clicking this link, details about your recipe automatically flow through so you have less info to fill out. Big time saver.
• An Awards Won field has been added to the Recipe Editor and the Search Recipes page. This way you can filter for proven recipes. The use of the checkbox is based on the honor system. We expect brewers who check this box to provide evidence of the award (normally a link to the results). To those of you who have shared award winning brews, do us a favor and check that box so something shows up in the results!!!
• Maltodextrin has been added to the fermentables drop down, and Lactose (Milk Sugar) had its name clarified. Both of these ingredients do not contribute to ABV, since they are non-fermentable sugars. They do increase FG (sweetness, mouth feel, body). The logic in the recipe editor now correctly accounts for this.

The Yeast Pitch Calculator updates:

• In doing more reading, and comparing to manufacturer’s numbers, we feel the idea that dry yeast contains 20 billion cells per gram is over stated (or at least needs a study to back it up).
• The default value is now 10, however the value can be overriden manually.
• The new default is backed up by a study Kaiser linked to us.
• Manufacturers claim only 5 or 6!
• There is more information in the dry yeast notes section of the yeast calculator.
• This release adds additional pitch rates for fine tuning.

Other notes:

• Custom Attenuation can be set up to 150% – which is well past the theoretical max.
• Logins, signups, password changes, and any account related site access is now protected by SSL for your added protection.
• Improved rendering in certain cases in Chrome when zoom level was not 100%.
• When a brew session gets deleted it will now decrement the brew count for the related recipe.
• Brew logs tied to a deleted brew session no longer appear in the dashboard.
• BeerXML logic updated to handle non-standard names of certain yeasts, out dated styles, and corner cases in the water section.
• Fixed bug in Chrome, when searching for beer recipes and hitting back, most recent search will now appear.

Posted in Announcements | 3 Comments »

Jockey Box Setup For Parties

When I first started kegging, I soon realized how much simpler taking beers to parties would be. I’d take ONE big container of beer, and dispense it. No more super heavy coolers of glass beer bottles to lug over and bring the empties back for cleaning and reuse.

Until this fall I’ve been using a picnic tap to dispense my kegged beer when I’m away from the keezer. I have used a big metal trash can lined with a contractor-grade extra thick trash bag to hold the keg(s). I pour ice ½ the way up the kegs to keep it at dispensing temperature. If I’m only using one keg, that’s a lot of ice (30 or more lbs) to get the keg properly surrounded with ice.

We have a big party at our house to celebrate Fall. Typically we have 60-70 people show up. We kick 2 corny kegs of beer and most of a keg of root beer. I had wanted a better way to dispense the beer, and had been using a Craigslist trawler for months to see if I could find an appropriately priced jockey box.

After about 8 months of waiting, I scored a major Craigslist deal on a 2 tap jockey box that was set up for commercial Sanke kegs. It was a plate chiller type, and happened to be a 3 beverage chiller with only two taps being used. It included a 20lb C02 tank (almost full!), regulator, jockey box, blue tub, an empty pony keg shell, and extra fittings.

If you don’t already know what a jockey box is, I’ll bet you’ve seen them at brew fests, music festivals or fairs, etc. Here’s a picture:

Basically it is an Igloo cooler that has either a cold plate or a stainless steel coil inside. The plate/coil is surrounded by ice and as beer passes through the plate/coil, it is chilled to serving temperature. The keg of beer need only be kept at about 50-60 degrees – the jockey box will take care of the last 10-20 degrees. On a hot day, that is a big savings of ice! It is also convenient because you can provide taps to make serving easy. It’s a great way to serve a lot of beer with less ice, and elevate the taps a bit to make serving more convenient and potentially less messy..

Two corny kegs are on the left sitting in the blue plastic tub. Right behind the tub you can see the regulator and C02 tank peeking out. There was a simple ‘T’ in the C02 tubing coming out of the regulator:

With a small investment in plugs for the 3rd beverage openings and replacement fittings for corny kegs I’d be ready for our big open house, Thanksgiving, New Years…well, you get it. Any party in the future. I got the fittings from my LHBS.

Heres a shot of the inside of the box:

On the outside corners of the plate you can see the unused 3rd tap. The plate is aluminium on the outside, and it encases stainless steel tubing on the inside. It’s surprisingly heavy. Warm beer goes in the clear tubing, passes through a lot of stainless steel tubes inside the plate, cools off, and comes out the black tubing to the tap.

Before using, I needed to cut off the Sanke fittings:

I also needed to plug up the 3rd beverage pass so that it would stay unspoiled in case I wanted to install a 3rd tap someday.

Here’s what the plug and washers look like:

Once installed:

In the picture above, the two tubes are the warm beer input tubes, the outside the the 3rd beverage plug.

When using a plate type jockey box, you want ice to cover the cold plate, but you DO NOT want the plate submerged in water. A coil jockey box can be submerged in water, but not a plate. Always keep your Igloo cooler drain open if you have a plate. You can see the grey bucket to the right of the box on the floor to catch water draining out of the cooler.

After replacing the fittings to accommodate corny kegs, I thoroughly cleaned all inputs using Beverage Line Cleaner (BLC). I did a quick test the week before the party to see what pressure delivered a good pour. It was different than my picnic tap.

The jockey box worked great at our fall open house and Thanksgiving. We’ll use it late this year for another gathering.

Pros:

1. Less ice – like ½ as much needed. Instead of 30-40 lbs to get the kegs cold before, I was able to get by with 20 lbs or so. It was cool enough that I didn’t need to fill the Igloo much. I just stacked ice on top of the plate and put a drain bucket below the cooler drain hole. The rest of the ice went in the blue tub to keep the two corny kegs cool. My serving temperature was about 39-40 degrees. It poured beautifully all afternoon and evening. I added some ice on the plate halfway through the party when the Hefe started foaming too much. (If you’re curious, the other beer was Jamil’s Evil Twin.) During the winter months I wonder if I’ll need ice at all…
2. Better serving arrangement. We had almost 70 people at our fall party. Having taps made it quicker for people to serve themselves. It also made for a consistent and beautiful pour – since the taps were stationary and weren’t being moved around like a picnic tap, I could truly set it and forget it. Less wasted beer from foamy pours due to people moving the picnic tap or being tempted to mess with the pressure, etc.
3. It looks more neat and finished, and I think it generated less mess.

Cons:

1. The box is surprisingly heavy. Not awful, but it isn’t super light.
2. You still need to bring CO2 with you to dispense.
3. If it is hot, you still need to chill the kegs some.
4. You need to use BLC to clean the lines after use and before storage.

Next I’m going to experiment with a paintball can adapter fitting to see if a canister can push a keg or two. That would make it so much easier – no big CO2 tank to lug around, and the paintball can and the regulator can sit in the cooler for transport.

Also, it’s important to run beer though the lines and out the tap BEFORE putting ice on the plate. If you used water to clean the lines or water with BLC or similar in it, you might freeze up the BLC in the plates and you wouldn’t be able to serve until the iced BLC melted back to liquid. The order is: drain cleaning fluid/water from you lines and out the tap until you see beer, add ice to plate/coil, and serve.

It was a great buy and it made our fall gatherings easier to host. If you have a lot of parties or attend parties and need to serve a lot of people, a jockey box might be a good alternative. Who knows – you might score one on Craigslist like I did – good luck!

Post by Brewer kcpup

Posted in Equipment, Fun | 5 Comments »

Uinta Wyld Clone – An Excellent Pale Ale With Simcoe and Amarillo

When I first started brewing, I was NOT a fan of hoppy beers. The first year or so I brewed mainly English Southern Browns, Porters, Black Ales, some Belgians, and malty Amber Ales.

Like many homebrewers, my tastes in beer began to broaden. Looking at the BJCP styles inspired me to try as many styles as I could…even an occasional hoppy beer when we ate out (I didn’t want a whole six pack of hoppy beers in my home fridge…no way).

Then I got a job that required a lot of travel to Salt Lake City. During my first year with the company I was there at least every other week. One of the pleasant surprises in getting to know Salt Lake City – and there are a lot of wonderful things about SLC – was the vibrancy of the craft beer scene. They have four – FOUR! – craft breweries in the metro area: Epic, Squatters, Wasatch, and Uinta. There are others that are in other areas of Utah as well. For a city of their size, that’s impressive. What’s more impressive is the quality of the beers produced. Delicious. So, as a responsible homebrewer, I naturally started tasting all the SLC beers I could. Many were pleasing, but one captured my imagination: Uinta Brewing’s Wyld Extra Pale Ale.

Here’s what it looks like:

Here’s the brewery’s website:
https://www.uintabrewing.com/

Utah has some interesting beer and liquor laws:

• One is that beer served on tap cannot be over 4% alcohol. Bottled beer can, but not draft. Go figure.
• There are also limits on the ABV of beer that can be sold in a grocery store, etc. –  those have to be on the low side, too. Higher ABV beers are purchased at the State Liquor Stores.

It is common for limitations to spur creativity. The draft ABV limit sure did in Salt Lake City. It has a diverse selection of delicious lower alcohol beers, session strength beers. Wyld was hoppier than I preferred, but the aroma. The AROMA! It filled my senses. Even though Wyld was hoppier than I typically liked, I remained entranced. I kept coming back to it. Little by little, I learned to like hoppy beers – all because of Wyld.

Unfortunately Uinta doesn’t distribute where I live. I wanted Wyld when I was home! So, I devoted myself to clone this beer. There weren’t recipes online. I went to the local homebrew supply stores in Salt Lake City, and got some good guidance. The recipe features Simcoe as the primary hop. The grain bill is relatively simple – 2 Row with some Carapils and something else for the color.

I won’t bore you with all my iterations – there were 5. I was about 80% there when… Jamil featured this beer on “Can You Brew It.”  I was thrilled!

Here’s a link to the CYBI recipe in Brewer’s Friend.

I had been using Simcoe 100%, Simcoe with Cascade, Simcoe with Centennial. After listening to the episode, I found out that Uinta uses mostly Simcoe, but the bittering charge is Amarillo. When I first brewed the CYBI recipe, the Amarillo made so much difference!

There are other distinctive characteristics: organic grains (specifically Great Western Organic 2 Row), and their proprietary yeast. They said they got their yeast in Europe back in 1991. Their head brewer suggested WLP029 German Kolsch as a good substitute. On the show, McDole was the one who brewed the clone. He said he was pretty sure he used WLP001.

Uinta Wyld Clone Results:

This beer clone stays on tap in my keezer most of the time. Oddly, I haven’t brewed it with 001 or 029 since getting the clone recipe from CYBI. Every time the keg is getting low, I’ve never had those on hand. Most of my batches, including the iterations before CYBI, were made with Pacman. This picture is a batch brewed with WLP002/Wyeast 1968 – I had brewed an English Bitter and had that ready to repitch.

Wyld is on the left, mine on the right. As you can see, my beer is not filtered, theirs is. Head retention is very similar.

My thoughts on these yeast substitutions: Pacman is very good, even close, but attenuates a higher than I’d like for this beer. WLP002/Wyeast 1968 was not at all similar and although I fermented cool (64-66) there was still the expected English yeast fruitiness (though muted by low ferment temps). It’s just not at all Wyld-like. There was also less hop presence than I’d like with the 002 batch. It’s kinda like an English Bitter with an American attitude. Good, but not what the source material dictates. I’d avoid English strains because it took it too far away from the clean American profile this beer displays.

Color is close, and as my beer warms up it is very very close considering mine isn’t filtered. I’ve been battling chill haze on this recipe due to the dry hopping. I’ve got to work on that!  Update – a week later it dropped clear!

After my Wyld quest, here’s some thoughts on my efforts. First, none of the iterations I’ve done (including CYBI clone batches) have ever approached the lovely malty backbone Wyld has. That delicate but firm malt shines through. When the beer is very fresh, you get a blast of hop aroma that is fragrant and pleasing. When a bit older, the hop nose fades, but the malt and balanced bitterness is still present.

On my next try, I’m going to try 001/1056 – I finally have some around now! Following that, I will try 029, the Kolsch yeast.

If you can get your hands on some Uinta Wyld, do it! The beer will show you how satisfying and full flavored a session strength beer can be. If you can’t, and you want a lower alcohol APA with a lot of hop nose, give this recipe a try. It’s been close to two years since I started trying to clone Wyld. I’m still on the journey. Thanks to CYBI I’ve made some close clones and I will persist until I nail it!

Post by Brewer kcpup

Posted in Recipes | 2 Comments »

Infographic: How Far Will Home Brewing Take You?

Brewing is a truly awesome hobby that hooks people for many reasons. First off, a side effect of pursuing this hobby is having lots of delicious beer on hand!  But that is just the beginning.  The wide range of beer styles, yeasts, and brewing processes means there is always something new to explore.  Brewing can be a way to challenge oneself. Highest quality beers take balance, experience, and attention to detail.  There is also a powerful do it yourself (DIY) geek factor to brewing. Equipment and gadgets start with simple plastic buckets and grow to fully automated brew rigs with lights, switches, pumps and burners.  Brewing your own beer is practical, in that the price per bottle can be much lower than store bought beer and avoids tax! Competition in brew club events, state fairs, brew fests keep brewers coming back for more.  Brewing can even turn into a career, either as a pro brewer or in academics.  And let’s not forget hops – the spice of beer that provides bitterness, aroma, and flavor like none other. Home brewers can knock their palates silly with extremely hoppy brews!

To capture our passion for home brewing and share it with the world we created the following infographic.

How far will home brewing take you?

Posted in Fun | 4 Comments »

December 2012 Release is Live!

We now support BeerXML import and export! An inventory deduction option is now available when you go to Brew a recipe. We also addressed several items in the Feature Request Forum from fellow brewers.

BeerXML:

BeerXML is an interchange format for moving recipes between brewing software packages. We support the version 1.0 spec. The 2.0 spec appears to be in limbo.

To Import BeerXML:

Look for the Import BeerXML link under the ‘New Beer Recipe’ navigation menu at the top.

It gives you the option of bringing in unrecognized fermentables as inventory custom fermentables. You may upload a file with multiple recipes in it. Trial users – recipes imported from BeerXML count towards your 5 recipe trial limit.

To Export to BeerXML:

On the view recipe page, there is an option under the export tab.

BeerXML results:

Expect to see minor differences in recipe stats when moving between programs. This is caused by different brewing equations, rounding, etc. Make sure to double check every field, especially batch size, efficiency, and grain ppgs. For example, Brew Target wants to set its own batch size based on equipment, which can really throw off a recipe’s stats.

If you are getting confused by the results of an import or export, we are happy to look into differences with you. Please use the Contact Us page.

Inventory Deductions:

When you go to create a brew session, if the system detects any matches between your inventory and the recipe, a new table will appear.

The screen gives you the opportunity to override the final inventory balances that will result. It covers grains, hops, yeast, and other ingredients. The only thing it doesn’t cover is priming sugar (unless you add it as an other ingredient).

The logic is extensive in terms of converting between all the possible unit types. For example, a grain in your inventory could be in pounds, but the recipe calls for ounces – the inventory deduction logic will handle that. It can even do corner cases like converting from teaspoons to liters.

For more information, see the Inventory Deduction FAQ.

Other features launched:

• Hop IBUs appear as column on view recipe page.
• Linked snapshot recipes and related brew sessions appear on recipe view page.
• Ability to print inventory. Look for the print button next to the add button on the inventory page.
• Ability to add a comment to the mash calculator log in the brew session feature.
• Updated notes on the mash calculator section in the brew session feature. This is in regards to strike temperature calculation accuracy. It was about 10F low for me last brew session, but it was pretty cold in the shed (50F). I do not think the current equation captures ambient temperature very well. Being that far off is not acceptable to us, and a number of you have also noticed this. We are looking into improving that feature!
• Batch code appears next to brew sessions on dash board.

Posted in Announcements | 1 Comment »

Unibroue Yeast – Available as Wyeast 3864 Belgian/Canadian Yeast

Currently on special release in Q4 of 2012, Wyeast 3864 Belgian/Canadian Yeast comes from a brewery called Unibroue in Canada, and has some distinctive Belgian like properties you might be interested in.

Discovering Unibroue:

Years before I began to homebrew, we took a trip to Canada. It was a wonderful experience, and a memorable trip. Part of the fun was trying Canadian beers we hadn’t seen before.

A few years after this trip, we were having lunch with friends. It was a relaxing early summer day, and we were eating outside. A beer sounded like a perfect idea (when isn’t it?) . I was looking at the beer menu, noticed a Canadian beer on the menu, and ordered it. Our trip to Canada had been in the summer and the weather was conjuring up those fond memories. That was when I tried a Unibroue beer for the first time – a glass of Blanche de Chambly.

One of the key moments in my craft brew early days was having that glass of Blanche de Chambly. It is a Witbier brewed by Unibroue, a Canadian brewery located near Montreal in Chambly, Quebec.

They specialize in Belgian brews exclusively. I began to seek out all the Unibroue beers I could find. All were full of character and delicious. I still adore their beers.

Brewing With The Unibroue Yeast:

Fast forward a few years and I began homebrewing. I find out that Wyeast is offering the Unibroue strain in their 4th quarter Private Collection. I snatch up a few smack packs and was off to the races. That was 3 years ago. It’s back this quarter. If you like Belgians and you like Unibroue beers, I’d encourage you to try the strain before it’s gone again!

Here’s a link the yeast strain information for Wyeast 3864.

I’ve brewed three beer styles with it: witbier, tripel, and a Maudite clone (the oft circulated Ky’s Maudite recipe). It ferments in a rather civilized fashion, and wasn’t a climber – even on the wheat beer. I will comment that the Maudite clone is NOT a “nailed” clone. It is a delicious Belgian Dark Strong beer, however.

Jamil Z’s Tripel recipe is a fine foil for this yeast. Fermented in the mid of the temperature range, it produced a lot of character but did take awhile to smooth out. This time I’m going to try the lower end this time and see if it will take less aging to round out.

Recipes that work well with the Unibroue Yeast (Wyeast 3864 Belgian/Canadian Yeast):

• Ky’s Maudite clone
• Jamil’s Tripel
• The witbier recipe I use – it is an adaption of an Austin Homebrew Supply recipe. I prefer adding oats in addition to wheat and pilsner.

Here’s a long cellared Ky’s Maudite in a glass. I had a few left in the back of my beer fridge. It is past its prime – the yeast strain character is fading – but it still tastes pretty good:

Unibroue Yeast Character:

I was thrilled to find that much of the “Unibroue character” is their proprietary yeast strain, and I was able to capture some of that essence in my batches. I’d describe the Unibroue strain as having a balanced and not overwhelming presentation of the typical hallmarks of Belgian yeasts: fruity character, spice, esters, and phenolics. At the high end of the fermentation range all these are amplified, especially the phenolics. I have found that if you overshoot the temperature range, aging can tame the flavors. This strain cellars well and retains it’s yeast character for 2 years or more if bottle conditioned and kept at cellar or refrigerator temperatures.

What I like best about the Unibroue strain is that it doesn’t hit you over the head with one particular note: it isn’t lots o’ spice, or lots ‘o fruit. It has these qualities present, but the flavor profile is not a “one trick pony” so to speak. There is also some acidity, which adds some focus and clarity to the Belgian character. Unibroue yeast is not as fruity as the Chimay strain (WLP500), not as spicy as the Achouffe strain (WLP550), and less civilized in character than the Westmalle strain (WLP530). In fact, some have speculated that Unibroue introduced some wild yeast from their Canadian region into a strain the founder brought over from Belgium.

To me the reason the strain is so delicious and also flexible is that it carries so many aspects of Belgian character – a complex flavor profile – but it does it in a refined and balanced manner. If you taste Blanche de Chambly (witbier), La Maudite (dark strong), and La Fin du Monde (tripel) side by side, you will easily detect the “Unibroue character” in each. However different each of these styles are, you will also find that yeast character appropriate and “at home” within that style’s profile.

This strain is very alcohol tolerant, and tastes good kegged or bottle conditioned. The highest gravity beer I’ve brewed with this strain thus far is about 9% – the Maudite clone, and I had no problems getting full carbonation in bottles with the original pitch.

I’ll add that Unibroue tends to carbonate their Tripels, Dark Strongs, etc. at the high end of the Belgian carbonation range. If you bottle condition, make sure you’re using strong bottles – most American bottles are suspect at holding those high carb levels and not becoming a bottle bomb.

I just purchased the equipment necessary for a frozen yeast bank so I won’t have to suffer the absence of this strain in off years. This is my favorite Belgian yeast, and I want to have it available!

If you like Belgians and you like Unibroue beers, I’d encourage you to try the strain. It is a very versatile Belgian strain and confers a strong but pleasant Belgian character in the beers I’ve brewed.

Posted in Beer Styles, Yeast Cultures | 5 Comments »

Making Sense of Efficiency Definitions

When using brewing calculators like Brewer’s Friend brewers are inadvertently confronted with the concept of efficiency. While efficiency is an important tool in making the brewing process more predictable, there exists a lot of confusion around various definitions for efficiency. Let me clear up most of them.

In brewing, just like in any other field, efficiency is the ratio between output and input. This is where all efficiency formulas have to agree. The disagreement tends to lie in what is considered the input and what is the output.

Efficiency in brewing cares about soluble extract in wort, commonly referred to as sugars, even though what’s dissolved is more than just sugars. The amount of extract is determined by both the volume and gravity (extract content) of the wort. Gravity point based calculations express this extract as the product of gravity points (1000*(sg-1)) and wort volume in gallon. The volume and specific gravity need to be corrected to a standard temperature (generally 68 F / 20 C) and the result is simply referred to as points:

points in wort = 1000*(sg-1) * volume in gallon

In metric calculations the extract content can be calculated slightly more accurately by multiplying the wort volume with its specific gravity and extract content in Plato (see blog post about the relation between specific gravity and Plato). Since Plato is a percent number the result has to be divided by 100.

extract weight in kg = wort volume in liters * sg * Plato / 100

1 kg extract is worth about 100 points.

The input side of the efficiency calculation is commonly the extract potential of the grist. Extract potential is a key malt analysis parameter which is tested and reported for each batch of malt. The maltster’s lab grinds a malt sample very fine and uses a congress mass (special mashing schedule that is used by convention) to extract the malt’s soluble extract. That dissolved extract is then measured and reported as weight percent of the malt’s dry weight. The resulting number is referred to as DBFG, dry basis fine grind. Batch to batch variability tends to be low and working with default values for various grain types works just fine.

When determining the extract potential for a given grist we need to multiply the grist weight with the average extract potential in points or percent. The latter is the DBFG number multiplied by (1-MC/100) where MC is the moisture content of the grain. Considering the moisture content (generally around 4%) is important since it does lead to an inaccuracy of a few percentage points. In gravity point based calculations extract potential is expressed as points per pound per gallon (pppg or sometimes called ppg). An ingredient with an extract potential of 100% (table sugar, for example) has 46 pppg. This number can be determined through a thought experiment that dissolves sugar in water and calculates the resulting gravity and volume. Note that the volume, which matters, is not the volume of the water but the volume of the sugar solution.

Now that we established the input and output side of efficiency let’s look at different efficiency definitions:

Efficiency into the kettle or mash efficiency (Palmer) is the ratio between extract in the kettle at start of the boil and extract potential of the grist. This is the most useful efficiency definition for all grain brewers since it considers losses during mash conversion and lautering. Since no (significant) extract is lost between the beginning and the end of the boil it can be calculated with kettle full volume and pre-boil gravity or cast-out volume and post boil gravity.

Conversion efficiency has been introduced to asses the performance of mash conversion before lauter losses take effect. Since it is difficult to measure the volume of wort in the mash, this efficiency is best assessed by calculating the highest possible mash wort gravity based on grist extract potential and mash water amount and then comparing the actual mash gravity to it. The mash gravity test for conversion efficiency allows brewers to troubleshoot low efficiency by determining if significant efficiency is lost during the mashing step.

Lauter efficiency builds on the fact that efficiency into the kettle is the product of conversion and lauter efficiency. It can be calculated if both conversion efficiency and efficiency into the kettle are known. Lauter efficiency only counts losses due to dissolved extract being held back in the grain. i.e. it is the percentage of extract dissolved during mashing that was transferred into the kettle. To avoid oversparging and resulting negative beer quality effects, lauter efficiency in home brewing should be kept below 90%.

Efficiency into the fermenter is calculated using the wort volume collected in the fermenter. It is lower than the efficiency into the kettle due to wort losses in the hop trub. Many brewers rely on this efficiency for planning.

The definition for Brewhouse efficiency in literature and practice is rather ambiguous. Some brewers define it using cast-out gravity and cast-out kettle volume while others consider the volume collected in the fermenter. Brewer’s Friend notion of brewhouse efficiency is based on batch size in the fermeter.

This diagram illustrates where extract (i.e. efficiency) is lost starting with the grain and ending with the dissolved extract in the fermenter.

As a side note, German brewers generally consider the total grist weight as the input for their efficiency calculations. As a result the reported efficiencies tend to be much lower since in that calculation a ~80% number (the extract potential of the grain) represents the maxim.

More technical detail on efficiency calculations can be found in this article: Understanding Efficiency.

For details on how Brewer’s Friend calculates efficiency, see the following FAQs:
How is efficiency calculated in a Brew Session?
How is efficiency defined on the recipe editor?

Post by Kaiser

Posted in Brewing | 6 Comments »

Detailed Guide for Cleaning a Better Bottle

A while back I posted about my Better Bottle blowoff setup. During my search for a good blowoff arrangement, I ended up calling the manufacturer of Better Bottles (BBs). The man I spoke with was super helpful and knowledgeable.

During that conversation, I decided to ask him about cleaning. The main reason I brought up cleaning was that I commonly have a 1-1.5 inch line of fermentation “gunk” that forms at the top of the BB right before it begins to taper to the neck. This line forms on the top band of the BB. Since I often leave my beer in the primary for 3 weeks, that gunk can get pretty stuck on there. Also, the bands on the BB are textured, and the texture makes gunk stubbornly adhere sometimes.

My primary cleaner is OxyClean, so with that in mind here’s the information he shared with me a few years ago. I’ll then share my cleaning regimen, modified after my conversation with the BB company plus a newer step for the most stubborn of stubborn gunk!

Better Bottle cleaning advice direct from the company:

1. The BB Guy said OxyClean can be used, but you’ve got to be careful – it’s powerful stuff. Don’t pour the powder directly in on the plastic. First put in the Oxy in water to dissolve it, when pour it in. Ensure that any Oxy concentration rate is low – read the package. I actually make mine a lower concentration than the “general cleaning” amount on the box…it cleans up my BBs fine. What I do is put my Oxy in a bit of warm water, dissolve it and pour it in the BB and swiftly fill it up to my desired level. The BB Guy explained that the reason you want to be careful with Oxy is that high concentrations of Oxy over a period of time may weaken the bottle. He also didn’t recommend soaking in Oxy for more and a few hours at the most…not overnight.
2. BB Guy cautioned about using super hot water – don’t do it. It won’t melt the bottle, but over time it can weaken it. He said to use water you can comfortably put your hand in. I’m typically a “blazing hot” water washer type, so I backed off.
3. BB Guy had a great suggestion about getting that fermentation gunk off: put a soft washcloth into the bottle with some water. Swish it around and the washcloth will pull the gunk off.

Here’s my BB cleaning regimen along with some photos:

First, let’s start with a dirty carboy I just racked from – this is with NO rinsing of any kind, just poured out the remaining liquid after racking to my keg:

Check out all that gunk on the textured band and all the way up to the neck of the carboy – this is from WLP002, a big top cropper!

Detailed cleaning steps:

1. I rinse them out with warm water and leave some warm water in there (about .5 gallon).
2. I put my orange carboy cap on top and shake the heck outta the bottle. This “water scrub” takes off a good portion of the gunk. Here’s what’s left after that vigorous shake – loads better, but not clean:
3. I put in a small squirt of Ivory liquid dish soap and put about 1.5 gallons very warm water in. I replace the carboy cap, and invert the carboy on a bucket with a hand towel on the lip. The towel keeps the BB from sliding into the bucket. I’ll let it soak for a while…sometimes a day. I used to do this with Oxy, but after my conversation with the BB guy I made switch to Ivory soap as change to my process.
4. I dump out the soapy water and rinse out the BB. I inspect it carefully to see if there’s some gunk still present. About 60% of the time, there are some scattered gunk spots left.
5. If there’s remaining gunk, I do the Oxy soak. I invert the BB like step #3 above and leave it for an hour or two only to reduce chemical stress on the BB per the company.
6. Still remaining gunk? If yes, then I pour out most of the Oxy water and leave about .25 to .5 gallon in the BB. I put my washcloth in there and swirl it around. Most of the time the BB is inverted/partially inverted with carboy cap on top and I’m spinning it around. It works well, and most of the time my BBs are clean at this step. Here’s the amount of water and my designated cotton BB washrag:
7. Gunk not gone yet? Often, this is with wheat beers and aggressive top croppers. That’s when I pull out the heavy artillery – the Carboy Cleaner. I had some anxiety about using these…would they scratch the plastic? The BB Guy said not to use brushes for this very reason. I wrote the Carboy Cleaner company and got a prompt response – yes other people use them for BB’s. No there are no surfaces on the cleaning arms that could scratch the plastic. I decided to give them a try. They work great! I use OxyClean water and a few passes takes care of it. However, I am cautious and don’t want to invite trouble and that’s why I use them as the last resort/ Typically that’s about 20% of the time. Before each Carboy Cleaner use on a BB, I check the cleaning arms carefully. I check the edges to ensure the plastic inside the arm that provides the necessary rigidity isn’t peeking out and I check the stitching to ensure the plastic “thread” isn’t coming unstitched. I’ve had the same Carboy Cleaner pads for 2 years now, and haven’t yet had to switch to the extra, replacement pair that came with them. One other thing to mention – if you decide to purchase a Carboy Cleaner for BB’s, tell them you use BBs when you purchase. He sent me the appropriate drilled stopper to work with BB’s! Great service. By the way, I have NEVER had a BB that couldn’t get 100% gunk free after this step.
8. Rinse and let air dry. The BB Guy said to dry them on their sides…it will go faster. I tried it and found that I agree. Shake as much water out as you can and set it on its side. More water will pool at the bottom. Keep shaking it out and in a day or two it will be dry. In this specific BB cleaning case, it was clean by Step 6 – here’s the final product – all clear!
9. I put a piece of clingwrap on top of the opening to keep dust from getting in BBs during storage.

So that’s my Better Bottle cleaning regimen. With the addition of the Carboy Cleaner on the most stubborn fermentation remnants, I’m now confident that I can safely clean BBs no matter the gunkage!

Post by Brewer kcpup

Posted in Equipment | 3 Comments »

Yeast Pitch Rates Explained

To make high quality beer consistently, understanding your yeast pitching rate is important. In fact, this may be the key to taking your beer to the next level. It turns out that liquid yeast manufacturers give you barely enough to get by, which we explain in detail below. The yeast pitching rate describes how much yeast is going into the fermentor, per gravity unit. The standard rate is expressed as million cells / milliliter of wort / degree plato. Higher gravity beers and lagers call for a higher pitch rate. If the pitch rate is too low the yeast get stressed and produce undesirable byproducts, including soapy, chemical, and corn flavors (yuck!). Stressed yeast can even stall out, resulting in an incomplete fermentation (half way between beer and wort – not good).

Our yeast pitching calculator makes choosing and hitting your desired pitch rate very simple.

What is the impact of the yeast pitch rate on the beer?
A higher pitch rate leads to cleaner flavor profile because the yeast are reproducing less. A lower pitch rate can bring out more flavor from the yeast, but can also lead to inconsistency batch to batch.

What is the standard pitch rate?
A popular study done by George Fix concluded a rate of 0.75 million cells / ml / degree Plato is appropriate for ales, and double that for lagers. Other popular brewing tools use this number, though some opt for 1.0 instead of 0.75.

Lagers require about twice the pitch rate of ales, since they ferment at lower temperatures.

Pro brewers pitch at a higher rate to mitigate risk of infection, ferment quickly, and ensure a consistent product. Serious home brewers who want to get excellent beer pitch at higher rates too.

Our analysis indicates that at present, the liquid yeast manufacturers like White Labs and Wyeast give home brewers just barely enough yeast cells to get by for a typical batch of Ale. They say one pack or vial is enough for 5 gallons of wort at 1.060 and contains approximately 100 billion cells. This comes out to a pitch rate of 0.35 million cells per milliliter per degree plato. This is half the rate of what pro brewer’s use.

Why the low pitch rate from the manufacturers?
In their defense, the product does contain extremely healthy first generation yeast. One justification might be that the 0.75 rate really applies to pro brewers – who repitch. That re-pitched yeast contains some trub, dead yeast, and other junk, so the 0.75 rate is not as pure as the 0.35 manufacturer’s rate. Repithched yeast can’t be 50% gunk, probably closer to just 10% after washing.

To make matters worse with liquid yeast for home brewers, the overall viability drops as time passes. Liquid yeast viability drops 21% each month, or 0.7% each day, from the date of manufacture. So in about 5 months, that pack is pretty much dead. I only buy yeast manufactured in the last 4 weeks at my local home brew store, and I use it as soon as possible. Lesson here: only use the freshest liquid yeast, and get ready to learn how to make yeast starters if you want to use liquid yeast…

What pitch rate makes sense for the home brewer?

We asked a gold medal winning brewer and home brew store owner about this. He says he would never pitch at a rate of 0.35, and makes a starter for anything above 1.040 for a 5 gallon batch. We are convinced as well, though we realize making starters is not always an option for everybody. In our yeast pitch and starter calculator, we left it open so you can choose, or at least see what the manufacturers recommend vs the pros.

Overview of yeast pitching rates:

• New smack pack, MFG guideline: 0.35 (ale only)
• Middle of the road Pro Brewer 0.75 (ales below 1.060)
• Pro Brewer 1.00 (gravity above 1.060)
• Pro Brewer 1.50 (minimum for lager)
• Pro Brewer 2.0 (maximum, lager above 1.060)

Ways of achieving a higher yeast pitching rate:

A) Spend more money on fresh yeast (liquid or dry).

B) Make an appropriately sized starter – our yeast calculator handles that.  With dry yeast it is cost effective to buy more packs rather than make starters.

C) Re-pitch slurry from a previous batch. This should only be done under ideal circumstances (healthy fermentation, within 7-10 days, correct temperature range, beer below 6.5% ABV etc).

We have an introductory article on that subject here:
https://www.brewersfriend.com/2010/01/30/yeast-washing-101/

This Wyeast article has excellent and detailed on harvesting and re-pitching yeast:
https://www.wyeastlab.com/com-yeast-harvest.cfm

Ramblings on Yeast Pitching:

If a brewer tells you they pitched X number of yeast cells, that is just part of the story. What you really want to know is the pitch rate in million cells / milliliter of wort / degree Plato. Total yeast cells pitched only matters after you know the volume of the wort AND its gravity. Reason being – it takes more yeast to work through a higher gravity beer. You might also ask what generation the yeast were, what the slurry density was, and at what temperature the yeast were cultivated at.

Post by Larry

Other Brewer’s Friend Articles on the Subject:

We revisited our earlier articles on yeast starters and re-pitching to align with the information presented here:

• How To Make a Yeast Starter (OG 1.040)
• Stir Plates and Growing Brewing Yeast Quickly
• StirStarter Equipment Review

References:

• https://www.byo.com/component/resource/article/1749-yeast-pitching-rates-advance-homebrewing
• https://www.mrmalty.com/pitching.php
• https://www.wyeastlab.com/hb_pitchrates.cfm
• https://www.whitelabs.com/beer/homebrew_information.html
• https://www.calferm.org/edu/yeast/YEASTP.htm
• https://www.northernbrewer.com/documentation/YeastPitchingRates.pdf

Posted in Yeast Cultures | 2 Comments »