What are you doing with homebrew today?

HighVoltageMan! said:
Like Sunfire said, let it buck as is. Next time boil for gravity, not volume or even time. Boil rates change in the homebrewing world because our control isn't super tight. When I boil I check gravity with a refractometer several times during the boil. I extend the boil when the gravity is low and add water when the gravity is too high. Most bittering hops are 60 minutes additions, so if the boil goes longer it's not a big deal because extending the 60 minute addition doesn't create much in the way of bittering because the AA's are already in solution.

I also keep some DME around in case this happens, I can simply add some DME to bring up the gravity. It works better than adding sugar because it raises OG without making the FG too low.

BTW. Nice looking boil.
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Thanks HVM. I think this all “boils down to” changes I made to my equipment profile. Before this brew, I tweaked my equipment profile to increase my boil off rate by 25% - trying to chase down some efficiency issues. I probably need to drop that back to 3 quarts per hour, and increase the grain absorption closer to recommendations.
With respect to hops, I bag them in the boil. Yesterday I had a 60 minute bittering charge, and a flavor addition at 10 minutes. If I was to have extended the boil, would removing the hops bag before extending the boil be prudent?
 
HighVoltageMan! said:
Like Sunfire said, let it buck as is. Next time boil for gravity, not volume or even time. Boil rates change in the homebrewing world because our control isn't super tight. When I boil I check gravity with a refractometer several times during the boil. I extend the boil when the gravity is low and add water when the gravity is too high. Most bittering hops are 60 minutes additions, so if the boil goes longer it's not a big deal because extending the 60 minute addition doesn't create much in the way of bittering because the AA's are already in solution.

I also keep some DME around in case this happens, I can simply add some DME to bring up the gravity. It works better than adding sugar because it raises OG without making the FG too low.

BTW. Nice looking boil.
Click to expand...

I think that's the money line right there.

But...I only measure pre-boil gravity and pre-boil volume. If they are in the expected neighborhood, then I'll trust the math and proceed to boil for Volume.
Pre-Boil Gravity (points) * Pre-Boil Volume = Post Boil Gravity (points) * Post Boil Volume
Or thereabouts. Because of rounding and measurement errors (mostly volume) this is never exact, but always close enough.

If you know and trust your boil off rate, you can quickly calculate how long you need to boil to hit your target gravity based on your Pre-Boil Gravity...ending volume be damned.

Stolen from BYO - Hitting Target Original Gravity and Volume - Brew Your Own (byo.com)
The formula for the effect of changing the boiling time on the gravity is:
Increase (or decrease) in boiling time in minutes = (Pre-boil volume * (Target pre-boil gravity points – Actual pre-boil gravity points) * 60) / (Target pre-boil gravity points * Boiling losses per hour)
(Click through for an example)
Again...measurement errors...so this is a "close enough for me" equation.

I base my recipes on a 60 minute boil, and usually that's what I do. But sometimes I will boil only 50 minutes, sometimes 70. I once had to boil a Barleywine for 105 minutes.

All of this becomes second nature after repeatedly brewing on one system, but it's nice to have in your back pocket, just in case.
 
Herm_brews said:
I tweaked my equipment profile to increase my boil off rate by 25% - trying to chase down some efficiency issues. I probably need to drop that back to 3 quarts per hour
Click to expand...
So get your boil kettle, add a known amount of water, boil for an hour, let it cool, and measure the boil off rate directly.
 
Herm_brews said:
Thanks HVM. I think this all “boils down to” changes I made to my equipment profile. Before this brew, I tweaked my equipment profile to increase my boil off rate by 25% - trying to chase down some efficiency issues. I probably need to drop that back to 3 quarts per hour, and increase the grain absorption closer to recommendations.
With respect to hops, I bag them in the boil. Yesterday I had a 60 minute bittering charge, and a flavor addition at 10 minutes. If I was to have extended the boil, would removing the hops bag before extending the boil be prudent?
Click to expand...
If you need to extend the boil longer than expected and you can remove the hops, that’s the best scenario. If you can’t, there’s is little risk unless you added a 10 minute addition and now you need to boil an additional 20 minutes. Then the bitterness can get out of control.

Hops at 60 minutes have hot the maximum bitterness and some contend that longer than 60 minutes reduces bitterness. I’ve extended boils beyond 60 minutes without seeing an increase or decrease in bitterness.
 
Donoroto said:
So get your boil kettle, add a known amount of water, boil for an hour, let it cool, and measure the boil off rate directly.
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Right now, the last thing I want to do is bring my kettle in from the garage and waste energy and water. Yesterday was a long day, and today I stayed home from work feeling crappy.
 
Herm_brews said:
Right now, the last thing I want to do is bring my kettle in from the garage and waste energy and water. Yesterday was a long day, and today I stayed home from work feeling crappy.
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That how you know you’ve had a great brew day. You spend the next recovering!
 
Usually I enjoy a beer or three on brew day. Yesterday I stayed “dry” but drank lots of water. Went to bed early, slept well until early this morning. Woke up with chills, sore back and hips. Did an Antigen Rapid Test, came back negative for COVID. No energy, so I’m just laying low for the day.
 
Herm_brews said:
Usually I enjoy a beer or three on brew day. Yesterday I stayed “dry” but drank lots of water. Went to bed early, slept well until early this morning. Woke up with chills, sore back and hips. Did an Antigen Rapid Test, came back negative for COVID. No energy, so I’m just laying low for the day.
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It Musta been a BIG brew day lol!

Na I hope you come good quick mate ;)

I can see the use or that refractometer a God send on hitting gravity as well on brew day.
I've yet to purchase one in for brewing:rolleyes:
 
Herm_brews said:
Right now, the last thing I want to do is bring my kettle in from the garage and waste energy and water. Yesterday was a long day, and today I stayed home from work feeling crappy.
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Not now! But some time.
Oh, and hope you feel better soon!
 
I put my Rapier Wit on a week ago. Within 3 hours, it looked more like a boil than a ferment because the repitch went BONKERS!!!. Checked the next morning, and despite 8 inches of head space when I pitched, the krausen STILL got up into the airlock. Then, it went VERY cloudy, and I got that sick feeling that I'd hosed up a batch. Checked again this morning, and it's looking like it should, clearing nicely, and a beautiful white yeast cake in the bottom of the sediment bulb. Guess I'll know when I draw it for bottling if it's OK. Smells delicious, not 'rurnt' like I expected. I really need to do something to control this monster if this is a sign of things to come with repitch.
 
Herm_brews said:
Usually I enjoy a beer or three on brew day. Yesterday I stayed “dry” but drank lots of water. Went to bed early, slept well until early this morning. Woke up with chills, sore back and hips. Did an Antigen Rapid Test, came back negative for COVID. No energy, so I’m just laying low for the day.
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Herm, I think they call that OFD. (Old Fart's Disease). I have a chronic case. Along with CRAFT. (Can't Remember a F***ing Thing).
 
RoadRoach said:
I put my Rapier Wit on a week ago. Within 3 hours, it looked more like a boil than a ferment because the repitch went BONKERS!!!. Checked the next morning, and despite 8 inches of head space when I pitched, the krausen STILL got up into the airlock. Then, it went VERY cloudy, and I got that sick feeling that I'd hosed up a batch. Checked again this morning, and it's looking like it should, clearing nicely, and a beautiful white yeast cake in the bottom of the sediment bulb. Guess I'll know when I draw it for bottling if it's OK. Smells delicious, not 'rurnt' like I expected. I really need to do something to control this monster if this is a sign of things to come with repitch.
Click to expand...
Maybe half you pitch rate next run.
 
Trialben said:
Maybe half you pitch rate next run.
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I didn't realize I could over pitch, but I'm also guessing I just learned that I could. I've never seen one go so wild, and I've done re-pitches before. Most were from liquid yeast, and I used about a liter of the slurry for a second batch of the same stuff. This was my first repitch with a batch from dried yeast. It was gorgeous in the bulb, absolutely white in the bottom. Same stuff looks like it's accumulating in the bulb again after I swapped it yesterday.
 
RoadRoach said:
I didn't realize I could over pitch, but I'm also guessing I just learned that I could. I've never seen one go so wild, and I've done re-pitches before. Most were from liquid yeast, and I used about a liter of the slurry for a second batch of the same stuff. This was my first repitch with a batch from dried yeast. It was gorgeous in the bulb, absolutely white in the bottom. Same stuff looks like it's accumulating in the bulb again after I swapped it yesterday.
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Yeah man its a beautiful thing!
you could Get away with pitching half even a 1/4.
Sounds like you'll have plenty of yeast at your disposal ;)
 
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