Looks good to me. The corn seems to really lighten it up.
What are you doing with homebrew today?
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Yeah, that's what I kinda thought, too. I've done some minimalist recipes, but even plain ol' 2-row puts a little more color in a brew. Very tasty. Glad you talked me into it. Had a little bit of an issue with the sediment sticking in the cone, which of course was gonna come out in the first few quarts, so got a little bit stirred back up. Not much, though, because I put the end of the hose in my hops basket (400 micron) which took a lot of it out. Just a little cloudy near the end of the bottling, because most of it settled back out very quickly. The krausen that was still floating was very white, or maybe that was unfermentable starch from the corn. Dunno. Didn't look very nice, but sure did smell good.
Assuming I kept everything clean and don't have any explosions, this is gonna be good when it conditions. The bitterness doesn't hit until after you swallow, and then, it's a light bitterness than hangs around a bit. I'm not a big fan of bitter, but this is nice stuff. Trying to decide what kind of food it'll be good with. Now I gotta go back and read what I put in it again, LOL. It's REALLY cobbled up from your original recipe, starting with the flaked corn instead of grits, and pretty much something that was almost swept up off the floor. I didn't have enough corn sugar for the priming, so I mixed 2.5 oz corn sugar and 3 oz table (cane) sugar. First time I've used cane sugar for priming, too, so hope I didn't over prime with the mix. This is NOTHING like what the original intent was, but like I said, it's pretty tasty even before conditioning. I guess some good beers are quite by accident. Had a good bit of natural carbing to it because I've kept it cooler than most of my batches. I tried to hold it mid-range for the US-05, and did a much better job at 63 after getting the freezer. I bumped it up to 66 yesterday just to see if it would rattle the airlock again. I'm thinking I'm gonna like colder fermenting. 53 bottles outta this batch. A little bit of cleanup left, and gotta wait for some stuff to dry before I put it away to prevent molding. Bottling day done, otherwise. Got some DME and Nottie yeast to make a primer with. May brew the Oatmeal Stout in a couple days.
Now let's wait to see what happens with the head retention. I normally spritz the bottles with StarSan after rinsing, and let 'em drip. This time, I used the StarSan between the scrub and rinse, and let 'em drip. That, in addition to a slight (about 1/2 ounce) increase in priming I'm hoping will make it a little fizzier and keep a head on it. Time will tell.
I’m looking into my first brew here in my new home in Eugene, Oregon. Since I’ve brewed several iterations of amber ale, that is my likely target. I am posting results from the local water quality report, and wondering what you all would do to eliminate any residual chlorine. According to what I have read, the local water authority uses bleach to treat the water. Below are significant results from the latest available water quality report.
Range / Average
Calcium 4.0 - 4.8 / 4.4
Chloride 2.4 - 2.7 / 2.6
Magnesium 1.7 - 1.9 / 1.7
Sodium 6.5 - 8.4 / 7.2
Sulfate 4.0 - 4.9 / 4.4
Hardness as CaCO3 17 - 19 / 18
Alkalinity as CaCO3 22 - 29 / 26
Total Dissolved Solids 52 - 60 / 56
EWEB is required by the Oregon Health Authority to produce water with a pH greater than 7.6.
For what it’s worth, this is much better water than was available in my previous home in Anaheim, CA. We run the water through a Brita filter, but the water is very good straight from the tap.
Range / Average
Calcium 4.0 - 4.8 / 4.4
Chloride 2.4 - 2.7 / 2.6
Magnesium 1.7 - 1.9 / 1.7
Sodium 6.5 - 8.4 / 7.2
Sulfate 4.0 - 4.9 / 4.4
Hardness as CaCO3 17 - 19 / 18
Alkalinity as CaCO3 22 - 29 / 26
Total Dissolved Solids 52 - 60 / 56
EWEB is required by the Oregon Health Authority to produce water with a pH greater than 7.6.
For what it’s worth, this is much better water than was available in my previous home in Anaheim, CA. We run the water through a Brita filter, but the water is very good straight from the tap.
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That's a nice blank canvas to work with.
I believe Campden tablets (Metabisulfate) are the easiest and most cost-effective way to eliminate chlorine/chloramine.
Seconded for Campden. A half tablet instantly binds and inerts all chlorine and chloramine in 5 gallons.
On my way to my new lhbs to pick up grains, hops and a Malt Muncher mill.
Yay, my first Eugene brew day is on the way!
Yay, my first Eugene brew day is on the way!
Keep us posted on what you make.
You lucky man such soft water
Metabisulphate is your answer
Metabisulphate is your answer
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Ordering parts to make floating diptubes. I know they're widely available, but I want them on all my kegs, and I'm a cheapskate okay!
It will be a hoppy amber ale, and it will be so nice to have my hat back in the ring. Looks like rain on Wednesday, so that’s likely my day to brew.
Will be interesting to see if your hb tastes any different using your new source water?
I’ll reckon it will be better. Everyone here raves about the water. We get clear ice cubes using straight tap water, a thing of beauty. Talking to the guy at the new lhbs (Home Fermenter), he said tap water is good to go, or if it made me happy, I could bring the water to 170F to remove any residual chlorine. I know I have some metabisulfite in my gear, but do I need it?
ETA - a couple weeks ago, I chatted with Jamie Floyd, the founding brewer of Ninkasi, while he poured me a beer. When asked how the water is treated for the brewery, he said they just boil it. I like their beers.
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I filter mine through a carbon filter and I add S meta .40g / batch it's for Chlormines this isn't removed from boiling or letting the water sit out overnight .
Hey your call in the end Herm your the head brewer there man do whatever makes you happy
Sounds like your water has chlorine but not chloramine, which is only removed with campden. So you're good to go! If you leave it untreated you might get bandaid beer, but you might not
According to some, Eugene water is world class. I keep looking online for detailed information concerning how Eugene treats its drinking water. As far as I can tell, chloramines are not used. Instead, they have a process by which they make their own bleach, using salt. The water quality reports indicate residual chlorine levels of 0.10 -0.74 ppm. Just to be sure, I have sent an email to our water supplier to inquire about the use of chloramines. And I do have Campden (both potassium and sodium metabisulphite) tablets at my disposal.
Well alright!
I just got a reply to my query to the local water supplier, and chloramines ARE NOT USED in disinfecting the water supply, only chlorine bleach. With this in mind, would any of you still recommend the use of Campden tablets before I brew?
I just got a reply to my query to the local water supplier, and chloramines ARE NOT USED in disinfecting the water supply, only chlorine bleach. With this in mind, would any of you still recommend the use of Campden tablets before I brew?
Nope
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I'm very curious. Why not?
My understanding of chlorine removal is:
Boiling - a waste of energy
Carbon Filtration - a waste of money
Aeration - a waste of time
Campden Tablets
Caveat - My water comes from a well and I don't have to deal with chlorine, so I have no experience with removing it.
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If you draw your water the day before and then leave it uncovered, the chlorine will dissipate on its own. However, if you are using the water right away, you should use metabisulfite.
Herm mentioned that the LHBS doesn't do anything about the chlorine and the head brewer of an award winning brewery boils it away. I would do those things if it were me.
Campden is great for chloramine removal, which isn't needed here. I've also overused campden before and it makes beer smell absolutely vile. If I didn't need it then I wouldn't use it
