I turned the cooling off on the controller but set a high temp alarm just in case. The yeast finally got to work after 48 hours. I had overchilled, so I propped open the fridge door and covered the fermenter with a t-shirt to prevent any skunking from sunlight. However, this beer was sluggish to start. I don’t use a heater, because usually my heated basement and an active fermentation cooperate. An hour later when the foam subsided, I added a single packet of Safale US-05. I correctly guessed that I had enough headspace….this time. The fermenter was then moved to my dedicated fermentation fridge, I set my Inkbird temp controller for 64☏ (cooling only), and I tempted fate with a 3-piece airlock rather than blow-off hose. The wort was transferred to a 6-gallon plastic carboy using a short piece of silicone hose and Siphon Spray Wort Aerator. I took a gravity reading, and I’d hit the mark again at 1.065 (after temp correction). My groundwater is COLD right now so I overshot a bit during chilling. I boiled, adding hops at 60 minutes and 5 minutes as planned, then chilled to 61☏. I again hit my numbers, with the pre-boil gravity at 1.055 after adjusting for the temperature. A quick sparge, and that went into the kettle too. Well, recent tests have shown a few degrees (even 14☏) might not matter, right? Maybe.Ħ0 minutes later, I raised the bag to drain, and then transferred into my kettle. You may recall the other iterations used a 154-155☏ actual mash temp, and I admit my target was based on the target for Iteration 2 and not the actual temp. As I mentioned before, I’ve been using the same equipment and methods for quite a long time, so I usually hit my temps and volumes-if I don’t, it’s because I’ve entered something wrong in Beersmith. I heated my water, added salts, transferred to the mash tun, checked the temperature, mashed in, and checked the temp again. Next are my hand tools gallon stainless pitcher, hop filter for the kettle, comically large whisk, plastic mash paddle, scales, and so on. From left to right and following the hoses, we have a turkey fryer, a 15-gallon kettle with a Quick Clean Take-Apart Ball Valve which allows complete cleaning & inspection each brew day, silicon hoses to a Topsflow Brewing Pump, then my cooler Mash Tun with a brew bag. The next morning, I set up in the garage with the burner next to the open garage door. Owning a mill has helped with repeatability. I then stepped out to the driveway to mill my grains. She started by just watching my water gathering but couldn’t stay away from the interesting smells of the brew salts on the counter, so she was ushered into the basement while I re-cleaned the counter and prepped the salts for brew day. I have a puppy who is learning about homebrewing. We are lucky to have access to the water company’s current test results via their website, so I’m fortunate to have enough info for adding my water salts. I collect and treat my local water with Campden tablets the night before I brew. I’ve been using this equipment and methods for several years, so this brew day was entirely without surprise. I use the less common Mash in a Bag (MIAB) method, using a 10-gallon cooler-the reason being, most of the time I batch sparge because I find it more repeatable and there’s something comforting about stable mash temps. I do not use either a 3-vessel system or Brew in a Bag (BIAB). The owners are super fun, very knowledgeable, and a huge part of our local brew club. My LHBS has been such a big part of my happiness as a brewer. My brew day starts a few days before I actually brew when I finalize the recipe in Beersmith, decide on my water adjustments via Bru’n Water, and then acquire the ingredients from the local homebrew store. The rest of the series can be found here. We hope to learn more about the art of recipe creation as we see how other brewers approach the same recipe. This post is one in a series following six brewers collaborating to each make a small adjustment to a single recipe in order to improve it, then pass it along to the next brewer.
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