Hamish McBeer Posted December 29, 2018 Share Posted December 29, 2018 G'day people, only on my third brew. Brew A, Enterprise lager next! What are the methods for increasing flavour and alcohol content? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamus O'Sean Posted December 29, 2018 Share Posted December 29, 2018 28 minutes ago, Hamish McBeer said: G'day people, only on my third brew. Brew A, Enterprise lager next! What are the methods for increasing flavour and alcohol content? Extra Light Dry Malt - More alcohol and more body Steep some grains. Improved flavour. Lots of the Coopers recipes have Crystal Malt Grains. Usually they say crack them and steep them in a couple of litres of water in the fridge overnight. Remove the grains before tipping the liquid into your fermenter. Do a hop tea. Adds hop flavour. Wrap 20g of hop pellets in a chux cloth, tie it together and pop it into a large coffee cup, pour over with just off boiling water, steep for 15-30 minutes, remove the cloth bag, giving it squeeze on the way out, tip the "tea" into your fermenter before adding yeast. Do a dry hop addition. Adds hop aroma. Wrap 20g of hop pellets in a chux cloth, tie it together and drop in the fermenter from 4 days after starting ferment. Cheers Shamus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamish McBeer Posted December 29, 2018 Author Share Posted December 29, 2018 Thanks Shamus, your knowledge will be put to extremely good use! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 Alternatively you can hot steep crystal malt grains in the 2 litres water at 65-70 degrees for half an hour. Whichever method you use though, it's always a good idea to boil the resultant liquid after removing the grains. 10 minutes is adequate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hermoor Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 1 hour ago, Otto Von Blotto said: Alternatively you can hot steep crystal malt grains in the 2 litres water at 65-70 degrees for half an hour. Whichever method you use though, it's always a good idea to boil the resultant liquid after removing the grains. 10 minutes is adequate. This is the method I like, I add crystal to a couple of my receipts and it works well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 3 hours ago, Otto Von Blotto said: Alternatively you can hot steep crystal malt grains in the 2 litres water at 65-70 degrees for half an hour...it's always a good idea to boil the resultant liquid after removing the grains. 10 minutes is adequate. This is a theory that has been allowed to get out of control (IMHO). Probably some initial hysterical idiot left his resultant wort exposed to open airborne wild contaminants for a longish period of time, & as a result got an infected brew. Then changed his practices to boiling the wort & having it ready for pitching yeast at the right temperature on a subsequent brew & didn't get an infection, & then claimed some BS fact to the rest of the world & many believed it. Well known pasteurisation temperatures for killing off bacteria & infections sit well at the advised 65-70°C steeping temps & timeframes often listed for steeping grains. I've steeped grains without a follow-up boil many times with NO problems or infected brews as a consequence whatsoever. Just don't leave this steeped wort uncovered for longish periods post-steep. Get the resultant liquid into your fermenter with the rest of your ingredients & pitch your yeast ASAP. I think Def Leppard named an album around this sort of shite? Lusty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenyinthewestofsydney Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 Yeah tend to agree with you lusty. In my kit and bit days i never boiled one grain steep. Just strained it straight into the fermenter. Never had a problem either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 There are bugs that survive those sorts of temps and some that even survive a boil, that could be already present on the grains themselves. Better to minimise the risk than dismiss it as "hysteria" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 I have done both with no issues but as Kelsey said it is about risk minimisation. Some people want to spend an extra 10 minutes to make sure. It’s like a band with a one armed drummer, you can get away with it but sometimes it sounds like crap. Utilising a two armed drummer increases your chances of better music Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamish McBeer Posted January 9, 2019 Author Share Posted January 9, 2019 Thank you to all the responses to my question from a fine bunch of beer loving people. I've become impatient waiting for my brew to be ready, so I've purchased another kit, it was necessary! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 On 1/8/2019 at 1:15 AM, Otto Von Blotto said: There are bugs that survive those sorts of temps and some that even survive a boil, that could be already present on the grains themselves. Better to minimise the risk than dismiss it as "hysteria" Once you have the brew wort between approx. 40°C & your ideal yeast pitching temperature, it is at it's most vulnerable. Growth rate charts of bacterial spoilage suggest as much. Through minimizing the time-frame wort sits in this temperature range without yeast present has pretty much eliminated infected brews from my Brewhouse. On this front, I think I'm a good 4yrs+ clean now. (Sounds like an AA meeting speech! ) Understanding how problems occur & how to deal with them is often cheaper & more time efficient than blanket processing problems with unnecessary procedures. There are examples of this everywhere in all sorts of manufacturing & the production of goods. Just my 2 cents, Lusty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 Of course, you're entitled to use whatever process you like, as is everyone else. Just because some prefer boiling the wort for a short time doesn't make it wrong or pointless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenyinthewestofsydney Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 Yep lusty. If 3 and a bit years of brewing has taught me something it is this. If you pitch a optimal amount of healthy yeast within a reasonable amount of time it is almost impossible to have an infected batch. The yeast will beat anything in that time. If i dont quick chill then its 24 hours in a cube before pitching. Never a problem. Im scared to leave cubes a long time because i agree with your quote below. "Through minimizing the time-frame wort sits in this temperature range without yeast present has pretty much eliminated infected brews from my Brewhouse" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 The reason cubes can be left sitting for periods of time without issue comes down to one simple difference: the wort is transferred very hot and is not exposed to the air once the cube is sealed. It's not the same as filling the fermenter with pitching temp wort and letting it sit around waiting for yeast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenyinthewestofsydney Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 5 minutes ago, Otto Von Blotto said: The reason cubes can be left sitting for periods of time without issue comes down to one simple difference: the wort is transferred very hot and is not exposed to the air once the cube is sealed. It's not the same as filling the fermenter with pitching temp wort and letting it sit around waiting for yeast. Didn't you have a cube that exploded one day Kelsey? Quicker it hits the yeast the better IMO. Gives the bacteria no chance whatsoever. Even if you have been a bit lax in sanitation it will still win out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 Aye, one cube in 6 years due to a leaky tap seal on it. Never had an issue with ones that don't leak. Usually they only sit for a month at the most unless I do a few in a row to build up a stockpile. I re brewed that one and it turned out really well, and while I was disappointed about losing the first one, I'm glad it happened in the cube rather than the fermenter or keg. At least the only time wasted was the brew day itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenyinthewestofsydney Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 Lol. Sorry to drag that one up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 It's all good, distant memory now At a guess I've probably done about 130 batches since I started all grain, all of them cubed for varying periods of time. They've all been fine except that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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