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Fail Thread (Mistakes You've Made) 2019


ben 10

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It was Fermentis, although at the time it was only a marketing release, I still haven't seen the actual paper on it but I haven't been looking either since I hardly ever use dry yeast anymore. Their process also differed slightly: the fermenters were filled with about a third of the batch, yeast pitched, then the rest of the wort poured in. Probably not an entirely viable process with kits and extracts as the initial third would probably be too hot, and be of a much higher SG than the full size batch, which may present issues. 

AFAIK Lallemand still recommend rehydrating as best practice. I began doing it more because of the amount of foam on top of the wort after pouring a cube in. I wasn't too keen on having the yeast sitting on top of it for however long it took to settle; obviously when it was rehydrated it just went straight through into the wort. 

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1 hour ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

I began doing it more because of the amount of foam on top of the wort after pouring a cube in. I wasn't too keen on having the yeast sitting on top of it for however long it took to settle; obviously when it was rehydrated it just went straight through into the wort. 

I don't like the idea of dry sprinkling on the top of foam either, so have been waiting for that to settle.  And that kinda leads into another discussion... the need to aerate wort when pitching dry yeasts.  Last thing I read about that was there was no need as there is apparently enough nutrient in the ganules to help get the yeast off to a healthy start...  

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1 hour ago, BlackSands said:

I don't like the idea of dry sprinkling on the top of foam either, so have been waiting for that to settle.  And that kinda leads into another discussion... the need to aerate wort when pitching dry yeasts.  Last thing I read about that was there was no need as there is apparently enough nutrient in the ganules to help get the yeast off to a healthy start...  

I wouldn't be too worried about kit/extract beers. But if doing all grain and you boiled the wort for 60+ minutes then some type of aeration is a good idea; even if it is only splashing.

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Ironically it probably takes the same amount of time for the foam to settle as it does to rehydrate a packet of yeast. So if you began rehydrating it before the wort is in the fermenter, you could actually pitch it sooner. 😜

I've also read that about the oxygenation not really being necessary with dry yeasts. Again, hardly using them I haven't really looked into it in any detail. Besides, given I reuse yeast numerous times, which I did with dry yeast as well making it liquid for every use after the first anyway, it's just easier to keep the same process every batch, which for me includes oxygenation at pitching time. 

Edited by Otto Von Blotto
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On 5/7/2019 at 8:02 PM, Zume Brew said:

The first I pitched at 27° and didnt really change. It just got cold so im at the technological advancement of wrapping a jumper around my stainless steel fv. 

Ive done a 1kg brew booster with each brew as well, prpbs need to crank it to 1.5kg or 2kg. Im wary of alcohol content tho (I like to session a lot), but I heard a kilo of LDME would enhance mouthfeel etc without sending the ABV through the roof.

Taking meticulous notes too haha

Thanks BB

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm there is the dilemma I guess...  as you add the malty stuff... you do have the potential for ABV increase.

Best is to give it a try.  But Dex is not going to give you body.  You need the BE that has the MOST malt and the least Dex...  might be BE2.  I just bought a bag of dry malt... 

But I reckon you need 1.5kg meself as a minimum... but just try it out... 

Other possibility - is cop the $$... but do a good brew w chosen Coopers Kit PLUS Coopers Liquid Malt as the adjunct rather than the kilo....reckon you will notice the difference.... 

 

NOW....  if you can afford a BEAUTIFUL SS Vat... reckon if in cold clime.... you can cop the extra $$ for a plate warmer and a temp controller.... and your life will be changed...  FOREVER!

Took me a while to work this out... but after this website... I was converted forever... and now (due to good fortune I think rather than ripper planning) have got cooling as well which is pretty nice... and my first cool temp Coopers Golden Crown Lager has turned out quite nice 😎

 

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8 hours ago, BlackSands said:

I don't like the idea of dry sprinkling on the top of foam either...

thence the great and unstoppable desire to STIR...

so it becomes STIRRED and not SHAKEN...

I guess I prolly shoulda been more scientific in recording... but my gut feel is that wherever I have STIRRED dry yeast in it has worked out ok... 

I do agree that re-hydrating and developing an appropriate population with excellent sterile conditions would be ideal.... 

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5 hours ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

it's just easier to keep the same process every batch, which for me includes oxygenation at pitching time. 

how does this 'oxygenation' take place... do you stir well at time of pitch?  

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7 minutes ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

I have an oxygen cylinder that I use to inject pure oxygen into the wort through a sintered stone. 

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm shoulda guessed that your technology would have been a bit more advanced than stirring w a sterile SS spoon Kelsey 😜

Nice.  Luvyerwork. 

And you do that once the Wort is at Pitching Temp in the FV....  do you have to insert this pipe n-diffuser into the FV after opening the lid or is there some external connector... 

I guess we take the lid off to pitch anyway hey... ?

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6 hours ago, Hairy said:

I wouldn't be too worried about kit/extract beers. But if doing all grain and you boiled the wort for 60+ minutes then some type of aeration is a good idea; even if it is only splashing.

It prolly is not best practice... but my very first go at AG... I just opened the tap at bottom of Mash tun and let it spurt out into the FV where it frothed up nicely so thought it shoulda been oxygenated that way...  

The more recent Coopers Euro Lager Kit brew I did - and most past kits - I pour boiled rainwater or springwater into the FV with gusto and it bubbles up and hopefully I get magic O2 into the system that way....  I do that first before adding the Conc... that way you get miles less froth too... 

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10 hours ago, Bearded Burbler said:

You need the BE that has the MOST malt and the least Dex...  might be BE2

That would be BE3. 

BE2 has a mixture of dme and dextrose along with some maltodextrin I think. 

And BE1 has more dextrose then anything else but still includes some dme and also maltodextrin from memory. 

Cheers. 

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20 hours ago, Bearded Burbler said:

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm there is the dilemma I guess...  as you add the malty stuff... you do have the potential for ABV increase.

Best is to give it a try.  But Dex is not going to give you body.  You need the BE that has the MOST malt and the least Dex...  might be BE2.  I just bought a bag of dry malt... 

But I reckon you need 1.5kg meself as a minimum... but just try it out... 

Other possibility - is cop the $$... but do a good brew w chosen Coopers Kit PLUS Coopers Liquid Malt as the adjunct rather than the kilo....reckon you will notice the difference.... 

 

NOW....  if you can afford a BEAUTIFUL SS Vat... reckon if in cold clime.... you can cop the extra $$ for a plate warmer and a temp controller.... and your life will be changed...  FOREVER!

Took me a while to work this out... but after this website... I was converted forever... and now (due to good fortune I think rather than ripper planning) have got cooling as well which is pretty nice... and my first cool temp Coopers Golden Crown Lager has turned out quite nice 😎

 

Yeah but ive read that the DME is harder for the yeast to convert into alcohol than, say, dextrose which would add nothing but alcohol. The DME would attribute to maltiness and mouthfeel more than alcohol tho, right? Of course I know if im adding more DME im bound to get more ABV, but less than if i just put in straight dextrose?

Im springing for a heat belt next week so at least ill be good for winter! These QLD summers can be corkers tho, not so keen to let a brew run rampant at 30c 🤣 Done that before and had a sickly ester-fest...so as i advance and the months progress ill be looking at old fridges to get the cooling element into my setup.

Im also wondering if i could do a lager and put it in the shed...gets to lower single digits here at night in winter. Eh we shall see.

 

Glad for you your lager has worked out nicely too!

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DME is about 80% fermentable as far as I know. It does take the yeast more work to ferment it because it has to be broken down into its two glucose units before the yeast will consume them. However, this isn't the reason it doesn't produce as much alcohol, that's because it does contain some sugars that yeast don't ferment, e.g. maltotriose. 

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2 hours ago, Zume Brew said:

The DME would attribute to maltiness and mouthfeel more than alcohol tho, right? 

----------------

Im also wondering if i could do a lager and put it in the shed...gets to lower single digits here at night in winter. Eh we shall see.

Yes that is the way we're going...  more malt... better body... but beware that dry malt does not seem to contribute that well to head retention...  hence my suggestion to consider also trying liq malt... that is from my own experience not theory - brewed a nice ALL MALT beer 'old'-dark ale style... and was goooood.... but pooor head retention... most fermentables were DME.

As for the cold shed - why not... but it needs to be pretty clean - hygiene is important... I think especially w slower Lager fermentation periods... and I do believe it is better if fairly constant... but may be worth a try...  my Coopers Golden Crown was done in the brew fridge  at 14-15... shed might be good for that.. ?   and if you put in shed w towels/sleeping bags it might moderate the ups and downs of night and day... the diurnal ambient temp routine ; )

Cheers re the Lager... tis quaffable... dangerously quaffable even green as it is 😝

Edited by Bearded Burbler
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17 minutes ago, Bearded Burbler said:

As for the cold shed - why not... but it needs to be pretty clean - hygiene is important...

Yeah....I have some planning to do (its FILTHY), but itll be about two months before I get to a lager

18 minutes ago, Bearded Burbler said:

and if you put in shed w towels/sleeping bags it might moderate the ups and downs of night and day... the diurnal ambient temp routine ; )

Snug as a bug in a rug haha, youve given me plenty to contemplate.

And same with the DME/LME as well. 

Dont drink em all green... cheers!

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Just now, Zume Brew said:

Yeah....I have some planning to do (its FILTHY).... 

Aaaaaaaaaaaaah one of those challenging moments where you go.... ah dear... time to clean out the shed....  ; )

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18 hours ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

DME is about 80% fermentable as far as I know. It does take the yeast more work to ferment it because it has to be broken down into its two glucose units before the yeast will consume them. However, this isn't the reason it doesn't produce as much alcohol, that's because it does contain some sugars that yeast don't ferment, e.g. maltotriose. 

Good argument for the use of kveik strains perhaps?    🤔

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3 hours ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

Depends what you're after in the beer I guess. There needs to be something left behind to give it some malt flavour as well as body.

And I think that is exactly what Zoomer is trying to capture...  beefing up the body and subsequent mouthfeel...

as he was concerned so far that things were a little THINNNNNNNN!Like my wallet:  image.png.e231ac6fa25fa49c10f38e97091ab6cd.png

Contains 3 Cards and 100 bills  (aussie bill not yankee bill) 😝

Mmmm well that is what SWMBO would suggest re HB expenditure

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  • 2 weeks later...

Muzzy's fail:
After bottling a batch, I was rinsing the bottling wand parts over the sink. I dropped the needle part down the drain.
No problem! I can undo the U shaped pipe under the sink and retrieve it.
The U pipe contained water as well as the the needle, so I poured it into the sink.....that was now disconnected from the U pipe.
Result: a rather wet kitchen cupboard. 

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Not so much my fault, but went to the turn on the freezer this morning to get my top up water down to 10 deg for todays brew and it's got about 6 litres of water swimming in the bottom. One of my el-cheapo 10ltr containers had sprung a leak yesterday, luckily the bung in the bottom had a good seal so it didn't end up all over the floor.

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On 5/24/2019 at 8:58 AM, MUZZY said:

Muzzy's fail:
After bottling a batch, I was rinsing the bottling wand parts over the sink. I dropped the needle part down the drain.
No problem! I can undo the U shaped pipe under the sink and retrieve it.
The U pipe contained water as well as the the needle, so I poured it into the sink.....that was now disconnected from the U pipe.
Result: a rather wet kitchen cupboard. 

Done the same mate.

 

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