21 June 2007

Pump it

Eventually some all-grain brewers decide that a pump is a good idea. Rightfully so, I came to that conclusion whilst lifting 10 gallons of 180° sparge water. Not fun.

But here's where the confusion begins; although it doesn't have to be. Most homebrew stores sell the March 809 pump which is perfect for homebrewing---short of the fact that it has to be primed. While this is a common annoyance, with a little practice it's not an issue. It runs on 120V, has a maximum head of 16 feet and runs at about 8 gallons per minute (gpm). Notice the output pressure here is low as well.

So some homebrewers will start checking eBay and finding pumps of all sizes, shapes, and capabilities. Note: you NEED a pump that can handle boiling wort. And you DON'T need a pump that has an output pressure of 50 psi, unless you want wort sprayed everywhere and your couplings to leak. Not to mention 50 psi will make your lines move if they're not securely connected (much like nozzle reaction, sans nozzle).

Then you'll find the ones on eBay that have no plug, requiring you to hardwire it yourself. Hope you're good with electricity.

Another good feature about the March 809 is it's magnetic-slip impeller. This means that you cannot cavitate this pump. You can starve it, but it's not going to create enough power to start ripping molecules of water apart and dropping the vapor pressure in the pump. Why not? Because (1) it's only 1/4 horsepower, (2) the RPM of the pump is constant and cannot be changed, and (3) because of the aforementioned magnetic-slip impeller. Trust me. If you want to see a pump cavitate, go to your local fire deparment, ask the engine driver to try to flow their deck gun at 2,000 gpm from a 20' draft. And if he actually tries it, smack the f--- out of him and reconsider your homeowner's insurance.

In the end, by the time you're done buying the cheap, sketchy pump off eBay, adding in this or that to make it work, it's easier and nearly as expensive to just buy the 809 outright from either eBay or a homebrew store. Unless, of course, you like headaches.

19 June 2007

Ok folks, listen up

You need to understand a thing or two about yeast, whether it's your first batch or 100th.

First off, those little packs of dry yeast that come with the kit? IT'S NOT ENOUGH YEAST FOR A 5 GALLON BATCH.

Secondly, those little smack packs and yeast tubes full of liquid yeast that say "pitchable"? IT'S NOT ENOUGH YEAST FOR A 5 GALLON BATCH. Historically and predictably repetitively, homebrewers do not pitch enough yeast.

Third, yeast need OXYGEN. Swirling/shaking the fermenter isn't doing shit except putting you at risk for a back injury or dropping the carboy, shattering it, sending wort and shards of glass everywhere. You need to aerate or oxygenate, even if you pitch the correct amount of yeast. Yeast use oxygen to reproduce and create healthy, pliable cell walls. Do you ever see a professional brewer swirling a cylindroconical fermenter? Me either.

Lastly, if you're going to forego the above advice, save us all the trouble and bandwidth and don't post the "I never make a starter and my beer turns out great", "my beer didn't ferment completely", "it's been 4 days and no airlock activity" or "this has some wierd flavors" mainstays in the internet forums.

Do yourself a favor: read this. Then read it again. Then think about your yeast propagation procedures. Bookmark it for future reference. Then go here and plan out how much yeast you need. Pitch the calculated amount.

What's that you say? Fermentation didn't take 3 days to start? Fermentation didn't take 4 weeks to get to FG? Hit your FG? No off flavors? That's what pitching the right amount of yeast will do for you.

REMEMBER! Brewers make WORT; yeast makes BEER. Take care of them, they'll take care of you.

09 June 2007

Return to Darkness

I love lagers. Flavorful lagers, not the "Classic American Pils" crap. I mean Bock, Dopplebock, Dunkel, Oktoberfest, Vienna, Bohemian Pils...flavorful lagers. And for the last few batches, that's all I've brewed. Of course, I'm now enjoying having 3 lagers on tap.

But sometimes you just have a hankerin' for some good ol' Dry Stout.

I've tried a few stout recipes that just didn't pan out. Not what I was looking for. Since getting a hold of an iPod, brewing podcasts have been the next-best-thing to my heavy metal MP3s...better than radio most of the time, anyway. In particular is The Brewing Network. Great information, quality listening. Jamil Zainasheff (AHA Board member, 2004 Ninkasi Award winner, author and all-around nice guy) reviews beer styles and how to brew them weekly on his internet radio show. So I downloaded the Dry Stout podcast and gave it a listen. Jamil gives a basic recipe for dry stout and I tweaked it just a little:

Something Different Stout

Batch Size (Gal): 10.00 Wort Size (Gal): 10.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 15.75
Anticipated OG: 1.041 Plato: 10.26°
Anticipated SRM: 34.9
Anticipated IBU: 37.1
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 75 Minutes

10.50 lbs. Marris Otter
0.50 lbs. Chocolate Malt
3.00 lbs. Flaked Barley
1.75 lbs. Roasted Barley

2.40 oz. East Kent Goldings (Whole, 6.90%AA) 60 min.

White Labs WLP004 Irish Stout yeast

6am comes bright and early tomorrow morning! Gonna get brewin' while the weather is still cool and the kids are still sleepin'.

Cheers!