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Date: 12 Sep 2006 14:32:21
From: hankus
Subject: Re: ideas on starter prep and summer wort chilling
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Two big challenges are a clean ferment and cooling the wort.
1) A large vigorous starter will overcome any lapse in sterile technique and
also allow us to find out ahead of time whether the engine (yeast) is good
or not in time to get a backup.I used to keep dried malt extract around and
boil it up,cool it down,etc but lately have taken to using frozen wort.At
the end of draining off wort one always leaves behind a few quarts of slurry
which I used to offer up as a sacrifice to St Arnold of Metz,i.e. throw it
away.l now drain it all off into a pitcher which I cover with plastic wrap
and refrigerate.The next AM the liquid that has separated off is poured into
a freezer bag or freezable plastic container and frozen.When needed,this is
taken out and reheated and after BOILING 12 minutes (a 10 minute boil will
denature botulism toxin) it is cooled down in the usual manner and the yeast
added.If it proves to be a good yeast,the day before I brew I add a little
simple syrup (corn sugar+H2O taken to boil then cooled then aerated via
shaking or in my case whisked with an electric mixer) and it all goes in the
frig.A couple of hours before I need the starter I take it out and aerate
again.I have read that cold yeast accepts O2 best.
One can also can wort with a pressure cooker/canner but that seems like a
LOT more work.
I aerate my chilled wort by having the last foot of my discharge tube a
Cu tube with a hole of a lesser diameter than the tube's ID and placed 10"
from the end.The air sucked in will cause lotsa foam and ending the tube
into a T with the combination of IDiameters > the ID of the Cu tube also
adds O2.
2) In life,there are no problems but only opportunities for personal
growth and that applies also to summer brewing.Immersion chilling has the
disadvantage of the coil taking up space in what may be a full boil pot but
obviates the need for a 3 tier system/ pump as is required with a
counterflow chiller/coil in an ice bath or the experience of having run the
wort through a counterflow chiller and it is still warm.With an IC you don't
have "a significant penalty for early withdrawal".The problem with the IC in
summer is that as the temp of the hose water ( mid-80s here along the Gulf
Coast) approaches that of the cooling wort, the rate of chill diminishes
usually slowing down around 95.A prechiller in which one places another coil
ahead of the IC sounds good but doesn't really work.I had tried this but
after a couple of minutes (Jeff Parish water flows 5G/min)measurement of the
outflow temp from the prechiller shows that the temp is only 5-6 degrees
below hose water temp.Slowing down the flow through the prechiller will
cause more of a drop BUT this slows the flow through the IC and the slower
the IC flow the less cooling occurs.What I have done is to use hose water
until the flat spot on the chill curve (about 95) then disconnect the hose
and attach a different hose (or U can use a Y connecter with reversed
fittings).This new hose is fed by an inexpensive fountain pump (10 bux at
harbor freight/sam's) which is sitting in the same ice bath U wanted to use
with the prechiller coil.This water is cold!! Feed the circuit back through
and add an ice source if the ice bath gets above 65.
Hank
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Date: 12 Sep 2006 13:33:52
From: alebrewer
Subject: Re: ideas on starter prep and summer wort chilling
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hankus wrote:
> Two big challenges are a clean ferment and cooling the wort.
> 1) A large vigorous starter will overcome any lapse in sterile technique and
> also allow us to find out ahead of time whether the engine (yeast) is good
> or not in time to get a backup.I used to keep dried malt extract around and
> boil it up,cool it down,etc but lately have taken to using frozen wort.At
> the end of draining off wort one always leaves behind a few quarts of slurry
> which I used to offer up as a sacrifice to St Arnold of Metz,i.e. throw it
> away.l now drain it all off into a pitcher which I cover with plastic wrap
> and refrigerate.The next AM the liquid that has separated off is poured into
> a freezer bag or freezable plastic container and frozen.When needed,this is
> taken out and reheated and after BOILING 12 minutes (a 10 minute boil will
> denature botulism toxin) it is cooled down in the usual manner and the yeast
> added.If it proves to be a good yeast,the day before I brew I add a little
> simple syrup (corn sugar+H2O taken to boil then cooled then aerated via
> shaking or in my case whisked with an electric mixer) and it all goes in the
> frig.A couple of hours before I need the starter I take it out and aerate
> again.I have read that cold yeast accepts O2 best.
> One can also can wort with a pressure cooker/canner but that seems like a
> LOT more work.
> I aerate my chilled wort by having the last foot of my discharge tube a
> Cu tube with a hole of a lesser diameter than the tube's ID and placed 10"
> from the end.The air sucked in will cause lotsa foam and ending the tube
> into a T with the combination of IDiameters > the ID of the Cu tube also
> adds O2.
> 2) In life,there are no problems but only opportunities for personal
> growth and that applies also to summer brewing.Immersion chilling has the
> disadvantage of the coil taking up space in what may be a full boil pot but
> obviates the need for a 3 tier system/ pump as is required with a
> counterflow chiller/coil in an ice bath or the experience of having run the
> wort through a counterflow chiller and it is still warm.With an IC you don't
> have "a significant penalty for early withdrawal".The problem with the IC in
> summer is that as the temp of the hose water ( mid-80s here along the Gulf
> Coast) approaches that of the cooling wort, the rate of chill diminishes
> usually slowing down around 95.A prechiller in which one places another coil
> ahead of the IC sounds good but doesn't really work.I had tried this but
> after a couple of minutes (Jeff Parish water flows 5G/min)measurement of the
> outflow temp from the prechiller shows that the temp is only 5-6 degrees
> below hose water temp.Slowing down the flow through the prechiller will
> cause more of a drop BUT this slows the flow through the IC and the slower
> the IC flow the less cooling occurs.What I have done is to use hose water
> until the flat spot on the chill curve (about 95) then disconnect the hose
> and attach a different hose (or U can use a Y connecter with reversed
> fittings).This new hose is fed by an inexpensive fountain pump (10 bux at
> harbor freight/sam's) which is sitting in the same ice bath U wanted to use
> with the prechiller coil.This water is cold!! Feed the circuit back through
> and add an ice source if the ice bath gets above 65.
>
> Hank
In SE Texas, if you are going to brew beer any time of year, you are
going to need some sort of fermentation cooler (and the wet t-shirt
trick doesn't cut it with dew-points in the 80's). And, as you have
said, you will hit a "Flat Spot" with your chiller at around 95F. Make
these things work for you, don't fight it.
An 11 gram packet of Nottingham yeast is just about perfect for a 5
gallon batch. Pitch it in 95 degree wort and put it in the
fermentation fridge set for 60F. It'll take about 6-8 hours for the
yeast to get going and for the wort to cool to the low 70's. This
yeast likes to re-hydrate at 90-95F. In addition, with the dried
yeast, areation isn't important. Cool it, pitch it, and go.
The Nottingham strain is about my favorite all around yeast. Good
attenuation, it floc's well when done, clean, and will work well in the
low 60's.
ab
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Date: 13 Sep 2006 09:15:02
From: hankus
Subject: Re: ideas on starter prep and summer wort chilling
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Total agreement about the virtues of Nottingham!!
--
Thanks
Hank
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Date: 12 Sep 2006 14:55:21
From: The Artist Formerly Known as Kap'n Salty
Subject: Re: ideas on starter prep and summer wort chilling
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hankus wrote:
[snip]
> One can also can wort with a pressure cooker/canner but that seems like a
> LOT more work.
Just a plug for my beloved pressure cooker -- assuming you actually have
the cooker, jars and lids, it's actually LESS work that your method. As
an added bonus, the resulting wort is sterile and can be stored outside
of your fridge for years if need be. No need to boil when you decide to
use it - just open and go.
> I aerate my chilled wort by having the last foot of my discharge tube a
> Cu tube with a hole of a lesser diameter than the tube's ID and placed 10"
> from the end.The air sucked in will cause lotsa foam and ending the tube
> into a T with the combination of IDiameters > the ID of the Cu tube also
> adds O2.
> 2) In life,there are no problems but only opportunities for personal
> growth and that applies also to summer brewing.Immersion chilling has the
> disadvantage of the coil taking up space in what may be a full boil pot but
> obviates the need for a 3 tier system/ pump as is required with a
> counterflow chiller/coil in an ice bath or the experience of having run the
> wort through a counterflow chiller and it is still warm.With an IC you don't
> have "a significant penalty for early withdrawal".The problem with the IC in
> summer is that as the temp of the hose water ( mid-80s here along the Gulf
> Coast) approaches that of the cooling wort, the rate of chill diminishes
> usually slowing down around 95.A prechiller in which one places another coil
> ahead of the IC sounds good but doesn't really work.I had tried this but
> after a couple of minutes (Jeff Parish water flows 5G/min)measurement of the
> outflow temp from the prechiller shows that the temp is only 5-6 degrees
> below hose water temp.Slowing down the flow through the prechiller will
> cause more of a drop BUT this slows the flow through the IC and the slower
> the IC flow the less cooling occurs.What I have done is to use hose water
> until the flat spot on the chill curve (about 95) then disconnect the hose
> and attach a different hose (or U can use a Y connecter with reversed
> fittings).This new hose is fed by an inexpensive fountain pump (10 bux at
> harbor freight/sam's) which is sitting in the same ice bath U wanted to use
> with the prechiller coil.This water is cold!! Feed the circuit back through
> and add an ice source if the ice bath gets above 65.
Note that you can also use the same method with a CF chiller -- I use a
Therminator the same way. I also simply gravity feed the wort through --
no multi-tier arrangement. As long as the pot is higher than the
fermenter (which it is on my camp stove), there's no need to pump the wort.
I should note that the icewater recirculation works REALLY well -- you
can get the wort down into the mid-40s this way regardless of tapwater
temp with a decent CF or IC.
--
(Replies: cleanse my address of the Mark of the Beast!)
Teleoperate a roving mobile robot from the web:
http://www.swampgas.com/robotics/rover.html
Coauthor with Dennis Clark of "Building Robot Drive Trains".
Buy several copies today!
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