Topic: Fermentation
Fermenting Lemon Juice
MEMBERS ONLYIt seems that people, past and present, have accidentally or intentionally fermented just about everything. The easy way to categorize alcoholic beverages is by raw material; beer is made from grains, wine is made from fruit, and mead is made from honey. One commonality with all of these beverages is that the starting point (brewer’s
Multi-Batch Brewing
MEMBERS ONLYThe answer is yes! This is a great way to produce more beer volume from a brewhouse of a fixed size and is commonly used by commercial brewers around the globe. The economics of this are simple: Two single-batch fermenters cost 2 units of currency, one double-batch fermenter costs about 1.3 units of currency, and
Finishing A Fermentation Strong
MEMBERS ONLYWhenever there seems to be an attenuation problem with a batch, I think it always helps to go through a mental check list of the basics. This checklist of mine includes the following: Mashing issues?Yeast nutrients and/or zinc added to the wort? Yeast into wort cooled to the correct temperature?Wort aerated normally?Sufficient yeast added to
When the Trub Breaks
FREECollectively we call it the trub, but generally the gunk that lands at the bottom of your brew kettle at the end of the day can be broken down into three distinct
Mystery Fermentation
MEMBERS ONLYTrue mysteries are rarely encountered in a brewery when the facts related to a particular problem are at hand. The problem lies in obtaining the facts and this is particularly true when homebrewing. In a commercial brewing operation it is common for brewers to be in the brewery most of the time and in some
Terminal Gravity Woes
MEMBERS ONLYAlpha amylase can be added to the fermenter to aid in attenuation, but it has limited efficacy in converting dextrins and starch into fermentables. The primary role of the endoenzyme alpha amylase in the mash is as a debranching enzyme that chops up amylose and amylopectin into pieces from the interior of these molecules. Although
Fermenter Addition Basics
FREE. . . luckily for us, alcohol is lethally toxic to the vast majority of microorganisms found in our world.
“Smart” Fermentation: A chamber with a CO2 harvesting system
MEMBERS ONLYThis project may not be for everyone . . . but man it’s a cool build! One reader built his own “smart” fermentation chamber from scratch with its own CO2 harvesting system. Learn the details of the design and how to craft one yourself.
Maximizing Honey Flavor and Aroma
MEMBERS ONLYJoe, thanks for the good two-part question about using brewing sugars like honey for special flavors and the question about how to bottle condition beers that may contain fermentable sugars. These are two independent brewing questions and are best addressed as such. When adding fermentable brewing sugars to a batch, it is important to consider
Planning a Nano’s Cellar
FREEThe method of fermentation described above works with fermenters over a fairly wide range of sizes, mainly depending on the shape of the fermenter. The dissipation of heat from the fermenter into
Fermentations Apart: Selecting different yeast for different jobs
MEMBERS ONLYBrewers often add adjuncts right into the main batch of beer before or during fermentation with the hopes that the characteristics of the beer will play nicely with the additive. But Michael Tonsmeire explains that fermenting the two separately may sometimes be your best approach.
Brewing With Wine Yeast
FREEWine yeast ferments wort differently when compared to brewer’s yeast, but that doesn’t mean brewers can’t use them. Michael Tonsmeire offers some tips and ideas for their use.