Topic: Fermentation
Immersion Lid Temperature Controller
I’d seen that some of the popular fermenter manufacturers make relatively costly drop-in immersion chilling setups for their conical fermenters. I knew I had to attempt to do this, so I began researching how I could create an immersion chilling system for my fermenter. I’m by no means a “handy” man, but I was able to put together a very nice custom system that actually works amazingly well, and was much less costly than an off-the-shelf system.
Build a Fermentation Chamber
As homebrewers, we know that the steps in crafting a fine homebrew typically involve recipe formulation, gathering ingredients and at least several hours of brewing time to create the precious wort. Once
Making Kettle Sours
It took a while for brewers outside of the small sour brewing centers of Belgium and Germany to produce excellent sours because so much of the science and practice of sour beer
Pressurizing Your Fermenter: Tips from the Pros
Brewer: Mike Gleason, Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers in Framingham, MA There is a lot of buzz surrounding the use of a spunding valve on fermenters these days throughout the homebrewing community. Some
Under Pressure: Capturing CO2 During Fermentation
There are some who say that a beer whose entire fermenting and aging life is maintained at positive pressure — around 15 psi —tastes much better. Dr. Chris White of White Labs believes that not only pro
Build a Barrel Coolship Fermenter
Open fermentation can yield some amazing flavors, but requires the brewer to pay special attention to temperature, cleanliness, and fermenter shape. Some professional breweries cool their wort in vessels called coolships. Coolships
Fermentation
What’s the simplest way to improve your homebrew? Well, for most homebrewers, it’s running a good fermentation. One of the biggest factors in this is pitching an adequate amount of yeast. Pitching
How long to secondary ferment
Many beers, especially big beers such as imperial stouts, mellow with extended aging in the secondary fermenter. It is usually best to place the secondary in a cool place for extended
Higher Alcohols
Before you dump your mead down the drain, please read my answer! The aroma you describe is the distinctive scent of ethyl acetate. This nail-polish smelling compound is the most common acetate
Using Spunding Valves
All-grain homebrewers with temperature-controlled fermentation capabilities have most of the same levers to pull as craft brewers, but fermentation pressure is one notable exception. And pressure is exactly what a spunding valve
Fermentation Timeline
Every time I brew I undoubtedly find myself staring at my fermenter for minutes at a time during peak fermentation when carbon dioxide (CO2) is rhythmically gurgling out of my blow off
All About Brett
In 2012 Chad Yakobson of Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project in Denver, Colorado included me in an email chain of 20 Brettanomyces-and-bacteria-focused brewers. Chad’s hope was to get the group to agree
