Writer: BYO Staff
Krausen removal
Digital and Plus Members OnlyThe topic of kräusen removal is not discussed much in commercial brewing circles because most modern fermenters are not designed to remove kräusen. And it is frequently the case that “blow over” creates an unwanted mess in the brewery. This is not to say that kräusen removal has no effect on beer flavor. Some brewers
Storing crushed grains
Digital and Plus Members OnlyThe key to storing grain is keeping it dry. Whenever crushed grain is left to sit around, it begins to take up moisture from the air. Most malts have a moisture content between 4 percent and 6 percent, and there are very few climates in the world that do not cause malt to absorb water
Cold conditioning kegs
Digital and Plus Members OnlyI prefer to cold condition after carbonation, because you can aggressively remove yeast by racking the beer from keg to keg without worrying about having enough yeast in the beer at bottling time or having yeast that is too tired to work. The traditional method of lagering, in which the beer is transferred to the
Storing wort after mashing
Digital and Plus Members OnlySome brewers use a technique called flotation to separate cold trub (the solid matter) formed during wort cooling from the wort. The old method of flotation occurs before yeast is pitched and lasts up to a day. Brewers who still use the flotation method add yeast prior to flotation because of the microbiological problems associated
Mash tempereratures
Digital and Plus Members OnlyThere is more to mash temperature than finished beer flavor. Mash temperature has an effect on wort viscosity and ease of lautering, it affects the gelatinization of starch (“melting” of the bonds that make starch a crystalline structure), influences wort fermentability, and has an effect on proteins. There are more factors that can be thrown
Hot Side Aeration Debate
Digital and Plus Members OnlyBefore I jump head first into this colorful debate about hot-side aeration (HSA), I would like to explain where some of the comments in BYO mail and in some of the BYO articles stem. Most of the comments regarding this whole debate have come from commercial brewers who write for BYO. To paraphrase, they have
Substituting honey for sugar
Digital and Plus Members OnlyCane sugar is well known to give beer a cidery or winey flavor. If you want to get rid of this flavor, using honey in place of sugar is one of several solutions. When substituting brewing ingredients in recipes it is much easier to base your conversion on weight, not on volumetric measurements such as
What is “whirlpooling” your beer
FREEWhirlpooling is a common method used in commercial breweries to separate hop pellets and trub from wort after the wort boil. Essentially the wort is pumped into the whirlpool vessel at rapid
Hop Utilization
Digital and Plus Members OnlyThis question brings up three key points: water pH and its affect on brewing methods used to adjust pH and adjusting bitterness. The first point regarding water pH pops up every so often, and I usually let it pass. It is important to distinguish among water pH, mash pH, and wort pH. Water pH is
Temporary hardness vs. permanent hardness in brewing water
FREEThe most basic difference between hard and soft water is that hard water reacts with soap to form solid soap scum, and soft water does not form soap scum. The formation of
The Salty Truth About Softeners
Digital and Plus Members OnlyPotassium chloride is commonly sold as an alternative to sodium chloride. Those companies that market potassium chloride make the point that it doesn’t do all the terrible things to the body that sodium does and that potassium is necessary for the body to properly function. Potassium is indeed required by the body, but sodium is
Stepping Up Your Starter
Digital and Plus Members OnlyThe Benefactor of Brewing steps up starters.