Sunday, November 30, 2008

Start of Brewing Automation


A good bit of time has been spent on getting the homebrewery going in the basement. This is mostly due to the fact the lugging around large amounts of hot liquid is not so nice. Also, I can go all-electric and be able to control my temperatures a little better.

Along with bringing my brewing activities in the basement, I can now automate the system. As seen in the picture above, there is very little automation (due to switches on the side). But, soon enough my computer that is nearby should be able to control about 90% of the process. I will be able to control the SSR units via the computer (well, at least transmit what duty cycle I want, and then the microcontrollers will be able to do the dirty work). Also, I will get feedback into my computer on the temperature levels at the various stations, so it can know what duty cycle to pulse the SSRs at.

I still have to get the workbench to put the mashtun etc on, as well as the march pump with the ASCO solenoids (got them off of ebay). Eventually I will hookup copper pipes as well as a water filter, so I will just need to press a button and the water will fill up. One thing that I am still not so sure about is the water level sensor. Still, I need to figure out how to pull that off. I do not want to have to turn off the water flow manually... that's cheating. The continues...

Saturday, November 15, 2008

WB-06 vs WLP380

So, I have brewed two weissbier batches (same recipe) and have used these two different yeasts [ WB-06 and WLP380]. The WB-06 is the new dry German wheat yeast, and WLP380 is an older liquid strain.

Both wheat beers were fermented around 64 degrees, due to the fact I am not a huge fan of banana flavor, and am going more toward the clove side of things. Both beers also had a 105F rest in the mash schedule, with a 148F sac rest.

I prefer WLP380 over the WB-06. The dry yeast seems a little two tame, with not enough spicyness coming out. Luckily, no banana was thrown at the low fermentation temps either. I must say that for the price, it is not bad, and will do in a pinch if you do not have any liquid yeast lying around (or, are too cheap on that day to buy it).

Currently I am trying to stress the heck out of WLP380, and see how it does. I poured 1/4 tube of really old yeast into a 2 litre starter. It took 3 days to start fermenting. It smells alright, and it seems the starter was not taken over by any bacteriological forms. So, I will dump this starter into my weiss that I am brewing as I type.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Amazing Weissbier Recipe

Here is a great weissbier recipe taken/adapted from this thread. It was meant to replicate a good Bavarian weissbier. In particular, Schneider-Weiss I believe. Anyhow, it turned out great, and is probably my best weissbier to date.


Weissbier-Selair 08_8_12

15-A Weizen/Weissbier

Date: 8/12/2008


BeerTools Pro Color Graphic



Size: 23.6 L
Efficiency: 66.0%
Attenuation: 76.9%
Calories: 172.0 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.052 (1.044 - 1.052)

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Terminal Gravity: 1.012 (1.010 - 1.014)

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Color: 10.73 (2.0 - 8.0)

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Alcohol: 5.22% (4.3% - 5.6%)

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Bitterness: 12.7 (8.0 - 15.0)

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Ingredients:



8.0 lb Pale Wheat Malt

5.0 lb Pilsner Malt

.9 lb Munich Malt

0.25 lb Caramunich® TYPE I

.05 lb Carafa Special® TYPE II

1.04 oz Hallertau Mittelfruh (3.2%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min

0.69 oz Hallertau Mittelfruh (3.2%) - added during boil, boiled 10 min

1 ea White Labs WLP380 Hefeweizen IV Ale


Schedule:


Ambient Air: 74 °F
Source Water: 74 °F
Elevation: 0.0 m

00:14:34 Mash In - Liquor: 10.37 L; Strike: 128.61 °F; Target: 115.0 °F
00:34:34 Rest - Rest: 20 min; Final: 113.9 °F
00:35:34 Infusion - Water: 10.34 L; Temperature: 195.4 °F; Target: 149 °F
01:35:34 Sac. Rest - Rest: 60 min; Final: 145.7 °F
02:05:34 Sparge - FirstRunnings: 2.21 L sparge @ 168 °F, 14.43 L collected, 15 min; Second: 14.26 L sparge @ 200 °F, 13.91 L collected, 15 min; Total Runoff: 28.99 L

Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.5.0