Brewing a Bavarian Helles

[Owenbräu]

Exactly, suddenly there are a lot more levers in the system that the brewer must understand, and it can be overwhelming if you haven't mastered the basics yet.

[mpietropaoli]

These are great points. We gave this method a shot on our 1/2 bbl HERMS yesterday, preboiling, camdenizing (all we had is PMB, woof), doughing in from the bottom valve on the tun, single gentle stir of the mash, and there was virtually no mash aroma. Hopefully IT was staying in!

Now the only problem with doing this every time (which I intend to do, a least for a few batches, some likely ales) is, I do like to BIAB for quick 5G batches, because I can do it at my house, really easily once my daughter goes to bed. I'm thinking if I simply grab a second kettle, I can lauter out of my 10G kettle valve, BIAB into another boil kettle so I don't have to lift the drippy bag.

Now to replace that copper IC I built 4 batches in...

As an aside, I certainly do not see this as "you vs. them", and that is my precise frustration. Many homebrewers/forum users do!

[Owenbräu]

I'm building an electric system to replace my current direct fire. The new one will have a bag inside the MT to serve as a mash filter, but I will be pumping the wort to the BK. Plus, once the wort is in the BK, I can just lift the bag out and dump the grains instead of having to carry the whole tun over to the compost pile.

[Brody]

[Bryan R]

While dialing in your methods and using your DO meters (if you chose to get them). Use these strips to test for left over sulfites after your mashing and boiling. This will give you an idea of where your reactions are happening and how much anti-oxidation power you have left.. If you do use these your pH will have to be brought to above 6, a simple pinch of baking soda in a sample cup does that for me.

http://www.amazon.com/SEOH-Indicator-Su ... ge_o04_s00

[Owenbräu]

If you do not have a meter, then you can also use these sulfate strips alongside the sulfite strips to see how much SMB has been oxidized in your system. You won't know your DO levels, but if you see rising sulfates, then you know you have a leak somewhere.

SEOH Indicator to Detect Sulfate Quantofix 100 Analytical Strips https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0089PPE5E/re ... ixbZP8YVBC

[bjanat]

For someone who don't have kegs yet, would priming with fermenting wort be better than using priming sugar? I did it once, and carbonation was fast, but don't know anything about oxidation.


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[Owenbräu]

Krausening is an excellent method, yes.

[KenLenard]

I am in the process of doing a little work on this process. I have ordered a new SS immersion chiller and I plan to pick up SMB on my next supply stop coming up in the next week. I was planning on boiling my mash and sparge water, chilling to strike temps and then racking the water from the pot into the MT where the grains are already waiting. I would try to get the end of the tubing down underneath the grain and let it fill relatively quietly. I'm not sure how you guys that have done the LODO method see that working but that's what I had in mind. Does anyone know if I could use standard plastic racking tubing (1/2" OD, 3/8" ID) to send 160°F water into the tun? I thought I saw some high-temp tubing and I would get some if that was necessary. Also, after the water has boiled and when it needs to be chilled, should I stir the water? I know the paper said to chill as quickly as possible but stirring could introduce O2, right? I also plan to boil less vigorously and chill with the SS chiller while stirring less vigorously. I would rack from kettle to primary as carefully and quietly as possible and then move the beer directly to a keg (bypassing my normal secondary phase) while there was still active fermentation. I have not picked up a spundling valve yet either and have never used one. Any direction or thoughts on all of that are welcome. Cheers.

[KenLenard]

Guys: Also, I noticed that the paper mentioned some things about getting the wort from kettle to primary and that cold break was okay but hot break and hop break should be avoided. Currently I let the wort settle and chill and then I rack from kettle to primary and usually use a strainer since I have always heard that O2 and excessive splashing at this stage was beneficial. I typically get about 4 gallons of clear wort and then start to pick up some of the break material. A lot of that would be caught by the strainer but I would skip the strainer here to avoid as much O2 as possible. So any suggestions for getting the wort from kettle to primary and keep O2 at a minimum and still avoid the break material? Thanks again.