Out of balance beer

[Brewbear]

Ok here we go,

My partner and I are using a Ripley 8.5 barrel system with RO water and minerals added back in. So far the system is working out great with one problem the beer tastes thin and the hops are a bit too pronounced. Basically it is out of balance! We both have double check the starting gravity and feel that we are continuing to get a false reading off the hydrometer. Promash says it should be 1.064 and the Hydrometer says its 1.064 but maybe at finish taste 1.054? Now we’ve had two local brewers come by and said the same thing it cannot be right. This Saturday we brew again but this time we used the hydrometer with the beginning Gravity being correct at 1.050 but we also check it against a Brix and there was a difference about 5-7 units lower. Now Brix is used for measuring the amount of sucrose dissolved in water? I hear that it is not really used in the brewing industry. But why the difference and are we onto something. The water is not straight RO could it be the water, Suspended byproducts after Mash, bad milling I just don’t know. We check double all the numbers and everything is fine during the complete brewing process. So what could be the problem?


Cheers,

Anthony

[RobZamites]

Maybe posting what brewing salts and amounts to a given volume you're adding to the RO water would help point to a solution. A base recipe and mash schedule might help too

Rob

[Steffan]

Sparge questions

I've had similar problems and these are some of the things I have had to watch because of it.

How long is your lauter? Too fast of a runoff can cause compaction of the mash bed and channeling in your mash causing a lack of flavor components and fermentables. Taste some of the mash near the bottom at various places around your tun. If one or more spots taste sweet then you may have channeling where the sparge water has rushed through in places leaving other areas unsparged.

How hot is your sparge water? Not warm enough can cause some strange flavors, haze problems and lack of fermentables. Too warm can cook the enzymes before they are done with saccarification as well as pulling astringent flavors from the husks.

Do you treat your sparge water with the same salts as your mash water? pH changes during the sparge can draw astringent stuff from the husks giving you a greater perceived bitterness.

Good luck and brew hard!
Steffan
Aldergrove Brewery

[Moonlight]

When you correct your hydrometer for the temperature you are reading it at, is the thermeter correct or has it been dropped and now reads several degrees off?

[dick murton]

If it tastes thin, it sounds more as though the final gravity is too low, rather than a few degrees of OG. What is your mashing temperature and time ? Try raising the mashing in temperature by a degree C, possibly even two. If your mash is really thick, then you need to raise the mashing temperature to compensate as the thick mash protects the enzymes. Typical mash temperatures for single temperature mash are around 64 to 66, occasionally as high as 68 deg C (that was for a VERY thick mash mindst). Another thing to make sure is that you are preheating your mash vessel. If you mash in at say 65 deg C into a cold vessel, and particularly if you don't cover the plates with mash liquor first, then the actual mash temperature may be a couple of degrees cooler - at least in the parts of the mash in contact with / close to the vessel.

Hops? cut the amount back until it is OK. No recipe produced for one plant will ever give exactly the same result in another plant. The way it boils will affect the hop utilisation (bitterness extraction). But I suggest you sort the Final Gravity out first

Have fun

Cheers

[Brewbear]

Thanks to All

Well first, Thank you for your replies. The following information is based on our Pale. Mineral additions to our water has been in the range of 200ppm of Ca and 40ppm Cl for both the mash and Sparge. Scarification rest is one hour at 152 deg with a 10 - 15 circulation. Yes the mash Vessel is preheated. Our sparge is approx one hour and thirty minutes at 170. All readings are read in plato at 60deg, specific gravity at 60deg and Brix with an ATC . Thanks again for your help.

Cheers,

Anthony