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Hello,
Well let me start off by telling you my situation. Last year I purchased a failing U-Brew operation in SW Ontario. I purchased it because I saw potential in reducing the overhead and improving product quaility. I've made numorous adjustments to the systems and have come out with a very clean tasting extract beers. However I cannot seem to reproduce or may not be able to reproduce that one flavour that most comercial beers have. It's hard to describe but I would say it's almost a skunky aroma and inital taste that says I'm beer. When I started out I knew nothing about brewing beer, and after the old owner abandoned me just two weeks after the purchase I've been on my own. I have been doing alot of reading over the past months, and even designed a prototype mash tun that fits inside my 20 gal kettles. Currently I bought a mash tun and have replaced one of my kettles with it. I'm still waiting for a gas valve and some control parts, but it should be ready to go by the end of this month. I thought if I post some of my process parameters, someone can tell me if my process is okay I have the correct settings.
On extract beers that contain specialty grains I proceed as follows:
1. Steep the grains in a grain bag in 5 gals of water at 155 F for 1 hour.
2. Top up kettle to 15 gals and raise temperature to 195 F.
3. Add VLM extract (80% 2Row - 20% 6Row) and adjunct.
4. Raise temp to 209 F and begin kettle break.
5. Allow foam to reach top of kettle, turn of heat and allow to settle. I do this four times. Then remove and clumps of foam from the top.
6. Set temp to rolling boil (measured at 210 F)
7. Take 1/2 cup wort sample for yeast started and cool to 70 F
8. Add in boiling hops and set my timers.
9. At 30 mins add mid hops
10. At 45 mins add worfloc tab.
11. At 50 mins mix yeast with starter. (coopers or nottingham ale yeast)
12. At 55 mins add finishing hops
13. At 1 hour turn off heat and remove wort to fermetation keg at 68 F.
14. Pitch yeast while filling keg. Wort is airated by filling process only.
15. Keg gets sealed, airlocked and moved to fermentation room at 60 F, where it sits for 1 week. Wort temp is usally 68 F.
16. On the 8th day 150ml of issinglass is added and dispursed then the keg is moved to the beer aging room at 33 F.
17. After 6 days of aging the beer is filtered into a 60L keg and forced carbonated.
18. The next day the customer bottles.
One thing I am not clear on is the kettle break. From my understanding this is also called a protein break that breaks the chains up. But I don't know why this needs to occur other than it gives me steril wort for yeast starter.
My buisness has improved since we started but the damage done by previous administration is greater than I thought. The only way to suceed is produce beers that are comparable to comerical brands. A taste that still seams to alude me, and one of the reasons I'm putting in a small all grain system.
I've been thinking about raising my aging room temperature to put me in lagering range and trying some lagers. Can anyone tell me how this will affect the aging on the ale beers.
Of course any help is appriciated.
Best regards,
Dave
MCBC
Well let me start off by telling you my situation. Last year I purchased a failing U-Brew operation in SW Ontario. I purchased it because I saw potential in reducing the overhead and improving product quaility. I've made numorous adjustments to the systems and have come out with a very clean tasting extract beers. However I cannot seem to reproduce or may not be able to reproduce that one flavour that most comercial beers have. It's hard to describe but I would say it's almost a skunky aroma and inital taste that says I'm beer. When I started out I knew nothing about brewing beer, and after the old owner abandoned me just two weeks after the purchase I've been on my own. I have been doing alot of reading over the past months, and even designed a prototype mash tun that fits inside my 20 gal kettles. Currently I bought a mash tun and have replaced one of my kettles with it. I'm still waiting for a gas valve and some control parts, but it should be ready to go by the end of this month. I thought if I post some of my process parameters, someone can tell me if my process is okay I have the correct settings.
On extract beers that contain specialty grains I proceed as follows:
1. Steep the grains in a grain bag in 5 gals of water at 155 F for 1 hour.
2. Top up kettle to 15 gals and raise temperature to 195 F.
3. Add VLM extract (80% 2Row - 20% 6Row) and adjunct.
4. Raise temp to 209 F and begin kettle break.
5. Allow foam to reach top of kettle, turn of heat and allow to settle. I do this four times. Then remove and clumps of foam from the top.
6. Set temp to rolling boil (measured at 210 F)
7. Take 1/2 cup wort sample for yeast started and cool to 70 F
8. Add in boiling hops and set my timers.
9. At 30 mins add mid hops
10. At 45 mins add worfloc tab.
11. At 50 mins mix yeast with starter. (coopers or nottingham ale yeast)
12. At 55 mins add finishing hops
13. At 1 hour turn off heat and remove wort to fermetation keg at 68 F.
14. Pitch yeast while filling keg. Wort is airated by filling process only.
15. Keg gets sealed, airlocked and moved to fermentation room at 60 F, where it sits for 1 week. Wort temp is usally 68 F.
16. On the 8th day 150ml of issinglass is added and dispursed then the keg is moved to the beer aging room at 33 F.
17. After 6 days of aging the beer is filtered into a 60L keg and forced carbonated.
18. The next day the customer bottles.
One thing I am not clear on is the kettle break. From my understanding this is also called a protein break that breaks the chains up. But I don't know why this needs to occur other than it gives me steril wort for yeast starter.
My buisness has improved since we started but the damage done by previous administration is greater than I thought. The only way to suceed is produce beers that are comparable to comerical brands. A taste that still seams to alude me, and one of the reasons I'm putting in a small all grain system.
I've been thinking about raising my aging room temperature to put me in lagering range and trying some lagers. Can anyone tell me how this will affect the aging on the ale beers.
Of course any help is appriciated.
Best regards,
Dave
MCBC
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