Long brew day and some observations
Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 7:13 am
So I brewed the Pearly Pils yesterday. At least seven hours from preliminary washing to putting the last items away. Did seven gallons initially, due to the extended boil time for the pilsner malt. Got at least 5.5 gallons total. Maybe six, although there's a lot of solid material in there right now.
And that's just one of my observations. I noticed a lot of material swirling around in the pot during the boil. It took a long time to get boiling, and I didn't really have much of a hot break (I was watching like a hawk, because my brewpot is 8 gallons, and a vigorous hot break would need to be attended to immediately to avoid boilover).
I also couldn't chill my wort down to ideal pitching temp for a lager. Even with an immersion chiller and an ice bath, after 20 minutes, the best I could do was get it down to the mid-60s. I went ahead and pitched the yeast and put it in the fridge, and in about four hours, it was around 60 degrees, and starting to perk. Eight hours later, it was even cooler, and the solid material had drifted to the bottom of the carboy, and there was regular bubbling through the airlock. This morning, I checked it at 6:00 and there's krausen and slow but regular airlock activity.
There seems to be enough solid crap in the bottom of the carboy to take up a full gallon; at least it seems to come up to the gallon mark on the carboy. I know most, if not all of this will settle out, and I intend to rack to a secondary for a dry hop and cold crash before bottling anyway. But I just get a little frustrated. When I'm racking from the brewpot, I'm very pleased to see the color and clarity in the siphon tube, and then it picks up all this hot/cold break material. I've mentioned before that I intend for this to be a competition entry, and that I want it to be as clear as I can make it, and I guess that's why I'm obsessing over it.
And that's just one of my observations. I noticed a lot of material swirling around in the pot during the boil. It took a long time to get boiling, and I didn't really have much of a hot break (I was watching like a hawk, because my brewpot is 8 gallons, and a vigorous hot break would need to be attended to immediately to avoid boilover).
I also couldn't chill my wort down to ideal pitching temp for a lager. Even with an immersion chiller and an ice bath, after 20 minutes, the best I could do was get it down to the mid-60s. I went ahead and pitched the yeast and put it in the fridge, and in about four hours, it was around 60 degrees, and starting to perk. Eight hours later, it was even cooler, and the solid material had drifted to the bottom of the carboy, and there was regular bubbling through the airlock. This morning, I checked it at 6:00 and there's krausen and slow but regular airlock activity.
There seems to be enough solid crap in the bottom of the carboy to take up a full gallon; at least it seems to come up to the gallon mark on the carboy. I know most, if not all of this will settle out, and I intend to rack to a secondary for a dry hop and cold crash before bottling anyway. But I just get a little frustrated. When I'm racking from the brewpot, I'm very pleased to see the color and clarity in the siphon tube, and then it picks up all this hot/cold break material. I've mentioned before that I intend for this to be a competition entry, and that I want it to be as clear as I can make it, and I guess that's why I'm obsessing over it.