Basic Brewing Questions

Brewing processes and methods. How to brew using extract, partial or all-grain. Tips and tricks.

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Cheers
Light Lager
Light Lager
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Basic Brewing Questions

Post by Cheers »

A couple of quick and probably easy questions.

1) I seem to have extreme difficulty with clarity. It seems no matter what I do, I end up with cloudy beer. I have heard of using Irish Moss, but that compromises that purity. Any thoughts or ideas?

2) I saw in an above post that using a liquid yeast is very beneficial and one of the best upgrades you can make. Do you need to buy a new batch (for lack of a better term) every time? Is there any easier or better way to take care of that. Thanks for your help.
Freon12
Strong Ale
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Door #2

Post by Freon12 »

I'll take door #2, others will answer the clairity question better Than I can.
I saw a post earlier that give the address for low cost yeast($4.00 U.S.).
You can pour a new batch of wort onto the yeast cake left from the first batch, or I use a starter and a magnetic stirer to increase the amount of yeast to a point where I can make two or three batches from one vial. There's plenty of reading on starters and yeast already posted or at www.wyeast.com or www.whitelabs.com. The second greatest improvement will be following the instructions for a particular yeast as far as tempretures are concerned. Hope this helps.
l48shark
Double IPA
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Irish Moss

Post by l48shark »

If you browse through recent posts, you will find some information on various fining agents. As for Irish Moss, it is very commonly used by homebrewers and works well. Addressing purity, I cannot get really technical there, but you are only adding 1/2 teaspoon to a 5 gallon batch, so I would not expect it to a problem. Make sure you add it to your boiling wort, or it will not do any good. Typical use is 1/2 teaspoon per 5 gallons added with 15 minutes of boil time remaining.

As for reusing liquid yeast, I have made the same type of beer back-to-back and reused the yeast as Freon12 describes. I racked the fermented beer into a secondary fermenter and then added the fresh wort right into the carboy with the yeast slurry. The second batch ferments much faster. I have done as many as 3 batches in this manner with great results.
Cheers,
Ford
dartedplus
Strong Ale
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Thats a great idea

Post by dartedplus »

I hadn't thought of that before. That is really a good way to get the most out of your yeast. Unfortunately, I rarely brew that often.
l48shark
Double IPA
Double IPA
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Brew all year

Post by l48shark »

I hate empty carboys! :)
Freon12
Strong Ale
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Location: WHITELAND, IN, US

Yep

Post by Freon12 »

I hate empty pints.
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