water amounts and hop strengths

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

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Jamie
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Jan 24, 2006 10:32 am

water amounts and hop strengths

Post by Jamie »

My questions are as folows : When it says batch size 5 gal. , and volume boiled 6 gal. Does this mean you must start with 6 gal., cook your grain, remouve the teabag of grain and then cook down until you are left with 5 gal. ?
What does apparent plato and real plato mean ?

If I only have a apx. 3 gal stainless steel pot to do the brewing part in but we talk about a 6 gal. boil , is this possible, or must I get a 6 gal. pot and a turkey pot burner to accomadate the size of pot?

When is candy sugar usually added to the boil?

I have a bulk order of Hallertau hops. It does not state what type of Hallertau, but it states on the package that it has a alpha acid of 4.0%. When a recipe states 1.5oz. @ 4.5 % alpha acid and mine only has 4.0% . What amount would I put in to make up the differance, or do I make up any at all?
Where can I get a complete brew glossary?

Thank you in advance, looking forward to your responce.
Julian Pynenbrouck.
BillyBock
Imperial Stout
Imperial Stout
Posts: 561
Joined: Sun Dec 31, 2000 11:37 am
Location: Ohio

Post by BillyBock »

Welcome to the forum.

Batch size refers to the amount that ends up in your fermenter. Boil size refers to how much you start with in your kettle. Different kettles will have different evaporation rates, so it's difficult to say if you should start with 6, 6.5, or 7 gals unless you know the evaporation rate of your system.

Plato is another value of measuring specific gravity, or the density of your wort. As it ferments the available sugars are converted to alcohol and the wort density is reduced. 1 deg Plato is approx 4 specific gravity points, or 1.004.

There are many benefits to doing full volume boils. But if you can't it's perfectly ok to boil a smaller volume of extract and top it up in the fermenter.

You can add candy sugar to the last 15 or 20 minutes of the boil--just long enough to sterilize it.

On your hops question, you can use the recipe formulation calculator on this site to help you figure out how much. But I'm sure you'll find the amount will be insignificant and diffucult for you to weigh out. What kind of beer are you making?
Jamie
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Jan 24, 2006 10:32 am

Post by Jamie »

Thanks to the heads up on my questions, it's all a learning curve for me .
I am interested in making a Belgian beer closer to the Leffe blond but with a slight more wheat flavour to it . Can you suggest any thing as a general for ingredients.
The last batch I made I took 1kit of Canadian blond
6lbs light malt extract (fine)
1 lb of candy sugar
1 oz of hallertau hops
( a5 gal. batch )
Started off fine 10 days mouved to a carboy, then it died and a white skin came over it , so I reouved as much of the bacteria as I could , mouved it back to the plastic pail, sulphited the brew stired it twice a day for 5 days. Then I pitched another packet of yeast and added an other .5lb of corn sugar. It never took off so inthe mean time Christmas came and went (3weeks) I make my way down stairs to toss it out and it is just staring to ferment again. So I let it go again once again for 10 days, mouve it over to the carboy 7 days ago. It has continued to work but in the last 2 days or so another slight film has come over it . do you think it is safe to bottle or am I waisting my time.
BillyBock
Imperial Stout
Imperial Stout
Posts: 561
Joined: Sun Dec 31, 2000 11:37 am
Location: Ohio

Post by BillyBock »

I'm not familiar with that particular beer, but if you want more wheat character find yourself a wheat extract with a higher percentage of wheat in it. Almost all wheat extracts are a combination of barley & wheat around the 50/50 range...sometimes 40/60, or 60/40.

Use the calculators on this site to help you design your brew. It also shows you the style guidelines for the type of beer so you can design it to those specs.

Are you a previous winemaker? Sulphites aren't a good thing for beer flavor. Before tossing it out, give it a smell test. Does it smell like beer?
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