Brewing Master

Question:

I’ve finally taken the plunge to all-grain, doing my first batch yesterday. I have a few questions, so thanks for any help you can give: 1- What is a good book that deals in depth with all-grain brewing (i.e. the process, recipe formulation, things like that)     I have TNCJOHB that got me started, but it didn’t go into enough depth I guess.

Dave Miller’s Homebrewing Guide is sort of my brewing bible.  It is a detailed look at brewing ingredients and the brewing process with an emphasis on practical issues, and is perfect if you are starting out into all-grain and just want to do single infusion mashes (holding one temperature for the entire mash) I’m currently trying to digest New Brewing Lager Beer by Greg Noonan.  He is a proponent of decoction mashing and discusses the procedure in great detail.  Despite the title, the methods he describes apply to both ales and lagers.  It is somewhat advanced, but if your interests turn to step and decoction mashing it is invaluable. 2- What is thermal mass, strike temp, and how do I find out what my efficiency is?

When you add mash water (liquor) to your grains, the grains absorb some of the heat of the water, lowering the temperature.  Because of this, you need to heat your liquor water more (around 11deg F more, depending on various things).  For a single infusion mash at 156deg F, with my system I would heat my liquor to 170deg F or so.  This is the strike temperature. There are a few different ways to calculate efficiency.  One is to add up the extract potential of all the grains.  This is usually expressed as gravity units/pound of grain/gallon of water.  For instance, 1 lb of 2-row malt in one gallon of water has an extract potential of 1.035 or so.  Add up all the numbers, then divide your OG by the potential extract and you’ll have a percentage.  I realize that isn’t too detailed; I don’t really calculate my efficiency. Check out the beer recipator at brewery.org.  It’s an excellent tool for planning your recipes! http://hbd.org/recipator/ Have fun! Richard

Response:

Dave Miller’s Homebrewing Guide is sort of my brewing bible.  It is a detailed look at brewing ingredients and the brewing process with an emphasis on practical issues, and is perfect if you are starting out into all-grain and just want to do single infusion mashes (holding one temperature for the entire mash)

I like Miller’s book, too … but you’ve got to be careful when using his recipes. His extraction efficiency is near godlike. I’m not sure too many mere mortals come near what he shows. —Michael "Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech." www.weblore.com/soapbox New: TANSTAAFL – On Federal Funding To send email, remove "nospam"

Response:

I like to calc the efficiency, so I can determine the amount of grains needed to hit an O.G. Just add a pound or two of base malt to the recipe, until you know the efficiency of your system. Miller’s recipes would be ok by adding the 1 to 2 pounds more of base malt, usually 2 row. Good Brewing! ,Bart

Response:

Jimbo, you can’t beat "Beer Clones" by Story Book press.  Gives ya 150 reciepes. does it in all grain and all malt and partials.  Also Cat’s Meow on the web is good. ED – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’ve finally taken the plunge to all-grain, doing my first batch yesterday. I have a few questions, so thanks for any help you can give: 1- What is a good book that deals in depth with all-grain brewing (i.e. the process, recipe formulation, things like that)     I have TNCJOHB that got me started, but it didn’t go into enough depth I guess. 2- What is thermal mass, strike temp, and how do I find out what my efficiency is? Thanks, Jim

Response:

I’ve finally taken the plunge to all-grain, doing my first batch yesterday. I have a few questions, so thanks for any help you can give: 1- What is a good book that deals in depth with all-grain brewing (i.e. the process, recipe formulation, things like that)     I have TNCJOHB that got me started, but it didn’t go into enough depth I guess. 2- What is thermal mass, strike temp, and how do I find out what my efficiency is? Thanks, Jim

Response: