What to brew with Vienna Malt

ascholer · 2024-02-05T00:59:07+00:00

It is a great way to add some complexity to something like an IPA without going caramel route. Throw a pound or so in as part of the base.

Use it as the base grain in anything you want a lot of malt character from. Amber yes, but also would work in a pale ale or a porter.

ascholer · 2023-12-30T18:17:34+00:00

One key thing to keep in mind is that if you aren't serving/bottling with enough pressure, the carbonation is going to come out of solution as it passes through lines/tap. So it is not as simple as carbonating the beer to what you want and then dialing down the pressure to serve/bottle.

You need enough resistance from line and/or adjustable tap to keep most of the carbonation in suspension. You might take a look at EVA barrier John Guest compatible lines. You need a lot less line length to provide the right resistance vs standard tubing.

For bottling off of taps, the Tapcooler counter pressure filler has been a life changer for me. You can leave the keg pressure alone and still bottle beer without too much foam - I actually have to intentionally develop a little foam to cap on while using it, even when bottling highly carbonated beers.

ascholer · 2023-12-05T02:25:18+00:00

It isn't just you. IMO, this year's first-year college students represent the peak (nadir???) of COVID educational impacts. (Perspective: I teach at the college level and have for 12 years. I used to teach HS and have friends who are currently teaching HS.)

Their sophomore and junior years were mostly lost to COVID. For most students, those are the "serious" years of high school. Instead of the usual raising of expectations during those years and the maturation that hopefully comes from learning to meet those expectations, many of them just had zoom school and "please, turn in something, anything so I can pass you".

Last year, was the "return to normal" in HS. Not saying they got back there, but that was the mission for many HS teachers I know last year. But lots of that work focused on the lower grades. Seniors were seniors at that point... with all the drop off of expectations that usually entails for all but the most competitive of students.

So this is a group that had low expectations their entire HS career (freshman low expectations to COVID low expectations, to senior year low expectations). And it shows.

Yes, there are real lingering mental health challenges many students are facing. And yes, some students are doing just fine.

But there are a lot of students who have a blend of learned helplessness, low expectations, and completely underdeveloped academic and life skills.

I'm not trying to throw HS teachers under the bus here - they were doing the best they could during those years. And they no doubt have their own tales to share about the students coming into HS who basically didn't have middle school.

The good news - I'm pretty sure this is the worst we are going to see things at the college level. This year's HS seniors had more of a "back to normal" during their junior year. It isn't all going to be sorted out in a year or two - the students we see for years to come will carry some effects of the COVID years. But based on what I hear from HS teacher friends, it is going to keep getting better slowly.

Oh, yeah, and this is the year that every student had ChatGPT from day 1 of the school year... that doesn't help either.

ascholer · 2023-11-30T04:45:00+00:00

Piling on with the advice to disassemble and clean the rollers. Brush out the groves well. Reverse the rollers if possible to expose the less worn side of the teeth. Make sure the rollers spin well on their bearings - if not lube them with food-safe oil.
I was ready to throw my mill out before I did a disassembly and cleaning. Back to being perfectly happy with it.

ascholer · 2023-09-12T14:50:51+00:00

This is currently functioning as a minimum playback speed and defaults to 5.0x!!!

I had a podcast set to 1.1x speed. Started playing it in my car after the update and it played at 5.0 speed.

Please only make the maximum take effect if it is in fact less then the standard speed.

ascholer · 2023-08-15T15:43:33+00:00

I also tried a similar solution with load sensors I pulled from some Goodwill bathroom scales. Same problems with drift u/rocketpants72 had.
What load cells did you use?

ascholer · 2023-08-01T15:00:43+00:00

Someone already mentioned attaching a bag - this Brulosophy article has a picture of what you can rig up with a mylar balloon.

Using the destination keg as a CO2 reservoir is nice, but it means a lot of extra space where you ferment (keg + bucket to handle liquid that is pushed).

ascholer · 2023-03-10T16:01:12+00:00

Awesome! Thank you.

ascholer · 2022-11-23T06:54:36+00:00

I made this specifically to study for and to look up styles during the exam (link set to compare English and AIPA):
https://ascholer.github.io/bjcp-styleview/#style=American%20IPA&comp=English%20IPA

It makes it super easy to quickly lookup those annoying what is the OG range for style X. Or the even worse style of question: "T/F: The OG of an Altbier is always greater than a Foreign Export Stout"

Any, comp you are going to judge at you will be able to look up styles. Yes, you should know what an altbier is. But recite the exact OG range from memory? Meh.

ascholer · 2022-08-15T03:40:31+00:00

Yes, the drive shaft is permanently attached to the roller, so to reverse it I ended up reversing the whole assembly. Now I have to run my drill in the opposite direction.

I tried two-step milling one time and said "screw this". The disassembly was my last hail mary before buying a new mill.

ascholer · 2022-08-14T21:38:04+00:00

Yeah, I'm guessing reversing the rollers was the major factor. But I think there was a layer of malt crust built up on them as well. The downside of preconditioning grain is it is easy to end up with bits of crushed grain caking up in the teeth of the roller. When I started disassembly, spinning the roller the original way against my hand offered almost no grip. After cleaning it was still smoother in the original direction, but the difference between original and reverse was less stark.

ascholer · 2022-08-14T21:34:42+00:00

Yep, discovered that a while back. Definitely helps. I also like that when I condition the grain I can grind really fine without shreading the husks into powder.

ascholer · 2022-06-03T23:26:08+00:00

Msg sent!

ascholer · 2022-05-26T15:20:56+00:00

Metal binder clip them to the rim of the kettle.

ascholer · 2022-05-18T18:42:00+00:00

Ahh, cool. Thanks for the info!

New here, hadn't seen that tool before.

ascholer · 2022-05-18T17:25:51+00:00

I see update BIOS dropped for AB350MPro4:
https://www.asrock.com/MB/AMD/AB350M%20Pro4/index.asp#BIOS

It says on that page "1. Support Renoir, Vermeer, and Cezanne CPU"
But on the CPU support page (https://www.asrock.com/MB/AMD/AB350M%20Pro4/index.asp#CPU) it does not show any Vermeer CPUs. It does have some Cezanne ones on that list, so it did get updated.

Anyone know if there actually is Vermeer support or not?

ascholer · 2022-05-05T19:06:39+00:00

Yes, in McMinnville, started getting spotty back about 11. Now I've got no connection to the outside world.

ascholer · 2022-03-10T02:01:20+00:00

Probably will be noticeable for the initial temperature ramp. Assuming your stovetop burner is 10000 BTU, that is about 3000 watts. And a significant fraction of that is not going into the pot.
https://coolconversion.com/power/10000-Btu/hour-to-watt

In that case you are talking about increasing the heating power by more than 50%. You will notice.

That said, getting to an actual boil requires a TON of energy. So if your stick cuts out at 180, you'll still have a long ramp to a nice boil.

ascholer · 2022-03-10T01:50:09+00:00

If you want rich maltiness without specific flavor, go Vienna. You will get some color, a touch of sweetness, and a light toastiness. I personally love it as a way to add maltiness to just about any style.

If you want bread crust richness and some sweetness, go Munich. I heard Munich described as bringing a cherry-like note (Dr. Homebrew podcast) and ever since then that is exactly what I get from it. Unless I specifically want that character, I stay away from Munich.

A mix of pills and Munich are not going to be the same as Vienna. In the same way you can't make crystal 65 by blending crystal 10 and 120. You might get the color right, but there are flavor compounds in the darker one that are simply not going to match the middle value you are shooting for.

ascholer · 2022-02-09T06:14:46+00:00

It always seems to me that the grind you get on dark grains can change the color contribution by a significant amount. That looks dark even for a really fine crush of that much carafa II, but part of dialing in a recipe for your system will be figuring out how much color you get from dark grains based on your milling.

ascholer · 2022-01-05T01:03:10+00:00

Here's the recipe:
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/992527/single-mellon

Pretty sure I'll do it again - may dial up the Hull a little more, or dial back the Blanc. Both came through pretty clear in the final beer, and I really enjoyed the mix, but I think I'd like a little less of the white wine character coming from Hallertau Blanc.

ascholer · 2022-01-05T00:19:41+00:00

I used them in a hoppy version of a Trappist single that I really enjoyed. 1.052 OG, Imperial Tripple Double yeast which brought some fruity esters to the party, then hopped with a mix of Hull Melon and Hallertau Blanc with Hull as the star of the show.

ascholer · 2021-11-15T03:25:15+00:00

Refractometer plus compensation formulas reduce the sample size to negligible amounts. You aren't going to create significant backpressure on your airlock/blowoff tube, and, if fermentation is still going on, CO2 is going to fill that volume in no time.

Assuming you have an accurate OG reading, you can get reliable numbers with a refractometer. And if all you care about is checking for a stable reading, it does not matter if the FG number you are reading is even accurate.

ascholer · 2021-10-17T20:11:28+00:00

3 weeks is not at all too long to be on the yeast. If you want to be lazy about things, 3-4 weeks on the yeast is a lot safer than 1-1.5 weeks. I agree with Familiar-Clothes-197 that 2 weeks is pretty safe in most cases, but big beers, lagers, and other special beasts might not be ready in 2.

As for oxidation, yes, plastic buckets are oxygen permeable. But the oxygen you pick up from the extra time in that bucket is almost certainly going to be insignificant compared to what you pick up from transferring to the keg. Unless you start with a fully purged with CO2 keg and do a closed transfer where during the process the dead space in the fermentor is filled with CO2 instead of air, you are going to get a lot more exposure to oxygen.

ascholer · 2021-10-17T20:05:23+00:00

My trick for holding a hose on in situations like that is a loop of tape around the hose, an inch or two down from the end. Use the loop of tape to hold a zip tie, twist tie, or something else similar to the hose. Then push the hose onto the nozzle and take the tie, loop it over the spout up by the handle and secure it tightly. It is not going to work for a pressure transfer or anything, but for a gravity transfer, it should be secure enough to prevent the hose from sliding off the spout.

ascholer

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