Recent content by SurlyBrew

I brewed a lager on Thursday and made a 2l starter with 1 pack of yeast. I was shooting for an OG of 1.047 and sparged rather slowly and got an efficiency of 87% resulting in an OG of 1.060. My question is can I add more yeast after fermentation has begun? This was a 10 gal batch and split into...

Looking to buy a chest freezer. I'd prefer if it could fit 4 corny kegs. Anyone selling a freezer or no where I can find one.

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Yes we are open! We have been open for almost 6 months now. Stop on by. 4135 Hiawatha.

I racked into a keg and didn't get much trub at all in the keg. Don't think this is it.

How do results with polyclar compare to say gelatin? I forgot to mention I cold crashed and used gelatin before cold crashing. Can't imagine that would have any affect.

At that time, I used St. Paul MN tap water (and still use it). From what I've heard, it is pretty good. I treated it with campden tablets the night before brewing. Since then I have purchased a carbon water filter and use that to filter the water.

Really? I did this same recipe except it was extract and took second runner up. No astringency issues with the first one. Hop schedule was the exact same. One large new variable is the mash.

I do have a refractometer. I should check the gravity when sparging next time. I had 4 people judge the beer, and the only one with any BJCP certification experience mentioned astringency. I did place with this beer though. There were contradicting statements between judges. One said too bitter...

Unfortunately, the beer was finished before I got the scores... So, I was not able to try it and read the notes.

You could be onto something. I bottled this beer from a keg. Cabonation was spot on. But, when I was bottling it, I had stirred up a bit of stuff on the bottom from moving the keg. It was a tad bit cloudier than normal. I had a hell of a time getting the disconnects off.

Yes, I recirculate the wort so no grain in the boil kettle. Haven't measured the gravity when sparging. I could give it a look next time.

Mashp PH is unknown. I was going to purchase some mash PH strips, but from what I've heard they suck/don't work. Ph meter is also too expensive. I also use a single crush, and it's not very good at that. I use the mill at Northern Brewer. I think the judge was a BJCP apprentice.

Rahr 2-row, and sparge water was 168F.

I got some competition scores back and one red flag that came up was mild astringency. I didn't catch it when I drank the beer. I've been looking up the causes and can't figure it out. For one, how much does one sparge with to over-do it? I do all grain and batch sparge. I mashed at 152-153 with...