JoppaFarms
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- Dec 27, 2012
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Hey folks. I'm going to be sour'ing a Stout by filling my 5 gallon glass carboy to the brim with wort and adding a couple ounces of malted grain and hold it at around 100F for 36-48 hours before boiling and adding hops.
From what I understand, it's best to reduce headspace to near zero during the lactic fermentation pre-boil. In order to do this, I have to use my 5 gallon glass carboy. This means that I will have to add top up water to account for trub loss and boil-off rate. I'll have to add roughly 1.25 gallons of water to the kettle before boiling to make sure I have the appropriate volume at the end.
When I'm using the Bru'n Water calculator, it doesn't account for top up water. Just mash and sparge water. I am using distilled water with all salts/minerals added. My concern is that if I add 1.25 gallons of distilled water to my kettle, the mineral balance now becomes off by 1.25 gallons and the finished product may not have the appropriate level of minerals for taste/mouthfeel/bitterness/malty/etc.
Am I over thinking this and it will be ok? Is 1.25 gallons negligible to effect the levels? Should I treat my top up water the same as my sparge water? As my mash water?
Any pointers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
From what I understand, it's best to reduce headspace to near zero during the lactic fermentation pre-boil. In order to do this, I have to use my 5 gallon glass carboy. This means that I will have to add top up water to account for trub loss and boil-off rate. I'll have to add roughly 1.25 gallons of water to the kettle before boiling to make sure I have the appropriate volume at the end.
When I'm using the Bru'n Water calculator, it doesn't account for top up water. Just mash and sparge water. I am using distilled water with all salts/minerals added. My concern is that if I add 1.25 gallons of distilled water to my kettle, the mineral balance now becomes off by 1.25 gallons and the finished product may not have the appropriate level of minerals for taste/mouthfeel/bitterness/malty/etc.
Am I over thinking this and it will be ok? Is 1.25 gallons negligible to effect the levels? Should I treat my top up water the same as my sparge water? As my mash water?
Any pointers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!