Greetings!
I just finished my second batch of beer. And it would seem I am repeating the mistakes I made the first time.
I should add that I am doing one gallon recipes only for now. That is what my equipment will handle (possibly two gallons if I push it) and my stove can heat. And I want to try several different recipes.
Anyway, the problem I have run into is that it seems I am boiling too hard. After sparging I have about five quarts of wort and then I boil it for sixty minutes. But in both batches I end up with not enough wort. Only about a half or 3/4 of a gallon.
It would seem I am reducing it too much. But I don't know what the proper boiling temperature is or how hard a boil I should have. I read somewhere to use a "low rolling boil." To me a rolling boil means a boil that doesn't stop when you stir it. I've also read that if you don't boil at a high enough temperature that the hops won't give up bitterness and you won't get "hot break". Which I think is characterized by foam that tries to boil out of the kettle.
It's also possible I am not getting enough liquid from the sparge. I did the standard "run sparge water over it" (at 170 degrees) and then run the wort back through the grains. And it's taking a long time to get all the liquid out. Should I stir up the grains to encourage them to give up their liquid?
There must be a happy medium of some kind.
The other concern I have, because it is so obvious, is that there appears to be a lot of hop crud in my wort after putting it in the fermenter. I strained the wort through a fine mesh strainer before cooling it and it's still there. Is that a problem? Do I need to strain again, through something even finer? Do I need to strain it through cheesecloth or something?
My colander/strainer setup is getting the grains out after sparging but the hops elude me. I am hoping that the hops and such will fall to the bottom after fermentation and I can just rack the beer off of the lees/trub/whatever the right word is.
Sorry this is so long and rambling. Thanks in advance.
I just finished my second batch of beer. And it would seem I am repeating the mistakes I made the first time.
I should add that I am doing one gallon recipes only for now. That is what my equipment will handle (possibly two gallons if I push it) and my stove can heat. And I want to try several different recipes.
Anyway, the problem I have run into is that it seems I am boiling too hard. After sparging I have about five quarts of wort and then I boil it for sixty minutes. But in both batches I end up with not enough wort. Only about a half or 3/4 of a gallon.
It would seem I am reducing it too much. But I don't know what the proper boiling temperature is or how hard a boil I should have. I read somewhere to use a "low rolling boil." To me a rolling boil means a boil that doesn't stop when you stir it. I've also read that if you don't boil at a high enough temperature that the hops won't give up bitterness and you won't get "hot break". Which I think is characterized by foam that tries to boil out of the kettle.
It's also possible I am not getting enough liquid from the sparge. I did the standard "run sparge water over it" (at 170 degrees) and then run the wort back through the grains. And it's taking a long time to get all the liquid out. Should I stir up the grains to encourage them to give up their liquid?
There must be a happy medium of some kind.
The other concern I have, because it is so obvious, is that there appears to be a lot of hop crud in my wort after putting it in the fermenter. I strained the wort through a fine mesh strainer before cooling it and it's still there. Is that a problem? Do I need to strain again, through something even finer? Do I need to strain it through cheesecloth or something?
My colander/strainer setup is getting the grains out after sparging but the hops elude me. I am hoping that the hops and such will fall to the bottom after fermentation and I can just rack the beer off of the lees/trub/whatever the right word is.
Sorry this is so long and rambling. Thanks in advance.