Importance of quick cooling

[Belto]

This weekend I hope to brew my 3rd AG,after becoming more familiar with my equipment it's performance and modifications.
Currently I do not have a wort cooler.
How important is it to bring the brew down to pitching temperature quickly
apart from the risk of infection.

[Garth]

As well as getting quickly to yeast pitching temp, I believe this helps with clarity in the final beer, as after the boil it forces protein matter out of solution and into that lumpy stuff called trub, which will settle on the bottom of the fermenter if you use a cfc (which you can then rack off before pitching) or get left behind in the boiler if you use a immersion type chiller.

[Belto]

I am going to use a simple recipe

4.4Kg pale malt
500g crystal malt
100grms Fuggles Hops
what programme of using the Fuggles hops would be recommended

I also have in stock
500grms Flaked Barley
Crushed black malt
Campden Tablets
Gypson
With a water hardness of Clark 19

Calcium Carbonate 268mg/L (Curtisy Bristol Water)
Any recommendations welcome
I prefer Bass, 6X, type of ales and with a Hoppy flavour
Brew time tomorrow
Start time depends upon tonight

With regard to previous post on 'no cooler'.
the suggestions seem to recommend racking from the boiler

[tubby_shaw]

Your recipe looks good, DaaB's hop regime is good.
If you are after a draught Bass / 6X type beer you may be better to reduce the crystal malt down to 250g though.
My only real reccomendation would be that you boil your mash and sparge liquor tonight for 15 minutes and allow it to stand so that the calcium carbonate can precipitated out.
Add 1/2 a crushed campden tablet to it once it has cooled as well.
This should give you better results with your mash
Good luck with it

[steve_flack]

Cooling quickly is also important to reduce the formation of the rotting cabbage smell. This is caused by a compound called dimethylsulfide (DMS). DMS is formed at higher temperatures from malt and in the boil it is driven off. At temperatures just below the boil it is formed by it stays in your beer. It's therefore good to get the temperature down from boiling quickly to stop that happening. This is more a concern with pilsner malts as those malts tend to be higher in the precursors to DMS anyway and the beers made with them are less able to hide brewing defects.

[Belto]

Thanks guys for all these seeds of Knowledge most welcome by myself and I am sure all other viewers

[Belto]

Well Iam nearly there results boiling at moment and will take Daabs advice on Hops programme and also reduced the crystal malt to 250Grms
added Camden tablet
after what I thought was a sucessful mash
1st run off @54c SG1.092
after 10 ltr @34c SG 1.065
after 15ltr @35c SG1.032
after 17ltr @34c SG1.020
18ltrs stopped sparging runnings now 0.012 runin spare bucket with the idea of adding to boil as volume reduces
Main volume before boiling SG 1.032 @34c
I would like oppinions on these results not having enough experience to judge yet.
What % alcohol can I expect
I am dissapointed in the volumes one produces for all the time and effort.
How can I increase the final volume to 40 pints @ 5% on future brews

[tubby_shaw]

Belto to get the volume and a.b.v. that you require you need to put about the same volume of sparge liquor through the grains as your requires final volume. i.e if you are brewing 25 L you will need around 25L of sparge liquor as well as the amount that you used for the mash.
You need to keep a check on the runnings though and stop the sparge when the runnings read 1.006 at 20 C.
As you are suggesting if your boiler is full collect the extra runnings in a bucket and top up as required.
You sound like you are doing OK keep up the good work

[Belto]

what if I sparge after mash but the runnings get to 1.006 before I get 23ltrs Plus allowing for the evaporation (quite a lot from current experience)
Will I have to increase the grain content and also get a larger Boiler..
At the moment I am running blind with the SG Vs ABV
eg the current SG from sparging approx 18 ltr @ 1.032 34c
What will happen to the SG after the boil, the results will have to be fermented down to what ever.
Do other brewers using the standard 23ltr plastice buckets produce just 18 ltrs from their brew?

[tubby_shaw]

Belto, if you runnings get to SG 1.06 stop, even if it is before your desired final volume.
Your SG will increase during boiling and it is perfectly OK to dilute the boiled work with water to get you to whatever volume you desire
As for your problems with low extract at the moment I would hazard a guess that your sparge may be to blame ?
How long is it taking you to get to a full boiler IMO it should be taking you at least 45 minutes ?
I think that the majority of grain brewers end up with at least 23 L when using standard "5 Gallon" buckets.
To calculate your approx. abv take your original gravity reading i.e 1.040 and your final SG i.e. 1.008 subtract one from the other (0.032) divide the answer by 7.45 (0.0043) multiply by 1000 = 4.3 % a.b.v
If you could describe your brewing regime in detail we may be able to offer more help

[Belto]

my brewing regime is as per book
4500grms pale malt
250grms crystal malt
campden tablet into HLT
72c in mash tun add grains temp to 67C insulate for 90 mins
Temp now 65C
Start sparging at 78C
very slow mashing took approx 2.5hours applied evenly via water can rose with urn level so no running paths developed in grain bed
First collection of sparge water 1.092 @ 36c
various reducing until 1.012 when I stopped with 18Ltrs in bucket
Bucket SG 1.032

Boiled 90 mins with 80grms Fuggles
+ 20 mins with 20Grms Fuggles
adding some sparge water to replace evaporation
resulting volume 13ltrs
Anxiety about my results I added 100 grams of Demarra Sugar during last part of boil SG 1.092 @ 24C with 13ltrs of strong tasting dark liquer
trying to cool as quickly as possible standing in cold water and changing periodicaly.
Where do I go from here
Total time involved approx 7hrs for 13ltrs and frustrated

[tubby_shaw]

Don't be frustrated Belto
If you have collected 13 litres at an SG of 1.092 @ 24º C all you now need to do is dilute with water to an SG of 1.045 and if it ferments down to SG 1.012 you have a 4.5% beer
And I think that at that dilution you will have 5 gallons as well
It will also get quicker with practice

[Garth]

tubbys right Belto, it gets quicker and less hassle each time, you find shortcuts, better ways of doing things, and changing things to your way of brewing, give it a few brews and you'll not look back..........

my first few times were very disorganised.

[RabMaxwell]

Don't be frustrated Belto
If you have collected 13 litres at an SG of 1.092 @ 24º C all you now need to do is dilute with water to an SG of 1.045 and if it ferments down to SG 1.012 you have a 4.5% beer
And I think that at that dilution you will have 5 gallons as well
It will also get quicker with practice

Hello Belto instead of diluting with water you can use the water to sparge your hops in your boiler. You get a lot of goodness trapped in the spent hops. It will definitely help your efficiency. Cheers

[Belto]

Thanks for all your comments
I have topped up with water from boiler However your suggestions will come in handy i the future .
I am glad to say my Fermenter is now full offering 23 lts with an SG 1.012 so I think it will be more to my liking now.
Is this a norm to finalise with approx 13-18 lts of concentrate and then have to dilute to requirement