A1 Malt Liquor

General brewing information, questions and discussion. Topics that do not seem to fit elsewhere.

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Beer Man
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A1 Malt Liquor

Post by Beer Man »

Has anyone tried this one? I read recipe and I am lost the brewing notes are to advanced for my brain. Can someone help a first timer out? Thanks
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cereal mash

Post by slothrob »

I've never made this one, but I assume it's the cereal mash that's giving you problems.
What you need to do is add 2 parts 2-row to 3 parts rice. Add about 1.5-2 qts/# water then heat it to each of the temperatures, stirring nearly constantly, then holding it at each temperature for 15 minutes except for the 149
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Post by Beer Man »

I know you know what you are doing. But I don't know what I'm doing. I need it in dummy readables. Sorry. AND Thanks. :wink:
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cereal mash

Post by slothrob »

Beer Man wrote:I know you know what you are doing. But I don't know what I'm doing. I need it in dummy readables. Sorry. AND Thanks. :wink:
Sorry, I thought that was pretty basic. :oops:
Have you ever mashed malt before?
Have you ever made a Lager?

If you haven't, this is NOT the recipe to start with. This is pretty advanced mashing technique. I could probably come up with a pretty reasonable substitute recipe that could be made from extract and use much simpler techniques and take half the time to make, if you're interested.
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Re: cereal mash

Post by Beer Man »

If you haven't, this is NOT the recipe to start with. This is pretty advanced mashing technique. I could probably come up with a pretty reasonable substitute recipe that could be made from extract and use much simpler techniques and take half the time to make, if you're interested.[/quote]

I have never made anything I'm a newbie. That would be great if you would share an easy substitute recipe. I Thank you.
Last edited by Beer Man on Mon Mar 31, 2008 7:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Beer Man »

One more thing I don't know I'm in AZ so I see the wort has to set in under 72 degrees what happens if its 78-80 degrees?
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a1

Post by slothrob »

A lager, like the recipe you mentioned, is fermented at around 50
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Results of warm fermentation

Post by billvelek »

Beer Man wrote:One more thing I don't know I'm in AZ so I see the wort has to set in under 72 degrees what happens if its 78-80 degrees?
I presume that by "sets" you mean 'fermenation' time; if so, fermenting that high (78-80) will undoubtedly induce the yeast to create esters which will give the beer an undesireable fruity flavor and also produce fusel alcohols which can give you a raging headache after just a couple of beers. The fermentation might also be so explosive that you will lose more beer to blow-off than you normally would. In my opinion, do whatever you need to do to get the temperature down to no higher than 74F -- absolute MAXIMUM in my opinion -- or don't bother brewing. That is probably a somewhat arbitrary figure, and is slightly higher than slothrob's limit merely because I know that I have managed to produce 'drinkable' beer at 73 or 74 when it couldn't be avoided, but they were not my better brews. There are probably several circumstances besides just temperature which all interact to affect the levels of esters and fusels, but 74F is still probably a good LIMIT so long as you understand that lower is better. Other things that I would suspect to be factors are the particular strain of yeast, overall yeast health and the quantity pitched, possibly the level of aeration especially if under-pitched, original gravity, and sugar profile (affected by the grains you used and your mashing schedule). Consequently, with those other variables, I suppose it is always POSSIBLE that you could produce a 'drinkable' beer at even 75 or 76F, but it is risky and not very likely, in my opinion; at the very least, quality would definitely suffer.

Ales should IDEALLY be fermented closer to about 68F, as slothrob mentioned, but you can still get good ale at 72F. Below 65F and I believe you risk yeast flocculation and stuck fermentations, but that depends on the strain of yeast. Just remember that vigorous fermentation also generates its own heat and can raise the wort a few degrees higher than room temperature. There are a couple of techniques you can use to help cool your fermenter, such as setting it in a tub of water and add a small amount of ice, as needed (you will need to monitor the temp of the water), or using evaporative cooling (draping a wet towel or cloth over and around the fermenter so that as the water evaporates it cools the fermenter). The latter can be enhanced by adding a fan to force the water to evaporate faster, and should work especially well in Arizona where it is dry. The bottom of the towel needs to rest in water to keep it wet (replace evaporated water by a 'wicking' action).

As for lagers (which I don't do because they require special refrigeration), slothrob was correct that they are fermented around 50F, but he did not mention that they also need to be lagered, which requires slowly lowering the temperature a couple of degrees each day until you finally get down to 32F -- thus the need for special refrigeration equipment. I would say that most homebrewers do not do lagers.

If you are just starting out, any significant mashing schedule would seem to me to be 'advanced' for a newbie; it can be done, but you have an awful lot to learn at one time. Starting with a kit would be a lot easier while you learn more basic stuff like sanitation, racking/siphoning, and work out details on crash cooling and that sort of stuff. For instance, besides a mash schedule, do you know the maximum temp for mash-out and sparging? Do you even know which sparging technique you will use -- fly sparging or batch sparging? Do you know how to vorlauf? I suspect that you might not have those answers, and if not, you are not ready to do all grain. But you will not need to know ANY of that if you do an extract kit. Just my two cents.

Cheers, and the best of luck.

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Blonde Ale

Post by slothrob »

What he said.

I'd start with something like this extract-based Cream Ale kit (look about 3/4 down the page), if you're looking for something similar to an American Lager, but more suitable for a beginner.

That's IF you can find a way to ferment cool enough. Be warned that those fusel alcohols, that Bill mentioned can occur with high temperature fermentations, will give you a mean hangover.

If your taste in beer is more varied than that, there are some better options for a beginner, as a light tasting beer like that will tend to show every flaw, while a Pale Ale can cover a lot of imperfections due to it's richer flavor.
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Post by Beer Man »

That one sounds good. Now I just talk with a buddy told him about the temp. that it has to be. He asked if you ferment in a frig will it work?
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Post by caughtinamosh87 »

I too live in AZ and have had problems getting a low enough fermentation temp. So far I haven't had too bad of a problem, and as a new brewer myself, just recently learned the evap trick which I will definately be trying out this summer. I made an amber and a red last summer that turned out pretty decent at about 77-78 degrees.
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Post by Beer Man »

But putting it in a frig you can set it down to the high 60* temp. as needed. would this not work?
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Post by Beer Man »

I also have a portable evap cooler but you need the door open like half way to really bring the temp down but I cant risk someone robing me.
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Fridge

Post by slothrob »

Yes, people who brew lagers typically use a fridge or a freezer with a temperature controller for accurate temperatures. If you are lucky, you might be able to get a fridge to hold close to 50
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