GREAT BREW DAY and VERY NICE BREWERY!!! Porter is ale, but ale wasn't produced on the brew day, instead, American, home brew style, moonshiners beer was produced, regardless, of the title on the recipe. Single temperature infusion is used in grain distillation for producing extract that contains the highest volume of simple sugar, glucose, which is responsible for primary fermentation, and ABV, by using the simplest, and quickest, brewing method, with inexpensive, high modified, high protein, malt. The brewing method skips three steps required for producing ale, conversion, dextrinization, and gelatinization. Chemically, and enzymatically, the brewing method cannot produce ale and lager, due to the way enzyme's function, and chemical precipitation, making strike, target temperature, and brewing systems designed around single temperature infusion, pretty much useless, for producing ale and lager. The brewing method produces sugar, and chemically imbalanced, unstable, extract, which is of no concern to a moonshiner, but in brewing ale, the imbalanced, unstable, extract causes issues during fermentation, and conditioning, which results in a final product that has very limited shelf-life, that has to be artificially carbonated, and drank, green, from boiler to belly in a couple of weeks, before the beer falls apart. The brewing method cannot produce ale because the high temperature at 68, denatured low temperature activated enzymes that produce ale and lager, Beta in particular. Beta is responsible for conversion, which occurs around 60 to 63, with a rest lasting 30 to 40 minutes. During conversion, Beta turns simple sugar, glucose, into fermentable, complex types of sugar, maltose, and maltotriose. Maltose, and maltotriose are the sugars that produce ale and lager, glucose provides the alcohol. When conversion occurs, secondary fermentation takes place, due to maltose. Maltotriose is responsible for natural carbonation. Priming sugar, and CO2 injection aren't needed for carbonating ale and lager. Beta is purposely denatured in grain distillation because the enzyme gets in the way. Removing hot break as it forms is good, less hops are needed because the extract is cleaner, but it removes the gunk that provides body and mouthfeel in home brew. In home brew, starch carry over, Beta Glucan, and protein sludge provides body and mouthfeel. Next time, use a spoon that is not punched full of holes, and remove all of the hot break as it forms, until it drastically, reduces, then, add hops. You threw away the richest, starch in malt, that you paid for, with the spent mash, which contains the ingredients that provides body and mouthfeel in ale, and to make up for it you purchased specialty malt, which goops up the extract. The starch that is thrown out is amylopectin, which is heat resistant, complex starch, that makes up the tips of malt, and the ingredients contained in the complex starch are A and B limit dextrin, which are tasteless, nonfermenting types of sugar, and pectin. Limit dextrin, pectin, and a certain type of protein provides body, and mouthfeel in ale. The rich, starch is thrown away in home brewing because the temperatures aren't high enough to burst the heat resistant starch, where it enters into the mash liquid, before Alpha denatures. The starch is sold in grain distillation. The decoction method is used to take advantage of the starch, where mash is boiled a few times, similar, to boiling rice, potatoes, corn, the kids, Maypo. When Alpha liquefies, amylopectin, dextrinization, and gelatinization occur. The finest ales and lagers are produced from dextrinous extract, not from extract containing glucose, and depending on the rest temperature, more or less, sweet tasting, nonfermenting types of sugar. I'm not sure that you are aware that a malt spec sheet exists. A malt spec sheet is provided by malthouses, and it is used in brewing for determining the quality of malt, before purchasing malt. Malt spec sheets are online, and they provide a brewer with E Caveat Emptor because there are two types of malt on the market, one type is better for making whiskey, which is high modified, high protein, malt, and one type that makes ale and lager, under modified, low protein, malt. You should learn about the chemical acronyms, and numbers listed on a malt spec sheet, that way you will know what type of malt to purchase. A recipe that doesn't list the malthouse that produced the base malt is invalid because a malt spec sheet cannot be obtained. When a recipe recommends single temperature infusion, more than likely, the malt is high modified, high protein, malt. Modification, and protein content are listed on a malt spec sheet. The thing about modification, and protein content in malt, the higher the numbers, the less suitable the malt is for producing ale. Under modified, low protein, malt is much richer in enzyme content, and contains more sugar, than high modified, high protein, malt. Kolbach, SNR, and S/T indicate modification. Protein content is usually, a percentage. Regarding, brewing chemicals, you do not know how to produce ale, so, it is best to stop with chemicals until you learn more about how they are used, and what it takes to make them work. The home brew method does nothing with chemical precipitation, and the extract is already chemically, imbalanced, so, don't add more chemicals. Skip mash out, it is a waste of time in the infusion method, and causes issues. Mash out is used in the decoction method, where enzymes are preserved, and starch carry over isn't an issue. I'm not sure if your brewing system works this way for maintaining temperature, but a brewing system that recirculates a high volume of hot extract through a grain bed for a long period of time causes over sparge, which extracts tannin. If the system recirculates 1 ltr per minute hot extract for one hour, 60 ltr extract flows through a grain bed sized for a 20 to 30 ltr batch of beer, that is over sparge. Add to that the high temperature, and time used for mash out, and sparge water. Tannin extraction is a time, temperature, pH thing, and that is why vorlauf is kept within 10 minutes.
Thanks for the appreciation. Baltic porter is a lager, not an ale (just read the BJCP). In general I disagree with a lot of what you wrote. I really have a hard time believing you because what you are saying goes against every concept I have studied to date. I've been home brewing for 10 years...I know what I'm doing.
Con la maglietta nostra 😁💪🏻
GREAT BREW DAY and VERY NICE BREWERY!!!
Porter is ale, but ale wasn't produced on the brew day, instead, American, home brew style, moonshiners beer was produced, regardless, of the title on the recipe. Single temperature infusion is used in grain distillation for producing extract that contains the highest volume of simple sugar, glucose, which is responsible for primary fermentation, and ABV, by using the simplest, and quickest, brewing method, with inexpensive, high modified, high protein, malt. The brewing method skips three steps required for producing ale, conversion, dextrinization, and gelatinization. Chemically, and enzymatically, the brewing method cannot produce ale and lager, due to the way enzyme's function, and chemical precipitation, making strike, target temperature, and brewing systems designed around single temperature infusion, pretty much useless, for producing ale and lager. The brewing method produces sugar, and chemically imbalanced, unstable, extract, which is of no concern to a moonshiner, but in brewing ale, the imbalanced, unstable, extract causes issues during fermentation, and conditioning, which results in a final product that has very limited shelf-life, that has to be artificially carbonated, and drank, green, from boiler to belly in a couple of weeks, before the beer falls apart.
The brewing method cannot produce ale because the high temperature at 68, denatured low temperature activated enzymes that produce ale and lager, Beta in particular. Beta is responsible for conversion, which occurs around 60 to 63, with a rest lasting 30 to 40 minutes. During conversion, Beta turns simple sugar, glucose, into fermentable, complex types of sugar, maltose, and maltotriose. Maltose, and maltotriose are the sugars that produce ale and lager, glucose provides the alcohol. When conversion occurs, secondary fermentation takes place, due to maltose. Maltotriose is responsible for natural carbonation. Priming sugar, and CO2 injection aren't needed for carbonating ale and lager. Beta is purposely denatured in grain distillation because the enzyme gets in the way.
Removing hot break as it forms is good, less hops are needed because the extract is cleaner, but it removes the gunk that provides body and mouthfeel in home brew. In home brew, starch carry over, Beta Glucan, and protein sludge provides body and mouthfeel. Next time, use a spoon that is not punched full of holes, and remove all of the hot break as it forms, until it drastically, reduces, then, add hops. You threw away the richest, starch in malt, that you paid for, with the spent mash, which contains the ingredients that provides body and mouthfeel in ale, and to make up for it you purchased specialty malt, which goops up the extract. The starch that is thrown out is amylopectin, which is heat resistant, complex starch, that makes up the tips of malt, and the ingredients contained in the complex starch are A and B limit dextrin, which are tasteless, nonfermenting types of sugar, and pectin. Limit dextrin, pectin, and a certain type of protein provides body, and mouthfeel in ale. The rich, starch is thrown away in home brewing because the temperatures aren't high enough to burst the heat resistant starch, where it enters into the mash liquid, before Alpha denatures. The starch is sold in grain distillation. The decoction method is used to take advantage of the starch, where mash is boiled a few times, similar, to boiling rice, potatoes, corn, the kids, Maypo. When Alpha liquefies, amylopectin, dextrinization, and gelatinization occur. The finest ales and lagers are produced from dextrinous extract, not from extract containing glucose, and depending on the rest temperature, more or less, sweet tasting, nonfermenting types of sugar.
I'm not sure that you are aware that a malt spec sheet exists. A malt spec sheet is provided by malthouses, and it is used in brewing for determining the quality of malt, before purchasing malt. Malt spec sheets are online, and they provide a brewer with E Caveat Emptor because there are two types of malt on the market, one type is better for making whiskey, which is high modified, high protein, malt, and one type that makes ale and lager, under modified, low protein, malt. You should learn about the chemical acronyms, and numbers listed on a malt spec sheet, that way you will know what type of malt to purchase. A recipe that doesn't list the malthouse that produced the base malt is invalid because a malt spec sheet cannot be obtained. When a recipe recommends single temperature infusion, more than likely, the malt is high modified, high protein, malt. Modification, and protein content are listed on a malt spec sheet. The thing about modification, and protein content in malt, the higher the numbers, the less suitable the malt is for producing ale. Under modified, low protein, malt is much richer in enzyme content, and contains more sugar, than high modified, high protein, malt. Kolbach, SNR, and S/T indicate modification. Protein content is usually, a percentage.
Regarding, brewing chemicals, you do not know how to produce ale, so, it is best to stop with chemicals until you learn more about how they are used, and what it takes to make them work. The home brew method does nothing with chemical precipitation, and the extract is already chemically, imbalanced, so, don't add more chemicals.
Skip mash out, it is a waste of time in the infusion method, and causes issues. Mash out is used in the decoction method, where enzymes are preserved, and starch carry over isn't an issue.
I'm not sure if your brewing system works this way for maintaining temperature, but a brewing system that recirculates a high volume of hot extract through a grain bed for a long period of time causes over sparge, which extracts tannin. If the system recirculates 1 ltr per minute hot extract for one hour, 60 ltr extract flows through a grain bed sized for a 20 to 30 ltr batch of beer, that is over sparge. Add to that the high temperature, and time used for mash out, and sparge water. Tannin extraction is a time, temperature, pH thing, and that is why vorlauf is kept within 10 minutes.
Thanks for the appreciation. Baltic porter is a lager, not an ale (just read the BJCP). In general I disagree with a lot of what you wrote. I really have a hard time believing you because what you are saying goes against every concept I have studied to date. I've been home brewing for 10 years...I know what I'm doing.