Archive for June, 2010
Why build a Sparge Manifold?
Jun 24th
So we’ve just finished build a great mash tun. While not measuring efficiency at this point, we consistently hit target OG’s which tells me we are successfully draining the converted sugar from the wort.
So we decided that we want to try our hands at continuous sparging – or fly sparging – as opposed to the batch sparging we’ve been doing in the past. We’ve read that brewers can get better efficiency (the amount of sugar extracted given the amount of grains used) by using the fly sparge method. We don’t care to weigh in on this hot debate and will let you Home Brew Talkers debate in our place.
We began our fly sparging journey by opening the mash tun and slowly trickling water through via a hose. However, we decided this was not the best method and we built a sparge manifold on the cooler lid for the following reasons. See our post here on Building a Fly Sparge System.
- We did not like keeping the cooler lid open. While all the sugar has probably already been converted to sugars 1 hour into mash, we felt we were losing too much temperature too fast in the mash tun. Why chance it if you don’t have to.
- We had a stuck sparge when doing a Rye Pale Ale. By being able to slowly trickle water onto the grain bed, we could keep it set, while uniformly rinsing the liquid out of the mash tun. Without the manifold we were guessing (we still are, but with more education) at how much sparge water to put into the mash tun and take out.
- We saw somebody else do it, and their process seemed much easier. Dumping buckets, holding a hose over a 155 degree mash just wasn’t fun. We want to explore better ways of doing things, so we built a sparge system in our mash tun for less than $15 – we had the cooler already. We wanted to let simple engineering and gravity do the work.
So far we have only used with one batch – we tried the Rye Pale Ale again – with good success. We beat the OG by about .0015 and had no issues with a stuck sparge. We did use a bit more Rye and Pale Malt which accounts for part of the OG, but even with using more of the sticky Rye, we did not collapse the grain bed. Cheers and sparge on!
Beer Bloggers Conference Announced
Jun 8th
The first ever Beer Bloggers Conference has been announced for Boulder, CO, the weekend of Nov 5-7. The event is put on by the same group that orchestrates the widely popular Wine Bloggers Conference. The conference will feature keynote speakers from the industry, content sessions TBA and excursions to local breweries for a tasting and discussion with Boulder’s finest brewers.
According to the official website, attendees can join from all across the beer blogging spectrum, including “Citizen Bloggers” who discuss and review beer, “Industry Bloggers” who represent a brewery or beer industry business and also anyone in the beer industry interested in learning more about new media and how their brand is portrayed in the digital arena. Only 150 tickets are being made available, though I have to believe that high demand will push that up just a bit higher. The cost is $95 for a “Citizen Blogger”, $195 for “Industry Bloggers” and $295 for non-blogger participants from the industry or otherwise.
I only follow a few beer bloggers but here is a rundown of my favorites:
- The Beer Wench – The Wench speaks in the third-person, writes passionate reviews of her favorite brews and loves Ohio State football. Buckeye football alone is enough for kudos but she gets extra points for the other two facts.
- Here For The Beer - I enjoy the layout of this site and they focus more on breweries, beer festivals and related beer topics. I also dig the focus on video content.
- Mike’s Brew Review – This dude from Minnesota runs a decent beer review site with video content (again, bonus points for video) focusing on his personal picks and, in one of my favorite posts, a guide to craft beers in Japan.
- Lost in the Beer Aisle – Aside from having a clever name, this guy gives a fun spin to beer reviews, even if he does use Blogger.
- 100 Beers 300 Days – This ambitious girl’s goal is to tackle 100 different Belgian-style ales in 30 days and blog about it. Looking at her detailed reviews, she certainly knows her beer. I’ve only tried a few on her list and am jealous at the sampling. Perhaps I’m not trying hard enough in this drinking hobby of mine.
While this site is more about home brewing than beer reviewing, I feel it worthwhile to promote this grass roots industry of ours in whatever form it takes. Check out the beer bloggers above and attend out the Beer Bloggers Conference in Colorado if you have the chance.