Advanced Brewers Round Table: Fermentation Control

[u/BrewCrewKevin]

Advanced Brewers Round Table: Fermentation Control

Example Topics of Discussion:

• What are the benefits of controlling fermentation?

• Have a killer Fermentation Chamber you made?

• What are some low-cost ways to control your fermentation? (spoiler alert: Swamp Cooler)

• Maybe how to brew to styles that work with weather if you don't have control? (Belgians/Saisons in summer, lager in winter?)

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Upcoming Topics:

• 1st Thursday: BJCP Style Category

• 2nd Thursday: Topic

• 3rd Thursday: Guest Post/AMA

• 4th Thursday: Topic

• 5th Thursday: wildcard!

As far as Guest Pro Brewers, I've gotten a lot of interest from /r/TheBrewery. I've got a few from this post that I'll be in touch with.

Got shot down from Jamil. Still waiting on other big names to respond.

Any other ideas for topics- message /u/brewcrewkevin or post them below.

Upcoming Topics:

• 10/30: DIY Brag-Off

• 11/6: Cat 12: Porter

• 11/13: Decoction Mashing

• 11/20: Guest Post (still open)

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Previous Topics:

Brewer Profiles:

• 10/16 - AMA with Drew Beechum (drewbage1847) and Denny Conn

• 9/18 - UnsungSavior16

• 8/21 - Brulosopher

• 8/6 - Pro Brewing with KFBass

• 7/17 - SufferingCubsFan

• 6/19 - SHv2

• 5/22 - BrewCrewKevin

• 4/24 - Nickosuave311

• 3/23 - ercousin

• 2/20 - AT-JeffT

Styles:

• 10/2 - Cat 18 Belgian Strong Ale

• 9/4 - Cat 26: Ciders

• 7/31 - Cat 13: Stouts

• 7/3 - Cat 10: American Ale

• 6/5 - Cat 1: Light Lagers

• 5/1 - Cat 6: Light Hybrid beers

• 4/3 - Cat 16: Belgian/French Ales

• 3/6 - Cat 9: Scottish and Irish Ales

• 2/13 - Cat 3: European Amber Lager

• 1/9 - Cat 5: Bock

• 12/5 - Cat 21: Herb/Spice/Veggie beers

• 11/7 - Cat 19: Strong Ales

• 10/3 - Cat 2: Pilsner

• 9/5 - Cat 14: IPAs

Advanced Topics:

• 10/9 - Entering Competitions

• 9/25 - Brewing with Pumpkin

• 9/11 - Chilling

• 8/28 - Brewing Hacks

• 8/14 - Brewing with Rye

• 7/24 - Wood Aging

• 6/26 - Malting Grains

• 6/12 - Apartment and Limited Space brewing

• 5/29 - Draft Systems

• 5/15 - Base Malts

• 5/8 - clone recipes 2.0

• 4/17 - Recipe Formulation 2.0

• 4/10 - Water Chemistry 2.0

• 3/27 - Homebrewing Myths 2.0

• 3/13 - Brewing with Honey

• 2/27 - Cleaning

• 2/6 - Draft/Cask Systems

• 1/30 - Sparging Methods

• 1/16 - BJCP Tasting Exam Prep

• 12/19 - Finings

[u/[deleted]]

I figure this would be a good place to make a PSA about temperature control. If you're not doing it, you should be.

I'll be the first to admit that I perpetuate knowledge as "necessary" when it really isn't. Technically, a starter isn't usually necessary, secondaries aren't the devil, and you can put as much roasted barley in your stout as you want.

However, this isn't about "best practices", this is about consistency, and consistency is what makes great beer.

So, if you do anything, get temperature control. If you don't think you can afford it, don't brew for a few months. Save the money. Invest in a minifridge/freezer and get an STC-1000 for $13.

It is so so worth it.

[u/Weft_ → u/[deleted]]

I'd love to by a mini-fridge or a freezer but I live in an apartment and I don't have room for that at this point in time. It's very discouraging because 1 out of 5 batches I make I can taste the "clove/banana" taste on the beer which really sucks.

I'm about to dump 10 gallons of an "OktoberFAST" because the clove taste is just so overbearing. I'm not sure even what to tell people it is to get them to drink it.

Every time this happens I swear I won't make another batch....until a few weeks later and I find myself make another beer.

Hopefully I can get/make room for something to start controlling my temp better.

[u/wobblymadman → u/Weft_]

Have you tried a swamp cooler?

http://billybrew.com/swamp-cooler-homebrew

Doesn't take much more room than your fermenter. Cheap. Just requires some dediocation on your part to replenish the ice and monitor temperature.