Brew Blog
Canned Wort. PROs and CONs
Over the course of the last several months pre-packaged wort has been hitting the market in a big way. Inland Island Yeast Co introduced a version of concentrated wort 3 or 4 years ago which didn't gain much of a following. Now, several new products are available which may gain more attention.
Propper Starter and Fast Pitch seem to be the two largest canned wort producers. Canned concentrated wort makes it fast and easy to create a starter for high gravity brews (1.060 OG and higher), pilsners/lagers, yeast packs nearing (or over) expiration or whenever a starter is recommended.
So what are the benefits of using canned wort?
First, both brands require a 1:1 wort/water (distilled/bottled) dilution to reach an ideal 1.040 OG for a 1L starter size. The process is very simple: Sanitize everything like you normally would, i.e. can, flask, water bottle, yeast package, scissors, hands, etc, etc, etc... Mix the wort and water and pitch the yeast (no nutrient is necessary as the wort contains the proper amount). Depending on the yeast source and your batch requirements you are ready to go in 1-3 days. All in, the process takes roughly 20 minutes with clean up. Much faster than building a traditional DME/LME starter which usually takes over an hour with the cool-down.
The investment isn't a big issue: you can get a 4-pack of wort for roughly $3/can plus $2 (?) for a bottle and 20 minutes of time of V.S. 4oz of DME for $1.25 + 1 hour of time.
Seems like a toss up to us.
Understanding the boil.
Homebrewers don’t usually give a lot of thought to the boil. Other than adding hops from time to time there doesn’t really appear to be much happening. But the boil is essential to a good beer for a number of reasons.
What to do if you miss your Original Gravity numbers
We've all done it. You forget something, miss a calculation, or your efficiency is off. Whatever the reason, rather than just accepting what you've got, here are two easy ways to correct a high or low missed OG.
Once you’ve missed your OG you are faced with the problem of what to do with your batch. Fortunately it is not hard to adjust the OG of wort as it goes into the fermenter by using some water or some dry malt extract. Keeping a couple of pounds of light DME on hand can help in a pinch.
If your gravity is too low, add DME using the following calculation:
- Figure out the difference between your target and actual OG, then multiply by 1000. For example, if your target is 1.056, but you've got 1.048 this would give us (1.056-1.048) x 1000 = 8 points. Be sure to temp correct if needed.
- We need to raise our gravity by 8 points which means we need to add 8 points/gallon of dry malt extract (DME) equivalent. Assuming a 5 gallon batch size, we need a total of 40 points of DME.
- DME has a potential of 1.046 which means it contributes 46 points/lb added, so we simply take the 40 points and divide it by 46 to get 0.9 lbs of DME to add.
If the gravity is too high, dilute it by adding boiled or sterile water:
- This time we’ll assume our target was 1.056 but we overshot and came in with a gravity of 1.064, again using a 5 gallon batch. We’ll use the fact that the number of points times volume should be a constant to do the dilution.
- So we start by taking our starting points of 1.064 = 64 gravity points, and multiplying by our original volume of 5 gallons: 64×5 = 320 points
- Now we divide by our target points which is 1.056 = 56 points which will give us the target volume: 320 / 56 = 5.71 gallons
- Since we started with 5 gallons, we need to add 0.71 gallons of water to dilute our gravity to achieve the target of 1.056
Have you ever wondered what the Homebrew Laws are?
The popularity of home brewed malt liquor (homebrew) in Colorado has increased significantly and with this increased interest, it is imperative homebrewers understand the use and limitations of their product.
Yeast Washing or Yeast Rinsing: What’s the Difference?
Collecting and reusing yeast from a fermented batch of beer is common practice among home and professional brewers. In fact, records show it has been done since the 12th century, with some saying it likely occurred thousands of years before that.
