Comments on: A Thames Valley Ordinary http://www.chromosphere.co.uk/2008/12/23/a-thames-valley-ordinary/ Graeme Coates Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:54:01 +0000 hourly 1 By: Graeme Coates http://www.chromosphere.co.uk/2008/12/23/a-thames-valley-ordinary/comment-page-1/#comment-1790 Graeme Coates Tue, 23 Dec 2008 14:34:08 +0000 http://www.chromosphere.co.uk/?p=196#comment-1790 I really have to - the water has too much alkalinity down here to leave without treating (unless you want to use it for a swimming pool, or you make porters and stouts all the time!). I use Graham Wheeler's water calculator here: http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/water/water.html along with the average values for my area from Thames Water. The only thing I have to do is a quick titration with diluted CRS and the methyl orange and the web page tells me the rest. Reckon I could do the maths too, but a lot easier to "cheat" ;) Thanks for the advice on the sludge harvest - I was hoping to just be able to pitch directly on the cake but sadly can't manage another brew before new year... and like you the top cropping was over and done with before I could skim some off for later! I really have to – the water has too much alkalinity down here to leave without treating (unless you want to use it for a swimming pool, or you make porters and stouts all the time!). I use Graham Wheeler’s water calculator here: http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/water/water.html along with the average values for my area from Thames Water. The only thing I have to do is a quick titration with diluted CRS and the methyl orange and the web page tells me the rest. Reckon I could do the maths too, but a lot easier to “cheat” ;)

Thanks for the advice on the sludge harvest – I was hoping to just be able to pitch directly on the cake but sadly can’t manage another brew before new year… and like you the top cropping was over and done with before I could skim some off for later!

]]> By: John http://www.chromosphere.co.uk/2008/12/23/a-thames-valley-ordinary/comment-page-1/#comment-1789 John Tue, 23 Dec 2008 14:28:10 +0000 http://www.chromosphere.co.uk/?p=196#comment-1789 I take my hat off to you for going to all that trouble with the water treatment, I have an A Level in Chemistry and I reckon I could still do the math but it would suck all the fun out of my brewday. I've got some brakspear yeast on the go at the moment and I too found that it top crops really fast then drops back quick. I have been experimenting with reclaiming the sludge from the bottom of the fermenter recently. Make sure you leave a little bit of the beer in the bottom of the fermenter (around a pint or so) and give it a good swirl before you decant it into a clear plastic container, put this into the fridge overnight and in the morning the viable cells will have come to the top of the container and will be seperated from the trub by a layer of beer. Spoon off the viable cells leaving the trub behind. Simple but effective! I take my hat off to you for going to all that trouble with the water treatment, I have an A Level in Chemistry and I reckon I could still do the math but it would suck all the fun out of my brewday.

I’ve got some brakspear yeast on the go at the moment and I too found that it top crops really fast then drops back quick. I have been experimenting with reclaiming the sludge from the bottom of the fermenter recently. Make sure you leave a little bit of the beer in the bottom of the fermenter (around a pint or so) and give it a good swirl before you decant it into a clear plastic container, put this into the fridge overnight and in the morning the viable cells will have come to the top of the container and will be seperated from the trub by a layer of beer. Spoon off the viable cells leaving the trub behind. Simple but effective!

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