> GENERAL DISCUSSION
Is that a hydrometer in your pocket or are you just happy to see me
ye-ole-hatch ıll|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|̲̅̅=̲̅̅|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|llıl:
--- Quote from: sweetcell on December 02, 2016, 03:50:11 pm --- maybe we should start a homebrewing thread?
check out homebrewtalk, a great online community for homebrewers. best part is the forum where you'll get an answer to any question you might have. check out the Beginners Beer Brewing Forum thread for "brewing 101" discussions.
--- End quote ---
excellent idea!
ye-ole-hatch ıll|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|̲̅̅=̲̅̅|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|llıl:
--- Quote from: sweetcell on December 01, 2016, 03:37:16 pm ---
--- Quote from: Space Freely on December 01, 2016, 09:44:35 am ---Also name me the best one or two beginners homebrewing books.
--- End quote ---
The Complete Joy of Homebrewing: this book is the equivalent of your goofy uncle teaching you to brew. the science/techiness is kept in check (not to say that there isn't any science, just not as much as other books). the emphasis is on getting you brewing, vs. making you a theoretical expert. this book is the origin of the expression "relax, don't worry, have a homebrew" - the author's advice to brewers who get hung up on small details.
How to Brew: aka "The Bible." the tagline says it all: Everything You Need To Know To Brew Beer Right The First Time. it starts off slow, but does eventually get into the scientific details. the author does a great job explaining to you why you should care about those details. current edition is the 3rd, the author has been working on the 4th for some time now but no publication date yet. the first edition is online, but it's dated. i would invest in the newest edition.
my suggestion: start with the joy of homebrewing. that will keep you happy for many months, then you can get how to brew to answer the questions you will inevitably build up. i started off with the joy, but i haven't touched that book since my 3rd or 4th months of brewing. how to brew, however, is a reference book you go back to no matter how long you've been brewing.
and if you're more visual/less literate: consider these DVDs (or online video rentals). get the "with extract" version first.
and looks like there are some simple videos in YT like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgPdttvbhU4. they seem to only cover the mechanics ("add X to Y, stir, then pour") and provide little explanation as to why you're doing something.
i'll answer pasteurization=improved? later...
--- End quote ---
walkie,talkie:
Really, queen?
Julian, Forum COGNOSCENTI:
--- Quote from: walkie,talkie on December 02, 2016, 04:16:15 pm ---Really, queen?
--- End quote ---
Don't feel bad: the thread title also led me to believe this thread was going to be latently homoerotic.
sweetcell:
for the uninitiated: a hydrometer is a tool used to determine how much sugar is in a liquid solution, AKA its specific gravity (SG).
--- Quote ---A hydrometer or areometer is an instrument that measures the specific gravity (relative density) of liquids?the ratio of the density of the liquid to the density of water. A hydrometer is usually made of glass, and consists of a cylindrical stem and a bulb weighted with mercury or lead shot to make it float upright.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrometer
--- End quote ---
wort (aka unfermented beer) contains sugar which makes it denser than water. yeast ferment the sugar and turn it into alcohol which is less dense than the original wort, so there is a drop in the SG.
the starting gravity is called original gravity (OG) and once fermentation is done you have reached your final gravity (FG). there is a fairly linear relationship between the drop in gravity and the amount of alcohol created by the yeast: OG - FV = ABV. one uses a calculator like this one to determine the ABV.
ex: OG = 1.050, FG = 1.010, plugged into that calculator yields ABV = 5.25%.
specific gravity is measure in relative units, with 1.000 being pure water (at sea level, at a certain temperature, blah blah). professional brewers tend to use a different scale called Brix, or Plato. you can easily convert SG to brix/plato and vice-versa using online calculators.
some beers indicate what their starting gravities are. if you have the OG and the ABV, you can determine the FG. this is useful info if you're trying to clone that beer.
and that's your brewing 101 lesson for today. have a great weekend!
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
Go to full version