Tag: brewing

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Miscell Uncategorized

Kumbocha How To Brew / Part 1 and 2 – SUPER FERMENTED TEA

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Kumbocha is not beer, it is a probiotic drink or basically a fermented tea.

There are many health benefits to Kumbocha and it is an ancient drink originating somewhere from the Asian region around Japan, hard to say exactly from where. 

Kumbocha is also a detoxer, it will clean your system out of the many toxins that have stored in your body over time andy keep it clean.

If you have never drunk Kumbocha, go to a store and get some and see if you are going to like it, because there are small amounts of people who don’t do well with it or like it. 

Again, it will detox your body, which means that you *might* get the runs, (bathroom visit), become bloated, not feel well, in the beginning – but this is all temporary for most people and not everyone reacts to it, you might not.

As far as the instructions, it is much easier to just record a few videos on YouTube, than write a bunch of rules, so that’s what I have done, please watch them below.

The recipe, we will not post ours, not because it is a secret, but because we want you to explore and do some research on your own and through that exercise, you will find your own recipe and learn much about Kumbocha.

Also, watch more videos on the benefits as well.

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Part 1 – How to brew Kumbocha

 

Part 2 – How to transfer a new brew to your existing mother

 

How finished Kumbocha after secondary fermentation should look like when you pour, quick video:

 

Categories
Beer Brewing Equipment

Electric Brewing // Automating the Mashing Phase – 120 Volts // 1,650 Watts // 13.5 Amps

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Up to now – we have been brewing with natural gas or propane, while this works really well, and there are many advantages, like nice strong boils, etc…, there are also some draw backs – as with everything.

Here are some of the benefits of using electric over gas:

  • no carbon-monoxide gas is created, as you are not burning gas, so safer
  • it is much (again) safer to control electricity with un-attended automation over gas
  • save time by pre-heated over night to strike temperature using a smart PID controller – read here: http://byo.com/malt/item/299-brewing-on-autopilot-with-pid-controllers this way, you can get straight to mashing and not waste time heating the water with gas
  • no need to waste time buying and hauling propane no more
  • since you are saving time, you could fit 2 batches in the same day; just fill the water, set your temp goal on the PID and go to do something else…
  • Electric is much more efficient, 100% of the energy transfers into the wort, where as with gas only about 25% (the other 75% is byproduct of heat), which you have to ventilate for.
  • many more…

Voltage Choice ?

You will have with two choices, which you need to think about and consider for your needs and goals.  You can build your system around 120 volts or 240 volts.  Obviously it is easier to use 120 volts, since all electrical outlets by default have that everywhere in the US and only Driers and Oven ranges would have the cabling setup for 240 volts, unless you live in Europe :- ) then you have 220 volts.

A good way to wet your feet is to start with 120 volts and automate the heating for the mashing phase of the brewing.  Since mash out temps. are about 170F Max and everything between at lower ranges, you won’t really have the need to heat beyond that, so you can use lower wattage heating elements.

Drills or Punches ?

You have a choice of either making the holes using drills or hole punches.  There are many videos on youtube on that, so search away for your pot type and size.  We drill a hole and then thread it for smaller holes and for bigger holes, we drill a hole (threading has little value) because the thickness of the material is not sufficient enough to have the proper threads – so you will have to use rubber seals and lock nuts.  If you know how to weld, you don’t need instructions from us :- )

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For this project we used a 1,650 watt stainless steel heating element, using 120 volts.  1650 watts / 120 volts = 13.75 Amps.  So when you buy a Relay, make sure it is rated above that, always good to have a nice buffer when it comes to electricity.  Most SSR Relays start in about the 25 Amp range, so you are good to go.

PID – great info from BYO magazine, many different ones exist, don’t buy cheap ones and make sure it supports F if you don’t like C for temp., its best to get familiar with options and specs, so do some research – http://byo.com/malt/item/299-brewing-on-autopilot-with-pid-controllers

We *do really* recommend that you buy the more expensive American made Auber controller, their quality is much better and they are rated for 10Amps without the need for a Relay, if you are going to stay under 1200watts.  Our experience with the cheaper Chinese made PIDs like the MYPIN, etc.. were poor, a lot of wasted time, it breaks easily, just cheap overall construction and I doubt their QA process // but you might have other luck – be warned, you do actually get what you pay for, that’s why people say this :- )

We don’t recommend the MyPIN or any other Brands out of China – seriously, their quality is not that good, on the other hand, there are good ones coming out of Japan, but do your research first.

The FOTEK solid state relays seem to perform well – time will tell if they still work after 5 years.  Make sure the model of your PID will work with a solid state Relay and will support your temperature probe.  Not all PIDs work with solid state, check the specs and ask before ordering.

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We Recommend the Auber PID – see the manufacturers web site for different kinds:

http://www.auberins.com/?main_page=index&cPath=1

we use this one: http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=3

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Here is what we used (1,650 watts stainless steel), but again – there are many different wattages and even shapes, so do your research – we recommend stainless!!!

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This is the heating probe that we used – RTD Pt100 Temperature Sensor Probe Cable 3 Wires 1/2″ NPT 750°F for Temp Control – don’t get a cheap one and think about its placement relative to your needs and batch volume size.  s-l1600-1

Hooking it up ?

Most people will install the PID inside some kind of a Control Panel casing // here you can be as creative as you want, since this is for #homebrew, just try everything safely and properly, take your time and research, if you are not sure.

Many great videos exist on youtube – we recommend, you do some research again // Video will be posted later of final control panel.

 

 

Categories
BEER Home Brewing

Cold-Dropping Beer

Many various techniques exists, some people drop after fermentation is over and before bottling, and yet some simply cold-drop the kegs already filled with the beer for about a week, before serving, I will explain both.

Most home-brewed beer is left in a lot of its natural state, most people don’t use filters for example, there are debates over its pros and cons.  If you don’t filter your beer, there is always going to be a small amount of yeast and other floaters that will make it out of the fermentor and into kegs or bottles (if you bottle).

Even when you can’t see it, yeast is suspended in the beer and it does affect its look, color, taste and overall body of the beer.  So what a lot of people do, is take the keg and cold-drop it, or simply put, put it into a fridge (whatever setup) as cold as possible, but still above freezing and leave the keg there for about a week.

All the yeast and other floaters that are suspended in the beer will fall to the bottom of the keg, a thin layer will form at the bottom (not in any way bad), so then all the beer that comes out will be nice and clean, crisp, nice color, taste, and everything will improve SUBSTANTIALLY.

If you were to split a batch of beer into two kegs, and cold-drop one and not the other, you would see and experience the differences, if you want to do a comparison.

If you don’t employ a cold-drop and simply put the keg into the keggenator fridge, it too will help, the cold temperature will basically do the same thing, but will take a little longer, so don’t worry if you can’t get it to almost freezing.

Some people apply this technique to the fermentor after the fermentation is done and over with, for about a week, so then when the beer is transferred to the kegs or however bottled, there too you will gain a lot of benefit.

Fin