Brewing Weekend 12/7

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I will be aerating with pure O2. And truthfully, I was hoping to bring my FG down a little - I just was having a hard time doing so when playing with the numbers. Originally I had an additional 2 pounds of table sugar, but I was cautioned that I might end up with rocket fuel.

In the interest of creating a drier beer, do you think I could add, say, a pound of sugar without risking fusels?

 

Brewing a spiced brown ale from a Williams Brewing kit, my first from them. I have to say I like Northern Brewer's extract kits more, due to them labeling everything (you know what the hops and malt are) and a preference for the jugs of extract vs. bags.

 

If you can keep the fermentation temperature down, dose with oxygen once (or twice - second one at 12 hours) it should turn out fine. I did it once with 2# and am trying with 3# this time.

A few notes: 1) Table sugar is just as good as Candi Sugar.
2) If you add after peak fermentation but before fermentation slows that should help keep the temperature down (fewer sugars = less active fermentation = less exothermic processes by yeast)
EDIT: I see you say let it free rise to 80F. Don't do that. Keep it cool until peak fermentation then ramp up the temps to 80F (at least that's what Jamil inidicated in his Can You Brew It BGSA episode) If you get up to 80F early you could easily end up with fusels!
3) Don't trust hopville's calculator for FG. It will even attenuate pure sugars at 75%, I bet with 80% attenuation on your mashables you can get to about 1.018 or even lower.
4) Mash temps will help fermentability.I mashed at 144-148F for two hours to hopefully create a very fermentable wort, we shall see,

 

Tha

Thank you. I really appreciate your advice here.

 

No need for the unfollow. ;-) Got 2nd BOS. Also sealed up 1st place for the Midsouth Series for 2012!

Edit: I hate being the Bridesmaid.

 

Congrats! Your club must be stoked. Any prizes associated with Midsouth Series (e.g. brewing w/ pros), or moreso notoriety? Being the bridesmaid does blow, but sometimes the winner of the BOS rounds are more about what the judges like/want than just brewing a great beer and hitting all the style points. I always figure if I win a category and/or place in BOS I've brewed a pretty good beer.

 

Thanks, man! Just bragging rights, really. Dont think I get much more than that with winning the MS. I know most of the peeps on the circuit, so I'll get a few pats on the back. Otherwise, not much more. My club wins almost every year, so it's good I could carry them a little this year.

I should snag a few dollars for placing in the categories I placed in along with the 2nd BOS for the comp. I got 4 x 1st place (Hefe, Pils, Wood, and Mead) and 3 x 3rd (Sours, Stouts, Meads), so hopefully there are some gift certs coming. I've basically brewed this whole year with my entry fees in the 5 comps, which is a good thing. My wife always looks at me funny when I write checks for entry fees, some of them being $100+. She just bought my dinner for celebration, so I guess the joke's on her.

I'm done now. Not competing in the Midsouth next year, other than a few here and there. I might try to snag a NHC with a beer two, but not going crazy. I'm going to spend next year experimenting more and doing styles I dont normally do. To me, there's as much fun in that than winning medals.