Extremely over hopped Dead Ringer BIAB

You could probably get a decent estimate of year round water quality with two water reports. Catch in sample in the middle of your wet season and the middle of your dry season. Things will move faster through porous media during periods of high recharge and slower during less recharge. Water measurements will change almost daily. Another thing to watch out for is if you live in an area that salts roads. In the winter depending on how close your well is compared to the road, you can definitely get salt plumes entering the system

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My advice: send a sample of your well water to Ward Labs and see what you have. It’s quite likely that with a little effort you can have some perfectly good brewing water right out of your tap. Don’t buy water you may not need. Just my 2 cents.

The seasonal change is really not a big issue, easily monitored and compensated for.

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I just came here to say, one of my favorite homebrews is a dead ringer/2 hearted done as a 3 gallon batch instead of 5 gallons. A double 2-hearted. It’s a punch in the face with hops, and absolutely delicious. But not overpoweringly bitter. So like others here said, there’s some other problem. Likely astringency from mash pH being out of whack. Doubling the hops will not result in an extremely over-hopped beer in this case.

Agreed @dannyboy58 about the seasonal change. As a hydrogeologist I just like to cover my bases and I love more data points than less. Kind of like your pH issues In a carbonate aquifer in Florida. Where are you located @estimac? Maybe I can help narrow down water chemistry issues. Did you maybe brew this one during a rainy season and get a higher sulfate movement then normal?

Have you tried another biab batch yet. If you cant get distilled try store bought spring water. Just to see if you get different results. If you do find distilled do 50/50 distilled/spring

I’m going to ask about temperature measuring equipment during the mash… A calibrated one, or something you use and are comfortable with? Too high mash temp and tannins are extracted causing harsh flavors… Just curious, Sneezles61

Sorry everyone for the delay in replying. I’ve been really sick with a cold and haven’t been up for beer talk.

@sneezles61 - I did this batch on my stovetop (natural gas) and use a temperature controller thromostat as a thermometer since it has a wire temp prop that can just hang in the mash. Because the whole thing was kind of awkward I very well could have had hot spots with trying to maintain my temps for an hour (plus the 10-min sacch rest).

Prior to posting this question, I had also made a 5-gallon BIAB using NB Kama Citra kit and doing this on a propane burner because I felt daring. :smiley: This batch also has a hint of that bitterness but nothing at all like the Dead Ringer. I had nowhere near the issues with keeping things up to temp but I’m sure there was some error on my part as I was new to dealing with this propane burner (that gets up to 110,000 BTUs!!). I used that temp controller as a thermometer for this batch as well.

So now I will get my water tested and go from there. I will revert back to doing 3-gallon batches until I get this figured out.

I really appreciate all of you chiming in with your thoughts on this!

Erika

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Testing your water will go a LONG way. But you also need to make sure you have a reliable thermometer.

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DWRHAHB Sneezles61

Haha, working on it! :smiley:

I just tested my thermometer by putting the probe in a teakettle. It held at 211.3 F and never went higher when the water was at a full-tilt boil, which is actually 1.01 degrees too high because at my altitude of 967 feet water boils at 210.2 F.

So I do need to calibrate that, but would 1 degree too high cause these problems?

I’ve also just kegged and force carbed that 5-gallon batch (a Kama Citra kit). It also has some of that bitterness but nothing like the original 3-gallon BIAB Dead Ringer from my OP (which I’ve dumped out b/c it was horrid!!)

Oh - my local big box store now has distilled water. Not sure what was going on a month ago.

Cheers!
Erika

Another thing to keep in mind is that adding direct heat will cause the mash to continue raise despite the burner being turned off (kind of like steak). Additionally with your temp probe you are getting one reading directly where the probe is.

Did you stir the mash like mad when applying your heat?

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Yes, I’m constantly stirring not just back and forth but up and down as much as I can in order to distribute the heat and avoid hot spots.

I’m doing this out in the garage with little direct wind, but when I made this Kama Citra (the 5-gal second batch I’ve ever done), it was about 18 degrees out so I imagine I was battling the elements a little bit. I felt like my mash temp was dropping faster than it logically should, so I very well could have overcompensated and overheated things in spots.

My next try will not be under such extreme conditions. :slight_smile:

Erika

WWHHAATT, extreme conditions? Its all good, do enjoy no matter what the weather delivers… some day you can make conditions better for yourself … Sneezles61

Just dealt with that today. Target was totally out. Had to go to Wal Mart, and saw so many people buying distilled water… I can’t believe they were all homebrewer. Maybe everyone was filling their irons today shrug

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@uberculture are you in the area where ice covered everything is in the weather forecast. Distilled might be for emergency brewing if there is no traveling.

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Ice is coming here tonight :grinning:

Back to the water as far as I’m concerned. People do decoctions all the time with no astringency issues.

I agree. If you read above, I’ve already mentioned the decoction. :wink:

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