Category: Intermediate

Simple Steps for Correcting Your Homebrew’s Gravity and/or Volume After Mash

Despite our best efforts, all grain brewers will often need to adjust our post-mash/pre-boil gravity and/or volume to hit our targets. Mashing is not a totally smooth and predictable process so even with focus, experience, and care, we can be off more than we'd like. With that in mind, I thought I'd share my notes for the ways you can make corrections to realign your pre-boil gravity and volume with your targets. When you do, you can feel confident that you are far more likely to hit your final gravity and volume targets and produce the beer you intended. Want to learn the easy steps to put your homebrew back on track?

Making Multiple Yeast Starters in a Pressure Canner

Liquid yeast is awesome for one primary reason - variety. This variety enables you to choose a yeast that helps you achieve the precise flavor profile you're targeting. It gives you flexibility in esters, attenuation, alcohol tolerance, fermenting temp ranges, and more. However, if you're using liquid yeast, you're almost certainly going to need a starter and starters can be a pain in the ass to make on a one-at-a-time basis. That's why I, and many other people, create multiple starters at once by pressure canning them. If you aren't familiar with pressure canning, it may sound daunting but it really isn't. You just need to understand the key components of the process. So let's get to it!

Making a Yeast Starter

This Homebrew Note assumes you know why pitching adequate yeast is important and how to calculate the appropriate amount of yeast to pitch. If not, read the Note on Calculating How Much Yeast to Pitch first. In this Homewbrew Note, you'll learn how to make a yeast starter for your liquid yeast.