Staying organized on Brew day

A lot has been going on around 2JBC since we won 3rd Place People’s Choice at Craft Beer Long Beach. Mike and I decided to perfect our brewing process. We were so appreciative of the support that we have received from the Brewing Community, especially in the wake of our beloved Jack’s passing. We decided that we wanted to work on brewing to specific BJCP styles and perfect our brew process. In order to focus on our brewing process more, I realized I wasn’t keeping enough data! Well, I LOVE a good list! I get distracted easily and lists help me keep focused, so I created a brew day checklist to help me stay focused during our brews. While Beersmith does have a brew day log, I realized I haven’t been using it as effectively as I should be. How can I perfect a recipe if I don’t remember EXACTLY what I did each brew day? Basically, the process of creating a brew day checklist also led to the realization that we needed to be a bit more organized. So, here’s a blog dedicated to how we stay organized on brew day.

Clearly defined brew roles

This all started with a hard look at what was and wasn’t working for us on brew day. Mike and I have been happily married for 22 years and rarely argue; however, brew days were starting to have some arguments brewing. Once we started talking about organizing our brew days, we realized we were arguing because we needed to really focus on what our roles were in 2JBC! In the beginning, we did everything together and traded tasks. It was easy to do since we were using simple equipment and someone else’s recipe. However, as we grew our brew process into the more advanced stages, we never fully discussed who was going to do each task and more importantly, who wanted to do each task! I don’t like the mechanical side of brewing…cutting hoses and fixing quick disconnects and tinkering isn’t fun for me. However, Mike LOVES all things tinkering. Mike’s the genius behind our Beer Bots; I had nothing to do with the Beer Bots besides agreeing he had a good idea. On the flip side, I love creating recipes! I love playing with ingredients and experimenting with hop additions. I also love researching…it’s one of my specialties. I can spend hours looking up brewing techniques and water profiles for beer styles. I was (very briefly) a chemistry major, and love experiments. Bring me all of the Easy Dens, pH meters, and beakers. So, we officially gave ourselves tasks. I officially became the head brew mistress in charge of what happens inside the brew kettles, the data from brew days, and fermentation. Mike officially became head of brewery sanitation, keeping all our systems running, naming beers, and assisting in the brewing. Fun fact, Mike also designed our 2JBC logos and webpage format. Since we made the changes, our brew days have been much easier, more efficient, and more fun!

Hops storage

When we start a brew day, I start with pulling hops for the recipes. However, I realized I was constantly having to look for our hops. Enter a new hops system. I took our hops and added them to stackable bins that are labeled. This has made it so much easier to find the hops I need quickly and to know when I need to reorder hops. However, I also realized I have a bit of a hop hoarding issue as we have about 80 varieties of hops in our freezer!  In addition to a new hops storage system, I changed how I store and prepare hops for dry hopping. Instead of waiting until it’s time to dry hop to pull hops and leave them open to air, I decided to portion out the dry hops I need on brew day and label them in a vacuum sealed bag. Basically, I portion out the dry hops and label them such as “DH for Judge Hopner”  and put those into a bin in the freezer. When I dry hop, I simply have to sanitize the outside of the bag (similar to how you sanitize yeast) and dump them in. I never have to worry if I have enough of the hops for dry hopping or spend time rushing to measure out hops to use. Everything is organized and ready to go. The only thing I have to do is READ the label correctly. An added bonus is that I open the hops/yeast freezer less frequently now.

The benefits of brewing checklists and data collection

After our brew days were completed, I created a checklist that keeps track of everything from pH levels throughout the brew day, gravity readings throughout the brew day, and any crazy things that happen on that day. I keep notes on every detail of the brew day including fermentation. We started doing the checklist on our first brew back after Craft Beer Long Beach, and I have already found several things we needed to fix. First, our mash pH readings were off on two brews in a row. The good news is I was able to successfully correct the pH on the fly and save the batches! After carefully going through my notes, I realized that I created recipes with starting RO water with a pH of 7; however, I never checked the actual pH of our RO water! Oops! Now, we start each brew day with our water starting at a pH 7 and then continue with the recipe. Since making this little adjustment, we have hit all of our target pH readings. This process also led me to change our Milwaukee pH meter out for a Thermoworks pH meter. The Milwaukee pH meter is highly recommended by many brewers online, but I haven’t ever been truly happy with it. The cables are incredibly long and tangle easily and my temperature probe connection broke off during a brew day. Well, enter the Thermoworks pH meter which I have been incredibly happy with. Another change is the purchase of several digital timers. I ended up off on boil times because I was using my phone timer and unfortunately, sometimes the timer would shut off without me knowing. Now, we have multiple digital timers to monitor the process.

On the fermentation side, I now monitor fermentation temp and visible signs of fermentation on a daily basis. One downside to our Beer Bots is that they do not have a sample port. I have a TC sample valve; however, it wastes quite a bit of liquid. In the future, I hope to add Tilt hydrometers to our setup to monitor fermentation in the vessels and not waste liquid on SG readings. Further, we spoke to SS Brewtech and were able to get their FTSS chilling coils for the Brew Bots. This has allowed us to have more control over our fermentation temperature than with the previous glycol wraps we used. SS Brewtech also helped us to update our Brew Buckets with the FTSS internal chiller coils. Now we have internal coils in all of our fermenters. Note to any other brewers: SS Brewtech doesn’t have everything in their catalog available online for purchase. However, if you email them what you are looking for, they will send you a direct purchase link. I had to do this to order the internal coils and newly updated Chronical racking arm.

What I track on the brew sheets

I opted not to post my actual brew sheets because I feel every brewer has their own process based on their system. I have two checklists for brewing--brew day and fermentation. Below is what data I collect on each brew day.

​brew day checklist

• List of things I do before we start
  • check PH of HLT water
  • Measuring hop additions and dry hops
  • Vacuum sealing hops
  • Mash temperature notes 
  • Notations of boil additions
  • Measuring water additions
  • Pulling yeast
  • make beer labels for kegs
• During Mash:
  •  30 min check of mash pH, SG, and iodine test
  • noting anything that happens (i.e., RIMS issue, additions to change pH, etc.)
• During Sparge:
  • Double check temp
  • pre-Sparge check of pH and SG
  • Mash efficiency noted using Beersmith calculations
• Boil:
  • pre-boil check of pH and SG
  • check off hops when added
  • whirlpool and rest noted
  • give Mike rundown of time remaining so pumps are moved
• Post-Boil:
  • Note desired temp for yeast
  • setup temp regulator
  • note time wort went into fermenter
  • Final pH check and OG reading (done in Easy Dens; all prior readings done with SmartRef)
  • Brewhouse Efficiency noted using Beersmith calculations

Fermentation checklist

• Breakdown of each yeast we use and desired temperature ranges/uses 
  • ​US-05
  • US-04
  • Philly Sour
  • W 34/70
  • BE 134
  • WB-06
• ​Date and time yeast pitched
• Date fermentation noticed 
• Daily chart that checks temperature, fermentation notes, dry hopping, etc.
• Original gravity
• Final Gravity
• ABV--calculation done with Smart Ref and Easy Den 
• **This will all improve once we use a regular SG check with Tilt hydrometers. 

Our brew sheets may not work for everyone, but I highly recommend that every brewer start to create data logs of their brew days and fermentations, especially if you chose to enter a beer into a contest. Being able to reproduce beer that tastes the same each batch requires detailed notes of the process. After 12 years of brewing (8 years as Two Jacks), we are able to use these brew sheets to improve upon our process. I’m excited to see what the next year brings as we are beginning to branch out to new styles of beer and new hops. So far, focusing on being more organized and detailed has already improved our brewing. I've managed to change some mash and sparge practices and fix our pH on the fly. Based on our data, I'm focusing now on improving our fermentation process. Our brewhouse efficiency averages 85-90% (depending on the style of beer we are brewing and batch size). I consistently hit our target pH and SG readings. The best part is that I no longer stress about brew days. If a beer doesn't come out the way I want or expected, it is usually down to two factors now--equipment failure or the recipe. Feeling confident when I brew is everything. Knowing I can find what went wrong in the brew day and correct it is what builds that confidence. The best part, Mike and I enjoy brewing more. We no longer bump into each other or argue over things that distract from our brew day. Our brew days are fun and a great way for us to spend time together. If you have a brewing partner, I highly recommend discussing brew day tasks whether a whole system or tasks for each individual brew day, you'll find the day will be more efficient. 

Cheers and happy brewing!
2JBC