Ck27 said:
I brewed it and suprisingly the water they use is actually close to the bottled I used. The beer is fermenting right now slowly but it is fermenting. I went with what I was recommended
2 row (California) and Crystal 40, I got the color exactly as I was told 12.0SRM. Fermenting at 60F let rise up to 70 during final 3 days. After fermentation they brew up another batch of same wort and add it to the fermented beer, which ferments again and carbonates the beer and then they bottle it. I will do the same thing. It is a bit crazy but that's what they said so I'll do it as close as I can they told me primary fermentation is normally done in 3 days then they drop it to a tank to condition it.
Greetings Ck27 - There is a great deal of information in this thread, some of is centered around your initial inquiry: "Need Some Help!". So I will attempt to do just that even though you have already begun fermenting your brew. So, the information is here for other brewers, and you, if you choose to brew another California Common sometime in the future.
According to an article published in BYO dated December, 2014, Anchor Brewing Company's Anchor Beer is stepped through the mash beginning at: "122F, 145F and 156F before Mash-out". The detailed article did not state the timeframe in which this incremental temperature change took place. The author of the article did, however, create a clone of the recipe and used a single step infusion at 149F for a successful mash conversion.
According to the article, the reason for their multi-step mash process, which began well before the 1960's, was because the malts produced at the time were not nearly as modified as they are now. Therefore, the multi-step conversion was necessary to adequately extract all the sugars. A little known fact on this subject is that when Fritz Maytag bought Anchor Brewing in the mid 1960's, the original brewmasters left the brewery and Mr. Maytag was forced to hire new brewers. The story goes that none of the men he hired had any brewing experience, other than what they learned in the one-day crash coarse they received from the original brewmasters prior to their departure. So the new "Brewmasters" simply followed instructions they received and little has changed since.
Lastly, very few of the brewers that contribute to this forum are professional brewers (folks who make a living brewing beer). Instead, most of us are simply satisfying a deep desire to create a beverage we can enjoy and be proud of. That's said, none of us know everything. So, when we have questions, we take to this forum, and others, and ask questions in hopes of finding answers. Personally, when I see an answer coming from a brewer such as BrewFun, who has logged over 1900 posts and 149 applauds, I take the information that brewer offers to heart because that brewer has most likely been brewing a lot longer than I have and has obviously helped a lot of brewers with advise and suggestions. So, moving forward, please consider the content of your responses -
all of them- when posting to this forum.
Thank you!