How to do a blog post: 6 things to help you out

http://traffic.libsyn.com/bminusshow/how_to_write_a_blog_post_6_tips.mp3

For some reason, a lot of you like my SEO shiz podcast. So I will do kind of a piggyback or follow up on it, especially since I have been blogging like a madman.

In this article, I will lay out how I do my article from beginning to end.

It's not just about writing, but all the other stuff involved with getting optimal results without having to pay to get your blog post.

PICKING A SUBJECT

You have to decide what you want to write about. You should probably start with something you know a lot about or want to know a lot about.

Do research and site sources; try to approach it like an essay in school. Don't plagiarize and give credit where it's due.

Once you have a subject, decide if you want to make a very long blog post, a series of shorter posts, if you want it detailed or not, etc. There are tons of different possibilities.

I realized that many of my posts either did not have enough detail, covered too much information or I simply learned more since the last article.

So I found myself on an adventure and slew of writing my posts. The writing is the fun part, it gets more involved after just writing.

Tip #1: Pick a subject and write the article.

EDITING (THE ONGOING PROCESS)

Editing can take awhile. Luckily, it is therapeutic for me. Sometimes I will write inspired and when I go back edit it, I realize how horrid some of the sentences were, or how I missed some things.

Editing is basically re-reading your article and correcting it for any errors. The errors can consist of sentence structures, punctuation, making things more clear or cutting out anything that not needed in your blog post.

Don’t just edit for this stuff though, keep an eye out for the structure, making sure paragraphs and sentences don’t go too long, links work and it is visually appealing.

You can change fonts, colors, font sizes, and the list keeps going. This is the time to shine up the text portion of the article.

You may even find that the title of the blog post doesn’t match the content. Figure all that out by editing and making corrections.

Another option is to pay someone to edit your article. I did with my novel, it was like $300 for my whole novel (which I already edited to hell and back on my own).

The lady made a grip of corrections and earned her cash. However, I only pay people when it’s a large task like that. In fact, that is the only time I paid someone to edit my stuff.

I tried to have my spouse edit some stuff once or twice, but I wanted to get it done so I ended up doing it. If you want to get it done, do it your self (I hope she doesn't read this).

Tip #2: Get your article edited and all uniform and shit (you will likely edit many times throughout the whole process).

PICTURES (OPTIONAL PODCAST AND VIDEO)

You definitely want to add pictures to your blog post. Within the pictures, you want to 1) edit the picture with filters and stuff, 2) add tags and headlines to the pic and 3) place them in relevant and strategic places on your article.

There are many SEO (search engine optimization) benefits for adding pictures on your article. You can get free pics from websites (listed below on sources) or pay for them; or even take them yourself!

*if you like my pics, hit me up. Maybe we can work something out like back link sharing or something

A podcast is also a great supplemental thing for your blog post.

3 recent brewing mistakes

http://traffic.libsyn.com/bminusshow/3_brewing_mistakes.mp3

I made a few annoying errors with my brewing sessions as of late.

I think I recovered from those debacles and luckily they were repairable and salvageable screw ups. This article is going to specifically cover those mistakes I made.

Learn what to do by doing what you shouldn't do...learn from my brewing mistakes!

Mistake #1 - CHEMICAL HAPPY

Believe it or not, people use chemicals when they make beer.

There are a grip of scientific details than I can attempt to spew out, but I won't.  These chems adjust the minerals and shit in the water.

For example, if you are making an Irish Stout, you would consider adjusting the water with chemicals to mimic the same water as in Ireland.

Some grains also react to water chemistry differently with PH levels and stuff.

My mistake was I over adjusted and under adjusted my water during my recent American Stout mash. The idea is was keep the mash at 5.2-5.4 PH.

Instead of using software and being patient, I added baking soda to raise the PH. The PH got too high, then I added lactic acid to lower it. It got too low.

I kept going back and forth before I realized I added too much of both. It made me worry that the beer was going to taste like shit.

I tasted the stout towards completion and it actually turned out damn good. To top things off, I entered it into a competition (haha). Results pending.

I think what was mostly affected was the final gravity. I finished off around 1.025 and should have been around 1.010. Therefore, my ABV will be around 5% instead of the 7.5% I was shooting for.

There will also likely be residual sugars in the beer.

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I have since bought a water analysis kit from Lamotte and plan to calculate my findings into brew n water (free open source H2O brewing water template). Then I can set it and forget it.

I will report on the contest results and the taste after carbonation.

Mistake #1: Don't wing things that shouldn't be winged. Positive spin: Be precise when you need to be. Know when you need to be precise or not (adjust the water properly).

Mistake #2 - BREAKING SHIT

I broke my march pump head and threw a few things against the wall during my latest NE IPA brewing session.

Why?

First of all, I brewed after work. I did  a lot of prep (i.e. yeast starter, milled grains, got water ready) in advance.  I figured I could get off work early and knock out a killer beer recipe.

Suddenly, I found myself a little buzzed.I was planning to brew that NE IPA then bottle and keg my stout(from mistake #1).

I made myself drink 3 heavy IPA's just to get the bottles so I could use them for my stout contest.

I then realized, right into the start of my mash, my family didn't get the memo that it was dad's brew day.

So stuff was getting tinkered with left and right.

You see, brewing can be a complicated thing...especially when some of your brewing shit is getting carried away by a toddler, in addition to keeping her away from the burners.

As I also mentioned, I needed to keg and  bottle the stout in between the brew sesh.

Then I got caught up changing diapers among a slew of other little distractions like getting hungry and needing to poop.

Bottom line was I was way in over my head. I was scattered.

MY BASS AMPLIFIER (AMP) JOURNEY

http://traffic.libsyn.com/bminusshow/my_bass_amp_journey.mp3

Bass amplifiers are awesome. I loved my experimentation days of testing out amps, but don't want to go back to those days. I messed around for years to come to what I am content with and encourage you to do the same (test out new stuff). Perhaps this article will help you out a bit.

I played through an Ampeg SVT 3 pro, SVT 4 pro, a GK 800RB, an Eden combo stack, the GK backline amp, a fender combo amp, an SWR combo stack, an M6 carbine, and probably a few more.

I will go in more depth on what I really liked the best, why and what I am using now and what I will likely do in the future if I change what I have now.

PAST BEST BASS AMP

My top bass amplifier of all time, from my tenure and usage, is the Ampeg SVT 4 pro. Despite it being heavy as hell, it had a killer tube pre amp and tons of wattage on the solid state portion of the amp. It has an equalizer and other cool options I don’t remember, because it has been years since I lugged that backbreaker around.

And there are tons of buttons.

I had it rack mounted in a gator 6 space roller case. So at least I was able to roll it around instead of carry it.  I ran an Ampeg 810 through it as well as an Ampeg 410/115 and an Ampeg 610 (all at different phases of my career).

If you want power, prestige, a cool look and something that sounds like a tube amp, this amp will overcompensate for any lack of….wattage you may have.

Do you really need this much wattage? Perhaps if you are playing an arena, amphitheater OR if you have a great endorsement deal and get your gear paid for.

Another great reason to need or want this amp is because you 1) want to look like a pro or 2) were in the exploration stages of finding the right rig.

I never needed this much wattage. I always plug into a PA system, but still even without a PA system I never turned it to 11, or likely even 4.

If I were to get a huge endorsement deal and had Ampeg as my sponsor, I would probably have a few of these on stage while my roadies moved it around and set it up for me, which leads me to another amp I tried and hated.

Pair this with any cabinet and you will blow ear drums (hopefully not your own).

Lesson 1: Big wattage can be too much weight and sound in most cases.

SHITTIEST DEAL OF A USED AMPLIFIER

The Crate combo amp incident was a nightmare for me. The guy I bought it off said I couldn’t play it loud because his baby was sleeping.

I believed him because he lived in an affluent neighborhood and seemed like a decent guy. It was my first “real” bass amp aside from my practice amp.

Perhaps he was telling the truth, or perhaps he was looking to get his car keyed (I was sooo tempted to drive by his house and flatten his tires…he didn’t respond to my texts).

So I picked up the “working” combo amp and thumped it in my new home for a few songs. I was about to join a band and needed to be ready.

To my dismay, the thumping was cut short after a few minutes. It started making weird noises and would cut out after a couple of seconds. I researched how to repair it, but that didn’t work out.

I admit it, I did like the power and bass it put out for the first few moments, but that experience made me NEVER to look back on Crate for bass stuff.

SORRY CRATE, YOU SUCK ASS. And to that guy who sold it to me for like $200, I forgive you and hope you didn’t purposefully sell me your crap at a high price. I give you the benefit of the doubt. If you did sell me your shit on purpose, I hope your house foreclosed and you go through a lot of hardships!

MY SMALL BASS GUITAR COLLECTION

http://traffic.libsyn.com/bminusshow/my_basses.mp3

 INTRO

I have played with like 10 different brands of basses and have bought and maybe sold around 25 basses through my tenure.

I now own two basses only and I might add a third. It’s not that I have commitment issues, for the most part. I just like what I like. To be 100% honest, I didn’t feel comfortable playing with $2000+ basses. My playing style is kinda rough on stage.

I have banged up a few of my basses against drum cymbals, other guitars and walls (don’t ask, I played a lot of different venues). I concluded that I like the middle of the road and cheaper bass route; without sacrificing tonal quality of course.

In this article I will go over the 2 basses I have and the bass I will likely get next. I will also discuss what I didn’t like about some basses and what I love.

MY BASSES

DA SAMICK: My first bass is a Samick 4 string. My dad hooked me up with it a looong time ago. It was a cheapie, I think around $200 at the time in the late 90’s. It is a super rad sunburst color and Precision bass style body.  I have changed the pickups to bass line pickups a few years back at Guitar Center for about $100.

I have changed the strings multiple times, but it is mostly my practice bass at home, so I don’t change them out too often. It sounds pretty good, especially when there are new strings on it.

I tattooed my bass throughout the years. I have no tattoos, so compensated by decorating my first bass as my personal canvas. So there are tons of stickers on it from headstock to toe.  I considered upgrading the bridge and tuners, but don’t really want to and it holds the tuning very well.

The pots aren’t scratchy, but the input jack got loose and I have to either go in and replace it or adjust it from time to time. The neck is still straight. I adjusted the truss rod one time only. I have dropped it a couple of times, but the chips are covered up with tattoos.

This bass survived college (all 7 year) with me and was with me during the formation of my band The Mean Muggers (formerly Monomyth Inception) back in the late 2000’s. It has been extremely loyal to me through thick and thin. It has produced rap lines, rock lines and everything in between.

One day, I will frame and retire this puppy. In the meantime, I will get a few more years out of it and then hang it up for good; but I will never get rid of it. It was, and is, my first true bass love. Oh, and I have a cool purple lightning strap on it!

DA MIM FENDER PRECISION: I know what you fucking experienced bassists are thinking, “MIM? What about MIA?” I say, “what about it?” MIM is made in Mexico and MIA is made in America. There is also Fender MIJ and MII (made in Japan and made in Indonesia) and etc. The MIA basses are the best. They are very similar looking to all the other fender products.

Let me back up.

The levels of fender basses range not from where they are made only. There are also bass sub brands like Fender SQUIER, Fender FENDER, Fender Jaguar, etc. Generally, squire is the lowest level, MIM is the middle and MIA is the top. There are more factors involved, but I will explain some major differences and why I am loyal to Fender MIM.

It basically comes down to wood types, finishes and parts. The neck wood is better and higher quality (allegedly) on MIA, better pickups, better truss rod,  etc. You get the drift? The price differences are pretty good, usually a new MIM bass will run around $700 and an MIA would run around $1600. A SQUIER rolls for around $200-250.

The SQUIER basses have actually made significant strides. The modified jaguar jazz SQUIRE is only $200 and is totally worth the money.

3 Dating or Life tips

http://traffic.libsyn.com/bminusshow/3_dating_tips_and_life_tips.mp3

I’m writing more about dating since you fuckers seem to love this subject. At least I have a lot of shit from my past that I can write about on this subject.

Getting a date can be easy for some and hard for many. There are so many damn factors involved. I will try to break it down as simply as possible.

I will be as general as I can in order to give a general feel as to what it takes to start attracting the ladies.

Although I have been out of the playing field for a while,  I believe these tips are universally accepted.

I encourage you to adopt them if you are having any problems with the ladies and ESPECIALLY if you have not cultivated them as habit in your life.

#1 Be confident.

How the hell can you get confidence? That is a very vague question in itself.

I think you can cultivate confidence in a few ways. You have to do something you are good and passionate about. Even if it means crushing kids at your first person shooter, or perhaps taking advantage of people of lower IQ at trivia night.

Being confident in one area of your life will spill over into other areas of your life.

It doesn’t mean you don’t have to put in work. Sometimes working hard at something brings confidence later. That pertains to having goals.

You can expect to be a master beer maker with one session. I have been brewing for years and am discovering how much I DON’T know after all of this time.

I am still confident in my brewing abilities though and growing with it daily. I work for it, but I love it.

What does confidence have to do with dating? A lot. You need to be confident in order to ask a girl out, meet up with a girl, or even make a move on her.

So get confidence daily. Play to your strengths and work at confidence. Get knowledge and play. If you get the feel for what confidence is, you up your chances of landing the girl of your dreams…or at least trying.

AND YES, you will get more confidence in dating by dating more.

#2 Learn to take rejection lightly

Women fend men off on a daily basis like recruiters going after a top athletic prospect.

And they usually do this daily, whether they are conscious of the fact or not.

On the flip side, if you were a decent looking guy working at an all single female mid-50’s nursing home since your late teens until now, you would likely get flirted with more. That is how it is kind of like for an attractive female; daily flirtation but from men of all ages.

Where do you come into play with this? Well, let’s just say you may likely fit into the category of being brushed off.

You have to be okay with that.

Understand that you have preferences, she has preferences and unless you fit a majority of what she is looking for, or you are a Don Juan type, it may not work out.

You will likely face a ton of rejection. I think the experience of rejection will only help you get clarity onto what you want. So keep going, get rejected and embrace it. Don’t get frustrated, just learn from it.

All great people have faced failure and rejection.

#3 Don’t give up

This one kind of ties in with accepting and embracing rejection. I realize these three tips are cliche and sound super simple, but bear with me.

KEEP IN MIND, I have been through and practice all of these, whether it’s in dating or LIFE.

So yeah, when the girl of your dreams (that probably doesn’t even know you) brushes you off, learn from it and move on.

This doesn’t mean to persist with HER. There is something called “stalking” that can get you in serious trouble with the law.

I mean, learn to maybe 1) not fall in love so quick,

How to have bad ass stage presence

http://traffic.libsyn.com/bminusshow/3_tips_for_bad_ass_stage_presence.mp3

I have been a performer for quite a while. My ruling desire to hog the spotlight has passed, but I still have a residual and habitual way of presenting charisma on the stage with my ax and vocals.

It’s something that is embedded in me from years of practice and reinforcement.

Getting a Bachelor’s in Communications also helped me in some ways. Not that you need a degree, though,  I think you could benefit from this article if you just perform in general.

I will go over a few tips on how YOU can put across the image you want on stage when performing.

THE LOOK

You gotta have the look. It may take some thought, practice, trial and error, but eventually you will get there.

What is the look? It’s how you dress, what you wear, facial expressions, hair and all the subconscious messages you are sending with all of your awesomeness.

As a musician, I started with my top music/life influences and what clothing I had at the time.

I wanted to look like a “rockstar,” and the rockstars I liked wore things like ripped jeans, flashy OR simple shoes (not usually ugly tennis shoes though), accessories and flannels.

So at my first few shows, I dressed over the top. I even wore guy-liner (mascara) and painted my nails black along with wearing wrist bracelets, necklaces, rings, etc.!

Things have changed from my initial rocker days.

Needless to say, I pulled it back just a tad and now I keep it simpler.

I usually wear a cool button up or rocker style shirt, jeans (ripped or not), converse or vans (hesitant on wearing sneakers still) and maybe one accessory like a hat or my beloved shades (it’s probably a bassist thing).

It wasn’t just about imitating my rock idols, but I wanted to come across as a rocker on stage. We also played a fusion of rock.

If you are struggling with your self-image on stage, just start with what you feel comfortable in and make sure someone gets a few pictures of you when you are playing.

Then you can determine if you like the way you look from the picture assessment.

You and your band should also have some material cohesion.

Just think of the band KISS or Motley Crue. They all had a similar theme going on. You don’t have to be as loud though.

I know things have changed since the 80’s; not many people dress extreme, but if everyone else is wearing jeans in your band it may be a good idea to consider wearing some sort of denim also.

It’s not set in stone, but I think some dressing harmony is a great thing.

I will almost walk out on a live band out if they are dressed horribly and out of sync.

There’s something about looking right on stage and if the look isn’t there, it’s a major turn off for me.

It’s almost like going to work; have some decency, figure out a uniform and keep to the dress code.

Lesson 1: Get your shit together and dress like you are a performer you want to be!

CHARISMA

Charisma is very vague term I purposefully included here because you can be charismatic in a few ways.

It’s hard to explain what charisma actually is, you just know if someone has it or not.

Some synonyms are attractiveness, inspirational, charming, magnetic and etc.

You can keep your feet still with your instrument and have tons of charisma, or bounce around like a charismatic madman.  You can also stand still or jump around and not be charismatic.

I think you just need to feel the music and be one with the band.

What floats your boat? Play around. Put thought into it. I think charisma is developed by thought and practice.

I used to bounce around like a red bull infused jock on stage.

5 TIPS FOR GROWING HOPS AND SHIT

INTRO

Growing hops, especially in California isn’t that difficult, but maybe I’m a much better green thumb than I think. I mean last year, I planted a pretty successful garden.  It’s not bragging because I actually did a crap load of research and asking around before planting it, in addition to actually planting that fucker.

I think I may just have a knack for finding the right information or not being afraid to make mistakes.

Don’t get me wrong, making mistakes sucks ass. It’s way better to do it right the first time, but if a mistake is made it is a pivot point to correct it the next time.

That being said, hops are pretty cheap to plant. They run around $4-5 each rhizome and whatever you want to spend outside of that is up to you.

Without further delays, let me explain my recipe for planting a successful hop garden. LET’S HOP TO IT (I know, cheesy, but I’m HOPing to make it somewhat lighthearted).

http://traffic.libsyn.com/bminusshow/growing_hops.mp3

PH AND SOIL

Fucking PH, it rules the brewing water world, my swimming pool and also GARDENS! I have been inundated with the need to understand PH, I was essentially forced to learn about it…but in the end for a good reason, HOPS!

PH is the acidity level in water or soil.

Now I admit I did not measure my PH for my hop soil. But you should strive for around a 5-8ish PH level. You can buy a PH meter, buy a PH test kit or use soil with the right PH level. You can use baking soda to lower the PH or an acid additive to raise it.

All will cost you money, JUST LIKE BREWING. Brewing was supposed to be cheap, now I’m heavy into debt on this brew thing (not really).

Or you can do it B- style season 1 and plant it in the ground without a PH test and let it roll.

That’s all I kinda sorta technically know about nutrients and PH and stuff.

 

 

 

Tip 1: Consider getting the PH right over 5.7-7 should work.

GROWING HOPS

As of this post, I have only grown hops for one season. I had very B- success so far. Out of 4 hop rhizomes, 2 made it up and produced cones. The other two just vanished into dark matter.

A rhizome is the root, or vine of that is planted in the ground about 6 inches down after frost season (unless they are pre-existing from the season before). I just dug a hole and put them in there. I watered them every couple of days. I also made sure they had ample sunlight.

Some peeps start them or keep them in a pot. I don’t like the pot method; I haven’t had much luck planting in pots in general. Sometimes I’m old fashioned, ground and pound. I think you need

To my surprise the next year, I was re digging the holes and the two “survivor” rhizomes were about quadruple in length! They were also starting to bud in January (underground and warm winter).

So I dug them up, cut them in half and planted them in the other rhizome graveyards.  I intend to mix soil with them when it’s time to bloom, which will be a month later. And no, I likely won’t do a PH test unless I have another unsuccessful year.

Let me back up for a minute. If your hops grow, they will shoot up like a vine. They are vines and need a trellis or something to climb up.

They grow like 20-30 feet long and can have multiple shoots coming off each rhizome. Many people like to cut all but two vines per rhizome so the focus of energy and growth. That can result in more hop cones produced.

People then guide them on a trellis or climbing device and water every few days.

I just planted them on my chain link fence along the back side of my back yard. I let it go, did not even cut the vines down to two because the plant was new, I wanted Darwinism to kick in (survival of the fittest).

I have three tips within this portion for ya:

HOP FORMS AND USES

Hey, I’m going to write about hops again!  Yay! Awesome, if you like hops. I love them. In fact, I consume them weekly and use them for making beer 1-2 times a month.

So you can say, hops and I have a pretty serious relationship. Luckily, I spend more time with my spouse then hops, so there are no jealousy issues between us.

On a more serious note, I am going to discuss the hop forms and uses in this essay / blog post thingy. I hope you learn a thing or two.

http://traffic.libsyn.com/bminusshow/hops.mp3

FORMS

There are essentially multiple forms of hops. There are the most raw format called the whole cones. Sierra Nevada brewery uses a lot of whole hop cones in their recipes.  Basically, the cone is harvested and preserved in its natural state, dried out then preserved with sealing and freezing the cones until ready for use.

Another form is the hop pellet. The hop pellet looks like an enlarged mouse shit with flatter ends and a different color. They are small pellets that are processed after harvesting. They are chopped up, treated and then put into a machine where the pellets are made and processed. They are like 1/5 an inch long.

Lupulin powder is one of the latest crazes in brewing popularity.

It is essentially the powder of the hop flower. Don’t ask me how they make it, I imagine they dry out the hop cone and shake it around or something.

They are very popular for IPA’s, but they tend to degrade in flavor quicker over time, so it is ideal to utilize the powder in addition to a pellet or whole cone hop.

Lastly, there is hop extract. It is basically a liquid concentrated form of hops. It is making my mouth water thinking of the smell. It probably tastes horrible. I haven’t messed around with it yet, I prefer vegetation over oils, but who knows maybe I will dabble with it.

It certainly should have an easier residual clean up factor from brew day, because us brewers know that hops can create a mess; especially in a plate chiller.

 

ACIDS

Hops are measured by acidity. The higher the alpha acid, the more bittering purpose the hop will have. They usually range from 5-15% acidity, but go higher or lower.  The acid amounts vary by breed, location and year of the crop.

 

PURPOSES

Certain hops are used for bittering and aroma purposes. Some are even dual or all-purpose as they act as both bittering and aroma hops. Make sure you check before using.

 

BREEDS

There are a shit ton of different hop species. Many countries come out with existing varieties of hops. They all range in flavor, size, color, acidity and temperament. Many hops come from the US, the UK, Germany and there has been a surge in popularity with hops from New Zealand.

Some hops are susceptible to disease when growing on your own, but the pro hop farmers have this locked in.

 

BREWING (GENERIC BEGINNER BREWING STUFF)

So how are hops used in brewing? Well, hops do a few things for beer. Let me first say that hops are 1 of the 4 essential ingredients for beer production (yeast, hops, grain and water).

You will add hops either in the boil for any given time up to the end of fermentation.  So, you should read my post on mashing or brewing if you don’t know the process of making beer. But after the mash, you should boil the water for around 60 minutes.

The longer you boil your hops, the more bitterness you will get from them. The later you add hops, the more aromas and less acidity you will extract from the hops.

Many brewers add hops at the “flameout” or when the heat is turned off and they will whirlpool the hops before cooling the wort down.

You can also add hops after the boil and in the conditioning phase. The conditioning phase occurs after fermentation, and fermentation is after the boil and cools down pha...

 

MASHING GRAINS FOR BEER, FROM MY PERSPECTIVE

http://traffic.libsyn.com/bminusshow/mashing_from_my_perspective.mp3

Mashing grains (the mash) is a huge step in making beer. It is where you extract all the sugar from the grains that are soaked in hot water then rinsed (sparging) with hotter water. It usually takes around an hour to mash and around 1.5-2 hours to complete this step in full.

GRINDING GRAINS

I usually put my drill operated grain mill to an acceptable gap (can’t think of the exact number right now) and use a gauge to see if the sides are even. My mill was pricey but kinda janky, but I work with it for a bit and check my crush. If it is crushed decently, I finish the milling.

It usually takes me around 20 minutes to grind around 15 pounds of grain. That is usually good enough for about 7 gallons of beer. Keep in mind some grains need more or less of a gap, and some grains are harder than others.

THE ACTUAL MASH (generic instructions)

So you gotta get your pre-mashing water up to about 170 degrees F then add your crushed grains while stirring them to avoid and get out any clumps. The clumps will not absorb water and you will essentially be wasting grains and not meeting your gravity.

The water temperature will lower from the grain addition, so you should be floating around 155 degrees or so after adding the grains. Check your recipe on what temps are the best to add your grain and mash at. *If you do brew in a bag like I have been recently, do the same above but put your grains in your bag / sack.

Let those grains soak for 60-90 minutes. There are a ton of theories and methods at this stage. Sometimes I mess around with them. For example, decoction is boiling some separate water and a portion of your grains raise the temperature.

I don’t do decoction (as of this post). It is used to do step temperature mashes, and is an older mashing style that is still used by some breweries. I simply make sure my mash tun is hella insulated (wrapped in thermal shields and a heavy moving blanket).

Once temp is set and clumps are worked out and stirred, I check the PH and make my adjustments (add my baking soda or lactic). I will then stir and check again in a couple of minutes and keep adjusting. I use a PH meter. Some peeps use PH strips. Whatever floats your boat?

Strips are cheaper though. Stay within a 5.2-5.4 PH range; the pros say to do so and it works.

One thing I learned is to watch for the residual change. For example, you may over or under adjust if you don’t stir well enough after these additions or if you check to quickly as the chemical process is happening.

You will likely lose some temperature or heat in this process so make sure you come in a little hot when adding grains.

Some people don’t stir their grains after adjustments to “not disturb the grain be.” I can tell you that I disturb the grain bed when I want to. Some argue it “gives the beer off flavors” and such.

While this may be true, 1) don’t care and 2) am not sure if that is true. The reason I am kinda like this on it is because many professional breweries have stirring rods that turn the grain at certain points.

I had trouble in the past hitting my gravity after mash and stirring the grains helps me to hit it. Plus it helps me to evenly distribute the temperature and PH additions.

Make sure you check the temperature about 30-45 minutes into the mash. Do it quickly to avoid losing temperature if you have to lift the lid. I have a thermometer attached to the mash tun but I like to check it manually and seperately also.

All in all, typically after I am happy with my mash PH, I will set it for about an hour. I will then stir it and check the temp (and raise it if needed) and let her sit for another half ...

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