Introduction
It’s been a few weeks since the last article but for the third rendition of homebrewing gadgets I wanted to cover a stirring utensil that I absolutely love. That being said, this review might invoke some discussion because I don’t stir with a spoon or mash paddle. I stir with a whisk. I know, I know. I am sure lots of you are asking “How could you?” or thinking “Brewers use paddles, not whisks!”, but hear me out. If at the end of this you are still convinced I am crazy, then we can agree to disagree over a brew sometime. Just know that if you are drinking a brew I made, it was made using a whisk to stir instead of a paddle.
Background
When we first started brewing it was in 1 gallon batches. We grabbed ordinary kitchen utensils to aid us during our brew days. This consisted of wooden spoons, stainless steel spoons, slotted spoons, spatulas, and regular table spoons. When we converted to 5 gallons, I knew that the mash (mixture of grain and water that extracts sugar from grain that is boiled to make beer) was going to be much larger and would require stirring to prevent dough balls in the mash. Dough balls are pockets of grain in the mash that do not mix with the water and remain dry. These balls are bad because sugar doesn’t get extracted from dry grain and will lead to you missing your targeted final alcohol content in your finished beer. And that is VERY bad! Being the OCD person that I am, I began my quest to find that one perfect stirring utensil for brewing. After much time, research, and suffering (not really, just felt like being dramatic), I decided on a 24 inch stainless steel French whip whisk that some people have coined the “Brewer’s Whisk”.
To read more, go to http://sommbeer.com/homebrewing-gadgets-gadget-3-brewers-whisk/
The described whisk was purchased via Amazon (Prime shipping is awesome), but I noticed this evening that MoreBeer had the same whisk for about half the cost. Here’s the link if interested: http://bit.ly/1YHTrPa
Cheers!
Andy