Today was the day! Having spent a couple of weeks sorting all the equipment out, today was the day for making my first AG beer for well over a decade.
There were periods of calm (mashing and boiling) interspersed with moments of controlled chaos(not enough sparge liquor, forgot to hydrate the yeast!).
However, after several hours I've produced 5 gallons of beer from 8 lbs of pale malt and 8oz of crystal malt, plus Goldings and Fuggles hops. Apologies for not being metric. Next time perhaps! The OG is 1042-44. Not sure what it could have been. I can't remember how to do the calculations!
Lots of learning, and one major concern. The learning is about hitting the right strike heat, it was a bit to hot today, heating up the right amount of sparge liquor, putting a run off tube onto the mash tun tap so it doesn't spray everywhere, hydrating the yeast in good time.
The concern? The boiler is a Burco. I put a Brupacks hop strainer in it. In years gone by I used a plastic garden sieve with net curtain in it to strain the hopped wort through. When I strained the wort off today it became clear all the hops had settled at the bottom of the Burco, below the strainer. This meant they weren't doing any filtering at all. It also meant there was dead space at the bottom of the boiler.
Not quite sure how to rectify this without going back to the sieve and netting. Does anyone else use a Burco for boiling?
I lost some extract because of this. After sparging I had approximately 5 1/4 gallons at 1044-46. I think this means I lost about 4 degrees in the hops. Not good. Any suggestions will be gratefully received.
Since the hops didn't filter the wort I am expecting loads of rubbish to appear on the yeast head. What views do people have about skimming? Is it a good thing?
Guy
First AG brew for over a decade completed!
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guypettigrew
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196osh
Re: First AG brew for over a decade completed!
Nice work man. You can skim if you like, especially if the head is covered in break material. But it is not nessecary.
If the strainer is attached via a copper tube you could add some 90 degree compression ends and pipe to make sure the strainer is at the bottom of your boiler.
Also how did you end up with a lower gravity post boil?
If the strainer is attached via a copper tube you could add some 90 degree compression ends and pipe to make sure the strainer is at the bottom of your boiler.
Also how did you end up with a lower gravity post boil?
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guypettigrew
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Re: First AG brew for over a decade completed!
Wort was left in the hops at the bottom of the Burco. Perhaps I should have takenthe hops out and strained them through a kitchen sieve or something. The loss of extract was because of the loss of wort.196osh wrote:Nice work man. You can skim if you like, especially if the head is covered in break material. But it is not nessecary.
If the strainer is attached via a copper tube you could add some 90 degree compression ends and pipe to make sure the strainer is at the bottom of your boiler.
Also how did you end up with a lower gravity post boil?
Thanks for the idea of a 90 degree bend to get the strainer to the bottom of the boiler, but the element gets in the way! Also, I think the bolier would still only empty as far as the tap, wouldn't it?
Guy
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196osh
Re: First AG brew for over a decade completed!
If there is an airtight seal then if you attach a length of tubing to the bottom of the boiler tap and run it a few feet down it will create a syhon effect and drain until air gets into the system. I have no idea about the element. You could make yourself a boiler if the element is going to cause you a lot of problems. this and this and two of the elements from these these and you would have a boiler with many less problems.
You will always loose wort to hops its just how it goes if you are using whole hops, think of it like rice or pasta absorbing water because they go from dry-wet it is the same idea with your whole hops. The problem would be if you could actually see wort in the bottom of the boiler that was not absorbed by the hops.
You will always loose wort to hops its just how it goes if you are using whole hops, think of it like rice or pasta absorbing water because they go from dry-wet it is the same idea with your whole hops. The problem would be if you could actually see wort in the bottom of the boiler that was not absorbed by the hops.
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guypettigrew
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Re: First AG brew for over a decade completed!
196osh wrote:If there is an airtight seal then if you attach a length of tubing to the bottom of the boiler tap and run it a few feet down it will create a syhon effect and drain until air gets into the system..
Genius!!!
Thanks. I'll try it out.
Guy
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Dennis King
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Re: First AG brew for over a decade completed!
Always god to welcome back a prodigal sum.
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Spud395
Re: First AG brew for over a decade completed!
Have we had a few tonight DennisDennis King wrote:Always god to welcome back a prodigal sum.
Well done on the brew man, welcome back to the darkness
