Moving to AG next month.

[fatbelly]

Hi All,

I have done about 6 Kit Beers & I now want to move to AG.
Over the coming weeks will you please all bear with me when I ask question upon question. I like to get things straight in my mind before I embark

1st I have read on this forum about 'efficiency' and then expressed as a % What is this about? Do I need high efficiency or low.

2nd For a mash tun, I seen 2 FV's placed one inside the other with the inside one having 2mm holes drilled in the bottom to let the water Ahem excuse me Liquor through and the outer FV having a tap to draw of the Liquor. Will this work effectively as a MT?

3rd Can I convert an FV to a boiler using something like kettle element ? If so how do I do this? Will the plastic FV stand up to the boiling water temperature?

4th After the boil I have seen Copper Pipe Coolers being used to crash cool the Wort so the yeast can be pitched. To save money can I forgo the Cooper Cooler and just leave the Wort overnight and then pitch the yeast the next morning when the wort has cooled to room temperature ?

5th I think I know the answer to this but given I am going to spend a lot of my hard earned on more equipment I would like some extra some reassurance . How much better is AG Beer to the Kit Beer I have been brewing.

Thanks for reading Guys I do appreciate any answers that you post.

Regards FB

[simco999]

I can't answer 1 and 2. But for the rest....

3 - It has been done - if you go down this route keep the elements well away from the bottom of the FV - I think most folks on here are not keen on this. Look on ebay for a more robust white plastic boiler. I've got one of these and it does the job (I do BIAB).

4 - Yes - no chill is popular in BIAB - the Aussies have been doing it for years - works for me, I stopped using a copper cooler after a leak incident which I want to forget about!!!

5 - Well I've done some kits which produced good results. But for me the Weiss beers I produce using AG just couldn't be done using kits. Plus its fun!!!

PS - 888 posts - woohoo.

[themadhippy]

1)the higher the better,its basicly how much alchol youve got out of that bag of cereal
2)yep works fine,however you need to insulate it well to keep the temperature loses as small as possible
3)|as long as the bucket made of a suitable material,poly something or other (pp) is good hdpe isnt
4)yep put a lid on to keep the nastys out,maybe in the bath full of cold water
5)good AG is on par or better than the stuff youll find in your local,bad AG is still better than green king

[soupdragon]

Don't stress on question 1 for too long.

To start with, just make notes of what O.G. you end up with in the fermenter then up your malt addition to suit if it's below what you were expecting.
Once you've got your method sorted and are happy with what you're brewing then it's time to start fiddling

Cheers Tom

[Goulders]

I would also say all your questions on equipment can be found by searching the equipment section. Have a search/browse generally anyway and good luck. I no chill. There is discussion on no chill cubes in the BIAB section

[Troutman47]

Hi FB,
I converted to the Darkside a little while ago after doing kits for a few years.
I had a dodgy start only because my thermometer was broken but since I've bought a new one the beers a superb.
I'm supping on a Guinness at the moment made from the recipe from GW's book and it is spot on!

The extra equipment cost me about £110 cuz I built it myself and the cost of the grain means it works out at approx 20p a bottle, 22p with a crown cap.

I'd say the down side is it takes about 7 hours to make a brew, but I love every minute of it.

If you haven't got Graham Wheeler's book, 'Brew your own British real ale' then you should get it, the rest you can learn on here!

Good Luck, let us know how it goes and post photo's too!

[far9410]

PS - 888 posts - woohoo

is that better than 666? go on tell us about your embarassing leak

[Dennis King]

Where do you live, if you can attend someone's brew day you will learn a lot. Most brewers seem happy to pass on their skills.

[far9410]

sorry for hi jacking, I think to start the most important is the MT, have a look at the cool box conversions on here