AG#1 Taylors Landord

[Tattie bogle]

Went for AG#1 yesterday. Taylors Landord. All things considered it went pretty well I think. A couple of issues to address for next time.

1) Mash temperature was too high 69C, I didn't think to stir the water to equilibrate tempature. Then I didn't add cool water to get to 66C. The mash lost 5C over 1.5 hours I think that is ok? Original gravity ended up on the high side (1052 -edit [probably more like 1046 - dodgy hydrometer viewtopic.php?f=2&t=40386], target original gravity is 1042).

2) hop filter needs improvment (more slots), filtering into FV was very slow.

3) readjust water volume as I was about 5L short on the final volume.

It was such a lovely day that I had to postpone the start due to the weather, did a bit on the allotment in the morning. I'll make sure I start well before 3 pm next time!!!

Some pics of the day (can't seem to use the img tag for some reason the image doesn't insert)
...the brewery ready to go:

http://img196.imageshack.us/i/breweryg.jpg/

Assitant to the head brewer:

http://img703.imageshack.us/i/assistant.jpg

Grain, note keep away from the assistant!

http://img21.imageshack.us/i/grainu.jpg/

Mashing in, seemed to get pretty thick, is that normal?

http://img231.imageshack.us/i/mashedin.jpg/

Cover for 90min. Temperature went from 69C to 64C over 90min:

http://img140.imageshack.us/i/mashing.jpg/

Sparging:

http://img64.imageshack.us/i/sparging.jpg/

First run off

http://img695.imageshack.us/i/1strunoff.jpg/

Hops added as boiling began

http://img193.imageshack.us/i/hopsaddedwhenboiling.jpg/

Inserting the cooling coil

http://img641.imageshack.us/i/insertcooler.jpg/

Cold break

http://img228.imageshack.us/i/coldbreak.jpg/

Filtered and in the FV this morning.

http://img34.imageshack.us/i/fv23l.jpg/

I don't have a vigorous fermentation yet, piched the yeast late last night, there are signs of life though.

[Underthethumb]

Congratulations on your first brew.

I have a similar set-up but no chicken - should I get one?

Bet it loves eating the spent grains!

[Tattie bogle]

I just offered her some spent grain but she wasn't that interested, fussy bugger. She prefers roast potatoes!

[gnutz2]

Congratulations.

The temp drop of the mash seems quite high, what was the air temperature on the day.

I have the same cool box and it hasnt dropped more than one degree over 90mins, i am in a kitchen at 20c though. I also wrap a blanket completely round the box.

[Tattie bogle]

Probably a bit cooler than 20C, maybe somewhere between 15-20C, the brewery is in the utility room which is unheated. I'm not fully confident in my initial temp measurement, I rushed this a bit, probably should've taken a few reading from different spots. I'll just have to compare with next time.

Cheers

[L2wis]

Hey tattie! gratz on the first brew, thanks for posting me a link too! I'll check out ur pics when im next on the main computer. my mash tun (same as yours) also dropped 5C yesterday, i wrapped it in a blanket and a duvet and brought it inside next to a storage heater.

My start temp was 70C and ended up at 65C. i reckon our brew's will be fine though.

I've seen ppl on here saying the lid needs insulating so perhaps that is where we're losing 5C? Might try drilling a hole in the lid and filling it with expanding foam.

[Tattie bogle]

Yeah maybe the lid could do with some modification, I noticed the lid was warm compared with the sides of the tun and towels on top were warm. I think I'd rather try an improve the insulation than have to keep moving it about. Something else to think about anyhow.

Cheers

[pswillies]

Good photos... like the chicken Had a pint of Landlord on Thursday night, was very nice!

Did you pre-heat the coolbox? I suspect they're design to let heat out the top in most cases; mine's certainly very thin compared to the body. Wrapping up in a duvet seemed to do the trick, with a couple of pillows on top of the lid as well. The strapping you used should help seal the lid well too.

Paul

[Tattie bogle]

I preheated with one kettle boil. Then added 10.7L at 80C, waited for it to cool to 74C which seemed to take a while but not sure how long excactly. I guess I could increase the insulation on top from a few towels to a duvet, this might help a bit.

Cheers

[Tattie bogle]

I don't have a vigorous fermentation yet, piched the yeast late last night, there are signs of life though.

Ok, now it is getting a bit feisty. I've never had one quite so enthusiatic, is this normal?

http://img862.imageshack.us/i/yeasthead.jpg/

[Texy]

I,m in trouble if mine get a frothy as that - I have 24ltrs in my 25ltr FV !!!

Texy

[Tattie bogle]

I think I'll leave the immersion heater off tonight. May wake up to a big mess otherwise. Never seen this with kits, have used the S-04 before a few times as well.

[L2wis]

That looks all good to me tattie! Whats the black thing hanging down into the beer?

Pics are great also!!

[Tattie bogle]

Cheers L2wis! The black thing is the immersion heater, it clicks on and off to keep the temperature at 20C. It gets cold in the "brewery" at night so I've decided to leave it on, if the foam overflows then so be it. How do I get pics to show in the post? Is there some trick with the image tag?

[L2wis]

Ahhh ha! I see! Thats a good idea for cold room fermenting! I don't think there is much harm in removing some of the foam, but if it ain't going to ruin your best carpet probably best to just leave it .

Images, right well i use photobucket for my uploads and there is a button i click to copy img tag code so i can then paste it straight in, but with imageshack what you can do is use their forum code snippet thing after you upload there are loads of boxes with links in. Or if you've got direct link (links) then type [img ]paste direct link address[/img ] but take the spaces out the tags.