" Ditch's Stout " Master Class .....

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Ditch
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Re: " Ditch's Stout " Master Class .....

Post by Ditch » Tue Sep 15, 2015 12:07 am

Well, I put trial's #'s 15 + 16 in, today. Everything as strictly recorded as I know how.

The most notable point, so far, is that there's absolutely no Spew! Ever! :shock:

WTF then has become of the notorious, and much replicated and photographed Spew? Complete f**king mystery! But, not such an issue that I'm overly bothering about it just now.

" Braining " is looking good, and quite consistent.

Maybe I'll take it up to # 20 trial makes. Then I'd like to start looking at actual temperatures, within the FV's. Rather than taking the FTH's settings as gospel. Room temperatures, thus far, should have been pretty consistent. Dropping by the expected fractions of a degree as winter approaches. (Yes: Winter is coming)

I need to find what I've done ~ or what environmental change has come about ~ to alter the pattern of what's going on here.

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Re: " Ditch's Stout " Master Class .....

Post by WalesAles » Tue Sep 15, 2015 6:47 am

Hello Ditch,
Good point there on the `Actual` Temp reading.
One of my heaters is set on 24deg to give me 22deg in the Trug, the other is set on 26deg to give me 22deg in the Trug.
Get your thermometer out and you might finally put this bugger to bed! :D [-o<

WA


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Re: " Ditch's Stout " Master Class .....

Post by Ditch » Fri Sep 18, 2015 7:49 pm

:shock: The plot thickens, my man!

Tested them both, today. Each with Two different thermometers. (Yes; No one can say Ditch isn't thorough!)

Turns out # 16. FV# 6, one with the Aqua heater set to 23 is actually reading 21! I'll be amongst that one tonight. It tasted great, this afters.

# 15. FV# 2, Fluval heater set to 23 is reading 21.5. It's clearly still fermenting. And it tasted f**king vile when I licked the thermometer!

Watch this space ....!

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Re: " Ditch's Stout " Master Class .....

Post by Deebee » Sat Sep 19, 2015 7:17 am

Ditch wrote::shock: The plot thickens, my man!

Tested them both, today. Each with Two different thermometers. (Yes; No one can say Ditch isn't thorough!)

Turns out # 16. FV# 6, one with the Aqua heater set to 23 is actually reading 21! I'll be amongst that one tonight. It tasted great, this afters.

# 15. FV# 2, Fluval heater set to 23 is reading 21.5. It's clearly still fermenting. And it tasted f**king vile when I licked the thermometer!

Watch this space ....!
Ditch, are the thermometers calibrated. Do you know that 21 on the thermometer is actually 21?
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Re: " Ditch's Stout " Master Class .....

Post by Ditch » Sat Sep 19, 2015 1:49 pm

Wouldn't know how to calibrate one, mate. But, the fact that two of them read the same differences in two FV's ....? I figure that must be enough flies.

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Re: " Ditch's Stout " Master Class .....

Post by Deebee » Sun Sep 20, 2015 9:14 am

Ditch wrote:Wouldn't know how to calibrate one, mate. But, the fact that two of them read the same differences in two FV's ....? I figure that must be enough flies.
True.
An easy way is to boil water and check that.
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Re: " Ditch's Stout " Master Class .....

Post by Ditch » Mon Sep 21, 2015 5:54 pm

Ditch wrote:# 15. FV# 2, Fluval heater set to 23 is reading 21.5. It's clearly still fermenting. And it tasted f**king vile when I licked the thermometer!

OMFG!!! What the F**k have I done now?! :shock:

Just knocked up a single. (# 17, in my record book, for the record) Went to the cupboard, to get the malt. Made a point of checking I got malt, as I have a kit of Dark here. Something didn't seem right .....

I double checked the bags of malt and the BKE. One Kg bag of malt too many for the kits I have left!!! #-o FFFS!!!!!

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Re: " Ditch's Stout " Master Class .....

Post by Pinto » Mon Sep 21, 2015 6:26 pm

One of your brews is session strength then m8 :lol:
Primary 1: Nonthing
Primary 2 : Nothing
Primary 3 : None
Secondary 1 : Empty
Secondary 1 : None
DJ(1) : Nowt
DJ(2) : N'otin....
In the Keg : Nada
Conditioning : Nowt
In the bottle : Cinnamonator TC, Apple Boost Cider, Apple & Strawberry Cider
Planning : AG #5 - Galaxy Pale (re-brew) / #6 - Alco-Brau (Special Brew Clone) / #7 Something belgian...
Projects : Mini-brew (12l brew length kit) nearly ready :D

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Re: " Ditch's Stout " Master Class .....

Post by PaddyX21 » Tue Sep 22, 2015 9:30 am

Ditch wrote:I double checked the bags of malt and the BKE. One Kg bag of malt too many for the kits I have left!!! #-o FFFS!!!!!

Not been sent the two 500g bags in place of the one 1kg one again?

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Re: " Ditch's Stout " Master Class .....

Post by Ditch » Tue Sep 22, 2015 1:30 pm

:-&
F**king Drain!!!

And, yes; I Did taste it ~ More's the f**king pity!

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Re: " Ditch's Stout " Master Class .....

Post by Ditch » Thu Sep 24, 2015 2:57 pm

I just wanted to show ye this. One; To let ye see that it can f**k up. Even with my own, quite ridiculous level of experience at making this sh!t.

And, Two; To ask ye WTF ye think it is?! :shock:

I've never seen anything like it in my life!

Here's a look into the bucket:

Image

So far, so unappetising, eh? There's an oily slick around the syphon rod and the heater. But, that's f**k all, compared to this wonderful close up! :shock: :-&

Image

As said; Just what the f**king Hell is going on there?!

I might also add that, when I tasted that sh!t, it was definitely Not vinegar or battery acid. It was just some weird kind of taste that I wasn't gonna sit there drinking pint after pint of. Think of Earl Gray tea. Not really gonna kill ye. But, nasty sh!t!

Now, interestingly ~ and this is where my new habit of keeping ordered, written records come in ~ I see that, the day I put those together, and f**ked that one, I'd literally just got back home from visiting, and agreeing to adopt, a sick and injured Dog. My head would have been up my arse with distraction then.

I forgot to put the malt in. And just now, looking at that FV, seeing the tap gave me pause to wonder: Did I take it off and chuck it in the bleach bucket, as I normally do ....?

Nearest thing to a clue I can come up with :|

Oh well; Just topped up my bleach bucket with some fresh bleach. Now, I'm off to knock up another kit. In that same FV. # 2. (Yeah. I see that to. My # 2's come out as sh!t :roll:)

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Re: " Ditch's Stout " Master Class .....

Post by demig » Wed Sep 30, 2015 2:52 pm

Christ almighty this stuff frothes up when the paddle mixer goes in, nearly washed away half the town with stout foam! My first attempt, just pitched my yeast and looking forward to trying this stuff. Easy procedure except for setting my fish tank heater, always a nightmare and had to put my fish in the stout to keep them warm while it ferments :)

Thanks for the great instructions, looking forward to a nice pint (fingers crossed).

Demig

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Re: " Ditch's Stout " Master Class .....

Post by Ditch » Wed Sep 30, 2015 7:01 pm

Demig; Good man!

Did ye set the drill on Reverse? I find that helps a great deal. Also, remember not to put All the water in before stirring it, otherwise, yes; Ye liable to lose a fair drop! :shock:

Setting ye FTH? Always ask yeself this: Which is better; I chuck my FTH into an FV of water and fiddle with it till it's right? Possibly taking a few nights.

Or I blindly drop it into an FV full of malts and yeast. Boil the f**king lot the first night. Throw it all down the drain and Then run off four gallons of plain water and start over again?

:-k I know. It's a tough one. But, I'm sure you'll pull through ..... 8)

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Re: " Ditch's Stout " Master Class .....

Post by demig » Wed Sep 30, 2015 7:56 pm

Lol you make a very good point! The way I see it once it's set it'll be ready for the next batch :) I think you'll like that logic ;)

I'll try drill on reverse next time, didn't have all the water in but by god it foamed! Very impressive aeration.

Had a little taste when I check the sg and very promising indeed.

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Re: " Ditch's Stout " Master Class .....

Post by Ditch » Thu Oct 01, 2015 10:52 pm

A word to the wise, about FTH's: They get cruddy. The Brain / Spew crawls over them and the residual crud tends to bake on around the top. The part where all the fiddly, twisty little bits are situated. That has to be removed, obviously.

A nail brush is the answer to so many nooks and crannies. Only, a nail brushes bristles can quite possibly nudge some setting dials a bit, either way.

What are we to do? I've found that 1/ Submerging the head of the FTH in the bleach bucket ends up stripping the numerals off the thing. Ye don't know What f**king temperature it's supposed to be set at then! :roll: Chaos!

2/ Ye scrub away with the nail brush, under a flowing tap. See above; Ye risk knocking the temp' out of true.

3/ What I'm testing now: Soak the dirty FTH in a bucket of clean water.

I'm looking at trying long soaks in cold water. Short soaks in hot water. Maybe a dash of washing up liquid. The important thing is to get that sh!t off the plastic parts ~ thoroughly and quickly.

Beauty of this thread, see? It's not just how some random bloke happens to make his chosen kit. It's a journey through a life! :mrgreen:

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