Brew Evening 14th November

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Calum

Brew Evening 14th November

Post by Calum » Mon Nov 13, 2006 6:42 pm

Tomorrow night is the night for my next brew. I am attempting a Directors clone for a couple of reasons.

1, The Directors recipe I have in the Wheeler book matched quite closely to the weight of pale malt and crystal malt I have at the moment. I just had to nip down to the homebrew shop and pick up some black malt and hallertau hops.
2, I do enjoy a good pint of Directors :)

23L
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Pale Malt 4000g
Crystal 250g
Black Malt 25g
Invert Cane Sugar 454g (1 tin of golden syrup)

51g Challenger at beginning of boil
Recipe looks for Target but I am using up some challenger that I had in the freezer. I have simply adjusted the amount used to account for the lower alpha acid versus the target.

15g Hallertau last 15 minutes
The recipe actually prescribed 5g Hallertau and 10g Styrian but the latter was not available so I will simply use Hallertau.

Safale s 04.

The plan is to get the mash tun and boiler wiped down and the yeast starter on the go tonight (I'm using some spray malt for this). Tomorrow morning before work I will get the water ready in the boiler. I will call my wife as I am leaving work to turn it on for the mash water. As I am planning to leave early it should only take me about 40 minutes to drive from Edinburgh to Dunfermline so by the time I get home I expect to be able to dough in.

I have been keeping an eye on the "Batch Sparge v Fly Sparge" debate which I have found most interesting. I have always sparged by using a watering can rose to sprinkle and stopping when I thought the gravity was getting low. I think from the information gleaned from the discussion I will perform a single batch sparge after the original mash liquor has been drained and then return to the sprinkle method to get any remaining sugars out of the grain.
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Bigster

Post by Bigster » Mon Nov 13, 2006 11:29 pm

Good luck Calum :D

I brewed the Dave Line directors and it was good.

I have done a few brew nights and if organised works out well ( I send my missus out to work so rely on a timer for the boiler :D )
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Calum

Post by Calum » Tue Nov 14, 2006 6:20 pm

Everything is on the go. :D

Mash started at 16:45 and have a temperature of a smidge under 66C.
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Garth
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Post by Garth » Tue Nov 14, 2006 7:35 pm

Good luck Calum, hope everything goes to plan, must have my own brewing evening, it sounds great
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Seveneer

Post by Seveneer » Tue Nov 14, 2006 7:53 pm

I was talking about Directors earlier at work. Nice pint if you can find it well kept.

Good luck Calum. Hope it goes well.

/Phil.
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Calum

Post by Calum » Tue Nov 14, 2006 8:25 pm

Sometimes you just have to put your hands up and shout "I'm a plonker".

Everything was going to plan (I've got some photo's I'll post them later). I ran off the first batch of wort after the mash, moved the tun underneath the boiler for the batch sparge, turned on the tap and was happily mixing in when I realised that I had left the tap on. It was on the other side from where I was standing so a bit ran off onto the floor before I realised. ](*,)

I estimate I lost about 1 litre however it looks a lot more when its on the kitchen floor. I'll have to take note and do a three tier setup next time rather than my unorthodox setup.

All I will say is that if I had a cat, which I don't, it could do worse than to stay out of my way at the moment.
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Andy
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Post by Andy » Tue Nov 14, 2006 8:59 pm

we've all been there Calum 8)
Dan!
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DRB

Post by DRB » Tue Nov 14, 2006 9:01 pm

Easy Tiger,try not to work yourself up to much,after all its only a bit of beer. :shock: ,quick start licking it up dont want to waste any :lol:
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Calum

Post by Calum » Tue Nov 14, 2006 9:50 pm

The annoying bit is I have been there myself before. Last time I was transferring from wort collector to boiler in the garage and nipped into the house by the time I came back out I had lost about half. :shock:

I managed to get over it by reading "The Lazy Ladybird" to my daughter for her bedtime story. Stress management for families! :)

Boil now half way through. The challenger went in at the beginning and the syrup just a few minutes ago.
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Calum

Post by Calum » Tue Nov 14, 2006 9:56 pm

Quick question.

What is the site everyone uses for uploading there photos :?:
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Seveneer

Post by Seveneer » Tue Nov 14, 2006 10:09 pm

I sometimes use photobucket.... http://www.photobucket.com
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Garth
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Post by Garth » Tue Nov 14, 2006 10:09 pm

I use photobucket, works for me fine
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Calum

Post by Calum » Tue Nov 14, 2006 10:26 pm

Cheers lads, it was quick to register.

Here are some of this evening photos. I didn't think to get one of the kitchen floor covered with wort :D

Mash
Image

First Runnings
Image

Mid Flow
Image

Transfer to Boiler
Image

Tucked Up Nice (I am boiling in the garage and it is a bit nippy up here tonight so I surrounded with old settee cushions that I had in the garage).
Image

Rolling Boil
Image
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Seveneer

Post by Seveneer » Tue Nov 14, 2006 10:32 pm

Nice one Calum. Looks good 8)

Wort looks nice and clear too :)

/Phil.
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Calum

Post by Calum » Tue Nov 14, 2006 11:23 pm

Some more photos

Post Boil
Image

Transfer to FV
Image

Hubble Bubble Toil and TRUBble
Image

Total Amount Collected was about 4 gallons
Image

And Finally - here is one I made earlier. This is a glass of the Sneaks Bounty which has been in keg for 9 days.
Image

Cheers Lads, its been a good night. :pink:
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