19th Jan Liquid Breakfast Brewday

[PieOPah]

Going to brew my Liquid Breakfast today. Just need to get everything out of the shed and let the wife go to work. Then - I'm ready to brew

4.0 kg Maris Otter Pale
0.25 kg English Chocolate Malt
0.30 kg British Black Patent
0.25 kg Roasted Barley
0.50 kg Oats Flaked
0.50 kg Shreddies - added during mash
0.50 kg Cornflakes - added during mash
0.44 kg Rice Crispies - added during mash
0.25 kg Lactose
50 g Styrian Goldings (6.00%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
0.5 tsp Yeast Nutrient (AKA Fermax) - added during boil, boiled 15 min
1 tsp Irish Moss - added during boil, boiled 15 min
9.61 fl oz White Labs WLP004 Irish Stout

[oblivious]

Do you thin the preventives in the cereal will have any effect upon the yeast, or are their any?

[PieOPah]

Do you thin the preventives in the cereal will have any effect upon the yeast, or are their any?

No preservatives that I could see in the ingredients. If there are anything (I dunno what all the B1, B6 etc really are) then they should be sorted out in the boil. Salt was the only worrying thing but again this should be sorted in the boil.

Blimey PoPs, it'll be the only beer with snap, cracle and pop

Hope it all goes well

Was strange hearing that snap crackle pop when adding to the mash.

Mash is now underway so I have a couple of hours in which to either relax and do very little or do a bit of housework. Hmmmmm

[Orfy]

This will be interesting.
Good luck.

When this is done it'll be a shame if you're first pint of it is not at breakfast time!

[Seveneer]

When this is done it'll be a shame if you're first pint of it is not at breakfast time!

Is that not the case with every brew

[PieOPah]

This will be interesting.
Good luck.

When this is done it'll be a shame if you're first pint of it is not at breakfast time!

I think that I will have to ensure my first pint is for breakfast (although I do imagine SWMBO will have something to say about that!) Of course, I will still have to have my 'gravity samples' along the way

[moorsd]

Hope all goes well PoP! That's a very original grain bill!

[PieOPah]

Well, I have hit my first MAJOR problem -

I can't drain my Mash Tun....

I have collected about 12 litres and nothing else is coming through. I have stirred and stirred the grain, but this only encourages a slight trickle. No idea what IU am going to do to get the sweet wort.................

[Andy]

Blow back though the outlet tap....

[Seveneer]

As Andy said, blowing through the tap is a good method.

If this doesn't work I would tip it all into a fermenter, clean the manifold, tip the mash back into the mash tun, let it rest for 10 minutes then gently try again.

Good luck.

[PieOPah]

I'd already tried blowing through the tap but this didn't help. I have given it another stir and it feels like I hit something as loads of bubbles suddenly came gushing through.

I have managed to collect 25 litres and have more in the mash tun ready to be collected.

Obviously the wort is no where near as clear as I would have liked but at this point having wort is more important than its clarity

[Scooby]

Sounds like it may have been an airlock PoP.

Before adding the grain I normally draw of some liquor to 'prime' the manifold and again a small amount once the grain is all in

[PieOPah]

Should have expected it really, the brew day hasn't been going well at all.

My boiler isn't workikng at full capacity... I just about get a boil going and the element cuts out.

So, after about an hour I am draining the boiler (thankfully no hops added yet) and am going to give the element a clean. Good old citric acid....

This best be a great beer after all these problems (but hey, why should it be?)

[PieOPah]

And it continues to go wrong for me

The wort has been cooled but the boiler just doesn't want to drain. I have had to stick my wooden spoon in to clear the hop filter.

This is the worst brew I have ever known. I really want to just cry it is that bad.

Okay a bit of an exageration, but what was meant to be a great day of has sucked donkey balls.....

Oh well, here's hoping to a better next brew.....

[moorsd]

I always look back on bad brew days to see what I could have done differently and if possible improve on it!

That said it's normally at least a few days down the line before I can think rationally again, usually a bad brew day results in a long line of expletives, at least one utensil thrown across the kitchen, and an appointment to the Doc's to sort the high blood pressure!!