Recipe of the month

[Belto]

Decide to have a go with my second AG. Thought I improve on my mash Techniques from last weekend.
All went well with temperatures
Now ready to sparge
First run off collected OK
contined cleared and brown liquid pouring int o collect bin
Then disaster strikes, the run off stops my system has blocked and there is noway I can access it in the hot liquid.
Major decision on what to do now.
Started swopping hot water and mash contents
Finaly put mash contents into standard Burco boiler and try to run off through tap
Well it is running but at such a slow rate it will take about 3 hours
Temperture will drop and sparging with Hot water will take for ever. Any ideas chaps I have pleny of time at the moment .
SG of first run off 1090 at 28C

[tubby_shaw]

What most of us do when we have a stuck mash is to blow back up the outlet of the mash tun
Be careful though don't scald yourself
A slow run off isn't such a bad thing though as you will collect more of the sugars

[steve_flack]

What most of us do when we have a stuck mash is to blow back up the outlet of the mash tun
Be careful though don't scald yourself

You could attach a bit of tubing and that removes the risk of burning your gob a tad

[Belto]

Hi Guys
thanks for your response and apologies for not replying had one of those days
AG problems and pressure from wife to do DIY
Now I have to go to a party.
Rather be here discussing the real thing !!
Got lots of questions and will, if I can, post some pictures of my method of sparge run off when I can.

[Belto]

This is the Scavenge Pipe method I used. (Sorry about size of image).
It surpisingly blocked and despite blowing up the tap it still did not work.The pipe is normally protruding down through the filter plate and resting on the bottom of the boiler
After transfering to other vessels and waiting approx 2.5hrs I have ended up dissapointingly with only 14 ltrs of 1062 SG @ 15C
can I add water and increase the volume to 23ltrs and maintain a 5% beer.
Or do I need to add sugar also to maintain a 5%
I lost alot of water while boiling
I have 20 ltr boiler. what do I have to do in future to produce 23ltr of beer.Do I have to increase the size of boiler and ingredients in proportion.
[img][img]http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u112 ... erpipe.jpg[/img][/img]

[tubby_shaw]

I think that I would have to say that the holes in your filter plate look too large they look to be around 5mm?
Ideally the holes want to be 2 to 3mm to stop the grain passing through. Apart from the hole size it looks a good design
In an ideal world you require a boiler with at least a 25% extra capacity to length of beer that you are brewing, that is to say 23 litre brew 29 or 30 litre boiler minimum. But a number of use use brewheat / electrim boilers with a nominal 25 litre capacity and do ok.
you can get away with a smaller boiler by boiling as much as you can and topping up with cold water
Dilute your beer with dechlorinated water to get an SG of 1.050 ish, this will up your volume and should still give you the strength that you want

[Belto]

I have purchased a flour sieve of a design to replace the s/s element cover in my masher, as previous post.
Is there any possibilties that the sieve will stop the drain off as per my second AG. i.e.will the mesh be too fine

[Belto]

Thanks Dabb
Seen your sugestion before and Obviously it works fine according to other users.
I have a spare boiler so I am trying to use it with the advantage of raising the temp should it be necessary.
But as has been suggested by others it takes a few brews to understand the vagaries of your own equipt.
I think I can maintain a tight temp control of my mash from my first two brews, the scavenger pipe has been my problem so far.
will try to brew again this weekend but governed by domestic duties

[Frothy]

Personal recommendation, cheap and tried and tested design is the slotted manifold as described here by Daab -> Also you could use it as a hop strainer. http://www.brew.aledrinkers.co.uk/cool_box_mash_tun.htm
I added a little 22mm-3/4" adapter which is handy
http://www.willmottw.fsnet.co.uk/brew/equipment/

Better luck next time Belto
First few brews are the hardest
Frothy
P.S. If you got 14L at that gravity best just to stick with it as is and ferment it. Not worth worrying about increasing the vol (although you could add malt extract) if you leave it as is you'l have to change your hopping rate with a few calcs.

[Belto]

thats it Daabs
But recent postings have revealed that the sparging arm is no longer available.
I have been using a Funnel, hose and watering can spray. Seems to have worked ok but looking for other ideas

[Belto]

Frothy I think the Cool box masher is fine and well proven.
I would like to increase the quantity of my brew after all that effort.
To that end I have aquired a 11gallon barrel that will need some modifying when I have a few more brews under my belt
What method of heating would you recommend. I see you are using gas. Is the preferable to using electric

[Belto]

I with you now I thought it was a plastic plate modified but you suggest this is available as a false bottom!!