Jims ESB

[BrewerBen]

Got my mash on at 6:30 - just having a coffee while it finishes, then I'll be sparging.

I'm expecting to make about 6 gallons.

grains.jpg

mash.jpg

EDIT to add a few more pics. (I'm using the Cascade hops at flame out in place of the EKGs- I got these hops as a free sample and wanted to try them out - they look and smell amazing and I'll be buying some from there for sure- they aren't overcompressed or full of stalks - you can pick out the whole hop flowers).

I've just had a order from A Bushel of Hops arrive and although not opened them yet they look great, very green looking.I got a pack of Pilgrim complimentary having ordered Admiral and UK Cascade. I May borrow the your ESB grain bill but do a Admiral/Pilgrim/Cascade US IPA style hop schedule. Anyway happy brewing to all those doing the brew along, I'm brewing but not doing the Jims ESB unfortunately. I'm getting behind on my brew schedule and have the next few beers planned out

[Hanglow]

I'm boiling away...

Progress is a bit twiggy. smell nice though

These are called "hops", you might be familiar with them

Boiling away

[Piscator]

I've got all my gear together and grain weighed out ready for brewing tomorrow - am using Goldings in place of Challenger, other than that recipe will be to spec.
Alkalinity testing this afternoon and water treatment calcs to do afterwards - will update this post as I brew in the morning.

Happy brewing

Here's the obligatory grainshot... forgot to bring the Goldings up from the shed I'll get them while the mash is on.


Mash on............

Smelling great already

Okay so here's some more pic's.....

First wort running off


Hops in and coming up to the boil


Rolling, rolling, rolling - keept that wort a rolling... I thought it was going to jump out at one point!


Another 40g of Progress "flame out" hops in at 80C (I used up my Goldings for bittering instead of Challenger)... currently steeping while fermenter is sanitising.


This looks and smells great!

All done now bar cleaning up - 27 ltrs in the fermenting fridge pitched with SO4.

[JamesF]

I have the boil going now (about half an hour in). Definitely looks to be a paler brew, but we'll see at the end of the boil. I've also been taking photos, but I need to sort out uploading them and so on. I'll get that done later.

James

[guypettigrew]

It's all over now! The brewday is finished, so here's the last few photos.

The wort ran clear from the boiler almost immediately, so my worries about the murky run off from the mash tun earlier today proved to be groundless.

The wort's in the fermenter at a slightly high 21.2C. From experience, though, I know it will drop a couple of degrees in the next few hours then it will be kept at between 19C and 20.5C by the temperature control system.

Final outcome was 5.5 gallons at an SG of 1.050/51. Brix of 12.4/12.5. Difficult to see very accurately on my refractometer. Yeast is Mangrove Jack's M07 British ale yeast collected a week ago (17/10/2015) from my last brew. As it's not in dried form and it's only a week since collection the fermentation should start fairly quickly.

Just have to wait a while until the beer is ready to drink. Ho hum.

What a great day. Free beer to the man who came up with the idea!

Guy

Running off from the boiler.

Lovely clear wort from the boiler.

The very end!!

Here's one I made earlier!

[Hanglow]

Done

I certainly bought the wrong mesh for my hop filter, had to jug out the last 15l. Here's the nice clean wort before it stopped and taunted me


1.049 FG, 25l collected

[bquiggerz]

Just finished insulating my kettle for brew in a bag. Will be getting the brew on with the help of my amazing girl later tonight.

[JamesF]

I've just about finished for the day bar posting the photos, leaving the wort to cool overnight. Also need to get some bottles in to clean for a bottling session tomorrow.

James

[simmyb]

All looking good guys!!

All set for my brewday tomorrow. Going for the 'straight' recipe I did in December which was a cracking drop. Looking forward to it!

Simon

[Jim]

Great to read through all the posts on here.

Looking forward to even more tomorrow!

[bquiggerz]

The mash is now on! Thanks to Claire helping me out. Will be putting on an elderberry wine kit in the meantime which is Claires first brew of her own!

Mash on and all zipped up.

Start of the mash in.

Grain bill.

[Piscator]

Looking good Ben - love the mash tun insulation!

[bquiggerz]

Nothing like bubble foil with a winter jacket over the top, does its job really well. Can not get this to run clear at all though .

On too the boil now.

[JamesF]

Right, photos of mine so far...

Mashed in, with little room to spare



And all tucked up nice and warm:



Sparging. Not much room under the sparge arm:



And the run-off. At this stage I thought it was looking relatively pale.



Just up to boiling:



And left to its own devices, showing my condensation trap. I get perhaps a pint and a half collecting in the bucket during a ninety-minute boil. The foil over the top of the sight gauge is to prevent the ingress of "unrequired protein" when the boiler is not in use.



Finally, the excess after filling the cooling tank. I keep a bit separate at this stage so it's easier for me to manhandle when putting into the fermenter after cooling. It avoids messy slopping over the sides, basically. Considerably darker than pre-boil. The half-pint glass contains the remains of the gravity sample from last weeks' Hobgoblin brew. No-one's going to admit to throwing away their gravity samples, surely? In this case, the beer has reached the desired final gravity, so I shall be dealing with that tomorrow.



James

[jaroporter]

Red Five, standing by..