Home Brew Forum

It was such a lovely sunny day today I decided to brew Townes Sunshine,
Pale malt, Wheat malt and Bramling X

Getting the gear ready.



I usually mash for 3hr at 68c but as this is fairly low gravity I'm going for 67c



It's common knowledge that dog blankets have a very high R-value



Little tun at the limit batch sparging and first runnings. (Ok I'll clean them before the next brew)



Vigorous boil on both elements.



The hops go in and a nice rolling boil on one.



Cooling, Had probs with the hopback so doing without. (Mk IV in the planning stage)



I use an 'Aeration' vessel as the FV is too tall to fit under the cooler Pitching US-05



I set 21c until it's working then 18c



Nice bit of break material in a sample.

Great stuff. Really enjoyed the pics. Also looking forward to getting that same recipe book (it's in the post!)

Gr8 pics S...a fine brew indeed

DaaB (from Minibrew:
"The Affordable Conical by minibrew is designed for five gallon recipes. It holds a full 6.5 Gallons. The tank and stand is 32" tall and 12" wide. Included with the fermnenter is a 3/4 inch nickel plated bottom ball valve, stand, lid, air lock, and 1/2" nickel plated racking port valve. Also included is a 3/4 inch and 1/2 inch nipple for fastening the valves to the fermenter. The Model f6.5 fermenter does not have thermometer mounting thread."

I like these a lot.

Sounds like a cracking day, I wish I could see the photos but my employer blocks images from certain hosts . Ill have a proper look later when I get home.

Great pics Scoob and a great recipe, I'll definately be brewing this one again

DaaB wrote:Lovely clear pics Scooby, it was a cracking day yesterday, I see the extension is well under way, put on hold temporarily for the brew no doubt

How sturdy are the lids on those plastic conicals, are they comparable to a king keg lid for example ? (any any chance you might measure the overall height for me when you get a chance ? )

I'm waiting on the brickies all the blocks, bricks etc are here.

The lid is not rigid at all Daab, it's a floppy plastic cap that seals over a
ridge on the lip.



The size is as fivetide stated. But as you know it's designed for 5 US gal brews. 6.5 gal is 24.6l and that would fill it to within 1" - 1 1/2" inches from the top.

I thought it wise to point out that brewing to fill a cornie is fine, but you may not have many bottles to hive away

BTW the volume below the racking valve is 0.75l

subsub wrote:Great pics Scoob and a great recipe, I'll definately be brewing this one again

Thats good to hear, I've never tasted Sunshine before but like the brews that have Bramling x with other hops in them. I'm looking forward to tasting it

Looks like a good brew day, and a pro look to your set up

Why are conicals so appealing? I'm at the MiniBrew site lusting over £150 plastic buckets... (the 8 US gallon one is quite cool...)

fivetide wrote:Why are conicals so appealing? I'm at the MiniBrew site lusting over £150 plastic buckets... (the 8 US gallon one is quite cool...)

I know all the reasons we can't but I do wish we could get the gear for that price over here even the small stuff, a male and female 1/2" quick connect for $5

I presume you shipped yours from them for about $80 on top of the fermenter price?

An 8.5 USg jobby comes out at something like $289 + $120, it's a lot of cash.

looks like a good brewday Scoob,

and quality photos as usual, nice one

I've got this maturing in the cornie at the mo, it'll be getting cracked open in the next couple of weeks

fivetide wrote:I presume you shipped yours from them for about $80 on top of the fermenter price?

An 8.5 USg jobby comes out at something like $289 + $120, it's a lot of cash.

No I got mine from Beertech in Dec 06 fivetide, the exchange rate was not so favourable then and there was little difference from the £180 at beertech, in fact iirc it was more expensive.

According to the web site shipping is $93 and $198 for the FV it would be £147 now.

I know people say it's very expensive for 'plastic' but I consider it money well spent and I have been very pleased with mine, it is very high quality not at all like the plastic vessels we have over here.

The main downside for most is the fact that it isn't shiny

Not at all, I think it's a brilliant thing! I wish it were a gallon bigger, but other than than I'd love one.