Home Brew Forum

only my 3rd brewday well #2 really, i dont think i'm gonna count the 1st one as everything went so badly, call it a trial run anyway ....
after reading so much about briars best on here i thought i'd give it a go
well what can i say .... started heating hlt at 7am doughed in at 8 after messing around with temperatures etc (think i need a digital probe thermometer or something .... sugestions???)
1st runnings at half 9 ( no problems or stuck mashes )boiler on.
did the 2 pints in a saucepan to get toffee/ caramel taste .... didnt go to a syrup though even after 20 mins severe boiling anyone else had that problem???
boiler off & immersion cooler on about 12, took 35 mins to get to pitching. Now the bit i was dreading hop filter got clogged last time even after cutting more slits in so again after checking on here and some advice from Parva i went to town with a 2mm drill bit .
Drilled lots on bottom but only about 20 on top .... all i can say is a bit thankyou to Parva for their advice worked a treat, boiler empty in under 5mins and no rubbish in runnings (trub??)
Anyway all washed up and put away by 12:45.
to say i'm a happy bunny is an understatement thankyou everyone for making this site what it is, without it i wouldn't be brewing beer at all .....THANKYOU !!!!!

You'll find that the more brews you do the faster you get. My first few I spent a lot of time getting my water additions right but I know my equipment so well now that I completely guesstimate both the mash and sparge volumes and invariably end up finishing up with exactly the right quantity. Congrats on a successful brew.