Home Brew Forum

So Brewday number 3 finally arrives. This is going to be a relatively easy recipe, for a quick quaffable everyday ale. SWMBO has set up the timer switch to get the boiler going with the Eco7 electric, so all boiled and ready for 8 o'clock start.
Grains weighed, 3.6kg MO, 100g chocolate wheat grain.
Into the MT @ 75°C (ST=68°C) for 90min in 9.3L. Re-circulate with approx. 15L and drain into FV. Re-fill with remainder of water to top of MT, leave 30mins, and re-circulate ~ 20L.

First wort into boiler and simmer away, then pour in rest of wort, and turn upto boil.
Glorious day, so out to garden for a few photos.
Come back in and no sounds coming from boiler. lights are on but nobody is home. DISASTER has struck . Boiler appears to have given up the ghost. Time to call on Fuse, my beer mentor. He suggests that other forum members have had similar problem with Brupak boiler, and may be a blown fuse for the element. His boiler is luckily free today, so off to pick it up. Transfer almost 30L of hot wort from one boiler to the next, then off we go again. Settings on new boiler seem to be slightly different, but boiling pretty soon. In go 45g of Bobek hops for 90min. With 10mins remaining, in go another 35g of Bobek along with the chiller. Then, at flame out, another 25g of Bobek go in to steep for 30min. Chiller on for 45 min, then run off into sterile FV. DISASTER . Only recover 3 gallons! Evaporation from replacement boiler appears to have reduced my final volume. Back onto the blower, and Fuse reckons top it up with water. So, now, eventually, I have 20L in the FV with a sachet of Nottigham for company. PHEW!!! OG reading at 1.050, expected 1.042 (but couldn't cool to below 25°C due to weather!).
Anyway, you may have noticed the theme to my brew naming, yes...
... birds .
SWMBO helped with this one, as I only had the Chough ale name first of all, she added the Great Tit bit .
Needed to rouse AG#1 as FG reading stopped at 1.020 since Wednesday. Will leave for another few days and try again.
Clearly this beer making lark is not as simple as it sounds
A few pics later.
Gothamite.

Gothamite wrote:DISASTER has struck . Boiler appears to have given up the ghost. Time to call on Fuse, my beer mentor. He suggests that other forum members have had similar problem with Brupak boiler, and may be a blown fuse for the element.

Yup - I had exactly that on a previous brew stopped working, no explanation, started again next time (nowt wrong with fuse - though thermostats do go)

I botched a tea strainer over hole of burco HLT and used that but had to scrape it with thermometer as got blocked by hops and SWMBO less happy about tea-strainer-less house now.

Still - that's less bad than an element falling out after boil starts!:
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=26600#p290526

Am sure someone else will trump this with another 'my disaster was worse than yours' - however that dunkel weissen is one of the best beers I've made wonder if this will do the same, and of course be impossible to replicate!

I've also learned:

1 - check the water is off when adding chiller for last 15 minutes or it will be a MUCH longer boil and weird first-wort-steeping style late-hopping

2 - Check the hose is attached to the chiller well and isn't going to come off and put hose water into your cooiling beer

3 - Don't run too many pluags through an extension lead:



4 - Tell our neighbours if there back door is open a few yards from open kettle in back yard

5 - Sterilise a temperature probe properly - don't keep reusing it and wondering why brews are infected.

And a few other thngs.
EQUATION FOR EXPERIENCE:
Experience = SUM(your errors) - (the things you forgot + recognising the same mistake when you've just made it again)

Good luck!

Thanks for that LancsSteve,
As you mentioned, it wasn't really a massive disaster, unlike your beer-over-the-floor episode. I think that would have sent me into sheer panic!!
I'll give the boiler another go today and see if it works again, however, a bit wary for future brews
Gothamite

That's your back garden!?

That is a seriously well matured bird haven

You should have plenty of inspiration for future brews!

Gothamite wrote:it wasn't really a massive disaster, unlike your beer-over-the-floor episode. I think that would have sent me into sheer panic!!

Floors can be cleaned, beer flowing over a live kettle lead socket...

Thanks Beffugled,we certainly see plenty of our feathered friends visiting the garden, and have a 'Quarrel of House Sparrows' lodging in a hedge against the house wall. SWMBO happy that the spent grain can be fed to the chickens we have too Being a Gothamite, one of my brews will have to relate to a Cuckoo Love your avatar btw.

Okay lancsSteve, tested the boiler with 5L of water, and yes, as you predicted, it works fine When your Brupak did this, did it ever happen again, or was it a one-off? Can't always rely on replacement boiler, so would like to know what to expect.
Cheers,
Gothamite

it's happened twice with no rhyme or reason. I also use one as my mash un and have a burco as HLT so have never had a total disaster but why they conk out is beyond me... Best to have a back up!

Thanks lancsSteve, I'll contact Leyland and see what they have to say, hopefully they'll offer me a replacement as it's so new.
Cheers,
Gothamite

lancsSteve wrote:it's happened twice with no rhyme or reason. I also use one as my mash un and have a burco as HLT so have never had a total disaster but why they conk out is beyond me... Best to have a back up!

This started happening to my ancient Electrim Bin a year or so ago. A strip down and clean of the electrical components and connections solved the problem. There was had been contamination due to spillage and one connection showed signs of arcing. I can't remember precisely what I did except it was easy, obvious and took about 20 minutes.

Okay,
Latest update. Leyland have passed my e-mail onto Brupak's, who have requested I box it up so they can collect the boiler to check it over and repair it for me. All in the space of a couple of days I think is pretty good service.
This clearly means my weekend brewday is off the menu, however, this may give me the chance to get AG#1 bottled
Having roused the S-04 on Sunday, as it seemed to have got stuck at 1.020, I'm hoping it will get down closer to the 1.014 that I'm expecting.
Gothamite