Home Brew Forum

I promised my father in law a few months back i would make him a beer along the lines of OSH for his allotments yearly barbecue ! The time is quickly approaching (probably a bit late if im honest) but thought id better crack on with it.

Very basic recipe.
4.3kg maris otter
660g dark crystal
430g golden syrup @ 15 mins

30g northern brewer @ 60 mins
17g/13g EKG @ 15/5 mins

Ferment at 18 degrees with rehydrated nottingham yeast

I have been have issues with a strange aftertaste in my beers and im trying to narrow it down, This brew i am using bottled asda water. Next brew i will be delving into a bit of water chemistry.

Put the water on to heat before taking the kids in to school and mashed in straight away when i got home, hoping to have this done and dusted and be all cleaned up by the time schools out




Ive done some basic insulating of the boiler since my last brew as i found the induction struggled getting a really strong boil going, Im hoping this improved the situation as i like the simplicity of the induction hob

Secla wrote:I promised my father in law a few months back i would make him a beer along the lines of OSH for his allotments yearly barbecue ! The time is quickly approaching (probably a bit late if im honest) but thought id better crack on with it.

Very basic recipe.
4.3kg maris otter
660g dark crystal
430g golden syrup @ 15 mins

30g northern brewer @ 60 mins
17g/13g EKG @ 15/5 mins

Ferment at 18 degrees with rehydrated nottingham yeast

I have been have issues with a strange aftertaste in my beers and im trying to narrow it down, This brew i am using bottled asda water. Next brew i will be delving into a bit of water chemistry.

Put the water on to heat before taking the kids in to school and mashed in straight away when i got home, hoping to have this done and dusted and be all cleaned up by the time schools out




Ive done some basic insulating of the boiler since my last brew as i found the induction struggled getting a really strong boil going, Im hoping this improved the situation as i like the simplicity of the induction hob

Is that a SS Brew Tech pot? Let us know if you manage to get a better boil with the insulation as i find my induction hob struggles to get a decent boil.

yup 15gal ssbrewtech

I think the insulation made an improvement, But i still wouldnt say its a strong boil, ive seen a few people with the same setup say it works fine though
I think the 10gal would be a better option on this hob to be honest, i`l post up a video of the boil later see what others opinion on it is

Still unsure why my plate chiller isnt as effective as it should be, cold water on full flow wort trickling through and is still comes out 40 degrees.
Ive tryed adjusting flow rates of both water and wort but 40 degrees seems the best i can get

I remember you mentioning this brew was coming up. It's too bad I'm across the ocean as it would be interesting to try both of our versions side by side. Strange about your plate chiller's efficiency being so low. I'd have a talk with the supplier.

It was from brewbuilder here in the uk and it claims it can chill 21 litres to pitching temp 7-12 minutes but I cant get it to chill to pitching temp even at a dribble.

I may contact him and see if I'm doing something wrong.

Right so after the nightmare chilling again it has to sit in the brew fridge for about 4 hours before o could pitch yeast
Hopefully this won't have a negative effect and I don't get an infection etc.

Secla wrote:Still unsure why my plate chiller isnt as effective as it should be, cold water on full flow wort trickling through and is still comes out 40 degrees.
Ive tryed adjusting flow rates of both water and wort but 40 degrees seems the best i can get

Just checking, you do have the cooling water and the wort flowing in opposite directions through the chiller? I have one of HomeBrewBuilder 's plate chillers and it seems to do the job pretty quick, 60 litres in about 20 to 25 min, although I recirculate through the chiller rather than trying to cool in a single pass through the chiller.

I did intially think that i may not have, but on this brew i made sure I did
I recirculated last time but id rather avoid it. Seems odd as even if i turn the water down slower its not really coming back out warm if i have it going full power it comes out just as cold as it went in ! which seems to suggest its not cooling optimally

Secla wrote:Seems odd as even if i turn the water down slower its not really coming back out warm if i have it going full power it comes out just as cold as it went in ! which seems to suggest its not cooling optimally

Something's not right - mine comes out really hot early on in the cooling - even with the cold tap on full. Later as the difference between the wort and the cooling water reduces I usually slow the flow down a bit - but like I said that's recirculating so that wouldn't apply to you

I only have limited experience with plate heat exchanges in brewing, but that sounds as if it may be partially blocked. Have you tried to backflush it ?

Do it outside, so you dont have an event in the house, take it out of circuit, connect the the cooling water supply to the wort out line and slowly put the flow on, if its clogged/blocked/got debris in it, then this may remove it for you. Possibly this could also be the source of your aftertaste ?

I always flush and back flush after use

No offence meant, sorry

When you backflush it, do you get a good flow rate out of it, sufficient to suggest its not blocked, and little or no debris comes out either

The only other thing I can think of is that either the cooling water or the wort are not going through the plates, like a short circuit. I know that not too helpful ,because there isnt a way to check as these are sealed units arent they ?

Yup there sealed, no evidence to suggest it's blocked

Contacted brewbuilder and he said to recirculate it as he wouldn't expect to get to pitching temp in one pass ! Kind of assumed a plate chiller should

I have the same plate chiller and its pretty decent. I have tried recirculating as well as straight pass but settled for the former. I also started putting ice packs on it which helped a lot. I'm needing it in an ice bowl should also improve things?