Vossy1 1st AG brew

[Vossy1]

Firstly a big thankyou to all the forum members who have helped me to date, especially to on-call DaaB and Andy B)

My 1st AG brew went very well, a few mistakes, which are bound to be repeated

I started by pre-heating my mash tun. I've got to say at this point that I wasn't happy with the tightness of the modified tap, so this morning I went back to the plumbers merchant and got some new fittings.
I'm glad I pre heated, as the tun sprang a leak...phew. I drained it down re-tightened and re pre-heated....no probs this time.

I weighed the grist whilst the tun was warming. Again here I was caught out by the volume of the light fluffy grain and had to get a bigger bucket to mix it in.



1st mistake, for some reason I had it fixed in my head that I should make the stike temp 75 deg c. I doughed in and the temp wouldn't come down. I quickly aded more cold water and got the temp right and left the mash to get on with itself.
I now had too much water in the tun, so sparging would be restricted to less volume
I put a thermometer on the bottom of the tun and the glass one at the top of the liquor. Luckily the glass thermometer fitted exactly inteo the pre drilled hole for the spinny sparger B)



Next I started the sparging, great fun



Wort being collected....rewarding
One of the elements was turned on as soon as it was covered.



Now to boil. I had to use both elements to get to the rolling boil as soon as possible, using 2 different circuits to prevent fuses blowing



Once near the boil I added the hops



Part 2 to follow

[eskimobob]

Nice work Vossy and great pictures B)

I notice you dropping the wort into the boiler - I thought by doing that, Hot Side Oxidation was a potential problem?

[Andy]

EB - I noticed that too. Not sure if HSA is one of those myths or not! I transfer my post-sparge wort into the boiler in batches as it's collected and it certainly gets lots of aeration as I pour it into the boiler Not noticed any bad effects in the finished product..... I do have a pump which I bought for the purpose of pumping wort from sparge collection bucket to boiler so perhaps I'll use that next time and see if I can determine any difference

[bitter_dave]

QUOTE (eskimobob @ Aug 30 2006, 08:56 AM)I notice you dropping the wort into the boiler - I thought by doing that, Hot Side Oxidation was a potential problem?
... I have heard this too.. but on the other hand I note Jim does this when he brews and I guess he would have experienced off flavours in his beers over his many years of brewing, and I gather he has had consistent results.

Vossy... I would say don't worry about this, but if you want to be cautious with your next beer attach some tubing from your mt to your boiler. I didn't bother last time as I was using my sole bit of tubing for sparging.

Interested to hear what others think about this.

[PieOPah]

I'm going to be trying a Fly Sparge in the near future. My main problem though is getting all my equipment on 3 levels.

I was thinking of trying to build some sort of collapsable frame that would easily fit in the shed. Rill looking into this. Until I am able to do this though, it is batch sparging for me

[BlightyBrewer]

Nice work Vossy. Just one question, why do you have a pre-drilled hole in the mash tun lid for the spinny sparger, when you show sparging with the lid off?

PoP, I have the same problems as you regarding three tier set-up...my problem is I don't have any chairs or other objects of the correct height to allow me to set the equipment up properly. :rolleyes:

[PieOPah]

I have tables and chairs, just worried (maily with the table) about being able to support the weight.

Thinking about it, I do have a plastic garden table in the shed that should be able to...

Might need to buy a new Fermenter and cheap kettle to make another boiler. Shouldn't be a problem though!

[eskimobob]

I have the same problem PoP. I'm thinking of building one of these http://www.brewingonline.shoppingcartsp ... C00087.jpg - but mine will have effectively shelves to hold the HLT, Mash Tun and Boiler instead of them being bolted on...

[mysterio]

I use an old filing cabinet and a tumble dryer as my 3 tiers

[BlightyBrewer]

QUOTE (eskimobob @ Aug 30 2006, 02:57 PM) I have the same problem PoP. I'm thinking of building one of these http://www.brewingonline.shoppingcartsp ... C00087.jpg - but mine will have effectively shelves to hold the HLT, Mash Tun and Boiler instead of them being bolted on...
Blimey, you'd have to be eight feet tall to operate that set-up!

[Vossy1]

Hi BB, until I get used to the flow rate I didn't want to mess about too much, that's why I didn't leave the lid on for sparging

PS, I didn't use the chair all the time as I found an upturned bucket just as effective

[BlightyBrewer]

If you go to the more beer website, you can find a filing cabinet and washing machine three tier system retailing for $1500!

Hey Mysterio, you are just like Graham Obree!

[Horden Hillbilly]

Regarding dropping wort from the mash tun to the boiler, I have always fitted tubing from the mash tun tap which reaches the bottom of the boiler just to be on the safe side, if my memory is correct in Graham Wheelers book "Home Brewing" it is stated that oxidisation only occurs at lower temperatures and recommends that it is done at lower temperatures for that reason, although I may be made to be stand corrected on this one, I honestly don't know if oxidisation occurs at higher temperatures, hence the tubing just in case.

[Vossy1]

Cheers HH, I had totally missed the oxidation issue, sorry BD

The picture shows the wort dropping straight into the boiler, however prior to taking the photo I had a book wedged under the boiler and the liquid was running down the side of the bucket without aerating.

When trying to take the photo I kicked the bucket, literally, out by accident

It was replaced later, after I took the pic.

You can just see the book in the bottom left corner of the pic

[eskimobob]

QUOTE if my memory is correct in Graham Wheelers book "Home Brewing" it is stated that oxidisation only occurs at lower temperatures and recommends that it is done at lower temperatures for that reason

I was browsing Graham's book last night as it happens and I'm sure I read something about aerating along the lines of: "aerating is best done once the wort is at fermentation temperature since O2 dissolves into solution more readily at lower temperatures".

I couldn't seem to find anything specifically talking about being carefull NOT to aerate when hot.