Brew Day 03 June 2006

[Bigster]

Early start with everything in mash tun at 6:45. Maiden flight of the copper manifold - not expecting floaters this time

23L recipe

Crushed pale malt 3520gm
Flaked barley 450gm
Crushed Crystal malt 250gm
Irish Moss 5ml
Soft dark brown sugar 370gm
Fuggles 55gm
Goldings (28+14+7 gm)


So far so good - remembered to pre-heat mash tun this time and had boiler on timer - thanks for tips. Initial mash temp 67.4.

hopefully will be all done and dusted by 11 barring any disasters, if there are any will post pictures

[Andy]

Go Bigster Smurf, go!

Will be interesting to see how the new manifold performs B)

Will look out for your extensive photos

[Bigster]

Disaster

Stuck as stuck can be - hardly any run off.

Have transferred to brewbin - taken manifold apart a few times to clean and it is just plain stuck. Will try and put steel braid back together but not holding out much hope now. Will abandon if steel manifold doesnt work.

Cheers

[Jim]

Bummer, Bigster. Why don't you try batch sparging just to get this brew done?

[Bigster]

In the boiler - hoorah.

Managed to get half a batch with stainless then the effort to get the rest out drained me of any energy. :stun
Not sure what batch sparging is but remembered my trusty old straining bag for wine making and managed to get the rest of the batch through the bag and in to the mash tun.

Looks a bit murky but there you go.

Thank the lord I brew in the garage - what a mess

[Andy]

Nightmare bigster!

Sounds like you're back on track though

[Andy]

Yeah, my last brew was cloudy in the fermenter as I had to rouse the mash to unstick-it. This made the runoff very cloudy.

Now it's conditioning in the KingKeg some quality control samples have shown the brew to be crystal clear.

[Bigster]

1/2 hour in to the boil and all going well - confidence returned so much i am just waiting on the crane and helpers to arrive so i can get big bertha immersion chiller down from a high place in the garage

[BlightyBrewer]

QUOTE (Bigster @ Jun 3 2006, 08:41 AM)
Not sure what batch sparging is but remembered my trusty old straining bag for wine making and managed to get the rest of the batch through the bag and in to the mash tun.


Batch sparging couldn't be simpler. You just re-circulate and run off entire contents quickly (in your case you cold have transferred to another vessel as DaaB suggested), then add the 75C sparge water, stir gently, leave for 10-15 mins, re-circulate and run off again.

[BlightyBrewer]

QUOTE (andy @ Jun 3 2006, 09:08 AM)
Now it's conditioning in the KingKeg some quality control samples have shown the brew to be crystal clear.
andy, DaaB,

when you condition in your pressure barrels, do you just put the lid on and let any pressure build up (i.e. don't bother with an airlock) or do you purge with CO2 to protect the beer?

[TELEDU]

any pics ? :beer

[Andy]

BB - in the first couple of days I crack the lid open enough to vent air from the Keg. I do this 2 or 3 times only. The principle is that air will sit above the CO2 in the keg and so it's the air which gets vented leaving the beer-friendly CO2 behind. After those first two days I leave it be until the time comes to rack to cornie.

[Bigster]

all finished - only 2 hrs late :pink

will post pictures after enjoying rest of today

[Andy]

Well done Bigster. Have a homebrew

[BlightyBrewer]

Well done Bigster. I know what it is like to have a stressful brewday, but rest assured the beer will turn out great...beer is such a forgiving beverage!