AG#1 at last... Otterly Befuggled

[adm]

Any UK Sparkey online on Jim's that we know of? What do I have to get/do/pay for to be able to run two elements on my boiler?

Oh, and there was a constant wave motion on the brew for the entire 70 mins

Hmmm.....SparkyPaul should be along any time now.......

Congrats ont he first brew!

I've never had any problems using 2 boiler elements on a single ring main - I suppose you need to make sure that it's a 30A circuit and you aren't drawing too much current with any other devices plugged in on that ring.

To answer Whorst, I think it's becuase we have 240V AC here, so you can run decent sized electric elements (i.e. 2 x 2.4Kw) without it being an issue. Also, you guys have easier, lower cost access to nice shiny stuff!

For my planned brewery upgrade, I'm sticking with electric (and a plastic bucket) for the HLT for convenience and the ability to be able to easily control it with a PID and SSR (plus the elegance of being able to set it on a timer so it's at strike temp when you get up!). The mash recirculation heater for my RIMS will also be electric for the same reasons (stainless mash tun) , but my boil kettle will be propane fired because I just scored a cheap 12KW propane burner from eBay. On the upside, it should be great for a real nice rollling boil. On the downside, I'm going to have to keep an eye on the propane levels....and keep all the windows open as I want to use it inside a well ventilated garage.

[wetdog]

I brew my beer in the kitchen, I have one element on my boiler plugged into a kitchen socket and the other plugged into a socket in the front room via an extention cable. everything else in the house it turned off eg pc, TV, radios, cooker. obviously freezer and fridge left on. This seems to work fine and the only time the electric tripped out was when I turned on the kettle during a boil.

[coatesg]

I'd be careful with 2 elements off one ring (especially if your wiring is old/underrated), and be careful with extension leads - if they are long or underrated (or worse - coiled!) you could land up with a fair amount of heat being dumped into the cable. I run 2 elements - one off the oven circuit (switch with socket) and one off the main ring. If I get the kitchen re-done, then I'd split the kitchen ring as a separate one to the rest of the house too. Though having said that, I'd be fairly tempted to go for propane so I could brew outside/under the garage door.

[sllimeel]

Well done on your first AG and nice to see a fellow local brewer Now the wait for that first tasting

[PMH0810]

Finest, foamy krausen I've ever seen - looking forwards to this one (obviously!). Already planning AG#2 based on comments on this thread.

[PMH0810]

7 days later and, after two days at 1.012 have fined today; lots of bits of "semolina" floating through the brew (which smells GREAT) - is this normal? Will fining clear it? Will it settle out/harm once kegged?

[PMH0810]

Very, very pleased. Tried it green Saturday (alright really green and still cloudy). Toffee aroma and clean light taste. A little on the sweet side but nothing insurmountable.

If it turn's out as well as it promises I'll knock it up again in the future, but 5kg MO and 0.750kg Crystal.

I wish I could remember the name of the Badger ale it reminds me of.

[SiHoltye]

Pickled Partridge?

[PMH0810]

Actually, rings a bell - thank you!

[PMH0810]

Okay - job done.

Clear as a bell, longlasting head. Sweet toffee taste with an aftertaste of banana(?) and incredibly drinkable. SWMBO said "tastes like it's come out of a swan's neck at our local". Soooooo much better than kits.

About 30 pints in the keg might last til Xmas.

Because I live in a fixer-upper, have two kids 2 and under and a bored and unemployed SWMBO I have just moved from "A kit brewer with delusions of grandure" to "An AG brewer with a need to slum it" (massive drinking capacity with limited time means kits will still appear on the menu).

[Flaming Barrel]

Well done PMH, Congrats on 1st AG(Its all down hill from here!), whys it called otterly befuggled? Fuggles hops +....?

[adm]

Well done PMH, Congrats on 1st AG(Its all down hill from here!), whys it called otterly befuggled? Fuggles hops +....?

Otters, of course.

Badgers, Otters, Mink, Foxes, Ferrets, Stoats - any type of easily fermentable animal.....get a good enough grind through the mill and they all make lovely beer.

[edit1now]

aceuass - I thought most US households would have one 220V socket for the washer/drier in the utility room or the back of the garage?

[PMH0810]

Well done PMH, Congrats on 1st AG(Its all down hill from here!), whys it called otterly befuggled? Fuggles hops +....?

5kg Maris Otter, 1kg Crystal (will be 750g next time) and 100g Fuggles (50/25/25). Batch sparged and loved the process!

[Northern Brewer]

I note in your original recipe you referred to 113g Fuggles, which makes me suspect that you mean a packet of Morris Hanbury gold vacuum packed Fuggles. If so, then you may wish to check the weight next time around, because these packets usually contain nearer to 150g of hops.

If you don't have detailed scales then you can draw comparisons on your kitchen scales using £1 coins as a benchmark. 12 x weigh 114g, and 16 x weigh 152g (9.5g apiece).