Summer Brew 15th April

[PieOPah]

Well the recipe has been finalized

4.5 kg Maris Otter
0.25 kg British Crystal 55°L
15 g Challenger (5.6%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
15 g Challenger (5.6%) - added during boil, boiled 45 min
10 g Willamette (4.0%) - added during boil, boiled 30 min
10 g Willamette (4.0%) - added during boil, boiled 15 min
0.5 tsp AYF Yeast Nutrient - added during boil, boiled 15 min
1 tsp Irish Moss - added during boil, boiled 15 min
10 g Willamette (4.0%) - added during boil, boiled 2 min
1 ea Muntons Muntons Premium Gold
820 g Cherries (frozen) - added dry to secondary fermenter

This brew will be my first attempt at Fly Sparging so I am looking forward to the process.

Hopefully my day will be a lot smoother than normal tomorrow.
I have the mash water ready and the timer on. Should be nicely at temp by 7am when I will be up and ready.
The grain is all weighed out so I just need to mix the mash and it'll be underway.

I am planning on using a Grain Bag for my hops to see whether or not this makes any difference to some of the problems I have had post boil.

The aim is to have a nice easy day tomorrow and spend the rest of it with the family. If this works then it means that future brews will be accepted with more ease as I won't be taking over the kitchen for the whole day

Looking forward to this one

[AT]

Good luck tomorrow mate

[splitter]

Good luck PoP!
Really like the look of that recipe.
Keep us posted.

[DRB]

Just watch that sparger spin .

[PieOPah]

Just watch that sparger spin .

Haven't got a spiny sparger. I have made my own 'contraption'.

Took the lid of a fermenter and an old funnel. Drilled holes in the lid and glued on the funnel. Similar to a watering can rose. I have also cut a windo into the lid so I can see the water level.

I should hopefull get to take some pictures so you can see my 'newish' setup.

[DRB]

Just watch that sparger sprinkle .
Sounds interesting.

[prolix]

good luck pop

[iowalad]

The recipe database is coming along nicely.
Best of Luck.

[SteveD]

Have a good one, PoP

[PieOPah]

Well, the first small problem. My home made funnel sparger broke The glue I used was too brittle and the surfaces not porous enough. After cutting an extra 'window' into the lid, the funnel just snapped off.

Anyway, I have improvised and cobbled together a 'bottle sparger'. This is basically a small lemonade bottle that I have drilled holes in. With a length of bamboo through the top for support, this should do the trick.

Will see in about 40 minutes

[PieOPah]

Well the bottle isn't working quite how I imagined, but still. sparging is underway.

Now idea how effective it is being

Still can't manage to get a decent clear runnings but still less grain and bits in the wort than usual!

Pics being taken so will post everything later on.

[PieOPah]

I have finished collecting my wort. 25 litres in the boiler with a gravity of 1.044

About 4.5 litres of spare wort with a much lower gravity (about 1.016)

Having collected almost 30 litres of wort I stopped sparging. No reason to collect any more at this point.

So, while the boil is underway time to start cleaning my MT!

[PieOPah]

Wan't looking for crystal clear runnings, just not so much grain in them. Did eventually clear so already much better than when I do my batch sparging.

The efficiency will tell me whether this is a more beneficial method (for me).

Going to be time v efficiency.

If fly sparging is the way forward then I will invest in a sparge arm as this can only improve on my excuse for a sparge system

[Seveneer]

I agree that you don't need clear runnings but they are achieveable.

My recirculated wort is clear within about 5 mnutes of turning on the pump. That equates to about a gallon of wort being recirculated.

I don't think it's really that feasible to recirculate that amount by hand. So, unless you use a RIMS/HERMS system I wouldn't be too worried about getting clear runnings.

/Phil.

[PieOPah]

Not quite sure why but despite about 3 litres of wort having evaporated so far, the brix reading doesn't appear to have changed. Still getting 11 (about 1.044 gravity)