First brew with my new equipment

[Reaper]

Hi
I use John Bull malt extract in most of my brews and ive never had a problem

regards Paul

[Andy]

DaaB - got a link to an equivalent Screwfix one, they seem to have lots!

http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/sea/sea ... =1&x=0&y=0

Is yours for the whole house or just a point of use one ?

[James]

Most of the 'point of use' water filters are pretty much all the same>>

http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro ... 6&ts=82897

just a plastic tube crammed full of activated carbon and perhaps a little resin of some kind. I dont think they use particulate filters, but that is not really neccasary for brewing anyway. I would imagine that there are only a few places worldwide making these; they just get re/badged re branded accordingly.

It is VITAL with a carbon filter that the recomended replacement schedule is adhered to, otherwise you are throwing money away. Once carbon is saturated, it will leech contaminans back into the water (at a higher rate I belive) than they were removed - i.e. if you run say chlorinated water through a saturated filter at say, 5 PPM, you might get 7PPM or more out...

I would buy a 1-2 years worth of filters, mark them all up with dates 6 months apart. This makes replacement easy.

I dont know what the through-put of these P-O-U filters are, it might be a PITA if it takes 60 min to fill 5 gall. (perhaps 7 gall if all-graining) Anyone used one?

JC

[BlightyBrewer]

QUOTE (Reaper @ Mar 3 2006, 09:24 AM) Hi
I use John Bull malt extract in most of my brews and ive never had a problem

regards Paul
Yeah, I didn't think it could possibly be the John Bull.

It's really getting on my chebs though...every brew so far! I can only think that it must be to do with my sanitation, possibly since I use a secondary fermenter which must increase the chances of getting an infection.

I'm not giving up though! If it happens with my AG brew, then I'll know it has to be a sanitation issue or my water.

[James]

BB,

First thing i'd say is that beer is very young, it's not even carbonated or anything yet; ive never tasted a 'nice' beer that is 1-2 weeks old, they all taste like malt with added vodka! I dont even touch my beers until they are a month old. IMO, tasting 'young' beer kinda sets you off on the wrong foot..your just hoping that when mature it doesnt taste as bad as when it was 1.5 weeks old! (make sense?)

I also notice from the 1st picture that you have a big, double handled fermenter, I think they hold about 6-7 gall or so. Is this what you use for secondary?

JC

[BlightyBrewer]

Thanks all, some good advice here.

James, Yeah, I did use this for the secondary because it has a tap so is easier to transfer to the keg. It is about 6.5 gal total I think. I also have a 6 gal glass carboy that I sometimes use as a secondary....why do you ask?

[johnmac]

I wouldn't dream of using unfiltered water! You also need to make sure the water is taken from as near to the mains as possible. I tried brewing with water from upstairs and the beer had a horrible metallic taste, due to its long jouney through the copper pipes.

[James]

QUOTE (BlightyBrewer @ Mar 3 2006, 05:26 PM)It is about 6.5 gal total I think. I also have a 6 gal glass carboy that I sometimes use as a secondary....why do you ask?
I used those big fermentors for a long time as secondary and had a similar problem. I dropped the big secondary and it all went away...

Because they are so big, they have a large headspace. You may be getting very little fermentation (and hence C02) in the secondary, perhaps not enough to push out any air (and hence nasties) present for a good few hours, giveing them (and O2) a change to mess up your brew

Come next brew day, i’d skip the secondary and just leave it in the primary FV for 10 days and then just bottle/keg straight from there...process of elimination.

I’s say it is young though, and this is part of the problem too…

[BlightyBrewer]

You make a good point there James. Every single brew I have made has suffered this problem, apart from my very first (a kit brew). And it so happens that I did not use a secondary for this first brew, but did use a secondary for every other one. Also, this time round I noticed that this "off flavour" only emerged after I racked the beer from secondary to the keg, but tasted fine out of the primary...I think you may have cracked it!

I shall try your suggestion with my next brew, thanks.

[bitter_dave]

Dammit! I've done the same - 30 ltr bin + huge head space for secondary.

Guess I'll have to see if all goes well. I was going to leave it in the secondary until the weekend (so that it got 2 weeks in secondary in total). Think I'll barrel it tonight, although I guess any harm has been done by now.

[BlightyBrewer]

Depends on how long it was left in the primary I suppose. If it was still fairly active when you transferred to secondary, it will probably be okay.

It's all part and parcel of the brewing adventure...the more you brew, the more you learn. :rolleyes:

[Road Runner]

DaaB, do you then force carbonate in the corny, or re-prime with spray malt or something to carbonate the beer? Or does after conditioning in a King Keg leave it with enough carbonation once transfered to the Corny?

I was thinking I'd leave for a week or so in primary fermentor, then transfer to a glass carboy to fall bright for a week or so. Then transfer to the Corny & force carbonate. That way, hopefully keeping only bright beer in the keg.

[BlightyBrewer]

QUOTE (Daft as a Brush @ Mar 6 2006, 08:32 PM) All though I dont use mine anymore i've never had a problem with that type of fermenter. Besides a King keg has a huge head space, and this hasnt given me any off flavors even when i've had beers that have lost carbonation or failed to carbonate.


Out of interest, when using a corni Ive been using a primary for 10 days, used a pressure barrel as a clearing vessel, then racked the bright beer to the corni after a week or two, then allowed it to mature. Seems to work well, the beer matures nicely,and stays clear in the corni.
So, is your money on the water or sanitation DAAB?

I would have thought that if it was the water, I would have noticed the off flavour from the primary, and I am sure that I am sanitising properly. I shall see if it is just a flavour that mellows out, but on previous brews it has not mellowed (in some cases it got worse!).

[Andy]

DaaB - how easy do you think it would be to hook up a POU filter to the end of a garden hose ? I brew up in the garage and fill up the HLT in situ using a hose from the house mains supply. Would be good to have a filter capable of plugging into the end of the hose via standard hozelok type fitting and then the filter outlet going to either a short run of piping or a tap type arrangement such that I can fill the HLT up....

Any ideas ?

Currently I just fill up the HLT the night before a brew and let it stand to drive off chlorine (which Southern Water use), I don't boil the water.

[Jim]

Andy, that's what I do. I've also been thinking about using a POU filter in the way you suggest, and I can't see any objections to it, as long as the connection to the tap is sound and leak free (because the back pressure from the filter is bound to test it!) and all joints before the filter are fixed properly (e.g. with jubilee clips).

What do you think, DAAB?