Stu’s edited Questions thread #3 alternative grain basket for Maischfest (or similar)

Hi all,
I’m still have lots of questions and I hate keep opening a new thread every time. It seems needy.
So I’ll add to this one. The original question may no longer be relevant, so hop to the end of the thread.

Question #3. Grain Baskets

Has anyone found a suitable grain basket that would work with a Klarstein Maischfest, or indeed a suitable alternative for any all-in-one type thing?
The grain basket that comes with the Klarstein as we know, is pretty rubbish. It only has holes in the bottom and doesn't allow flow to get round very easily. When I look at other grain baskets, they're meshed top to bottom which allows for good even mashing and sparging.

In addition, if you had bigger feet, it would not only allow more room at the bottom, but you could fit a bazooka filter too!

Ideas?


Question #2. Wyeast 1388 (Now Answered)

I've had an absolute nightmare with this Duvel clone. I thought it might be a fun idea. It's not.
After all the fun and games I had yesterday with burnt on crushed malt and trying to get it down to temperature (I did!) I followed the instructions on the "Smack pack". I had a feeling it might not do much,because the yeast didn't put much extra gas in the pack.

Pitched it last night at around 20c (Says 64-80c and it's advised you start low and raise it over several days)
Came home this evening to check on it. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. The wort is flat as a fart.

Any ideas?


Question #1 (now answered)
I have an inkbird. I notice that its operating temperature is up to 120c. I also have a 10L urn.
Is the any reason why I can’t use the inkbird to control the urn so that my sparge water is bang on the right temperature, rather than having to manually monitor the urn with an oven thermometer? Can you put the end of the metal sensor in water?

Also, what’s the difference between a beer faucet from one of the online shops vs the ones on Amazon? Amazon has an amazing range. I intend to mount it in my fridge. What should I be looking for?
Any reason why something like this would be rubbish?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0D5HMKF9Y/

I don't have an inkbird so can't comment about the probe in water, but fitting a thermowell to an urn is a cheap and easy solution.

Thread 'Thermowell for inkbird probe' https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/thermowell-for-inkbird-probe.102102/

Stu said:

Is the any reason why I can’t use the inkbird to control the urn so that my sparge water is bang on the right temperature,

Click to expand...

No.

Stu said:

... so that my sparge water is bang on the right temperature ...

Click to expand...

1: That's not a realistic expectation! The commonly used Inkbirds don't work in a "bang-on" fashion, but they'll be close enough (they might cause a minor initial "over-shoot" of selected temperature, but the temperature will settle down quick enough). So: "No", like @MashBag said. (I use an Inkbird to heat sparge water but use the panel-mount "PID" controller that will attempt to avoid overshoot - and they cost a little more!).

2: The faucets are the same as you might pick up from your local HB shop, so "no" again. In fact, the one you link isn't from Amazon ... it's one of their "Marketplace" sellers called "Jiemaitte" (they are a UK shopfront for a Chinese outfit). Watch out for them, delivery times may not be as good as you might expect from Amazon.

Sadfield said:

I don't have an inkbird so can't comment about the probe in water, but fitting a thermowell to an urn is a cheap and easy solution.

Thread 'Thermowell for inkbird probe' https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/thermowell-for-inkbird-probe.102102/

Click to expand...

I don't expect it to be perfect. I just can't see it being any worse than the method I'm currently using.
Obviously, I'm warming my water whilst doing the mash and the beer I'm making is a multi-stage mash, so was hoping to avoid having to manage sparge water at the same time.
I don't yet have a pump setup on my Maischfest either, so I'm reliant on the jug and colander method.

MashBag said:

No.

Click to expand...

That's what I was expecting :) Thank you.

peebee said:

1: That's not a realistic expectation! The commonly used Inkbirds don't work in a "bang-on" fashion, but they'll be close enough (they might cause a minor initial "over-shoot" of selected temperature, but the temperature will settle down quick enough). So: "No", like @MashBag said. (I use an Inkbird to heat sparge water but use the panel-mount "PID" controller that will attempt to avoid overshoot - and they cost a little more!).

2: The faucets are the same as you might pick up from your local HB shop, so "no" again. In fact, the one you link isn't from Amazon ... it's one of their "Marketplace" sellers called "Jiemaitte" (they are a UK shopfront for a Chinese outfit). Watch out for them, delivery times may not be as good as you might expect from Amazon.

Click to expand...

Ah, good point on #2. It's exactly the same though, as this one which is bizarrely cheaper. And Prime would have it to me tomorrow.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CFXMXPF5/
Not that I need it any time soon. My kegs are currently empty and will be for the next few weeks.


As an aside, I ordered 2 things from Aliexpress last weekend. One turned up yesterday, one turned up today.
I wasn't expecting them for weeks.

@Stu What you want to do is perfectly valid, my post about the thermowell was purely about it being a solution to not risking damaging your inkbird probe through submersion in water, particularly repeatedly over time.

That faucet isn't particularly cheap for what appears to be a no-name example.

Have a look here...

https://brewkegtap.co.uk/collections/taps

Great selection of equipment, and customer service is brilliant.

Brew_DD2 said:

That faucet isn't particularly cheap for what appears to be a no-name example.

Have a look here...

https://brewkegtap.co.uk/collections/taps

Great selection of equipment, and customer service is brilliant.

Click to expand...

So pleased you said that.... I thought I was just being tight.

Sadfield said:

@Stu What you want to do is perfectly valid, my post about the thermowell was purely about it being a solution to not risking damaging your inkbird probe through submersion in water, particularly repeatedly over time.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm thinking about something else. I really need to do this tomorrow too.

I'll have a thunk overnight.

@Stu Tape or bungee it to the side

MashBag said:

@Stu Tape or bungee it to the side

Click to expand...

Maybe with a bit of bubble wrap or something else insulating on the outside. For sparge water, a close value is good enough - it doesn't need to be accurate

Agentgonzo said:

Maybe with a bit of bubble wrap or something else insulating on the outside. For sparge water, a close value is good enough - it doesn't need to be accurate

Click to expand...

I ended up using the meat thermometer. It worked perfectly. Unlike the blinking maischfest which had a wibble.

FWIW I dangle the inky into my kettle to monitor boil,whirlpool and chill temps. Essential extra equipment is a clothes peg.

I like clothes pegs. They do a lot of good work.

MashBag said:

I like clothes pegs. They do a lot of good work.

Click to expand...

And tie wraps. They're also very useful.

Updated questions

Updated answers.

CML. Ditch the smack packs.

Did you do a starter for the yeast? If not, you're going to face a lengthy lag phase, and might end up with some undesirable flavours.

Brew_DD2 said:

Did you do a starter for the yeast? If not, you're going to face a lengthy lag phase, and might end up with some undesirable flavours.

Click to expand...

No. I used 2 packs, as the recipe suggested.

Followed this to the absolute letter (well, used rocks rather than syrup, because TMM was out of stock)
https://www.greatfermentations.com/belgian-golden-strong-recipe/

And followed the instructions on the smack pack. Even though it says I didn't really need to smack it and could pour it straight in.

Question #3. Thank you for the help on the previous one.
Today, we're back on topic with home brew equipment discussion.