Hi its been a while since i last posted a question on here (i must be getting good at this hobby).
Iv just put together a 40l buffalo all in 1 ish system with a grain basket, pump and pid. The problem i think i have with this when filling up for a test run i had to put 7l of water in before it...
I'm currently aging some white whisky i bought on heavy toasted white oak and when there done il be putting it straight into a imperial stout. Id sanitize in some sort of spirit just note vodka will extract flavour from the oak but a whisky or rum might introduce more flavour.
You should start a thread on your setup! I spent ages trying to figure out how to build a pid controller for my system. I never thought about using the grainfather one
I'm currently fermenting a corn flake wine with voss that's got around 5 kg sugar in 25 litre. Not sure on expected abv but should be a good test tho. Does give a classic eggy smell but not as strong as other yeasts I've used in the past
Add the hops when you start chilling the wort stop when you get to 80c and stand for 20-30 mins. The dry hop i did in 3 stages i divided it up 20% when i pitched the yeast 30% 3 days in then the rest (50%) after fermentation had finished and i didn't use any kettle finnings
Dead pony club on tap is the best I've had so far probably. That or choco libre (i think i spelt that right lol). That is a truly fantastic stout but more than 1 bottle and your full