01 Oct Brewday at Stapleford Brewery - Bemused & Befuggled

[Ian]

Set the mash off at 11:00 - about an hour later than intended, but so far all going smoothly.
Mash at 67c as per benmcben's thermometer, 66c per my glass one.
No pics yet, might try to take some of sparging/boiling...

 

[MEB]

Always good to hear of another brewday coming along. :thumb:

Don't forget that tablety thing aye.

 

[Ian]

Well... everything was going swimmingly until the boil started... or didn't start more accurately.
Just as the electrim was coming up to the boil... it cut out, and then kept cutting in and out.
Presumably this was the element's cutout as the thermostat dial on the side was still calling for heat.
Anyway it got up to about 96c then things got more pathetic and it dropped off to about 93c.

On Ben's advice, tried plugging a lead direct into the element, this worked initially, then the same thing happened.
There are a couple of things I think might be going on:
1. The leads don't plug all that well into the element socket (but don't really think dodgy connection is the problem, but it might be)
2. The thermostat/element socket etc. are all connected to a metal plate, which is only attached at the element i.e. it is loose at the top. Jiggling this around seemed to help, and in fact, bit of dried hops which had got caught 'down the back' worked loose, so maybe this collection of dried hop bits is contributing to the element's behaviour. :wha:

Anyway, fingers crossed it finally has boiled 'properly' and is still going strong as I write this. I think I' going to give the whole thing about another 1:15 since it boiled... :hmm:

 

[Wez]

Sorry to hear you've had element problems, hope the rest of the brew goes OK

 

[A T]

I hope the rest of your day went better

 

[Vossy1]

Glad to see you overcame the element problem Ian :clap:
I hope the rest of the brewday has gone more smoothly

 

[Ian]

Thanks guys,
Finally pitched the yeast at 6:30...
Managed not to have any more boiler problems so things trundled along reasonably smoothly again.
Other slight cock-ups:
- The hoselock fitting on my IC decided not to fit tightly any more so as I walked back into the kitchen after having gone outside to turn the tap on water was pouring all over the floor. :shock:
Fixed that as had a spare.
- Wasted 15 minutes by cooling the wort too much before adding the steep hops, so had to heat it up again
Finally collected about 23l at 1.038, so lost a little efficiency somewhere, but 2 points isn't a disaster. All in all happy but tired. :

 

[Wez]

Great Ian :thumb:

Sounds like you earned a beer :drink:

 

[Ian]

Some pics:

Fuggles at the ready.

First runnings.

Into the trusty (or not so trusty) Electrim.

Reducing down some wort - could only get about 1.5l in that pan...

First hops in, but not really boiling...

At last...

And into the FV.

 

[Wez]

A great set of pics Ian : I like the tin foil plate idea :idea:

 

[Kingfisher]

Pleased you got it going there Ian, there's nothing worse than a glitch part way through. Nice pics too. :thumb:

 

[Ian]

This has been slowish to get going... but I was very lazy with the yeast. I just sprinkled the S04 pack onto the wort, which was still fairly foamy, then gave it a good stir for a couple of minutes.
Pitched at 24c, but this then cooled to 22c.
Before things got going, the yeast seemed to clump and grow just under the surface (which I hadn't come across before).
Anyway after 12 hours there was a small krausen (<1cm), 24 hours more (~4cm), and the temp had increased a bit to 24c (ambient 19-21c). Still going now but not the oozing through the lid activity that I had become accustomed to. It seems to be just taking its time - less frantic initial activity, but lasting longer..

 

[A T]

I was very lazy with the yeast. I just sprinkled the S04 pack onto the wort,

Tut tut tut :nono: :nono:

I am the king of lazy when it comes to yeast, i have never rehydrated a pack of yeast. I just chuck it in and let it fend for itself, that's how i learned to swim :rofl: although it wasn't funny at the time :|

 

[Ian]

A habit picked up off Ben :whistle:
I guess because I started on kits, I'd do everything possible to prevent the kit sticking, so at the very least I'd rehydrate, otherwise make a starter.
So I still feel a bit guilty sprinkling the poor defenceless little buggers onto the wort :twisted:

 

[BenMcBen]

Well it works for me - water boy

 

[Wez]

I'm a sprinkler too

 

[Ian]

Needn't have worried - took a reading today and already 1.008 :thumb:

 

[Ian]

Planning to rack this today - looking at it there are some white patches on the surface:

Smells OK - does it look sinister?

 

[BrewStew]

i think the best thing is to taste it. if you get any hint of a vinegary flavour, rack it and drink it fast!

 

[Ian]

It tastes fine - very nice in fact. I racked it to a king keg with 60g brown sugar. I skimmed off what I could from the top before I did that.