ACE Microbrewery

[dps51]

the smallest I have done is a 20ltr batch
I also did a try a 15 ltr but the water did not cover the grain
then I learnt that this should be ok.
with the pump going as you do have dead space under the grain basket
so the wort will get circulated through the grain

 

[yeastinfection]

Oooooo. I was going to ask if a bigger version was available!

yes. they are showing one but i dont think it has a price yet.

 

[yeastinfection]

the smallest I have done is a 20ltr batch
I also did a try a 15 ltr but the water did not cover the grain
then I learnt that this should be ok.
with the pump going as you do have dead space under the grain basket
so the wort will get circulated through the grain

i wasnt happy with the dry grain,so i added another 5 ltr,
so mashed in total with 20ltr,
i will sparge with the remaining 12ltr ,,
first brew with it, so a learning curve,:thumb:

 

[dps51]

I always do a 23ltr batch as that is what I like to end up with to go into my pb

 

[yeastinfection]

warming up to the boil

 

[Bigcol49]

Hi!
I saw this on a Braukaiser page about infusion mashes.
If direct heat is used aim for a mash thickness of 3.5 to 4.5 l/kg. This is the mash thickness that is commonly used in Germany and it makes stirring the mash during the heating phases much easier.
With a 5.44kg grain bill, that's about 19 to 24 litres, so you are going to be OK with 20 litres.
Have you gone for a single step infusion? This article is very interesting, especially then section on the hochkurz mash.
http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=Infusion_Mashing

 

[yeastinfection]

Hi!
I saw this on a Braukaiser page about infusion mashes.
If direct heat is used aim for a mash thickness of 3.5 to 4.5 l/kg. This is the mash thickness that is commonly used in Germany and it makes stirring the mash during the heating phases much easier.
With a 5.44kg grain bill, that's about 19 to 24 litres, so you are going to be OK with 20 litres.
Have you gone for a single step infusion? This article is very interesting, especially then section on the hochkurz mash.
http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=Infusion_Mashing

wow ,i best read that when im not destracted.
thanks for the link though, 20ltrs did feel better.,, its the first time ive been over og ...:mrgreen:

 

[dps51]

warming up to the boil

the last batch I made. from 68c to boil point it took 18 mins on my system in the kitchen

 

[Dr_LegLess]

Do people do the boil with the lid on or off - if boil with lid on what evaporation rates do you generally see at which wattages?

As said in earlier post - my last brew i boiled with lid off, 10mins @2500W, 50min @2000W but seemed to lose the boil a third way into 50min step and had to put wattage back upto 2500W. Overall I achieved about a 7% evaporation rate for 70min total boil.

 

[Bigcol49]

Do people do the boil with the lid on or off - if boil with lid on what evaporation rates do you generally see at which wattages?

As said in earlier post - my last brew i boiled with lid off, 10mins @2500W, 50min @2000W but seemed to lose the boil a third way into 50min step and had to put wattage back upto 2500W. Overall I achieved about a 7% evaporation rate for 70min total boil.

Hi!
Always boil with the lid off. The boil drives off all sorts of stuff that we want out of the wort.
7% isn't bad - that's less than 2 litres from a 26 litre boil.
I was very worried about my boil - I thought it wasn't vigorous enough, but I found a You Tube video that references the different types of boil, and I was OK.
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcRrW0U5vwk[/ame]

 

[Dr_LegLess]

Hi!
Always boil with the lid off. The boil drives off all sorts of stuff that we want out of the wort.
7% isn't bad - that's less than 2 litres from a 26 litre boil.
I was very worried about my boil - I thought it wasn't vigorous enough, but I found a You Tube video that references the different types of boil, and I was OK.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcRrW0U5vwk

That's interesting i didn't know the boil drives out things. YouTube video interesting too, I may not have but lost my boil after all, but more so a very low simmer. What level is needed for the final wort boil, simmer, rolling boil, vigorous?

 

[Bigcol49]

DUPLICATE POST -sorry!

 

[Bigcol49]

Hi!
A rolling boil is recommended.
On the subject of lid on/off, there is an interesting page here: http://brulosophy.com/2016/10/31/the-boil-lid-on-vs-lid-off-exbeeriment-results/
Looking online, many home brewers leave the lid on, or, at least, partially cover the boiler.

 

[dps51]

I leave the lid on this way you can get a rolling boil on a 1700w power setting

 

[Davemc]

I have just bought one of these and tested it the other night, heating up water, all looks ok so I have ordered a couple of all grain kits to try it out before trying out more complex recipes etc.

The kits have arrived and the instructions for the first one, a Pilsner Lager recipe advise batch sparging and mashing for a period of 90 minutes. I don't have the instructions to hand as I am at work but it called for mashing for, an hour with I think 12 litres then recirculating it through the grain untill the wort runs clear then draining it off and using the second lot of water and mashing for a further 30 mins.

Just wondering how you would adjust the recipe for use with the Ace particulalry mash and sparge volumes. Also I'm no chilling so there are hop additions at 15 mins and 1 min from the end, would you just add these to the cube or make a hop tea with them and add that to the FV.

 

[Fil]

regarding the mash, sounds like a 60 minute mash and a 30 minute sparge stand.. So use your kettle rims for a 60 minute mash as per the machines instructions, The sparge with a kettle rims machine is to rinse off the sugar rich liquor remaining in the grains once lifted out, where as with a traditional mash thats been stood still for 60-90 mins the sugars may also require a degree of dilution too which with your kettle rims system the recirculation should have taken care of for you with a batch sparge you stir the grains and then have to let them settle back down for 30 mins or so, with your kettle rims machine you dont disturb the grain bed so there is no need to settle..

as for the hop utilisation issue with no-chill, i would suggest the tea's contents would still continue to cook in the cube just as much as the hop additions or cube added hops would.

Perhaps consider a bit of a chill such as dropping the sealed cube into a trug of cold water once rolled and sealled to pull the brews temp down ??

 

[Bigcol49]

Hi @Davemc,
I don't have the microbrewer, but use an ACE mash tun in a recirculating mash system.
I mash with the pump on so that the wort is constantly circulating over the heating element, otherwise the element may scorch the sugars.
I switch off the pump to drain the tun and then add the sparge water, stir and switch on the pump for the full period of the sparge. This allows the grain bed to reform and filter out any small particles.
With the ACE Microbrewer, I understood that the grain basket is lifted out of the wort after the mash is finished and stood on the rim of the ACE. Sparge water is poured gently over the grain in the basket, the aim being to disturb the grain bed as little as possible. The ACE does not have to be drained before the boil using this method.
I also no-chill, but I sonly add the bittering hops during the boil - I save the late hop additions until just before bottling. I make a hop tea with the water at 64°C and add this to the bottling bucket. One of the essential hop oils boils off at 65°C.
You may find this article interesting: http://beersmith.com/blog/2013/01/21/late-hop-additions-and-hop-oils-in-beer-brewing/

 

[DogAndDoris]

Same here, I've got a Brewolution Brewster. I know how people felt buying a Betamax video recorder now.

 

[dps51]

well this thread as grown into a popular one
also go by the way they sale on ebay I would think there a lot of people got them
maybe a few on here since this thread started as brought one of them

 

[Millemg]

Admin remove if not allowed, I started a Facebook group for the Ace micro machine , not trying to take anything away from this site at all ... but it does have a lot of info for people who are interested

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1926868814207974/