ACE Microbrewery

[PhilBrew]

Hi Baron

Thanks. That's good advice, and much appreciated.

I'll be sure to come and feedback if/when I ever get my hands on this thing

Cheers, PhilB

 

[Tim2100]

yes you are in the ball park all you need to remember is that the amount you require + boil off + absorption+trub so that is what is required do bear in mind it may take you a few brews to fine tune to your brewing technique. I generally mash with 19 to 21 litres and sparge with 10 to 12 litres but you do not have to do the 4.5/kg exact it is just that a lot of the one pot systems quote 2.5/kg which I have found to be too thick a mash in my opinion. You have understood it correctly and good luck with the brewing.
Ps I advise people not to use the elements at full throttle and I do not use my elements at more than 1900 even for the boil as it prolongs the life of these bonded elements( it is extreme unnecessary heat that breaks the elements down) and it only takes a few more minutes to boil anyway. I mash for 45 and boil for 45 and it takes me as near as damn it 4 hours including cleaning up and that also includes a 10 min mash out at 75c

Thanks for this advice. I did my first from on my Brewdevil this weekend and was using the full heat. I will tone down the heat next time.

 

[PhilBrew]

Hi Tim

My Brewdevil was delivered yesterday afternoon, all shiny and new, so it looks like it might get it's inaugural run out this weekend. I've got a recipe for an attempted clone of Copper Dragon's Golden Pippen all lined up to "launch" it with too

Any hints or tips, over and above all of the excellent advice above?
Oh, and the recipe has a 4kg grainbill, is that the short-overflow, long-overflow or both? (I'm guessing the long one )

All advice appreciated :hat:
Cheers, PhilB

 

[Tim2100]

Hi philb.

You will need both pipes. It can easily take a lot more than 4.5kg graib

My biggest mistake was putting pellets in at the end of the boil. I should have put them in the hop spider but dropped them in the main wort. Therefore it blocked the pump filter, and pump.

Good luck and enjoy it.

Mine is bubbling nicely. Went into the fermenter on sunday and hit its fg today.

 

[PhilBrew]

Hi Tim

Thanks for that ... I was planning to put all the hops in the hop spider anyway (I'll TRY to remember ) ... did you get the Package Deal version of the Brew Devil, that includes the whirlpool arm, and if so did you use it at all? I'm thinking about using it to recirculate while cooling with the immersion chiller (also included in the package) and wondering about sterilising it. My initial thinking was to run the pump through it for a bit at the end of boil, but the "Do not run the pump while boiling" bit of the instructions has convinced me not to do that ... will pumping still hot, but not still boiling, wort through it after the boil be enough, do you think?

Cheers, PhilB

 

[Jake Michael]

Can anybody tell me what the benefits of having the Klarstein Brauheld (https://www.klarstein.co.uk/Home-ap...-Circulating-Pump-Stainless-Steel-45-Ltr.html) over the Klarstein Mundschenk XXL (https://www.klarstein.co.uk/Home-ap...ing-System-3000W-50l-304-Stainless-Steel.html)

There’s a £100 difference between the two and I don’t really understand why? I think the Mundschenk even has a slightly larger capacity.

Anyway I can get 10% off the Brauheld to make it £410 but is it actually any better than getting the Mundschenk for £349?

I need to make the decision by the end of today so any assistance with the above would be greatly appreciated.

P.S the information from this thread is great.

 

[The Baron]

The only help I can give you is that the Mundscenk is the same as the Ace/Angel brew and several other names it has with a internal pump. The Brauheld seems to be a similar system with a external pump apart from that I do not see much difference in the systems from the info you have posted

 

[Jake Michael]

The only help I can give you is that the Mundscenk is the same as the Ace/Angel brew and several other names it has with a internal pump. The Brauheld seems to be a similar system with a external pump apart from that I do not see much difference in the systems from the info you have posted

So I found a German site with a forum regarding this and the Brauheld is basically the updated version of the Mundschenk.

I was scrolling through it to find Klarstein was selling it in Europe for less than £300 in December of last year before skyrocketing so I’m just going to hold out and keep looking.

 

[robster62]

Why not buy a Robobrew for £350 comes with an immersion cooler

 

[Jake Michael]

What size is the Robobrew and do you have link please?

 

[robster62]

It's 35 litres www.brewkegtap.I. Uk

 

[pottsworth]

Hi Tim

Thanks for that ... I was planning to put all the hops in the hop spider anyway (I'll TRY to remember ) ... did you get the Package Deal version of the Brew Devil, that includes the whirlpool arm, and if so did you use it at all? I'm thinking about using it to recirculate while cooling with the immersion chiller (also included in the package) and wondering about sterilising it. My initial thinking was to run the pump through it for a bit at the end of boil, but the "Do not run the pump while boiling" bit of the instructions has convinced me not to do that ... will pumping still hot, but not still boiling, wort through it after the boil be enough, do you think?

Cheers, PhilB

As long as you get over 72 degrees for 2 minutes you will be fine.

 

[soupdragon]

Seems that the Brauheld mash recirc setup prevents the scorching on the bottom of the boiler unlike the ace version I've got, not a major problem though. One of the pictures shows a graphic of the flow

Cheers. Tom

 

[Brewed_Force]

This is basically how I have mine wired. Relays are wired in series and heater element is wired in parallel. Switches and fuses removed for simplicity

View attachment 11048

Just trying to get my head around the circuit! The PID/SSR is to accurately control the mash temperature and the SSVR is just to control the boil intensity ?
Can't the PID/SSR control the boil too ?

 

[531Man]

Bump this thread.
I have a clone version, the mk2 Hopcat.
I believe that the controller is the same.
I understand the use of the C1 temp. correction, but accidentally came across C2 (fat fingers). Not mentioned in the Controller instructions, nor the better English written version, Brew Monk.
Any ideas what it's for and how to use it if I need/want to?
Thanks.

 

[PhilBrew]

Hi @531Man

I have the BrewDevil and IIRC the C2 is for setting a figure for boil temp. correction ... I doubt you'll need to worry about it in Kent, but if you were to be brewing at altitude then your wort would boil at temps lower than 100C and since the sensor would never reach 100C then the timer wouldn't start counting down. You would adjust C2 to get the controller to recognize that the wort would boil at 99C, or whatever

Cheers, PhilB

 

[531Man]

Hi @531Man

I have the BrewDevil and IIRC the C2 is for setting a figure for boil temp. correction ... I doubt you'll need to worry about it in Kent, but if you were to be brewing at altitude then your wort would boil at temps lower than 100C and since the sensor would never reach 100C then the timer wouldn't start counting down. You would adjust C2 to get the controller to recognize that the wort would boil at 99C, or whatever

Cheers, PhilB

Hi @PhilBrew and thanks for that info.
I had just found that on a well written set of instructions from a South African home brew supplier Dema-Craft.
I can wait 'til my next brew to experiment, but do you know if by altering C1 (which I do) is the boiling stage temp. influenced as well, so I would have to reverse correct it in C2?
Or are the independent of one another?
Thanks,
Robin.
aka 531Man.

 

[The Baron]

If you alter the calibration temp it affects all the stages as the temp is calibrated in the mash boil etc and not individually

 

[531Man]

If you alter the calibration temp it affects all the stages as the temp is calibrated in the mash boil etc and not individually

Ah-ha,
Thanks for the clarification @the baron , having just discovered about its existence, that does fit with my suspicion that C2 'hangs off' C1 for its reference calibration.
I will take that into account next brew, make suitable changes and watch it carefully to ensure it gives a proper boil.
With thermometers in-hand!
A good thing I was aware that 'single point' adjustment does not guarantee linearity, especially at the extremes of the range.

 

[The Baron]

What you are doing when you alter the temp is calibrating the machine as if the temp display to actual temp is out so it is the machine that has the temp altered and not a single stage