crookedeyeboy
New Member
Heres a copy of my very first brewday from another forum...
Well I did it.
The beer is now in FV awaiting some time and TLC. What a day!
I am currently watching Lord of The Rings and relaxing after an exhausting day. I still cannot believe it is only 8pm I feel like Ive been brewing for a week!
The day started with having to take my other half to work as she was doing some overtime, Perfect time for me to go to Screwfix and buy the 15mm coupling I needed for the mash tun. Bought the item in question and headed home at about 9am after raking the shelves of B&Q to find some rubber washers.
Once home found problem number 88466746.2b. To keep a long story short lets just say I had to ditch the copper piping and ball valve tap for a nice simple plastic tap affair on the mash tun.
A bit more drilling and faffing and I was on my way with some help from house mates at about 11am. Like I say it has been a long day as I didnt sit down till about 7pm....Im sure it shouldnt take this long?!?!?!?
Had a leaky mash tun to begin with so had to pour the liquor back into the HLT and start again, another setback. After that and a few adjustments to the coupling for the manifold in the mash tun I was again on my way.
I have to say the immense satisfaction along the process was astounding. To do this kind of hobby at home is great...
Mash ok. Batch sparged and no stuck mash to say it was the first time ive used any of this equipment. Mash tun stayed at about 64C.
I did have a lot of questions that came up at the time but my brain is a little addled now so i shall post them at another time!
Boiled the wort and hops for two hours in the kitchen and all i can say is that all those stupid adverts on TV should be advertising Hop n Malt plugins for the home not stupid 'pine fresh'!! What an amazing aroma.
Now where I got stuck is that I feel I have lost a lot of liquid along the way. Brew length was 23lts. Mash was 11 lts. Sparged with 12 litres. But I have not even got 20 lts at the end...I am sure this is just one of the many points along the learning curve I have to take in and adjust.
I am now going to eagerly anticipate the next few days and the outcome of my hard efforts of my first brewday!
Roll on the next one.......
Well I did it.
The beer is now in FV awaiting some time and TLC. What a day!
I am currently watching Lord of The Rings and relaxing after an exhausting day. I still cannot believe it is only 8pm I feel like Ive been brewing for a week!
The day started with having to take my other half to work as she was doing some overtime, Perfect time for me to go to Screwfix and buy the 15mm coupling I needed for the mash tun. Bought the item in question and headed home at about 9am after raking the shelves of B&Q to find some rubber washers.
Once home found problem number 88466746.2b. To keep a long story short lets just say I had to ditch the copper piping and ball valve tap for a nice simple plastic tap affair on the mash tun.
A bit more drilling and faffing and I was on my way with some help from house mates at about 11am. Like I say it has been a long day as I didnt sit down till about 7pm....Im sure it shouldnt take this long?!?!?!?
Had a leaky mash tun to begin with so had to pour the liquor back into the HLT and start again, another setback. After that and a few adjustments to the coupling for the manifold in the mash tun I was again on my way.
I have to say the immense satisfaction along the process was astounding. To do this kind of hobby at home is great...
Mash ok. Batch sparged and no stuck mash to say it was the first time ive used any of this equipment. Mash tun stayed at about 64C.
I did have a lot of questions that came up at the time but my brain is a little addled now so i shall post them at another time!
Boiled the wort and hops for two hours in the kitchen and all i can say is that all those stupid adverts on TV should be advertising Hop n Malt plugins for the home not stupid 'pine fresh'!! What an amazing aroma.
Now where I got stuck is that I feel I have lost a lot of liquid along the way. Brew length was 23lts. Mash was 11 lts. Sparged with 12 litres. But I have not even got 20 lts at the end...I am sure this is just one of the many points along the learning curve I have to take in and adjust.
I am now going to eagerly anticipate the next few days and the outcome of my hard efforts of my first brewday!
Roll on the next one.......