AG Ringwood Fourtyniner - New Kettle

[DrewsBrew]

Here's some photos of today's brew, using my new Kettle. I've also made a few tweaks to my recirculating mash tun to prevent air locks in the pump, and I've made a new Sparge arm.

Mash Tun heating up to strike temperature 73*C:

 

[DrewsBrew]

Doughed in without the heating element on and without the pump running. I then left it 10 mins before switching the pump/element on. I found this really helped prevent getting a stuck mash and an airlock. If the pump is running whilst doughing in, the pump seems to suck all the air out of the grain, then an airlock occurs and the pump fails to pump. No problem today though. Also, I switch the element down to 800W so it doesn't overshoot or boil locally over the element or scorch the wort.

 

[DrewsBrew]

Now time for a pint of the previous brew! Exmoor Gold (Graham Wheeler recipe), I think it's my favorite so far.

90mins later, the temperature is pretty consistent throughout the mash. I then did a mash out at about 70*C.

 

[DrewsBrew]

Then tried out my new sparge arm. It worked great to begin with but unfortuntely as it heated up it stopped rotating due to the shaft expanding with the heat. Real shame because it had a great spray pattern and minimal leakage down the shaft. I then switched it for my previous version which is in the photos below. The trouble with this one is there is too much clearance around the shaft which means it leaks too much. Also the jets are too large and the flow is too high. I'll have to re-make the shaft for my new one out of stainless so it won't expand so much.

 

[DrewsBrew]

The new boiler was fantastic, loads of headroom to prevent any boil-over. The 2 elements got it upto boiling in no time. I then unplugged the rear element and let the PID controller control the rolling boil. I set the temperature to 100.5*C which seemed to achieve a nice gentle rolling boil. So nice not having to worry about setting a mechanical thermostat and possible boil-overs!

 

[Old_P]

Looks like you have a very nice setup and a good brew on the go.
I recently had a go at brewing a Fourtyniner after a friend brought a few bottles to try when he returned from England. The flavour was close and it's certainly drinkable, but I hadn't quite got that lovely rounded taste of the original Ringwoods.
Your have to let us know how it turns out, and if it's a good one then I would love to know your recipe if your up for sharing :)

 

[Oneflewover]

Very nice set up, and that really does look like a cracking pint!

 

[dps51]

grate set up nice and clean and neat just how it should be

 

[BeerCat]

Most impressive. Beer looks great. You have definitely got me thinking about how i can improve my setup. Maybe i should also let the mash stand before turning my pump on as have loads of problems with it blocking and airlocks. Are you using a brown solar pump? Mine bust and i upgraded it but the problem is it keeps getting blocked. The holes are too small to allow all the particles through. Do you have a link for the mashtun? Cheers. :

 

[Vambrace]

I'm new here, and just starting up - where did you get your kit from? It looks like an excellent set-up.

I've only ever used malt extract kits before - I helped with a 'back to basics' brew once but that was in about 1976!

 

[Fil]

nice build and brewday.. a spinny sparge arm is tricky with a small volume brewery as we tend to want to slow the flow rate below that needed to maintain the motion, using some form of direct drive to regulate the spin is probably the only way to ensure a consistent rotation of the arm regardless of the flow of liquor through the pipework.

2 ive seen that stick in my mind as particularly successful were both belt driven, the first used a small dc motor to drive a 'big heavy' (for the motor) cycle wheel which drove the arm spin via a belt. the 2nd way more concise used an arduino and stepper motor for precise spin control

 

[DrewsBrew]

Most impressive. Beer looks great. You have definitely got me thinking about how i can improve my setup. Maybe i should also let the mash stand before turning my pump on as have loads of problems with it blocking and airlocks. Are you using a brown solar pump? Mine bust and i upgraded it but the problem is it keeps getting blocked. The holes are too small to allow all the particles through. Do you have a link for the mashtun? Cheers. :

Yes I'm using a brown solar pump. Seems to work pretty well but it sounds like it struggles a little for the 1st few minutes after switching it on until all the small particles have gone through. My false bottom has 2mm holes. I haven't done a proper build thread for my mash tun but I will do when I get the chance. I have a YouTube video but I've changed it a bit since then. There's a bit of info here:
http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=67187

 

[DrewsBrew]

I'm new here, and just starting up - where did you get your kit from? It looks like an excellent set-up.

I've only ever used malt extract kits before - I helped with a 'back to basics' brew once but that was in about 1976!

Thanks, I made it all myself. The HLT and mash tun are made from 2nd hand tea urns which I have added solar pumps inside the bases. The hop kettle is a 50l stock pot from malt miller which I added kettle elements and made a controller. Build thread here:
http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=71050

 

[DrewsBrew]

nice build and brewday.. a spinny sparge arm is tricky with a small volume brewery as we tend to want to slow the flow rate below that needed to maintain the motion, using some form of direct drive to regulate the spin is probably the only way to ensure a consistent rotation of the arm regardless of the flow of liquor through the pipework.

2 ive seen that stick in my mind as particularly successful were both belt driven, the first used a small dc motor to drive a 'big heavy' (for the motor) cycle wheel which drove the arm spin via a belt. the 2nd way more concise used an arduino and stepper motor for precise spin control

Here's a couple of videos of the sparge arm running with cold water, the jet's are only 0.5mm so the flow is very low and spray is light and fine. I'm confident if I make the shaft from brass or stainless then it won't bind when hot. The plastic I've used on this one is Delrin acetal which expands quite a lot when hot and binds up.
https://youtu.be/l0YxpKan-B4

https://youtu.be/su90YcYWqoo

 

[cheeseyfeet]

Hi,

What insulation did you use on your mash tun? Looks like a nice neat job.

Cheers


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[DrewsBrew]

Hi,

What insulation did you use on your mash tun? Looks like a nice neat job.

Cheers


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It's some closed cell foam I found at work, not sure what material it is, kinda like neoprene or silicone. I didn't cut it all that neatly so might redo it sometime. I've seen some adhesive backed stuff on eBay which might be good. Or I have thought of using some water proof material and closed cell foam to make a jacket that can be removed using velcro.

 

[DrewsBrew]

A few more photos which I didn't get round to adding yesterday....

I used an immersion chiller after the boil. Dropped the last load of hop pellets in when it dropped under 70*C, then carried on chilling down to 35*C which took 10 mins. I then did a manual whirlpool by stiring it and let it settle for 20 mins before slowly draining into the fermenting bin. I sterilised the hop spider and ran the chilled wort through it whilst draining into the fermenting bin just to catch any stray hop pellets or hot/cold break material, it's quite a fine mesh so does quite a good job.

 

[DrewsBrew]

Looks like you have a very nice setup and a good brew on the go.
I recently had a go at brewing a Fourtyniner after a friend brought a few bottles to try when he returned from England. The flavour was close and it's certainly drinkable, but I hadn't quite got that lovely rounded taste of the original Ringwoods.
Your have to let us know how it turns out, and if it's a good one then I would love to know your recipe if your up for sharing :)

The recipe is a Graham Wheeler recipe from his book (link below).

23Litres:
Pale Malt - 4710g
Crystal Malt - 200g
Torrified Wheat - 100g
Chocolate Malt - 15g

Start of Boil:
Challenger Hops 29g
Last 10mins:
Goldings Hops 10g
Irish Moss/protofloc
Post Boil:
Goldings Hops 6g
Mash Liquor - 12.6L
Total Liquor - 33.3L
66*C for 90mins
OG 1049
FG 1012
4.9%.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1852493194/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[Old_P]

Thank you very much for posting the recipe, which is very similar, apart from I used almost four times more Goldings 23g, and I can't get hold of Torrified wheat so I left it out.

I would like to try it again, but without Torrified Wheat I may get a similar result to last time?

What to do.......scratching head???

 

[DrewsBrew]

Thank you very much for posting the recipe, which is very similar, apart from I used almost four times more Goldings 23g, and I can't get hold of Torrified wheat so I left it out.

I would like to try it again, but without Torrified Wheat I may get a similar result to last time?

What to do.......scratching head???

I'm no expert on recipes I'm afraid, but what I understand it's torrified wheat helps with head retention and possibly body and mouth feel, probably doesn't effect the flavour much. Someone else may be able to advise better?