Alastair70s brewdays

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

That little cable from the PSU doesn’t look like it would take 8A

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Best just check the precise size of the connector on that one @Sneedhearn suggests - although in a pinch you could just cut it off and replace it with the one from your existing unit.

 

[Sneedhearn]

That little cable from the PSU doesn’t look like it would take 8A

I agree but that's what it says on the PSU. I doubt that the controller is drawing 8A or anywhere near it though...

 

[Sneedhearn]

Best just check the precise size of the connector on that one @Sneedhearn suggests - although in a pinch you could just cut it off and replace it with the one from your existing unit.

Always worth checking but the PSU I suggested has the same size of DC barrel connector that a guitar pedal board PSU has, which @Alastair70 has already tried. I'd be quite confident that that PSU from Amazon will do the job.

 

[Sneedhearn]

Best just check the precise size of the connector on that one @Sneedhearn suggests - although in a pinch you could just cut it off and replace it with the one from your existing unit.

Although in case I'm wrong this little adapter will sort it out.

 

[Alastair70]

Thanks @The-Engineer-That-Brews and @Sneedhearn. I’ve put the order in and will report back tomorrow.

 

[Sneedhearn]

Thanks @The-Engineer-That-Brews and @Sneedhearn. I’ve put the order in and will report back tomorrow.

Sorry @Alastair70 I left out a link in my last post.
Having checked after @The-Engineer-That-Brews post about the plug size you will probably need this little adapter.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ex-Pro-DC-...fix=2.5mm+female+to+2.1mm+male,aps,132&sr=8-6
The delivery is quite long but you'd probably get one in The Electronic Centre in Belfast I'd imagine.

 

[Alastair70]

The new PSU has arrived, the control box powers up and everything works as it should. Big thanks to @Sneedhearn and @The-Engineer-That-Brews for their input.
The lager is pretty much fermented out and sitting at 18C. I'm going to leave it there for 3 or 4 days as there'll undoubtedly be a tonne of diacetyl in it. I'll start dropping the temperature slowly from Friday on and hope it comes ok in the end

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

The new PSU has arrived, the control box powers up and everything works as it should. Big thanks to @Sneedhearn and @The-Engineer-That-Brews for their input.
The lager is pretty much fermented out and sitting at 18C. I'm going to leave it there for 3 or 4 days as there'll undoubtedly be a tonne of diacetyl in it. I'll start dropping the temperature slowly from Friday on and hope it comes ok in the end

Woo Hoo!! GREAT news I'm so pleased to hear it

 

[Sneedhearn]

The new PSU has arrived, the control box powers up and everything works as it should. Big thanks to @Sneedhearn and @The-Engineer-That-Brews for their input.
The lager is pretty much fermented out and sitting at 18C. I'm going to leave it there for 3 or 4 days as there'll undoubtedly be a tonne of diacetyl in it. I'll start dropping the temperature slowly from Friday on and hope it comes ok in the end

Excellent!

 

[matt76]

I’ve been weighing up the options. I’ve got the brew fridge, but transferring the batch into a plastic bucket is going to do more harm than just letting it go. I’ll let it ferment out at ambient temp and keg it, what the worst that can happen. It won’t be the first batch I poured out, or the the first batch that came good despite the odds either.

Suggestion: I think I mentioned to you in a DM that my recent German Pils suffered some "issues"*, hence I've recently acquired a bottle of lime cordial

(* Hint: If you're hoping some yeast slurry that's been dormant in the fridge for >2 months will suddenly spring into life you might be disappointed - use a starter )

 

[Alastair70]

Suggestion: I think I mentioned to you in a DM that my recent German Pils suffered some "issues"*, hence I've recently acquired a bottle of lime cordial

(* Hint: If you're hoping some yeast slurry that's been dormant in the fridge for >2 months will suddenly spring into life you might be disappointed - use a starter )

Hi Matt, I’ve resurrected ale yeasts up to 3 months with a starter in the past but haven’t tried with a lager yeast. I’ll be doing a couple of steps ahead of the next brewday if it’s still looking healthy.

 

[matt76]

Hi Matt, I’ve resurrected ale yeasts up to 3 months with a starter in the past but haven’t tried with a lager yeast. I’ll be doing a couple of steps ahead of the next brewday if it’s still looking healthy.

Lager yeast is no different, it'll fire up just the same as ale yeast.

The tip I picked up from foxbat is to ferment your lager starter at 20ºC, same as you would an ale. Doesn't matter if it kicks off esters, at this stage you're just getting the yeast to reproduce - crash it out once it's fermented and discard the esterey liquor.

The lag time for your starter will vary depending how long the yeast has been dormant, could be hours, could be a few days before you see any activity.

The stupid mistake I made was to pitch slurry that had been dormant in the fridge for 2 months without making a starter to wake it up and hopping is be ok (it wasn't!)

 

[Alastair70]

I was posting without thinking yesterday in work. I have reused lager yeasts before. I always overbuild a starter and reserve 100bn cells. I then used the calculators to get to pitch rate. I haven’t tried to salvage old slurry yet.

 

[Alastair70]

“Attitude Adjuster” - Belgian Dubbel, destined for Brew Like A Monk in the Autumn.

Soundtrack: None - my Bluetooth speaker was out of oomph, and I had constant interruptions all afternoon, fecking children.

Despite that, all the numbers were hit pretty much dead on.

Water 15L Batch - Ca 75, Mg 6, Cl 63, SO4 75, HCO3 88

Fermentables
3.5kg Bohemian Pilsner
350g Vienna malt
260g Special B
200g Caramunich I
260ml Candi Syrup (10min boil addition)

Mash
60min 65C
10min 75C

Hops
9g Magnum 60min
10g Tettnang 15min
9g Tettnang 5min

Yeast
WLP530 - Abbey Ale 16million cells/ml

Vitals
OG 1.070, IBU 20, EBC 45. Expected FG 1.011 for an ABV of 7.7%

 

[Agentgonzo]

“Attitude Adjuster” - Belgian Dubbel, destined for Brew Like A Monk in the Autumn.

Soundtrack: None - my Bluetooth speaker was out of oomph, and I had constant interruptions all afternoon, fecking children.

Despite that, all the numbers were hit pretty much dead on.

Water 15L Batch - Ca 75, Mg 6, Cl 63, SO4 75, HCO3 88

Fermentables
3.5kg Bohemian Pilsner
350g Vienna malt
260g Special B
200g Caramunich I
260ml Candi Syrup (10min boil addition)

Mash
60min 65C
10min 75C

Hops
9g Magnum 60min
10g Tettnang 15min
9g Tettnang 5min

Yeast
WLP530 - Abbey Ale 16million cells/ml

Vitals
OG 1.070, IBU 20, EBC 45. Expected FG 1.011 for an ABV of 7.7%

View attachment 87249

Wonderfully clear wort!

Looks a very similar recipe to mine as well. It would be interested to see how the differ. Are you entering in the swap later this year for BLAM entries?

 

[Alastair70]

Wonderfully clear wort!

Looks a very similar recipe to mine as well. It would be interested to see how the differ. Are you entering in the swap later this year for BLAM entries?

Thank you sir
Yes, I’ll happily share this and its feedback with any other BLAM entrants. And you reminded me, the autumn swap was Belgian; BLAM entry or not, anything from the homeland of Van Damme, Poirot and Magritte is welcome.

 

[Alastair70]

Brewed my NZ Pale Ale today; no major dramas, got off to a later start than planned but still wrapped up in decent time.

Soundtrack Tool, Rush

Water Ca 100, Mg 15, Cl 50, SO4 187

Fermentables 25L batch
4kg Pale Ale Malt
1kg Vienna
250g Cara MD 50

Mash
60m at 65C
10m at 75C

Hops
First wort: Nelson Sauvin CGX 5g, Moteuka CGX 5g, Riwaka 10g
10 minute: Nelson Sauvin CGX 5g, Moteuka CGX 5g, Riwaka 10g
5 minute: Nelson Sauvin CGX 5g, Moteuka CGX 5g, Riwaka 10g
Hop stand: Moteuka CGX 5g, Riwaka 10g (10minutes at 75C)

Dry Hop (day 3): 20g Riwaka, 10g Moteuka CGX, 10g Nelson Sauvin CGX

Yeast
US-05

Vitals
OG 1.060, EBC 13.5, IBU 46

Next order of business is to get the Dubbel bottled, but it looks like it's going to be Saturday before I get a chance.

 

[SMP Brewery]

Cool… Rush the band I’ve seen more than any other!

What is CTX?

 

[Alastair70]

Cool… Rush the band I’ve seen more than any other!

What is CTX?

Sorry, it's a cut n' paste error that i didn't notice. Should have been CGX (one of those new cryogenic thingies). Thanks for the heads up, I've fixed the post and added the dry hop which I'd forgotten.

https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/product/nelson-sauvin-hop-revolution-cgx-pellets-50g/?v=79cba1185463
I've never seen Rush live, which is a great shame. Tool's last two UK tours have clashed with different kids A-levels, so I missed both of those too.