Anna's Brewdays

[Buffers brewery]

Well this could be interesting... how much pressure can my kit take... gulp

Aiming for a Prosecco style sparkling wine, aiming for 6 vols of CO2 and my garage is at 8 deg C so that's about 55psi

OK, joints and all seem to be holding fast for now, rather dreading a big bang during the evening, fingers crossed

View attachment 42489

She who dares wins, Rodney!

 

[foxbat]

If it does equalise at 55psi then it'll be a very difficult pour.

 

[DocAnna]

If it does equalise at 55psi then it'll be a very difficult pour.

Ah... I have a cunning plan for bottling this... and a new toy

This is really all a bit of practice, as I'm planning a sparkling mead and didn't want to mess up bottling it with expensive ingredients!

Anna

 

[DocAnna]

Started an overnight mash inspired by @pilgrimhudd, having another go at the Tram. I did forget to make a starter though, so I'm not sure if to bother or just pitch the yeast reserved from last time that I overbuilt and hope for the best. It's too late in the evening really .... will a 12 hour starter be enough, hmmm.

... ok just apologised to the OH who I'd just said I was putting my head down for the night... right where's that DME, oh no only a tiny bit and I really don't want to open the pouch of LME I have for this. OK it will have to do, a one litre starter and 100g of DME.
Sheesh, this 'low stress overnight mash' has suddenly become a lot more stressful.

Flask is now on the stove coming up to the boil, yeast out of the fridge and warming to room temp, fresh chemsan made up and stir bar in sanitising. Midnight is looking unlikely at the moment for sleep. oh dear.

Anna

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Any consolation, I'm attempting an overnight mash but garage electrics keep tripping for some reason. 3rd time lucky!

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Given up,had to bring it inside!

 

[DocAnna]

Given up,had to bring it inside!

Oh I hope it works once you get it inside

That's me about to properly put my head down, it's far too late. I did manage to get the starter wort boiled and cooled (crikey why does cooling take so long!) Yeast transferred after decanting off the clear supernatant, and now on the stir plate, phew.

Night all

Anna

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Good morning!

How is the starter this morning, will it do the job? I’ve made starters from dried yeast and they’ve done really well in no time at all - hours. Might be worth having some as backup?

 

[An Ankoù]

I'm wondering if I should have left it in longer and let it passively cool over that time rather than holding it at 80?

I would have done that. 80C is the absolute maximum temperature for the hop stand before the volatile components which give the hop aroma are driven off. I cool rapidly to 75C before doing my hopstand and then let it cool naturally overnight or leave it for half an hour before continuing with the cooling.

 

[Covrich]

I would have done that. 80C is the absolute maximum temperature for the hop stand before the volatile components which give the hop aroma are driven off. I cool rapidly to 75C before doing my hopstand and then let it cool naturally overnight or leave it for half an hour before continuing with the cooling.

Yeah , that is what I do. fire the chiller on it shoots down to 80ish in no time and then off dump hops in and try and leave it for 30 mins !!

 

[DocAnna]

Good morning!

How is the starter this morning, will it do the job? I’ve made starters from dried yeast and they’ve done really well in no time at all - hours. Might be worth having some as backup?

Morning, the starter seems ok, a fair bit of surface foam which is probably all I'd expect on a stir plate, I think it was the right thing to do but I do feel a bit weary this morning. I've several dried ale yeasts I could use at a push, but no hazy/NEIPA dried yeast. I'll see what it looks like when it comes to pitching.

I would have done that. 80C is the absolute maximum temperature for the hop stand before the volatile components which give the hop aroma are driven off. I cool rapidly to 75C before doing my hopstand and then let it cool naturally overnight or leave it for half an hour before continuing with the cooling.

Thanks, yes that does seem a much better idea. Given the starter situation is not as if I'm in a rush, so I think I might leave it to passively cool with the lid on for a bit - at least half an hour. Just really hoping I can do a bit better this time.

Anna

 

[DocAnna]

Hmm... that was interesting. Short version, don't ease out the rubber cork on a counter pressure bottle filler till you've relieved the pressure first...

I'm covered in sparkling wine, as is the ceiling of the garage. I'm going for a shower and will write this up properly later. As for the yeast starter, it certainly seemed really happy and had generated quite a bit of heat in the short time it had been fermenting.

The guilty bottle filler (before I was soaked)

 

[Brewnaldo]

Hmm... that was interesting. Short version, don't ease out the rubber cork on a counter pressure bottle filler till you've relieved the pressure first...

I'm covered in sparkling wine, as is the ceiling of the garage. I'm going for a shower and will write this up properly later. As for the yeast starter, it certainly seemed really happy and had generated quite a bit of heat in the short time it had been fermenting.

The guilty bottle filler (before I was soaked)
View attachment 43178

Does your bottle filler pressure the bottle up as it fills? Is that specifically a wine one? Dont think my one does that..... I havent used it yet?

 

[foxbat]

I let my starters ferment out so they can be chilled and decanted but pitching the whole thing when it's at high krausen is definitely a popular option as well.

 

[DocAnna]

Does your bottle filler pressure the bottle up as it fills? Is that specifically a wine one? Dont think my one does that..... I havent used it yet?

It was a rather cheap Chinese piece from AliExpress, I wanted to try it without spending lots. Well the seals in the body of it leak badly so I'll have to take it apart and reseal with ptfe tape, however that didn't really cause a problem. It has two inlets a gas and a beer/wine inlet, it's really designed for beer as the tip of it doesn't quite reach the bottom of a wine bottle.

Lesson one pressurise the bottle by turning the tap to gas before adding the liquid - otherwise all you get is lots of foam - then after it's pressurised switch the tap to liquid.
two... trust the rubber bung and push it in so you can use both hands on the controls, use the lower tap that releases pressure to control the flow of liquid.
three, do this over a tray/bowl - you'll leak lots particularly the first time. After it's filled turn the tap to centre to stop liquid and gas.

And lastly, it does need repeating, don't whatever you do be tempted to release the bung till you've fully released the pressure using the tap. It would have made great comedy if filmed but I wasn't quite seeing the funny side at the time..

At least I'm clean now and out of my jeans into something a bit smarter.. we're having an afternoon tea from Piglets Pantry for Mother's day so I need to look a bit smarter and definitely not smell of wine.

Anna

 

[Brewnaldo]

It was a rather cheap Chinese piece from AliExpress, I wanted to try it without spending lots. Well the seals in the body of it leak badly so I'll have to take it apart and reseal with ptfe tape, however that didn't really cause a problem. It has two inlets a gas and a beer/wine inlet, it's really designed for beer as the tip of it doesn't quite reach the bottom of a wine bottle.

Lesson one pressurise the bottle by turning the tap to gas before adding the liquid - otherwise all you get is lots of foam - then after it's pressurised switch the tap to liquid.
two... trust the rubber bung and push it in so you can use both hands on the controls, use the lower tap that releases pressure to control the flow of liquid.
three, do this over a tray/bowl - you'll leak lots particularly the first time. After it's filled turn the tap to centre to stop liquid and gas.

And lastly, it does need repeating, don't whatever you do be tempted to release the bung till you've fully released the pressure using the tap. It would have made great comedy if filmed but I wasn't quite seeing the funny side at the time..

At least I'm clean now and out of my jeans into something a bit smarter.. we're having an afternoon tea from Piglets Pantry for Mother's day so I need to look a bit smarter and definitely not smell of wine.

Anna

I've got the Blichmann to try with my current batch when I get around to it. To the best of my knowledge, theres no pressure build up/closing in of the bottle when filling. Its basically just a wee gun that can put CO2 or beer into the bottle. No bung or anything.

 

[samale]

How much did the pressure filler cost

 

[spigley]

How much did the pressure filler cost

I got the same filler from Ali Express earlier this year, not so cheap now you have to pay 20% VAT on the item and 20% VAT on shipping cost which is added on before the item is sent. Depends on the exchange rate on the day, mine came out at £37.38 inclusive but arrived in 8 days

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Hmm... that was interesting. Short version, don't ease out the rubber cork on a counter pressure bottle filler till you've relieved the pressure first...

I'm covered in sparkling wine, as is the ceiling of the garage. I'm going for a shower and will write this up properly later. As for the yeast starter, it certainly seemed really happy and had generated quite a bit of heat in the short time it had been fermenting.

The guilty bottle filler (before I was soaked)
View attachment 43178

Oh no! You live and you learn Mind you, this kind of stuff happens all the time when you lose concentration for a moment.

 

[DocAnna]

Today has been rather busy and I've a clinical session this evening too so not likely to write the brewday up properly, so this is going to be the short version.

....the morning after the one with the yeast starter at midnight...
Wort looked lovely and clear, brought up to 75 deg for a brief mashout and sparged with a bit extra to bring the volume up to target, then added another litre for sparge for good measure as my boil off volumes have been higher than expected recently... which will be why my volume at the end of the boil was almost a litre too much . Thankfully no bittering hops so just let it boil another 20min to hit my target volume.

Cooled to 76 deg, added the aroma hop stand and left to cool passively, while I made an awful mess trying to fill bottles with sparkling wine. As you may have read my multitasking efforts didn't quite work out.

Prior to adding the litre of starter my volumes were spot on and my OG just a wee bit off at 1.69 (hoped for 1.73). Given that it had oodles of time mashing and an extra bit of a sparge, it's difficult to see how I'd have got to 1.73!

Pitched in the whole starter, and less than 24 hours later those yeasties are super happy in their new home. The starter was made from the overbuild of the first go at this beer about 7 weeks ago which had been stored in water in the fridge, then only 13 hours on the stir plate. Given how this has taken off like a rocket, I'd be happy to a short starter in future too.

(oh this was supposed to be short ... anyway, really pleased that my yeast is happy )

Anna