Hops all measured out and my new attempt at a hop tea bag that I can add to as the boil goes on. It’s a fruit straining bag with a plastic clip - going hi tech today 
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Anna's Brewdays
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You weren’t kidding when you said a whole load of Saaz! Good luck, I hope the brew-day goes smooth and easy.Hops all measured out and my new attempt at a hop tea bag that I can add to as the boil goes on. It’s a fruit straining bag with a plastic clip - going hi tech today
View attachment 60717
Hops all measured out and my new attempt at a hop tea bag that I can add to as the boil goes on. It’s a fruit straining bag with a plastic clip - going hi tech today
View attachment 60717
That's what I use in the boil too (straining bag). Hope all goes well!
Get to Aldi or other supers Anna the veg bags are 25p and ideal for hops/straining and can be thrown if they get too stained 
Boil a bit late - we decided to go out for lunch and there was quite a bit more of a wait at the Coffee Bothy than usual. So had held the wort at 90 while away ready to boil. However given how cold it is in the garage (6 deg C 
) it then took longer than expected to get it tight to the boil.
still enjoying the day though
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Anna
) it then took longer than expected to get it tight to the boil. still enjoying the day though
.Anna
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Oh at long last I’m getting a brew day.
Making the most of the Scottish bank holiday? ;-) I know exactly how you feel. I was back to work today (I take the english hols even though I live in Scotland, easier with the teams I work with), but used my BH to good effect yesterday!
So it wouldn’t be an Anna brew day without some mishap or another 
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ok first the bits that didn’t go so well :
I’m out of practice and it showed, not helped by the reorganisation in the garage and waiting on new shelves so it all felt too much of a mess… which I don’t cope with well. It was also too friggin cold! So both elements were needed fir the boil and so my boil off was a bit more than expected.
Oh and of course I tried to squeeze in lunch out with the OH (which was lovely ❤) but that messed up timings. While holding at 90 odd deg is brilliant for precipitating proteins for nice clear beer - said
proteins gunk up everything - even after trying to skim them off. My mission is to find some way of getting rid of that irritating stuff earlier before the boil. Anyway, I then forgot it was a 90 minute boil and added my 60 min hops at the beginning, so removed them at 30 min and used the bag for the 15 min addition.
Speaking of bags… the strainer bag is now in the bin, I’m not convinced there was much circulation of liquid through it. Based on @the baron ’S suggestion I used a spare Sainsbury’s veg bag for the other additions which worked far better.
The real sweary word thing though was wondering why the garage floor was so wet after using the chiller - and discovering my drain tubing from my chiller had a leak
. I’d broken a bottle on the rack it goes behind which had clearly sliced the tube. Aghh fiddlesticks and piffling pigs - well not happy.
So in my downtime tomorrow I will be patching said leak.
Oh the wort was fine - a bit under on the volume at 22l litres and a wee bit over on the OG 1.54 - I reckon it just about balanced out. A couple of packs of CML Hell yeast and sitting at 10 deg after pitching at 12deg. Hmmm … did I say it was meditative
.ok first the bits that didn’t go so well :
I’m out of practice and it showed, not helped by the reorganisation in the garage and waiting on new shelves so it all felt too much of a mess… which I don’t cope with well. It was also too friggin cold! So both elements were needed fir the boil and so my boil off was a bit more than expected.
Oh and of course I tried to squeeze in lunch out with the OH (which was lovely ❤) but that messed up timings. While holding at 90 odd deg is brilliant for precipitating proteins for nice clear beer - said
proteins gunk up everything - even after trying to skim them off. My mission is to find some way of getting rid of that irritating stuff earlier before the boil. Anyway, I then forgot it was a 90 minute boil and added my 60 min hops at the beginning, so removed them at 30 min and used the bag for the 15 min addition.Speaking of bags… the strainer bag is now in the bin, I’m not convinced there was much circulation of liquid through it. Based on @the baron ’S suggestion I used a spare Sainsbury’s veg bag for the other additions which worked far better.
The real sweary word thing though was wondering why the garage floor was so wet after using the chiller - and discovering my drain tubing from my chiller had a leak
. I’d broken a bottle on the rack it goes behind which had clearly sliced the tube. Aghh fiddlesticks and piffling pigs - well not happy.So in my downtime tomorrow I will be patching said leak.
Oh the wort was fine - a bit under on the volume at 22l litres and a wee bit over on the OG 1.54 - I reckon it just about balanced out. A couple of packs of CML Hell yeast and sitting at 10 deg after pitching at 12deg. Hmmm … did I say it was meditative
Oh the things that make me happy. We have a new set of shelves for the garage... which I have two shelves for my brewing things 
which is brilliant! I also treated myself to a couple of grain containers for my base malts which gets them out of the sacks and off the floor. It is just lovely to be able to tidy things away properly 
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I did also add a wee bit of brewing kit onto the top shelf too as the grain bins are 48 litre volume each - which will take a whole 25kg and a wee bit more of unmilled grain.
which is brilliant! I also treated myself to a couple of grain containers for my base malts which gets them out of the sacks and off the floor. It is just lovely to be able to tidy things away properly .
I did also add a wee bit of brewing kit onto the top shelf too as the grain bins are 48 litre volume each - which will take a whole 25kg and a wee bit more of unmilled grain.
Nip down here and sort my garage out...there's as much as you can drink and one of my special curries in it if you do..Oh the things that make me happy. We have a new set of shelves for the garage... which I have two shelves for my brewing things
View attachment 60836
I did also add a wee bit of brewing kit onto the top shelf too as the grain bins are 48 litre volume each - which will take a whole 25kg and a wee bit more of unmilled grain.
Oh the things that make me happy. We have a new set of shelves for the garage... which I have two shelves for my brewing things
View attachment 60836
I did also add a wee bit of brewing kit onto the top shelf too as the grain bins are 48 litre volume each - which will take a whole 25kg and a wee bit more of unmilled grain.
Anna where did the containers come from? They look a bit more more practical than some of my storage options? TIA
They were a bit of a treat.. so like shoes and jackets, I didn't mention how much they cost at home
They come in 10, 24, 48,80, and 105 litre versions. They are stackable, so they may not stay on the shelves as I think I might find somewhere to stack them instead.
https://adexa.co.uk/Kitchenware-Tableware-355/Food-Containers-376I also got a bit more of a discount than they are showing on the site at the moment.
I like the look of the 105L on wheels
Another brew day 
wow two brew days in one week and with my newly tidy garage .
I set up the water, salts, and milled the grain last night with the plan for an early start. However, we’ve a friend and her mum staying fir a few days, and she was interested to see how it all worked so I held off till a wee bit later in the morning.
oh I also had to dash out to Sainsbury’s in the morning as I had discovered I did not have enough flaked oats for my recipe.
However, they only had porridge oats which are ground a bit which I worried (quite rightly so it turned out) was going to cause a stuck sparge.
it was a really thick mash and right at the working limit for the brewzilla, then left it to drain while had lunch. Now on the boil with a teeny 5g of Magnum in at the start.
wow two brew days in one week and with my newly tidy garage . I set up the water, salts, and milled the grain last night with the plan for an early start. However, we’ve a friend and her mum staying fir a few days, and she was interested to see how it all worked so I held off till a wee bit later in the morning.
oh I also had to dash out to Sainsbury’s in the morning as I had discovered I did not have enough flaked oats for my recipe.
However, they only had porridge oats which are ground a bit which I worried (quite rightly so it turned out
) was going to cause a stuck sparge.it was a really thick mash and right at the working limit for the brewzilla, then left it to drain while had lunch. Now on the boil with a teeny 5g of Magnum in at the start.
There’s something rather satisfying about getting a yeast starter on - I haven’t done one for ages and I’m not really leaving much time for it, but I’d like to keep some of the yeast back from the Omega Oktoberfest I’m using for another batch of the Naeb’dy Aboot. So I’m aiming for a brew day on Sunday - grow the yeast up on my mixer plate till Sunday morning then chill so I can pitch in the afternoon.
A Sunday brew day
Naeb’dy Aboot v0.2 with a change of yeast to the Omega Oktoberfest and a stepped mash to try to compensate for the decreased attenuation with this yeast.
After much hand wringing, I’ve only very slightly modified the grain bill to keep the 2kg of Red X. This means it’s well off the BJCP spec in terms of colour for a Festbier - however this is a beer that went down well with everyone who tried it. I just hope I’m not messing up by changing the yeast.
Mid mash at the mo’ just stepped up to 68 deg.
The yeast starter is chilling down and settling out nicely too
Naeb’dy Aboot v0.2 with a change of yeast to the Omega Oktoberfest and a stepped mash to try to compensate for the decreased attenuation with this yeast.
After much hand wringing, I’ve only very slightly modified the grain bill to keep the 2kg of Red X. This means it’s well off the BJCP spec in terms of colour for a Festbier - however this is a beer that went down well with everyone who tried it. I just hope I’m not messing up by changing the yeast.
Mid mash at the mo’ just stepped up to 68 deg.
The yeast starter is chilling down and settling out nicely too
Phew that was a busy day...
... ok and a beer (oops said that twice, definitely time to draw breath.)
( Oh I had a chat with the electrician who was in this week fixing the immersion heater ... reckons he could fit a high amp circuit for me to use a 65litre system.. v tempting)
Anna
- The brew went fairly to plan, I made a small error in my timings that meant the 60 min hops were in for 70 min but everything else fine. My pH was well off at 5.85
which was odd, and I missed my expected OG at 1.053 rather than 1.057 (*miffed*) I have a suspicion the acidulated malt isn't quite as acidulated as I was expecting it to be. - The big news and it was just FAB was that the helix worked wonderfully, no pump blockage despite using loose hops (thank you @Tess Tickle for the method {it's going to take a while to get used to the change in username!]) Even better... it can go in the dishwasher afterwards yay
. - Also was really busy cleaning things... 3 kegs cleaned properly, sanitised and purged, all my kegerator taps cleaned and sanitised, Twinnie the Bohemian pilsner was racked off the yeast to lager in a keg, the not so great NEIPA has been moved to cold to slow force carb, and everything cleaned.
- Ideally the yeast starter would have had a full 24 hours to chill and settle out. I discarded the top clear litre, kept the next 1.5 litres to ferment out and keep the yeast for next time and pitched the concentrated slurry in the last 600ml -ish. That was a wee bit more liquid than I'd have liked to pitch but any less would have really started to bite into the yield. Sheesh that yeast is flocculant- it had stuck fast to the bottom of the flask in several places!
... ok and a beer (oops said that twice, definitely time to draw breath.)( Oh I had a chat with the electrician who was in this week fixing the immersion heater ... reckons he could fit a high amp circuit for me to use a 65litre system.. v tempting)
Anna
How much Acid Malt did you use Anna?
150g acidulated malt, 2.1kg Red X and 3.5kg Lager malt.
My water has v little in it but I did add some bicarb as per the calculator for the water - which I suspect may equally be to blame.
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