Anna's Brewdays

[DocAnna]

Using the pump on the brewzilla to transfer the sparge water is pretty good, though I can see the merit of a sparge arm in future.

 

[DocAnna]

Oh gosh that was a busy day, phew I feel better for having done one brew on the big thing, OG a smidgeon under at 1.041 but volume about 3 litres more than expected I’ll need to work out how that affects the equipment profile and post an update in the separate equipment thread. Now it’s Sunday evening so all cleaned up and time for a bit of kitchen disco with roast beef, roast baby potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, carrots and asparagus.
… oh and a bit of ABBA to bop to - it’s a complete tragedy

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Was thinking about your equipment profile - I've recently created one in BeerSmith 3 which was relatively straightforward but I had to do a bit of pencil-and-paper work to understand what was going on with the volumes - maybe worth a look, if you're up for trying a different tool?

 

[DocAnna]

Was thinking about your equipment profile - I've recently created one in BeerSmith 3 which was relatively straightforward but I had to do a bit of pencil-and-paper work to understand what was going on with the volumes - maybe worth a look, if you're up for trying a different tool?

I did have a look at BeerSmith a couple of years ago and opted for Brewfather as it syncs really nicely across phone and computer completely automatically, and I now pay for the premium version so will probably stick with this now. I think my numbers were pretty good, but the boil off amount was tested yesterday with plain water, and it was clearly less with wort today so will need to make some adjustments. It did need the full 3300W to maintain the boil but there was an awful lot of the protein, likely because of the non barley grist used, and while I did try to remove it, there was an awful lot left.

My nice helix unfortunately blocked with that same infernal protein so while cooling lifted it up to open up the coils which worked until near the end when the pump blocked as well! I found a way to connect my chiller by threading the recirculation hose onto my cooling hose and at the slight bulge at the metal arm it fitted snugly.

However, two fermenters now nicely filled, which in a couple of days will have their fruit purees added.

I know it's Sunday and late, but I think it's G&T time!

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

I know it's Sunday and late, but I think it's G&T time!

Yaaay - good grief I take my hat of to you for doing a brew AND a roast dinner... Personally I prefer the easy life ;-)

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

If you're planning on using a second socket in the garage , it would need to be on a separate circuit , with both units heating they'll be pulling close enough to 25 Amps and the circuit is most likely at best rated for 20. Depending on whether the fuseboard is either in the garage or close to it , it might be a straight forward enough job for an electrician to to ideally add a commando 16 amp socket for the Klarstein . ( Is that a main fuse to the left of the bewzilla , which would suggest that the fuseboard is nearby?)
If you're planning on using an extension lead, ( I'm presuming an extension lead on a roll) it would be best to use a different circuit eg kitchen sockets , and preferably use the extension lead for the Brewzilla as it's the smaller load of the two machines. With large loads it's essential to fully unroll the extension lead . If it's left partially unrolled , it'll heat up and most likely melt due to inductance of the coiled cable.

 

[DocAnna]

If you're planning on using a second socket in the garage , it would need to be on a separate circuit , with both units heating they'll be pulling close enough to 25 Amps and the circuit is most likely at best rated for 20. Depending on whether the fuseboard is either in the garage or close to it , it might be a straight forward enough job for an electrician to to ideally add a commando 16 amp socket for the Klarstein . ( Is that a main fuse to the left of the bewzilla , which would suggest that the fuseboard is nearby?)
If you're planning on using an extension lead, ( I'm presuming an extension lead on a roll) it would be best to use a different circuit eg kitchen sockets , and preferably use the extension lead for the Brewzilla as it's the smaller load of the two machines. With large loads it's essential to fully unroll the extension lead . If it's left partially unrolled , it'll heat up and most likely melt due to inductance of the coiled cable.

Thanks, the wiring in this house is not ideal and on reflection with your and other direct messages I've decided not to use extensions to try to run the equipment at the same time. The house was built around 1850 but didn't have mains wiring as we know it before the mid 1970's before then there was some lead wiring used in a couple of rooms. The box to the left is the main fuse but the fuse board is a door, a thick wall and a corridor away with a mains cable embeded in the plaster of the wall - hey nothing to do with us, it was like that when we came here. Unfortunately we'd need to take a newish shower room apart to get at the cable, which doesn't appeal. The location at the moment for my brewing is governed by location of a tap, the socket, the door for ventilation and a floor drain.

We are hopeful someday to build a small utility room at the back of the garage which will mean new drainage and piping, at which point I could maybe ask nicely for a dedicated tap, power supply and drain for the brewing kit. The roof and windows need fixed first though, which in turn had to wait until the walls had settled from the work a couple of years ago to stop the gable wall falling down ... it's lovely house but the children have all decided they want to live in nice modern wind and rain tight houses themselves!

A

 

[Buffers brewery]

After what happened the last time I tried to “help” on this topic it turned into a “heated debate”!
I know what I would do, but I’m keeping it to myself this time

 

[foxy]

My nice helix unfortunately blocked with that same infernal protein so while cooling lifted it up to open up the coils which worked until near the end when the pump blocked as well! I found a way to connect my chiller by threading the recirculation hose onto my cooling hose and at the slight bulge at the metal arm it fitted snugly.

With the helix they are only good with low viscosity wort, the higher the viscosity the more surface area of helix is needed. I ended up connecting 3 together like a coiled snake in the bottom of the kettle. There is no comparing them no matter how much break material and hop debris is in the kettle, but trying to get them to work when the temperature of the wort drops below around 30 C is a pain in the arse

Lots of debris in this one but drained the kettle on the warmer side.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Consider building or buying one of these for your big brew rig.
https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/product/trubinator-m/
I made one and it works really well with the whirlpool, picture from Sundays brew of the trub of hops and break left after transfer.

 

[DocAnna]

Last night, added 2 kg of Raspberry and 0.5kg passionfruit purée to one batch, and 1.5kg passionfruit purée, 3 litres clematine juice and a tea of crushed and boiled corriander seed. That's made the fermenters rather full!

A bit of an opinion, since these will be hazy and fruited, I'm thinking of a clear glass bottle, would the haze and fruit protect the beer from light damage?

Anna

 

[Tanglefoot]

A bit of an opinion, since these will be hazy and fruited, I'm thinking of a clear glass bottle, would the haze and fruit protect the beer from light damage?

Anna

I also prefer clear bottles, just make sure I store them in a cardboard box or a covered crate out of the light.
Nothing like marvelling at the beautiful clarity of your beer before you pour it !

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Last night, added 2 kg of Raspberry and 0.5kg passionfruit purée to one batch, and 1.5kg passionfruit purée, 3 litres clematine juice and a tea of crushed and boiled corriander seed. That's made the fermenters rather full!

A bit of an opinion, since these will be hazy and fruited, I'm thinking of a clear glass bottle, would the haze and fruit protect the beer from light damage?

Anna

I shouldn't think the haze or fruit would offer much protection against light damage Anna - but so long as you're keeping them somewhere where there's little daylight you'll be fine

 

[DocAnna]

Well not all my brews are quite going to plan:

• The Bitter and Twisted is probably the closest to recipe, have just moved to cold crash, dry hopped on day 9
• The Perle pilsner really wasn't working, I'd purchased an expensive 'pure pitch' liquid yeast that said it could be pitched without a starter. It did absolutely nothing for 5 days, at which point I gave up and added some CML Hell, so only in the last 4 days has it really been showing any sign of fermentation.
• The Raspberry and a wee bit of passionfruit Sour is fine but after adding the Raspberry purée there was a burst of activity and now it's gone quiet. I've moved it out of the temperature controlled fridge since I need the space to crash chill the B&T, and given it a good stir to reinvigorate the yeast a bit.
• The Clemantine, passionfruit, corriander, salted gose is now oomphing big after having all the juice and purée added, again gone a bit quiet after the fruit additions, it had the salt added today - heated up in the microwave with a bit of water to dissolve it. With the volume now about 28 litres, I upped the salt to 20g from 17g and may add more but will check before I do, and for the Citra dry hop, used 33g down from 40g, since that was what was left in a pack. I do have another pack but don't want to open it. I don't want the Citra to be too forward anyway so I'm fine about the reduction.

At some stage I'm going to either have a mega bottling session or have to invest in a canner super quick.

 

[Buffers brewery]

not all my brews are quite going to plan

Know the feeling…

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Well not all my brews are quite going to plan:

• The Bitter and Twisted is probably the closest to recipe, have just moved to cold crash, dry hopped on day 9
• The Perle pilsner really wasn't working, I'd purchased an expensive 'pure pitch' liquid yeast that said it could be pitched without a starter. It did absolutely nothing for 5 days, at which point I gave up and added some CML Hell, so only in the last 4 days has it really been showing any sign of fermentation.
• The Raspberry and a wee bit of passionfruit Sour is fine but after adding the Raspberry purée there was a burst of activity and now it's gone quiet. I've moved it out of the temperature controlled fridge since I need the space to crash chill the B&T, and given it a good stir to reinvigorate the yeast a bit.
• The Clemantine, passionfruit, corriander, salted gose is now oomphing big after having all the juice and purée added, again gone a bit quiet after the fruit additions, it had the salt added today - heated up in the microwave with a bit of water to dissolve it. With the volume now about 28 litres, I upped the salt to 20g from 17g and may add more but will check before I do, and for the Citra dry hop, used 33g down from 40g, since that was what was left in a pack. I do have another pack but don't want to open it. I don't want the Citra to be too forward anyway so I'm fine about the reduction.

At some stage I'm going to either have a mega bottling session or have to invest in a canner super quick.

Sorry to hear about the liquid yeast… I‘ve only had one that did that, but to be fair I’d probably kept it too long. I’m sure the lager will turn out fine though.
I agree it’s pretty frustrating when things work out: I’ve had a few brews all go a bit off track recently (mash efficiency all over the place) so I need to unwind a couple of recent changes in water treatment and sparging time to see what’s causing the problem.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

At some stage I'm going to either have a mega bottling session or have to invest in a canner super quick.

I’m holding a ‘beer and curry’ evening for some friends at the end of the week (little do they realise, it’s mainly because I need to finish off a couple of Cornies!)

 

[DocAnna]

I’ve been so busy recently I haven’t had the time to post properly here. So after a couple of late evening finishes I’m having an early finish today to bake a belated birthday cake for my youngest daughter.

In theory it will Look like her DSLR camera …. Well we’ll see. It’s a red velvet cake with bitter chocolate ganache and cream cheese frosting filling. I made the ganache yesterday and had a bit of a disaster with it splitting so had to Google how to rescue it - a table spoon or so of milk - phew!

I know… this is a brewing thread but the kitchen disco playlist is on and at some stage there will be a beer involved (rather too early at the mo!). Thought it was about time I updated my avatar as well!

A

 

[The Baron]

The cake sounds lovely like a bit of red velvet cake myself

 

[DocAnna]

While it still doesn't look like a mess with it's ganache crumb coats. Still a looooong way to go.