Anna's Brewdays

[Twostage]

Well that was a more eventful brewday than I'd have liked... again . I really have to find a way to mount my chiller as twice the pipes dislodged spraying warm sticky wort over the floor and lot else. The boil with the lid though compensated for the volume loss, but did mean the OG was a teeny bit under at 1.070. (using the small colourful hydrometer as my big accurate one only goes up to 1.060.
View attachment 98136

It’s a lovely colour though .

The lager has been taken out of its chilly 10 deg and will be at garage ambient for a week 12 to 13°C, and the fermenting fridge swapped round to keeping warm the dubbel. Interesting tasting the wort from the sample tube, first time I've genuinely though hmmm that's nice on it's own .

Observations today... my brew space is a mess!! Agghhh bikes and all sorts have gradually inveigled their way back into my space, I knocked things over and had to mop the floor twice! I also find the full clean up a right royal pain. It is done though now, and I'm going to take the rest of the day a bit easier

My brew space was like that. Mixture of brewing, biking and other general toolage. Its more or less dedicated (or at least as dedicated as it needs to be) to brewing now. The addition of some 5 tier shelving from ScrewFix (£40) made a difference too. There are actual gaps round the wall now rather than piles of stuff everywhere.

 

[Justin Dean]

I notice you have the Grainfather electric Mill. How are you finding it?
I like the fact it has numbered adjustment, worth the money?

Worth every penny. No feeler gauges, credit card gapping etc. it is almost plug and play

 

[DocAnna]

If it's cold weather you only need controller and heat belt.

Yes - I’ve done so before for lagers but I prefer to work with ambient if I can after those critical first few days. The garage is at 12-14 deg over the day and the lager is a very steady 13 deg at the mo - which I’ll leave it at for at least another week, maybe two.

 

[DocAnna]

It’s mid April and the weather is proper miserable and cold …. Which makes for brilliant conditions in the garage maintaining a fairly steady 12 deg now.- just perfect. Now all I need is it to slowly warm up over the next two weeks and that will be perfect for the lager! Well I’ve got to find some silver lining as to how wintery it is here in central Scotland .

 

[Agentgonzo]

It’s mid April and the weather is proper miserable and cold …. Which makes for brilliant conditions in the garage maintaining a fairly steady 12 deg now.- just perfect. Now all I need is it to slowly warm up over the next two weeks and that will be perfect for the lager! Well I’ve got to find some silver lining as to how wintery it is here in central Scotland .

When people talk about "temperature control" they normally mean "a fridge" not "timing your brew with the Earth's progression around the sun"

 

[Clint]

I thought it was kicking the jack Russel off the bed.

 

[dad_of_jon]

When people talk about "temperature control" they normally mean "a fridge" not "timing your brew with the Earth's progression around the sun"

eeeh! A fridge - Luxury, I move my beer around the house and brew different beer based on the Earth's progression around the sun. (and the position of the jet stream.)

 

[DocAnna]

When people talk about "temperature control" they normally mean "a fridge" not "timing your brew with the Earth's progression around the sun"

So this immediately made me think of what Stone Henge really was built for….

 

[Twostage]

It’s mid April and the weather is proper miserable and cold …. Which makes for brilliant conditions in the garage maintaining a fairly steady 12 deg now.- just perfect. Now all I need is it to slowly warm up over the next two weeks and that will be perfect for the lager! Well I’ve got to find some silver lining as to how wintery it is here in central Scotland .

It will mature quite nicely at the cooler temp, just not as fast .

Its wintery here in NE England too.

 

[rybinss]

It’s mid April and the weather is proper miserable and cold …. Which makes for brilliant conditions in the garage maintaining a fairly steady 12 deg now.- just perfect. Now all I need is it to slowly warm up over the next two weeks and that will be perfect for the lager! Well I’ve got to find some silver lining as to how wintery it is here in central Scotland .

Perhaps dreich could be a good name for the lager...It sounds vaguely tutonic. F.w.i.w is guy dreich in Brum as well!

 

[DocAnna]

Perhaps dreich could be a good name for the lager...It sounds vaguely tutonic. F.w.i.w is guy dreich in Brum as well!

Well it’s afae fine here in Edinburgh this morning

I’ve rolled the dice and not brought a coat to a meeting today , judging how well wrapped everyone else that seems a brave choice. Holds out hope for nicely ramped temperature rest for my lager though .

Sorry folks this ‘brew day’ thread will get back to my brewing mishaps soon.

 

[Twostage]

Well it’s afae fine here in Edinburgh this morning View attachment 98357I’ve rolled the dice and not brought a coat to a meeting today , judging how well wrapped everyone else that seems a brave choice. Holds out hope for nicely ramped temperature rest for my lager though .

Sorry folks this ‘brew day’ thread will get back to my brewing mishaps soon.

Never cast a clout til Mays out.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Well it’s afae fine here in Edinburgh this morning View attachment 98357

Looks like a heck of a walk to get up there...

 

[old dog new tricks]

Looks like a heck of a walk to get up there...

yep and Arthur's Seat is a good walk as well, when I used to work for cabinet office they decided a team day was good to walk up the seat, great views tho

 

[Lunesdale Brewer]

I finally cracked and bought a Grainfather GC2 to connect to my GF30 instead of the coolbox/ice pack/pump setup.
10 days into my lager fermentation and the garage temperature in North Lancashire hasn't yet risen above 12 deg C!

 

[RoomWithABrew]

How do you lager your lager if you rely on ambient?

 

[DocAnna]

How do you lager your lager if you rely on ambient?

I don’t rely on ambient for chilling - crash or otherwise. I’ll swap out the Dubbel with the lager when it’s had enough of the warm confines of my brew fridge - which has a heater. The Dubbel can then nicely settle out at ambient and its own time.

Whereas the lager will be taken to 18 for a couple of days before down to -2 for at least a week before kegging then about 3 weeks at 0 with a bit of isinglass. These latter times are approx as it depends on how they fit in around trips up to Orkney.

The Dubbel will be left at ambient whatever that may be, as long as I can resist sampling it .

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

The Dubbel will be left at ambient whatever that may be, as long as I can resist sampling it .

Yes, my Dubbel is also conditioning at ambient (although down here in the Deep South that's currently 17ºC :-)

 

[RoomWithABrew]

How do you control your fridge? any remote control for temp or can you leave a temperature profile to be worked through?

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Yes, my Dubbel is also conditioning at ambient (although down here in the Deep South that's currently 17ºC :-)

Deep south? up north more like, I'm just above Chichester on the south coast for a few days.