Bluebird AG#1

[Wez]

It could be for a few reasons, a pic of that FB would be good if you can ?

 

[Phil]

Well done that man.

I remember my first AG. It was anything but smooth.

/Phil.

 

[prodigal2]

:clap: :clap:
Nice one there Frisp.
I think I lost more than a litre from my taps opening themselves on AG1.
And it will take a few brews to get used to the losses and getting the amount of wort you want from your system.

:drink: your own AG in a months time, wellcom to the dark side :clap:

 

[Frisp]

ere t is

 

[A T]

That looks fine to me Frisp, when you were sparging did you do it slow? how long did you recirc for?

 

[Frisp]

I think this is where I screwed up. I let it settle for about 15 mins, but the tap was pretty much full flow. I recirced about 3L before cracking on. It was stil a fairly cloudy

 

[A T]

I often have to recirc about 15L to get clear runnings. You need to open the tap slow and never have it open fully, you'll get the hang of it next time You'll find that AG is very forgiving and you'll most likely end up with something drinkable even if you do make mistakes. I bet you can't wait to get it in a glass now? :drink:

 

[Frisp]

It got stuck a couple of times as well and I had to blow back to clear. I did notice at the end that I had a lot of grain stuck in the holes. I wonder if dropping the lot in a nylon strainning bag would help ?

15 L I was waaay short of that. Patience is not only a virtue its a clear brew as well :grin:

And yes Im gagging for a gargle... :party:

Question is what do I brew next week?

 

[A T]

Wez has a great recipe that i do quite a bit called Big Kenny if you want something really malty?

I would imagine the reason for it sticking was the open tap

 

[Phil]

I think you're right AT. Slow sparging is best

/Phil.

 

[Vossy1]

Well done Frisp

 

[prodigal2]

Hey There Frisp.
A slow recirculation is the key as Phil and AT mentioned as you are looking to establish the grain bed as a filter, stopping all the grain particles.

If you are concerned about the amount of grain that has made it into the FV you can scim the top of the yeast head with a sanitised spoon and remove the grainy bits that are on top of the yeast head. Although as Phil mentioned the yeast will do a good amount of cleaning up. Out of interest what was the temp of your sparge water?

And as long as your sanitation has been good, you will love this beer. Over the next few days I bet you check your FV every few hours like a proud father and will be getting anyone who shows a interest to smell how good it is(or was that just me ).

As far as your next brew what have you got in stock, and what style of beers do you like? And once you have thought that through you will realise the main Home brewer problem, what shall I do next??? :P Theres always more beers than time you have for brew days

 

[Frisp]

Thanks for the words of encouragement guys. I just stepped into the fermentation chamber ( Spare bedroom) and the smell is outstanding. I can almost taste the brew now. The S04 is going mental so Im hopefull.

I have just ordered a load of ingredients from Barley Bottom So im unsure whether its going to be a Hobgoblin clone. Or TaRD. But its a long time till SUnday so I could have had a change of cunning plan by then. and Big Kenny might make an appearance

Prodigal2 - I mashed at 68 but I noticed a 3 degree drop and I had the issue where I had to decant the Mash out to repair my False bottom, but I learned a lot of lessons.
I didnt have a lot of grain make it through into the Wort it was just Uber cloudy. If the beer gods decree this one to be cloudy then so be it.
Yes I think a combination of exuberant impatience, **** tap on my tun and some sheer stoopidity crept in on AG#1
Saturdays job is to change the tap on my MT to give me more control and get the insulation sorted.
Im hoping that it will taste all the nicer having sweated blood in its birth
Once more thanks,
Jim
PS Im off to have another oggle at my offspring....

 

[Wez]

You've done the right thing IMO, you can read and read and read up on the subject, but there is nothing like just going for it. I bet it'll turn out to be a belter

 

[J_P]

I didnt have a lot of grain make it through into the Wort it was just Uber cloudy.

I wouldn't worry too much there frisp if you've boiled it hard enough it'll all come out in the break anyway. I've had some horrific looking wort luckily I boiled it really hard and it turned into crystal clear pints.

You wont believe the difference in the beer too, it's amazing :drink:

 

[Frisp]

Boys - Panic
First 48 hrs on S 04 my brew went mental.
Tonight its pretty dead.
Sanitised my big stirry spoon , gave it a whirl and plonked it in the airing cupboard :pray: as its not been the warmest day of the year.

Good or bad Move

 

[BrewStew]

neither good or bad mate. i've found S04 quite rapid to start, even without a starter i've had a yeast head the next day. it does die down after 2 days on my AG's.

little tip, after the yeast head has subsided, sanitise a hydrometer, then just drop it into your bucket... it'll be fine left there and you can check daily if it's still going

AG brews tend not to stick unlike kits

edit.... make sure that airing cupboard aint above 24'c... i've noticed a few fruity esters come from my brews using S04 above 24'c

additional... CHILL WINSTON! :lol: let the beer gods do their thing but seriously... if you haven't got one, get a hydrometer! with s04 you get about a 70% attenuation, so you can work out your target FG from the OG and you know where it should finish... if it stops higher, then it might need a little encouragement

 

[A T]

Airing cupboard? is that what we call the hot press :shock: take it out of there it's way to hot. Did you take a reading? s04 is know to be quite vigorous at first and slow quite a bit. What temp are you fermenting at?

 

[Frisp]

bugger bugger bugger
Its back in situ 2 hours after going in the hot press / airing cupboard (21C) And back in the bedroom at 18C.
Jim


Note to self - Stop F&*^%* panicking

 

[Wez]

It'll be fine Frisp

Can't recall - do you have a hydrometer?