Brewed my first beer today: Got there in the end

[Garry247]

I have previously brewed from kits and decided to go the all-grain grainfather route. I got the full kit, G30, chiller, and conical fermenter and water heater. The Kit came and i excitedly assembled everything. Then I had to wait till the grain arrived from the MaltMiller. The following day that came too. I could not wait to get started.

There were a few issues along the way into my journey that is funny to look back on so I thought I would share them. The first issue, cleaning, I only had the grainfather cleaner so used that for sterilizing the units. took ages, have ordered some chemsan coming in a few days.

Next was getting the grain basket perforated plate. That delivered a lot of swearing. The rubber gasket kept falling off. Next cleaning the conical fermenter. I opened the release to get the cleaner out but pulled the wring lever and it gushed out of the side. oops.

Now on to the brewing. Everything going well then when stirring the grain the stopper and top part of the tube fell into the grain. fixed the situation by lifting the basket a little and fishing around. Lastly, I transferred to the fermenter. turned it on and glycol came dripping out of the two sides so I needed to do a MacGyver of taking out the washer, straightening it and adding plumbers tape to the connectors whilst holding a rag to the hole with my elbow.

finally, it was all done and my brew will be ready in a week. All in all an eventful evening and into the night. The next brew should be much easier :) happy days.

 

[Dads_Ale]

Glad it all turned out ok.
Most new kit needs a bit of fettling at first.

 

[foxbat]

It gets easier with each brew you do. There's a thread here on those grainfather seals that might have some advice that could help you next time. A week is a little on the optimistic side for your beer to be ready. A couple of weeks in the fermenter and a couple of weeks in the bottle are a reasonable target.

 

[Garry247]

So I’m currently fermenting my Hobgoblin Ruby Red Ale Clone. When it’s finished do I just put it in the corney keg with a bit of hose and then connect it to a kegerator?

 

[Garry247]

Cold crashing finishes on Sunday. I’ll then put it in the keg with a bit of gas. Can I drink it the same day???

 

[Cyberjip]

So I’m currently fermenting my Hobgoblin Ruby Red Ale Clone. When it’s finished do I just put it in the corney keg with a bit of hose and then connect it to a kegerator?

Yes try to get the hose all the way to the bottom so that it's not splashing and introducing oxygen

Cold crashing finishes on Sunday. I’ll then put it in the keg with a bit of gas. Can I drink it the same day???

Yes but it will still be flat unless you force the carbonation, and the beer will improve with some extra time to condition.

I know it's hard to wait. But it will be a better drink if you do.

What is your kegorator setup?

 

[Garry247]

Corney keg from conical fermenter and chiller. I’ll fill from bottom using pressure transfer kit and co2 to a primed keg then add some gas and wait a few hrs before first sip.

 

[Cyberjip]

Corney keg from conical fermenter and chiller. I’ll fill from bottom using pressure transfer kit and co2 to a primed keg then add some gas and wait a few hrs before first sip.

You don't need to prime the keg (although some people do) if you are hooked up to a gas supply)

I prefer the set and forget method of carbing and serving.
Plenty of discussion on this if you use the search function.

Straight away or a few hours is going to make virtually no difference at all. It will be beer, it will be drinkable, it won't be anywhere near as good as it will be in a few weeks.

 

[Garry247]

So I tried the beer and it’s still a little flat and it’s cloudy. I’ve set the pressure in the keg at 12psi

 

[Fritzpoll85]

Corney keg from conical fermenter and chiller. I’ll fill from bottom using pressure transfer kit and co2 to a primed keg then add some gas and wait a few hrs before first sip.

If you are using the Grainfather pressure transfer kit, did you work out how to connect it to your regulator? All my pipework is 3/8" but the grainfather gas lines are much smaller