evanvine
Landlord.
This will be one of my more unforgettable Brew Days!
It includes; Error, downright bad luck and not really having a clue as to what I was doing.
Monday 03/01/2011
HLT set up with 25 ltrs water, 1CT, 2 tsps Gypsum, ½ tsp Epsom and ¼ tsp Chalk.
Time switch set for 08:00 Tues AM and PID set at 67.5 degs C (a pure guess).
4 kg pale malt and 300gms Crystal malt, weighed and crushed, + 300gms Flaked Barley.
Mash Tun , HERMS and pump set up.
All in all, way over 2 hrs!
Tuesday 04/01/2011
Didnât fall out of bed till 09:30, too much HB Mon night/ Tues AM, not a brilliant start!
HERMS on and set to 60 degs C (another guess).
14 ltrs liquor transferred from HLT to Mash Tun , yet another guess as I wanted a very fluid mash.
The little âSolarâ pump worked very well here.
Resultant Mash temp was 55.7 degs C
Pipe work rearranged to accommodate the HERMS.
Now came my first problem, I had to run the pump on minimum speed as the Scavenge was cavitating.
This made the flow through the HERMS a mere trickle and the mash was losing temperature!
After much altering of the temperature, I came to the result that if it was set to 8 degs higher than required it would maintain my target temp of 62 degs.
With regards to my scavenge problem, would increasing my grain filter slot width from a âJuniorâ to a standard hacksaw make any difference, or is it the mash itself causing the restriction?
After 30 mins the HERMS temperature was increased pro rata to achieve a mash temp of 68 degs C.
This took 20 mins to attain temperature.
After another 30 mins the starch end was checked and it proved clear.
Pipe work again altered for sparging.
Here I was very pleased I had fitted a âby-passâ valve to the pump.
FWH 76gms Goldings all I had (my own) never smelled aroma like it, far superior to shop bought!
At 15 mins to go, 8 gms Bram Cross, again my own and all I had + protofloc.
Wort safely in boiler, plain sailing now, NOT A CHANCE!
10 mins into the boil and the âBack nutâ on the boiler tap decides to fail!!!
Boiler off, contents into 2 FVs and tap changed.
Back boiling again in 10 mins + I remembered to refit the Hop filter!
Boiler with errant tap changed.
Sight tube idea I think came from Dunfie
Now itâs plain sailing?
No, clumsiness raises its ugly head.
I hoist the boiler up on a pulley system so that the wort can gravity feed through the CFC and into the FV.
When the boiler is ¾ empty I tilt it so as I get the last little bit out.
This action pulled the CFC off the top of the FV which in turn pulled the pipe off the boiler tap.
Half a litre later, tap turned off and pipe refitted.
Very lucky, first bit, the CFC didnât drag the FV over with it.
All finished, 21.5ltrs wort instead of the usual 23ltrs I normally get!
Iâm now off down the pub (at last).
Forgot to mention, the OG was 1051, very pleasing.
It includes; Error, downright bad luck and not really having a clue as to what I was doing.
Monday 03/01/2011
HLT set up with 25 ltrs water, 1CT, 2 tsps Gypsum, ½ tsp Epsom and ¼ tsp Chalk.
Time switch set for 08:00 Tues AM and PID set at 67.5 degs C (a pure guess).
4 kg pale malt and 300gms Crystal malt, weighed and crushed, + 300gms Flaked Barley.
Mash Tun , HERMS and pump set up.
All in all, way over 2 hrs!
Tuesday 04/01/2011
Didnât fall out of bed till 09:30, too much HB Mon night/ Tues AM, not a brilliant start!
HERMS on and set to 60 degs C (another guess).
14 ltrs liquor transferred from HLT to Mash Tun , yet another guess as I wanted a very fluid mash.
The little âSolarâ pump worked very well here.
Resultant Mash temp was 55.7 degs C
Pipe work rearranged to accommodate the HERMS.
Now came my first problem, I had to run the pump on minimum speed as the Scavenge was cavitating.
This made the flow through the HERMS a mere trickle and the mash was losing temperature!
After much altering of the temperature, I came to the result that if it was set to 8 degs higher than required it would maintain my target temp of 62 degs.
With regards to my scavenge problem, would increasing my grain filter slot width from a âJuniorâ to a standard hacksaw make any difference, or is it the mash itself causing the restriction?
After 30 mins the HERMS temperature was increased pro rata to achieve a mash temp of 68 degs C.
This took 20 mins to attain temperature.
After another 30 mins the starch end was checked and it proved clear.
Pipe work again altered for sparging.
Here I was very pleased I had fitted a âby-passâ valve to the pump.
FWH 76gms Goldings all I had (my own) never smelled aroma like it, far superior to shop bought!
At 15 mins to go, 8 gms Bram Cross, again my own and all I had + protofloc.
Wort safely in boiler, plain sailing now, NOT A CHANCE!
10 mins into the boil and the âBack nutâ on the boiler tap decides to fail!!!
Boiler off, contents into 2 FVs and tap changed.
Back boiling again in 10 mins + I remembered to refit the Hop filter!
Boiler with errant tap changed.
Sight tube idea I think came from Dunfie
Now itâs plain sailing?
No, clumsiness raises its ugly head.
I hoist the boiler up on a pulley system so that the wort can gravity feed through the CFC and into the FV.
When the boiler is ¾ empty I tilt it so as I get the last little bit out.
This action pulled the CFC off the top of the FV which in turn pulled the pipe off the boiler tap.
Half a litre later, tap turned off and pipe refitted.
Very lucky, first bit, the CFC didnât drag the FV over with it.
All finished, 21.5ltrs wort instead of the usual 23ltrs I normally get!
Iâm now off down the pub (at last).
Forgot to mention, the OG was 1051, very pleasing.
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