Coolers?? Mash tun??

[chassyp]

Hi all. I am just starting back brewing after a quarter of a century break. In my day I brewed all grain using my oven top, grain bag, and pressure barrel. I now look round and see equipment that frightens me! Why such a rush to cool the brew? I just left it overnight! Whats all this with a tun?? I just left it to stew in the pot it boiled in never any probs there!
Sorry to be the bearer of cynicism but do we really require all this gear? :

 

[Ceejay]

Howdo?!

I think you're partailly right. I used to help my dad brew when I was in my teens and we made some cracking brews with little more than a big saucepan and a fermenting bin. I think the thing is here, that there are gains in quality to be had whilst not having to spend very much. The main thing here is about gaining consistency, which much of the specialised AG equipment aims to do.

Cooling, as per your example - the idea is to cool down to yeast pitching temp' as quickly as possible so as to minimise oxygenation of the wort, which causes off flavours.

 

[chassyp]

Thanks for that ceejay. I`ll stick mine in a cold bath with ice I guess. Always been a make do type guy. I guess I get more inward reward from it being a scavenger at heart!
I drink in a micro brewery pub and for all the tens of thousand of pounds worth of gear, the brew changes a little all the time. (still superb though) I thought that was actually the nature of the beast and also added to the originality of the brew. :

 

[Aleman]

Just think . . .all those big commercial breweries . . . . they must be doing something wrong . . .how much money and investment in equipment could they save if the 'Just left it to stew in the pot it boiled in'

Cooling, as per your example - the idea is to cool down to yeast pitching temp' as quickly as possible so as to minimise oxygenation of the wort, which causes off flavours.

Actually no, you want too cool as quickly as possible to secure the cold break, which stabilises the beer giving it a longer shelf life and reduces the haze, and pitch the yeast as quickly as possible to minimise the possibility of infection risk. It is at this stage (cold) that you actually want to oxygenate the wort as cold wort absorbs more oxygen than hot.

There are real and valid reasons for each and every piece of equipment that we use in our breweries, and while I do not advocate blindly following commercial practice (sometimes it doesn't scale down) the three vessel brewery approach is actually one of the best in terms of making it easier on the brewer to produce quality beer of a high standard consistantly.

 

[Ceejay]

I wrote "oxygenation" - I meant "oxidation"

Listen to Aleman; if he was a book he'd be callled "The Encyclopaedia Beertannica"

 

[graysalchemy]

Listen to Aleman; if he was a book he'd be callled "The Encyclopaedia Beertania"

:lol: :lol:

There's the tittle for your long awaited book.

By the way are you going to do signed copies or perhaps a book tour :lol: :lol:

 

[chassyp]

Now now girls!! Stick to the post please :

 

[BigYin]

as if that is normal in the world of internet forums :lol:

Not only does a mash tun and a coolong coil help with making damn nice beer, you can build them yourself (half the fun!) for not a hell of a lot of cash :thumb:

It's more satisfying that way too :mrgreen: