First Brew with Brewmonk

[atco_91]

Hello everyone!

I've introduced myself and had my location pinned to map - What an excellent feature by the way!!

I've done a few all grain brews using the brew in the bag method, but the batches were small (5L).

I've now invested in new equipment so I can continue to learn and brew larger batches. I am using a 45L Brewmonk and have all the items necessary to go ahead with brew day.
I welcome any advice anyone may have on moving to bigger systems, common mistakes etc.
This will also be my first time sparging, but this seems simple enough. My only query is that the recipe kit includes "Calcium Sulphate" and "Calcium Chloride" and says to add this straight into the mash volume, should I hold any back for the sparge water or follow as instructed?

Thank you all and happy brewing.

 

[Gerryjo]

Hello everyone!

I've introduced myself and had my location pinned to map - What an excellent feature by the way!!

I've done a few all grain brews using the brew in the bag method, but the batches were small (5L).

I've now invested in new equipment so I can continue to learn and brew larger batches. I am using a 45L Brewmonk and have all the items necessary to go ahead with brew day.
I welcome any advice anyone may have on moving to bigger systems, common mistakes etc.
This will also be my first time sparging, but this seems simple enough. My only query is that the recipe kit includes "Calcium Sulphate" and "Calcium Chloride" and says to add this straight into the mash volume, should I hold any back for the sparge water or follow as instructed?

Thank you all and happy brewing.

Just add to your mash as stated and assuming you've went for a hoppy ale or NEIPA as this I assume shall be to help accentuate the hops.
I would suggest you do a dry{water only} run so as to get the gist of the machine regarding heating, volumes, pump speeds and boil off rate, just basically a test drive.

 

[foxy]

What Gerryjo says, also check your temperature to see if it needs calibrating, the how to is in the instructions. When you have used it a few times you will see yourself the way to tweak the performance of your Brewmonk. If you get away from kits then you can play around with no sparge, makes brewday simple.
I don't use the overflow pipe or top screen, but best for you to get used to it before going down that track.

 

[atco_91]

Thank you for the advice.
I did a dry run as suggested and found temperature read to be very accurate compared to 2 other digital and 1 analogue thermometer. Looking forward to my first batch using it, hopefully tomorrow.

atb