Finally got around to finding the time to get the new Klarstein up and running.
Started the week with a standard run of the mill Wherry that I'd had lying around for a quite come time - pitched it with some standard Wilco ale yeast.
Sunday was brew day. For my first few recipes I thought I'd stick to some pre weighed ones, all from BrewUK.
Route Citra Six was first up, instructions were pretty good - I followed the full volume route and started with 23 litres of water and mashed. Putting the efficiency through the WORT app on my phone I came out at around 75% which I was pleased with first go.
The boiler held the temp perfectly on the 1500W setting, it took 20 mins get get from room temp to 66.
Batch sparged and ditched the grains. The inner basket did a good job of keeping the grain out of the main body. I didn't sparge quite enough (the basket drains on a ring over the top of the body - you can't see the volume unless you take the basket off). I didn't account for the loss of liquid retained by the grain. Topped off with water.
OG was in the target range so happy with that.
Bringing up to boil temp (set to 103 to get a nice rolling boil) took about 20 mins.
Opened up the hops and was surprised how stinky they were.
Starting the boil indoors infront of open bi-fold doors - mistake. Within a few minutes the kitchen was full of steam and water dripping off the ceiling and down the walls. Quick setup of a Workmate outside and all was good.
The boil held a rolling boil for the full 60 mins, boil loss was about 7 litres.
Hadn't got the coil chiller set up with a hose so transferred to FV and put it in a sink of cold water - changing on a regular basis. Took ages to cool, eventually had to give up and leave overnight.
Got the second brew on the go after a quick clean up - Velveteen Milk Chocolate Stout. Given the previous losses I added an extra litre of strike water. Hmm. Mistake---later.
Mashed and sparged, more volume this time and OG was in the right area. All good, o so I thought.
Got the boil on and it kept cutting out. Turned off the 3000W and just put on the 1500W, crept up the temp and eventally got to a point where the boil off losses looked about right. When I transferred the problem became apparent. The grain from the mash had overflowed into the main boiler and had formed a pretty solid residue on the base. Took an age to get this clear/clean with a number of products and time.
Cooled the same way as the Citra. Both pitched the next day at 20c.
Third brew was on Wed. This was the Lights Out Black IPA. Made a similar mistake with the grain but this time I twigged. I jugged the wort out and filtered through a sieve to leave just wort. This went to the boil no problems and kept a healthy rolling boil for the 70 mins. This had a heaps of hops (haven't got the figures in from of me but a mix of Galena, Citra and Amarillo).
Pitched in the morning after cooling.
A good experience. I found the equipment easy to use, I made notes along the way so have a much better understanding of the volumes to use and the losses expected.
All are fermenting away - probably be racking off next Sunday. Wherry will be King Kegged, Stout will be bottled, Route 66 will be half bottled and half easy kegged, probably the same with the Black IPA.
Will post up my opinion (and that of those helping me to consume this) in the New Year. Expecting the stout to be too young for Xmas so hoping to leave in the bottle until Feb.
Started the week with a standard run of the mill Wherry that I'd had lying around for a quite come time - pitched it with some standard Wilco ale yeast.
Sunday was brew day. For my first few recipes I thought I'd stick to some pre weighed ones, all from BrewUK.
Route Citra Six was first up, instructions were pretty good - I followed the full volume route and started with 23 litres of water and mashed. Putting the efficiency through the WORT app on my phone I came out at around 75% which I was pleased with first go.
The boiler held the temp perfectly on the 1500W setting, it took 20 mins get get from room temp to 66.
Batch sparged and ditched the grains. The inner basket did a good job of keeping the grain out of the main body. I didn't sparge quite enough (the basket drains on a ring over the top of the body - you can't see the volume unless you take the basket off). I didn't account for the loss of liquid retained by the grain. Topped off with water.
OG was in the target range so happy with that.
Bringing up to boil temp (set to 103 to get a nice rolling boil) took about 20 mins.
Opened up the hops and was surprised how stinky they were.
Starting the boil indoors infront of open bi-fold doors - mistake. Within a few minutes the kitchen was full of steam and water dripping off the ceiling and down the walls. Quick setup of a Workmate outside and all was good.
The boil held a rolling boil for the full 60 mins, boil loss was about 7 litres.
Hadn't got the coil chiller set up with a hose so transferred to FV and put it in a sink of cold water - changing on a regular basis. Took ages to cool, eventually had to give up and leave overnight.
Got the second brew on the go after a quick clean up - Velveteen Milk Chocolate Stout. Given the previous losses I added an extra litre of strike water. Hmm. Mistake---later.
Mashed and sparged, more volume this time and OG was in the right area. All good, o so I thought.
Got the boil on and it kept cutting out. Turned off the 3000W and just put on the 1500W, crept up the temp and eventally got to a point where the boil off losses looked about right. When I transferred the problem became apparent. The grain from the mash had overflowed into the main boiler and had formed a pretty solid residue on the base. Took an age to get this clear/clean with a number of products and time.
Cooled the same way as the Citra. Both pitched the next day at 20c.
Third brew was on Wed. This was the Lights Out Black IPA. Made a similar mistake with the grain but this time I twigged. I jugged the wort out and filtered through a sieve to leave just wort. This went to the boil no problems and kept a healthy rolling boil for the 70 mins. This had a heaps of hops (haven't got the figures in from of me but a mix of Galena, Citra and Amarillo).
Pitched in the morning after cooling.
A good experience. I found the equipment easy to use, I made notes along the way so have a much better understanding of the volumes to use and the losses expected.
All are fermenting away - probably be racking off next Sunday. Wherry will be King Kegged, Stout will be bottled, Route 66 will be half bottled and half easy kegged, probably the same with the Black IPA.
Will post up my opinion (and that of those helping me to consume this) in the New Year. Expecting the stout to be too young for Xmas so hoping to leave in the bottle until Feb.
