Going Large - Today's the Day

[phillc]

Lastly, massive protein deposits in the bottom of the mash kettle after boil.

 

[chillipickle]

What a great day you had by the look of it

 

[Clint]

Very impressive!!

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Love it! We need to see more of this kind of thing. You’ve given me hope that there may be a way to keep up with demand

 

[phillc]

a pox on all those who put slices of lemon in it- the big nancies!

Who the hell does that? Burn them! My brewing partners won't even allow the use of rice husks in the grain bill, to improve lautering. Even though not Germany, it's all Reinheitsgebot here.

Does your brewing venture have a name yet?

It has a working name, but it's not yet registered. Maybe I will post it next week once we have the company up and running etc. Finding a really good name for a brewing venture is actually very, very difficult. So many of the good names are already taken. Other ideas are just crap, on reflection. We did really want to call it Weisser Hirsch which roughly translates to White Hart. Unfortunately, there's some beer in Germany already using this name.

 

[Clint]

H is now sitting there looking like the Hulk...

 

[phillc]

Love it! We need to see more of this kind of thing. You’ve given me hope that there may be a way to keep up with demand

We visited three small local breweries before choosing the one we're using. We also must have emailed 10 or 15 more across Austria, including some large ones, a few of which replied. Finding the right brewing partner was half the fun (almost).

I also have to give credit to the guys from One Eyed Jock Brewing. A Scot and an Irishman, living in Graz, Austria. One of them also runs the very good local craft beer pub, Hops, where I drink often (well, did before lock down). Without Fionn's support and inspiration, we probably wouldn't have done this. Well at least not so soon. And they've agreed to buy a very reasonable amount of our first commercial batch when ready.

I am sure it's unlikely anyone from this forum will end up in Graz, Austria, but anyway, drink here:

https://untappd.com/v/hops-craft-beer-pub-graz/8129735https://untappd.com/OneEyedJockBrewing/beer

 

[CD]

Into the fermenter. The inside of the fermenter doesn't look too clean right? We were assured this was just calcium deposits from the water. We'll see.... Next time, if we're on our own, we might just take the time to scrub the hell out of this until it's all shiny stainless steel again. Let's hope the fermentation goes well.

Make sure the brewer knows what you intend to ‘scrub the hell out of’ it with beforehand, as scratching stainless steel encourages beerscale growth in the future. Nylon seems ok, but avoid the green scourers.

 

[Clint]

Make sure the brewer knows what you intend to ‘scrub the hell out of’ it with beforehand, as scratching stainless steel encourages beerscale growth in the future. Nylon seems ok, but avoid the green scourers.

CD...the green scourers....is that because you get loads of bits off them?

 

[CD]

CD...the green scourers....is that because you get loads of bits off them?

No, because they are too scratchy.

 

[The Cat]

You don't want to damage the surface - there is a name for the protection of it which escapes me now but should be done at least annually.

 

[DocAnna]

Just catching up with these adventures wow really impressive that you are taking such a big step with a larger scale brew, and learning how to work with new processes and equipment. I'm looking forward to seeing how this works out, really the best of luck to you all .

Anna

 

[Gwen]

Just read through this post. How exciting but nerve racking for you. I hope it comes out tasting scrumptious Good luck with the new venture and lets hope you get to have more days like this one. Looking forward to your next chapter :small
Gwen

 

[Cwrex]

What a fab adventure/venture! Thank you Phillic for sharing this. (Please pass on greetings to Fionn from here in Waterford).

 

[phillc]

Went by to check on the brew yesterday afternoon and all appears well.

 

[Polcho]

Fantastic, good luck in the future!

 

[phillc]

We kegged half the batch yesterday (3 x 50 litre kegs). Even though it was only 4 days since pitching the yeast, we wanted to compare keg finished fermentation, with just leaving it in the fermenter for 10 days. Gravity was already down to 1016 from a 1054 starting point.

 

[phillc]

Thought it was time for an update to this thread. I did/do have some more pictures which I've been meaning to upload, but I've recently changed phones and they're on the old one (not with me at the moment). I'll endeavour to do this later.

Anyway, long story short, this brew is a fail.

We ended up with something that tastes like charcoal (or cigarettes as one person described it). We put this down to scorching during the mash or boil. We have a plan to fix this, but that'll take another brew day and this 300 litres is waste.

Well, maybe not entirely waste. We're thinking about distilling it so see what it tastes like! One never knows..... Peat whisky is popular after all

 

[DocAnna]

Anyway, long story short, this brew is a fail.

We ended up with something that tastes like charcoal (or cigarettes as one person described it). We put this down to scorching during the mash or boil. We have a plan to fix this, but that'll take another brew day and this 300 litres is waste.

Well, maybe not entirely waste. We're thinking about distilling it so see what it tastes like! One never knows..... Peat whisky is popular after all

Oh no that's such a shame to hear , was that both the early and later kegged versions?

 

[phillc]

It seemed like the amount we kegged early wasn't quite as bad as what we kegged later. Or rather maybe, the amount we kegged earlier had more wheat beer "banana" esters, which is what we were shooting for. However, the undertone of burned charcoal was still present. After a few weeks it hasn't mellowed out either.

Reading various threads here, I think we know what's happened, but this batch is a write off.

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/beer-tastes-like-ashtray.94708/
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/opinions-please.93533/#post-1023252
And looking back at some of the pictures, such as this one, you can see there are burned deposits on the heating coils.