New beginnings with near gear....

[AdeDunn]

I wasn't sure where to post this, but figured here was probably best suited.

As mentioned elsewhere, been a while since I brewed. Health reasons mainly, kinda got difficult using my old DIY kit really. So yeah, been waiting for some expected money to turn up as the Mrs told me I could buy a brewing system once it did. Well, money finally showed up.... Looked around and most systems are out of stock, even looked at getting a Grainfather, out of stock everywhere. lol. Finally found a system I liked on the Klarstein site though, in the form of the 30l Bruaheld Pro. I tend to brew 14 litres into FV, so that is more than big enough for my needs (I used to do the old 23 litres, but ended up with huge stocks of beer just sat.... lol So switched to brewing little and often instead). Basically a bit of a knock off of the Bulldog Master Brewer from what I can see, with a few alterations.

I also ordered a 50 plate plate chiller, and a bunch of fittings, to try to reduce water usage when cooling wort (the horror! A plate chiller! lol). Good old brewbuilder for that one. Did some reading around on how best to clean and sanitise them, and how to utilise them properly...

Guess I will let you know over time how things go with the new gear, as always. Will be good to get brewing once again.

 

[Session]

Sounds like a good system. When does everything arrive? Make sure to post some pictures of your set up so we can have a look!

 

[Clint]

Yes I remember you Ade....please do post some mucky pictures...

 

[cushyno]

Welcome back Ade!

 

[AdeDunn]

lol I didn't really go anywhere, just didn't have a lot to say with not actually doing any brewing.

Klarstein sent me an email saying it's shipped, DPD app says they have my details but haven't received the parcel yet, but hopefully should be here in the next few days with a bit of luck.

I will definitely post some pictures, you can be sure of that. I did watch an unboxing video of a 45 litre one, but was an older model with the controller in the base. The controller is in the style of the Bulldog Master Brewer one now though, you can unhook it from the machine and put it where you like, so you can use the brewer on the floor without having to kneel on the floor to use it.

I've since found the more standard Guten type machines for sale on the Royal Catering Supplies site (you know, the Hopcat/Brewdevil etc type ones), but yeah that controller in the bottom thing is really off putting with these machines. You either have to kneel on the floor to use them, or hoist the basket higher as it's on a table or something. Liking the idea of having more flexibility.

Of course, it could turn out to be a disaster, but hopefully not eh? lol

Mucky pictures Clint? You obviously remember the ones of me out in the back garden late at night that time... lmao

 

[cushyno]

It will be interesting to hear your tales as a second timer. The comparisons between your first single vessel brewery and your current setup. What you like, what you wish you'd done the first time around. It must be exciting to be on the cusp of brewing again!

 

[Gerryjo]

Welcome back @AdeDunn from lurking in the background. Got a Robobrew v3.1 a month ago and have been so busy I haven't even leak checked it yet. Good luck with your new set up.

 

[AdeDunn]

It will be interesting to hear your tales as a second timer. The comparisons between your first single vessel brewery and your current setup. What you like, what you wish you'd done the first time around. It must be exciting to be on the cusp of brewing again!

My first was single vessel too, but DIY built eBIAB system, rather than commercial system. Which meant sprawling cables, varying quality BIAB bags, having to find a way to support the bag whilst it drained etc.... lol





It worked well, but yeah, it was a bit of a task to use and even more of one to clean afterwards. Plus all of the trailing cables from the controller..... The amount I spent building that thing, then "perfecting" it, I could have easily saved the money and bought one of the more affordable single vessel systems to be honest. DIY builds are money pits. That was actually my 2nd system, my 1st was an ACE boiler that I added recirculation to, but a cable in the bottom of that literally burned through....

Welcome back @AdeDunn from lurking in the background. Got a Robobrew v3.1 a month ago and have been so busy I haven't even leak checked it yet. Good luck with your new set up.

Don't wait too long, they'll bring out an updated model before you get to use it. lol That's one of the systems I looked at, but didn't fancy waiting until the end of August for it... If DPD don't pull their finger out picking mine up though, it might head that way... Tracking still says they haven't even picked it up from Klarstein... lol It's ok though, gives me time to get a few other bits and bobs sorted (like maybe a temporary gazebo put up in our back yard to brew under.... I still remember what fun brewing indoors is even with a really strong extractor...).

Biggest tip I would give anybody these days I think would be, try to set up some sort of weather resistant outdoor brewing area. The steam given off during the boil is prodigious, and even our massive cooker hood couldn't cope with it all! Plus brewing outside, if you splash a bit of wort, no biggy, just spray it with a hose... Nobody thanks you for condensation running down the walls, and your kids whining about the smell of hops in the boil gets really annoying. lol

 

[Gerryjo]

My first was single vessel too, but DIY built eBIAB system, rather than commercial system. Which meant sprawling cables, varying quality BIAB bags, having to find a way to support the bag whilst it drained etc.... lol

View attachment 28605

View attachment 28607

It worked well, but yeah, it was a bit of a task to use and even more of one to clean afterwards. Plus all of the trailing cables from the controller..... The amount I spent building that thing, then "perfecting" it, I could have easily saved the money and bought one of the more affordable single vessel systems to be honest. DIY builds are money pits. That was actually my 2nd system, my 1st was an ACE boiler that I added recirculation to, but a cable in the bottom of that literally burned through....

View attachment 28608



Don't wait too long, they'll bring out an updated model before you get to use it. lol That's one of the systems I looked at, but didn't fancy waiting until the end of August for it... If DPD don't pull their finger out picking mine up though, it might head that way... Tracking still says they haven't even picked it up from Klarstein... lol It's ok though, gives me time to get a few other bits and bobs sorted (like maybe a temporary gazebo put up in our back yard to brew under.... I still remember what fun brewing indoors is even with a really strong extractor...).

Biggest tip I would give anybody these days I think would be, try to set up some sort of weather resistant outdoor brewing area. The steam given off during the boil is prodigious, and even our massive cooker hood couldn't cope with it all! Plus brewing outside, if you splash a bit of wort, no biggy, just spray it with a hose... Nobody thanks you for condensation running down the walls, and your kids whining about the smell of hops in the boil gets really annoying. lol

Thankfully I'm ok as I brew in the garage which has a roller door with 2 window sashes so don't get much of a build up though in winter the odd moth or 4 will pay a visit at night time.

 

[AdeDunn]

Thankfully I'm ok as I brew in the garage which has a roller door with 2 window sashes so don't get much of a build up though in winter the odd moth or 4 will pay a visit at night time.

Sounds good. No garage here sadly or I would do the same thing. We have most of a brick shed where I keep garden tools, I say most of, as before we moved here some neighbours helpfully tried to dismantle it. Story is a local thief was robbing houses in the area then hiding stolen stuff in there until he could fence it, so the locals decided to pull it down so he couldn't any more... Police got there before they could do much more than damage it. But yeah, holes in walls, and the roof (not helped by a neighbour we back onto cutting chunks of trees and dropping them onto the roof...), rubble under the soil up that end of the garden.... Wouldn't be big enough to brew in anyway, I only just fit the garden stuff in there. lol

Huge patio though in the back garden, so plan is to get one of those portable gazebos with the zip in side walls and brew under that in all but the worst weather, then I'll brew indoors like I used to. Just need to keep rain and falling leaves away (our back garden is a bit of a woodland).

 

[AdeDunn]

Brunhilda (Brewhilda?) arrived (tell me nobody else thinks that when they read Bruaheld!). Need to get the tiny bits of polystrene out still, and leak test it.





2 niggles. Cable on the controller seems a bit short, fitting on the recirc pipe isn't 1/2 BSP so I can't fit a QD fitting and use the built in pump for transfer and cooling (going to use my old pump for this, but at least I know that one can cope with boiling wort).

More niggles may become apparent with use. lol

But heh, shiny right? lol

 

[AdeDunn]

3 more pics, and I MAY have thought of a solution to cooling (plate chiller, planning recirculating cooling, rather than straight to FV, so needs to be pumped) and transfer, maybe.




Yeah, I realised the overflow pipe was telescopic.... Insert facepalm gif here.

 

[AdeDunn]

Plate chiller arrived. I mentioned I ordered a large one didn't I?



Gazebo just arrived too for me to brew under in the back yard, but can't post pics of that really... Well, not until it's up anyway... lol

 

[kelper]

How will you clean the plate cooler? I'm used to industrial units that could be completely dismantled and, even then, they took a lot of scrubbing.

 

[AdeDunn]

I researched that. Consensus is first up not letting it fill with crud in the first place (I already bag my hops during the boil, and had even started skimming the hot break last time around), sanitisation is pretty much identical to with an immersion chiller, pump boiling wort through it 10/15 minutes before end of boil. Other than that, flush through with hot water etc etc (same time as cleaning my machine really, hot water and PBW, pump it through for a bit, cleans the pipework, pump, and chiller, then rinse well). Another tip I found was to swap the water side and wort side each brew, et voila, you back flush every brew on top of all the other cleaning steps.

If you do end up with crud in there, you throw them in the oven and turn it to cinders, then spend an age trying to flush it all out, regretting not doing a better job keeping crud out of there. lol

But yeah, fear of cleaning them is why more people don't use them. They don't suit folks who want to chuck pellets in the boil, cool and transfer everything to the FV for example. You have to go to extra lengths to make sure the wort you transfer is free of hop debris (going by what I have read).

 

[kelper]

My immersion chiller sits in the FV and cools fro 90 to 20 in ten minutes. I don't think it worth spending loads to save a few minutes off that!

 

[AdeDunn]

Mine was taking 40 to 50 minutes, and using enough water to fill a reservoir.... A decent one would have cost as much as my plate chiller did (50 plates, rated to cool 21 litres in 7-12 minutes). lol

 

[kelper]

My tap water was 5 degrees C !!!

 

[Clint]

My wort chiller is rubbish this time of year...I give up at 30c and put it in the fridge to finish. How are plate or even counterflow chillers during the summer?

 

[AdeDunn]

My wort chiller is rubbish this time of year...I give up at 30c and put it in the fridge to finish. How are plate or even counterflow chillers during the summer?

It's all going to depend on the temperature of the water going into them. But, with plate and counterflow you can run them from a pumped water source, and pump ice cooled water through them at a push with it recirculating as they work faster.... Or so I have read. Never had the water from our outside tap get so hot that I couldn't get wort to 20 degrees, even with my naff copper IC to be honest, just had to make sure I ran a pump to whirlpool wort around it the whole time. Jut took so long, and used so much water! The time I brewed outside and positioned myself too far from the drain, I ended up putting the waste water into buckets, and realised just how much water it was using......

Of course, when I was using Kveik I only cooled wort to 40 degrees C, by the time I'd transferred it to the FV it was 38 degrees C, then I'd do my best to insulate the FV.... lmao

My tap water I think was usually around 14 degrees C....