Questions

[Piperbrew]

I might convert one of my old fermenting bins to a heat then, all I need to do is fit an element. And the good part about that will be I can control the water heater up to the degree as I made a controller , just a plug lead which goes into a project box and inside is a rheostat that then goes to a trailing plug socket, plug the water heater into it and constant water at what ever you choose ))

I was looking to buy a 5 gallon container for the mash tub but thinking about it would I be better with say a 3 gallon or a box like yours as then I can use the heater bucket to supply then sparge.

I just saw the sparge you made on YouTube so as I know you use it I know it will work, the one on youtube was plastic but copper a far better option and I can make easily.

Is the boiling pot 23 litres or do you top up with water afterwards....or would that be a no no?

 

[Piperbrew]

How did you fit the element as all the kettles ive seen these days are hidden elements without the old style back plates

 

[Piperbrew]

Not sure if any ones interested but I just bought one of these

https://www.garden4less.co.uk/product/campingaz-icetime-plus-42l-cool-box ...shop has an offer on and a couple left.

 

[Dutto]

How did you fit the element as all the kettles ive seen these days are hidden elements without the old style back plates

Just checked and couldn't find a similar kettle! That's progress for you!

To get the element to fit I bought a simple flat silicone oven mat and cut out the relevant sized gasket.

There are dozens of elements available similar to this one on eBay ...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Boiler-1...d=290913584715&_trksid=p2385738.c100677.m4598

They're a bit more expensive. Enjoy. :thumb:

 

[Piperbrew]

Just checked and couldn't find a similar kettle! That's progress for you!

To get the element to fit I bought a simple flat silicone oven mat and cut out the relevant sized gasket.

There are dozens of elements available similar to this one on eBay ...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Boiler-1...d=290913584715&_trksid=p2385738.c100677.m4598

They're a bit more expensive. Enjoy. :thumb:

Thanks for that....I take it that element unscrews where the body is circular and you put the gasket you made there, the coloured plastic part is just a shroud?

 

[Zephyr259]

Looks like another one converted to the "dark side" of all grain brewing. :-) Thanks Dutto for providing info on a 3 tier set-up, I don't have any practical experience of those due to going from a 10L stove-top BIAB to a Grainfather.

Yeah, mashing is actually really easy, even my 10L pan which I found out would lose up to 10c in an hour still made great beer, they were just a bit drier and higer abv than intended.

About cooling, be it all-grain or extract, once you're boiling all or most of you batch it's going to take quite a which to cool naturally, maybe 24 hrs. Some folks do "no-chill" brewing where they let the hot wort cool naturally and pitch the yeast 24 hrs later. In theory this mean that you don't remove cold break proteins which could have haze/stability issues and leaving hops in hot wort will mess with the IBUs of the beer and potentially lower the flavour/aroma. In practice though plenty of people use this method just fine, and I assume they just figure out how they need to adjust hops to taste. Oh, and warm wort is a perfect environment for other bugs to grow, but if your sanitation is good it's not an issue.

Chilling quickly to pitching temp basically does the opposite of the above, removes unwanted protein, protects hop flavour/aroma, IBU calculations will be more accurate and lets you get the yeast going asap to avoid infections. It's by far the most common way to do it, and as you say, just needs a few meters of coiled copper pipe.

I work nightshift, which is why I've been quiet all day. :-) Any more questions? Good Luck.

 

[dad_of_jon]

Not sure if I have posted in the correct section so apologies if in the wrong place.

I have a few questions which I think might actually lead onto other areas but here goes.

I have been making my beer with standard malt extract kits and tinkering with them with powdered malt extract etc. My question is am I able to buy generic liquid malts cheaper than ready made kits or could I buy powered malts and then 'cook' them as such along with hops....as opposed to buying the malt grains which looks to much of a palaver to me ...no offence intended to the expert who do )).

Reason I ask is I am thinking of converting a stainless beer keg which I cut the lid off and thought about making it into a boiler ( propane). If I did this are there any plan as to what else I would need to do to it as guessing a temperature probe and tap and possibly a site tube, oh and I am an ex plumber so a doddle for me to do.

I am also looking to start secondary fermenting my beer , would I see improvements if I do?

Thanks

Pete

I just buy around 3-3.5kg of dried extract and perhaps add a can of golden syrup to boost the numbers cheaply. :grin: That way I don't need to do a full 23 litre boil . you can boil the hops with say 1kg of extract in a reduced volume of water and add the extra dme and water directly to the fv.

I also steep grains too for some of my beers. I've not had a twang to my beers , I also use bottled water so can't narrow down why I don't get a twang.

 

[Piperbrew]

I just buy around 3-3.5kg of dried extract and perhaps add a can of golden syrup to boost the numbers cheaply. :grin: That way I don't need to do a full 23 litre boil . you can boil the hops with say 1kg of extract in a reduced volume of water and add the extra dme and water directly to the fv.

I also steep grains too for some of my beers. I've not had a twang to my beers , I also use bottled water so can't narrow down why I don't get a twang.

Bottled water sounds a good idea as I guess sterile and cheap if you buy in bulk, would certainly be a good option for me as I will most likely brew in the garage and the water will be from a hose pipe, not the ideal but I suppose its getting heated to kill off any bugs.

 

[Piperbrew]

Looks like another one converted to the "dark side" of all grain brewing. :-) Thanks Dutto for providing info on a 3 tier set-up, I don't have any practical experience of those due to going from a 10L stove-top BIAB to a Grainfather.

Yeah, mashing is actually really easy, even my 10L pan which I found out would lose up to 10c in an hour still made great beer, they were just a bit drier and higer abv than intended.

About cooling, be it all-grain or extract, once you're boiling all or most of you batch it's going to take quite a which to cool naturally, maybe 24 hrs. Some folks do "no-chill" brewing where they let the hot wort cool naturally and pitch the yeast 24 hrs later. In theory this mean that you don't remove cold break proteins which could have haze/stability issues and leaving hops in hot wort will mess with the IBUs of the beer and potentially lower the flavour/aroma. In practice though plenty of people use this method just fine, and I assume they just figure out how they need to adjust hops to taste. Oh, and warm wort is a perfect environment for other bugs to grow, but if your sanitation is good it's not an issue.

Chilling quickly to pitching temp basically does the opposite of the above, removes unwanted protein, protects hop flavour/aroma, IBU calculations will be more accurate and lets you get the yeast going asap to avoid infections. It's by far the most common way to do it, and as you say, just needs a few meters of coiled copper pipe.

I work nightshift, which is why I've been quiet all day. :-) Any more questions? Good Luck.

Thanks for the advice , makes more sense every time I am here. Yes I am going to the dark side , hopefully for better beer than in kits and cheaper in the long run. The technical side , ie making the components is a breeze for me but I do find it confusing when the is talk of ABV from ingredients and calculations. Are there any recipes on here for IPA where all the ingredients are listed along with the times they are boiled?

I should be getting my cooler in the week so will be converting that to a mash tun with the outlet manifold of copper pipe on the bottom and I will also be putting a sparge unit on the underside of the lid.

Not quite sure when I will be ready to go as I have just made 80 pints of beer kit and also order a brew in the bag kit. Though would I be correct that I can actually make them and put them in a secondary for several weeks and then prime them / keg them. I have 40 pints in secondary at the moment , a first for me, I have put it in a cool place....is that ok ?

 

[Piperbrew]

One of the things I did with the kits is add more DME . I also added hops to the secondary ....am I ok to keep them in for a few weeks or will they have to be removed after a few day? I did use the powdered hop initially but it smelled awful, like chemicals....added before the ferment as per the instructions but on racking there was no hoppy smell so I am guess the powder is junk.

 

[Piperbrew]

I was just thinking about the all grain process and when mashing/sparging do you use the total recipe amount of water to do that OR would you use a percentage and fill the boiler with it and then top up with cold water OR fill the boiler with a percentage, boil and then top up with cold water? Hope I made that clear.

 

[dad_of_jon]

Bottled water sounds a good idea as I guess sterile and cheap if you buy in bulk, would certainly be a good option for me as I will most likely brew in the garage and the water will be from a hose pipe, not the ideal but I suppose its getting heated to kill off any bugs.

17p for two litres of chase spring from tesco,asda aldi & lidl - no need to treat it and it has a known mineral profile so if you want to treat it you know where you 're starting from :-)

 

[Dutto]

Thanks for that....I take it that element unscrews where the body is circular and you put the gasket you made there, the coloured plastic part is just a shroud?

On mine, the plate is held in place by three small screws that pass through the back of the element. There are dozens of varieties so I can't actually say "this one will do the trick". Sorry.

Cooling the wort and the choices available has been mentioned so here are a couple of photos.

The first is of my abortive attempt at producing a "Coil Cooler" from some 8mm copper tubing. It worked but it was embarrassing to admit to making it! :whistle:

The second photograph is of the cooler currently in use. It has a big enough surface area to cool 23 litres of wort from boiling to pitch temperature in 10/15 minutes in winter and 15/20 minutes in summer. It just fits inside the boiler.

Enjoy! :thumb:

PS

On the bench you will see my homemade Spin Plate with the words "Remove Spinner" written on it. This is to remind me to remove the small magnetic spinner before pitching the yeast.

If you look at the Hot Water vessel I posted previously, you will see similar marks on it to remind me to put water into the vessel before switching on the element!

The reminders are there because I have managed to make both mistakes!

 

[Zephyr259]

There's 2 sub-forums here one for recipe discussion and another with completed brews. Plenty of IPAs as it's a popular style. A lot of us on here have this book, it covers the basics of brewing at the start but the real value is in all the recipes. I've not heard of any bad brews from the recipes, I've brewed 5 of them myself, the 5th is still in the fermenter.

When all-grain brewing you actually use more water than your final volume this is because some gets absorbed by the grain and hops, a few litres gets boiled off and then you have dead volumes in each vessel. My 15L batches tend to use between 22 and 26 litres of water. Cutting back on the water then topping up at the end isn't a good option as it means reducing your sparge volume which means you're leaving sugars behind on the grain which will lower your efficiency.

You can store beers in a secondary for a while before carbonating, my Belgian Brunette has been bulk conditioning like that for 4.5 months, but you'll need to minimise air contact with a carboy or something similar, what are you using as a secondary just now?

 

[Piperbrew]

There's 2 sub-forums here one for recipe discussion and another with completed brews. Plenty of IPAs as it's a popular style. A lot of us on here have this book, it covers the basics of brewing at the start but the real value is in all the recipes. I've not heard of any bad brews from the recipes, I've brewed 5 of them myself, the 5th is still in the fermenter.

When all-grain brewing you actually use more water than your final volume this is because some gets absorbed by the grain and hops, a few litres gets boiled off and then you have dead volumes in each vessel. My 15L batches tend to use between 22 and 26 litres of water. Cutting back on the water then topping up at the end isn't a good option as it means reducing your sparge volume which means you're leaving sugars behind on the grain which will lower your efficiency.

You can store beers in a secondary for a while before carbonating, my Belgian Brunette has been bulk conditioning like that for 4.5 months, but you'll need to minimise air contact with a carboy or something similar, what are you using as a secondary just now?

Well being the total tool I am Zephyr I actually gave away all my brewing gear several years ago and so am now in the process of buying new. To say I am gutted is an understatement as I had several P.E.T 20 odd litres water bottles. I am now buying more, just got a wide mouthed polythene version and also getting a wide mouthed P.E.T version. At the moment I have a 'pimped kit' beer resting in one of them.

 

[Piperbrew]

On mine, the plate is held in place by three small screws that pass through the back of the element. There are dozens of varieties so I can't actually say "this one will do the trick". Sorry.

Cooling the wort and the choices available has been mentioned so here are a couple of photos.

The first is of my abortive attempt at producing a "Coil Cooler" from some 8mm copper tubing. It worked but it was embarrassing to admit to making it! :whistle:

The second photograph is of the cooler currently in use. It has a big enough surface area to cool 23 litres of wort from boiling to pitch temperature in 10/15 minutes in winter and 15/20 minutes in summer. It just fits inside the boiler.

Enjoy! :thumb:

PS

On the bench you will see my homemade Spin Plate with the words "Remove Spinner" written on it. This is to remind me to remove the small magnetic spinner before pitching the yeast.

If you look at the Hot Water vessel I posted previously, you will see similar marks on it to remind me to put water into the vessel before switching on the element!

The reminders are there because I have managed to make both mistakes!

Just making my own spin plate ))