Recent content by Ckilner

I brew with a Braumeister 50 and use reverse osmosis water. My recipes are generated by Beersmith which also makes the water adjustment calculations for me. I like to brew large batches to go into my 1/2bbl fermenter which don't fit in the Braumeister. What I tend to do is brew, sparge and then...

I use Peracetic acid for sanitising so I'll employ a similar regime using that.

Yup, hot caustic sorted it - thanks. Judging by the colour of the caustic and the bits floating about it was pretty horrible inside. How I've managed to escape a brew infection I don't know!

I've got a SS Brewtech Unitank in which there is a carb stone which I have never used. So far it has just been there to plug the hole in the side of the tank. I've now decided to use it to oxygenate the wort before fermentation starts. I've connected it to an oxygen cylinder and immersed it in...

I was planning on cooling the wort first and then pitching the yeast. I have a SS Brewtech Unitank which has an aeration stone built in so plan to aerate through that. I have to admit, I hadn't read the bit about glycol coolers not cooling hot wort but I suppose it makes sense. I suppose it's...

I'm currently using a Blichmann plate chiller to chill the wort to 20deg C on the way to the fermenter from my Braumeister. If I cut out the plate chiller and just transfer the wort straight to the fermenter at 80 deg C this would cut out a lot of risk of infection in the chiller and make the...

I currently oxygenated my wort with a stone after it has been cooled with a plate chiller. I've just had a thought that perhaps I could skip the oxygenation as it goes through the plate chiller and use the airstone in my SS Brewtech Unitank. It sort of feels like a good idea but I'm not sure...

What grain crush size do you use? I have set mine to 1.2mm. I wonder if that's why my efficiency is 72% and not 82% like you. I use Brunwater for my water additions.

I'm considering doing a high ABV brew with a double mash. I'm using Beersmith 3 and I'm familiar with using it. For my single mash brews I have set BH efficiency at 72% and this seems to be pretty accurate for normal session beers. I thought I'd have a go at a double mash. If the efficiency of...

I've jumped in and bought a 4 stage RO filter. It's arriving tomorrow so brew day later this week. We'll see if it improves the beer.

I'm considering a RO filter but can't decide on 4 or 5 stage. The aim is to give me a blank sheet so that I can add the salts I want. The water in my area is very hard so great for stouts but not for hoppy pale ales. Suggestions?

Actually, I think my first impressions were wrong. I've worked with the BS3 water additions some more and used the BW model and it's closer to what I expect than I originally thought. Apart from the S04/Cl ratio question (the fact that it seems high), my other question is the kettle top up...

BM3 recipe 10kg Maris Otter 50L Mash 10L Sparge Kettle top-up: 14.4L Pre-boil vol: 64.42L Post boil vol: 60.42 Target profile: Hoppy Pale Ale Using BM3 to generate the water adjustment figures and then feeding those into BrunWater gives the following: Magnesium seems rather high and the...

Has anyone used the Beersmith 3 water adjustment? I normally use BrunWater and have done for many years but I thought I'd have a look at what Beersmith 3 offers just 'cos it's raining outside and I've not got a brew to do. I seems to come back with some strange numbers.