Ahhh, The Dark Side Is Sooo Near..

[MarkBastard]

Well you can still use the thermostat to 'set and forget', ie walk away for 30 minutes without worrying about the posibility of boil overs or whatever else while rising to strike temp.

 

[Pollux]

exactly....

Side note, I love the fact that you can take the boy from the country, but not the country from the boy...

I just saw the steam coming off the urn and thought "mmmm, I could use that to reshape my Akubras........" and then promptly went and dug them out and reshaped them, one had been quite badly squashed by the missus when she dumped a box of sewing shit on it...

 

[Bribie G]

Nice piece of kit. I don't usually twirl the thermo dial - I just leave it permanently set it to 95 on the Birko which gives a rolling boil. For mashing I just wait until it gets to strike temp, switch off, fit the bag, dough in, then insulate and walk away. Then after draining, switch on again and soon get the rolling boil.

Other hints: get a baby bath to dump the bag in. Is there anywhere in the garage to hang a sky hook from? If so you can get a cheap awning pulley for about five bucks and rig a nylon rope for hoisting the bag and hanging a hopsock.

 

[Pollux]

No skyhook spots in the garage.......I looked already, there is an eyelet in the bedroom (I have no idea what the previous tenant hung from it, probably a sex swing) but the missus won't go for the urn sitting on the bed.....


I have a 25L food grade bucket ready for bag dumpage, my baby bath is currently used to catch drips while bottling..

 

[FarsideOfCrazy]

Pollux what sort of bag is that? Did you make it or buy it?

 

[Pollux]

Wife made it from poly swiss voile, triple stitched as straight-zizzag-straight on all seams.......

Was made to be oversized in case I upgrade later on.

That's me wearing it in the avatar....and I'm 6'4"......... It's a big ******* bag.



Another note, does anyone have a ball park figure for the rate at which pellet hops absorb water? one thing I haven't taken into account is the loss of wort to the hop sock upon removal......

 

[Bizier]

Looking good Pollux.
Inner West represent!

 

[Cocko]

Awesome Pollux, sounds like you are very under control!

If I had 2 sleeps to go I would be in bed [Twice in the next 3 hours] and brewing ASAP!!

Best of luck mate, BIAB is an awesome way to get awesome beer in my opinion...

I am only 18 BIAB's in and am yet to see a problem with a brew, just great, better than partial, beer so far! But am thinking about building a mash tun for many reasons....

GO GO GO!


:icon_cheers:

 

[Pollux]

All this is now at the mercy of Auspost.......

If my grains/hops/yeast don't show up today, I am screwed till Monday....

 

[Pollux]

Forget that, my grains are here.......


Now to go buy some drums to store near on 35kg of grain in.

 

[JonnyAnchovy]

Looks like we'll be brewing at the same time tomorrow. I also just got the 40L crown from craftbrewer (on the same day as you, I think) - I know it's been said before, but they are one of THE best run outfits I've ever dealt with - their whole system just works so well!

I think I'm going to steal your jacket idea for both the kettle and HLT - good for future BIABs, but also to just make thw whole thing more efficient - all that steel must radiate a lot of heat.

I'm using the crown urn as a kettle (already have a 20L urn as HLT and converted esky/tun). Lets wish each other good luck for the weekend!

 

[Pollux]

Best of luck to you my friend.....

Hops are all tucked away in the freezer, the missus is going to freak when she notices she has lost half a shelf of space....

I could almost do it right now, but I want to make sure I have everything set in place for when the time comes.

Tomorrow's shopping list.

1. Some bunnings water barrels to keep all this grain in.
2. A couple of jerries for NC
3. A hose to run from the tap to the NC jerries (BTW, the tap can be pulled apart, it just unscrews and a little force on the pull and it's free, was easy after I drained the test boil water out through the tap last night).
4. Mash paddle
5. Digital stick thermometer (I have been using a dial one, not really accurate)
6. A bottle of Unibroue Maudite to drink once it's all done, I figured it's about the same as having a cigar.
7. Something to hang the hop sock from, thinking planter hooks hanging from the sides of the urn.

 

[Katherine]

Skyhooks are the way.... we just tie the pulley around the garage awning.... you can use your'e biab bag as the hop sock.... after use throw it in the washing machine....

dont forget to update the wiki tommorow... dare ya to have beer at mash in....!

 

[Pollux]

Katie, I'm going to be a good boy.....

No drinkies until AT LEAST the first hop addition...

The last extract I did I got tanked in the process and f*cked it up royally......

Left in it the dead fridge with no ice blocks, 28deg ferment for 3 days......Still can't drink it after 3 months in the bottle.

 

[Bribie G]

Pollux, what grade of sleeping bag did you use on your test run? I had never even thought of that, so convenient, slip it on and slip it off. I have a s.b. but it's geared more for light use in Qld. Might head for Anaconda and heck I can even use it for bushwalking up at Jimna near Kilcoy where it actually freezes some winter nights. The malt-aroma-permeated fabric will soothe me to sleep and the grandson can have my lighter one, kids are tough h34r:

 

[reviled]

The malt-aroma-permeated fabric will soothe me to sleep and the grandson can have my lighter one, kids are tough h34r:

Bahaha, awesome :lol: I can see a new range of malt smelling pillows instead of lavender..

 

[Katherine]

How does the urn work does it still go on a burner?

 

[Bribie G]

How does the urn work does it still go on a burner?

Electric Urn. Power up to strike temp, dough in then switch off and insulate. Hoist n drain and switch on again to get to rolling boil. I usually hoist until a few cm above the wort so I can drain and heat at the same time. God I love talking dirty when there are females on the forum. h34r:

 

[Pollux]

BribieG, I can't actually tell you that....I've had it since I was roughly 12 and the only thing still readable on the tag is my name written in permanent marker.....

And yes Katie, no external heat source, one power lead......

 

[Pollux]

Time is ticking down.......

Just need to wait till after dinner so I can claim the entire kitchen as my brewcave.

More shopping today, the total bill is starting to get amusing

Urn $274 delviered
Jacket $5
Bag $16 worth of fabric and thread, still got a heap leftover too.
Mash paddle (bunnings paint stirrer) $7
Cube for NC $19 each
Hose and clamp $5
Digital probe thermo $30
4pk of La trappe to celebrate my first AG $16

Total sans actual ingredients = $372..........

But hell, it's so worth it.