All Grain Virgin Needs Help

[Linz]

ps how do you put quotes in the box??

[post="71676"][/post]​

Bottom right corner of post you want to quote.click on quote.

Then go to "ADD REPLY" not quick reply and quote will be waiting for you,snip to suit quote and your response and then the add reply at bottom of new post

 

[ausdb]

As Big D said if anyone can point us to the post regarding using the soda kegs as fermenters that would be good. In the meantime I will stick with the good old buckets.

[post="71671"][/post]​

Hi Paul

The problem with using straight soda kegs as fermenters (or primary ones at least) is the lack of headspace. I you try a hefe (worst) or any beer with a real top cropper a 19L keg with 19L in it doesnt leave you all that much headspace and you will the return of the bubbling slime monster out of whatever blow off/airlock system you have rigged!!

With a hefe 20L of wort in a 30L fermenter still = overflow without a blow off system rigged

If you lurk on the craftbrewing list try emailing graham sanders as he ferments in kegs but he doesnt say what size he uses
http://oz.craftbrewer.org/Library/Gear/GSa...GSbrewDay.shtml

These guys in the states do a tall keg modification which solves the problem but its expensive!
http://www.kegs.com/27liter.html

As secondary fermenters soda kegs work great!

HTH Ausdb

 

[roach]

As Big D said if anyone can point us to the post regarding using the soda kegs as fermenters that would be good. In the meantime I will stick with the good old buckets.

[post="71671"][/post]​

Paul,

Here is a good link on using soda kegs as fermenters.

Cheers
roach

 

[GMK]

Gidday Guys. Sorry about the heading but I thought it was catchy!

The B3 system is arriving middle of next week so in preparation I thought I would ask for guidance for my first brew or two. I reckon I am going to need all the help I can get.

I would like to keep the first couple of brews simple but have no idea on the amount of grain I will need, sparge water amounts needed etc As I have not seen or used the system and I am unclear on exactly how much wort I can expect to end up in the fermenter and so on and so forth... the B3 does batch sizes of 10 gallons but I dont know if that means that is how much fermentable wort I get - which then means the actual vessels would have to be 15 gallons?? See - I told you I need some help.

My first recipe is simply 75% Pale Malt, 25% malted wheat, two additions of Tettnager 3.6% aiming for a bottled alc of 5.5% and an ibu of around 20. Wyeast 1056.

The second brew I would like to do is a bit of a Red Hook, Red Seal type ale: Pale malt, crystal malt and some cara pils, hopping with tettnang 3.6%and willamette 4.7% (I also have some Perle 4.6% in the fridge which I have never used so could give them a go) Aiming for 5.5% alc in the bottle, 35ibu and srm around 7 - 9. I will use the 1056 for this also.

No doubt when I unwrap the b3 1550 it will all become clear to me but I would certainly love some advice, hints, tips and guidance to ease me through the loss of my AG virginity.

Thanks in advance. Oh, I have posted this on the b3 forum site also so it will be interesting to get there feed back also.

Cheers!

[post="71563"][/post]​

 

[big d]

ok paul.my head is more level today and ive done a search and found what your looking for.i dont know how to put the ahb link onto my post but you can find it under gear and equipment.post by captain booze on march 26/05 titled turning a keg into a fermenter.heres some pics.

cheers
big d

 

[Darren]

Merc,
The twenty litre kegs are just too small to use as fermenters. There is no reason you couldn't use them though. You would have to remove the gas-in tube to attach an airlock.
I do know from experience though, if you get a violent ferment in one of those kegs it will make a big mess. If you get pressure build up in one it is almost impossible to release it with out also making a huge mess.
I would stick with the buckets.
cheers
Darren

 

[TidalPete]

Mercs own - if you're the real deal then welcome - but a guy who joins on April 1st & having read your posts.....

[post="71658"][/post]​

As Mercs Own's personal info gives no clue of his whereabouts I would speculate that, owing to the 'bulge' in the eastern shoreboard of our continent & the difference of 3 minutes from real (Brissie) time, he comes from somewhere in the Sydney area. Just speculating Merc's Own. Good luck with your brewing. you're a lucky man.

:beer:

 

[Mercs Own]

ps how do you put quotes in the box??

[post="71676"][/post]​

Bottom right corner of post you want to quote.click on quote.

Then go to "ADD REPLY" not quick reply and quote will be waiting for you,snip to suit quote and your response and then the add reply at bottom of new post

[post="71681"][/post]​

Like This?

 

[SJW]

ps how do you put quotes in the box??

[post="71676"][/post]​

Bottom right corner of post you want to quote.click on quote.

Then go to "ADD REPLY" not quick reply and quote will be waiting for you,snip to suit quote and your response and then the add reply at bottom of new post

[post="71681"][/post]​

Like This?

[post="71883"][/post]​

You got it brother. What a strange thread this has turned out to be. You sound like a one off, Mercs Own!

 

[Mercs Own]

A one off?? I read a news paper story about a guy with my name whom was caught filming a couple having sex in a confesional box at a church in New York. It was part of a stunt for a radio station. Why a radio station wanted film is strange enough.... Anyway I got a lot of hits on my web site telling me how disgusted people were with me for doing such a thing!! It wasnt me!!! Ross probably wont believe me! This guy was a New York comedian I am just an Aussie home brewer! Same name though!? They say that we all have a double somewhere!! (mine is usually a wild turkey and coke)

Back to topic - My system has arrived and it is unpacked - I will take some pictures and post them here. Funny thing is after a bit of a search on the Real Beer forums I found a guy in Sydney that bought the same system as me earlier this year. I emailed him to see how it was going and found out he recieved his system the same day as me! I will leave it to him if he wishes to post here and reveal who he is. Hopefully we can swap brewing stories.

The gas fitting on the B3 is an American connector and doesnt fit my gas bottle so I am sourcing an Aussie connector and regulator, other than that two of the quick disconnects got damaged in transit. More beer have already posted out a couple of replacements. Hopefully put through a hot water test on the weekend and the first brew after that.

 

[bonk]

sweet!

we need a green with envy icon

hope it all goes smoothly

 

[cubbie]

3. Underestimate your efficiency......say around 60%, that way after you run your wort into the kettle you can make adjustments to the hopping rates. If your looking for a finished wort at 1050, and your pre boil is allready at 1050 you can add water, adjust the hops excettera,


7. Plan your beer well, and try and stick to your plan, if you want a 1050 beer at 25 ibu, take a reading from your preboil and adjust the hops and any additional water to the kettle before you boil.....

[post="71673"][/post]​

Do you base your bittering hop additions on the pre-boil volume and gravity rather than the finishing boil volume and gravity? Another pre and post boil question. Should you test you gravity at the pre-boil stage to calculate you efficiency? I have just completed my first partial and tested the gravity once the brew was in the fermentor, but before I added the yeast starter.

 

[pint of lager]

If you are aiming for 23 litres into the fermenter, and lose 2 litres to trub and hops, you are actually brewing 25 litres of beer and hop 25 litres according to the expected end of boil gravity.

So if you lose 10% per hour, boil for 90 minutes, you start with 30 litres into the boiler at a lower sg, lose 15% or 4.5 litres to boil off. You end up with 25.5 litres, then lose 2 litres to trub, 23.5 into fermenter.

This all takes a bit of juggling. Your brewing software may or may not deal with the losses.

This is why I suggest new brewers do a middle of the road pale ale for your first brew. If you muck something up, you still end up with a beer within guidelines.

So you base your hopping on the expected sg and volume of beer in the boiler, after the boil is completed and prior to running through the chiller.

To work out your extraction efficiency (how much wort you extract from the grain), you take an sg and volume reading prior to boiling.

To work out your system overall efficiency, (which is a combination of your extraction efficiency and your gear setup) you take a volume and sg reading in the fermneter.

 

[Mercs Own]

Pint of Lager, great info thanks!

It has brought up more questions but I think I will go and look them up in one of my books so I can at least work out the right way to ask the question.

 

[SJW]

Hey Paul,
So have you brushed Coopers all together now?

 

[Mercs Own]

SJW, not at all - I still drink the stuff. I used to be a roving ambassador for them but that all ended a year ago as I thought bringing out my own beer and promoting Coopers didnt really go together.

Once I crank up my B3 - still waiting on a couple of replacement disconnects, I reckon I might mostly be drinking my own beer from then on.