Another Ag Cherry Popped

[Gulf]

So after a long period of dreaming, planning and collecting equipment I finally had my first AG brew day on Saturday.

I first want to thank everyone here at AHB for all the great info that helped me along the way, and especially my friends Rudy and Matty for the inspiration.

The first pic attached is an overview during setup of the system (apologies for crappy phone pics, no camera battery).
HLT is 40L Crown urn, MLT is 25L Esky, Kettle is 80L aluminium stock pot heated with an italian spiral burner, chiller is 30 plate HE block, hoses are food grade reinforced PVC with brass snap connectors. Not shown is the Marga mill with PVC stormwater hopper thingy.

Second pic is detail of the HLT.
I have removed the tap from the 40L Crown urn and connected a "T" piece. The 200mm probe from Mashmaster temperature controller is inserted through this into the body of the urn. A three-way ball valve then selects between filling from the tap (right), and output to the mash tun (left).

Third pic is the mash tun.
25L Esky "borrowed" from housemate. Braided hose, brass fittings and a 3/4" ball valve. Also pictured are the temperature controller, sophisticated elevation enhancement device (milk crate) and protective clothing/footwear.

Fourth pic is the kettle.
80L aluminium stock pot. A stainless steel pickup tube connects to a brass bulkhead and 3/4" ball valve. Heating is Italian spiral burner. Aluminium foil windshield worked well but the small steel plate underneath failed to prevent the table from smouldering.

Fifth pic is the 30 plate chiller.
Worked perfectly except I measured Adelaide's water coming out of the tap at 31C...


I brewed a simple APA with 4KG of JW Ale Malt, 250g crystal, Amarillo 20g @ 60min, 15g @ 20min and 15g @ flameout. All went perfectly except I missed target volume in fermenter (20L) by a *lot*... turns out I misread the markings on my paddle/measuring stick. Nothing a bit of number crunching and some top up water couldn't fix though. Some US-05 is happily chewing through this as I type.

Had so much fun I decided to brew another batch in the afternoon and cube it for later. Same grain bill but Pride of Ringwood 28g @ 60min only, will ferment with a Cooper's re-culture. After getting volume measurements right this time everything turned out beautifully, seems like good efficiency as well.

Future: Heatproof mat for under burner, upgrade mash tun and some various fittings, insulate HLT/kettle, get another/bigger fermenting fridge.

Thanks again AHB.

 

[avaneyk]

Good work Gulf. I had trouble cooling my wort on Saturday too - I'll be looking into a pre-chiller for my next brew.

Hope both beers work out great.

 

[kook]

Well done Gulf! Nice looking setup there.

We have the same problem over here in Perth for chilling in summer. Some guys here pump through a second chiller immersed in ice, which apparently can work OK.

 

[Greg Lawrence]

Nice one Gulf, but I think you need a bigger mash paddle.

 

[mxd]

very nice, gratz

Matt

 

[brenjak]

I see you have the QDs on the chiller. Try connecting the chiller to a pre-chilled 25lt jerry can. I am in FNQ and the tap water is not what you would call cold, or cool for that matter. I used 25 litres of chilled water on my last AG and it worked a treat. As soon as Jerry empty switch to tap. It evens out the temp in the end.

 

[malt_shovel]

G'Day,

I too poped my AG cherry on Sunday. I had a crack at brewing an Imperial IPA with Maris Otter base, some biscuit and caramalt (and a bit of demerera). Hit all my volumes and gravity measurments which makes me suspect something is not right...

Same problem here in Perth brewing in the summer, water from the tap is not cold enough to get to pitching temps. I had a crack at making a pre-chiller out of some copper from Bunnings with hose connections each end, sitting in an ice bath. It didn't work as I had hoped, but I think it was due to short copper length (3m only) and it's relatively large diameter, giving a low surface area / volume ratio (3/4" OD). Also a shortage of frozen ice / bottles makes this only an option at the very end of the chill to get the last few degrees, other wise it is only helpful getting the temp don to tap water temps a bit quicker.