Another banana bender

[Mortalwombat]

Hi all,

Have been running 5L ferments after buying a Brewsmith kit and then realising I could just go buy dry extract, hops and yeast to make whatever I wanted. Small batches mean I've done around 40 lots since August last year.

I typically do three 5L demijohns at a time now using dry extracts and the odd character malt (I use a coffee plunger to suck what I can from the grains). The stock pots I boil in sit in the sink so I only have to cool for a little while before I pitch.

I bought a gumtree chest freezer late last year with a pet thermostat from eBay which has kept everything mild despite a hot summer. The only drawback is that the chest freezer is too small for me to scale up if I wanted to go a 20+ L batch.

Haven't had a crack at all grain yet, and recognise that biab could probably work really well on my scale (while being that bit cheaper and giving me broader malt options). For now happy to potter about making quick and dirty 500g LME hopheavy batches for summer, but now turning back to richer and darker efforts now that the weather is cooling.

Pax in medio fermento,
MW

 

[Mardoo]

Nice. Since fermenting is just as, if not more, important than ingredients you are definitely getting some good experience under your belt. The leap to all-grain is not as big as it looks, so when you want to jump, you'll be well set.