Bowie Blasts Off Into Ag Stratosphere

[bowie in space]

Hi everyone, well after a year of brewing under my belt including a couple of K&K and about 20 odd extracts and partials, I decided it was time to go AG. I do things at a pretty slow and leisurely pace B) .

So for my birthday I bought a 40L Birko urn from evil bay for $173 and swisse voille bag from Gryphon for $42 with postage. So all up to join the AG club it cost $215. BIAB is AG, right? h34r:

Well, ok there were other costs involved like silicone tubing and a SS ball valve and barb from Grain and Grape. Also got to dabble in fresh wort kits, mainly to use the plastic containers so I can "no chill" h34r: my AG wort.

But hey, I am currently drinking my first beer made from scratch and IMHO it's killer :beerbang: . Of course I've named in cherry popper ale (DR Smurtos Golden Ale).

Now if I can just get these damn pictures to upload...

 

[bowie in space]

 

[bowie in space]

Urn and parts.

Urn was filthy when I picked it up from seller, but a little vinegar and sodium percarbornate fixed that up

 

[bowie in space]

 

[bowie in space]

checking the temperature and doughing in

 

[bowie in space]

 

[bowie in space]

sparge and boil.

Like my sparging technique? Plenty of AG vets out there cringing. Believe me I was too! But this game is addictive and I plan on getting a full set up including big mash tun and a big enough pot and burner to do doubles.

I must point out that efficiency levels in BIAB are hard to achieve so inevitably I'll end up using more grain than the average AG'er. I have my second BIAB AG in the fermenter at the moment and with a better sparging technique (and more squeezing of the bag) I was able to get a better OG result. I don't use beersmith or anything like that. I am very much in the old school mode and brew with feel rather than programs.

I'm sure cynics are nodding there heads right now...

 

[bowie in space]

 

[bowie in space]

enjoying my last partial :icon_cheers:

The Birko gets a good rolling boil too

 

[bowie in space]

...and in the cube. I could have added more photos like adding hops and draining wort but I think I've probably bored everyone with my slide show so far....

oh, just one last photo!!

 

[bowie in space]

aah, that's better. What's better than a day off in the lovely Melbourne sunshine? Treating yourself to your own AG Beer!!! It's even more special when it's your first too :lol:

This site has been a great resource in my quest to make beer, good beer from scratch. I'll continue to move onwards and upwards with my brewing and can't wait to upgrade my gear and experiment with my own recipes.

If anyone is doing kits and extracts, I can strongly recommend going AG. It's easy, relatively inexpensive and there is a world of sound advice from experienced brewers on this site.

Cheers

Bowie :icon_cheers:

 

[woodmac66]

Well done mate ... Top effort.
I hae just finished my Brew Rig and waiting for my Mash Tun that will be ready Tuesday.
I too will be joining the AG obsession and looking forward to my first Brew next week.
Will post some pics.

I bet it does feel good and your Brews will only get better I am sure!
Smurtos Golden a great start.


Woody

 

[bowie in space]

Good to hear of your AG adventures too Woodmac, and thanks for the reply too :icon_cheers:

What kind of set up are you running? I am debating the pros and cons of the different styles of mash tuns and false bottoms at the moment.

Keep me updated.

Bowie

 

[raven19]

Great work Bowie. Welcome to the dark side!

Keep pumping out brews to get the stock levels up!!! :icon_cheers:

 

[bowie in space]

Cheers Raven19, I just became a member of the grain society today at Grain and Grape. $160 for 50kg of grain = $3.20 p/kg (crushed and bagged). You pay up front and it gets treated like a tab. If you want imported malt it works out at 1.5 x the cost of aussie malt. Eg) Today I took 4kg JW aussie ale ($12.80) and 4kg Maris Otter imported ($19.20). I've still got 42kg of grain left and my next 8 or so brews are paid for. I just need to buy hops and yeast each time i go :icon_cheers: . I could buy multiple hops and re-culture yeast so I don't have to travel, but I enjoy going there and talking to the guys and other customers, not to mention their brew demo days.

It does, however, work out cheaper to buy Aussie grain, but such is the flexability of the tab that if you wanna knock out a cheap SMASH you can do it :lol: .

Bowie

 

[Digger11]

Pt Cook is not far from Yarraville so easy to get to Grape and Grain. I also like stopping in their to collect the goods for each brew.
Any reason you are going from BIAB to Mash tuns etc ?

 

[bowie in space]

Digger11,

I mainly wanna go from BIAB to mash tuns for better efficiency. At the moment I'm using more grain with BIAB because of limited sparging techniques. Perhaps I'll develop more efficient techniques that will allow me to get the most out of the grain, but until then i'll research the ideal set up for me.

The other direction i wanna take my brewing is into double batches, so a larger mash tun and big-ass pot with burner sounds great. That's the next step as soon as finances permit.
I'll continue to no-chill until i can afford a copper chiller. Then i'll take over the world :icon_drunk:
Bowie

 

[Zwickel]

....I just became a member of the grain society today at Grain and Grape. $160 for 50kg of grain = $3.20 p/kg (crushed and bagged). You pay up front and it gets treated like a tab. If you want imported malt it works out at 1.5 x the cost of aussie malt. Eg) Today I took 4kg JW aussie ale ($12.80) and 4kg Maris Otter imported ($19.20). .....

hmmm....I should start an Import/Export company for malt. Buying pilsener malt over here would cost around 450 Euro per ton =~ 730 A$ =~73 A cent per kilo without tax.

Im really in deep thoughts...... h34r:

 

[woodmac66]

Good to hear of your AG adventures too Woodmac, and thanks for the reply too :icon_cheers:

What kind of set up are you running? I am debating the pros and cons of the different styles of mash tuns and false bottoms at the moment.

Keep me updated.

Bowie

I have built a 2 tier stand , 50 litre Mash Tun, 70 Litre Boiler 40 litre HLT , March Pump and Chill Plate.
Mash Tun and boiler from Beerbelly.
Can't wait..
Whats your next planned Brew

 

[bowie in space]

Unreal, sounds like an ideal set up!! Just what I want.

Next brew is Ross's Summer Ale (in the recipe Data Base). I wanna try a few experienced brewers recipes before i dabble in my own. Tony's Bright Ale is in the fermenter at the moment, and it's tasting great.

AG is sooo addictive. Eventually I'll get my own house ale and i'll go from there.

What are you planning Woody?

Bowie