Clarify My Understanding Of Specifics.

[uncleBez]

Cool. Well I have a 2nd brew on the go now....
Feels like them temp gone up a little today in syd.
oh and I rang my mate to invite him over and he said, depends on when his new fridge gets delivered.
So maybe Gods backing my brewing and providing me a brew fridge!

 

[bum]

Oh and it seems I need to go out today and purchase a thermometer that will read 66 degress for me. Mine only reads up to 40.

A handy little thermometer to have for this is one of those cappuccino foam ones. They come with a clip that'll let the thermometer attach to the side of the pot (no burning your bloody fingers on hot water!) and they usually have a little red area marked which just so happens to be the approximate temp range you want to be steeping your grains at. I've also kept using it for partial mashes - as it is waterproof I just sit it face up in the mash and it's good to go. Will be replacing it soon in my full volume system though so it probably won't see you through your entire brewing career but it is a cheap and handy little unit for now.

 

[uncleBez]

A handy little thermometer to have for this is one of those cappuccino foam ones. They come with a clip that'll let the thermometer attach to the side of the pot (no burning your bloody fingers on hot water!) and they usually have a little red area marked which just so happens to be the approximate temp range you want to be steeping your grains at. I've also kept using it for partial mashes - as it is waterproof I just sit it face up in the mash and it's good to go. Will be replacing it soon in my full volume system though so it probably won't see you through your entire brewing career but it is a cheap and handy little unit for now.

Thanks Bum,

I went to BigW and they had a meat thermometer, it looked crap so I went to king of knives that had a cooking thermometer and a milk frothing one.
your right the milk one had the red zone, but I got the other one, because it had a bigger head and more regular gauge marks I got that on for an extra
$. It didn't have the holder for the side of the pot but it did the job great.

Nice to have one brew bottled, and another fermenting. A month or 2 I'll have some variety of beers on the go!

 

[bum]

You're right, the face on these are quite small.

 

[Digger11]

I respectfully disagree with your LHBS guy. Except during the hottest parts of summer (with my primitive methods of temp control) I have found beer benefits from longer in primary or secondary. I normally leave mine around a week after ferment has finished and then another 5-7 days cold conditioned. Apart from a couple that suffered from 40 degree weather, my beer improved markedly since I started doing this. obviously with temp control in a fridge those summer days would be less of an issue.

Finings work very well with cold conditioning but they will help clear a beer even without it.

This is exactly what I do, leave for 1 week after SG stops dropping and then 1 week in the fridge before bottling. and whislt I haven't likesall of the beers I have brewed, they have all been very clear, little sediment and fully fermented with good head.

 

[theredone]

+1 for cold crashing

you will be amazed at how much this clears your beers up. i just throw the primary into the fridge for 3-6 days after fermentation is complte, then use racking cane from top to bottom into PM and leave a nice cold hard cake behind in the primary. i then attatch a bottling wand to my racking cane and syphon into bottles(just means i only have to move the wand from bottle to bottle rather than bringing bottles to the tap).

ive never used finnings and TBH i dont think i ever will as i am very happy with how clear the beer is that i am getting