First all grain brew done, a few follow up questions.

[RRising]

This my very first AG brew with my new 35L Robobrew and now i have a few questions. First off i did a Mangrove Jacks American Pale Ale AG kit because my local HB shop doesn't have their own mill and i have only just ordered mine.

• What is Carragreenan? the instructions said to add "carragreenan" but all i could find was a tablet of "deltafloc"
• At the end of the brew i was only left with about 19L of wort is this normal?
• Is it normal to have so much hop residue on the false bottom? also is it normal to have some grain in the wort? i noticed that all the mesh screens i got were bent so maybe a little bit escaped through.
• When boiling the mash, is it alright if it just simmers? with the 2 heating elements 1900W element boils over and the 500W one just keeps it at a simmer.
• what is the ideal SG when sparging? is it the OG of the recipe or somewhere near 1.010?
• Do i need to use any sugars when fermenting?
• Lastly what do you people do with the spent grain?

Hopefully it holds up alright, i can't pitch it right now as i don't have any silicone tubing to cool the wort down so i bought a 20L water cube from bunnings and i will pitch next weekend.

I am hoping to do a Coopers Pale Ale clone next week.

 

[tanked84]

Carrageenan is an additive used to thicken, emulsify, and preserve foods and drinks. It's a natural ingredient that comes from red seaweed (also called Irish moss).

As for only being left with 19L, watch a few robo brew vids on YouTube some explain the loss and the calculations. Dead space Under the tap you lose about 3.4L.
You could add more water to the wort if you need it at 23L.

I use a hop bag to keep all the crud out of the wort.

When boiling I just set the temp to 100C for boiling and the 500w handles it once reached.

It’s an all grain recipe, all of the sugars have been extracted from the grain during the Mash and nothing else needed to be added.

I put the spent grain in the bin now, attracts rats.
You could give em to people with chickens.

 

[RRising]

Carrageenan is an additive used to thicken, emulsify, and preserve foods and drinks. It's a natural ingredient that comes from red seaweed (also called Irish moss).

As for only being left with 19L, watch a few robo brew vids on YouTube some explain the loss and the calculations. Dead space Under the tap you lose about 3.4L.
You could add more water to the wort if you need it at 23L.

I use a hop bag to keep all the crud out of the wort.

When boiling I just set the temp to 100C for boiling and the 500w handles it once reached.

It’s an all grain recipe, all of the sugars have been extracted from the grain during the Mash and nothing else needed to be added.

I put the spent grain in the bin now, attracts rats.
You could give em to people with chickens.

Sorry for the late reply but thanks for the info.

Are the hop bags you use reusable?

The hop spider Kegland sells never seems to be in stock, i may have to go to Ebay for that one.

 

[altone]

Sorry for the late reply but thanks for the info.

Are the hop bags you use reusable?

The hop spider Kegland sells never seems to be in stock, i may have to go to Ebay for that one.

I use a hopsock which is reuseable and I have an ebay hopspider too - very cheap but works well.

eg. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Stainless-Steel-Hop-Spider-Strainer-Homebrew-Beer-Hop-Filter-Micron-Filtering-AU/173095598655?hash=item284d4d3a3f:m:mu4VPU-qKRn-HhLtb775s7g&var=471837237842

bad example but do the search

 

[RRising]

I use a hopsock which is reuseable and I have an ebay hopspider too - very cheap but works well.

eg. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Stainless-Steel-Hop-Spider-Strainer-Homebrew-Beer-Hop-Filter-Micron-Filtering-AU/173095598655?hash=item284d4d3a3f:m:mu4VPU-qKRn-HhLtb775s7g&var=471837237842

bad example but do the search

Thanks, i checked Kegland again and they are back in stock.

 

[citraman1]

How did your fermentation go? Did you reach your target FG? I have a 35L gen2 robo, for hop additions I clip a big spider to the outside of the unit. I have never had boilover issues with both elements on, maybe you have over sparged slightly and have too much wort? If you only got 19L of wort after a soft boil im inclined to think not

 

[RRising]

How did your fermentation go? Did you reach your target FG? I have a 35L gen2 robo, for hop additions I clip a big spider to the outside of the unit. I have never had boilover issues with both elements on, maybe you have over sparged slightly and have too much wort? If you only got 19L of wort after a soft boil im inclined to think not

I have only done 2 AG brews so far so i honestly do not know but both times ive had about 19L of wort boil over with just the 1900W element on but the 500w element the wort barely simmers, there is no nice rolling boil.

I honestly wouldn't be too surprised if i had a dodgy Robobrew, QA seems to be non existent, all the mesh screens i have are bent af.

 

[Bonenose]

Are you boiling over constantly or just at the start of the boil? Have used older model RB and had a few close calls but nothing I couldn’t control with a spray bottle of cold water and a paddle. Generally at the start of the boil and when adding early hops.

What volume are you starting the boil with?

 

[RRising]

Are you boiling over constantly or just at the start of the boil? Have used older model RB and had a few close calls but nothing I couldn’t control with a spray bottle of cold water and a paddle. Generally at the start of the boil and when adding early hops.

What volume are you starting the boil with?

Constantly, i cannot have it on 1900w without it boiling over.

 

[Boatsy85]

Constantly, i cannot have it on 1900w without it boiling over.

Have done 7 brews on my gen3, havent made a mess yet, i start the boils at 28-29L.
The initial "boil over" is the hot break, watch the first 10-15 min carefully, watch it rise a little and just flick both elements off for a sec and let it settle out, then turn them back on again. Watch it carefully again for the next 5 min and if it doesnt rise up again, you'll be in the clear, may foam up a little with extra hop additions, but nothing crazy. To settle it down a bit more, look into a product called fermcap, plenty of others use it, I've never tried it myself though.

 

[Budgie_Smuggling]

I did a brew on my Gen 3 the other day that was about 31.5L pre-boil - which was a bit of an error in my maths and had me nervous AF. Had both elements on, and just made sure to almost continuously stir the top of the brew, making sure that it all goes through the holes in my mash paddle By breaking up and dispersing all the foam on top it stops it joining together and overflowing creating a ridiculous sticky mess.