First Biab

[Strutter]

Howdy Brewers,

Time to start posting and stop lurking.

After months of constantly reading this site, and a couple of Nick's stove tops (thanks Nick) I purchased a 3 ring burner $55 BCF and a 40L crab boiler with strainer insert $70 at Rays. Knocked out my first full batch on Sunday, about 65% eff. Had to do another yesterday as the other bag of grain behind the bar was taunting me. Anyways, looking forward to my next brew day. Will post some pics of the new gear in full swing next time.

Can I just add that this site made what sounds daunting to the missus (who thinks my hobby is an illness) a fairly straight forward Sunday morning.


Cheers,

Sterlo

 

[ekul]

Congrats mate.

Before i found this site i used to make knk fermented at 25+C and never made a decent beer anything resembling beer. Within a few months of being here i was making beer that me and my mates can actually enjoy, rather than endure as was the case before i found this site.

Good work on going ag, you won't be buying beer ever again Where are you located?

Howdy Brewers,

Time to start posting and stop lurking.

After months of constantly reading this site, and a couple of Nick's stove tops (thanks Nick) I purchased a 3 ring burner $55 BCF and a 40L crab boiler with strainer insert $70 at Rays. Knocked out my first full batch on Sunday, about 65% eff. Had to do another yesterday as the other bag of grain behind the bar was taunting me. Anyways, looking forward to my next brew day. Will post some pics of the new gear in full swing next time.

Can I just add that this site made what sounds daunting to the missus (who thinks my hobby is an illness) a fairly straight forward Sunday morning.


Cheers,

Sterlo

 

[Strutter]

Congrats mate.

Before i found this site i used to make knk fermented at 25+C and never made a decent beer anything resembling beer. Within a few months of being here i was making beer that me and my mates can actually enjoy, rather than endure as was the case before i found this site.

Good work on going ag, you won't be buying beer ever again Where are you located?

Thanks, I too was on the K&K bandwagon but happily hopped off at the next available stop. The bride actually encouraged (but didn't sponsor) the move to AG after sampling some of the little stove tops I did after tasting a couple, she now confiscates half a dozen tallies for her own supply before they hit my bar fridge.

I think I need a secret lair to continue brewing. Location updated.

Cheers

Sterlo

 

[markymoo]

same for me I suppose, long time lurker, first(ish) time real posting

I too did my first BIAB a couple of weeks ago, hopefully (pending keg space) will do a second shortly.

Havent tried the resulting beer yet, but hell that was a lot of fun.

I was orignally going to go the 40L crab boiler and three ring burner, however I bit the bullet and bought a 40L crown urn. wow that makes thing easy...

I think I actually put a bit much effort into the first batch, watching, wishing prodding, squeezing... next time I think it will be a hell of a lot less input from myself, now i know how easy it is.

just like Nev form Gryphon said, its just like a big tea-bag

I am yet to post the pics of the day, which i did take, but will show off soon for comment (ugh so little time), but the crown urn did make things so much easier and I think in the long run it will prove to be quite the investment through its time, effort and storage savings.

why didnt i do this sooner?

markymoo

p.s. big thanks to Neville from gryphonbrewing for his assistance, if i was on ebay it would be "great seller, great product, ebay++++++++++++++++"

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

ekul - what about your location mate?

Brewing pot, brewing kettle, black.

Goomba

 

[milob40]

Thanks, I too was on the K&K bandwagon but happily hopped off at the next available stop. The bride actually encouraged (but didn't sponsor) the move to AG after sampling some of the little stove tops I did after tasting a couple, she now confiscates half a dozen tallies for her own supply before they hit my bar fridge.

I think I need a secret lair to continue brewing. Location updated.

Cheers

Sterlo

ahhhhh...... marital bliss!!!!!! h34r: lucky *******,... mine doesn't even like the smell of it. :icon_cheers:

 

[JulieRush]

@Strutter... any general feedback on the crab boiler?

I've done a few stovetops using the 19l BigW pot and it's awesome for 10-12l batches but maxi is too much like hard work to be enjoyable. Would be interested to pick one of those bad boys up if you reckon it's worth the trip to ray's?

cheers!!

also... @Ekul:

Before i found this site i used to make knk fermented at 25+C and never made a decent beer anything resembling beer. Within a few months of being here i was making beer that me and my mates can actually enjoy, rather than endure as was the case before i found this site.

This x 1,000,000!!

I hold NickJD responsible for my move to all-grain. never gave it a thought til I read that move for $30 thread. can't believe I didnt' switch sooner!

 

[Strutter]

@Strutter... any general feedback on the crab boiler?

I've done a few stovetops using the 19l BigW pot and it's awesome for 10-12l batches but maxi is too much like hard work to be enjoyable. Would be interested to pick one of those bad boys up if you reckon it's worth the trip to ray's?

cheers!!

also... @Ekul:


This x 1,000,000!!

I hold NickJD responsible for my move to all-grain. never gave it a thought til I read that move for $30 thread. can't believe I didnt' switch sooner!

Crab boiler got the job done. Holds the bag up nicely from the bottom of the pot. So if temperature requires raising for any reason the bag wont be scorched etc. I discovered however it can get a wee messy when lifted if rushed as wort wants to escape through the side holes rather than run out the bottom of the bag. Next brew I will be resting the bag inside the strainer on 2 metal rods placed across pot to aid in bag draining/sparging etc. Next step is connecting tap to bottom of boiler etc, but for time being cooling overnight on the bricks will do me just nicely. 3 ring burner got full pot up to boiling to the point where i will have to back it off or top up fermenter with water to compensate for evap. There's no doubt better (more expensive) pots on the market but on a tight budget (thanks Jodie) i couldn't look past the $70, I think they're on sale until end of the month, usuall $100 or so.

Cheers

Strutter

 

[Strutter]

Gotta add, I was happy with the stove top brewing except piss ass gas stove could barely bring 6 litres to the boil

 

[kymba]

hey strutter i used to do the same, but using either a fridge shelf or a chromed dish drying rack packed flat

fks me why, but they were there when i was looking for something to span the pot and hold up my crab basket full of grain

don't put too much downward pressure on the pot or it will dent like a bitch - but then again i can line up my pot on the spiral burner in the same spot every time because of this

Crab boiler got the job done. Holds the bag up nicely from the bottom of the pot. So if temperature requires raising for any reason the bag wont be scorched etc. I discovered however it can get a wee messy when lifted if rushed as wort wants to escape through the side holes rather than run out the bottom of the bag. Next brew I will be resting the bag inside the strainer on 2 metal rods placed across pot to aid in bag draining/sparging etc. Next step is connecting tap to bottom of boiler etc, but for time being cooling overnight on the bricks will do me just nicely. 3 ring burner got full pot up to boiling to the point where i will have to back it off or top up fermenter with water to compensate for evap. There's no doubt better (more expensive) pots on the market but on a tight budget (thanks Jodie) i couldn't look past the $70, I think they're on sale until end of the month, usuall $100 or so.

Cheers

Strutter