First brew in about 6mths, and on new rig... wish me luck!

[Adr_0]

So, it's been a while... so wish me luck!

Brewing a small batch (~17L) of amber ale just to see if it works:

3kg Perle - 80.9%
400g Munich II (Wey) - 10.8%
250g Carawheat (Wey) - 6.7%
60g Carafa Sp 1 - 1.6%

Mash at 68°C + mash out
To about 1047-1050

8g Northern Brewer for 60min to 12.3IBU
8g Northern Brewer for 30min to 9.5IBU
8g Motueka for 15min for 4.6IBU
8g Cascade for 15min for 4.7IBU
8g Motueka, 8g Cascade at flameout
Target 30-33IBU

US-05

With a start like this, how can things go wrong??



....so wish me luck.

 

[Dan Pratt]

did you mill the lot by hand?

 

[Adr_0]

The mix of malts, yes. There is about 1kg of carafa there, I only milled 60g of that.

Every turn of the handle caused me grief, anxiety and endless frustration... it's not too bad if set up at a good height and only a few kg. This was a bit low but it was a nicer setting out on the deck. I don't think I trust putting a motor on this thing though, I think I would get something more robust then motorise.

 

[surly]

Hey, what's the rig?

Good luck with your brew. I have done 2 on my new rig. Still lots of kinks to work out!

 

[Adr_0]

Hey, what's the rig?

Good luck with your brew. I have done 2 on my new rig. Still lots of kinks to work out!

yeah, there always are!

This is a 2V + bucket with a LBP for recirc. I tried to get 0L of deadspace in the kettle and MLT and have done a fairly good job (I think).

It's also set out reasonably well... looks like it anyway.



The control box up the top is just 2 x STC's for temperature measurement (with higher spec'd thermistors) and a voltage regulator for pump speed control. All the testing has been good but one or two kinks...

 

[Adr_0]

Cool... after a mash tun pre-heat, I was still about half a degree high in my strike temp (73.5°C) so ended up 0.6 degrees high in my mash after a stir to break up dough balls. Pretty happy with that:


You can see the grain bag as a backup and so that I can easily pull the grain out afterwards for cleaning.

 

[surly]

Looks to be nice and compact

 

[Adr_0]

Yeah exactly, and functions pretty well. Most literature out there says 2V you need a massive mash tun and you get poor efficiency. Although the bucket is technically a 3rd V, it's cheap, light, don't have to clean it, don't have to plumb in fittings or mount it and you can use it for cooling water, cleaning, etc. So rather than be stuck in the 50's or 60's I should still be in the high 70's because I will able to batch sparge. And I don't need a stupidly big mash tun. And I don't need to dilute the mash to 5L/kg.

We will see though... early days...

 

[surly]

Yeah, I went 2v plus HEX on mine.
First batch the efficiency was woeful. Second batch I used a bucket to batch sparge which improved things. I am now looking at trying to use the bucket to perform a continuous sparge to improve it again.
I am not chasing silly figures, but don't like the feeling of waste when eff is below 70%.

I also need to improve my wort return as a silicone hose fed in via a cracked lid is not ideal. Might plumb it through the lid like yours.

 

[Adr_0]

So this is why I had a bag but still kept my manifold... by the way it was that sparkly BEFORE the mash (thanks to citric acid wash) so that didn't end up in my wort.


And on the boil with a BIAB bag...


And with the mash tun back in place, a few minutes of recirc through that mash loop and an action shot of draining into a pot:


Ended up with 73.8% mash efficiency, design was for 75%. Overshot my volume by a bit over a litre and my first runnings were high on volume because I chased temperature too much. Couldn't get the mash out high enough so kept on adding water... anyway, next time. Obviously need to get to RIHMS with an immersion heater.

Boiling now, so will see what the brewhouse efficiency is...

 

[Adr_0]

Yeah, I went 2v plus HEX on mine.
First batch the efficiency was woeful. Second batch I used a bucket to batch sparge which improved things. I am now looking at trying to use the bucket to perform a continuous sparge to improve it again.
I am not chasing silly figures, but don't like the feeling of waste when eff is below 70%.

I also need to improve my wort return as a silicone hose fed in via a cracked lid is not ideal. Might plumb it through the lid like yours.

Yeah, seemed to work pretty well. Main reason for plumbing through the lid + temp probe through the lid is so I could use a BIAB bag without it fouling on anything. Works pretty well. The short length of silicone also lets me lift the lid up with everything still connected, so that's a plus.