Little Things That Make Brewing Easier
- Thread starter mobrien
- Start date
Help Support Australia & New Zealand Homebrewing Forum:
warrenlw63
Just a Hoe
- Joined
- 4/5/04
- Messages
- 7,202
- Reaction score
- 12
Mine's a bit more offbeat.
One of the best things I've done to make the brewday easier (besides batch sparging). Is to use Iodophor instead of bleach. :beerbang:
Filling 2 x 23 glass carboys used to be a PITA when you had to hot water rinse the bleach out of them before filling.
Now I just shake a 5 litre Iodophor solution around, drain it out and fill them. Saves a sore back that's for sure.
Some of the other things are as others have stated.
Setting my gear up the night before and having the HLT on a timer and thermostat. Waking up at 6am to 45 litres of 75 degree water is a real bonus.
I also do the same as Doc, run my tap water to the HLT through a carbon filter and use 12mm OD clear racking hose instead of garden hose.
2 reasons 1) You can see if any gunk and/or bugs and insects get in the hose and 2) no "hosey" flavour in the water.
Warren -
One of the best things I've done to make the brewday easier (besides batch sparging). Is to use Iodophor instead of bleach. :beerbang:
Filling 2 x 23 glass carboys used to be a PITA when you had to hot water rinse the bleach out of them before filling.
Now I just shake a 5 litre Iodophor solution around, drain it out and fill them. Saves a sore back that's for sure.
Some of the other things are as others have stated.
Setting my gear up the night before and having the HLT on a timer and thermostat. Waking up at 6am to 45 litres of 75 degree water is a real bonus.
I also do the same as Doc, run my tap water to the HLT through a carbon filter and use 12mm OD clear racking hose instead of garden hose.
2 reasons 1) You can see if any gunk and/or bugs and insects get in the hose and 2) no "hosey" flavour in the water.
Warren -
browndog
Are you bulletproof boy?
- Joined
- 23/9/03
- Messages
- 3,635
- Reaction score
- 157
Being a newbie AG brewer here with three AGs under my belt, I seem a little hesitant to suggest, as I may be about to discover I'm committing a cardinal sin. However, I'll push on, I fill my HLT with hot water from the tap so it is already at 65C and needs only ten mins or so to get up to strike temp. Is this wrong ? I use a 15L bucket to fill the HLT not a hose.
Tony, from what I understand refractometers are no good for FG readings you can only take OG readings with them so you will need to hang onto your hydrometer.
cheers
Browndog
Tony, from what I understand refractometers are no good for FG readings you can only take OG readings with them so you will need to hang onto your hydrometer.
cheers
Browndog
AndrewQLD
RED ON WHITE IPA
- Joined
- 12/3/04
- Messages
- 4,149
- Reaction score
- 306
browndog said:
Browndog, I stay clear of using the hot water tap for brewing because as hot water systems get older they can develop a build up of calcium and other contaminants which can make the water less than attractive for brewing.
And you can use your Refractometer for measuring the final gravity of a beer but you will need to use some conversion calculations in order to get a result and even then it might not be very accurate depending upon the amount of yeast in suspension, the clearer the better. Beersmith and promash both have calculators to help with this.
cheers
Andrew
Ross
CraftBrewer
- Joined
- 14/1/05
- Messages
- 9,262
- Reaction score
- 373
browndog said:
Browndog,
Exactly the way I do it - Andrew may be right with his remarks, but I've certainly found no issue with using hot water & as you say, it's ready in minutes... Mine's tank water, so I guess that any minerals building up in the hottie are more likely to benefit me than not - but then I could easily be wrong...
cheers Ross...
browndog
Are you bulletproof boy?
- Joined
- 23/9/03
- Messages
- 3,635
- Reaction score
- 157
Hi Andrew,
thanks for the info about hot water systems, the only thing I would ask is that if the water is coming though miles of ancient water pipes into a heater 10 or so yrs old, what is the difference. As for the refractometer, while making your excellent Bosun Best Bitter, I found I was getting a FG reading of 6% Brix or 1.024, two different hydrometers showed 1.012. I emailed the fellow I puchased the refractometer from and he told me alcohol really messes up the refractivity of the specimen giving false readings. He never mentioned any equasions to get an accurate reading so if you have any can you pass them on ?
cheers
Browndog
thanks for the info about hot water systems, the only thing I would ask is that if the water is coming though miles of ancient water pipes into a heater 10 or so yrs old, what is the difference. As for the refractometer, while making your excellent Bosun Best Bitter, I found I was getting a FG reading of 6% Brix or 1.024, two different hydrometers showed 1.012. I emailed the fellow I puchased the refractometer from and he told me alcohol really messes up the refractivity of the specimen giving false readings. He never mentioned any equasions to get an accurate reading so if you have any can you pass them on ?
cheers
Browndog
mobrien
Stubborn Scientist Brewing
- Joined
- 6/3/05
- Messages
- 591
- Reaction score
- 1
I thought that I would bump this thread back up, since I spent this week doing a few things to make the brew today easier!
Number one was finishing the plumbed sink in the shed. A while back, during a dumpster diving session at work, I found an old safety sign. Now obviously every shed needs cool signs! So I took it. And its been sitting in the shed ever since He's been known quite affectionately as "safety guy".
Anyway, I decided to plumb the sink, so as to have the running water over a sink rather than the concrete. The other reason was I kept trying to pour things down the sink - and when it doesn't have a drain, that just makes a mess!
Off to bunnings for a few fittings, and with the help of a hose clamp, an adapter and some 2" flexible hose, the drain was hooked up and poking out through the corrugate wall. The tap was mounted above the sink, but no splashback.
Now as Al (Als_world) said, "Safety guy" talked way to much, so to kill two birds with one stone, I got myself a splash back and shut safety guy up with a tracheotomy!
A sink and running water!
Happy days!
M
Number one was finishing the plumbed sink in the shed. A while back, during a dumpster diving session at work, I found an old safety sign. Now obviously every shed needs cool signs! So I took it. And its been sitting in the shed ever since
He's been known quite affectionately as "safety guy".Anyway, I decided to plumb the sink, so as to have the running water over a sink rather than the concrete. The other reason was I kept trying to pour things down the sink - and when it doesn't have a drain, that just makes a mess!
Off to bunnings for a few fittings, and with the help of a hose clamp, an adapter and some 2" flexible hose, the drain was hooked up and poking out through the corrugate wall. The tap was mounted above the sink, but no splashback.
Now as Al (Als_world) said, "Safety guy" talked way to much, so to kill two birds with one stone, I got myself a splash back and shut safety guy up with a tracheotomy!
A sink and running water!
Happy days!
M
Jazzafish
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 19/7/05
- Messages
- 974
- Reaction score
- 17
I recon that "safety guy" belongs in a dunny!
But either way a good splash back idea...
I got a hop sock to help with some of the hoppier beers... does the job very well. Another thing I tried is underletting, It made the mashing in part easier, but I had to do a few dry runs to calculate my temp loss from the HLT via the hose into the mash tun. I used to heat the water in my mash tun via a thermostat and timer, but found that stirring to avoid dough balls was a hassel
But either way a good splash back idea...
I got a hop sock to help with some of the hoppier beers... does the job very well. Another thing I tried is underletting, It made the mashing in part easier, but I had to do a few dry runs to calculate my temp loss from the HLT via the hose into the mash tun. I used to heat the water in my mash tun via a thermostat and timer, but found that stirring to avoid dough balls was a hassel
BrissyBrew
MashMaster
- Joined
- 28/4/05
- Messages
- 744
- Reaction score
- 19
hey Jazzafish
surely they have a gas mask must be worn at all safety sign that would look great in the dunny
goatherder
Fancyman of Cornwood
- Joined
- 23/1/06
- Messages
- 1,551
- Reaction score
- 4
The Brass Quick connects on my brewery were recommended by Justin in his post they are great
Pumpy
Yep, top idea that, I use the same myself.
My tip to make things easier is to dob a little keg lube on the male connector. It makes snapping things on and off a lot easier, especially when hot.
devo
Str8outtaCoburg
Mine's a bit more offbeat.
One of the best things I've done to make the brewday easier (besides batch sparging). Is to use Iodophor instead of bleach. :beerbang:
Filling 2 x 23 glass carboys used to be a PITA when you had to hot water rinse the bleach out of them before filling.
Now I just shake a 5 litre Iodophor solution around, drain it out and fill them. Saves a sore back that's for sure.
Some of the other things are as others have stated.
Setting my gear up the night before and having the HLT on a timer and thermostat. Waking up at 6am to 45 litres of 75 degree water is a real bonus.
I also do the same as Doc, run my tap water to the HLT through a carbon filter and use 12mm OD clear racking hose instead of garden hose.
2 reasons 1) You can see if any gunk and/or bugs and insects get in the hose and 2) no "hosey" flavour in the water.
Warren -
I swear by Idophor as well, awesome stuff.
PistolPatch
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 29/11/05
- Messages
- 2,717
- Reaction score
- 44
[Due to a lack of pics, I found the following very hard to write. There are many things though here to make your brewing easier so hopefully it's worth your reading it - slowly!]
Pumpy's thread, The 'no Messin Method Fermenter to Keg is a great way of gravity filtering your beer. Works a treat! Put your fermenter on top of the fridge and your keg on the floor and you are away. This is as quick as a keg to keg transfer.
The parts required to do this have some other advantages...
Fermenter Taps with Quick Release Fittings: doogiechap found these fittings for us (donya Doogie!) They enable attaching via a quick-release, beer line to your fermenter tap. There are many advantages to this such as easy bottling, easy gravity readings etc.
Another use though is for people who double-batch. By linking the two taps with beer line, you can drain into one fermenter but ensure equal volumes in both.
(If you want a more accurate splitting of wort for an experiment or something, then this method in conjunction with the following would serve well.)
Lid Bulkhead Fitting: In Pumpy's gravity filtering, it is preferable to have a John Guest bulkhead fitting in the lid to prevent oxidisation during filtering.
Another use of this fitting is to aerate your wort whilst draining from the kettle without exposure to breezes etc. This method aerates your beer whilst only exposing it to air inside your fermenter.
Plastic tubes usually fit inside each other nicely so you can use some small pieces of appropriate tubing to get your kettle outlet down to an 8mm outside diameter beer line. With this, you can plug it into the bulkhead of your lid allowing a small stream of wort to drop from the lid of the fermenter. This aerates it very well. (Leave the lid on a bit loose, of course, to allow the air to displace whilst transferring.)
Here's a pic...
(I reckon you'll need to right-click on that image and open it in a new window for anything to make sense.)
Sorry that's the best pic I have. Several fittings are no longer necessary in the now 3/4 obsolete ''superlid'.'' In fact, there are only two critical bits...
One John Guest Bulkhead Fitting in the Lid and
One of ''Doogie's'' Fermenter Taps
Unfortunately in my pic, there are a lot of unnecessary/optional or obsolete extras.
In my pic, two bulkhead fittings are pictured but only one is needed. Focus on the one with the darker beer line. This is where the wort is draining into the fermenter. Tracing this line down, you will see near the base of the fermenter both a plastic join to decrease the diameter of the line and just behind that, doogie's quick-disconnect tap. (That's probably the only useful part of that pic!)
Unneccessary/Optional or Obsolete Extras
In my pic there are three extra things.
An Extra Bulkhead Fitting: The lighter coloured line in the second bulkhead that looks as though there is beer in it because it has been used so many times just acts as a blow-off tube. This fitting is now obsolete as once you have drained your wort, you can use the same bulkhead as your blow-off outlet.
"Dip-Tube One" - This is where the lighter coloured tube leads to. It's basically a dip-tube made from irrigation fittings. I fill it with sterilised water and this acts as my air-lock or blow-off ''bottle.'' This can be replaced simply by a bottle.
"Dip-Tube Two'' - This fitting has no water in it, just air. This is the fitting in which I drop my temperature probe. Works a treat.
Hope all that wasn't too confusing???
Pat
Pumpy's thread, The 'no Messin Method Fermenter to Keg is a great way of gravity filtering your beer. Works a treat! Put your fermenter on top of the fridge and your keg on the floor and you are away. This is as quick as a keg to keg transfer.
The parts required to do this have some other advantages...
Fermenter Taps with Quick Release Fittings: doogiechap found these fittings for us (donya Doogie!) They enable attaching via a quick-release, beer line to your fermenter tap. There are many advantages to this such as easy bottling, easy gravity readings etc.
Another use though is for people who double-batch. By linking the two taps with beer line, you can drain into one fermenter but ensure equal volumes in both.
(If you want a more accurate splitting of wort for an experiment or something, then this method in conjunction with the following would serve well.)
Lid Bulkhead Fitting: In Pumpy's gravity filtering, it is preferable to have a John Guest bulkhead fitting in the lid to prevent oxidisation during filtering.
Another use of this fitting is to aerate your wort whilst draining from the kettle without exposure to breezes etc. This method aerates your beer whilst only exposing it to air inside your fermenter.
Plastic tubes usually fit inside each other nicely so you can use some small pieces of appropriate tubing to get your kettle outlet down to an 8mm outside diameter beer line. With this, you can plug it into the bulkhead of your lid allowing a small stream of wort to drop from the lid of the fermenter. This aerates it very well. (Leave the lid on a bit loose, of course, to allow the air to displace whilst transferring.)
Here's a pic...
(I reckon you'll need to right-click on that image and open it in a new window for anything to make sense.)
Sorry that's the best pic I have. Several fittings are no longer necessary in the now 3/4 obsolete ''superlid'.'' In fact, there are only two critical bits...
One John Guest Bulkhead Fitting in the Lid and
One of ''Doogie's'' Fermenter Taps
Unfortunately in my pic, there are a lot of unnecessary/optional or obsolete extras.
In my pic, two bulkhead fittings are pictured but only one is needed. Focus on the one with the darker beer line. This is where the wort is draining into the fermenter. Tracing this line down, you will see near the base of the fermenter both a plastic join to decrease the diameter of the line and just behind that, doogie's quick-disconnect tap. (That's probably the only useful part of that pic!)
Unneccessary/Optional or Obsolete Extras
In my pic there are three extra things.
An Extra Bulkhead Fitting: The lighter coloured line in the second bulkhead that looks as though there is beer in it because it has been used so many times just acts as a blow-off tube. This fitting is now obsolete as once you have drained your wort, you can use the same bulkhead as your blow-off outlet.
"Dip-Tube One" - This is where the lighter coloured tube leads to. It's basically a dip-tube made from irrigation fittings. I fill it with sterilised water and this acts as my air-lock or blow-off ''bottle.'' This can be replaced simply by a bottle.
"Dip-Tube Two'' - This fitting has no water in it, just air. This is the fitting in which I drop my temperature probe. Works a treat.
Hope all that wasn't too confusing???
Pat
