My first 2 all grain brews.

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tugger

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So I have started all grain biab brewing after a few months of using extracts and grain kits, I'm using a 25l willow cooler with bag and a 20l pot as a kettle.
I decided to start with a smash to get a starting point so I did a batch with traditional ale malt.
This turned out very pale so for the next batch I used 5.2kg of trad ale malt with 200g cara 200g crystal and 175g dark crystal, well this turned out too dark but really nice, good and malty with galaxy and cascade hops 130g it was well flavoured. 20L
I liked it but wanted a bit lighter on the colour so I put down a batch of 6kg trad ale malt to counter my average efficiency 200g cara 200 crystal and 50g dark crystal.
I used fuggles and cascade with motueka as a dry hop.
I'm hoping this will be exactly what I'm after. It's in the fermenter at the moment and bubbling away at 19c.
Yesterday I did an identical batch with motueka and Pacifica in the new second fermenter so now I have two Babes bubbling away in the unused shower.
I'm using a wet towel over both fermenters and with the usual ac in the hot weather it holds 19c pretty well. The wife has strict instructions, if it's hot and the towels dry wet it.
So far I'm doing ok I think, I have a 30l cooler mash tun coming from Santa with a tap and dome inside so I will be ditching the bag soon.
I'm looking to upgrade soon to a temperature controlled 1v system like a grainfather or similar.
I don't bottle anymore, picked up 2 kegs and taps and stuff so I keg all my beer.
I will post up more pics and stuff as I go further into brewing. ImageUploadedByAussie Home Brewer1416553417.019377.jpgImageUploadedByAussie Home Brewer1416553439.087620.jpgImageUploadedByAussie Home Brewer1416553468.345408.jpgImageUploadedByAussie Home Brewer1416553492.437489.jpgImageUploadedByAussie Home Brewer1416553528.169414.jpg
 
I'd be interested to know the DO on your beer. And don't take this the wrong way, but why do you have a DO/co2 meter?

Edit: I Looked at the pic again, I see its 98ppb. Interesting, it would be good to test from multiple points to see where you get the most oxygen pickup.
 
That reading was direct from the keg to the co2/O2 meter.
This was a test to see if slow carbonation has less d/o than forced and to see where my co2 was at.
Slow gave me under 100 ppb forced(shaking the keg) was 150. Not really accurate as it was 2 different batches of beer but I know now that I'm transferring into and burping the kegs well.
I took my keg to work and tested it there at the same time as testing the alcohol and sg.
What would you all consider to be an acceptable O2 reading? I try and aim for under 200ppb.
 
Over 150ppb is considered too much, under 100ppb is the benchmark from what I am aware of. As low as possible is good. I've seen readings under 10ppb though.
 
So here is the result of the latest batch, this one is half way between too light and too dark. The first few beers were a bit cloudy but after 2 more days it cleared up a bit, time for me to start using gelatine I think. ImageUploadedByAussie Home Brewer1417233186.125704.jpg
 
With all the bits of brew gear I already want do I want to know what a meter like that is worth? Top work, quite warm here ATM so that glass of beer is just making me thirsty, looks good mate!
 
Mate, looks like you are absolutely smashing it. SMASH beers are generally tastier and better looking with something like Maris Otter, Weyermann Vienna or Munich (if you're into that sort of thing). Traditional pale is great but it relies on specialty malts to make a great beer.

I have a saison mashing at the moment and I'm curious to see what the colour will be like. I have added about 0.6% carafa special to an otherwise pils/munich base mix. We'll see I guess.

I have used Beersmith for the last few years and while I wouldn't trust the display colour on the glass of beer the number (EBC) is in the ballpark for what I'm after.

I would definitely suggest some sort of software. Brewmate and Beersmith are pretty popular and I'm sure there are some threads around comparing the good and bad of each.

Happy brewing...
 
I'm happy with the current result.
The next change will be using Maris otter as the base malt as the bag of ale malt is empty.
People here and friends agree this will improve my beer greatly so I will experiment with the recipe a bit and see how I go.
Masters brewery, the d/o co2 meter is a pricy bit of gear. Around 14k with a bottle stand but is an essential tool for me in the bottling process, I'm not involved in the brewing process at work my job is to get it in the bottle as fast as possible with the correct specs. Co2 d/o cap torque and crimp force, a good refractometer to check for washout water, cip systems sterile filling processes and so on, these are the basic tools of the trade.
Manticle, I'm thinking it's pretty good to me. More than drinkable beer at a cheap price.
Du99, the bag from the lhbs said crystal I'm assuming it was crystal 20 it was quite pale, not as dark as the dark crystal. The cara just said cara.
I will have to get brew mate, I have beer smith2.0 and some other free ones. I will give it a shot.
 
I know a lot of people swear by gelatin for clearing, but my experiments a while ago led me away from it. It's probably just me, but I thought it stripped flavour as well. I think I'll be heading towards filtration soon.
 
So a bit of an update.
I have now got a mash tun with a false bottom and a ball valve, I legally purchased a defective 50L keg for a boil kettle and chopped the top. The old 19l big w pot is now the hlt.
I picked up an over the side 2000w element for the hlt and a kegking controller for the element in the hlt.
I also conned the wife into putting the stuff from the chest freezer into the keg fridge freezer so with a nother keg king controller on the chest freezer I now have a 2 fermenter chamber to ferment in.
I have done around 15 20l batches on the new setup and have the bugs worked out.
Week by week I have been buying more stuff slowly building up the gear I need and want. I have a pump in its box waiting for me to sort the fittings, it will be multi plumbed into the system soon.
The beers are going down well.
 
So a nother update, picked up a grainfather today from the lhbs.
I couldn't walk past it. Went home thought about it a bit then went back.
I'm looking forward to getting the first brew in. Looks like Saturday morning will be the maiden voyage with a Vienna lager. ImageUploadedByAussie Home Brewer1424241267.989711.jpg
Fits nicely in the space next to the smoker and bbq.
 

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