Popping Of The Ag Cherry Today!

[Steve]

go and get a new bottle, she'll be right

 

[under]

LOL. Pisser. Before you start make sure you have everything. I generally run with a spare bottle handy. Once one is empty I fill it up.

 

[manticle]

Another one for woops, I should have checked. Happened a couple of times. Run out and grab another or refill that one or borrow one from a neighbour.

A wise man once told me -weigh the bottle when it's full and after a brew. Take note of how much she weighs when empty and you'll have a good idea how many brews you'll get out of each bottle. I just bought myself a 4.5 kg in addition to the 9 so I always have a back up. Knew the 9 was on the way out yesterday so it was no drama to hook up the reseve half way through.

 

[andrewl]

Approximately 18 litres into the cubes at 1.047... Pretty damn close for the gravity
Now just to finish cleaning up and time to relax!

 

[andrewl]

Thought I had enough, but obviously thought wrong! Will be getting another bottle and this one filled up before the next brew for sure. Don't need the extra hassles on brew day when it can be easily avoided!
Boiled up good in the urn though... Kept it at a really good rolling boil!
Thanks for all the words of encouragement! Helped keep the stress levels down to a minimum!
Once I've cleaned up the garage and had a tub myself, I'll try and upload the photos

Cheers

 

[chappo1970]

Approximately 18 litres into the cubes at 1.047... Pretty damn close for the gravity
Now just to finish cleaning up and time to relax!

Well done! Welcome to the darkside Andrew...

 

[brando]

Can't wait to see the photos Andrewl.

 

[chappo1970]

 

[andrewl]

mash in and the setup

 

[andrewl]

Rest of the pics

 

[manticle]

Good stuff mate. It becomes almost as addictive brewing the stuff as it does drinking it.

 

[Screwtop]

Peice a piss this brewing game, ay! :lol:

Screwy

 

[Yeastie Beastie]

That was also my downfall hence being a AM brewer now.. mind you 6 coffees before midday also stuffs you up.

Oh and dont forget to turn off your taps

Tried the same thing but decided that it must be 12 o'clock somewhere in the world, and yes this did lead to my fermentor tap being left on whilst completing, in my mind, my best AG yet. Shed floor got the first taste

 

[stew.w]

wont that cube that has hardly anything in it get infected?
i thought the idea was to have as little headspace as possible

 

[andrewl]

Had to clean out the urn anyway, just chucked the last of it in the extra cube.
I was pretty happy with the blanket around the mash tun too... 1 degree drop over the whole mash. Who needs insulation??? :lol:

 

[jyo]

Awesome, mate. It'll taste so good that when (or if) you have to do a kit n bits again, you will just know there is something very huge missing from your beer.

The weeks before my first All Grain, I was actually dreaming about it. Completely obsessed. I would wake up in the morning, and think- "Sooo, what do I need to finish this off?"

Unfortunately, I cannot say that this has entirely passed.

You have been bitten by a relentless and unforgiving bug.
Good luck mate! :beer:

Cheers, John.

 

[Steve]

Mate, is that kettle just sitting up the top parts of the burner legs? I know you probably tested it but one knock and it'll be off. Get 5 bricks and put them on the floor between the legs and sit the keg on that. Well done too by the way.
Cheers
Steve

Edit....after a second look because of the diameter of the kettle and the burner you wouldnt be able to get the bricks under

 

[QldKev]

Just about time to sparge... Knocked the sparge water temp up a couple degrees to make up for the 8-9 degree drop I had before.
Been taking pics too... Just need to work out how to scale them down so I can post them up on here.

Welcome to the AG world, great to see more people join the in.

Easy way to resize pics is download 'VSO Image Resizer' and install. Then you can just right click on the pic(s) and select VSO Image Resizer. Then you can select your output options; in my case I use output size 1268 x 768 and create a copy of the files with the size in the name.
eg if I resize 'IMG_1227.jpg' I will get a new file called 'IMG_1227 [1280x768].jpg'
It remembers the last options you use, so since I always resize to the same size I just right click and click ok.

QldKev

 

[Tony]

Mate, is that kettle just sitting up the top parts of the burner legs? I know you probably tested it but one knock and it'll be off. Get 5 bricks and put them on the floor between the legs and sit the keg on that. Well done too by the way.
Cheers
Steve

Edit....after a second look because of the diameter of the kettle and the burner you wouldnt be able to get the bricks under

I agree. That looks a tad risky. If it goes over its going to be messy, heart breaking and we wont mention what the skin on your feet will do if your in the wrong spot.

Sell the 4 ring burner and get a 10 jet ranbo. I use one under a 35 liter boil with a low pressure BBQ reg and it does it easy.

http://www.auscrown.com/commjetbrn.php

You need a couple fittings, a bit of pipe and a tap to plumb it up yourself, but if you can set an AG brewery, you can do that.

I like the 10 jet one cause you run it flat out so there is no sooting at all. Put it on a higher pressure reg and you have a regular flame thrower.

cheers and congrats!