Re First Brew On New System, Disaster

[AndrewQLD]

Well Guys,
it started out great, milled 6 kilo of grain in 15 min in the marga mill, top stuff, my mate made me a perspex hopper that holds 1.5 kilo grain and a couple of dust shields, it looks and works great. :lol:

Then the problems start , heated mash water in HLT and attempted to transfer using the pump, well it made all the right noises but no water coming through, I thought I did'nt prime properly but that wasn't it. Looks like the 71c temp stuffed the impellor or something (its rated to 80c). So had to manually transfer to mash tun :angry: .

The mash tun performed great, held the 64c temp for 75 minutes and the temp was even throughout the mash, including the sides of the tun.I am really happy with this, as my temps in the esky were all over the place.

The refractometer is the best investment I have ever made, after I eventually transfered from the mash tun to the boiler (by hand) I ended up with 48 lt @ 1.049 and I only wasted one drop of wort to test i B) t.

Now as for Jayses batch sparge system, It is brilliant my efficiency is usually 70% with this batch I got 81% . When you consider all of the stuff ups this more than made up for the day.

Oh yeah and to top it all off, my immersion chiller won't fit in the new boiler, it has a smaller hole in the lid so I can't crash cool :angry: .

Photos to come.

Andrew

 

[Batz]

I'll say that went OK for a first attempt on a new system , when I read DISASTER , I thought OMG , wort burns , wort all over the ground , stuck sparge , etc.

Sure you have the pump plumbed up the correct way?

Batz

 

[ausdb]

Well Guys,
it started out great, milled 6 kilo of grain in 15 min in the marga mill, top stuff, my mate made me a perspex hopper that holds 1.5 kilo grain and a couple of dust shields, it looks and works great. :lol:

Any chance of some pics of your Marga setup? I have bodged mine up with some cardboard for a hopper and grain exit chute but are looking for ideas on making it more permanent and you have triggered my memories. I have some perspex offcuts in my shed from redoing my boat windows (strike 1 against the missus who says I hoard too much ****!! I knew it would come in handy one day!!!!!!!!!)

Also my first AG was a batch sparge and I thought it went pretty well as well, I'm not sure about efficiency as I didn't measure how much went into the boiler

 

[Doc]

Sounds like an interesting brew session Andrew. But I wouldn't call it a disaster as you still made beer.
For the next brew, a bigger hole in the kettle for the chiller, the pump tested and working and you'll be brewing with your eyes closed.
I'd say the brew gods were frowning but not angry

Beers,
Doc

 

[Guest Lurker]

Need me to hop over and modify your immersion chiller Andrew? Bet I can get it into the boiler without making the opening bigger. And it will work more efficiently!

 

[Batz]

yep , just find a busy highway , leave the chiller on the road , after an hour or so you hace a chiller just like GL's

 

[AndrewQLD]

GL thats a nice offer, bit of a trip to Bundy Qld though, I'd take you up on it too but in my mad scramble to solve my ciller proble and reduce its diameter I put about 20 SERIOUS kinks in it, I think I need a new one!!

Yeah Batz that was my first thought to but I had the same results both ways so I think the impeller has come loose, but the bloody casing is screwed AND glued shut.

I must say that with my 81% eff and considering the brewday was no longer than normal I can't complain too much

Thanks Guys

Andrew

 

[AndrewQLD]

Hopper for Marga Mill

 

[AndrewQLD]

48 lt in the boiler and boiling away

 

[Batz]

That's one full boil kettle Andrew , you think your chiller would fit without spilling some wort out anyway?

 

[AndrewQLD]

It would have been cool, I lost 6 lt to evaporation so that gives me 8 lt room. I do this brew amount regulary with no probs. But I am thinking that a roll of 3/8 soft copper is about $69.00 so maybe I should invest a couple more bucks for a counter flow job instead??

 

[JasonY]

Great stuff andrew, when you get your pump working you could stick your immersion chiller in a bucket of water with the hose in it and pump the wort through the immersion, kind of a rough CFC. I have started doing this since getting a pump although the liquid will be hotter than 80degC.

 

[ausdb]

But I am thinking that a roll of 3/8 soft copper is about $69.00 so maybe I should invest a couple more bucks for a counter flow job instead??

If you are going counterflow I have two of the 3/8"CU X 1/2" MI brass compression unions that you use for a copper in plastic hose chiller, ala the ones on the Goliath site.
I ended up making my counterflow out of all copper and brazing it.

Send me a couple of bottles of brew and they are yours!

BTW the hopper looks good, how do you direct the grain out of the bottom of the Marga?

 

[AndrewQLD]

Hi Ausdb,
Thanks for the interest and the offer, PM me your postal details and I will shoot you a couple of bottles over, as for the mill take a look at the photos here http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/gall...Name=album11&s= they pretty much explain what I have done.

Regards
Andrew

 

[jayse]

Hi andrew,
Just read the title 'disaster' and was picturing much more problems then you had, sounds like other than the pump not performing everything else went fine.
If you got your volume and gravity into fermentor and it didn't take all day to do it then i think you can easily say that wasn't to much of a disaster.
Disaster is getting hit by a bus while your out riding your bike waiting for the wort to cool down. :blink:
Or like my disaster passing out drunk half way into the brew and waking up to find my mates have started to pull my shed to bits for fire wood and the fire is covering the boiling wort with bits of ash. :angry:

Whats the verdict on the pump? stuffed? if its a sumbmersable one try seeing if it works in a bucket of water.

Cheers Jayse

 

[AndrewQLD]

Pump is stuffed, sending back to manufacturers today for a refund, passing out drunk sounds ok but I am not real keen on the smoked beer.

Cheers
Andrew