BREW DAY!! WATCHA’ GOT, EH? 2021

[Classic Brewing Co]

13 minutes ago, iBooz2 said:

+1 for trying a FWK and some yeast.

Was going to suggest this as well as it would be like an AG try before you buy @Classic Brewing Co, a good suggestion by the master himself and worth more than a thought.

Yes Al I have seen the FWK's at a LHBS near me, I think they are about $50 but I will look into it further, I appreciate your suggestions.

[Shamus O'Sean]

3 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Yes Al I have seen the FWK's at a LHBS near me, I think they are about $50 but I will look into it further, I appreciate your suggestions.

Phil, I bet you already have all the equipment you would need to do an all grain brew.  Have a glance back at my recent brew Leftovers Pale Amber Wheat Ale in this thread.  The pot I did the mash and boil in is the $20 Big W 19 litre pot.  I have fitted a ball valve tap and a temperature probe.  But you do not need them.  You can just pour out the brew; that is what I did with the first couple I did in the pot back in the day.  The grain bag is just a 20 litre paint strainer bag from Bunnings.  As a cook you will have all the spoons, strainers, thermometers, cooktop, etc that you would need.  Maybe somebody could come up with a possible recipe/grain bill for you to try.

[stquinto]

1 hour ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Phil, I bet you already have all the equipment you would need to do an all grain brew.  Have a glance back at my recent brew Leftovers Pale Amber Wheat Ale in this thread.  The pot I did the mash and boil in is the $20 Big W 19 litre pot.  I have fitted a ball valve tap and a temperature probe.  But you do not need them.  You can just pour out the brew; that is what I did with the first couple I did in the pot back in the day.  The grain bag is just a 20 litre paint strainer bag from Bunnings.  As a cook you will have all the spoons, strainers, thermometers, cooktop, etc that you would need.  Maybe somebody could come up with a possible recipe/grain bill for you to try.

@Shamus O'Sean looks interesting what you suggest: I just ordered a 25l grain bag, might have a got at BIAB myself. All depends on how much time I need to set aside for brew day.  I could do with a decent pot with a tap at the bottom. I am slowly getting into kegging, might have a job making two investments at once, won't get past the head of Leisure on the committee...

[Tone boy]

8 hours ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Phil, I bet you already have all the equipment you would need to do an all grain brew.  Have a glance back at my recent brew Leftovers Pale Amber Wheat Ale in this thread.  The pot I did the mash and boil in is the $20 Big W 19 litre pot.  I have fitted a ball valve tap and a temperature probe.  But you do not need them.  You can just pour out the brew; that is what I did with the first couple I did in the pot back in the day.  The grain bag is just a 20 litre paint strainer bag from Bunnings.  As a cook you will have all the spoons, strainers, thermometers, cooktop, etc that you would need.  Maybe somebody could come up with a possible recipe/grain bill for you to try.

That’s what I use for my partial mash brews @Shamus O'Sean@Classic Brewing Co Shamus and Phil. I mash in paint strainer bag inside a 10 litre insulated esky - you know the cylindrical ones with the tap at the bottom. It keeps the temp pretty stable over the hour. Then I just pour it into my SS pot which is also only 10 litres (no tap though Shamus - great idea) for the boil. 
Admittedly I only do partial mashes with about 1.5 to 1.8 kg of grain but same process. I got the paint strainer bags from my little local hardware store, a 3 pack for $7. I’m still on the first one. 
I guess my point is Shamus is right. You don’t need to spend a fortune to have a crack at it. 

[Classic Brewing Co]

9 hours ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Phil, I bet you already have all the equipment you would need to do an all grain brew.  Have a glance back at my recent brew Leftovers Pale Amber Wheat Ale in this thread.  The pot I did the mash and boil in is the $20 Big W 19 litre pot.  I have fitted a ball valve tap and a temperature probe.  But you do not need them.  You can just pour out the brew; that is what I did with the first couple I did in the pot back in the day.  The grain bag is just a 20 litre paint strainer bag from Bunnings.  As a cook you will have all the spoons, strainers, thermometers, cooktop, etc that you would need.  Maybe somebody could come up with a possible recipe/grain bill for you to try.

Cheers @Shamus O'Sean you are right judging from the posts I have seen from you guys over the years shows me a lot of you improvise with the basic equipment apart from the more sophisticated items. As you say the extra bits & pieces can be added to streamline the operation.

I will have to start a check list to see what I already have & what I would need to buy. 

@Tone boy I appreciate your comments, I will definitely investigate it further as all of the LBHS I go to all sell AG supplies so no problem there. I know I already have some of the gear so it will be interesting to see if I can assemble the stuff & have a crack at it.

Cheers

Phil

[Titans19]

14 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Yes Al I have seen the FWK's at a LHBS near me, I think they are about $50 but I will look into it further, I appreciate your suggestions.

I was in the same dilemma not too long ago and decided to try the local FWKs ($65 here when you add yeast) as a taste tester between AG and my brews before spending the money.. I ended up deciding to stay doing K&K. The Coopers recipes are great when you do the grain addition, and I couldn't really pick a difference. 

I still buy the occasional FWK as it is SO quick to brew. It's all done and in fridge within 5 mins.

[Classic Brewing Co]

Just now, Titans19 said:

I was in the same dilemma not too long ago and decided to try the local FWKs ($65 here when you add yeast) as a taste tester between AG and my brews before spending the money.. I ended up deciding to stay doing K&K. The Coopers recipes are great when you do the grain addition, and I couldn't really pick a difference. 

I still buy the occasional FWK as it is SO quick to brew. It's all done and in fridge within 5 mins.

Probably a valid point as some of the other guys mentioned that also, I enjoy K&K due to it's simplicity however I do add grain often & always hops. I don't mind paying for decent fresh yeast as I don't fancy digging around in the trub just to save a few bucks.

[Red devil 44]

On 8/29/2021 at 4:56 PM, Classic Brewing Co said:

Yeah Jamie I am going to invest in the basic equipment for BIAB without going overboard as I have found a LBHS that has pretty much everything to go at a reasonable price apart from what I may already have. So keeping it simple to start may be the start of a new adventure. 

I think my next step after partials is BIAB, then cube it, cool, then ferment as normal & keg. 

[Aussiekraut]

1 hour ago, Red devil 44 said:

I think my next step after partials is BIAB, then cube it, cool, then ferment as normal & keg. 

That sounds like a very good idea  I started off cubing as well, mainly because I hadn't figured out what to do with the water used. When I realised that I have to top up the pool every now and then anyway, I decided to use the water to chill my wort first and then let it go straight into the pool. With the big 15m coil, it only takes 20 minutes to drop it below 25C, the fridge does the rest. 

[Pale Man]

All grain English Porter. First time using my new Brewzilla from @Hoppy81

To say I'm stoked is an understatement. Easy to put together, easy to use. Great little machine. 

 

[Hoppy81]

1 hour ago, Pale Man said:

All grain English Porter. First time using my new Brewzilla from @Hoppy81

To say I'm stoked is an understatement. Easy to put together, easy to use. Great little machine. 

 

Awesome mate, cheers  

[ozdevil]

9 hours ago, Pale Man said:

All grain English Porter. First time using my new Brewzilla from @Hoppy81

To say I'm stoked is an understatement. Easy to put together, easy to use. Great little machine. 

 

great stuff mate

1 of the 1st things i did with my bz35l and bz65l   is get rid of the the overflow pipe
its not really needed

you can purchase the bottom screen that doesnt have the overflow  pipe or put a bolt in that

however though  i love my bz 35l and bz 65l

youwill have some good brewdays wit that.

But you should have held off mate the Brewzilla 4.0's are not far off from being released in which has bluetooth  and wifi as well  the electronic screen has been mounted alot high  like the grainfather..

[Pale Man]

6 hours ago, ozdevil said:

great stuff mate

1 of the 1st things i did with my bz35l and bz65l   is get rid of the the overflow pipe
its not really needed

you can purchase the bottom screen that doesnt have the overflow  pipe or put a bolt in that

But you should have held off mate the Brewzilla 4.0's are not far off from being released in which has bluetooth  and wifi as well  the electronic screen has been mounted alot high  like the grainfather..

Nice tip OD, yeah the overflow pipe is a pain in the donkey, ill look into that.

I'm really happy with model, cant say i'm too much into blue tooth or wifi. I'm learning so that stuff would have been a hinderance.

[Classic Brewing Co]

19 hours ago, Pale Man said:

All grain English Porter. First time using my new Brewzilla from @Hoppy81

To say I'm stoked is an understatement. Easy to put together, easy to use. Great little machine. 

 

Looks awesome @Pale Man

[Tricky Micky]

19 hours ago, Pale Man said:

All grain English Porter. First time using my new Brewzilla from @Hoppy81

To say I'm stoked is an understatement. Easy to put together, easy to use. Great little machine. 

 

Looks the goods PM, If ever we Victorians get out of this lockdown and get back to work I'm getting one of these or similar - then the kegs. Well done mate.

[Pale Man]

24 minutes ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Looks awesome @Pale Man

It is so easy to use. Ive just brewed another beer today ( a lager ) and hit targets bang on the money both days. I was starting to taper off a lot with my brewing, using gas was doing my head in. This has really got me enthusiastic again.

[Pale Man]

17 minutes ago, Mickep said:

Looks the goods PM, If ever we Victorians get out of this lockdown and get back to work I'm getting one of these or similar - then the kegs. Well done mate.

You wont regret it, as ive mentioned above. Maybe lookout for Brewzilla 4.  But im stoked with this model.

[Tone boy]

Hey @Prince Harry. Welcome aboard. 
Im out in the bush too. I think you’re amongst friends on this site - well like minded brewers anyway

I haven’t used perle hops but they look about double the AA of saaz so you should get a little bit more bitterness from a 10 min boil. I have used M84 before. It gave a nice lager but did have a few fruity esters that came through (slight). I have since moved to w34/70 which seems a bit more neutral. 
What you’ve done sounds good. It should pack a fair punch alcohol wise as well ! I’d be interested to hear how it turns out

[Pale Man]

12 hours ago, ozdevil said:

great stuff mate

1 of the 1st things i did with my bz35l and bz65l   is get rid of the the overflow pipe
its not really needed

you can purchase the bottom screen that doesnt have the overflow  pipe or put a bolt in that

however though  i love my bz 35l and bz 65l

youwill have some good brewdays wit that.

But you should have held off mate the Brewzilla 4.0's are not far off from being released in which has bluetooth  and wifi as well  the electronic screen has been mounted alot high  like the grainfather..

Just on this OD, when cleaning up do you use PBW? and is that stuff ok to run through the pump, or do you have other methods. I've been doing that at about 50 celcius then running fresh water through after.

Edited September 2, 2021 by Pale Man

[Tone boy]

1 minute ago, Pale Man said:

Just on this OD, when cleaning up do you use PBW? and is that stuff ok to run through the pump, or do you have other methods. I've been doing that at about 50 celcius then running fresh water through after.

And do you have to remove the bolt to clean ?

[Pale Man]

43 minutes ago, Prince Harry said:

I made 21 litres and pitch 2 packs yeast on 16 degrees coldest could get using ice now fridge on 13 will maby go down to 11 tonight before bed. Sorry my name is harry long time reader been brewing years only extract for month like to see what others do im out in bush near no one small town i keep private if ok as my dad says be careful of internet.

Hello mate welcome. 13 degrees is fine for a lager yeast. Personally i wouldn't go to 11.

[Pale Man]

1 minute ago, Tone boy said:

And do you have to remove the bolt to clean ?

Bolt........which bolt 

[Pale Man]

2 minutes ago, Prince Harry said:

ok packets say 10 to 15 and 13 is kind in middle so good idea people usually say go lower but I done some at 15 and some at 12 with W34/70 can't really say noticed it better but usually people say it better.

If it works for you thats ok. Just personal preference. 11 degrees is at the very lower end for W34/70, could incite problems such as diacetyl. 15 degrees is around the top end so personally i'd aim for 13. But all up to you. Thats what this place is about.

[Pale Man]

2 minutes ago, Prince Harry said:

thanks for your help I put it on 12.5 because it's real half way but sways up to 12.9 before comes on again I don't really know if much different could not tell last time could just taste hop flavour. 

That will be quite fine. I'm the sort of brewer that doesnt like going to either extreme temperature with yeast and always aim for the middle ground, but that could depend on beer style.

[ozdevil]

2 hours ago, Pale Man said:

Just on this OD, when cleaning up do you use PBW? and is that stuff ok to run through the pump, or do you have other methods. I've been doing that at about 50 celcius then running fresh water through after.

I dont always PBW after a brew  just give a good solid wipe over and  give good rinse  

about every 5 uses i run pbw  through it   at around 55 -60 degrees c  and i will let it sit for an hour
 then will  get rid of that  then refill with frsh water and get that to 60-65 degrees to help get the slippery film from te pbw off

and all good to go for next time

 

 

2 hours ago, Tone boy said:

And do you have to remove the bolt to clean ?

if you get rid of the overflow pipe and replaced it with a bolt just leave it there  no point unscrewing it unless planning on using  overflow pipe

 

 

2 hours ago, Pale Man said:

Bolt........which bolt 

i mentioned earlier if you took the over flow pipe out  you could just put a bolt where the overflow pipe was