Brew Day What Have Ya Got - 2023

[Classic Brewing Co]

2 hours ago, Aussiekraut said:

Yeah especially because it is entirely on my own land, behind a 7ft fence for Pete's sake. it shouldn't be any of their business.

Yeah, I will have water right out there, my 15A power socket, a bit of a workspace on the slab outside of the gates and all gear like grain, mill, fridges, storage, spare kegs, keezers and all the other gear will all be there in one spot. Besides what goes into the Kegerator in the house, I won't have to run a marathon on brew days and lug things around. It'll all be in one place. I'm so looking forward to that. At some point, I might even install a pulley to make life easier.

Onya AK.

[Classic Brewing Co]

2 hours ago, Kegory said:

Brewery, tap room, and a bird filled beer garden judging by the photos.

Yeah, Cheers mate, I do appreciate it heaps, life is good.

[Classic Brewing Co]

I was going to fire up the BrewZilla this morning but in inpsite of cleaning it after the last brew the inside still had a foul smell, so I hit it with PBW & hot water, a good rinse & then bring it to boil with some Bi-Carbonate of Soda &, if necessary, a good soak overnight.

A good rinse & sanitise in the morning & away we go. It is smelling much better so full steam ahead.

 

[Classic Brewing Co]

Brew Day at Classic Brewing Co - ECLIPSE XPA

1. Heating Mash Water to 68c

2. Mash underway

2. Cheat Sheat - no stuff ups today!

 

[Classic Brewing Co]

Boil underway the house is starting to smell like a brewery  oh yeah, it is 

So far things have gone smoothly, what could possibly go wrong?

 

[Aussiekraut]

1 hour ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Boil underway the house is starting to smell like a brewery  oh yeah, it is 

So far things have gone smoothly, what could possibly go wrong?

 

Looking at the froth, I'd say boiling over could go wrong  I have to start stirring the hot break back in from about 95C or I will have a royal mess on my hands.  

[Classic Brewing Co]

16 minutes ago, Aussiekraut said:

Looking at the froth, I'd say boiling over could go wrong  I have to start stirring the hot break back in from about 95C or I will have a royal mess on my hands.  

Yes, I appreciate your comment, but I kept a close eye on it for the whole boil process, a little switching between switches maintained the rolling boil, that was the start of it attaining HH.

No boil over so all good, Cheers.

[kmar92]

@Classic Brewing Co you are becoming quite the pro AG'er, good work.

[Classic Brewing Co]

16 minutes ago, kmar92 said:

@Classic Brewing Co you are becoming quite the pro AG'er, good work.

Cheers but I am still learning & making little stupid mistakes, waiting for the temp to reach boil time - you have to turn in the elements first  & only minor things, but the brew is in a cube on the laundry tiles.

Edited May 12, 2023 by Classic Brewing Co

[Shamus O'Sean]

Inspired by @Aussiekraut's Mötley Brëw.  Here's my version.  Pretty much the same except the main malt.

• 30L batch (Actually squeezed out 31L) with 8L top up in the FV
• 4.5% ABV (will be a little bit more due to better efficiency than in my recipe)
• OG 1.042 (Actually got 1.044)
• FG 1.008 Predicted
• EBC 8
• IBU 30
• 4.3kg Coopers Premium Ale Malt (6 EBC)
• 1.1kg Vienna Malt (7.5 EBC)
• 18g Citra 60 minute boil (17 IBU) {AK's uses all Mosaic, but I did not have enough}
• 20g Mosaic 20 minute boil (11 IBU)
• 20g Mosaic 20 minute hopstand at 77°C (2 IBU)
• 50g Mosaic dry hop
• US-05 yeast

About to mash in

2 minutes into the mash

45 minutes into the mash

About to start mash out - nice clear wort

Sparging

About to come to the boil

Boiling, about to add hops

Double bag on mash pipe.  About to invert to collect grains in bag.

Sterilising my counter flow chiller by running boiling wort through it.

Transferring wort to fermenter

Close up of transferring wort into the fermenter

[Cheap Charlie]

@Shamus O'Sean looks great, i bet will be delicious

[Brauhaus Fritz]

Nothing yet, but it's finally assembled. Next Saturday will be the day. Until then some study about procedures and logistics. Like I said in a different post today, good preparation and organization seems to be the go for a stress free and successful brew day. Speaking of which, who came up with the genial design to have to close the neoprene jacket underneath the malt pipe. Working in Hospitality for the last 35 years I came across too many useless designs and this one is right up there.

[Shamus O'Sean]

4 minutes ago, Brauhaus Fritz said:

Speaking of which, who came up with the genial design to have to close the neoprene jacket underneath the malt pipe. Working in Hospitality for the last 35 years I came across too many useless designs and this one is right up there.

Interesting.  The Grainfather jacket is the same.  It seems to be because of the brackets that attach the pipe to the side of the kettle.  The GF has a mid-point bracket too.

[Brauhaus Fritz]

9 minutes ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Interesting.  The Grainfather jacket is the same.  It seems to be because of the brackets that attach the pipe to the side of the kettle.  The GF has a mid-point bracket too.

It makes it incredibly hard to put on. Also I watched a video which suggests to take the jacket of when you cool the wort to speed up the process, with this design it is dangerous 

[Shamus O'Sean]

1 hour ago, Brauhaus Fritz said:

It makes it incredibly hard to put on. Also I watched a video which suggests to take the jacket of when you cool the wort to speed up the process, with this design it is dangerous 

I have read the suggestion of removing the insulation jacket when cooling the wort.  It does make sense.  But it is dangerous.  I have my Grainfather on a moving dolly.  When it is full, it has a high centre of gravity.  Being on a low platform, with wheels that go in any direction, makes it even worse.  Plus it is a headache to get back on.  So I leave mine on all the time.  Except when I have a spillage and have to take it off to clean it.

[Brauhaus Fritz]

3 minutes ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

I have read the suggestion of removing the insulation jacket when cooling the wort.  It does make sense.  But it is dangerous.  I have my Grainfather on a moving dolly.  When it is full, it has a high centre of gravity.  Being on a low platform, with wheels that go in any direction, makes it even worse.  Plus it is a headache to get back on.  So I leave mine on all the time.  Except when I have a spillage and have to take it off to clean it.

In the beginning I plan on Hot Cubing, as I am not into wasting water and have not figured out the logistics of how and where to use the immersion chiller ( no easy water or drain access in my garage). but you are right, it is too dangerous. 

[BlackSands]

 I had a wee companion join me on my brew day today - lurking on the inside of my fermenter lid.   

20 litre batch - a stove-top BIAB English bitter,  a style which I haven't actually brewed for nearly a year now.

• 2.8kg GF Ale Malt
• 200g Flaked Barley
• 200g GF Dark Crystal Malt
• 100g GF Biscuit Malt
• 15g Pacific Jade @ 30min
• 30g Harlequin @15min
• 20g Harlequin @5 min
• Voss

 

[stquinto]

A Czech Pilsner today. Worked out pretty smooth, although I can never seem to burst the Wyeast inner packs to get them to do their stuff.

Kegged a COPA but lost about 6 litres as I was upstairs doing some other stuff

Also kegged a Battleship Bitter. Got quite a bit of stock in now …

Also first run with a stainless fermentor.

[kmar92]

Knocked up my Hefe Weissbier today. All went well and pretty close to the predicted numbers, OG was down 1 point at 1.052 and probably explained by the post boil volume being up approx 2L. Cubed and I will pitch the Lally Munich Classic tomorrow.

[Brauhaus Fritz]

Using my Brewzilla for the first time, so far so good,

Urgent question, after lifting the malt pipe, do I start sparging straight away? Or do I wait until the pipe emptied out? Thanks in advance.

Edited May 20, 2023 by Brauhaus Fritz

[Classic Brewing Co]

1 minute ago, Brauhaus Fritz said:

Using my Brewzilla for the first time, so far so good,

Urgent question, after lifting the malt pipe, do I start sparging straight away? Or do I wait until the pipe emptied out? Thanks in advance.

Once you have nestled the malt pipe into position you are ready to sparge, it will take a while to drain but you want to let all the goodness go into your wort. Just keep rinsing away until it has stopped dripping.

[Classic Brewing Co]

31 minutes ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Once you have nestled the malt pipe into position you are ready to sparge, it will take a while to drain but you want to let all the goodness go into your wort. Just keep rinsing away until it has stopped dripping.

What's the recipe mate?

All the best by the way. 

[Brauhaus Fritz]

First time using my Brewzilla and my first brew is an Imperial Chocolate Milk Stout. My daughter got me the AG kit from the LHBS for my last years birthday . So nearly a year later it’s finally happening. Trying to get my head around Brewfather I discovered that the exact recipe is already there. Makes my life easier, or not? It’s a very large grain bill, recirculation nearly impossible and draining the wort out of the malt pipe is taking ages. The whole house is smelling sweetly. I could blame it on the Kellogg’s factory near by, sometimes I open the door and it smells like Crunchy Nut, yum.

What went wrong so far. Only my stick thermometer broke to measure the actual temperature inside the mash pipe and my sparking water and I got wet as I forgot to close the tab, ha ha.

Also found some brew day with a Brewzilla step by step instructions, veeery handy 

[Classic Brewing Co]

29 minutes ago, Brauhaus Fritz said:

First time using my Brewzilla and my first brew is an Imperial Chocolate Milk Stout. My daughter got me the AG kit from the LHBS for my last years birthday . So nearly a year later it’s finally happening. Trying to get my head around Brewfather I discovered that the exact recipe is already there. Makes my life easier, or not? It’s a very large grain bill, recirculation nearly impossible and draining the wort out of the malt pipe is taking ages. The whole house is smelling sweetly. I could blame it on the Kellogg’s factory near by, sometimes I open the door and it smells like Crunchy Nut, yum.

What went wrong so far. Only my stick thermometer broke to measure the actual temperature inside the mash pipe and my sparking water and I got wet as I forgot to close the tab, ha ha.

Also found some brew day with a Brewzilla step by step instructions, veeery handy 

I eventually bought the pro screen & these days the only things in the inside of the vessel now are the false bottom with the pro screen on top, no other screens, pipes, stoppers, re circ arm - all gone, it makes it much easier mash in, stir etc.

[Brauhaus Fritz]

Just hot cubed my first AG, but the water calculations didn’t match up. This doesn’t look like 20l. What went wrong or what to do next time?