Brew Day What Have Ya Got - 2023

[Aussiekraut]

On 11/26/2023 at 3:18 PM, Pale Man said:

Yeah I'm thinking if your container is sanitised, wort is hot enough, there should be no issues. The head space may be an issue with oxidisation if stored over a long period. But I could be wrong.

Oxidation is a problem with the finished product but I'm not sure about wort. After all, we're adding oxygen to the wort via means of aeration, in order to provide the yeast with something to work with. 

I'd be more worried about long-term sanitation. Sure, we clean and sanitise the cube and we make sure the hot wort is getting to every nook and cranny in the cube to help kill more nasties but if this is good enough for weeks of storage is a different story. 

[Aussiekraut]

On 11/26/2023 at 2:23 PM, Classic Brewing Co said:

To save wasting water with a chiller, I just lay the cube on the tiled laundry floor to cool overnight & transfer to the FV in the morning. 

At the old place, before I used a chiller, I put the cube into the pool to cool off. That got it down fairly quickly. These days, I just set the designated ferment fridge to the desired fermentation temp of the beer and put the cube in to cool off.

[Aussiekraut]

16 hours ago, Kegory said:

I've tried a couple of commercial GF beers and I wasn't very impressed. Maybe those hops will do the trick.

Good name, though.

I always thought the same when BS spoke of GF malt until I realised he meant Gladfield malt 

[BlackSands]

13 hours ago, Pale Man said:

Howd ya work out of that one?

Fortunately, it wasn't really a big deal, apart from the loss of the bag itself!  There was very little grain spillage as I lifted the bag out so only a small amount ended up in the wort.  

Not sure why it happened as I've been brewing happily with this bag in this manner for several years. Thankfully, I bought two bags at the time so I guess unconsciously I knew this day was gonna come sooner or later!  

[BlackSands]

17 hours ago, Kegory said:

I've tried a couple of commercial GF beers and I wasn't very impressed. Maybe those hops will do the trick.

Good name, though.

Are we talking about the same thing?  I use GladField malts exclusively and certainly have no complaints. 

[Classic Brewing Co]

1 hour ago, Aussiekraut said:

At the old place, before I used a chiller, I put the cube into the pool to cool off. That got it down fairly quickly. These days, I just set the designated ferment fridge to the desired fermentation temp of the beer and put the cube in to cool off.

Yes, I remember yourself or someone else had mentioned that method, I suppose I could do the same but overnight seems to work for me as it is usually around pitching temperature.

[Kegory]

17 minutes ago, BlackSands said:

Are we talking about the same thing?  I use GladField malts exclusively and certainly have no complaints. 

No, we are not talking about the same thing. I am familiar with GladField malts, but typically when I see "GF" it is on a food menu denoting Gluten Free.

[BlackSands]

1 minute ago, Kegory said:

No, we are not talking about the same thing. I am familiar with GladField malts, but typically when I see "GF" it is on a food menu denoting Gluten Free.

Ahh!  Yes, you're right, 'GF' is often used to indicate Gluten Free.  I can see how that might be a tad confusing!  And I agree, Gluten Free beer based on sorghum aren't the greatest.  

[Classic Brewing Co]

2 minutes ago, BlackSands said:

Ahh!  Yes, you're right, 'GF' is often used to indicate Gluten Free.  I can see how that might be a tad confusing!  And I agree, Gluten Free beer based on sorghum aren't the greatest.  

I would only ever drink those unless I had to, I did try one once, awful.

[Aussiekraut]

3 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

I would only ever drink those unless I had to, I did try one once, awful.

It depends on the thirst I suppose  

I use clarity ferm, which helps drop out gluten proteins. At least to below 10ppm, which is considered gluten free. My wife is coeliac, so she must have GF but then again, she doesn't drink beer 

There is an exbeeriment by Brülosophy testing beer made with and without clarity ferm (I think they still used it as Brewer's Clarex, which was the name before Fermentis bought the company). They used some testing tags to see if it was GF and it turned out to be fine. However, the beer made "normally" also didn't show on the test tags. Go figure. 

[Classic Brewing Co]

2 hours ago, Aussiekraut said:

It depends on the thirst I suppose  

I use clarity ferm, which helps drop out gluten proteins. At least to below 10ppm, which is considered gluten free. My wife is coeliac, so she must have GF but then again, she doesn't drink beer 

There is an exbeeriment by Brülosophy testing beer made with and without clarity ferm (I think they still used it as Brewer's Clarex, which was the name before Fermentis bought the company). They used some testing tags to see if it was GF and it turned out to be fine. However, the beer made "normally" also didn't show on the test tags. Go figure. 

I understand if there are reasons some people have to steer clear of certain things but so far, I have been lucky being able to drink or eat anything. I must have been kissed by a Fairy. 

All of this GF/Fat Free/Free Range etc. stuff is a bit of a racket. There are exceptions of course if it has been certified.

[Aussiekraut]

5 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

I understand if there are reasons some people have to steer clear of certain things but so far, I have been lucky being able to drink or eat anything. I must have been kissed by a Fairy. 

All of this GF/Fat Free/Free Range etc. stuff is a bit of a racket. There are exceptions of course if it has been certified.

It is a money spinner, no question. Buy GF and you get half for double the price or more. Being GF as a lifestyle is silly anyway as there is no benefit whatsoever and some say you're better off not doing it. I cannot even remotely understand how somebody could eat gluten free bread of their own free will. It is absolutely horrid. You'd have to be very stupid. 

However, if you must be GF, it is horrible. Eating out is so hard. They may have GF options on the menu but cross-contamination is a big issue. If they cut your bread on the same chopping board as the glutenous one, you're screwed. If they fry their chips, which should be GF to start with, in the same fryer as they put the calamari or who knows what, you're in trouble. If food isn't prepared on separate prepping stations and cooked in separate vessels, it is a no-go. I live mostly GF because preparing two different meals is a pain but I do eat normal bread and eat lollies SWMBO can't eat and of course, there is beer but that doesn't affect her. But I eat GF pasta, use GF flour and all those things. And of course, we have separate chopping boards and two lots of butter. We even have two separate convection ovens. It really sucks and I'm not even the one with the problem. 

[Classic Brewing Co]

8 minutes ago, Aussiekraut said:

It is a money spinner, no question. Buy GF and you get half for double the price or more. Being GF as a lifestyle is silly anyway as there is no benefit whatsoever and some say you're better off not doing it. I cannot even remotely understand how somebody could eat gluten free bread of their own free will. It is absolutely horrid. You'd have to be very stupid. 

However, if you must be GF, it is horrible. Eating out is so hard. They may have GF options on the menu but cross-contamination is a big issue. If they cut your bread on the same chopping board as the glutenous one, you're screwed. If they fry their chips, which should be GF to start with, in the same fryer as they put the calamari or who knows what, you're in trouble. If food isn't prepared on separate prepping stations and cooked in separate vessels, it is a no-go. I live mostly GF because preparing two different meals is a pain but I do eat normal bread and eat lollies SWMBO can't eat and of course, there is beer but that doesn't affect her. But I eat GF pasta, use GF flour and all those things. And of course, we have separate chopping boards and two lots of butter. We even have two separate convection ovens. It really sucks and I'm not even the one with the problem. 

It must be tricky but sounds like you have it under control, I agree with your comments on cross contamination as that is not policed as strongly as it should be in supermarkets & the like.

[Shamus O'Sean]

On 11/27/2023 at 9:19 AM, BlackSands said:

Burnt Bag Bitter

23 litres

• 3.6kg GF Ale Malt
• 200g GF Dark Crystal Malt
• 200g Flaked Barley
• 100g GF Biscuit Malt
• 25g Pacific Jade @ 40mins
• 25g Fuggles @15min
• 25g EKG @5min
• 25g each EKG & Fuggles (steep/whirlpool)
• Voss

 

 

 

Unfortunate about the bag, BS.

How did your efficiency go with this brew - Back to normal?

Edited November 28, 2023 by Shamus O'Sean

[BlackSands]

4 minutes ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Unfortunate about the bag, BS.

How did your efficiency go with this brew - Back to normal?

Yup... no weirdness this time... well apart from the buggered bag of course! 

OG was bang on target @1.042 equating to an efficiency of around 77%.   

[Back Brewing]

On 10/18/2023 at 7:45 AM, Classic Brewing Co said:

Great, Shamus Thank You.

I am still struggling with BrewFather, not so much the program or the technology, just the order of input to determine a full recipe if that makes sense.

Each time I have entered data it looks right but the figures don't make sense & I have ended up with too much sparge water.

The last 4 or 5 recipes I have done manually have mainly been Pale/IPA/XPA & I have pretty much followed this format manually.

For this new recipe I will mash at 66c & I will follow your advice with the 2nd late hop addition.

Thank you so much for your reply & help.

Cheers

Phil.

Phil Just a question on this recipe the grain bill is 4.5 kilo of grain and if they say 2.5 or 3 litres of water per kilo that would be 13.5 litres of mash water

Can you or anyone else ease advise why you used 20.25 lires of mash water? Or am I missing something?

Edited November 30, 2023 by Back Brewing

[ozdevil]

6 hours ago, Back Brewing said:

Phil Just a question on this recipe the grain bill is 4.5 kilo of grain and if they say 2.5 or 3 litres of water per kilo that would be 13.5 litres of mash water

Can you or anyone else ease advise why you used 20.25 lires of mash water? Or am I missing something?

you will need to    4.5kg*3l +deadspace   

for my bz 35 3.1.1     its 4.5*3+6.75 = which brings  it to the 20.25 litres of water you will need
for my bz 35 gen 4    its 4.5kg*3l+2.5= 16 litres of mash water
my bz 65l    its  4.5*3+11.5= 25 litres of mash water
you have to take in account  the area  that is not touching the mash  which is all deadspace  

 

[Classic Brewing Co]

7 hours ago, Back Brewing said:

Phil Just a question on this recipe the grain bill is 4.5 kilo of grain and if they say 2.5 or 3 litres of water per kilo that would be 13.5 litres of mash water

Can you or anyone else ease advise why you used 20.25 lires of mash water? Or am I missing something?

As @ozdevil said it is the correct amount of water as you lose some in the boil, I always end up with around 22l of wort, sometimes depending on the boil you can lose slightly more. You can always top up the FV with water if you want to have 22-23litres to ferment.

[Back Brewing]

10 hours ago, ozdevil said:

you will need to    4.5kg*3l +deadspace   

for my bz 35 3.1.1     its 4.5*3+6.75 = which brings  it to the 20.25 litres of water you will need
for my bz 35 gen 4    its 4.5kg*3l+2.5= 16 litres of mash water
my bz 65l    its  4.5*3+11.5= 25 litres of mash water
you have to take in account  the area  that is not touching the mash  which is all deadspace  

 

Why the difference between 3.1.1 and gen 4?

[Back Brewing]

Ok so I think I've worked out grainfather here is what it came up with how does it look to experienced brewers using all grain? The IBU does not seem high at 10 pwill it be too sweet?

Edited December 1, 2023 by Back Brewing

[ozdevil]

4 hours ago, Back Brewing said:

Why the difference between 3.1.1 and gen 4?

the setups are much different with  the dead space mate 


bz  3.1.1  has to have the false bottom above the tap

gen4  the tap is  situated near the pump

allowing for a smaller  deadspace 




note  where the taps are on the units

left = gen4
right = 3.1.1


3.1.1 the false bottom sits above the tap     meaning  it needs more dead space

gen4  needs little deadspace as tap is below and would be less if the bottom wasnt concave 


 

[Back Brewing]

2 minutes ago, ozdevil said:

the setups are much different with  the dead space mate 


bz  3.1.1  has to have the false bottom above the tap

gen4  the tap is  situated near the pump

allowing for a smaller  deadspace 




note  where the taps are on the units

left = gen4
right = 3.1.1


3.1.1 the false bottom sits above the tap     meaning  it needs more dead space

gen4  needs little deadspace as tap is below and would be less if the bottom wasnt concave 


 

It all makes sense now once you see the pics

[ozdevil]

1 minute ago, Back Brewing said:

It all makes sense now once you see the pics

it does   , i know i am the best in explaing things   but i hope i have helped you out there

when i do all grain  i also allow for  fermenter loss    you may at the start have 23 litres   but you may loose 2 litres due to the trube  
which only really gives 21litres

[Back Brewing]

On 12/1/2023 at 6:40 PM, Back Brewing said:

Ok so I think I've worked out grainfather here is what it came up with how does it look to experienced brewers using all grain? The IBU does not seem high at 10 pwill it be too sweet?

I'm going to bump this as I didn't realise grainfather had a default of 5 for AA what should I change it to as the recipe says 28 IBU and at 5 on grainfather it says 10

[Aussiekraut]

12 hours ago, Back Brewing said:

I'm going to bump this as I didn't realise grainfather had a default of 5 for AA what should I change it to as the recipe says 28 IBU and at 5 on grainfather it says 10

I'd set it to the AA the Hop has, see what BF calculates and then slightly adjust the amounts up and down to match the IBU I'm after. There is no need to adjust for dry hopping though as AA doesn't have a say in that process.