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GrahamB8

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My goal is 20 - 23 liters. Using these coolers(eskys) there is just enough space. The plumbing was the spendy part but now that I have it I can always buy bigger coolers(eskys) if I need more Mash space.

 

I will just have to test it out and see how it holds the temps, It might be more efficient having more head space in the mash, only one way to find out, Make BEER[biggrin]

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Awww man after reading that I have to tweak my manifold a bit so I can get more efficient mashing, and better runoff to my drain. hehe thanks alot. I thought I was done but NOOO got to make it better LOL [biggrin]

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$17 - No-chill cube

Graham - if you are after a cube then an idea is to buy a FWK. They are about $40-$60 (depending which one you get) and a good drop. Then just ferment what you have and reuse the cube it comes in. I am sure you can see value in that [happy]

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Awww man after reading that I have to tweak my manifold a bit so I can get more efficient mashing' date=' and better runoff to my drain. hehe thanks alot. I thought I was done but NOOO got to make it better LOL [biggrin']

 

Im sorry to say, but this will always be the case... Ive not stopped upgrading and tweaking my system for months.. On fact, on the horizon im going to almost completely rebuild it (all except the HLT)

 

Yob

 

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Not as flash as Jasons but heres the tun

Esky - $5 from recycle centre [biggrin]

Plumbing - $30 (Yes, Ive just finished sawing shoot loads of slots into those pipes)

 

img4266oi.jpg

 

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And whilst I was at the recycling centre I picked up this for $3 Original 1987 Oktoberfest 1L Stein Krug [biggrin]

 

img4274ps.jpg

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And whilst I was at the recycling centre I picked up this for $3 Original 1987 Oktoberfest 1L Stein Krug [biggrin]

 

img4274ps.jpg

 

No WAY! I was there in 1987 (and 88, 91, 94, 95). I saw those on sale for about 15 Deutsch Marks but decided I could not fit it in with all the steins I had stolen [bandit]

Great score!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Bit more ghetto than Jasons shiny new system but I managed to make beer all the same [joyful]

 

img4282wf.jpg

Chaos

 

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Sparge

 

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1st addition

 

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Watching for boil over

 

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Cubing

 

All in all a success

Issues:

Should have done a dry run with the burner, I thought I had too much wort so cranked it up and ended up boiling too much off.

 

Need to make a measuring stick to suit my kettle

 

In future add hops in bags for all additions unless small, hop screen ended up clogged.

 

Hop screen negates whirlpooling (not sure how to fix this without removing the screen)

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Wow. I'm really happy with the results I get from extract brews, but like most brewers, I would like to give all grain a go some time in the future. I just need to ask, is it possible to achieve good results without it being so complicated and requiring so much equipment? I have to confess, I'm not even sure what some of these pics are of and what I'm looking at?!?!?

 

As far as resources go, can anyone recommend a starting point for the aspiring grainist (it's a word now dammit) ?

 

You can't get much better than Nick JD's tutorials on the aussiehomebrewer forums.

 

Have a read, he really breaks it down to the most simple steps, and has a photo for every step. I'm about to start my first AG brew.

 

Move To All Grain For Thirty Bucks

 

20L Stovetop All Grain Aussie Lager

 

Be aware you'll need to sign up as a member to view the pics.

 

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Good work Graham. Tip: when cautious of boil overs use a spray bottle filled with water. Just spray the surface area with water when it is getting close to over flowing.

 

Phil - I was doing Nick's stovetop method for a while prior to getting my urn. I suggest doing it then you will know if going AG is for you. No doubt you'll love it though and it does get easier when using an urn and presumable does with burners and pot etc.

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Cheers Bill, its only happened with help from people on forums like this and guys like yourself giving advice.

 

Ive never tasted a home made AG and I already prefer some of my goto extracts to the commercial offerings where I live so its going to have to be pretty damn good to keep me away from extract brewing.

 

Go for it Phil even if it is only to sample the hype, too many people endorse it to not want to try a batch (or 10)

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I like the way you keep it simple Graham. I get carried away sometimes,, I just like building stuff [roll].

 

My boil pot is only like 35L - 8 gallons, I have been close to boil over but with quick burner control and my stir spoon I have been able to keep it from happening. My boil temps are around 220`F so when I am getting close to that temp I turn my burner down. At the first sign of a boil, I then add my first hopps, I lower my burner temp even more ( it is still a rolling boil ) I use my stir spoon, slowly stirring the wort and let the foam subside. Then I turn my burner up for a nice gentile rolling boil for the remainder of the boil. I am thinking I should have got a bigger boil pot.

 

With a 50L pot I wouldn't think you would have any trouble with boil over from 20-23L batches. Both my All Grain batches have been pretty simple ones ( only using about 8 lbs of grain for mash) and so far I have only done 2 All Grain batches. I am out of empty fermenters ( I need more [biggrin] )

 

Any ways keep it simple, keep it easy, Make GREAT BEER!

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Cheers to that,

 

The 'boil over' pic was me cranking up the HP burner far higher than I needed it due to the excess wort I had made, you right in a 50L pot there was never the danger of that.

 

That burner is awesome, gets 27L to boil in under 5mins from mash temp, I hate to think what it did to the gas level in the bottle though, I know it burnt the paint off the stand pretty quickly.

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...just dont put PBW in the mash instead of 5.2 stabiliser like I did yesterday [crying] now clearly labeled my lids [annoyed]

 

milled again and got my cube though... effing... effing... bollox

 

[crying] [crying] [crying]

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Jason... don't bother stuffing around stirring etc, just use a spray bottle of water and give it a squirt when it starts to foam up/rise. The water breaks the surface tension and it will drop again.

 

Yeah Yob, I read about it mate, just didn't comment at the time and forgot about it later.

 

A real loss that.... R.I.P.[crying]

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it was a valuable lesson.. guess what the harmful compound is in it...

 

Sodium Metasilicate. LINKY - the toxiology bit was a good read [rightful]

 

at the end of the (very long) brewday I got a cube of wort so not terribly upset about the whole thing.

 

I now keep the PBW well away from my misc ingredients section [lol]

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