Brew UK Forum | Brewdays
Shiney Boiler - GW's 49er - Back to the drawing Board :(
Well I christened my new shiney with gas setup today and it was a bit of a nightmare.
I wanted a 19ltr brewlength and in beersmith we worked out total water of 31 ltrs, so water was treated with crs and 1/2 campden tablet a night before.
next day got mash tun pre heated, 11 ltr water to mash tun 76c, added grain and gypsum temp down to 67 bang on left for 2 hrs. Ph was 5.3 so that was cool.
Set up like this for the hlt to mash to boiler
I sparged with 21 ltr of water hoping to get a pre boil of 27ltr, I think I got around 25-26.
Set the beast alight!
Boiling - Way easier to control than my uber boiler (now hlt) and it took 40ish mins to get to boiling so not as fast as my old boiler, probably because im heating the pan while my leccy one was heating the wort direct.
The chiller and protofloc (1st time using protofloc) were added at 15mins to end but as the new boiler is so large I had to bend the chillers "arms" and rest it in there, no leaks so all was ok.
prepped the brewfridge - Lookin nice n clean!
Now this is here it all went wrong! Looking at the amount of wort it just didnt look like I had enough, great cold break material though, protofloc is awesome
uber clear wort - Strainer was doing the job.......
but it was blocked, I though I must have made the holes too small or not enough so i had to swish it around a bit to get it to flow. Enter a load of break material into fv 
Then even doing that didnt work so I had to do a diy job I was using a wideneck fermenter so I got this out of the potato squisher thing
and wedged it in the top (sanitised first but I did rush it) and had to pour the rest through it. So loads of crappy break got in there and then I found I only had 17 lts
17!
Where the hell did all of it go from 31 thats almost half gon and there was only just over 4kg of grain.
So after doing all the special water treatments in the end I had to top up with normal chlorinated water from the tap 
Still shes tucked away in her bed now:-
Not holding out any hope, bound to be infected just to make the day go from bad to worse!
I did find that the hop strainer had little yello globs stuck in it??!?!?!?! I xcan only assume that is is malty stuff that may have caramalised a bit???? dunno anyone else had this?
On the plus side i will be getting another potato squisher thing as its stainless steel and I reckon could come in handy as a strainer inside the boiler!
Anyhoo time will tell, so a bit of juggling for the next brew methinks! out of interest how mush water does eveyone else use for your brews?
Conditionin' - LEB Pale
Conditionin' - Thwaits Nutty Black
Plannin' - A user upper!
Responses
Posted 1 year ago by Member
It'll be fine dude. Don't worry.
Your equipment is looking good Nath. I like it.
I need to get me some of that prophylactic cold break miracle pills.
I usually fill the HLT to the top and sparge until I have the volume I want for the boil.
Maybe your new boiler evaporates water at a faster rate than the other one.
It looks like it has a larger surface area.
Posted 1 year ago by Admin
I'm with Varnish, chill it will be fine. Great Cold break by the way.
What was the gravity in the fermenter?
Its always hectic when you use new equipment, takes while to get used to things.
Fermenting:
Conditioning:Pale with Styrians
Drinking:Cascade Pale Ale, Summer Lightning
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
Yeah it has a large surface area, 27 ltrs ans it aint 1/3 full
Can I not just boil with the lid on and take it off 15mins towards the end?
The gravity was just over! 19ltr at 1051
Now Im thinking of it I stopped sparging at 1.008 but I didnt temp adjust (heavy last night ) and at that temp it works out about 1.018 so I could have sparged more. Still we learn from mistakes and hopefully it will be a mistake that is a great drink. Loved the coffee smell of that choc malt.
Yummy!
Conditionin' - LEB Pale
Conditionin' - Thwaits Nutty Black
Plannin' - A user upper!
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Nice set of pics nath!
I'm always surprised at the amount of wort the hops steal. Lately I've taken to completing my mash run off, sparking up the boiler and then running some more sparge through the grain - only 5 ltrs (ish) and if it has a decent colour/sweetness, then saving it and use it to top up the boiler as wort evaporates. Don't put the lid on though, as it is supposed to allow nasties back into the wort when they should have been boiled off.
(with grateful thanks to the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and slightly adapted)
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
See I dont get that last bit. If you leave the lid on for 90% of the boil surely the boil and steam would sterilize anything then for the last 15mins take the lid off to get rid of the condensation on the lid.
Conditionin' - LEB Pale
Conditionin' - Thwaits Nutty Black
Plannin' - A user upper!
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Nah dude.
It's certain chemicals that boil off during the boil.
Like Dimethyl Sulphide, and other stuff.
If the lids on they condensate and fall back into the wort making it taste bad.
I'll find a link.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Partial_boil#The_Boiling_Process_2
Not the one I as thinking of.
Howtobrew.com by John Palmer has gone down.
Shame as that was a great resource.
Posted 1 year ago by Admin
+ 1 to Varnish. Its really important to let the steam escape. If you are worried about stuff falling in your boiler then either construct some kind of chimley or use a garden parasol.
Fermenting:
Conditioning:Pale with Styrians
Drinking:Cascade Pale Ale, Summer Lightning
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
Funnily enough straight after I posted I did a search around and found ount about the DMS problems. Oh well just a case of building a new strainer and adjusting my technique a little. Gonna brew again on sunday if all goes wel.......now what should I brew.......
Conditionin' - LEB Pale
Conditionin' - Thwaits Nutty Black
Plannin' - A user upper!
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Interesting about leaving lids off. I've done 4 AG brews so far and was not aware about leaving a lid off. The electrim i did one brew in with a lid on and my gas setup had a lid on (3 brews) for all of the boil time other than when adding my wort chiller 15 mins from the end of my boil. All the brews have tasted top stuff and even nicer than some pubs i've visited up and down the country (other than my London pride clone - something got into FV). That is one hell of a boil off though Nath! With my lid on the steam still seems to escape as it is not tight or close fitting. The last brew i did i had about 24L in the boiler and this dropped to around 17-18L at the end of the boil (one hour boil) with lid on!. When i hit a rolling boil i reduce the gas output to the burner but still maintain a rolling boil. Looks like a cracking day Nath with your equip. My first run off after my first gas boil also presented me with problems like you had. I tipped the whole lot into my electrim and ran it through the hop stainer in that as it was the only thing i could do. Did some mods to the strainer (only had about 2 drain slots per inch) so I cut an extra 2 per inch and then replaced the middle part at the far end of the strainer with a butchered brewpaks strainer i took from my electrim. Last brew i had no problems at all with running off the wort from the boiler.
Cheers
H
Conditioning - Theakston Old Peculier
Conditioning - Christmas 2010 (Strong Xmas ale)
Maturing - Peach wine kit
Drinking - Summer Lightning, Summer Wit
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
Ok so I racked it to secondary yesterday, woah what a load of crappy scum! I wont be able to reuse that yeast, which is a shame. Thich sludge floating on top, grey sludge at the bottom, but most importantly it tasted quite good a bit like old speccy hen.
So anyway I thought I would check on it this mornin so off I went to the shed, opened the brewfridge and lo and behold I forgot to put a washer on the bung! My brewfridge was a pool of beer, nice for woodland creatures, not for me. So another twist in my semi nightmare! Lost about 2 litres so not too bad!
Roll on tomorrow where I will be uber-prepared!
Conditionin' - LEB Pale
Conditionin' - Thwaits Nutty Black
Plannin' - A user upper!
Posted 1 year ago by Admin
Sounds like that brew is doomed.
Fermenting:
Conditioning:Pale with Styrians
Drinking:Cascade Pale Ale, Summer Lightning
Posted 1 year ago by Member
It's just testing you nath .. to see if you're worthy of drinking what will turn out to be a fantastic brew
What yeast did you use? Just been reading that the burton ale yeast leaves a lot of crap floating on the top - well, not crap, more lovely yeasty slurry that can be bottled and used again. Might try it!
(with grateful thanks to the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and slightly adapted)
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
Ringood yeast in that one, but it was so full of crap and bits n bobs that fell in I had to throw it.
First yeast I have thrown in the last 3-4 batches.
Conditionin' - LEB Pale
Conditionin' - Thwaits Nutty Black
Plannin' - A user upper!
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
Hello All! Well as my brewday today went bad ( http://www.brewuk.co.uk/forum/topic/exmoor-gold-12th-sep-2010 ) I thought I may get a wee bit drunk and also open one of the 2 bottles of this brew (rest is in secondary for the cornie). Well its only been a day and a half in the bottle and isnt really carbed that well (obviously) but its a really nice beer at the mo. The malts work really well with the hops and im really looking forward to it when its ready oh and -
Crystal clear!
Conditionin' - LEB Pale
Conditionin' - Thwaits Nutty Black
Plannin' - A user upper!
Posted 1 year ago by Member
See that Nath.
It's Greg fault. He's cursed you.
Beer looks great btw.
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Well done nath ... see, it was just testing you!
(with grateful thanks to the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and slightly adapted)
Posted 1 year ago by Admin
You sound like my wife.
I'm just enjoying a pint of the same right now. Its a great beer, really moorish.
Fermenting:
Conditioning:Pale with Styrians
Drinking:Cascade Pale Ale, Summer Lightning
Posted 1 year ago by Member
I'm bottling mine tomorrow. Can't wait to give it a try.
Was meant to bottle it today but was far too hung over. Too busy feeling sorry for myself and avoidng my wife's smugness.
Conditioning (Bottles): Sam Adams Boston Lager Clone
Drinking (Bottles): Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Clone
Drinking (King Keg): McMullen's Country Best Bitter
Posted 1 year ago by Admin
Bottling is bad enough at the best times but definitely not a job for the hungover.
Fermenting:
Conditioning:Pale with Styrians
Drinking:Cascade Pale Ale, Summer Lightning
Posted 1 year ago by Member
heh heh heh .... oooooo you get that too eh?
(with grateful thanks to the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and slightly adapted)
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
Its in a corny now and I ended up with about 16ltrs, pretty much crystal clear and tasting good, will wait for it to mellow for a while and BOOM! it shall be gone!
Conditionin' - LEB Pale
Conditionin' - Thwaits Nutty Black
Plannin' - A user upper!
Posted 1 year ago by Admin
I finished mine last night. Lovely pint.
Fermenting:
Conditioning:Pale with Styrians
Drinking:Cascade Pale Ale, Summer Lightning
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
After the nightmare day this one gave me, the least it could do was be a good pint.....and it is!
Conditionin' - LEB Pale
Conditionin' - Thwaits Nutty Black
Plannin' - A user upper!
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Right, so Mr. Thicky McThick was looking at the recipe for the GW Ringwood 49er and realised he never added the aroma hops at the end. Gah! That's what happens when you decide last-minute to have a brew day and everything's done in a rush before T McThicks missus changes her mind.
It was only 5g of Goldings post-boil. Do you lads who've brewed this already know if my stupid ommission will greatly affect the finished product (only bottled last Monday so still conditioning)?
Are the aroma hops more for the nose of the beer or do they affect the taste as well?
Cheers,
-Barry
Conditioning (Bottles): Sam Adams Boston Lager Clone
Drinking (Bottles): Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Clone
Drinking (King Keg): McMullen's Country Best Bitter
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
I wouldnt worry too much, only for the nostrils that one. And im glad youve resurected this thread as I just want to say a massive
This is the best pint I have produced. the recipe is great, the malt and hops are so well ballanced and its crystal clear in the corny purrrrrrr-fectly carbonated. Its only young (7 days primary, 6 days secondary and 3 days in the corny) but my god its soooooooooo nice, never would have thought it would be nearly 5%
Conditionin' - LEB Pale
Conditionin' - Thwaits Nutty Black
Plannin' - A user upper!
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Nice one. Cheers, Nath. Can't wait till this one's ready.
Yes, I'm pretty good at resurrecting old threads; you should see my wardrobe.
Ptttt-yang!
-Barry
Conditioning (Bottles): Sam Adams Boston Lager Clone
Drinking (Bottles): Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Clone
Drinking (King Keg): McMullen's Country Best Bitter
Posted 1 year ago by Admin
Glad you like it Nath. Its very easy to drink and tastes like a great session ale although its nearly 5%.
Barry - its not a very hoppy beer so I'm sure leaving out the goldings won't hurt. Its more malty that hoppy.
Fermenting:
Conditioning:Pale with Styrians
Drinking:Cascade Pale Ale, Summer Lightning
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