Posted: 1/22/2014 3:42:05 PM EDT
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How about a thread for general brewing Q&A, nightmare brew day discussions, etc?
Over the weekend I was visiting my parents. My mom has been making wine for about a year. I brewed a barleywine there over Christmas so we were racking it into secondary. While I was taking readings I asked her to wash a carboy for me. She put about a teaspoon of PBW in it, about a quart of water, and started sloshing it around. Turns out she's been doing this all along... I should have noticed that the 1 lb container of PBW was still 2/3 full after a year 
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My RIMS tube is coming along. A few weeks ago I had this:
Now I have this: 
RIMS controller built into a 40mm grenade can  I've had this can for years and never kept anything in it because it gets too heavy to move long before it's full. Perfect size for this, (at least used to be) water tight and has carry handles on the sides. Two of the outlets are for pumps (one rotary switch already in place; the other is arriving Friday) and one of the others is for the heating element. I think I'll probably make the other one always on for a radio or whatever.
More switches, lights, and a SSR will be arriving shortly. Hopefully I'll get to use it this weekend! |
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Phurba, that is pretty damn cool! I finally got off my dead ass and outfitted my keggles for my Brutus system. I should be welding it out this weekend. I will post pics soon of the entire thing.
Nice. I just picked up another keg. I already have one for a mash tun and this one will be my new boil kettle. I just went with non-welded bulkheads, but I'd love to have welded triclover fittings. However everything I have is currently camlock and I think I'll stick with that for a while instead of buying all new equipment. |
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I'm picking up my Blichmann system this weekend. This will be my first foray into whole grain. Prepare to be amazed at the simple mistakes I'm going to make. Awesome. Are you going with a Top Tier? I love mine, although I'm kind of thinking I'd prefer a flat system. |
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I'm picking up my Blichmann system this weekend. This will be my first foray into whole grain. Prepare to be amazed at the simple mistakes I'm going to make. Good luck! keep the wort-making part simple -- sanitation and yeast management is 90% of good beer, in my opinion anyway...you won't make too many mistakes that way. |
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Awesome. Are you going with a Top Tier? I love mine, although I'm kind of thinking I'd prefer a flat system. Quoted:
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I'm picking up my Blichmann system this weekend. This will be my first foray into whole grain. Prepare to be amazed at the simple mistakes I'm going to make. Awesome. Are you going with a Top Tier? I love mine, although I'm kind of thinking I'd prefer a flat system. No I'm going with the three burner flat system. Two chuger pumps and a wort chiller. Three 15 gallon kettles. I'll get some pics when I get it set up. |
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No I'm going with the three burner flat system. Two chuger pumps and a wort chiller. Three 15 gallon kettles. I'll get some pics when I get it set up. Quoted:
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I'm picking up my Blichmann system this weekend. This will be my first foray into whole grain. Prepare to be amazed at the simple mistakes I'm going to make. Awesome. Are you going with a Top Tier? I love mine, although I'm kind of thinking I'd prefer a flat system. No I'm going with the three burner flat system. Two chuger pumps and a wort chiller. Three 15 gallon kettles. I'll get some pics when I get it set up. Why three burners if you have two pumps? With two burners and one pump (the other pump is dedicated for RIMS now) I just heat the sparge water in the BK and transfer it to an insulated 10 gallon cooler. Have you bought the equipment yet? I've got a plate chiller that will shortly be surplus to my needs. |
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Why three burners if you have two pumps? With two burners and one pump (the other pump is dedicated for RIMS now) I just heat the sparge water in the BK and transfer it to an insulated 10 gallon cooler. Have you bought the equipment yet? I've got a plate chiller that will shortly be surplus to my needs. Quoted:
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I'm picking up my Blichmann system this weekend. This will be my first foray into whole grain. Prepare to be amazed at the simple mistakes I'm going to make. Awesome. Are you going with a Top Tier? I love mine, although I'm kind of thinking I'd prefer a flat system. No I'm going with the three burner flat system. Two chuger pumps and a wort chiller. Three 15 gallon kettles. I'll get some pics when I get it set up. Why three burners if you have two pumps? With two burners and one pump (the other pump is dedicated for RIMS now) I just heat the sparge water in the BK and transfer it to an insulated 10 gallon cooler. Have you bought the equipment yet? I've got a plate chiller that will shortly be surplus to my needs. For the most part, I'm going with a guy's recommendations. I don't really know what I'm doing, but am trying to simulate a larger system we plan on setting up in a year. This will be a test batch system once we get set up. I've told the guy that I would take the system and can't back out on any parts. Well, I could, but I don't want to be that guy. I've got the plate chiller included in the price so I'd better take it. I told you all that you could laugh at my stupid mistakes. This is likely only the first of many.
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For the most part, I'm going with a guy's recommendations. I don't really know what I'm doing, but am trying to simulate a larger system we plan on setting up in a year. This will be a test batch system once we get set up. I've told the guy that I would take the system and can't back out on any parts. Well, I could, but I don't want to be that guy. I've got the plate chiller included in the price so I'd better take it. I told you all that you could laugh at my stupid mistakes. This is likely only the first of many. Yarr.... I hope you got a good deal. I've bought (and built) all my equipment piecemeal after finding out what works and what doesn't. I wouldn't want to jump in and buy someone else's AG setup without a good understanding of different brew systems. |
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Yarr.... I hope you got a good deal. I've bought (and built) all my equipment piecemeal after finding out what works and what doesn't. I wouldn't want to jump in and buy someone else's AG setup without a good understanding of different brew systems. Quoted:
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For the most part, I'm going with a guy's recommendations. I don't really know what I'm doing, but am trying to simulate a larger system we plan on setting up in a year. This will be a test batch system once we get set up. I've told the guy that I would take the system and can't back out on any parts. Well, I could, but I don't want to be that guy. I've got the plate chiller included in the price so I'd better take it. I told you all that you could laugh at my stupid mistakes. This is likely only the first of many. Yarr.... I hope you got a good deal. I've bought (and built) all my equipment piecemeal after finding out what works and what doesn't. I wouldn't want to jump in and buy someone else's AG setup without a good understanding of different brew systems. It's all new stuff. It's mainly blem items from Blichmann. About 20% off of their retail prices. It was still too expensive, but I don't really have time to cobble this all together. I'm trying to figure all this out and be selling good beer within a year. I'm a bit of a risk taker....Or an idiot. Probably both. 
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It's all new stuff. It's mainly blem items from Blichmann. About 20% off of their retail prices. It was still too expensive, but I don't really have time to cobble this all together. I'm trying to figure all this out and be selling good beer within a year. I'm a bit of a risk taker....Or an idiot. Probably both. Quoted:
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For the most part, I'm going with a guy's recommendations. I don't really know what I'm doing, but am trying to simulate a larger system we plan on setting up in a year. This will be a test batch system once we get set up. I've told the guy that I would take the system and can't back out on any parts. Well, I could, but I don't want to be that guy. I've got the plate chiller included in the price so I'd better take it. I told you all that you could laugh at my stupid mistakes. This is likely only the first of many. Yarr.... I hope you got a good deal. I've bought (and built) all my equipment piecemeal after finding out what works and what doesn't. I wouldn't want to jump in and buy someone else's AG setup without a good understanding of different brew systems. It's all new stuff. It's mainly blem items from Blichmann. About 20% off of their retail prices. It was still too expensive, but I don't really have time to cobble this all together. I'm trying to figure all this out and be selling good beer within a year. I'm a bit of a risk taker....Or an idiot. Probably both. I think I mentioned this before, but you may want to check into the DVD called Frankenbrew and the related book called Brewery Operations Manual. Thinking about it, in NE you may have access to large SS dairy equipment, which can be utilized well in a commercial setting. That DVD and book are set at getting the brewery set up inexpensively (pieced together, not turnkey) -- so if price isn't an object, and you want to buy turnkey, don't bother with them. Have you re-used yeast before? That will be important in a commercial setting like yours...you may want to try out a couple of the well-used ale strains to see what you like. See if you want a high flocculation british type yeast or a highly attenuative American strain, or how you need to work with them...probably something off this list http://www.whitelabs.com/files/Styles-Ale.pdf Its hard to beat WLP001 California Ale for general brewing, but if you found one of these other styles worked, you could be a little unique in your flavor...(for example, I think Schlafly in St Louis uses the Anchor Brewing ale strain, which is close to or the same as WLP051-a little fruitier and floccs out better than WLP001, its a little different in a good way) |
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It's all new stuff. It's mainly blem items from Blichmann. About 20% off of their retail prices. It was still too expensive, but I don't really have time to cobble this all together. I'm trying to figure all this out and be selling good beer within a year. I'm a bit of a risk taker....Or an idiot. Probably both. Quoted:
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For the most part, I'm going with a guy's recommendations. I don't really know what I'm doing, but am trying to simulate a larger system we plan on setting up in a year. This will be a test batch system once we get set up. I've told the guy that I would take the system and can't back out on any parts. Well, I could, but I don't want to be that guy. I've got the plate chiller included in the price so I'd better take it. I told you all that you could laugh at my stupid mistakes. This is likely only the first of many. Yarr.... I hope you got a good deal. I've bought (and built) all my equipment piecemeal after finding out what works and what doesn't. I wouldn't want to jump in and buy someone else's AG setup without a good understanding of different brew systems. It's all new stuff. It's mainly blem items from Blichmann. About 20% off of their retail prices. It was still too expensive, but I don't really have time to cobble this all together. I'm trying to figure all this out and be selling good beer within a year. I'm a bit of a risk taker....Or an idiot. Probably both. I really wish you the best of luck, but I'm starting to worry about you
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I really wish you the best of luck, but I'm starting to worry about you Quoted:
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For the most part, I'm going with a guy's recommendations. I don't really know what I'm doing, but am trying to simulate a larger system we plan on setting up in a year. This will be a test batch system once we get set up. I've told the guy that I would take the system and can't back out on any parts. Well, I could, but I don't want to be that guy. I've got the plate chiller included in the price so I'd better take it. I told you all that you could laugh at my stupid mistakes. This is likely only the first of many. Yarr.... I hope you got a good deal. I've bought (and built) all my equipment piecemeal after finding out what works and what doesn't. I wouldn't want to jump in and buy someone else's AG setup without a good understanding of different brew systems. It's all new stuff. It's mainly blem items from Blichmann. About 20% off of their retail prices. It was still too expensive, but I don't really have time to cobble this all together. I'm trying to figure all this out and be selling good beer within a year. I'm a bit of a risk taker....Or an idiot. Probably both. I really wish you the best of luck, but I'm starting to worry about you I'm here for moral support, technical advice... and maybe cheap slightly used equipment
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I saw that. Just wondering about your kettle. Couldn't quite see inside for an element or not. Quoted:
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Is your kettle 220? Nope, propane. This is for the RIMS tube. I saw that. Just wondering about your kettle. Couldn't quite see inside for an element or not. I have an 8 gal kettle right now but I just picked up a second keg and hardware to convert it to a kettle, which I'll probably do tomorrow. I thought about going all electric, but the only 220v outlet is in the laundry room which doesn't have sufficient ventilation to run the kettles inside. |
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No I'm going with the three burner flat system. Two chuger pumps and a wort chiller. Three 15 gallon kettles. I'll get some pics when I get it set up. Quoted:
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I'm picking up my Blichmann system this weekend. This will be my first foray into whole grain. Prepare to be amazed at the simple mistakes I'm going to make. Awesome. Are you going with a Top Tier? I love mine, although I'm kind of thinking I'd prefer a flat system. No I'm going with the three burner flat system. Two chuger pumps and a wort chiller. Three 15 gallon kettles. I'll get some pics when I get it set up. Are you talking about something like this? I did this over the summer,got a real good deal on the Blichmann stuff from the homebrew store I go to. 
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Are you talking about something like this? I did this over the summer,got a real good deal on the Blichmann stuff from the homebrew store I go to. <a href="http://s287.photobucket.com/user/jph44/media/001-3.jpg.html" target="_blank">http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll122/jph44/001-3.jpg</a> Quoted:
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I'm picking up my Blichmann system this weekend. This will be my first foray into whole grain. Prepare to be amazed at the simple mistakes I'm going to make. Awesome. Are you going with a Top Tier? I love mine, although I'm kind of thinking I'd prefer a flat system. No I'm going with the three burner flat system. Two chuger pumps and a wort chiller. Three 15 gallon kettles. I'll get some pics when I get it set up. Are you talking about something like this? I did this over the summer,got a real good deal on the Blichmann stuff from the homebrew store I go to. <a href="http://s287.photobucket.com/user/jph44/media/001-3.jpg.html" target="_blank">http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll122/jph44/001-3.jpg</a> That's pretty much what I'm doing. How do you like it? |
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I have an 8 gal kettle right now but I just picked up a second keg and hardware to convert it to a kettle, which I'll probably do tomorrow. I thought about going all electric, but the only 220v outlet is in the laundry room which doesn't have sufficient ventilation to run the kettles inside. Quoted:
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Is your kettle 220? Nope, propane. This is for the RIMS tube. I saw that. Just wondering about your kettle. Couldn't quite see inside for an element or not. I have an 8 gal kettle right now but I just picked up a second keg and hardware to convert it to a kettle, which I'll probably do tomorrow. I thought about going all electric, but the only 220v outlet is in the laundry room which doesn't have sufficient ventilation to run the kettles inside. If you are doing 5-6 gallon batches, (2) 110v 1,350w elements will work great. You generally have 2 circuits in your Kitchen you can hook each element to as well. I can imagine that you'd appreciate being able to boil inside this time of year.
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That's pretty much what I'm doing. How do you like it? Quoted:
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I'm picking up my Blichmann system this weekend. This will be my first foray into whole grain. Prepare to be amazed at the simple mistakes I'm going to make. Awesome. Are you going with a Top Tier? I love mine, although I'm kind of thinking I'd prefer a flat system. No I'm going with the three burner flat system. Two chuger pumps and a wort chiller. Three 15 gallon kettles. I'll get some pics when I get it set up. Are you talking about something like this? I did this over the summer,got a real good deal on the Blichmann stuff from the homebrew store I go to. <a href="http://s287.photobucket.com/user/jph44/media/001-3.jpg.html" target="_blank">http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll122/jph44/001-3.jpg</a> That's pretty much what I'm doing. How do you like it? It been working out really good,got 8 10 gallon brews and 2 5 gallon brews on it. The temp controls have been working out +- 1deg The best part is not having to lift anything or climb a ladder. |
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Just finished my first all grain brew day. Did a BIAB method on a cream ale. I got the recipe from a guy that runs a homebrew shop here. I nailed the gravities and the volumes pretty tight. Had to add a half gallon of water after the boil, but I think that's because I brewed a 5 gallon batch in a 15 gallon kettle. My only concern is that my pH is kinda high. It's sitting at 6.3.
How bad is that? Anything I should do before I pitch the yeast in a couple hours? I have some acid blend for wine usage, but can't find anything online about using it on beer. |
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Just finished my first all grain brew day. Did a BIAB method on a cream ale. I got the recipe from a guy that runs a homebrew shop here. I nailed the gravities and the volumes pretty tight. Had to add a half gallon of water after the boil, but I think that's because I brewed a 5 gallon batch in a 15 gallon kettle. My only concern is that my pH is kinda high. It's sitting at 6.3. How bad is that? Anything I should do before I pitch the yeast in a couple hours? I have some acid blend for wine usage, but can't find anything online about using it on beer. Even though BIAB is similar to all grain, there are still some big differences you'll want to tackle before going large scale. I wouldn't worry about the pH. You should calculate your boiloff rates so you know how much sweet wort to collect and how much water you'll need to sparge. Why are you waiting a couple of hours to pitch? |
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Even though BIAB is similar to all grain, there are still some big differences you'll want to tackle before going large scale. I wouldn't worry about the pH. You should calculate your boiloff rates so you know how much sweet wort to collect and how much water you'll need to sparge. Why are you waiting a couple of hours to pitch? Quoted:
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Just finished my first all grain brew day. Did a BIAB method on a cream ale. I got the recipe from a guy that runs a homebrew shop here. I nailed the gravities and the volumes pretty tight. Had to add a half gallon of water after the boil, but I think that's because I brewed a 5 gallon batch in a 15 gallon kettle. My only concern is that my pH is kinda high. It's sitting at 6.3. How bad is that? Anything I should do before I pitch the yeast in a couple hours? I have some acid blend for wine usage, but can't find anything online about using it on beer. Even though BIAB is similar to all grain, there are still some big differences you'll want to tackle before going large scale. I wouldn't worry about the pH. You should calculate your boiloff rates so you know how much sweet wort to collect and how much water you'll need to sparge. Why are you waiting a couple of hours to pitch? Because I fucked up and didn't activate the yeast earlier.  I calculated the boil off rate on ten gallons yesterday on a 60 minute boil and it was 12%.
I did the BIAB because I don't have all the parts to do the setup yet. I'm waiting on a couple of connections to get it set up right. |
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Just finished my first all grain brew day. Did a BIAB method on a cream ale. I got the recipe from a guy that runs a homebrew shop here. I nailed the gravities and the volumes pretty tight. Had to add a half gallon of water after the boil, but I think that's because I brewed a 5 gallon batch in a 15 gallon kettle. My only concern is that my pH is kinda high. It's sitting at 6.3. How bad is that? Anything I should do before I pitch the yeast in a couple hours? I have some acid blend for wine usage, but can't find anything online about using it on beer. Yeah, cream ale has basically nothing to buffer the water, so you are going to have a way high pH. Of course, you want 5.2-5.4 in the mash, but you will have to either adjust your water minerals or use some kind of acid (or acid malt) -- I use 88% lactic acid when I need it. You will want to get a few Ward Labs water reports or test kit, and read up a little on how that works. There is a water chemistry primer on HBT: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/brewing-water-chemistry-primer-198460/ |
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Yeah, cream ale has basically nothing to buffer the water, so you are going to have a way high pH. Of course, you want 5.2-5.4 in the mash, but you will have to either adjust your water minerals or use some kind of acid (or acid malt) -- I use 88% lactic acid when I need it. You will want to get a few Ward Labs water reports or test kit, and read up a little on how that works. There is a water chemistry primer on HBT: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/brewing-water-chemistry-primer-198460/ Quoted:
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Just finished my first all grain brew day. Did a BIAB method on a cream ale. I got the recipe from a guy that runs a homebrew shop here. I nailed the gravities and the volumes pretty tight. Had to add a half gallon of water after the boil, but I think that's because I brewed a 5 gallon batch in a 15 gallon kettle. My only concern is that my pH is kinda high. It's sitting at 6.3. How bad is that? Anything I should do before I pitch the yeast in a couple hours? I have some acid blend for wine usage, but can't find anything online about using it on beer. Yeah, cream ale has basically nothing to buffer the water, so you are going to have a way high pH. Of course, you want 5.2-5.4 in the mash, but you will have to either adjust your water minerals or use some kind of acid (or acid malt) -- I use 88% lactic acid when I need it. You will want to get a few Ward Labs water reports or test kit, and read up a little on how that works. There is a water chemistry primer on HBT: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/brewing-water-chemistry-primer-198460/ I knew pH was important and for some reason I was sure that my well water was testing at around 5.5...This is a dumbass mistake. I considered it and thought I was good. I don't know why I tested the post boil pH and not the water or the mash. There's no fixing it now, so we'll see how it tastes. |
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Just finished my first all grain brew day. Did a BIAB method on a cream ale. I got the recipe from a guy that runs a homebrew shop here. I nailed the gravities and the volumes pretty tight. Had to add a half gallon of water after the boil, but I think that's because I brewed a 5 gallon batch in a 15 gallon kettle. My only concern is that my pH is kinda high. It's sitting at 6.3. How bad is that? Anything I should do before I pitch the yeast in a couple hours? I have some acid blend for wine usage, but can't find anything online about using it on beer. Yeah, cream ale has basically nothing to buffer the water, so you are going to have a way high pH. Of course, you want 5.2-5.4 in the mash, but you will have to either adjust your water minerals or use some kind of acid (or acid malt) -- I use 88% lactic acid when I need it. You will want to get a few Ward Labs water reports or test kit, and read up a little on how that works. There is a water chemistry primer on HBT: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/brewing-water-chemistry-primer-198460/ I knew pH was important and for some reason I was sure that my well water was testing at around 5.5...This is a dumbass mistake. I considered it and thought I was good. I don't know why I tested the post boil pH and not the water or the mash. There's no fixing it now, so we'll see how it tastes. Starting water pH is not that important, its your hardness, residual alkalinity, and grain bill all combined (that gets complicated at times). |