Yes, the big apprehensiveness about having a video team coming over to document your solar brewing is the sun not showing up. All-grain could have been completed in that afternoon due to clear skies -- but I only had one chance to get it right... and it was cloudy in the morning, so we did an extract and specialty grain batch. The week before we did all-grain, mashing in the black corny and bringing it up to temp with the fresnel lens. It is necessary to have metal handles on the corny instead of the rubber ones because the glue will get soft and you'll be holding the rubber top minus the SS keg. That is what he meant to say about the cornys black paint statement.
If you look at modern breweries like Harpoon, they use pressurized brew kettles. Water boils in a regular pressure cooker at about 250F. If you look at the formula for IBU's, the hop utilization is dependent on temperature (boiling 212F) and gravity. The best you can get is around 30% utilization with those parameters. If you use pressure, you must vent or you'll get DMS. The answer is you'll get more IBU at higher temperatures (above 212F) and Corny's are pressurized high, and you can put a higher pressure relief valve. I believe 300F is about as high as you can get H20.
Did they use the sun to boil the wort for an hour? I agree, Solar Hot Water has been around a long, long, time - but that is not the same as what I did.
You know, when Roasted Barley came around with the simple idea of not malting it before kilning it, some folks had your attitude I'm sure back then. I'm sure Guinness did not pay them any mind.
Did they use the sun to boil the wort for an hour? I agree, Solar Hot Water has been around a long, long, time - but that is not the same as what I did.
Yes boiling it is a whole nother level! pretty cool.
You could brew 300 days out of the year :P
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