Robbw
Well-Known Member
Here is my entry in my brewing notebook. As you can see, I had several issues. One was that I changed a lot of variables in this batch. Second, I am not used to using a turkey cooking burner. Third, I think the bazooka tube sucks, frankly. I also think the hole for the spigot that's in my keg is too high up. Anyway, who knows how this batch will come up. Usually, things work out so I'll just wait and see. Here's my entry:
"Today, I brewed Hyland Amber V4 outside in the big keg. This is a double batch with batch 30. It was a muggy warm misty day.
There were several issues. First, I measured out my own grain. I put it in three muslin bags. It steeped for 30 minutes but the temperature rose above 170 degrees (was over 180 when I pulled the keg off the burner) for quite some time (hard to regulate that large burner). Second, I used bulk Coopers Light (messy). I measured out 11 lbs of that. That equals 2 cans and 4 lbs of dry malt. I measured out the hops from a 1 lb bag of each.
In getting the pot to boil, I believe I overheated to kettle. There was a thin circle of carbonized material on the bottom of the kettle. The boiling wort smelled a little like burnt carmel.
Transferring, I had problems with the bazooka tube clogging again. I ended up having to pull the tube off and siphon and then pour contents into the two buckets. Not sure whether the contents were equally distributed or not, although I did my best.
Outdoor, using the big keg, there are not the most sanitary conditions. I need a table outside to put things on. I may look into a 40 quart pot instead of this keg. I may also look into an outdoor cooking top rather than the turkey cooker. "
"Today, I brewed Hyland Amber V4 outside in the big keg. This is a double batch with batch 30. It was a muggy warm misty day.
There were several issues. First, I measured out my own grain. I put it in three muslin bags. It steeped for 30 minutes but the temperature rose above 170 degrees (was over 180 when I pulled the keg off the burner) for quite some time (hard to regulate that large burner). Second, I used bulk Coopers Light (messy). I measured out 11 lbs of that. That equals 2 cans and 4 lbs of dry malt. I measured out the hops from a 1 lb bag of each.
In getting the pot to boil, I believe I overheated to kettle. There was a thin circle of carbonized material on the bottom of the kettle. The boiling wort smelled a little like burnt carmel.
Transferring, I had problems with the bazooka tube clogging again. I ended up having to pull the tube off and siphon and then pour contents into the two buckets. Not sure whether the contents were equally distributed or not, although I did my best.
Outdoor, using the big keg, there are not the most sanitary conditions. I need a table outside to put things on. I may look into a 40 quart pot instead of this keg. I may also look into an outdoor cooking top rather than the turkey cooker. "