JMSetzler
Well-Known Member
I was looking forward to brewing my Orange Blossom Special today, and my objective was to start around 1130am because I had some appointments later in the afternoon. The brew session would be quick and easy because it was an all-extract brew with no specialty grains. I was excited about the first use of a turkey fryer that was given to me for an outside 5-gallon boil and getting to use my new immersion chiller all in one day.
This is the setup that I was using (in a different location - I made this photo yesterday afternoon)...
Since it was cold and breezy outside, I decided to use hot tap water from inside to get the boil started a little quicker, so I loaded up the kettle and fired it up, starting out with water that was about 130 degrees. About the time I lit the burner, the wind picked up. The wind was averaging 15-20 mph with gusts up to 40-45 mph, and the outside temperature was around 35 degrees. It took nearly 90 minutes in that wind to get my water up to a very slight boil. I finally got it boiling enough to add my malt extract and hops. The wind died down enough at that point that I was able to achieve a slow rolling boil and get my break. About 5 minutes past that, the wind kicked back up again, and I lost my boil and never did get it back completely. The wind actually blew out my flame 4 times over the next hour. I have NEVER had that happen before, but I can't recall ever trying to brew in windy conditions either. There were a few occasions during the 60 minutes where I did get a little bit of a boil, but the cooker couldn't maintain it. I was not a happy camper.
This turkey fryer is really nice though. It's nicer than most I have seen so I wanted to give it a try. The kettle holds about 8.5 or 9 gallons, so it's a perfect size for brewing. The biggest problem with it in these conditions is that the burner is not quite close enough to the bottom of the kettle. My other burner (not pictured) would have been a much better choice to use today. I'm sure this turkey fryer would have worked fine without the wind though.
I'm sure the beer will be fine though. I came up just a few points over my expected OG, which is fine and it smelled really nice. I guess today's lesson learned is that WIND is not my friend
The chiller performed exceptionally well. I cooled the wort (just a tad over 5 gallons) down to 65 degrees in just under 8 minutes.
The Orange Blossom Special recipe I came up with was a mixture of a couple different recipes I have seen around....
6lbs Wheat DME
1/2 oz Amarillo Hops (8.5% / 30 mins)
1/2 tsp Irish Moss @ 10 mins
5 tsp Yeast Nutrient @ 10 mins
1 oz dried orange peels @ 5 mins
1lb Orange Blossom Honey @ flameout
White Labs WLP-400 Belgian Wit yeast (48 hour starter)
If things go well for me, my next brew might be my first all-grain brew. My mash tun is ready to be built and I might have enough money to buy the Barley Crusher this week The addition of those two items to my inventory will, for all practical purposes, complete my home brew rig.
This is the setup that I was using (in a different location - I made this photo yesterday afternoon)...
Since it was cold and breezy outside, I decided to use hot tap water from inside to get the boil started a little quicker, so I loaded up the kettle and fired it up, starting out with water that was about 130 degrees. About the time I lit the burner, the wind picked up. The wind was averaging 15-20 mph with gusts up to 40-45 mph, and the outside temperature was around 35 degrees. It took nearly 90 minutes in that wind to get my water up to a very slight boil. I finally got it boiling enough to add my malt extract and hops. The wind died down enough at that point that I was able to achieve a slow rolling boil and get my break. About 5 minutes past that, the wind kicked back up again, and I lost my boil and never did get it back completely. The wind actually blew out my flame 4 times over the next hour. I have NEVER had that happen before, but I can't recall ever trying to brew in windy conditions either. There were a few occasions during the 60 minutes where I did get a little bit of a boil, but the cooker couldn't maintain it. I was not a happy camper.
This turkey fryer is really nice though. It's nicer than most I have seen so I wanted to give it a try. The kettle holds about 8.5 or 9 gallons, so it's a perfect size for brewing. The biggest problem with it in these conditions is that the burner is not quite close enough to the bottom of the kettle. My other burner (not pictured) would have been a much better choice to use today. I'm sure this turkey fryer would have worked fine without the wind though.
I'm sure the beer will be fine though. I came up just a few points over my expected OG, which is fine and it smelled really nice. I guess today's lesson learned is that WIND is not my friend
The chiller performed exceptionally well. I cooled the wort (just a tad over 5 gallons) down to 65 degrees in just under 8 minutes.
The Orange Blossom Special recipe I came up with was a mixture of a couple different recipes I have seen around....
6lbs Wheat DME
1/2 oz Amarillo Hops (8.5% / 30 mins)
1/2 tsp Irish Moss @ 10 mins
5 tsp Yeast Nutrient @ 10 mins
1 oz dried orange peels @ 5 mins
1lb Orange Blossom Honey @ flameout
White Labs WLP-400 Belgian Wit yeast (48 hour starter)
If things go well for me, my next brew might be my first all-grain brew. My mash tun is ready to be built and I might have enough money to buy the Barley Crusher this week
The addition of those two items to my inventory will, for all practical purposes, complete my home brew rig.
