Almost eREADY

OK Downtown Brown has already been taken by Lost Coast Brewery, so I guess it'll be just Downtown Dirty Brown. Ya, I put a lot of thought in to names. I'm sure some of you will remember a name very similar on TV. haha.

Strangely enough the name fits even more. In my first failed attempt at grain conditioning I over watered my grains and they turned to mush in my mill. Had to lay out a sheet in the back yard and spread the grains out to let them dry for an hour. Good thing it was a sunny day. I won't be trying to grain condition again for awhile.

Good thing there weren't many birds flying around! Or you might have to change the name again!!

BeerguyNC61 said:

Good thing there weren't many birds flying around! Or you might have to change the name again!!

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There were plenty of birds! Me and my dog stood watch over the grains. It was mano y birdo

l3asturd said:

This one is after adding lactic acid to the mash water:

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I thought the acid adjustment was added to the mash, not the mash water. The reason being that the grain will make the water acidic. So, what was the pH of the wort?

stlbeer said:

I thought the acid adjustment was added to the mash, not the mash water. The reason being that the grain will make the water acidic. So, what was the pH of the wort?

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I wish I could answer this with anything but "You're probably right" but I can't. A friend told me to make sure my mash water was in the 5's. I didn't ask questions, I just started adusting my water PH.

Adjusting the mash PH seems a lot more complicated, considering it would be changing throughout the process. I'll have to do some googling I guess.

I'll consort with John Palmer again and see what he mentioned in his book.

After re-reading Palmer's work I realize I definitely have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to PH.

So I found a water quality report from my water company online from 2010. I plugged in those numbers on Palmer's calculations spreadsheet, but I couldn't find any Alkalinity or Bicarbonate reading so I used the US Geological map to estimate water alkalinity in my area, which like most of the continent seems to be around 400 or greater. After all calculations I realized I got lucky and the beer will be fine. I may not get so lucky on my next batch so I will send my water for a more complete test and start adjusting PH for my beer type.

I befriended someone at the local city water department who sends me up to date water reports every month.

lud said:

I befriended someone at the local city water department who sends me up to date water reports every month.

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That sounds like a plan. Our water service is 4 hours away but we have local technicians. They post up a yearly report, but it doesn't seem to have alkalinity in it. Or Bicarbonates. I'll try calling them and see where I get.

I may check with a friend in town who works at a local micro. Maybe they get better water reports.

l3asturd...i've been reading this board for months and I have to say, this has been the best read I've come across. Thank you!

mbitton said:

l3asturd...i've been reading this board for months and I have to say, this has been the best read I've come across. Thank you!

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Thanks! I feel kinda bad I'm not more detailed on how I do things. I'm not very good at that. I mostly started to thread to document my progress, a beer story. I know I like seeing pictures as much as the next guy, so I try to remember to take as many pictures as I can.

Also, for anyone who's posted an idea/comment/suggestion and I didn't respond, I apologize, sometimes I just read and absorb the information, and often forget to reply or say thanks.

kal said:

Note that some non-reputable sellers/manufacturers may use counterfeit parts and just print on the approval. That's a whole other (unrelated) issue.

Kal

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I don't see how that's an unrelated issue. That IS the issue.

Day 6 and I dumped trub and some yeast today. The Downtown Dirty Brown Ale is dark, in the higher SRM range of brown ales. Looks like 1.014 on day 6. I'm impressed with the efficiency of these yeasties. 1.053 to 1.014 in six days. Stir plate starters WINNING.

Oh, of course I took a sip......loved it. This is my kinda beer. Gonna be tough waiting a few more weeks.

After 2 batches one of my biggest concerns was disconnecting hoses for different processes. Hot water/wort would spill out and make a mess, or worse burn my hands. I wasn't quite ready to hard plump everything so I came up with a semi-permanent fix. Use a bunch of valves, tees, hoses, elbows, and quick disconnects to get the job done.

Thanks to StainlessBrewing.com I picked up a crapload of 2 piece valves for $10 a pop.
Here are the pictures, and the last clip is of the whole system circulating with hot PBW. I had to use a 3rd pump to get everything circulating between the 3 vessels.


Added a HERMS bypass route so I could circulate mash without increasing temp if necessary.


Gonna install a few cross members to the frame to stabilize the heavy loads on the outputs and inputs of the pumps.








Here's the video of all three vessels circulating, click on it to play:

Just wanted to update my first ebrew status. The Belgian Pale is lookin good. It's over a month old now and has cleared up nicely. Here's a pic and quick carb video:

Here's the video, click to play:

It's making me thirsty. Good on you.

You did a really nice job on this build. Props to you!

Great build!

Picked up some clear silicone hose from BrewHardware for my wort side.


Not a great picture. Only the hose on the left has been replaced.

Downtown Dirty Brown has been carbing for 3 days. I had to pour a glass and taste test it.

That's no Porter! That's about as dark as you can get and still call it a Brown Ale. I've already made a slight modification to the Choc Malt to lighten it just a bit.

When I tasted it flat, I was worried. It was a little dull up front, but had a decent finish. Love what the oats did for mouth feel. After 3 days carbing and at 40F it is delicious. It's a tad green of course, but it'll age out beautifully. I've got 10 gallons of my own recipe...... and it's good! Haha.

Made my third batch on the system today. Lorrelei's Hef (Named after my wife, who loves hef). New valve system worked well. Everything went well with the plumbing, not a drop spilled before the fermenter. Due to a small beersmith configuration problem (bottom drain, little trub loss) I over sized the batch a little. I ended up doing a 90 minute boil. Strangely my pre-boil gravity was 1.042 at 13.4 gallons. My post boil gravity was 1.044 at 11.5 gallons. I was expecting 1.050 at 10 gallons so my efficiency was only 82%ish. I am completely fed up with the AutoSparge device. It's just pointless and causes more problems than solves. Today the small tubing ended up causing a whirlpool in the MLT and this actually ended up making a coned grain bed. I flattened it out with my paddle but was annoyed. It also squirts everywhere through the valve which is annoying. I need to work out a better way to sparge. Also forgot rice hulls, but that didn't seem to matter much.

Nailed mash temps



In to the fermenter it goes....

I salute your dedication to this thread. Good job!

Great build...I eventually will get around to having the time and funds to build one quite similar. I need to take a trip down to the Fresno area to visit some friends sometime here in the not too distant future, and if your open to visitors perhaps ill drop by and drool in person

mach9 said:

Great build...I eventually will get around to having the time and funds to build one quite similar. I need to take a trip down to the Fresno area to visit some friends sometime here in the not too distant future, and if your open to visitors perhaps ill drop by and drool in person

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Sure just shoot me a pm or something when youre headin this way!

l3asturd said:

Got my deluxe probe kits today! Woohoo!

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I bought this same kit from auber. My question to you is how did you distinguish between the 1 and 3 wire when wiring to your PID? I'm at a loss on that one. I'm kind of hoping it doesn't matter and that they are interchangeable.

Yeah the two whites are interchangeable.

You can even use a cheaper two-wire probe and use a jumper. Although that's probably less accurate.

iijakii said:

Yeah the two whites are interchangeable.

You can even use a cheaper two-wire probe and use a jumper. Although that's probably less accurate.

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Thank you! I hadn't even thought about a jumper.

And it is two reds and a white, but I get the idea. Thanks again.

Well.....I'm back. For all of you that thought I must have fried myself on my new setup, IN YO FACE! lol. I've brewed a few more 10 gallon batches, including one I split to rum infusion and bourbon infusion that will be ready in 10 years....maybe 20.

Everything is working great, except for my memory. Every time I brew I forget to open a valve or something, but the beer somehow always ends up being beer.

Hope all is well with everyone!

Just made an American Pale Ale for a wedding and it was a huge hit. This rig rocks!

Starting to show some signs of age/wear. The panel is fine, but I had to redo some of the pump shields.

I also won the Stainless Chugger Pump kit from the giveaway, so I am wondering where I should use it.

My new hobby is building AR's.

Glad to hear you're still ebrewing. I'd love to have a pint of that. AR's huh, I hope you're not feeling disgruntled.

onlynormalguy said:

Glad to hear you're still ebrewing. I'd love to have a pint of that. AR's huh, I hope you're not feeling disgruntled.

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Wow good to hear from you. An odd way to hear from you in fact lol. Hope you're doing well!

Just sold the system and I'm sad. I'll have to build another one soon.

l3asturd said:

Just sold the system and I'm sad. I'll have to build another one soon.

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That is sad news. Yes, you need to build another one ASAP.!

Please let me know if you need (or want) a new wiring plan for the new build. I'd be happy to develop one for you.

Wishing you my very best.

P-J