Brew Day Time-Lapse Video (All-grain, Blichmann BrewEasy Electric)

[Danam404]

Hey guys: I made a quick time-lapse video of a brew-day on my new(ish) system. I put this in the Brew Easy thread but I figured non-blichmann folks might get a kick out of it too.

Hope some find it helpful or at least entertaining!

The boil fogged the lens up a bit during filming, so my apologies.

Link: [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqiQ--VzzaA[/ame]


Stats:

Date: 2/13/2015
Batch Size: 15 Gallons
Style: Belgian White Ale
Total Water Volume: 20 Gallons
Boil Time: 30 Min
Grain Bill: 30.75 lbs
OG: 1.052
FG: 1.012
Efficiency: 76%
IBU: 9.28
ABV: 5.11%

 

[Teromous]

Awesome video. I've actually been waiting for a long time to see somebody do a full brew on the BrewEasy and the PicoBrew, so I can at least check one of them off the list. How do you like it? It looks like you have your process locked down nicely.

 

[geoffm33]

Great video, thanks for sharing! Love the shirt by the way.

 

[Danam404]

Awesome video. I've actually been waiting for a long time to see somebody do a full brew on the BrewEasy and the PicoBrew, so I can at least check one of them off the list. How do you like it? It looks like you have your process locked down nicely.

It took a few batches to get in the swing of it, but i really do love it now. Im averaging mid-70's in efficiency, and its a much easier brew day all around. The 10-gallon is also very flexible. I can brew 5, 10, and 15 gallon batches.

Once I got my water chemistry fixed, its been all smooth-sailing.

 

[Danam404]

great video, thanks for sharing! Love the shirt by the way.

Numbah Four!

 

[Michael81]

Great vid and even better song!!

 

[beergolf]

Great video...

I like the song. Who is it?

 

[Danam404]

Great video...

I like the song. Who is it?

Amy Winehouse, Valerie

 

[beergolf]

Amy Winehouse, Valerie

Thanks. I knew the song but was blanking on it.

 

[Danam404]

Thanks. I knew the song but was blanking on it.

no worries, thanks for watching!

 

[Sammy86]

Nice video!

Cheers!

 

[SwitchbladeSquirrel]

Nice setup! How long does your brew day process take on the Breweasy? Long sessions have been killing me, so I pulled the trigger on the breweasy system too. I'm hoping I can drastically reduce the time required.

 

[DizzyPants]

Great vid and great set up. Brew on!

 

[chemman14]

Curious with all that work why you aren't crashing and decanting your yeast starters?

 

[Danam404]

Nice setup! How long does your brew day process take on the Breweasy? Long sessions have been killing me, so I pulled the trigger on the breweasy system too. I'm hoping I can drastically reduce the time required.

I'd say without any SNAFU's I can do 4 hours from setup to teardown... but that's in a perfect world. 5 hours is a safer estimate. Compared to my previous system, the time difference, while appreciable, does not compare to the effort difference.

Most of brew day on the BrewEasy is spent sitting back and having a pint, waiting for it to do its thing, then you hit a few buttons to move the beer into the conical... my last system had me running around, lifting hot pots, etc etc.... so even if it takes the same amount of time it sure doesn't feel like it.

 

[Danam404]

Curious with all that work why you aren't crashing and decanting your yeast starters?

two reasons:


1) for me personally, I have noticed zero difference in taste between decanting and not (this is with a recipe I do once a month, and have brewed it probably 35 times)

2) I find that I get a much faster start to fermentation when I pitch at high krausen off the stir plate as opposed to cold crashing and stopping yeast activity in the starter




I could be making a mistake here, but I generally make pretty good beer doing it this way.... will do some more research on it, thanks for pointing it out!

 

[SwitchbladeSquirrel]

I'd say without any SNAFU's I can do 4 hours from setup to teardown

Nice. I've yet to have a brewday without SNAFU's, especially in this bitter cold, so it's been running me upwards of 7-8 hours soup to nuts. 4-5 hours sounds fantastic! Also, the sitting and sipping you've alluded too.

I am but a humble newb, but I believe crashing and decanting a starter will only benefit a beer so far as not allowing off-flavors from the fermented liquid decanted off. If you cant taste a difference, there is probably little point. It makes sense that crashing the yeast would cause them to start slower in the beer, as cooling them would put them to sleep, versus pitching while active.

 

[MX1]

Nice. I've yet to have a brewday without SNAFU's, especially in this bitter cold, so it's been running me upwards of 7-8 hours soup to nuts. 4-5 hours sounds fantastic! Also, the sitting and sipping you've alluded too.

I am but a humble newb, but I believe crashing and decanting a starter will only benefit a beer so far as not allowing off-flavors from the fermented liquid decanted off. If you cant taste a difference, there is probably little point. It makes sense that crashing the yeast would cause them to start slower in the beer, as cooling them would put them to sleep, versus pitching while active.

IMHO, Off flavors are a sign that there is an issue with your starter. I make 2 1 litre starters in 1 gallon jugs, shaken, never stirred, crashed at high Krausen, and ferments take off like a rockeship.

End hijack----

That looks like an amazing system, gald to see the video!!!

 

[Danam404]

Just added it up... 97.5 gallons of beer produced so far on the BrewEasy to date.

 

[chemman14]

two reasons:


1) for me personally, I have noticed zero difference in taste between decanting and not (this is with a recipe I do once a month, and have brewed it probably 35 times)

2) I find that I get a much faster start to fermentation when I pitch at high krausen off the stir plate as opposed to cold crashing and stopping yeast activity in the starter




I could be making a mistake here, but I generally make pretty good beer doing it this way.... will do some more research on it, thanks for pointing it out!

Fair enough, I may have to do the same experiment with my IPA I brew often