Advice on all grain equipment.

[Remos112]

Bottled my first all grain brew today, it was super clear with a very subtle yeast cake and nearly no trub. It smelled totally delicious and another surprise, I managed to fill 60 0,3cl bottles so precisely 20L as per recipe. I am very pleased. Put one bottle in the fridge for some taste testing later and the rest will be kept at room temps for 3 weeks and then 4 weaks basement before further tasting.

 

[z-bob]

You're going to open one immediately? I usually open a bottle at one week, but really ought to wait at least 2. Bottle-conditioned beer usually doesn't hit its stride for 3 or 4 weeks.

Glad it went well

 

[Remos112]

You're going to open one immediately? I usually open a bottle at one week, but really ought to wait at least 2. Bottle-conditioned beer usually doesn't hit its stride for 3 or 4 weeks.

Glad it went well

Yes it was half a bottle so I figured instead of letting it prime I'd have a taste. I always do this with partial bottles out of curiousity. Wow this was a blast. What a flavour bomb. If anything I would like to have it have a bit more pungent taste(higher abv) but as this is still very very fresh no doubt it will turn out fine! I am axcited. The 2nd all grain batch seems to be stuck at 1018 will be starting a thread about that one.

 

[z-bob]

Partial bottle makes a lot more sense. I always drink whatever is leftover after filling the bottles. Carry on!

BTW, is this batch the recipe you posted here? https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=8040174&postcount=40

You can save a little money next time; clear Candi sugar is the same as plain table sugar. (the dark is something totally different) And you don't need 3 packs of liquid yeast. One is enough, but 2 is probably better. I brewed a dubbel a couple of years ago and pitched one packet of 6 month old 1762 and fermented too cool; it did okay (I got lucky) It is a very robust strain of yeast.

 

[Remos112]

Funny you mention this recipe for this brew is planned for next week. No this was a store bought package called Duvels nat (The devils juice) The recipe you quoted will be my first all grain without the training wheels of a storebought package. thanks for the advice on the sugar and as the yeast concerns. I smacked 1 pack today and was planning to ceate a starter tomorrow (brew day is next saturday) do you suggest making a smaller than calculated starter? Thanks a lot so far!

Partial bottle makes a lot more sense. I always drink whatever is leftover after filling the bottles. Carry on!

BTW, is this batch the recipe you posted here? https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=8040174&postcount=40

You can save a little money next time; clear Candi sugar is the same as plain table sugar. (the dark is something totally different) And you don't need 3 packs of liquid yeast. One is enough, but 2 is probably better. I brewed a dubbel a couple of years ago and pitched one packet of 6 month old 1762 and fermented too cool; it did okay (I got lucky) It is a very robust strain of yeast.

 

[Lefou]

If your second all grain batch seems stuck, you might try boosting the fermentation temperature a little bit. I had a small batch of winter brewed amber bock stick around 1.016 and assumed it was done. Went ahead and primed the bottles but after four weeks the carbonation wasn't right. The batch got put away and forgotten and the temps got warmer.
Evidently the yeast liked the warmer temps and decided to finish the job. The amber bock is good, but way over carbed so I've put the rest in the refrigerator for now.

 

[Remos112]

If your second all grain batch seems stuck, you might try boosting the fermentation temperature a little bit. I had a small batch of winter brewed amber bock stick around 1.016 and assumed it was done. Went ahead and primed the bottles but after four weeks the carbonation wasn't right. The batch got put away and forgotten and the temps got warmer.
Evidently the yeast liked the warmer temps and decided to finish the job. The amber bock is good, but way over carbed so I've put the rest in the refrigerator for now.

Precisely what I did today. The brew is in a temperature controlled fridge and I turned it up from 19c to 20c to see if this helps. Thanks for your reply

 

[z-bob]

Funny you mention this recipe for this brew is planned for next week. No this was a store bought package called Duvels nat (The devils juice) The recipe you quoted will be my first all grain without the training wheels of a storebought package. thanks for the advice on the sugar and as the yeast concerns. I smacked 1 pack today and was planning to ceate a starter tomorrow (brew day is next saturday) do you suggest making a smaller than calculated starter? Thanks a lot so far!

I don't have much experience with making starters. I usually just smack one pack of Wyeast liquid yeast, or use dried yeast. Lately I've been experimenting with harvesting yeast and repitching it.

I think making a starter with one pack of liquid yeast and pitching that is a fine idea.

 

[Remos112]

Posted in the wrong topic sorry for that.
Did the Kwak Clone recipe today so the first time brewing in non kit-form.
It went excellent!.The maish went perfectly and I managed to sparge to exactly the desired volume. kept the PH figures nice between 5.5 and 5.2.
Also took notes of everything. I managed to get a mashing efficency of 77,74 % and the recipe was based on 75% so very pleased with that.
Boiled hopped cooled and ended with the precisely right volume. Took a hydrometer sample after cooling and it read 1.084, where the recipe called for 1.086. Overshot be a little but all and all I must say, quite a succesful day of brewing. Wil post some tastenotes when it's done!

 

[Remos112]

Conclusion after 4 brews.:
The kettle is just big enough for 20 L batches, and the temperature control works pretty great. The filter tun with filter hex works great for parial mash as well. From sparging to boil takes about 40 minutes ( I insulated the kettle) but once boiling it doesn't have a problem with keeping the boil rolling. The bigger plate cooler I order is excellent too, I get 20 L of off boil wort to about 20"celsius in half an hour. I guess the mill does a great job too, the last few brews got me a mash efficiency of 77,7 and 77,4% so not to bad either. Would I upgrade in the future? Most likely, but all in all this makes a great starter kit!

 

[augiedoggy]

You can use the water tap but controlling the wort flow gives you more performance out of the chiller...

Also in regards to the 2000w being enough... A lot of people miss the fact that taller narrow kettles are more efficient when it comes to boiling and evaporation/heat loss... You can't really compare performance in a large wide kettle to the latter.

 

[Remos112]

You can use the water tap but controlling the wort flow gives you more performance out of the chiller...

Also in regards to the 2000w being enough... A lot of people miss the fact that taller narrow kettles are more efficient when it comes to boiling and evaporation/heat loss... You can't really compare performance in a large wide kettle to the latter.

I noticed this. I open the cooling water and don't mess with it after that and regulate temperature by further opening and closing the spigot on the boiler. This works pretty damn well