I blame you guys!!!

[Ryanh1801]

J/K, I just now got done with my first AG batch. Ill put it this way im going to call it Murphy's Wit beer. Anything and everything that could go wrong did!! First off my turkey fryer would not go full blast with the kettle on it, lack of O2. So I had to have the kettle half on half off. Even then it would go out. Then had another water line bust at the house so i had to turn of the water, then turn it on only to fill my kettle, then turn it off. Then the last 15 min. the burner turns off again, it takes me 5 mins to start it back up. Then I go to the cooling, well i start up my new chiller. Only to look in the garage like 10 min into it to realize its leaking water into the pot. So i turn the burner on to bring it to a boil again to sanitize. Let it boil for a few min. and fix the cooler. Then start cooling. Ended up with a FG of 1.048, i was suppose to have 1.053. I just hope this beer turns out good. Started at 7 and finished at 12:30. ahhhh. I will get some pictures up on tue. . Im drunk now and tired as ****.

 

[trev]

J/K, I just now got done with my first AG batch. Ill put it this way im going to call it Murphy's Wit beer. Anything and everything that could go wrong did!! First off my turkey fryer would not go full blast with the kettle on it, lack of O2. So I had to have the kettle half on half off. Even then it would go out. Then had another water line bust at the house so i had to turn of the water, then turn it on only to fill my kettle, then turn it off. Then the last 15 min. the burner turns off again, it takes me 5 mins to start it back up. Then I go to the cooling, well i start up my new chiller. Only to look in the garage like 10 min into it to realize its leaking water into the pot. So i turn the burner on to bring it to a boil again to sanitize. Let it boil for a few min. and fix the cooler. Then start cooling. Ended up with a FG of 1.048, i was suppose to have 1.053. I just hope this beer turns out good. Started at 7 and finished at 12:30. ahhhh. I will get some pictures up on tue. . Im drunk now and tired as ****.

It will turn out fine if you baby your fermentation. I had so many problems with my recent AG I started to panic but just did my first gravity/taste test and all is well. Not to worry! I had more problems than you even, so don't worry, it'll be fine!!

It will take you a few batches to get down your AG process as I've been told and I am learning just like you right now. AG is the ONLY way to go!!

Hang in there guy! Comparing notes on this great site is the best way to collaborate amongst us brewers!

-- Trev

 

[david_42]

5 1/2 hours isn't too bad for AG. Sounds like you'll have to spend a bit of time figuring out the burner problem, maybe the vent isn't open enough.

Broken water lines are obviously due to the breakdown in today's teenagers' morals. Can't help you there.

 

[Ryanh1801]

The vent was open all the way. I am thinking that drilling a few holes in the shield will fix it.
The good stuff

My fancy setup.

I need a bigger pot.

 

[Ryanh1801]

Yes i know how scary this is, I am really surprised i don't have burns all over my body.

All this made me go to this.

 

[Ryanh1801]

Beer smith shows I got around 65%, That seems pretty bad.

 

[tbulger]

I get 65 with my setup. IM happy with that though. Its only a dollar or two more for extra pound of grain, still chepaer than extract. I may try to collect more sweet wort next time, and boil for 90 minutes as an experiment to see if it goes up. But, 65% or 75% its still beer. I think i will worry more about efficency in the future and just get my process down for now for consistent results. Brewing AG is awsome though.

 

[apparatus]

I have the same burner that you do. I have found that when I first light it, I need to make sure the inline regulator is all the way closed and then open the valve on the propane tank all of the way. Then open the inline regulator to light the burner. Sounds weird, but it makes a big difference in the quality of the flame on my burner. I have not had a problem since I started using this procedure for lighting.

 

[Ryanh1801]

I have the same burner that you do. I have found that when I first light it, I need to make sure the inline regulator is all the way closed and then open the valve on the propane tank all of the way. Then open the inline regulator to light the burner. Sounds weird, but it makes a big difference in the quality of the flame on my burner. I have not had a problem since I started using this procedure for lighting.

Thats how I was doing it. The flame would look great, then I would put the pot on it and it would start trying to go out. Im going to mess with it next weekend. Im going to drill some holes in it and try it out.
On a side note my beer is fermenting like crazy, looks like im going to need a blow out tube here in a second.

 

[hoplobster]

My last AG (which was my third AG brew) was probably my best, I'm still discovering problems within my system and ways to fix them and I get about 70% effeciency... Note that I formulate my recipes with that figure so I don't over/undershoot my target gravity...

A recent lesson learned was hose clamps don't like me and I think I lost about a quart or two of wort while mashing after my tubing popped off and sprayed me down with scalding 170 degree sweet, sweet wort

I still brew indoors ( 3 gallon batches FTW!) as I don't have a propane burner and my very last batch had a very embarrassing problem occur when the wort began to boil. As it the hot break started to form, it started to boil over so I turned the heat off to let things settle and I turned it back on and let some time pass and I wondered why my wort wasn't boiling and it smelled of rotten eggs... I thought I was scorching something and it took about 15 minutes to realize the gas was on but the pilot didn't ignite, I was smelling gas and was thankful that my door wall was open. Damn... I'd be a menace with a propane burner

I'm sure your beer will turn out great and for all of the things that went wrong, you were at least able to develop a clever name for your beer, right?

 

[ontap@home]

Hang in there..... it will get better!

 

[Ryanh1801]

Hang in there..... it will get better!

Thats what I keeps telling my self. This first time I learned I just need to test stuff out before I use it and not to trust other peoples work. Anyone know if I will have any problems since I cooled it and then brought it to a boil again? I also need to buy a nice thermometer to get a better temp. reading. This beer already smells really good and the color is great compared to my extract beers that I have done. I also think the fact that I ended up with around 5 1/2 gals. would explain my low efficiency. Now I just need to up my drinking to make room for more beer.

 

[BierMuncher]

Try laying a grill grate over your burner to raise the pot up a bit. Sounds like the flame is getting snuffed.

Take heart, you endured a years worth of mishaps in one brew session. Things are bound to get better.

Remember, the worst day of AG brewing is still better than a great day at work.

 

[Ryanh1801]

Do you think using a grate would work better than drilling holes? Or would this accomplish to different things? I am already having a blow out with this beer, so I guess I did some good.

 

[boo boo]

I wouldn't alter the burner unit in any way.
Leave the kettle on the burner and get the best flame you can
and see how long it takes to get a boil using water.

Maybe your expectations are too high for the type of burner you have.

 

[Ryanh1801]

I wouldn't alter the burner unit in any way.
Leave the kettle on the burner and get the best flame you can
and see how long it takes to get a boil using water.

Maybe your expectations are too high for the type of burner you have.

It will not get the water over 180 the way it is. So I have to adjust something, I dont want to have to have the pot like I did this last time. It will barley go to half power with the pot in the middle.

 

[stale]

poor flame...not enough o2 draft. It looks llike the kettle is too close to your shield and isn't allowing enough o2 to go thru. If it starts fine but snuffs out after the pot is put on you need to try and raise the pot higher or adjust the heat shield lower. I had a similar problem a couple years ago and found that I'd put the shield together wrong. After adjusting to the proper hiehgt it worked just fine.
BTW, if your looking at your beer already needing ablow off tube then you must have done something very right. congrats!

 

[Nehoc]

I can relate, my first AG was full of less than optimal events. Such as...

Stuck sparge. Nothing like shoveling out 5 gallons of grains and wort then putting it all back in.

Ran out of propane with 20 minutes left to boil, had to move 5 gallons of boiling wort into the house and put it on the stove, and it never really boiled again after that.

Added oxygen and pitched my Essex Ale Yeast at 76 degrees per my thermometer and my fermometer, but the yeast just would not take off! Had to pitch it the next night with some slurry from my wife's Red Ale she was kegging.

Ridiculously crazy fermentation, due in part to the Honey I used (look up Nehoc's Honey Porter at Tasty Brew for the recipe) and double pitching.

And through it all, the beer came out great and made for a very happy BBQ party this weekend.

Whatever doesn't kill you I guess...

 

[Buford]

My last AG (my second overall) took me about 8 hours but I was doing decoction mashing. I had done a few PMs beforehand, inching up the amount of grain I used each time and working out the kinks in my system. I started out with 50% or so efficiency wth my two first PMs but am now getting 74-75% with AG. I looked at PMs as practice runs once I determined that my stove could handle doing full boils for AG.

I don't think I've ever had anything go really wrong on brewday... knock on wood :fro: