Third batch underway!

[jbsayers]

I know its a little late but I am brewing a GLCA clone. I figure everybody will be running to me after running out, lol.

Nightmarish and disastrous start. My mash pot (BIAB) sprung two minor leaks so I had to use my sparge pot which doesn't fit the strainer bag. I feel like my efficiency might be low in which case I'll boil off some to meet OG.

Boil, boil, toil and trouble...or however it goes.

JB

 

[unionrdr]

Might have to keep it stirred to get the grains soaked evenly in the smaller pot. I use a 5G SS BK for mashing in. How big is that one?

 

[jbsayers]

Might have to keep it stirred to get the grains soaked evenly in the smaller pot. I use a 5G SS BK for mashing in. How big is that one?

The pot that was leaking hold 3.5 gals and my grain bag perfectly. The pot in the pic is the larger of the two that I normally use for sparging and the boil. It holds 8 gals with plenty of head space for the boil. Unfortunately it is too wide to stretch the grain bag over the top and even if I could, the water level is low because the pot is so wide.

JB

 

[unionrdr]

That's kinda what I had with mine. They gave a muslin grain sack. Hard to keep stretched over the top. Gotta get a 5G paint strainer bag for next time. Guess you gotta get to sealin up that pot.

 

[inhousebrew]

Looks messy, what was leaking?

 

[jbsayers]

That's kinda what I had with mine. They gave a muslin grain sack. Hard to keep stretched over the top. Gotta get a 5G paint strainer bag for next time. Guess you gotta get to sealin up that pot.

That's exactly what I use. 5 gal paint strainer bags from Home Depot. I just keep reusing the same one. I use them in my funnel as a filter when transferring to the fermenter as well.

Looks messy, what was leaking?

That's actually just the way the garage floor looks, lol. The piddle from the leaking pot was actually pretty tiny. How do I have that pot sealed? Take it to a welder and have some aluminum welddd into the pinholes?

JB

 

[unionrdr]

You could do that,sure.

 

[inhousebrew]

That's exactly what I use. 5 gal paint strainer bags from Home Depot. I just keep reusing the same one. I use them in my funnel as a filter when transferring to the fermenter as well.



That's actually just the way the garage floor looks, lol. The piddle from the leaking pot was actually pretty tiny. How do I have that pot sealed? Take it to a welder and have some aluminum welddd into the pinholes?

JB

Oops....Sorry to insult your garage floor....
I'm sure mine wouldn't look much better.

 

[jbsayers]

Oops....Sorry to insult your garage floor....
I'm sure mine wouldn't look much better.

No apologies necessary. Actually it's SWMBO's garage. I am renovating every inch of my house so I am staying with her. Her garage is pretty nice other than the floor being marginally bad. Mine doesn't even have a garage door.

JB

 

[jbsayers]

Here is the recipe. I got it from a thread on the forums here and it is pretty much unaltered from the way it appeared on that thread. I took some liberties with the cinnamon and ginger and I used clove honey. I also used White Labs London Ale yeast instead of Wyeast.

I also filtered out the ginger after the boil and poured new ginger into the fermenter. I took the cinnamon sticks from the boil and rinsed them in star san and tossed them into the fermenter as well.

I made a 2L starter and pitched it about 8:45 last night at 66 degrees F and set it in the swamp cooler with the ceiling fan on.There were some obvious signs of fermentation when I woke up this morning but when I came home this afternoon...well, I should have used a blow off tube, lol. I def smell the cinnamon. It smells amazing! It is sitting at a steady 64 degrees. Getting alot of trub already, though. Excited to take a sample next week!

JB

10.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US 73.64 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L 7.36 % (they use 45L, but i could only find 40L)
1.00 lb Wheat Malt 7.36 %
0.25 lb Special Roast 1.84 %
0.08 lb Roasted Barley 0.59 %

German Hallertauer (60 min) 20 IBU
Cascade (10 min) 7 IBU
Cascade (5 min) 3 IBU

1 oz Cinnamon Stick (boil 5.0 min) Misc
1. oz Ginger Root (boil 5.0 min) Misc
20 oz Honey (Flame out) Sugar 9.20 %
1 Pkgs London Ale (White Labs #WLP013) Yeast-Ale



Beer Profile

Original Gravity: 1.070
Final Gravity: 1.018 (expected)
30.0 IBU
11.6 SRM C

 

[unionrdr]

Looks like a amber/copper colored ale. Good hop combo...spicy grapefruit. Sometime try a pale with Haulertaur & Czech Saaz as flavor additions. Nice change in a pale ale.

 

[jbsayers]

Looks like a amber/copper colored ale. Good hop combo...spicy grapefruit. Sometime try a pale with Haulertaur & Czech Saaz as flavor additions. Nice change in a pale ale.

I'll do that. I am just starting out so I am trying everything so I can get to know characteristics of the different grains and hops. Thanks for the suggestion.

JB

 

[unionrdr]

You're welcome. Just passin on what I learned from studying hop flavors & usages.

 

[jbsayers]

So last night while lying in bed I hear very loud hissing and gurgling noises. At first I thought a cat fight made the dog vomit or something. Nope. Just some very violent fermentation, lol. I def need to stop at the LHBS this morning and get some supplies for a blow-off tube. I looked around the kitchen last night for some extra hose (which I am still certain I have somewhere) but couldn't find anything. This morning it looked like a volcano eruption again. Thank God I keep some StarSan in a spray bottle. Cleaned up easy enough and at the rate the krausen was bubbling out of the top, I am fairly certain there is little chance for infection.

This is the first time I have used a 2 L starter. Man does fermentation take off fast!

JB

 

[unionrdr]

Keeping a blow rig around for each fermenter is a good investment. No messes that way...usually.