Brew Day Ride Along

[Aust1227]

It is brew day. Got home a little early from work and decided to fire up the rig. Join me for the ride along..

First question.. What to brew?
Checked the inventory,
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing001.jpg

Fired up the computer.
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing002.jpg

Designed a recipe, and weighed it out.
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing003.jpg

I use all grains and whole hops. I keep an inventory here, so it is pretty easy to just pick and choose what beer I will do. Today is an ESB. I am doing this as I post, so stick with me, and feel free to ask any questions.

[Aust1227]

Next up. Get the mash water going in the all electric brew rig. It is controlled by a PID and thermoprobe, I can set the temp, then go work on other projects. When I come back water is ready to go. Other projects include crushing the grain.

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing006.jpg

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing010.jpg

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing011.jpg

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing012.jpg

[Aust1227]

After the grain is crushed I pour it into the mash tun, add water, stir, drop in the thermoprobe, make sure it is reciculating and set the time for one hour. The thermoprobe fires and inline heating element (mounted on front) that keeps the temp steady. In this case 152 degrees

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing015.jpg

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing014.jpg
(LED LIGHTS DONT LIKE FLASH BULBS)
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing016.jpg

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing019.jpg

[Irish]

Always nice to see that sweet home brew setup aust, looking forward to the rest of the brew day.

What software do you use, Beersmith?

[Aust1227]

I use Beer Smith. It is nice and easy to work with, and pretty cheap. I tried it freeware for a while, then purchased a liscense..

Should be fun to keep posting as I go along.. Just remembered something!!!

[Aust1227]

I don't have a beer in my hand!! Time to go get one.. Also a good time to weigh out the hops and to start prepping the cold side items (such as fermenter and air lock)

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing021.jpg

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing022.jpg

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing023.jpg

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing020.jpg

Yes, I use plastic buckets. Why? They are cheap, easy to replace, easy to handle, easy to clean, and they will never shatter!! I hear the "glass" guys out there, but, I have brewed some darn good stuff in plastic pales and using dry yeast. So I will stick with it.

[Aust1227]

As I wait for the mash to end. I start to heat up the sparge water. I also measured out the hops (only two additions in this beer) and had a chance to wash the new truck (shameless plug for new truck!!)

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing025.jpg

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing024.jpg

[Aust1227]

Mashing is done now. I run the first runnings off into the boil kettle. After the runnings are finished I start the batch sparge. In this case 5 more gallons of water at a temp of 178. I want to have the sparge temp average in the 170 range. About twenty minutes from now we will be done with the sparging and will start the boil!

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing026.jpg

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing027.jpg

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing028.jpg

[Aust1227]

Wifey just got home!!

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing.jpg

[gator20]

This has awesome written all over it!!!!!!!!! Thanks Aust!!!!

[Aust1227]

Wifey came bearing gifts. Dinner!!
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing029.jpg

Sparging is complete now. All the runnings are collected in the boil kettle. That is the keg farthest to the right. Time to turn on all 5500 watts and let her rip. Should have a roiling boil in ten minutes. At that time I willa dd the first hop addition.

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing030.jpg
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing031.jpg

[Aust1227]

Wait for it.. Wait for it...

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing032.jpg

And we have boil!!

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing033.jpg

Add the hops..
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing034.jpg

Make sure she doesn't boil over. Set the timer. Also, adjust the power on the rig. I need to boil off about 2 gallons today, in this humidity that will be tough. So I set the power control at 75%. And step away from the rig. Next hop additions in 50 minutes.

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing035.jpg

[Aust1227]

The counter flow chiller is set up. Counter flow chillers are heat exchangers. There is a copper tube that carries the boiling wart in one end. In the opposite direction you have the larger flow of a cool tap water. The heat exchanges from one liquid to teh other, resulting in both of them reaching equilibream. Based on the amount of input we strive to reach a final temp of 74 for our wart.
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing036.jpg
I just did the final hop addition and will start cooling in just a few minutes.

[Guma]

Epic thread!

[Aust1227]

the boil is done. The chiller is set up and running. For the first few minutes i set the cooler to run back into the boil kettle. Lowering the overall temp, and making sure that the hops and false bottom set up a good filter to filter the rest of the wart and hot break through. You can see the clear tube running back into the keg.

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing038.jpg


After a few minutes I shift the cool wart to the primary fermenter.

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing039.jpg

During this time I start to prep the yeast. In my case that is as easy as cutting open a dry yeast pack. I don't buy the whole wet yeast thing. It is just one more way for a newbie to screw it up. I am not a newbie anymore, but it is kind of like playing on a race track table (oh no, not that argument again!!)
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing037.jpg

[Aust1227]

And cut... The brewing is done. Three hours after I started. One of my better sessions.

The chiller finished up, a total of 5.5 gallons. Perfect!
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing045.jpg
I don't take a hydrometer test. Screw it, there is nothing I can do now. My efficiency is always right about 70 percent anyway.

After the wart is collected i pitch the yeast, stir the hell out of it.
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing046.jpg
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing048.jpg

And then take it to the fermentation chamber. The chamber is a hacked up mini fridge that I took the guts out of, installed in a big home made box that is well insulated with rigid insullation and controlled by another thermostat over ride. I will set this one to ferment at 63 degrees.
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing041.jpg
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing043.jpg
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing042.jpg
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing049.jpg

Thanks for playing along today. I will keep this thread updated as I keg the beer in a few weeks. I will also enter it in a November comp just to complete the story.

[Crawland]

This thread is awesome! I'm planning on starting a brew soon myself.

I bought my dad a starter kit several years ago and he used it once. It made a good beer though. I picked it up this weekend and am getting set to start soon. My set up is slightly less impressive than yours. I have two plastic buckets and am currently trying to figure out what to use to boil in. Now I just have to figure out what to brew. Obviously, being a rookie I'm going with an extract brew.

Keep up on the updates.

[SniperD5]

Freakin TERRIFIC thread Aust!:mrgreen:

[T]

a few things I have noticed....


You need to purchase a level or use the one you already have, as your framed bling is either crooked, or you only have 1 shoe on.

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing021.jpg




These are cool glasses!

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing022.jpg




If your beer has a tremendous amount of foam that is seemingly never ending, I would say it was because you wash your truck with the same goddamn buckets you brew your beer in!

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing020.jpg

Daddy likes the wife with her hair down!
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing.jpg




I know you home brew guys like a bitter beer...but I for one am not a fan of a beer that has a hint of RUBBER, thanks to running the brew through 75 feet of garden hose! I hope I'm missing something there, but it looks to me like the beer is either running in or out of a garden hose, which by the way isn't rated for drinking water out of them, I can't imagine beer is OK.

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Brewing038.jpg


Cool thread. One hell of an operation you have down there. Hope it tastes as good as this thread is.

T

[Aust1227]

T,
I think that is a camer perspective thing that shows that frame out of level. I double checked, it is level.. Not sure what we have going on there.

The glasses were a present from wifey. She is great!

The soap bucket for the truck is pictured, but it is an orange home depot bucket!

The counter flow chiller is a tricky little beast. The tap water runs parallel to a 3/8" flexible copper tubing that runs inside the hose (a PITA getting it all the way through there BTW). So the wort never touches the rubber. you can see the ends of the copper protruding out of the hose.

[Aust1227]

This thread is awesome! I'm planning on starting a brew soon myself.

I bought my dad a starter kit several years ago and he used it once. It made a good beer though. I picked it up this weekend and am getting set to start soon. My set up is slightly less impressive than yours. I have two plastic buckets and am currently trying to figure out what to use to boil in. Now I just have to figure out what to brew. Obviously, being a rookie I'm going with an extract brew.

Keep up on the updates.

It is a good place to start. Brewing is a ton of fun. And the more expertise you pick up, the more fun it becomes!

[Crawland]

What else do you have brewing in the fermentation chamber? It looks like you got two batches in there.

[Aust1227]

What else do you have brewing in the fermentation chamber? It looks like you got two batches in there.

A crazy combination of all kinds of random ingredients that were getting old. Two row, wheat, munich, crystal 60, magnum hops, cascade hops, and American Ale dry yeast. Should end up being a well balanced amber.

I might brew again tonight. I have to get a backlog going, for a while we were running short.

[tele_pathic]

mooottthhheerrr-of-gooddd! Can I be your neighbor? I would mosy over every once in a while, comment on your truck, poke my nose in your beer, might even help out. Then, after the kegs are chilled, I'd come back around for "a" taste, or three or four. What the hell am I talking about? I would wash your truck just to taste the beer.

You, sir, are a lucky bastard. Bad-ass brew set-up, hawt wifey. Kids? If no, then can I be you? With 4 kids, the extent of my homebrewing is thusly: use "sterilized" can to open can of Mr. Beer extract, boil for ____ number of minutes, pour into Mr. Beer fermenter, add yeast, bottle in 6-12 days, ferment for 14 days, chill for 3, drink, drink, drink, drink (several beers for each kid). Impressive set-up, Aust.

[T]

T,
I think that is a camer perspective thing that shows that frame out of level. I double checked, it is level.. Not sure what we have going on there.

The glasses were a present from wifey. She is great!

The soap bucket for the truck is pictured, but it is an orange home depot bucket!

The counter flow chiller is a tricky little beast. The tap water runs parallel to a 3/8" flexible copper tubing that runs inside the hose (a PITA getting it all the way through there BTW). So the wort never touches the rubber. you can see the ends of the copper protruding out of the hose.

So you have copper pipe running through a garden hose?!? That process makes much more sense now. I was concerned for ya there for a minute.

T

[Irish]

So you have copper pipe running through a garden hose?!? That process makes much more sense now. I was concerned for ya there for a minute.

T

Here's a quick article on how they're made. I'm debating on making one of these versus the standard immersion chiller.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/counterflow-chiller-tutorial-51793/

[Aust1227]

Here's a quick article on how they're made. I'm debating on making one of these versus the standard immersion chiller.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/counterflow-chiller-tutorial-51793/


Me confused. What is their to bebate? GO WITH COUNTERFLOW.

[Aust1227]

mooottthhheerrr-of-gooddd! Can I be your neighbor? I would mosy over every once in a while, comment on your truck, poke my nose in your beer, might even help out. Then, after the kegs are chilled, I'd come back around for "a" taste, or three or four. What the hell am I talking about? I would wash your truck just to taste the beer.

You, sir, are a lucky bastard. Bad-ass brew set-up, hawt wifey. Kids? If no, then can I be you? With 4 kids, the extent of my homebrewing is thusly: use "sterilized" can to open can of Mr. Beer extract, boil for ____ number of minutes, pour into Mr. Beer fermenter, add yeast, bottle in 6-12 days, ferment for 14 days, chill for 3, drink, drink, drink, drink (several beers for each kid). Impressive set-up, Aust.

Four kids?!?!? Ouch.

No kids here. Just wifey and I.

House is always open. Look us up next time you take the kids to disney!

[Irish]

Me confused. What is their to bebate? GO WITH COUNTERFLOW.

Just the complexity and price. Don't you need a pump for a counterflow chiller to continuously recirculate the wort? I'm not really at the stage with my home brews yet that I want to dump a ton of money into it. And, while a counterflow heat exchanger is more effective, I kind of like the simplicity of the immersion chiller - no real cleaning or sanitizing, just drop it in the brew pot for the last 10 minutes of the boil and you done.

[Aust1227]

Just the complexity and price. Don't you need a pump for a counterflow chiller to continuously recirculate the wort? I'm not really at the stage with my home brews yet that I want to dump a ton of money into it. And, while a counterflow heat exchanger is more effective, I kind of like the simplicity of the immersion chiller - no real cleaning or sanitizing, just drop it in the brew pot for the last 10 minutes of the boil and you done.

Good points. Counter flow is just so much more effecient. And there is no way you can immersion chill 5.5 gallons in 10 minutes! As far as a pump. Gravity will work just fine as long as you have about 48" of fall from the kettle to the fermenter.

[Me2hunter]

Aust, that is amazing!!!! Killer set up.

[Irish]

Good points. Counter flow is just so much more effecient. And there is no way you can immersion chill 5.5 gallons in 10 minutes! As far as a pump. Gravity will work just fine as long as you have about 48" of fall from the kettle to the fermenter.

Do you need to dump the wort back into the pot once it runs through the chiller, or is one pass through the counter flow chiller enough to completely cool the wort?

[Aust1227]

Do you need to dump the wort back into the pot once it runs through the chiller, or is one pass through the counter flow chiller enough to completely cool the wort?


One pass is fine. Especially if you are from the North and your water temp is low to start with. My tap water is always 72 here in Florida. So I can get my wart to 74 with one pass.

[Aust1227]

I checked on the beer last night. It is looking good. I am pretty sure it is done fermenting. I will try to locate my camera, and then transfer it over to a secondary or a keg.. Just a few more weeks and I will be drinking it!

[Irish]

One pass is fine. Especially if you are from the North and your water temp is low to start with. My tap water is always 72 here in Florida. So I can get my wart to 74 with one pass.

Wow, that is fast, I would have thought you'd need to recirculate the wort a few times (hence why I thought you'd need the pump). Now I'll have to think this over some more. Thanks for the insight.

[Aust1227]

Transferred over yesterday from the fermenter to a keg.
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/Transfer.jpg
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/fillingkeg.jpg
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/fullkeg.jpg
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/sample.jpg
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/kegerator.jpg

[Aust1227]

Tapped the keg last week. Beer was nice. It is clearing up well , and continues to increase its carbonation.

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z267/Aust15/House001.jpg

[Crawland]

Aust,

Any reason why you left it 1 1/2 months before you tapped it? I thought with kegged beer you could put it under CO2 and drink it shortly after.

I brewed up my first batch in early August. I started drinking it a couple weeks ago. I bottled.

I'm pretty happy with the results, although I think I drank a little yeast the other night. I had some pretty serious gas that night and the next morning.:eek:

[Aust1227]

Aust,

Any reason why you left it 1 1/2 months before you tapped it? I thought with kegged beer you could put it under CO2 and drink it shortly after.

I brewed up my first batch in early August. I started drinking it a couple weeks ago. I bottled.

I'm pretty happy with the results, although I think I drank a little yeast the other night. I had some pretty serious gas that night and the next morning.:eek:

I haven't bee drinking much or brewing much. I just sort of forgot about having a new keg to tap. I could have drank it much quicker if I had wanted to.