ACE Microbrewery

foxy · Jun 23, 2017

Had a good brewday today, tried out the Aussie Taipan filter, full volume no sparge mash, hops (pellets straight in,no other filter)
First image the boil. second image the trub, third image last of the runnings, not bad for amount of hop pellets that went in. Just see the cold break starting to form.

grmski · Jun 23, 2017

foxy said:
Had a good brewday today, tried out the Aussie Taipan filter, full volume no sparge mash, hops (pellets straight in,no other filter)
First image the boil. second image the trub, third image last of the runnings, not bad for amount of hop pellets that went in. Just see the cold break starting to form.

Love the lid and chimney you've made for the boiler looks awesome:thumb:

Did you notice any difference in water boil off rates after fitting that?

The Baron · Jun 23, 2017

Hi
I do full mash BIAB and yes it does cause PH issues which will generally give you a astringent taste to your brew not very nice at all.
I stopped doing sparging as well incase that may be adding to the issue but to answer your question I now use around 1 third of my full volume as RO water which has cured the problem ( much easier than starting to understand water additions as life is too short for me at this time)
hope this helps

dps51 · Jun 23, 2017

what is the smallest brew someone as done in the ace microbrewery

grmski · Jun 23, 2017

dps51 said:
what is the smallest brew someone as done in the ace microbrewery

Shortest I've made was 20l so not very short at all.

Back of a fag packet calculation I'd guess the ballpark for smallest volume would be around 8 litre into barrel.
You'd have IIRC 5 litre's below the grain basket, about the same above, so mixing approx 2kg of grain into that would be doable, the recirc would keep it all wet once mashed pull out the basket give it a little sparge should give about 10l into the FV and about 8-9 into the barrel.

foxy · Jun 23, 2017

dps51 said:
what is the smallest brew someone as done in the ace microbrewery

Depends on how small you want to go, you would need to keep the grain bed immersed, what had you in mind?

foxy · Jun 23, 2017

the baron said:
Hi
I do full mash BIAB and yes it does cause PH issues which will generally give you a astringent taste to your brew not very nice at all.
I stopped doing sparging as well incase that may be adding to the issue but to answer your question I now use around 1 third of my full volume as RO water which has cured the problem ( much easier than starting to understand water additions as life is too short for me at this time)
hope this helps

I do always tend to do a thin mash, just add the extra grain to make up for efficiency loss, adding salts and acid becomes second nature, you soon learn how much of what for the style you are brewing. You won't even have to get your pH meter out.

shepp · Jun 23, 2017

foxy said:
I do always tend to do a thin mash, just add the extra grain to make up for efficiency loss, adding salts and acid becomes second nature, you soon learn how much of what for the style you are brewing. You won't even have to get your pH meter out.

I actually enjoy working it out, part of the science of brewing and makes the hobby even more interesting.

foxy · Jun 24, 2017

grmski said:
Love the lid and chimney you've made for the boiler looks awesome:thumb:

Did you notice any difference in water boil off rates after fitting that?

Actually the boil off is lower with the hood, first time I had used it so had to do a longer boil with the hood off to get to fermenter volume. Also needs less power which is a bonus.

madoIII · Jun 24, 2017

the baron said:
Hi
I do full mash BIAB and yes it does cause PH issues which will generally give you a astringent taste to your brew not very nice at all.
I stopped doing sparging as well incase that may be adding to the issue but to answer your question I now use around 1 third of my full volume as RO water which has cured the problem ( much easier than starting to understand water additions as life is too short for me at this time)
hope this helps

I took a few bottles of my first brew with the ACE to my local homebrew club. The experts said that it was decent :thumb: but they all picked up an astringent taste.

It is usually said that astringent flavours are a result of sparging for too long of with water that it is too hot, neither of which I believe were my issues. Are you saying that using the pump throughout the mash could cause this odd flavour?

PS: I use London's tap water and I don't check pH values.

shepp · Jun 24, 2017

London's water is too hard for most beers.

MyQul · Jun 24, 2017

shepp said:
London's water is too hard for most beers.

London water is too hard for pale beers. Dark beers are fine. I just use it straight out the tap without doing anything to it for mild/porters/stouts

foxy · Jun 24, 2017

madoIII said:
I took a few bottles of my first brew with the ACE to my local homebrew club. The experts said that it was decent :thumb: but they all picked up an astringent taste.

It is usually said that astringent flavours are a result of sparging for too long of with water that it is too hot, neither of which I believe were my issues. Are you saying that using the pump throughout the mash could cause this odd flavour?

PS: I use London's tap water and I don't check pH values.

There is plenty you can do to alter the water profile, we have a soft water here in Melbourne but I still make salt additions to get the right profile of the beer I am going to brew. I always start by filling the mash tun the night before and add a crushed campden tablet, add the desired salts and acid for the brew.
I quickly googled London water here is a link that may be useful for you, also you can use Brewers Friend to get your water profile.
https://londonamateurbrewers.co.uk/2014/03/water-treatment/
Using the pump will not give you any off flavours that is the whole purpose of the Ace, recirculating the mash to get a better mash efficiency.

dps51 · Jul 2, 2017

foxy said:
Depends on how small you want to go, you would need to keep the grain bed immersed, what had you in mind?

I was thinking of a 10ltr brew

foxy · Jul 2, 2017

I can't see a problem with a 10 litre brew, if you use an online calculator I would be doing a mash at full volume and calculate the efficiency at about 65%, for 10 litres you wouldn't need that much more grain to hit your expected OG.

foxy · Jul 19, 2017

Was reliably informed today that the company who supplies Ace with the mash tun is soon to launch a conical fermenter with a capacity of 28.4 litres.

DaveK · Jul 19, 2017

foxy said:
Was reliably informed today that the company who supplies Ace with the mash tun is soon to launch a conical fermenter with a capacity of 28.4 litres.

I have the ACE Microbrewery (used once so far) and am thinking of getting their boiler as an HLT when I have the cash, so that sounds interesting. Bet it won't fit in my fridge though, lol.

Millemg · Jul 20, 2017

foxy said:
Was reliably informed today that the company who supplies Ace with the mash tun is soon to launch a conical fermenter with a capacity of 28.4 litres.

How reliably ? Ã°Å¸Ëâ

foxy · Jul 20, 2017

Millemg said:
How reliably ? Ã°Å¸Ëâ

From the manufacturer.

Davemc · Jul 20, 2017

foxy said:
Was reliably informed today that the company who supplies Ace with the mash tun is soon to launch a conical fermenter with a capacity of 28.4 litres.

I am very interested inn this, any idea of timescales?

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