GF Brew No 1 - HBC Belgian Dubbel

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strange-steve

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Today was the first brew with the new grainfather, a Belgian dubbel mash kit that came with it. No idea what the recipe is, but it came with a load of dark candi sugar and Mangrove Jack M41 yeast.

I'm also trying out a new approach to water treatment which I'll post about in the future (if anyone's interested see here) and so far so good with a mash pH of 5.73.

Onr6u8o.jpg


A couple of things on the GF, it definitely makes for a more relaxed and quicker brewday and everything went swimmingly. Until the clean up that is.

Maybe I'm being stupid but I found it a pain in the ass to clean. First of all, why are there no handles to make it easier to lift or tip out the trub/cleaning water? It's really awkward to move. Secondly, is there a way to avoid gallons of water on the floor after using the chiller? Every time I thought it was empty it would dump another load of water out. How do you get all the water out of the chiller after use?
 
Secondly, is there a way to avoid gallons of water on the floor after using the chiller? Every time I thought it was empty it would dump another load of water out. How do you get all the water out of the chiller after use?

I use a mains powered inflation pump for an air bed, leave it running for 5 mins or so works for me.:thumb:
 
I got myself a couple of builders trugs which have solved a lot of the wet floor problems. One is used for placing the grain basket and then for tipping out the spent grain, the second for the chiller, etc.
 
You'll soon figure out a way that suits you but I leave the cold-in attached to the tap and the hot-out in the sink and so after sterilising it but before chilling, it sits on the side between the sink and the GF.
The wort-in pipe will syphon slightly when you unscrew and release it, avoiding any wort running back out, and the wort out is on the bottom of the chiller so it's a case of being aware of where the end of that hose is and whether it's empty or not, depending on what stage of the brew you're at.
As I say you'll soon find a routine that suits you
 
Oh yes, clean the grain tube, plates and pipe while the boil is on. Once you empty the wort out unplug the controller and take the boiler outside, hose it out removing the ring inside the rim as well, then do a hot recirculating clean with your chosen chemical. Rinse twice. Piece of ****.
 
I use a mains powered inflation pump for an air bed, leave it running for 5 mins or so works for me.:thumb:

This is much more civilised than just blowing it out, which I do. :whistle:
 
This is much more civilised than just blowing it out, which I do. :whistle:

:lol: That's exactly what I did but it didn't work too well. Thanks for the advice everyone, a couple of builders trugs seems like a good option :thumb:

I remember my first BIAB was fairly disastrous, so was my first 3V brew, but the beer still turned out decent and after a few brews you get the hang of things.
 
Today was the first brew with the new grainfather, a Belgian dubbel mash kit that came with it. No idea what the recipe is, but it came with a load of dark candi sugar and Mangrove Jack M41 yeast.

I'm also trying out a new approach to water treatment which I'll post about in the future (if anyone's interested see here) and so far so good with a mash pH of 5.73.

Onr6u8o.jpg


Until the clean up that is.

Maybe I'm being stupid but I found it a pain in the ass to clean. First of all, why are there no handles to make it easier to lift or tip out the trub/cleaning water?

Pump it out, once you have pumped out the wort then i tend to give it a quick rinse down with a jug or two of water then tip the trub out, should be no more than 5 litres in it, after cleaning just pump out into a sink or drain or spare FV.
 
:lol: That's exactly what I did but it didn't work too well. Thanks for the advice everyone, a couple of builders trugs seems like a good option :thumb:

I remember my first BIAB was fairly disastrous, so was my first 3V brew, but the beer still turned out decent and after a few brews you get the hang of things.

I think the main one to be concerned about is the wort flow tubing. Since this is going to be cleaned and rinsed on the way out of brew number n and then sterilised on the way in for brew number (n+1) the focus is on just getting any liquid out.

I leave the whole thing on a table for a few hours post brew-day action, then give it all a big twirl before putting it away. Blowing air through a coiled tube is never going to get all the liquid out. Not physically realistic, given the state of mind of the homebrewer at the end of a hard day's play with his (or hers) beer.

I do a tuba impression on the cold to hot flow as well and this tends to drain a bit as described above, but I have taken to putting a clean tea towel in the GF to catch any unwanted water during storage.
 
I do a tuba impression on the cold to hot flow as well and this tends to drain a bit as described above, but I have taken to putting a clean tea towel in the GF to catch any unwanted water during storage.

Images of Slid blowing the blue Tuba, I need to bleach my eyes :lol:
 
I stuck this in the corny today, far too early I know, but I won't get a chance next week and I need the FV. It smells great, really reminds me of the smell in the Halve Maan brewery in Bruges, but tastewise it's not that great. It's far more like a dunkleweizen than a dubbel, loads of clove and banana. Once again a bit disappointed with the MJ yeast. Anyway I'll leave it a couple of weeks and see how it turns out.
 
I stuck this in the corny today, far too early I know, but I won't get a chance next week and I need the FV. It smells great, really reminds me of the smell in the Halve Maan brewery in Bruges, but tastewise it's not that great. It's far more like a dunkleweizen than a dubbel, loads of clove and banana. Once again a bit disappointed with the MJ yeast. Anyway I'll leave it a couple of weeks and see how it turns out.

M31 is the yeast I have done my Belgians with. Very poor flocculation, by modern standards, but otherwise top yeast, for me. Neither clove nor banana is present, for my primitive sensibilities, anyway.
 
M31 is the yeast I have done my Belgians with. Very poor flocculation, by modern standards, but otherwise top yeast, for me. Neither clove nor banana is present, for my primitive sensibilities, anyway.

Yeah I think I'm on my own with this, but I've found the MJ yeasts I've tried to be a bit disappointing, which is a shame because I love the simplicity of dry yeast. But I have never used any dry yeast which is as good as my favourite liquid yeasts.
 
Yeah I think I'm on my own with this, but I've found the MJ yeasts I've tried to be a bit disappointing, which is a shame because I love the simplicity of dry yeast. But I have never used any dry yeast which is as good as my favourite liquid yeasts.

Then your knowledge exceeds mine. I have only ever used yeast available as dry. Maybe one day...:lol:
 
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