My first of the year Gales Festival Mild

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Baz Chaz

Landlord.
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Today was the first brew of the year for me and a new recipe, went for Gales Festival Mild and a chance to try out my new 40 litre Buffalo shiny boiler :clap:
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A few piccys today, I know what you lot are like for piccys :roll:

The grains had all been delivered last week ready for my first five brews of the year, economising on carriage you understand, it was a fair old boxful, but the delivery driver very kindly offered to carry it down ‘The Den’ for me, so I was happy to put a bottle of my finest in his pocket to have @ home ;)
So half the grain in the bucket, add hot water and pour into warmed mash tun, repeat with second half, find it works nicely for me, not had a stuck mash yet with this method, and its easier to handle as well :thumb:
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Somewhere in there is a mash tun, it’s insulated but find that if an old fishing waistcoat is wrapped round as well the loss of temperature over the 90 mins is negligible :!:
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While waiting for the mash I nipped up the road and collected a camping mat to insulate the new boiler, I had some insulation material left over from when I did the mash tun, but the new boilers ‘a bit further round’ so didn’t quite have enough, so decided to fit a foam matting jacket. What a great idea as well, the boiler was up to temperature in no time and worked really well, very pleased indeed :clap:
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Out of the mash tun and the smell was wonderful, a lovely dark brown colour as well :D
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Coming up to boil, loads of spare space, little danger of boiling over with the extra room, had a 25 ltr boiler before, this is much better, I would think little or no danger of boiling ove,r although this was a 19 litre brew, 23 litres will still have loads of spare room. Again with the extra insulation it was quick up to the boil and could hear it rumbling away quietly :cool:
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The extra surface area might have made a difference in cooling as well, seemed to get down to temperature a bit quicker today, wasn’t frosty or anything it was 6 deg air temperature. Lovely colour transferring into the FV :thumb:
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Didn’t quite hit the OG on this occasion, ended up a couple of points down, even after temperature adjustment, but what the hell, near enough, being a member of the SAS :shock: (sample all stages ;) ) the contents of the measuring cylinder were 'measured' by mouth and a lovely brew this is and that’s before the yeasties get to work, used Safale SO4 and tucked it all up in the insulated box so the yeasties can have their party in peace without too much fluctuation of temperature :party:
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Slight mishap today :oops: my mitts are knackered with arthritis and my grip ain’t always good :nono: when cleaning up, a five gallon bucket of hot water slipped out of my hand, fortunately it landed upright and only just over half full so not a lot ended up on the kitchen floor :evil: but will turn this to my advantage, will tell Mrs C I mopped the floor after brewing ‘cos there were a few footmarks about and I though she’d like a shiny floor :whistle:

An excellent brewday, anyone like me who is not very 'DIYish' I can recommend the 40 litre Buffalo boiler :thumb: (it was recommended by Aleman in the first place) didn’t think the price was OTT @ £129 delivered, but no hassle or worries over drilling big holes and connecting electrics etc :thumb: ……. Oh aye …. and it’s shiny :cool: :lol:
 
Lucking Good Mr B :thumb: :thumb:

Still waiting for the shiny Mash Tun ? Oh and the pumps and Herms. :rofl: :rofl: .

:cheers:

AG
 
gurtpint said:
How long did it take to reach a boil?

Was busy cleaning and de labelling some bottles while it was coming to boil, I took some bottles to store and looked in the boiler on my way past and it was boiling like a good 'un, took me by surprise a bit to be honest, it certainly wasnt long :!:

The dense foam mat & duct tape, I reckon it is a good idea and makes a big difference, my 25 ltr boiler wasn't insulated and this boiled far quicker than the 25 did :!:
 
Wished I'd brewed 23 ltr instead of 19 ltr :oops:


Well this is a very nice pint indeed, can recommend this one and it will be a return brew I think :drink:
 
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