Just finnished my first 4 AG brews and thought I would post some info on how that went. I used Greg Hughes recipes from his book.
In the end it seemed the water calcs in the GF app work well and get you almost exactly what you are suppose to get volume wise.
On my third brew I had a fair bit of pellets going in and found my 300 micron spider to be a tad blocked up, I could actually fill it up to the point of it overflowing if I didn't switch off the pump. I don't usually circulate while boiling but thought it was a good way to get some flow going through the hops.
On my 4th there was 200 grams of pellets going in so I tried without the spider and just through the pellets straight in.
15 minutes before flame out I circulated through the chiller to sterilise that. During this initial circulation I actually lost suction twice but just a little scrape over the filter with my paddle and it got going again.
At flame out I whirlpooled it for a few minutes and then let it sit for 5 minutes, when I started to pump again I waited for the wort coming out of the chiller to reach 21 degrees and then started straight away to transfer it into the FV. 77% Brewhouse efficiency and all was good, clear wort, except for all the proteins coagulating out in the chiller.
I think I will keep trying without the spider and see if it keep going well.
On the whole, I am really enjoying the Grainfather and looking forward to tasting the beers I have made in it !
In the end it seemed the water calcs in the GF app work well and get you almost exactly what you are suppose to get volume wise.
On my third brew I had a fair bit of pellets going in and found my 300 micron spider to be a tad blocked up, I could actually fill it up to the point of it overflowing if I didn't switch off the pump. I don't usually circulate while boiling but thought it was a good way to get some flow going through the hops.
On my 4th there was 200 grams of pellets going in so I tried without the spider and just through the pellets straight in.
15 minutes before flame out I circulated through the chiller to sterilise that. During this initial circulation I actually lost suction twice but just a little scrape over the filter with my paddle and it got going again.
At flame out I whirlpooled it for a few minutes and then let it sit for 5 minutes, when I started to pump again I waited for the wort coming out of the chiller to reach 21 degrees and then started straight away to transfer it into the FV. 77% Brewhouse efficiency and all was good, clear wort, except for all the proteins coagulating out in the chiller.
I think I will keep trying without the spider and see if it keep going well.
On the whole, I am really enjoying the Grainfather and looking forward to tasting the beers I have made in it !
