My First AG Mysterio's SNPA

bigbud78 · Jan 23, 2017

Well it was my first AG and I learnt a lot, not sure how it will turn out but my OG looked about right. Only issue was I decided to split it in to two demi johns as I didnt have room in the fridge for my 23L bucket with beer already carbing.

First one I filled was lovely and clear, second one not so much ! I tried to leave as much of the crud as I could in the pan and lost quite a bit. Maybe 2-3 L :/ What was it ? Should I have just stuck it all in or tried to filter it ? Thoughts ?

Oh gas went cold so had to stick the bottle in a bucket of hot water :whistle:

SNPA Clone 9L
OG 1.050
75min BIAB Mash @ 66 (went down to 62)
1 Hour Boil

2kg Lager Malt
165g Light Crystal
Northern Brewer 15g @ 60mins
Protaflow 0.5 @ 15
Cascade 15 @ 10
Cascade 30 @ 1
15 mins flame off before chilling

bigbud78 · Jan 23, 2017

Photos might help

braziliain · Jan 23, 2017

Looks good. I get a load of gunk in the bottom of my kettle too. I've been filling the FV through a straining bag to get the majority of it out and haven't had any issues so far.

Having only completed 2 ag brews though, I am certainly far from an expert!!

I notice you have a ChefAlarm. I got one for Christmas and really like it. :thumb:

bigbud78 · Jan 23, 2017

braziliain said:
Looks good. I get a load of gunk in the bottom of my kettle too. I've been filling the FV through a straining bag to get the majority of it out and haven't had any issues so far.

Having only completed 2 ag brews though, I am certainly far from an expert!!

I notice you have a ChefAlarm. I got one for Christmas and really like it. :thumb:

Cheers, will have to do something similar next time. TBH i'm thinking of just getting a coolerbox mash tun.

Yeah that chef alarm is awesome !

MyQul · Jan 23, 2017

Nice work. Congrats on AG 2.

Ok here's how to have little to no break material in your FV - Whirlpooling;

After you've chilled your wort, sanitise a big spoon/mash paddle/ whatever, and stir your wort vigourously for about a minute. Then leave it for 30 mins. All the break material will settle out to the bottom of your pot. Then get a syphon and syphon the wort out but make sure you dont put the racking can all the way to the bottom of the pot else you'll start syphoning break material. hold it just above the level of the layer of the BM and you should get lovely clear wort.

The easiest way to get the syphon going is to get the syphon tube and fill it with star san using a turkey baster. Then jam the racking cane into one end and the little tap into the other (with the tap in the off position). Then put the racking can into the wort and with the tap lower than your pot,open the tap (this can be tricky one handed but possible) over a bowl. The star san with start to flow and drag the wort with it to start the syphon. Then as soon as the wort is flowing through the tap just aim the flow into your FV.

You can buy a syphon and racking can for a couple of quid from wilko if you dont have one

bigbud78 · Jan 24, 2017

Its going off now, had the fill the airlocks a couple of times. Not very impressed with these, might pick up the traditional ones

cheapbrew · Jan 24, 2017

Congrats on your first AG :thumb:

I just put the entire contents of the kettle through a voile mesh and what doesn't get caught packs down on the bottom of the FV giving minimal loss.

bigbud78 · Jan 27, 2017

Looking like the one on the right has almost stopped, considering its all from the same brew with same yeast I wonder if they will taste different ?

bigbud78 · Feb 3, 2017

Not sure whats happened with the numbers took a reading last night. My OG was 1.052 which puts my Efficiency at 70% (EIF) last night it was at 1.008 which is a far cry from the estimated 1.013.

So i've got a 5.7% instead of a 4.8%

Couldn't stop myself from having a taste, its bloody awesome. Could drink it flat, I really think its going to struggle to see 2 weeks conditioning after carbonation lol

Making another 9L this weekend, bottling tonight and going to save the trub for the next one :)

bigbud78 · Feb 4, 2017

Bottled this last night, very interesting accidental experiment !

As described one demijohn got all the clear wort and the other got quite a bit of break in it, both got equal amounts of the same yeast.

Clear Wort
FG 1.012 with a strange smell, tasted very bitter but ok. Very hazy and darker than 2nd demijohn, small trub cake. (possible infection ?)

Wort with break
FG 1.008 smelt and tasted great. Clear as a whistle but with a big trub cake.

Next Brew tomorrow, only a 9L but I'm chucking it all in the same 23L FV with all the break too.

bigbud78 · Feb 6, 2017

Had my Second bash at this, included a few photos. Same brew, didn't make the same mistakes but made a few more lol.

Robin54 · Feb 6, 2017

You are doing almost exactly as me. I have the same pot and thermometer as well. May I suggest that instead of wrapping up your pot, put it in the oven with the temp probe in the grain.(not thru the lid) The body of the thermometer can sit on your kitchen surface whilst your pot is in the oven, since the lead is long enough. I set the oven to 50 degrees and it keeps temp perfectly. I take the pot out every 20 minutes and give it a big stir and prod and then its back into the oven. Also I don't chill with lid on - can't see the point and once steam has stopped coming from your wort, pour into a FV and allow to cool further on the garage floor. (about 2 hours) Im not trying to tell you how to suck eggs, but I feel you could improve things to make your brew day quicker and more efficient. Just a thought that may be of help \ or not.

bigbud78 · Feb 6, 2017

The cooker is a good tip and if I ever do a small brew again I'll definitely try it, I put the lid on as once its come off the boil I thought I had to try and guard against anything getting in that might infect it. Took about 20 mins to cool it down in the sink to 25 degrees with minimum fuss, its supposed to increase the cold break to reduce haze in the beer :)

I'm currently on the look out for a 50L pot and cornys so not sure I'll be small brewing again but have some northern brewer left over so might do a small smash If i've not got my pot in two weeks

Robin54 · Feb 6, 2017

bigbud78 said:
The cooker is a good tip and if I ever do a small brew again I'll definitely try it, I put the lid on as once its come off the boil I thought I had to try and guard against anything getting in that might infect it. Took about 20 mins to cool it down in the sink to 25 degrees with minimum fuss, its supposed to increase the cold break to reduce haze in the beer :)

I'm currently on the look out for a 50L pot and cornys so not sure I'll be small brewing again but have some northern brewer left over so might do a small smash If i've not got my pot in two weeks

Ive found that once it gets down to about 40 degrees Ive never had a chill haze. strangely, everyone talks about it, but Ive yet to see it myself. Ive always found in life, that if I worry about something, it suddenly happens!! so I keep things dead simple...like me. You would have to be very unlucky to get an infection caused by cooling with the lid off.
Anyway...try the oven method and let us know how you get on with your next brew and all the best

bigbud78 · Feb 6, 2017

Robin54 said:
Ive found that once it gets down to about 40 degrees Ive never had a chill haze. strangely, everyone talks about it, but Ive yet to see it myself. Ive always found in life, that if I worry about something, it suddenly happens!! so I keep things dead simple...like me.

Haha, I know what you mean. Its only until you have done something you find out he results. I tipped the bloody lot into the FV, break and all ! In my last lot the FV with break in came out crystal clear, the one with out break was really hazy.

My only annoyance with this hobby is how long you have to wait to find out if what you did was good or bad xD

Robin54 · Feb 6, 2017

bigbud78 said:
Haha, I know what you mean. Its only until you have done something you find out he results. I tipped the bloody lot into the FV, break and all ! In my last lot the FV with break in came out crystal clear, the one with out break was really hazy.

My only annoyance with this hobby is how long you have to wait to find out if what you did was good or bad xD

Weird that isn't it??
I may give the MyCul no chill method a go and see if it makes a difference, but having said that all my beers are crystal clear so if it aint bust don't fix it/maybe?

bigbud78 · Feb 6, 2017

Robin54 said:
Weird that isn't it??
I may give the MyCul no chill method a go and see if it makes a difference, but having said that all my beers are crystal clear so if it aint bust don't fix it/maybe?

These are my first AG's and I've only done one kit so the beers only just slightly greener than me :mrgreen: Got a long list of things to brew and not enough space in the fridge to Ferment it all :whistle:

MyQul · Feb 6, 2017

Robin54 said:
Weird that isn't it??
I may give the MyCul no chill method a go and see if it makes a difference, but having said that all my beers are crystal clear so if it aint bust don't fix it/maybe?

I think your beer is clear because you chill it quickly. The way I no-chill, chills relatively slowly and if I put my beer in the fridge I get chill haze - not that it bothers me on the odd occasion I do put my beer in the fridge

MyQul · Feb 6, 2017

bigbud78 said:
My only annoyance with this hobby is how long you have to wait to find out if what you did was good or bad xD

The great thing about this hobby is, that their are as many ways to brew as there are brewers. So you can priorise different element. Because I seem to get through my beer really quickly and am often (almost) running out of beer (oh the horror!), I've recently begun to prioritise speed of turn around. So now I can go from grain to glass in 7 days if I want.
I've chosen styles that are best drunk young (Bitters), fast fermenting yeasts that flocctuate quickly(Nottingham and the Fullers strains) and low OG (about 1.041). Which means and can be supping a beer I made the week before

Robin54 · Feb 6, 2017

MyQul said:
I think your beer is clear because you chill it quickly. The way I no-chill, chills relatively slowly and if I put my beer in the fridge I get chill haze - not that it bothers me on the odd occasion I do put my beer in the fridge

you may be right there. I may put my wort when its at about 40degrees, into another vessel to chill outside, and then discard all the hot break ****. Im finding that with a 10L brew Im only ending up with about 8L to bottle because of the massive about of **** at the bottom of the FV. Its an interesting discussion

My First AG Mysterio's SNPA

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