Managed to stumble into the kitchen around 7 to switch the boiler on. This was my first chance to test my 40 liter SS Buffalo boiler. 24 liters got up to 82C in 50 minutes, conveniently just as I was finishing my breakfast. Added a bit of cold water and got it to 80, thinking it would be just about right with the heat loss during the transfer to the mash tun and stirring.
the saucy grain bill exposed piccy as seen through morning-blurred eyes
where the buffalo roam
The temp was around 68C as I was finished doughing in, some cold water was needed again. Nearly forgot about the Campden tabs but half of one did find its way in. I put a layer of aluminum foil on top of the mash to see if it would help prevent heat loss. Noticed that the batteries in my borrowed camera weren't up to the task so a quick trek to the nearest shop was called for.
the mash
90 minutes later, sparging time. No problems here, had lost about one degree which I considered good going. The tun was drained after re-circulating about 6 liters . While the wort was not crystal clear, it was at the very least a lot clearer than with my two first brews. Added 15 liters of 78C water, messed around with the mash paddle and left it for another 30 minutes. It took more re-circulating after this to get a somewhat clear wort but after a few pitchers things were looking ok.
round and round...
It had been suspiciously smooth sailing so far but of course there was some trouble lurking just behind the corner. Switched on the boiler with the first runnings as I started collecting the second batch. Dumped everything in... just to notice that some idiot had forgotten the hop strainer on the table. A few rather rude idioms later the boiler was empty again, strainer fitted in and everything could continue in a semi-orderly manner. Collected a little over 30 liters. BG 1.040. A nice rolling boil achieved just after noon. Time for more coffee. The rest of the hops, Protafloc, yeast nutritient and cooler in at 75 minutes. Also discovered that a nice rolling boil indoors can give you a sudden urge to wipe the condensed moisture out of the ceiling after getting a couple of nice drops on my head.
rolling rolling rolling
Right, the boil finished, cooler on. Not sure of how the hot break went but at least I seemed to get a decent cold break.
the cold one
Got the wort to ambient room temp quite rapidly â in fact I was going to leave it a bit warmer before turning the cooler off but got a bit distracted with the yeast rehydration. My first time doing this for a dry yeast and I managed to leave the boiled water outdoors for too long at first so I boiled some more water and kept a closer eye on that instead of faffing around waiting for the first try to become warmer.
in you go
Sprinkled the Notts yeast on the water, covered the bowl with foil, waited for 15 mins, stirred, waited for yet another 15 mins, whisked into cream, mixed with an equal amount of cooled wort and finally, oh finally pitched the ******* after having given the wort in my FV a good splashing about. All done and dusted by 15:30, cleaning up included.
more filth
I ended up with about 21,3 liters with the OG of 1.052. A bit less than I thought, as I didn't expect the boil loss be as much as 29% (8,7 L in 90 mins). Should I have taken it easier with the boil vigour? I suppose I could have liquored back a bit to hit 1.050 but this will do very nicely. The clearest wort (lovely dark copper) so far as well, Protafloc seems to work. Tasted good too. My efficiency still remains around 64% if got my numbers right which I'm not satisfied with really, so I'll have to start looking into water treatment as a possible solution. I think I'll also get a digital thermometer as my old workhorse is a bit inconvenient to use and I have some doubts about its calibration as well. It was a good day all in all and I was feeling a lot more relaxed and confident about what I was doing. More to come!
my precious
