briars best

[toasted]

well i bit the bullet and made up some kit to do my first ag brew on the cheep
i went with briars best as it looked pretty straight forward and im suprised how smoothly it all went
i had to substitute challenger with boadicea

20 litres OG 1.052 ABV 5.1% 27 units of bitterness @ 84% efficiency
MARIS OTTER PALE MALT 3580g
CRYSTAL MALT 420g
HOPS Boil time 90 minutes
Boadicea "challenger substitute" 34g
Boadicea last 15 minutes 17g
5g of irish moss last 15 mins of boil
Safale S-04

i ended up with dead on 20ltr of boiled wort at 1046sg which i worked out to be 78% efficiency so im pretty pleased with that
i used a immersion chiller but theres now a little bit of protein in the bottom of the fv i think thats due to me not letting it rest after cooling? , hopefully i can sort that next time, will that cause problems for this brew?
sorry theres no pics i forgot the charge the batterys for my camera but im doing another brew on saturday so il make sure i get some for that
looking forward to doing the nex brew although i havnt decided what to brew yet

 

[jamesb]

Well done toasted. Glad it went ok! Hopefully be the start of many more.

i used a immersion chiller but theres now a little bit of protein in the bottom of the fv i think thats due to me not letting it rest after cooling? , hopefully i can sort that next time, will that cause problems for this brew?

Some people say that a small amount of trub in the FV is better. Some don't. There is a theory that some of the bits in the trub can act as a yeast nutrient. I've never researched it enough to form an opinion.

Personally, I let mine sit for 20-30 minutes after the boil before cooling. As soon as I've hit temperature (or as close to it as possible) after cooling, I get it into the FV. I've never had any trub come through. Although in reality, this can probably be a delay of a few minutes, possibly allowing any trub still floating around after I've stirred it to settle.

What type of hop strainer did you use? I'm assuming you're using whole hops rather than pellets or plugs.

 

[toasted]

for the boiler i used one of those flexible mesh pipe connectors with the rubber tube removed, plus i held a tea strainer under the tap to be safe as it was the first time id used it
i think leaving it for 20-30 mins like you suggest will help as it seemed to have settled in the fv by around then, but i guess that depends if the strainer works ok
theres also a little bit on the surface although not much in total

il certainly be doing plenty more :

 

[jamesb]

I've never tried one of those, I've always had concerns about them blocking, but they obviously work.

I wouldn't worry about a bit of trub in the FV.

:thumb:

 

[toasted]

ive just had another look and it seems to have doubled , looks like wallpaper paste :sick:
i might try skimming if off the top tomorrow and syphon the brew off to another fv once i free up another fv? would it be worth it or see how it goes?
i wouldnt mind so much if it was mine but ive just gone ahead and built the gear and switched to all grain without telling paul so itl be him drinking it lol so ive got to convince him its worthwhile

 

[jamesb]

What temperature was the wort when you put it in the FV? I'm wondering it's carried on the cold break after you've transferred it.

Either way, see what it's like tomorrow. Racking it off into another FV shouldn't hurt too much.

 

[A T]

Congratulations and welcome to the dark side I'm delighted it went well for ya :thumb:

 

[toasted]

about 22c when it left the boiler, i didnt check the temp in the fv as i figured it would be about right for pitching the yeast
guess you learn by mistakes lol
il be using gelatine after 10 days in the fv so hopefully thatl help a bit too , or atleast make me a 20ltr batch of labelling glue lol
fingers crossed itl turn out ok after transfering in to another fv
nice one James :thumb: , cheers A T :

 

[jamesb]

about 22c when it left the boiler, i didnt check the temp in the fv as i figured it would be about right for pitching the yeast
guess you learn by mistakes lol

That temperature is fine.

I suspect it is just normal trub, I'm at a loss to explain how it's doubled though. Piccies would help.

il be using gelatine after 10 days in the fv so hopefully thatl help a bit too , or atleast make me a 20ltr batch of labelling glue lol
fingers crossed itl turn out ok after transfering in to another fv
nice one James :thumb: , cheers A T :

Gelatine will make the yeast flocculate together but won't do anything for proteins. Auxillary finings will do that. I suspect it will just settle at the bottom overnight and be fine though.

 

[toasted]

cool , il take a pic in the morning
its starting to look like its just rising up to the top now instead of sitting on the bottom in like little towers
it probley looks worse than it is because of that and some has stuck to the sides lower in the fv
hopefully il be able to just skim it off the top in the morning to save transfering it

on a good note i reckon i can use the used grains for spod mix when fishing and give out any extras to customers for free lol

 

[Wez]

Congratulations on your first AG toasted :party: :party: :party: :party:

Here's to many many more :

 

[tubby_shaw]

Congrats toasted :thumb:
Don't worry about a little trub carry over into the FV, I always deliberately allow some through to aid fermentation
As for what you are seeing in the FV it will be a mix of fine break material that is slowly settling and the yeast that is growing it's all good :party:
What you will find though, that is different to kit brewing is that there will be a lot of **** thrown up with the yeast head :shock: this will stick "like **** to a blanket" in a ring around the FV :sick: It wont harm your beer, just don't let it dry before you clean the FV or you'll need a chisel to shift it :lol:
Spent grains are great for bulking out spod mix and are even better when pepped with some molasses :

 

[toasted]

nice one Wez,cheers Tubby :thumb:
heres a pic as promised
i think il leave the next batch 30 mins and drop the temp to 18c as thats what there at now and hopefully itl do this in the boiler instead

[attachment removed - to replace image please upload it to an image host and link]

 

[jamesb]

nice one Wez,cheers Tubby :thumb:
heres a pic as promised
i think il leave the next batch 30 mins and drop the temp to 18c as thats what there at now and hopefully itl do this in the boiler instead

I try and pitch my yeast at about 24c to give it a head start, then let it naturally drop to the temperature I want to ferment at - although fermentation itself is exothermic; it can create heat when it's really going for it. I don't have a method of cooling it when this happens yet.

Not sure what's going on in the pic - was this taken this morning because that looks like the yeast getting a good start to me. If it was from last night after you transferred then... :hmm:, I've never seen trub do that.

 

[toasted]

well first off last night after about 1/2-1 hour it had settled out like mini towers on the bottom of the fv quite clumped up and solid looking which didnt worry me
then as it got later it seemed to loosen up and start rising and sticking to the sides a bit
now this morning its risen up the sides and what was on the bottom looks alot looser

ive just gently turnt the fv round a few times and its come off the sides, some dropping instantly the rest has rissen up to the top , i think itl be ok now it looks like itl setle out properly or rise up and settle again once the yeast starts dropping on it
just dont want to be transfering all that gunk to the corni :sick:

 

[jamesb]

I can't tell if you've got a tap on that or you'll be syphoning, but either way, stop worrying. It'll be fine!

 

[toasted]

lol no tap on it so il be syphoning it off
cool glad its not anything to worry about it just didnt look like i was expecting or what im used to :drunk:
right better start planning what brew to do on saturday :

 

[jamesb]

right better start planning what brew to do on saturday :

That's the spirit!

:thumb:

 

[tubby_shaw]

lol no tap on it so il be syphoning it off
cool glad its not anything to worry about it just didnt look like i was expecting or what im used to :drunk:
right better start planning what brew to do on saturday :

Forum brew Forum brew Forum brew Forum brew Forum brew Forum brew Forum brew Forum brew Forum brew Forum brew :lol:

 

[arturobandini]

What exactly are you getting at ts?

Shame I just brewed last weekend as I had S-04, it was pure pale malt (ok with some wheat malt) and I have hops to 40EBU. Gutted! Won't be brewing again until my 10gallon system is up and running. Good luck with his toasted, should be a winner.