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EsterBanana

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Hey everyone,

Today is my first full grain brew day I was hoping to put off posting until later in the day when I was done, but I have run into a problem and I am unsure what to do about it.

Does anyone know what this spotting is on my heating element? It's new, I only noticed it when I got in close to start cleaning it. Any suggestions on how to proceed?

IMG_3449.JPG


spotting.jpg
 
Now you say it, that seems totally correct! Thank you!

Do I need to worry about it? Or just clean as I would anyway and ignore and carry on?
 
It does to me too. The spatter and scoring on the mounting plate suggest to me that the manufacturer may not have the best quality control. Do you need to use it for today’s brew? If so I’m sure it will be okay but if you haven’t already started give it a good scrub. If you don’t need to use it today (and it doesn’t have to go back to China) it might be worth a chat with the supplier and get it exchanged.
 
Thank you both, I don't really want to bail on today's brew day, but the wire brush I can do!

Will definitely be talking about this with the supplier, not mentioning any names, at least not yet hehe :cool:

Joking aside, I am sure they will be 100% supportive, they have been so far and I guess all will be revealed in due course anyway!
 
Little update, the wire brush took off the worst of it and I am confident that there's nothing that's just going to fall off into the brew, so lets go for it!

I have just finished dismantling, cleaning and reassembling everything, down to the last bit!

Time to put it all together and do one last clean with the pump running.
 
Little update, the wire brush took off the worst of it and I am confident that there's nothing that's just going to fall off into the brew, so lets go for it!

I have just finished dismantling, cleaning and reassembling everything, down to the last bit!

Time to put it all together and do one last clean with the pump running.
Good luck! 🤞
 
Thank you!

Alas it is looking increasingly likely that I am going to have to bail today. I have a leak that I can't stop. One of the tri-clamp seals just won't seal no matter what I do, I've moved it to all four places it can be swapped out to, flipped it, tightened it as much as I dare. The best position is still a drip, I ran it with just water and I am losing about half a pint in half an hour, not disastrous, but not good with hot wort right.

It's after 2, only got a couple of hours of light left and I haven't even begun to think about heating water yet.

I am still calling it a success because I have finally managed to get everything out of their respective boxes and done a 'wet run' so to speak.

Next time.
 
Thank you!

Alas it is looking increasingly likely that I am going to have to bail today. I have a leak that I can't stop. One of the tri-clamp seals just won't seal no matter what I do, I've moved it to all four places it can be swapped out to, flipped it, tightened it as much as I dare. The best position is still a drip, I ran it with just water and I am losing about half a pint in half an hour, not disastrous, but not good with hot wort right.

It's after 2, only got a couple of hours of light left and I haven't even begun to think about heating water yet.

I am still calling it a success because I have finally managed to get everything out of their respective boxes and done a 'wet run' so to speak.

Next time.
I think that’s the right decision. For your first all-grain brew day you don’t want to start already flustered and anxious. Better to start relaxed and clear headed, you’ll have enough to think about as it is until you get into a rhythm.
 
This might seem a daft question, but do you have an o ring in the joint? My element came with it missing I just noticed today as I was sorting it out for fitting.
 
It turned out that the leak was coming from the pipe connection and the jubilee clip, despite being tight as it could go not making a seal.

I feel really good, my first brew day consisted of brewing up some chemical wash haha, but I now know a hell of a lot more than I did at 8am this morning when I started.

Slightly disappointing, yes, but my confidence levels are much higher :)

Thank you again!! All is good!!
 
inspected everything again this morning and after cleaning there's a load of rust spots on the heating element, it's not good.

I am stuck until this is sorted out, I am not happy proceeding with this:

IMG_3457.JPG
IMG_3456.JPG


I also worked out where the leak was coming from, the tubes are just that bit too wide for the barb fittings and the jubilee clip can't compensate enough for the difference. So they need sorting out too.

Soooooooo... Maybe next weekend...?
 
That element definitely needs changing. I had one go like that and you are in danger of the outer casing splitting and water getting inside, not good. The replacement element is fine so far after at least 10 brews.
I always wondered if my adding the water treatment acid first as I filled the HLT hastened the element corrosion, I now add the acid last when the HLT is full so much more dilution.

Traditional jubilee clips do not work well on small bore hosing as they don't clamp up evenly. You can get the ones intended for fuel hosing that work much better. They come in a range of sizes.
 
That element definitely needs changing. I had one go like that and you are in danger of the outer casing splitting and water getting inside, not good. The replacement element is fine so far after at least 10 brews.
I always wondered if my adding the water treatment acid first as I filled the HLT hastened the element corrosion, I now add the acid last when the HLT is full so much more dilution.

Traditional jubilee clips do not work well on small bore hosing as they don't clamp up evenly. You can get the ones intended for fuel hosing that work much better. They come in a range of sizes.

Thank you, this is helpful and yes, I definitely want to avoid any water/electricity disasters :)

I haven't even got to the stage of brewing yet, this appeared after the first clean in place with Chemcleam!

I am not concerned very much about any of this, the supplier is a good egg. I think they may have been let down by their supplier, but I know they will do whatever it takes to put it right.

As it happens, I am really glad I didn't brew yesterday as this morning I spotted some more black residue on the stainless steel that the Chemclean didn't pull off.

I am a complete newbie when it comes to looking after stainless steel like this and the procedures required to make sure everything is okay before brewing. I am reading as much as I can and trying to work out the best way forward. Again not concerned about anything, I am led to believe this is quite normal for new stainless steel equipment. I just need to make sure.

Thank you again :)
 
To make up for the fact that I didn't get a brew on yesterday, I am in the middle of putting on a kit - yay!

This time the Beerworks Bohemian Blonde Pils:

The Classic German Pilsners tend to be very light straw to golden in colour. Head we expect should be dense and rich. This is also well-hopped, brewed using Noble Saaz, this variety exhibits a spicy herbal or floral aroma and flavour, often times a bit coarse on the palate, and distribute a flash of citrus-like zest--hop bitterness which is reasonably high.

1 x 3kg Pouch Lager Malt
1 x 150g Priming Sugar
1 x 10g Lager Yeast
1 x 50g Saaz Hops
1 x Small Mesh Bag
1 x 1kg Sugar
Instructions also included
Specs:
Makes: 40 Pints
ABV: 6.0% (Approx)
Bitterness (EBU): 45-55
Colour (EBC): 24-32

Apparently they use a special yeast that ferments at ale fermenting temperatures, I have absolutely no idea what this is, but by all accounts/reviews it is excellent, I am very curious, I love a good dry pils!

Let's see...
 
To make up for the fact that I didn't get a brew on yesterday, I am in the middle of putting on a kit - yay!

This time the Beerworks Bohemian Blonde Pils:



1 x 3kg Pouch Lager Malt
1 x 150g Priming Sugar
1 x 10g Lager Yeast
1 x 50g Saaz Hops
1 x Small Mesh Bag
1 x 1kg Sugar
Instructions also included
Specs:
Makes: 40 Pints
ABV: 6.0% (Approx)
Bitterness (EBU): 45-55
Colour (EBC): 24-32

Apparently they use a special yeast that ferments at ale fermenting temperatures, I have absolutely no idea what this is, but by all accounts/reviews it is excellent, I am very curious, I love a good dry pils!

Let's see...
It’s most likely a California lager yeast. I use the same for my Czech Pilsner.

Take a look at Mangrove Jacks M54
 
Cool, thanks, seems like a very similar vibe yes, completely plain white packet though, it just says Lager Yeast 10g on the BeerWorks one..

Yeast is amazing! I devoured the Brewing Elements Series book on Yeast, I recommend it to everyone who is interested in these magical single celled organisms because it really does go into a lot of detail without being overly scientific, well mostly! I admit there were bits towards the end that were losing me, all those yeast lab instructions, I am just not there yet.
 
Feel quite down this evening, I am being given the run around, no straight answers, just offers of refunds and none of my questions answered... business in 2021 is seemingly composed of an alarming lack of backbone and an ever decreasing desire to take any responsibility for anything.

If I wanted a refund I would have asked for a refund, I just want what I actually paid for ... I am being made to feel like I am acting unreasonably and it's finally, starting to annoy me now.

/rant - I am not even ranting really, just disappointed!
 

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