Got myself a new FV..

[MickDundee]

I got the barley crusher in a half price deal beerhawk did last year. About the same money as the bulldog if memory serves. It is a fantastic bit of kit, one of my best buys. Might be worth holding out to see if they do it again?

 

[Oneflewover]

Ha, know the feeling! I suspect in your shoes I'd be exactly the same

 

[MickDundee]

Ha, know the feeling! I suspect in your shoes I'd be exactly the same

I also feel if I wait til Black Friday I’ll get moaned at for spending so much money before Christmas, even though it’s my birthday/Nintendo money I’m spending.

 

[Cwrw666]

anything that lets me take “the next step” without taking up too much more of my time is worth paying more for, for me anyway.

I find that the time it takes for my boiler to get up to mash temperature is exactly the same time as it takes to weigh out all the grains and grind the whole grains. So for me it doesn't make the brewday longer, just a bit more energetic as I crank mine by hand.
My mash efficiency jumped from sixty odd percent up into the eighties when I started grinding my own pale malt. Might say more about my grain supplier than anything else though...

 

[MickDundee]

I find that the time it takes for my boiler to get up to mash temperature is exactly the same time as it takes to weigh out all the grains and grind the whole grains. So for me it doesn't make the brewday longer, just a bit more energetic as I crank mine by hand.
My mash efficiency jumped from sixty odd percent up into the eighties when I started grinding my own pale malt. Might say more about my grain supplier than anything else though...

That’s what I’m hoping for. I get around 65% at the moment.

I “inherited” some uncrushed grain about a year ago and somebody on a Facebook brewing group let me use his mill - I got 87% efficiency for that brew and it’s what planted the seed of getting a mill in my head!

 

[AdeDunn]

I dread to think where you guys get your crushed grain from! Maybe a 90 minute mash might help? Or a slower doughing in? I know that with a 70 minute I only got 77%, where the next brew I did a 90 minute and got 95%.... So yeah, with a 60 minute I'd fully expect about 65% mash efficiency with my equipment.

 

[Cwrw666]

I do an 80 minute mash usually. Aiming for 90 minutes but get bored...

It's probably whether the supplier grinds a load of grain and sticks it in a pile which it slowly works through as it gets staler and staler, rather than crushing the grain when they get an order in.
Also, I grind it much finer than I've ever been supplied with, which must help.

 

[BeerCat]

I think i am going to get myself one of these 60l barrels.

 

[MickDundee]

I think i am going to get myself one of these 60l barrels.

I bought one this week for storing grain in. Very happy with it.

 

[AdeDunn]

Right, something I thought might be helpful, a little video showing the airlock in action.



I wasn't expecting it to lift like it does. lol

 

[Dutto]

..........



.......

Childish? Of course I am, otherwise I wouldn't have watched it TWICE!

Weird that!

 

[AdeDunn]

Yeah, I have to stop and look every time I'm in the room with it.... Klop, klop, klop... lol I've never seen anything like it... I'd assumed the bubbles just came out of the little cut outs. It's like an orange piston.

 

[foxbat]

Those 2-piece airlocks are two for a quid at brewuk. Not made by Spiedel though. I used to use them in my brewfridge because they're low profile before going to a blowoff tube.

 

[AdeDunn]

They're not the same thing bud. I have multiple 2 piece airlocks like those ones, they're tiny in comparison. lol This thing you don't actually NEED a blow off tube, it's THAT big... lol

I took a pic to compare, it doesn't show the diameter though, but you get the idea....

 

[foxbat]

Flippin' eck that's huge!

 

[AdeDunn]

It certainly is at that. lol

The FV is based on the same design principle. Says 30 litres on it, but it's way bigger than that, as in it'll hold 30 litres and still have tons of head space left for even the most insane krausen I'd say.

I seriously feel comfortable not using a blow of tube with this thing, even if it managed to somehow reach the airlock the pipe is huge on it, and the cup would hold quite a bit before it overflowed..... I don't know about the other chaps with them, if they feel the same way.

 

[F00b4r]

It's 35L. They are great fermenters, although I would do a water test first and check the tap doesn't leak, it's seems to be a problem with their tap tolerances on both the FV's and the Braumeister (they or the seller will replace though).

 

[AdeDunn]

It's 35L. They are great fermenters, although I would do a water test first and check the tap doesn't leak, it's seems to be a problem with their tap tolerances on both the FV's and the Braumeister (they or the seller will replace though).

I always test with water for leaks, it's just good practice.

It's currently sat with 27.3 litre of Belgian Witbier in it though (that's what was making the airlock klop away... lol).


Coped easily with a nice krausen.

 

[AdeDunn]

I just discovered another big plus point for the Speidel airlocks.... The bung is the perfect size to fit in the neck of my 3 litre Erlenmeyer flask! Meaning I can use the airlock on yeast starters too. Bonus points I'd say.

 

[NIGHTSKY BREWING]

Were did you buy your flask.....