Tess Tickle's Brewdays

[Davegase]

I’ve decided I’m not putting up with any more of this oxidation nonsense. I am capturing the CO2 from the fermentation into my second vessel which I will serve out of. I’ve done this for two reasons.

1. To ensure I put enough gas in my secondary vessel when I do the closed transfer, so that I don’t cause oxidation as in my last attempt.

2. To save money on gas as I then don’t need to use my gas bottle to fill up the secondary vessel.

Everything is of course clean and sanitary. Hopefully I’ll have a better result this time. Not leaving anything to chance!

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I do something similar, but I fill the second vessel with sanitizer and let the fermentation gas push all the sanitizer out of the second vessel into a third vessel. Once all the sanitizer is pushed out pop the the spunding valve on to the second vessel.

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

@jof lol, no

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

I do something similar, but I fill the second vessel with sanitizer and let the fermentation gas push all the sanitizer out of the second vessel into a third vessel. Once all the sanitizer is pushed out pop the the spunding valve on to the second vessel.

I use the 'water displacement' trick too - I know what you mean about the problem that creates with adding flavourings / finings etc, but reckon that briefly opening the lid and pouring them in doesn't admit much air :-)
I suppose you could also load the flavourings etc into a big syringe (look up '200cc syringe') and add them via a tap tee'd off your beer line.

 

[531Man]

Gas molecules don't form layers, they disperse randomly over time.

Don't worry though, your approach to purging is sound. The sheer volume of CO2 produced by the fermentation reduces the concentration of CO2 in the vessel being purged from 21% to a miniscule 5 parts per billion (for a vessel of 20 litres). Reference.

Sorry to be a pedant @foxbat , but did you mean to say, "reduces the concentration of O2 in the vessel being purged from 21% to a miniscule 5 parts per billion ", not CO2 as you have put it?

 

[531Man]

After a disappointment as our new PH meter didn’t work, we decided to carry on without it.

First off we connected the kitchen telly to the laptop, so we could see Brewfather instructions clearly.

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Filling the Brewzilla with the mash water

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Organising the water salts (made a right mess!)

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Mashing in

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Toasting the marshmallows

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Sparging

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Chilling

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Right at the end of chilling the pump blocked, so we improvised to fill the fermenter

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24L of Toasted Marshmallow Stout ready to rock and roll! We got the idea from Clawhammer Supply YT channel. Phew. My recipe tomorrow!

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A very interesting and inventive day's brewing.
I have a couple of safety-related queries and suggestions.
1. Did you use the Brewzillas handles for lifting up onto the stool?
My Hopcat specifically warns Not to do that as the weight when full of wort is too much for them. When hot, doubly potentially dangerous.
Does the Brewzilla instructions say it is OK and designed for that weight?
Yours may be constructed better than mine, of course.

2. Electricity spreader on tiled floor + any water spillage + bare feet = electrocution!
Keep all electricity well above floor level when there is water around.
Always.
I'm sure we all sometimes have a spillage/flood!
Sorry if this sounds negative, I'm trying to be positive and helpful, really.
Safe brewing,
Robin.

 

[foxbat]

Sorry to be a pedant @foxbat , but did you mean to say, "reduces the concentration of O2 in the vessel being purged from 21% to a miniscule 5 parts per billion ", not CO2 as you have put it?

Well spotted, you're correct and I've edited my reply.

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

Wort is a lovely colour today. Spunding valve has come to a halt and krausen has completely dropped. So I’ve dry hopped - only 22 hours in! Super yeast!

There is still some tiny bubbles so I reckon there is a tiny bit of fermentation left, but I’ve purged anyway with the gas bottle to be extra safe. This is not a NEIPA so probably slightly safer anyway.

I couldn’t get a gravity sample cos there wasn’t enough pressure to work the dispenser, but I can see from looking at it that time was running out.

No doubt someone will have something negative to say about this! If you do, don’t bother, I’m not interested. Only positivity from now on! Negativity helps no-one!

By the way, these tea strainers are awesome for dry hopping! Thanks to David Heath for the idea!

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

Well spotted, you're correct and I've edited my reply.

I knew what you meant @foxbat I've no idea why people feel the need to point out every little tiny mistake - worse than the spellcheck police!

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Looks great! Nice one - great result well done both
I'd say leave it in the FV for another 5days at least by the way, in order to let the yeast clean up after itself

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

Will do TETB

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

By the way you definitely win the prize for the most tastefully decorated brewing area... :hat:

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

Thanks TETB! I'm afraid the blame lies with the people who we bought the house from! Needs re-doing badly, but we're too busy spending all the money on brewing

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Looks fine to me :-) and if you want that wallpaper off, just boil with the windows closed next time...

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

I use the 'water displacement' trick too - I know what you mean about the problem that creates with adding flavourings / finings etc, but reckon that briefly opening the lid and pouring them in doesn't admit much air :-)
I suppose you could also load the flavourings etc into a big syringe (look up '200cc syringe') and add them via a tap tee'd off your beer line.

It was only the other day I was wondering if there was a way to do this! Thank you! I was a little worried about leaving the flavouring in there a week just on it's own, but I guess there's not much oxygen in there to spoil it.

I was even considering letting the fermentation finish, then pressure transferring onto the dry hops, and when hops are spent, transferring back again (after cleaning). Bit of a faff and will use more gas, but definitely worth a go next time I make a NEIPA

I want to try the magnet idea as well.

 

[Gingerbrews]

That all looks fantastic; makes my efforts look extremely basic.
Where did you get the tea strainers? I like that idea

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

That all looks fantastic; makes my efforts look extremely basic.
Where did you get the tea strainers? I like that idea

Aw thank you! They were off Ebay. I think it was about £14 for 3 of them, something like that. I like them because they're heavy, so it allows the oil to rise through the liquid. They float when they get waterlogged though, lol. But does the job.

 

[Gingerbrews]

Cheers Lisa, I'm away to order some

 

[Leon103]

Cheers Lisa, I'm away to order some

I bought some, they go rusty.

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

If they're proper stainless steel and they're looked after properly, it will be a long while before they start to rust. For the money, I think they're worth it. Much easier to clean than those dreadful hop bags.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

More likely it's brown staining from the beer than rust on SS.