The Chaos that is a Buffers Brewery brew day

[Buffers brewery]

The London bitter fermentation has finished, SG of 1.010 for three days running...

....that makes it around 5%ABV by my reckoning . The brew fridge temperature is turned down to 4C and brewloon connected and bubbler disconnected.

I'll give it 4 days then transfer to a King Keg. Might bottle some as well for the next "bitter" competition

 

[Buffers brewery]

My London bitter has been at 4C for 4 days now so time to transfer to my King Keg. I probably don’t need to but now I’ve got the bits, I’m going to practice my “closed transfer” process, so after sanitising the keg and all the tubes and connectors with chemsan I partially filled the keg with tap water and did a quick leak test only to discover….I had a leak! . Self inflicted. I changed the plumbing on the pressure gauge and hadn’t checked it. Soon fixed and keg filled with tap water to the brim and the top fitted. The syphon tube was likewise filled with tap water and connected to the beer out connector while a brewloon of fermentation gas was fitted to the gas connector. Syphon tube tap opened and the water began to empty from the keg drawing gas in from the brewloon. This is a pic 5 minutes in…

…first brewloon empty…

..second brewloon connected…

…(almost) all the water has drained from the keg..

With the KK full of gas the priming solution was made using half a pint of water and 4 ounces of white sugar, brought to the boil and cooled. I added the priming solution to the fermentation bucket (FB) through the transfer pipe that is connected to the FB tap. Having done that the transfer pipe is connected to the beer connector on the keg and the return gas line (to the FB) is connected to the gas connector. The FB tap opened and the primed beer flows into the KK and the gas vents back to the FB…

..a reassuring glance through the lid to see the beer flowing…

..Popped out to B&Q to buy some paint for the bedroom and when I got back, about half an hour later, all was done…

As it’s getting close to Christmas, I thought I’d bottle 6 bottles for a couple of mates so out came the bottling wand etc. This is my set up….

I connect my CO2 cylinder to the keg and run it at around 3 psi to provide enough pressure to feed the wand. I fill to the brim with the wand in then squidge the bottle to get the beer level with the brim before fitting the cap.

Tis a bit of a messy job (is it me?) so all the bottles get a wipe down before going in the brew fridge with the KK for a couple of weeks to carbonate.

Six squidged bottles of London bitter

 

[Buffers brewery]

Last job, fitting the pressure relief valve to the keg gas post for carbonation.

I take it off once carbonation is complete.

 

[Buffers brewery]

So, the London bitter is half way through carbonation in the brew fridge. The PET bottles have fully recovered from being squidged and are feeling nice and firm . So it’s time for my last brew of the year as I’ll be too busy in December ( ) and January ( 🏖 ). It’s going to be a first go at a Saison, recipe courtesy of GH.

Spent the day getting the brewery assembled and cleaned. No new gadgets or gizmos to try out, just my new brewzebo as my old one developed a few tears in the canopy. My new one is a bit smaller and fits nicely in the space between my garage and conservatory so I don’t have to go on the garden to brew .

Ingredients weighed out and ready for the morning…

3.6 kg Pilsner malt
0.9 kg Munich malt
0.18 kg Wheat malt
0.135 kg Special B
0.135 kg Cara Munich 2
Mash at 65C for 1 hour plus two 30 minute mashes at 68C
13 grm Magnum for 70 minutes
200 grm honey 5 minutes
20 grm Celeia flame out
Danstar Belle saison yeast.

Looking forward to tomorrow

 

[EsterBanana]

So, the London bitter is half way through carbonation in the brew fridge. The PET bottles have fully recovered from being squidged and are feeling nice and firm . So it’s time for my last brew of the year as I’ll be too busy in December ( ) and January ( 🏖 ). It’s going to be a first go at a Saison, recipe courtesy of GH.

Spent the day getting the brewery assembled and cleaned. No new gadgets or gizmos to try out, just my new brewzebo as my old one developed a few tears in the canopy. My new one is a bit smaller and fits nicely in the space between my garage and conservatory so I don’t have to go on the garden to brew .

View attachment 57538 View attachment 57539
Ingredients weighed out and ready for the morning…
View attachment 57541
3.6 kg Pilsner malt
0.9 kg Munich malt
0.18 kg Wheat malt
0.135 kg Special B
0.135 kg Cara Munich 2
Mash at 65C for 1 hour plus two 30 minute mashes at 68C
13 grm Magnum for 70 minutes
200 grm honey 5 minutes
20 grm Celeia flame out
Danstar Belle saison yeast.

Looking forward to tomorrow

I like your wheeled trollies, did you make those yourself?

Good luck for today :)

 

[Buffers brewery]

I like your wheeled trollies, did you make those yourself?

Hi @EsterBanana . Yes, a DIY job. Look back to post #65 for a better view .

Just having breakfast while heating the strike water.

 

[EsterBanana]

As an outdoors brewer, up until now, getting ready for brewday involved setting up a couple of trestle platforms from the back of the garage then transferring my kit from the garden shed. All-in-all, a lot of lifting and carrying before I could even get started with the clean down. All a bit tiring for an old buffer like me!

So, I decided to revamp my brewery.

With a couple of 3” square fence posts and 6” gravel boards, a box of 4mmx40 screws and 4 packets of castors from Screwfix, I set about making some trollies for my gas heated kettle/boiler, mash tun,

View attachment 43499

HERMS tank and temporary storage tank (an FV).

View attachment 43500

All the kit can now just be rolled out from the garage onto the patio and in minutes is ready for cleaning ready for brew day. Just as easy to put away as well! Looking forward to trying it all out next brew day

These are very cool, I am inspired!

 

[Buffers brewery]

These are very cool, I am inspired!

Thanks

Strike water is up to temperature so grain added to pre-heated mash tun and mashed in..

...recirculating the wort through my HERMS tank. Will give it a stir every 15 minutes.

 

[Buffers brewery]

Photocopying mash tun

 

[Buffers brewery]

Vigorous boil or what!?

 

[Buffers brewery]

Brew day finished.

Five and a bit gallons of wort…

OG 1.054 I think.

That’s going to be a 6%er or thereabouts

Brewhouse efficiency 83.5%

A couple of observations.
1. The wort is darker than I expected.
2. The yeast had a VERY strong yeast smell. Noticeably stronger. But not in a bad way.

 

[Buffers brewery]

A bit late on the update. Fermentation finished last Friday, FG of 1.002!

..that makes it around 6.8% ABV!
Cold crash started Friday and closed transfer into a fermentation gas filled KK after priming with 4 oz sugar in 10 fluid oz of water on Sunday (after I’d had my booster jab ).
Leaving it for a couple of weeks to carbonate.

 

[foxy]

My London bitter has been at 4C for 4 days now so time to transfer to my King Keg. I probably don’t need to but now I’ve got the bits, I’m going to practice my “closed transfer” process, so after sanitising the keg and all the tubes and connectors with chemsan I partially filled the keg with tap water and did a quick leak test only to discover….I had a leak! . Self inflicted. I changed the plumbing on the pressure gauge and hadn’t checked it. Soon fixed and keg filled with tap water to the brim and the top fitted. The syphon tube was likewise filled with tap water and connected to the beer out connector while a brewloon of fermentation gas was fitted to the gas connector. Syphon tube tap opened and the water began to empty from the keg drawing gas in from the brewloon. This is a pic 5 minutes in…
View attachment 57216
…first brewloon empty…
View attachment 57217
..second brewloon connected…
View attachment 57218
…(almost) all the water has drained from the keg..
View attachment 57219
With the KK full of gas the priming solution was made using half a pint of water and 4 ounces of white sugar, brought to the boil and cooled. I added the priming solution to the fermentation bucket (FB) through the transfer pipe that is connected to the FB tap. Having done that the transfer pipe is connected to the beer connector on the keg and the return gas line (to the FB) is connected to the gas connector. The FB tap opened and the primed beer flows into the KK and the gas vents back to the FB…
View attachment 57225
..a reassuring glance through the lid to see the beer flowing…
View attachment 57226
..Popped out to B&Q to buy some paint for the bedroom and when I got back, about half an hour later, all was done…
View attachment 57227
As it’s getting close to Christmas, I thought I’d bottle 6 bottles for a couple of mates so out came the bottling wand etc. This is my set up….
View attachment 57230
I connect my CO2 cylinder to the keg and run it at around 3 psi to provide enough pressure to feed the wand. I fill to the brim with the wand in then squidge the bottle to get the beer level with the brim before fitting the cap.
View attachment 57231
Tis a bit of a messy job (is it me?) so all the bottles get a wipe down before going in the brew fridge with the KK for a couple of weeks to carbonate.
View attachment 57232
Six squidged bottles of London bitter

Biggest problem there Buffer is water carries oxygen, and gasses mix very easily. Oxygen is more a problem for commercial breweries. Doesn't mean to say we shouldn't be aware of oxygen and the detrimental side. But we aren't shipping beers around the world, we are drinking them in a reasonable time we are hopefully keeping them below 20 C. A lot of folk say they purge the vessel of oxygen. Purging 7 times at around 27 PSI is what is needed and still with some doubt about the elimination of oxygen. I have been through the capturing the gas stage stage, oxygen free transfer, has it made any difference? No. The only beer I have had which has oxidised is an old ale, which was supposed to oxidise but it took 3 years to get the sherry like flavour to the ale. I am from a technical engineering background and I do love what you do, you have taken home brewing to another level. But don't try to overthink problems which aren't really there.

 

[Buffers brewery]

Hi @foxy . Thanks for the feedback which I totally agree with. You’ve probably realised that my approach to brewing is twofold. One, to make beer and two to contrive complicated and unnecessary gadgets and processes to “enhance” the process . It all started with my reciprocating sparge.

When I came to brew my first NEIPA I read about the oxidation issues and the various things brewers did to minimise the risk, hence my approach of gas collection and re-using, saving on bottled gas. I agree that this approach is probably not necessary when brewing bitter. I just like to go through the process each time I brew. I don’t think there’s a downside to doing it other than it takes a bit more time. Old buffers like me need things to do with our time so no problem for me. On the plus side, I think it does minimise the (small) risk of beer oxidation, but, as you say, my beer is consumed before it has a chance to oxidise! Saying that, I’m trying to increase my storage capacity to give my beer more time to condition as I’ve noticed it tastes better towards the end of the barrel.

 

[Spratt]

I’ve noticed it tastes better towards the end of the barrel.

This is something I've often puzzled about with home brew. It is always noticeable with King Keg stored beer, much less so with corny kegs. But I struggle to explain it. My King Kegs are air tight and just rely on a balloon of captured CO2 to allow the beer to come out of the tap, so if anything it can only be ageing that is improving the beer, but that doesn't explain why there is a difference between KKs and cornies. It's not just English type ales either, as I have been experimenting with David Heath's low alcohol techniques (mosaic and centennial hops) and they too improve towards the end of the KK.

 

[Buffers brewery]

This is something I've often puzzled about with home brew. It is always noticeable with King Keg stored beer, much less so with corny kegs. But I struggle to explain it. My King Kegs are air tight and just rely on a balloon of captured CO2 to allow the beer to come out of the tap, so if anything it can only be ageing that is improving the beer, but that doesn't explain why there is a difference between KKs and cornies. It's not just English type ales either, as I have been experimenting with David Heath's low alcohol techniques (mosaic and centennial hops) and they too improve towards the end of the KK.

Interesting that you’ve noticed it too. I don’t have cornies so don’t have any experience with them. I usually condition pale ales and bitter for 2 weeks at 10C before I (have to) start drinking them. But noticed that after 4 or 5 weeks they have significantly improved. So my plan is to build up my storage capacity to give my beer longer to condition.

 

[Buffers brewery]

Biggest problem there Buffer is water carries oxygen, and gasses mix very easily.

Did a few sums (probably wrong) after your comment above. See if you agree.
So, my gas flushing process involves filling my modified King Keg pressure barrel to the brim of the neck seal with fresh tap water. I then fit my clear polycarbonate lid making sure not to trap too much air (there will always be a little bubble). I connect a brewloon full of fermentation gas and start to Syphon the water out of the barrel. As the water flows out the fermentation gas is sucked in from the brewloon. When as much water has been syphoned out as possible, there's about 500ml of water left in the barrel.
The solubility of O2 in water at 10C (my average cold water temperature) is 11 mg/litre at 1 bar. So there's about 5.5 mg of O2 in the water left in my barrel before I fill it with my precious beer .
32 grm (1 grm mole) of oxygen occupies 22.4 litres so 5.5 mg occupies 3.85 ml. Not a lot assuming all the O2 comes out of solution but is it more or less than just flushing with bottled gas? Don't know

 

[Spratt]

Interesting that you’ve noticed it too. I don’t have cornies so don’t have any experience with them. I usually condition pale ales and bitter for 2 weeks at 10C before I (have to) start drinking them. But noticed that after 4 or 5 weeks they have significantly improved. So my plan is to build up my storage capacity to give my beer longer to condition.

Actually I've remembered now that before I began home brewing again, I used to buy in a couple of polypins for Christmas. I forget the name of the place now, but they used to do quite a range of beers and I would choose a couple each year for when my sons came to stay with us. This was before "craft beer" became all the thing and they were straight forward cask ales done with English hops from mainstream breweries like Greene King, Fullers, Shepheard Neame etc.

We would open them both at the same time and over the next ten or so days get through them. It was noticeable that whatever the beer, the pints for the first couple of days would be ok but not special whatever the beer. But after that they would develop beautifully and become really tasty though after about 10/12 days, if there was any left, it was starting to get rather sharp tasting. The polypins were never tipped up to let air in but just used to collapse in on themselves as the beer was drawn off, so whatever was making the beer taste better was not gas of any description.

 

[Buffers brewery]

It's been a week now since transferring my Saison to a King Keg for carbonating. Pressure is up to just under 14 psi, probably the limit on the relief valve.

So I'll leave it for another week before dropping the temperature to start conditioning. Hopefully, might be ready to sample in the New Year.

 

[Buffers brewery]

Happy New Year one and all.

The London bitter and Saison I brewed at the end of last year are now on tap in my Barrelator and I have 2 empty barrels so time to get a brew underway.

Set the brewzeebo up yesterday knowing it was going to be a bit cold today, but…

…not that cold! That was the temperature when I started at 8:00 am this morning

Fortunately I was prepared. I didn’t want my strike water to freeze overnight (I usually measure it out into the kettle, add a campbon tablet and leave it until the morning) so having measured it out I transferred it to my insulated picnic box mash tun, found a 13 amp timer in the shed and set it to turn the HERMS tank and circulating pump ON a couple of times through the night and then an hour or so before I planned to start. Worked a treat and I think I’ll do that routinely now as it saved on gas, heating the strike water from cold, and was ready to go as soon as I was with no waiting

So today it was a Simcoe/Amarillo pale ale with 4 kg Maris Otter pale malt and 400 grams Carapils. Should be straight forward

Mash seemed to go OK….until the end when it stuck. Couldn’t get it to drain but fortunately some extra water and a good stir managed to loosen it up and got it to drain.
Then…..the infamous reciprocating sparge thingy stopped reciprocating
Could have been too cold That’s tomorrow’s job. So, my normal 30 minute mashes after the initial mash were abandoned and a rough and ready sparge approach was taken with some mutterings.

Just under 7 gallons of wort started the 1 hour boil and 5 came out with an OG of 1.042, lower than I was hoping for but probably a consequence of the change in my normal process.

Oh, and one last mishap to finish the day, I went to do my last hop addition and, for some reason, put the container with the measured quantity of hop pellets on the ground to do something (can’t remember what) and kicked the container spilling half the hops on the floor/patio!

Maybe extreme brewing is not for me? I’ll find out when I taste today’s brew.

P.S. This is the view of my garden when I opened the back door this morning