I brewed today!

Wrapped up the first brew in the new house. Really like the gas stove, but I'm gonna need to get a propane burner for outside. Carrying hot wort down stairs to get outside for the chiller was not fun.
Anyway, tried my hand at a NE IPA with all the talk of them lately here. Plenty of late additions of Waimea, plan to dry hop an ounce about 2 days into fermentation, then dry hop the keg with another ounce
 
Disastrous brew day. Was trying to get the first brew of Das Helles-Projekt done. Over-estimated water requirements by about a gallon, very significant in a 2.5 gallon brew! So I ended up extending the brew by about an hour, really screwing with bitterness.... It won't count as part of the Projekt but I will get a beer out of it, if I ever get it pitched. Yes, when I was picking up the ingredients I got distracted and left the yeast at the homebrew shop. I'll get some tomorrow and pitch the beer, ferment it out and enjoy a good Helles but it won't be what I wanted. The overestimation was the result of accidentally using my five-gallon equipment profile on the 2.5 gallon equipment. Live and learn....
 
Nosybear said:
Disastrous brew day. Was trying to get the first brew of Das Helles-Projekt done. Over-estimated water requirements by about a gallon, very significant in a 2.5 gallon brew! So I ended up extending the brew by about an hour, really screwing with bitterness.... It won't count as part of the Projekt but I will get a beer out of it, if I ever get it pitched. Yes, when I was picking up the ingredients I got distracted and left the yeast at the homebrew shop. I'll get some tomorrow and pitch the beer, ferment it out and enjoy a good Helles but it won't be what I wanted. The overestimation was the result of accidentally using my five-gallon equipment profile on the 2.5 gallon equipment. Live and learn....
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Sometimes you need to just feel the brew instead of following orders. Been there done that. Hope it doesn't mess with your exbeeriment to much. I learn a lot from them.:)
 
Nosybear said:
Disastrous brew day. Was trying to get the first brew of Das Helles-Projekt done. Over-estimated water requirements by about a gallon, very significant in a 2.5 gallon brew! So I ended up extending the brew by about an hour, really screwing with bitterness.... It won't count as part of the Projekt but I will get a beer out of it, if I ever get it pitched. Yes, when I was picking up the ingredients I got distracted and left the yeast at the homebrew shop. I'll get some tomorrow and pitch the beer, ferment it out and enjoy a good Helles but it won't be what I wanted. The overestimation was the result of accidentally using my five-gallon equipment profile on the 2.5 gallon equipment. Live and learn....
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I could only imagine. I get comfortable brewing the same batch volume but tell me to brew half that amount ain't as easy as halving all my brew figures. I guess that's what happens to hombrewers who go big it must work the same the other way except I'm gathering it's not doubling brew amount but quadrupling!:eek:IF NOT MORE cant think in them numbers lol.
 
Had a great Brew Day!, We hit all of our marks and the Kama Citra is in the fermenter, and this morning the beer is a fermenting boil! Don't understand the efficiency though. We hit all of our marks and are even 2 points over on OG (1.052 vs. 1.050) and still have an efficiency reading in the low 70's.

Knocked out the all grain brew day (except for cleaning) in just under 5 hours. Then about 2 hours of cleaning, but adding the Chugger pump to the brew house made cleaning so much easier. Just have to figure out a way to prime the pump easier.
 
its easy just unhook the line after the pump, if it doesnt drain right away unhook just barely at the ball valve to break the bubble then back it will then
 
Ozarks Mountain Brew said:
its easy just unhook the line after the pump, if it doesnt drain right away unhook just barely at the ball valve to break the bubble then back it will then
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Thank you for that bit of advice Ozarks!
 
so went downstairs to check on my baby (the carboy), and found the bung and airlock sitting on the floor and a thick sponge-like green mass coming out of the carboy. felt weird to the touch, kinda springy but delicate. there was also some gunk on the towel and surrounding area.
quick switch of the airlock and she was good to go. hopefully i won't come home to a mess
lesson learned: the roughly half gallon of headspace was enough for the fermentation, but definitely not enough for the dry hopping. at least without a blowoff tube
 
Mase said:
Knocked out the all grain brew day (except for cleaning) in just under 5 hours. Then about 2 hours of cleaning, but adding the Chugger pump to the brew house made cleaning so much easier. Just have to figure out a way to prime the pump easier.
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if using a pump you should watch this, its long but he has very good information for your future questions
 
jmcnamara said:
so went downstairs to check on my baby (the carboy), and found the bung and airlock sitting on the floor and a thick sponge-like green mass coming out of the carboy. felt weird to the touch, kinda springy but delicate. there was also some gunk on the towel and surrounding area.
quick switch of the airlock and she was good to go. hopefully i won't come home to a mess
lesson learned: the roughly half gallon of headspace was enough for the fermentation, but definitely not enough for the dry hopping. at least without a blowoff tube
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Hope not too many hops coated your floor space jmcnamara :eek: that's a damn waste of hops:p.
 
You're telling me. It still blew off when I got home from work. There was a doughy hoppy gunk all over the place. Weird.
But I think the worst is over now...I hope
 
You may already have tried this Mase but I have my pumps as the lowest points in the system, with no loopy lines so as water or wort enter the air can escape either direction. I open my valves for the flow I am looking for, and give it a bit to let the air leave the lines. If any loops are in the lines all the air does not leave and will cavitate the pump when it reaches it.
 
Head First said:
You may already have tried this Mase but I have my pumps as the lowest points in the system, with no loopy lines so as water or wort enter the air can escape either direction. I open my valves for the flow I am looking for, and give it a bit to let the air leave the lines. If any loops are in the lines all the air does not leave and will cavitate the pump when it reaches it.
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The loopy lines are definitely an issue. I had 3 hoses each at 5' length with female quick disconnects. I cut one in half to shorten the length between my HLT and the MLT, and will be ordering a couple more female quick disconnects for the remaining 2.5' section.

Thanks to all for the great tips! Just like most things, when you add an improvement, there's always a trade off. Even with the occasional cavitated pump, pumps are definitely the way to go.

On a separate note, less than 48 hours after fermenting started, it slowed to a near stop. Pulled a gravity and she's already down to a 1.014! In 2 days! Starting gravity was 1.052. Used Wyeast 1272 (American Pale Ale II)
 
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2 batch weekend. Yesterday I did a strawberry wheat ale. That one is for my wife. Part of the deal that got me my 6 tap keezer. Today I brewed my lemondrop SMaSH again. I also have a batch of it in secondary, but I don't have any of it on tap. It's a beer I don't think I'm going to let run dry all summer this year, once I get it back.
 
Brewed a Belgian IPA today, 200/100 SO/Cl, Belgian Pils Torrified Wheat and Simplicity Candi 1, Simcoe Citra Mosaic, pitched 1 pack of WLP500 into 2.25gal of 1.071 wort

my efficiencies are going up these days, consistently hitting 70% or over with BIAB
 
oliver said:
Brewed a Belgian IPA today, 200/100 SO/Cl, Belgian Pils Torrified Wheat and Simplicity Candi 1, Simcoe Citra Mosaic, pitched 1 pack of WLP500 into 2.25gal of 1.071 wort

my efficiencies are going up these days, consistently hitting 70% or over with BIAB
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Let us know how that comes out with the Trappist Yeast?
 
Does it count as brewing if i just made 23 litres of unhopped sweet wort for starters ?
Used up some old malt that actually converted pretty well with a 120 min mash at low temps and is now pitched with another generation of 1272 and building up a happy 1469 family for a few winter batches here
 
Mark D Pirate said:
Does it count as brewing if i just made 23 litres of unhopped sweet wort for starters ?
Used up some old malt that actually converted pretty well with a 120 min mash at low temps and is now pitched with another generation of 1272 and building up a happy 1469 family for a few winter batches here
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So your fermenting that 23 liters as is with your yeast then splitting this off into separate starter jars?
 
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