34/70 slurry
I brewed today!
- Thread starter The Brew Mentor
- Start date
Ah yes, next up for me will be my Vienna Garage Lager, and I will use 34/70 for the first time. We are going into a string of cold, dry weather with lows in the mid 20‘s forecast, so my fermentation closet is likely to have ambient temps in the upper 50’s. Without a tilt, I will just have to be patient and let the yeast do their work.
Sounds perfect.
That will be perfect! - I too will be using 34/70 when I brew tomorrow.
@Blackmuse not seen you in a while. Hope you can join in the zoom tomorrow
I know! I hit another one of my hiatuses... Did a lot of good brewing over the summer - just havent done one in 3-4 months... Brown ale tomorrow. I will try and hit the zoom meeting!
Sorry I missed the meeting! I DID brew today though! Brewed a BIG Brown Ale... Anyone ever seen 34/70 create a krausen like that? It is going nuts - with very little lag time. Pitched at 64 degrees and it is currently at 60-61 degrees.
Holly Crap that's awesome it's going Nuts.
Nope I've only ever saw an even foamy krausen that looks like Solar Flairs on the Sun lol.
Wow
Your setup is VERY close to what I was wanting to do, and we already have pretty much exactly the same plumbing hardware right down to the brand of valve and other fittings. What size kettles are you using and what's your target batch size? Do you cover your mash tun while mashing? Did you have a particular target in mind by spraying the strike water into the grain? Or was that just having fun with the new pump and kettle?
- Joined
- May 10, 2019
- Messages
- 1,211
- Reaction score
- 2,723
- Points
- 113
I ground up grain for a batch of Bunyip today. Plan to brew it tomorrow. The yeast i have for it says made back in February so I thought I would make a starter. I had two vacuum sealed bags of 4 ounces of DME. Even sealed both were bricks and look like moisture had gotten to them. I used one anyway and boiling water devolved the DME brick.
Kettles are 7.5 gallons
Batches sizes are 3.5-4.5 gallons
I cover the mash tun
Adding water to the grain creates fewer dough balls in my experience, and less lifting for me to do
Good to know about the doughing. Do you stir it as it fills? I really would have expected that to be worse for causing lumps.
The pump changed everything for me. I got mine when I couldn’t lift anything because of blown up rotator cuffs, so I completely understand the lifting thing. It isn’t quite as much a problem now, but It’s certainly a bit awkward trying to pour grain out of a plastic bag and stir the pot at the same time. But I’ve been told I’m pretty good at stirring the pot.
I may give it a spin (excuse the pun) on my next batch.
I wait for the water to cover the grain, but then I stir vigorously as the rest of the water fills. I continue stirring for at least 5 or 10 minutes before letting the grain bed settle and starting recirculation. My extract efficiency has been lower so far than using BIAB, but I'm only 2 batches in on this system. Still dialing in the water amounts needed.
- Joined
- May 10, 2019
- Messages
- 1,211
- Reaction score
- 2,723
- Points
- 113
Bunyip is boiling away. Making a starter takes more forethought than I seem to have. It did drop from about 1.033 to 1.025 ( refrac, no alcohol correction). But not enough planning ahead to give it time to drop clear so I could pour off the liquid. So, it will end up adding about a quart and a half of liquid I didn't cut out of the wort size. Maybe just boil another 20 minutes or so? I'll see what that does to the 60 min Magnum hops addition.
Exactly what I would do in your situation I don't decant my starters .
- Joined
- May 10, 2019
- Messages
- 1,211
- Reaction score
- 2,723
- Points
- 113
Apparently this one didn't want me to cooperate very well. when cooling I went to pull out the hops bags, (I use paint strainer bags), there were none. I tossed the hops right into the pot. Tried to strain the wort through a hops basket but it just plugs up. So it is all in the fermenter, well except for the two inched of hops and other sludge on the bottom. so I added about a half a gallon of water. remember I boiled a bit longer to get rid of a bit of liquid? Fun day of brewing. Smells like beer though.
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2018
- Messages
- 9,333
- Reaction score
- 16,972
- Points
- 113
That is part for the course for Lallemand dry VOSS, I swear it is screaming to get out of the packet and go to work!
