Wow yes. An engineering problem indeed. I'm not sure I could stretch to that level of complexity. I can, after all, brew with the garage door wide open but that lets the howling gale in - it's channelled between the houses right into my garage! My garage door is an electric roller type that drops from the roof area so leaving it open at the bottom doesn't help much. I have an idea now though that may solve my problem - back to the drawing board - and the hardware store...

 

I'm using the Milwaukee Instruments MW102. It's a little bit pricey but it's lab-grade and relatively easy to calibrate.

 

That is my meter as well. I tried the PH65 meter, but the probe would fail every 8-12 months. The 102 has a dual junction probe cheaper meters have a single junction. The dual junction probe holds its calibration longer. You can calibrate the meter and 2 weeks later it’s still in calibration. I use 4.01 and 7.01 sachets, that way I get fresh buffer solution with every calibration. So far the probe has lasted nearly 2 years and it’s still going.

 

@Craigerrr If I put 80% into the recipe calculator, I hit my OG target every time. I assume that indicates an 80% efficiency, But to be honest the whole efficiency calculation thing is a little confusing to me so I'm not sure.

That is with continuous recirc and a 7 quart batch sparge.

 

Yeah I think the steam 're condenses in the cold tube

 

Got my mosaic hops and a restock of Maris otter. Going to brew this in a few weeks. My plan is the keg will be ready for the February zoom since I’ll miss this one...

 

Mine is coming on...

 

Krausen has dropped off a bit, basement smells like fresh citrus, dry hopping today.

 

Mine is up to 88% attenuation so far - just dry hopped and gravity now 1.006 and still reducing. It tastes lovely already but 100g of citra/mosaic hops now should pep it up even fairer.

 

Wow that is some fermentation there Alan!
Mines just about done fermenting I've upped it to 21c and let the pressure build up.

 

Put mine up to 20C today

 

Kegged and starting to carbonate. Yielded 4.5 gallons, the hop bag kept me from getting that last quart and a half, clogged the racking arm even at 10 PSI.

FG is 1.019 for an ABV of 5.5%. Very cloudy, almost like a hefeweitzen. Shoulda added a whirlfloc to the boil.

Tasted the hydrometer sample, delicious. Very hoppy (duh) with a lot of grapefruit and a nice bitterness finish. More tasting notes after carbonation and a bit of mellowing.

Thank you @HighVoltageMan! for a great recipe!

 

Yes I suspect Krausen on the Tilt giving a false reading. I'll test again tomorrow using the old method. I don't want to take out the tilt , clean it, and put it back. Not worth the hassle since I blasted the void with CO2 after dry hopping.

 

I added the dry hops and 1/2 cup of table sugar to mine to kick off the yeast and carbonate it. I put a spunding vale on it after dry hopping and set it to 25psi. It should be ready to crash in a day or two. My favorite part of brewing beer is the first taste.

 

Amen after a hundred batches I'm still excited to get that first carbed up taste.

 

Done fermenting 1.011
Wow the sample was full one lots of Orange peel intense citrus going on. Crashing now gunna let it settle a few days before sending it to keg.

 

Mine has Tilted down to 1.003 but I suspect it is reading 4 points lower than it should as hydrometer reading was about 1.008. Currently Diacetyl resting until Tuesday and then bottling. It tastes lovely though - even at 6.2%

 

You bag your hops Harper?
You don't crash your beers before bottling?

 

Yes and Yes. It's going to snow here tomorrow, apparently, and my garage will be pretty cold for a couple of days from Sunday onwards. I put Whirlfloc in at about 10 minutes to go at the end of the boil and a lot of protein has collected so far. I don't mind a bit of haze and by the time they have conditioned and sat around in my garage for a while they will be clear enough. I can't drink all I make so it sits for a while and settles pretty clear by the time I come to pour it. I still haven't finished my 2018 cider!

 

True that yeah I refrained from finnings this brew something about whirlpooling and finning not mixing so so will see how cloudy things be.