Homebrew.

[vortex]

Originally Posted by ditch_101

Thanks. I just had a look at that recipe. It seems good, I've managed to hunt down most of the ingredients. Where does it list how much water you start with to make the 20L batch?

To work it out you need to work out the total quantity of grain (in KG), what grain to water ratio you want (L:KG) for the mash, figure in the amount of absorption of water into the grain, and what your target boil starting size is. Boil starting size will affect the end size of the batch of beer, you essentially need to work backwards from the size of the batch you want at the end of the process once fermentation is done. Don't forget to factor in mashtun dead space, kettle dead space, losses to trub and hops, plus losses in the fermenter as well.
Or, you do what 99% of brewers do, just punch the recipe into some recipe software, give it a batch size and it does all that for you You'll need to calibrate your gear so you know how much dead space you have in each vessel, and enter these into the program and a few other things like boil off as a % per hour (the default is ok to start with) - but i'm heading down the path of stuff you don't need to worry about too much for now. I don't even worry about it too much yet!

BeerSmith have a 14 day trial from memory so you could give it a shot for free to start with, and it's not expensive to buy a licence for (mac/win/linux too). ProMash is another, however i've never used it myself so I can't comment on how good it is.

Originally Posted by ditch_101

Also it mentions primary and secondary fermentations at 14 days. What is this all about?

You'd leave it in the primary fermenter for around 14 days, which is where the main fermentation is done. Generally (and it's a bit of a point of contention) people will then transfer the beer to another fermenter for a secondary fermentation process if they want to dry hop (add hops to the beer for aroma) and to clear the beer of yeast, and to get the beer off the main yeast cake to prevent autolysis (yeast dying and ruining the beer). In reality, with a healthy ferment and good storage conditions, autolysis isn't going to happen inside a fortnight. Having said that, I do rack off the primary yeast cake so I can harvest it for the next batch. I really want a conical fermenter so I can just dump the yeast cake and not have to bother racking

[ditch_101]

Ah perfect! Thanks again!

[ditch_101]

I'm thinking about buying a stainless steel pot to use as my mash tun. I've currently got these things in mind to make it work. (yeh its a little more expensive than an esky mash but this is cleaner and will last longer)

eBay:
- 71L stainless steel pot x2 (one for kettle, one for mash)

Beer belly:
- 1/2" ballvalve (reduced bore)
- 1/2" BSB hosetail
- 50mm S/S bulkhead
- 30cm domed false bottom

My question is how does the wort leave the mash when using one of those domed false bottoms? It's hard to explain but the way the domed false bottom is setup, ie with the elbow fitting coming out the TOP of the dome, do you need a pump for a setup like this? (I'm not looking at using pumps just yet)
I just don't understand how when compared to an esky setup the wort will obviously naturally drain through the outlet by gravity. Could somebody explain this? I'm sure there is something I'm missing....From the way I see it it looks like there would always be some wort left at the very bottom of the mash?

EDIT: Wait, does this work via siphoning, sucking all the wort out through the tube??

Here is a picture of the false bottom for reference:

http://www.beerbelly.com.au/images/f...ttom12inch.gif

Cheers!!

[vortex]

Thats a good way to go. Very similar to the direction i'm planning on heading soon when I build my RIMS system.

Some of the cheap chinese pots were poor quality for a while, have a search on AHB for peoples recent experiences with them, last time I looked (months ago) the quality had improved slightly.

[J-C90]

Originally Posted by ditch_101

I'm thinking about buying a stainless steel pot to use as my mash tun. I've currently got these things in mind to make it work. (yeh its a little more expensive than an esky mash but this is cleaner and will last longer)

eBay:
- 71L stainless steel pot x2 (one for kettle, one for mash)

Beer belly:
- 1/2" ballvalve (reduced bore)
- 1/2" BSB hosetail
- 50mm S/S bulkhead
- 30cm domed false bottom

My question is how does the wort leave the mash when using one of those domed false bottoms? It's hard to explain but the way the domed false bottom is setup, ie with the elbow fitting coming out the TOP of the dome, do you need a pump for a setup like this? (I'm not looking at using pumps just yet)
I just don't understand how when compared to an esky setup the wort will obviously naturally drain through the outlet by gravity. Could somebody explain this? I'm sure there is something I'm missing....From the way I see it it looks like there would always be some wort left at the very bottom of the mash?

EDIT: Wait, does this work via siphoning, sucking all the wort out through the tube??

Here is a picture of the false bottom for reference:

http://www.beerbelly.com.au/images/f...ttom12inch.gif

Cheers!!

Here is a picture of the set-up in my MT:





Make sure its easily removed for cleaning.

[ditch_101]

I see! Thanks mate, I just wanted to know what was going on from the underside. I get it now

[Da Madness]

So I've just managed to procure a 40L crown urn to attempt my first real BIAB.

I have 6KG of joe white traditional ale and some nice Willamette hops so I can try a simple smash to begin with.

Any tips for a first BIAB?

[Oosh]

Originally Posted by Da Madness

Any tips for a first BIAB?

Buy some sturdy 'rubber' gloves, squeezing the bag is a lot easier when you're not rushing it to avoid scolding your hands, the heavy-duty black general purpose ones from the supermarket work OK.

Consider rigging up some sort of hook and string arrangement above the urn for pulling out the bag, 6Kg of soggy grain weights a bit, and it is especially awkward when you're trying to do the aforementioned squeezing.

Try not to take all day like I did.

http://forums.overclockers.com.au/sh....php?t=1015119

In all seriousness there are some useful links in the first post.

[scon]

So where'd everyone get their brew pots from? I'm wanting something pretty large so I can do all-grain... something 70-80L?

I was thinking that this looks a bargain - havent enquired as to shipping to here but as long as it's not much more that $100 it's still cheaper than the equivalent here.

Other option is making a keggle. Where do people get their kegs from in that case?

[bobfranklin]

Originally Posted by scon

So where'd everyone get their brew pots from? I'm wanting something pretty large so I can do all-grain... something 70-80L?

I was thinking that this looks a bargain - havent enquired as to shipping to here but as long as it's not much more that $100 it's still cheaper than the equivalent here.

Other option is making a keggle. Where do people get their kegs from in that case?

It's not bad at all actually, minus the lack of elements (unless you're going gas?). Unless you're looking for a Mash Tun in which case it's fine.

I haven't gone to the 3v setup yet but I'll be looking at 70L robinox pots from the local catering company (around the same value, good solid steel base but none of the attachments).
I wouldn't worry about a sight glass unless it's graduated (marked volume) because it's just one more thing to clean with no real benefit.

Kegs are pretty hard to come by in Aus (allegedly, same reason milk crates are hard to come by...) but KegKing does sell premade keggles, however they are only 50L so if you are planning double batches it won't be big enough.

[scon]

What's a 3v setup?

And yeah, I'll probably be using gas - I've got a wok burner setup that I'll re purpose into my brewing setup. The only thing that I was not entirely happy about the ebay pot I linked was the sight glass. Not really that interested in it.

[bobfranklin]

Originally Posted by scon

What's a 3v setup?

And yeah, I'll probably be using gas - I've got a wok burner setup that I'll re purpose into my brewing setup. The only thing that I was not entirely happy about the ebay pot I linked was the sight glass. Not really that interested in it.

3v=3 Vessel, Or are you intending on a Brew In a Bag style setup?

Wok burner should be fine, as long as it's a good one (which after seeing everything else in the food forums I'd guess it's not a dodgy bbq side burner style) as it'll need to get to a good rolling boil.

[scon]

My first batch or three with this setup will be BIAB while I figure out if all grain is the way to go for me (also - easier to get past the CFO).

And yeah, the wok burner was given to me by a Singaporean friend who had nowhere to store it in her house. It should be sufficient

[bobfranklin]

Originally Posted by scon

My first batch or three with this setup will be BIAB while I figure out if all grain is the way to go for me (also - easier to get past the CFO).

And yeah, the wok burner was given to me by a Singaporean friend who had nowhere to store it in her house. It should be sufficient

Good idea, yeah, and the pot can be adapted into a 3vessel if you choose to go that way later as well.

The best advice I can give is to get into the AHB forums, try out a stovetop batch first if you want/can (Warning CFO might not like the smell). All you'll need is a 20L pot (I used a cheapy from kmart).
To make your brewday better and easier get something to lift the bag & hold it up or sit the bag on the pot to drain via a pizza tray/colander or something similar, and when you squeeze it get some good heatproof gloves. Misery comes from manually lifting this thing and squeezing it (especially 10kilos of wet grain at 70 degrees!).

Grab the book "How to Brew" by John Palmer (free in pdf) and give it a good read if so inclined and remember Cleanliness is the difference between beer and expensive water for the garden. Clean, sterilise and sanitise pretty much everything. Plastic bottles are relatively cheap and also don't explode (don't use clear ones though).

If you can temp control the ferment you'll get even better results too.

[J-C90]

Sight glasses were one of the best improvements I made to my system. Not a necessity but certainly make life much easier for a 3V system. For BIAB maybe not so much.

50L kegs are easily obtained - there appears to be plenty for sale on eBay and gumtree all the time for around $40-$50each even though technically its not supposed to be legal to own them?