2219 replies to this topic

[skillionaire]

Hi,

I don't use finings, everytime you filter something you do two things which are guaranteed - you strip colour and flavour. There is no way around that. I don't filter/fine, I will probably have to when we make a really simple style beer later on, but for now I just tell people it's unfiltered for that very reason.

I don't have temp control on my fermenters. Shock! Horror! I would guess by you stressing on the yeast you might have added sugar to activate the little buggers? Maybe got a touch heavy handed? This will increase the temperature of the ferment so the battle of 22deg is lost at the start. Also, another thing to look at is the temp of the transfer, and the temp of the pitch.

Write everything down. Properly. Do you have brew sheets?

Are you going to condition in keg, or simply force carb? If you force carb with C02 you will want to use CellaMix to pour with, otherwise the beer will taste soda water in mouth feel and be very cotton. CellaMix is a 45/55 Nitrogen/C02 blend (smaller bubbles - like Guinness is a 100% Nitrogen pour (if you're at the right pub)) which is more expensive but it's night and day with the flavour on the beer.

Cheers,
Nik

[B4TT]

nah I was pretty relaxed with the sugar, in all honesty I did pitch at a higher temp then I should have - probably about 25 degrees so that is probably doom from the start.
Glad to hear you dont fine or filter - I had a bad feeling about it.

I was just going to Force carb - I will keep in mind the CellaMix when I grab my bottle on the weekend.
How do you keep your fermenters from going to crazy temps? do you just have a nice cool place to keep them?

[skillionaire]

Hi,

Does being relaxed mean you use SOME? You don't need any.

A better and cheaper thing to make/buy would be to have an old esky and make a heat exchange out of it for transfer.

I keep them from going to crazy temps by being careful on these two points.

Cheers,
Nik

[B4TT]

Hi,

Does being relaxed mean you use SOME? You don't need any.

Cheers,
Nik

Only the Malt in the initial mix up that the instructions tell me to use - none added after to try and speed up fermentation, TBH I would never have thought of that.

Hmm More details on proposed heat exchange... I am interested, just can't picture what you mean haha.

[skillionaire]

Hi,

Heat exchange, pretty much an intercooler. Esky with a pipe running through it, filled with ice, that the boil goes through on transfer to fermenter. Should get you down pretty well. You can fashion it out of any old esky, run your line through it (preferable if you get a copper coil from the brew shop, but seriously, I wouldn't bother for now), fill up with icey brine - let gravity feed - so you have your vessel up high, line through the esky a bit lower, then the fermenter on the ground - no pump needed!

Cheers,
Nik

[B4TT]

Now me gets - Thanks Nik!

[B4TT]

Hmm so no one seems to sell Cellamix that I can find..... where do you get it from?

[skillionaire]

Hi,

I get it direct from my gas supplier.

Have a look at some of the cool 'ish you can get from these blokes;

http://www.beerbelly...rewvessels.html

!

That's who built my brewery.

Cheers,
Nik

[skillionaire]

Hi,

Mash is on stand, sitting at a perfect 67deg. Waiting for recirc and run off to begin in half an hour or so.

I love beer.

Cheers,
Nik

[Richo]

what style are you making today Mr Nik

[B4TT]

win. that site looks awesome. I think once I get the hang of this it will be time to buy some of that cool shiz.

[skillionaire]

Hi,

I'm making a wheat beer pretty much, fifty fifty pale and wheat + 2kg of Vienna into a 24KG bill. Using only Nelson Sauvin and only going for 20G x 4, most of which is later in the boil. She's on stand right now, we'll see how it goes. This will be my first complete drive on my own without my mates help. Fingers crossed.

Had a bit of trouble with my grain bed but patience paid off, also almost forgot the whirfloc! Luckily I remembered with a minute to go on the boil.

Sorry for the slow response, can't really walk away from a boiling brewery!!!



Cheers,
Nik

[Richo]

Are you going heavy on the wheat for mouth feel or to make a wheat beer ? cos like, I didn't think you did wheat beers

[B4TT]

I like wheat beers

[skillionaire]

Hi,

This forum keeps crapping out on me. Far out. I'm going to have to start writing my long posts in notepad.

Ran out of grain, only have wheat left + the 11kg of Pale Ale malt - added the Vienna for some character. Colour is very light and I'm getting a 13.1 start gravity. I honestly think it tastes pretty bloody good. I pulled back the hops by another 5G after my last post and it seems to have done well. I'm all for running a big bitterness hit at the start of boil but I didn't think a wheat heavy grain bill would appreciate it? Smells sweet, almost (GASP) like honey. I'm sure it will clear up. Had an awesome time of transfer and I'm just activating some yeast now.



I MAKE BEER. IT'S A THING THAT I DO NOW. YES. I LOVE BEER.

I usually chuck a kg of wheat in for head retention on the IPA - fork tradition - but this is definitely my first foray into the world of wheat. Also, probably a good idea to make something that I don't want to drink!?



Haha, I didn't realise I actually had one on there...

Cheers,
Nik

[Richo]

Don't worry Nik, doing it for me too

I'll drink it for you

hmm... should that not be for Josh...

[B4TT]

Sounds very epic. Much win. nice work

Sounds very epic. Much win. nice work

[B4TT]

here is one I forgot to ask you, How long did you leave your lines from the taps to the kegs (the liquad lines) they are 4m long from factory - I have yet to touch them.. did you leave them as 4m long octopus's or trim them down? I heard that they should be left at 4m to reduce the foam and shit you get from the pour... buuut I have also heard you can just trim them down so that they are just long enough to reach the kegs.

[skillionaire]

Hi,

Are they 6mm or 8mm? Mine are about 300 longer than they need to be to reach the keg, but four metres is a bloody long line. Think of all the beer you'll waste! If you are single fermenting and then doing a force carb I don't really see a problem with the line length, heck, even if you're keg conditioning I can't see why you can't just manipulate your push gas. Maybe that's for people that don't intend to use and force at all and just go from a secondary ferment keg?

Don't know. But mine are no where near 4m, try 1.5 tops. I have had head issues, but they are explained by other factors (too much sugar in secondary).

Cheers,
Nik

[skillionaire]

Hi,

Also if you ever want to come over here and brew some beer bro, I'm down like day one.

Cheers,
Nik