Random small questions

[Jitters Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jitters]

Would love to Keg right now but I don't think it will be on the cards till next year.. seems like a bench capper is the way to go.

[jannieverjaar Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jannieverjaar]

P.s. dont take a keg full of NEIPA to a friend for tasting. All you end up with is a light cream milkshake. Not fun. So your growler idea is not bad for taking to friends

Sent from my SM-A515F using Tapatalk

[Rikusj Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Rikusj]

Apparently there is a specific brand that is a bit better quality and doesn't need as much force. Can't recall what the name is now

I'd love to know which ones to avoid!!

[PaBz0r Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PaBz0r]

I'd love to know which ones to avoid!!

I think it was the super agata one lol. Check some reviews

[Kgalagadi Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Kgalagadi]

Don't want to start a new thread for this.
I want to install a thermowell in to a urn for a temperature probe. Does the position in the urn matter, can it be towards the bottom same level as the tap, or must it be hire up more towards the middle? Also, where in Pretoria can I buy ready made thermowells or have one made up?

[RudiC Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close RudiC]

My first all grain BIAB brew needs to happen and I'm not too sure what to expect and what I will need to complete the first brew.

What would I need to get the first brew done? I've got most things needed for extract brewing, nice FV, hydrometer, plastic spoon for stirring as well as everything needed to bottle the beer once done. The part I'm not sure about is the urn part. I have the 50L Bastersfield and having my bag made this week hopefully. Now, if I have the bag and urn, what I still need is an accurate thermometer and a recipe kit and a hob sock? Anything else, or something that might make the first brew a little easier maybe?

This is basically what I thought I would like to make first, but need something really simple and honestly have no idea if that is simple enough for a first brew.

****5 Gallon Batch****

Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 6.57 gal
Estimated OG: 1.040 SG
Estimated Color: 3.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 21.5 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount
7.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
0.75 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM)
0.25 oz Centennial [9.50%] (55 min)
0.25 oz Centennial [9.50%] (35 min)
0.25 oz Cascade [7.80%] (20 min)
0.25 oz Cascade [7.80%] (5 min)
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) (Hydrated)


Mash at 150 degrees for 60 minutes.

Maybe someone has a simple session pale ale that is simple and easy to drink to start with?

Thanks in advance

Looking forward to getting some brews under my belt so that I can start making beer I like, a lot

[jakeslouw Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jakeslouw]

An electronic immersible thermometer. Should cost under R150 if the brew shop isn't pulling the piss.

Do a wet run first: no malts, no hops, just go through the brewing steps from start to finish with all the water and test the cooling system for speed and efficiency.

Get the urn to say 75 degrees temp using the electronic thermometer then mark the urn at the dial.
Drop the temp to 70 degrees and let it stabilise, and mark the urn at the dial again.
Ditto down to 65 and 60 degrees.

You now have a fair idea where your urn SHOULD be using the dial, but always use the thermometer during all mash steps.

Then switch off the urn, connect your chilling system (not sure if you are using a reverse flow or an immersion chiller, hope it isn't a plate chiller) and check the cooling speed. You should drop the water temp to under 60 degrees within the first 15 minutes.

Keep notes, make changes where needed.

[Jitters Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jitters]

if you are not going to switch on the urn while mashing get an old sleeping bag or jacket to insulate the urn for the mash period, otherwise if the urn will be on during the hour then get a false bottom. I burned my shiny new bag the first time around.

[RudiC Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close RudiC]

An electronic immersible thermometer. Should cost under R150 if the brew shop isn't pulling the piss.

Do a wet run first: no malts, no hops, just go through the brewing steps from start to finish with all the water and test the cooling system for speed and efficiency.

Get the urn to say 75 degrees temp using the electronic thermometer then mark the urn at the dial.
Drop the temp to 70 degrees and let it stabilise, and mark the urn at the dial again.
Ditto down to 65 and 60 degrees.

You now have a fair idea where your urn SHOULD be using the dial, but always use the thermometer during all mash steps.

Then switch off the urn, connect your chilling system (not sure if you are using a reverse flow or an immersion chiller, hope it isn't a plate chiller) and check the cooling speed. You should drop the water temp to under 60 degrees within the first 15 minutes.

Keep notes, make changes where needed.

Thanks for this solid advice, I will go through the whole process then to see what happens.

if you are not going to switch on the urn while mashing get an old sleeping bag or jacket to insulate the urn for the mash period, otherwise if the urn will be on during the hour then get a false bottom. I burned my shiny new bag the first time around.

The plan was to get a yoga mat or something like that to insulate the urn at some stage. Thanks for the warning, would hate to burn the bag on the first run. From what I've gathered, the bag will probably cost about R350, so not something I'd like to replace soon.

[groenspookasem Banned Find all posts View Profile Close groenspookasem]

if you're not cooling then the "no-chill" guys on here can pipe up, especially on hop additions and then you'd need that hopsock (to remove from the wort post boil). are you recirculating? if not, how're you getting the wort from the urn? do you have a winch or something to lift the bag from the wort? the biab guys should also pipe up. i've seen pressure clamps used to keep the bag off the element and ladders with ropes to lift the bag. probably a no sparge method? so you'd need to account for that.

my 2c, get all your stuff together and ready, print out your recipe, make notes when you do what, it'll help later identify a problem or reinforce your method. a good idea to know how long it takes to get from temp a to to temp b, i dont account temp rises as part of my mash timer, also how long does it take to get to from ambient to 65 and then mashout ( good stuff to know for later)
get your water volumes spot on and watch for boilover at the hot break, stir your wort, you'll see the protein coagulating on the top - should dissapear after the 5min of boil. dont have mates over (or nosey neighbors) spend the time to enjoy the process. the first brewday is usually long, so get snacks and hydrate. clean all your kit afterwards. make sure you have cleaned and sanitized whatever touches the wort post cooling.
do measure your preboil and post boil volumes, i'd use a stainless mash paddle marked to ascertain liquid level, but whatever you can to check the boil off rate, would work well in your dry run. measure what you're putting into the fermentor, then you're getting ready to calculate efficiencies and setup your custom equipment in brewfather.

does the basterfeld urn have some form of circuit/boil protection? may want to bypass that?
recipe looks fine, 65c for 60min. 10% cara.

[jakeslouw Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jakeslouw]

A cheap colander will keep the bag off the bottom.
Or use clothes pegs and use them to locate the bag off the element (lift the bag off the bottom, use clothes pegs to stop the bag sliding back in).

I use gas and I haven't ever burned a bag in 200 brews. If you burn a bag, you aren't paying attention to details.

- - - Updated - - -

A cheap colander will keep the bag off the bottom.
Or use clothes pegs and use them to locate the bag off the element (lift the bag off the bottom, use clothes pegs to stop the bag sliding back in).

I use gas and I haven't ever burned a bag in 200 brews. If you burn a bag, you aren't paying attention to details.

[Langchop Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Langchop]

Thanks for this solid advice, I will go through the whole process then to see what happens.


The plan was to get a yoga mat or something like that to insulate the urn at some stage. Thanks for the warning, would hate to burn the bag on the first run. From what I've gathered, the bag will probably cost about R350, so not something I'd like to replace soon.

Top plan. I rarely bother adding heat anymore, and even a single layer yoga mat wrapped around my fermenter works exceedingly well at limiting temp drop to 1 or 2 deg over an hour

[CaPunT Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close CaPunT]

Top plan. I rarely bother adding heat anymore, and even a single layer yoga mat wrapped around my fermenter works exceedingly well at limiting temp drop to 1 or 2 deg over an hour

Yeah, as far as sacc rest goes, we're lucky in SA with not having very cold temps that will affect that temp drop during the mash.

[BackOffMyBrew Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BackOffMyBrew]

does the basterfeld urn have some form of circuit/boil protection? may want to bypass that?
.

Definitely!!!

[BeerHolic Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BeerHolic]

Use gas so no issue with burnt bags, do not trust our local muncipality, would hate to be in the middle of a brew and the power fails.