Brew Day!!!

[Scotty]

I was planning on this one from Bunnings, comes with a hose and regulator and should be good for swap and go gas bottles (I have a spare ready to go)

https://www.bunnings.com.au/gasmate-3-ring-cast-iron-burner_p3180208

 

[bald as]

Yes from memory a couple of my brewing friends had that 3 ring burner and it worked on a low pressure regulator and worked very efficiently. They are good for controlling a gently rolling boil just by shutting down, or off the outside burner.

 

[beerhog]

Skip the 3 ring burner they are barely up to the job unless you use a high pressure reg. For much the same dollars https://www.kegland.com.au/high-pressure-lpg-burner-with-stand-and-regulator.html these are heaps better and have enough grunt for future upgrades in the brewery.

 

[Scotty]

Ohhhh, now that's a big boys burner @beerhog

Quite good prices on that kegland site.... Robobrew for $399 is about the cheapest I've seen. All their other stuff is pretty competitive too and they appear to have a distributor just up the road in Virginia, might have a sticky beak at the weekend.

 

[Scotty]

Well, it's been a busy month..... been doing LOTS of online shopping buying all sorts of brewery gear! Still waiting on a few bits and pieces coming from overseas but almost ready to get the first all-grain beer underway! Will get all the new gear posted up in the next few days maybe.

My first batch of homebrew is almost gone so I might get another fresh wort kit at the weekend to tide me over....

Took @beerhog advice and bought a better burner, not quite as bad-a$$ as the kegland one but it looks like a very close relative and quite a few dollars cheaper with their free shipping (from Snowys), sounds like a fighter jet taking off

Kegland didn't miss out though by not getting my business on the gas burner purchase..... picked up a mini keg on @bald as advice and loads of other goodies.... I might be getting a free 19L keg from somebody in the office but will wait and see....

 

[Scotty]

Yesterday I popped into the home brew store as they run tutorials and demonstrations almost every Saturday.... this weekend it was all about kegging and carbonation!

Anyway, I won't bore y'all with all the hot tips and tricks but needless to say I learnt a lot!

Got a new fresh wort kit on the way out after the class..... Citra Pacifica (think Stone and Wood Pacific Ale with better/different hops) ~ smells yummy and was pitched yesterday arvo with SafAle-US05 yeast.

I had a nice "Red Lager" called Bloodline by Deepwater Brewing on Friday after work, fantastic tangy flavours with the hops they used, grapefruit being the most pronounced to my mind, a nice drop to end the week with

 

[Substance]

Set up is looking good mate
I have a country brewers Wetpak American Pale Ale in progress at the moment
It is my first brew using an additional grain
Fermentation is Bubbling for a week nearly now

 

[Scotty]

Sounds great @Substance

I'm 3 days into a fermentation and keeping it all cool at about 18~20 degrees in the garage (without a fridge) is a real pain.... how are you keeping control of the temp?

Second hand fridge is sitting at the top of my shopping list....

 

[bald as]

I use an external device between my fridge and the power outlet like one of these.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?LH_...sacat=&_sadis=&_sop=12&_udhi=&_udlo=&_fosrp=1

Steve

 

[Substance]

I have a Dobby room under my stairs keeps it pretty consistent if it gets to hot I can turn the aircon on down Stairs and keep it cooler

 

[Substance]

I use an external device between my fridge and the power outlet like one of these.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?LH_...sacat=&_sadis=&_sop=12&_udhi=&_udlo=&_fosrp=1

Steve

I have a similar set up on my reptile house

 

[Scotty]

My first keg EVER sitting at the back of the fridge slowly absorbing CO2 as the temperature drops.... Fascinating stuff "Henrys Law", two weeks at 12psi ought to do it!

I don't know how the mrs will react when she sees how the fridge has been reorganised...... marriage would be no fun without pushing the boundaries every so often

 

[beerhog]

congrats on your first. just watch how fast that keg will empty fresh beer on tap is extremely tempting and difficult to say no to.is there anyway to get the keg upright? all the yeast and so forth settles to the bottom so if you keep it sideways only putting it upright to pour you will end up having cloudy pours right through the keg rather then the first coupla pours. also with a small setup like that shake carb would be easy. once the beers cold leave the reg where it is and shake the keg for 5-10 mins the longer the better and you should be 80-90% the way there on carb and you cant over do it if you dont turn gas pressure up higher.

 

[Scotty]

Thanks @beerhog, no chance of getting it vertical but not going to worry about it this batch as there's a lot of wheat in there so the beer is cloudy by design anyway

Here's a question..... Is there any reason I couldn't have a full 19L keg sitting uncarbonated in the garage for a few weeks after fermentation?

The reason I ask is I may have a cunning plan (only after I've bought a cheap @rse garage fridge though!)

The plan:

1. After fermentation is complete, crash chill for a few days to drop yeast/etc out of suspension
2. Gravity filter the cold uncarbonated beer through a 1 micron filter (cheap from kegland)
3. With the cold filtering removing suspended particulates and chill haze proteins I then fill up my 4L keg for the kitchen fridge carbonation method (2 weeks as outlined in my last post)
4. The remaining 19L filtered beer stored in the large keg until ready to decant into the 4L kitchen fridge carbonation keg

The above would:

• completely remove bottling from the equation
• ensure the beer gets a minimum of 2 weeks post fermentation conditioning for flavour development
• mean that all subsequent "decants" from the 19L keg can be rapidly force carbonated in the 4L keg by agitation and shaking (the minimum 2 weeks conditioning has already completed)
• also ensure that minimum yeast and sediment makes it through to the kitchen carbonation keg prior to consumption

Any fatal flaws with the concept/process you can see?

Yes, it sounds like too much pi$$ing around but it's only really the additional decanting to the 4L keg that is the difference as I see it......

 

[alfredus]

I might have my biochem completely wrong here and I am sure @bald as will correct me, but I believe the air would make your beer unpalatable in that time frame?

 

[Scotty]

I might have my biochem completely wrong here and I am sure @bald as will correct me, but I believe the air would make your beer unpalatable in that time frame?

You can purge the air with CO2 when you're initially kegging so no oxygen hanging around to stuff up the beer....

During the decant you can also keep oxygen out by either pushing the beer through with CO2 or set up to balance the pressure in both kegs and letting gravity sort it out

https://aussiehomebrewer.com/threads/keg-transfer-made-easy.16907/

 

[alfredus]

 

[beerhog]

Alfredus is correct.if you dont carb the beer in the keg then it will oxidise fairly quickly. Purging wont get all o2 out.but if you hit the warm keg with co2 it will carb up and will be ready to pour right away after transferring.being warm it will require a higher pressure to get the right volume of co2 but it's not a big deal to work out using charts online.

 

[Scotty]

Soooooo.... Looks like I'm buying another keg then as well as a fridge

 

[SpeedyPC]

Hey kissing @Scotty where’s my cold beer 🍺 it’s very humid in Sydney and I’m very drenched in full body sweat from head to toes