STEEPED GRAINS
1/2 lb chocolate malt
7 oz roasted barley
4 oz 55L British crystal malt
60 MIN BOIL
6 lb British light malt extract
1/2 lb cane sugar
1 oz U.K. challenger
15 MIN BOIL
1/4 oz East Kent Goldings
1 tsp Irish moss
PRIMARY
Safale S-04 (first time using this)
SECONDARY
1-1/4 cup DME
Original gravity measured out at 1.050
Prior to brew day, I took my Sanke keg one step further by adding a weldless valve to the bottom for draining. It took most of the day to install it since I went back and forth to 3 different stores. But when I add the thermometer bulkhead I'll know what to buy right away.
There is a weld seam I had to be above so that I could seal the fittings. After draining the wort on brew day there was about 2 gallons below the fitting. So most of it came out when I tipped the keg, but I ended up siphoning the rest out, not that fun. So I'm looking at adding a bazooka T and a Sanke adapter from Northerbrewer. What do you guys think about this vs a false bottom? With a false bottom, I'm concerned that while still in extract brewing, I'll get malt stuck on the bottom and have some burning issues.
Fermentation started the next morning, this picture is about 18 hours later. The temperature is high, 78 deg, so i'm going to throw it in the basement after I'm done with this post. I started with a blow off tube and it looks like I could have gotten by with a regular air lock, The Kraeusen didn't make it to the top during the peak of activity.
4 comments:
Wife beer should always come first. You want to keep homebrewing as a wife-friendly hobby. I also love a wife that loves dark beer! I am a lucky member of that club. Before baby, she was wanting an imperial stout! Now she is fine with just a regular stout! haha!
Glad to see the keg conversion, what a great addition to the brewery! Full extract boils and one more step to all grain!
False bottoms are somewhat a pain to clean with the grain, and can sometimes be a pain to clean with whole hops. However, when you do use whole hops you get a nice little filter for cold break, if you use an immersion chiller. I am up in the air, I have a mash tun and a boil kettle with false bottoms. The grain in the mash tun is definitly more of a pain to clean than the boil kettle. False bottoms can be expensive as well, I got one for a christmas present, it was awesome! I would like to see how the braided screen works, so I vote braided screen.
I don't see all grain in my future anytime soon, just not enough time, but I am going to build a mini mash cooler with a braid. From what I hear, they work pretty well and I can build a 2 or 3 gallon cooler for 20 bucks.
Check this: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Making_a_Partial_Mash_mash_tun
I'm sure that would work for a full size mash tum if you went the cooler route. Helluva lot cheaper than the bazookat
I have the same issue with all grain, no time for it. However, what I would like to do with my equipment is to be flexible enough to make a quick extract batch or a full blown all grain batch. I can do an extract batch in 3 hrs and if I'm prepaired enough the day before, I can brew one after work if I need to. This way I don't have to plan for weekends all the time. All grain, once I get all the equipment I can do 10 gal batches and hopefully the cost of ingrediants will go down. The problem is it's definitely a full day of brewing.
I'm undecided on the mash tun. If i can't find a Sanke keg cheap, i will have to go cooler route. I haven't read anything bad about them except controlling temp because you won't be able to add heat. I'm not sure how critical that is however.
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