Big Brew Day!!! Done and Dusted....

[Darren Andrews (Daza)]

Hey guys wow what a day it's been, started at 9am and finished at 2pm. Recorded every step of the way and have results (good I hope).

Started with 30L of strike water temp. 70 deg C gas switched off at around 71.5C

Mash temp 64.4C to 68C target was around 64 to 66.

Volume after removing grain bag was 26L

added 3L of sparge and 1L drained out of grain bag. Pre-Boil volume now 30L.

Probably did a just over 75min boil. Volume after boil 20L.

Started transfer of wort to fermenter at 25 to 20C.

Aerated pitched yeast and airlock on and fermenter volume is 18L.

I did a hydrometer reading, but don't know how to read it or do it, so could be wrong??

pretty much filled the glass trial jar till the hydrometer made it over flow then it floated around 60?

My target OG is 1.052 and final is 1.013.

So I guess you want the photos now......

[URL=http://s909.photobucket.com/user/daza152/media/Big%20Brew%20Day%20024.jpg.html][IMG]http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac298/daza152/Big%20Brew%20Day%2...[/IMG][/URL]

[URL=http://s909.photobucket.com/user/daza152/media/Big%20Brew%20Day%20017.jpg.html][IMG]http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac298/daza152/Big%20Brew%20Day%2...[/IMG][/URL]

[URL=http://s909.photobucket.com/user/daza152/media/Big%20Brew%20Day%20021.jpg.html][IMG]http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac298/daza152/Big%20Brew%20Day%2...[/IMG][/URL]

[URL=http://s909.photobucket.com/user/daza152/media/Big%20Brew%20Day%20025.jpg.html][IMG]http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac298/daza152/Big%20Brew%20Day%2...[/IMG][/URL]

[URL=http://s909.photobucket.com/user/daza152/media/Big%20Brew%20Day%20026.jpg.html][IMG]http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac298/daza152/Big%20Brew%20Day%2...[/IMG][/URL]

[URL=http://s909.photobucket.com/user/daza152/media/Big%20Brew%20Day%20029.jpg.html][IMG]http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac298/daza152/Big%20Brew%20Day%2...[/IMG][/URL]

[URL=http://s909.photobucket.com/user/daza152/media/Big%20Brew%20Day%20032.jpg.html][IMG]http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac298/daza152/Big%20Brew%20Day%2...[/IMG][/URL]

[URL=http://s909.photobucket.com/user/daza152/media/Big%20Brew%20Day%20030.jpg.html][IMG]http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac298/daza152/Big%20Brew%20Day%2...[/IMG][/URL]

So that's it fingers crossed it tastes good and I got close to my target gravity! can anyone make any sense out of the reading I took?

Cheers.

Officially a Brewer :-)

Daza.

[Darren Andrews (Daza)]

Will it taste better than it smells? cause dam that not a nice smelling beer yet?

[Darren Andrews (Daza)]

when should I see bubbles in air-lock start to occur?

[Sam DT]

Depends on your yeast and if you did a starter or rehydrated but up to 48 hours

[Darren Andrews (Daza)]

Could it be that the 60 reading is in fact the 1.060 which means I'm off as it is meant to be 1.052 what will this mean?

[Sam DT]

Yep, that sounds correct - would go with your lower volume into fermenter. Look up brewers friend wort dilution calculator - you'll probably need another 3-4 litres of cooled sterile water. If you're on a good city supply without chlorine you could probably go straight from the tap - that'll bring you up closer to your standard 23l. I usually use 34l of strike water for 60 minute boil or 36 for 90 minute boil.

Don't worry about getting trub in your fermenter it won't cause hazy beer - some even find having more creates a cleaner clearer beer.

If you leave your OG at 1.060 you'll end up with a higher fg (sweeter) and slightly higher alcohol and bitterness beer - basically a slightly concentrated version of the original, I'd recommend watering down as per brewers friend so you get the desired results and too much residual sweetness will throw the balance of your beer.

[Darren Andrews (Daza)]

Can I do that tomorrow? Or is it too late? Air lock showing bubbles already

[Sam DT]

Tomorrow should be fine

[Darren Andrews (Daza)]

I did it last night just after I replied to you, I added 5 litres of filtered water to bring it up to 23L haven't checked it this morning is it possible to have the water disappear from air lock? Can it topped up no problem?

[Darren Andrews (Daza)]

I would like to know what the OG is now I added water but I definitely don't want to check it now so will have to be a calculated guess by someone? :-)

[Darren Andrews (Daza)]

Hey can I use heat pad now kind of cold in garage have pillows around fermenter for insulation bubbles are present still after adding water last night, it's been 24 hours at 2pm but wondering if I can switch it on now?

[Darren Andrews (Daza)]

I just turned it on now.

[Darren Andrews (Daza)]

Hey i see the trub settling on bottom of fermenter, when I go to bottle it is there any methods to avoid putting it in the bottle?