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   1. New IPA recipe using BIABacus

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      by Aces high, 11 years ago in BIAB Recipes

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      Here's a new IPA recipe i'm planning on brewing tomorrow. Im happy with the grainbill and have used it on a number of IPA attempts, but up until now I always seem to be light on in regards to hops. While the beer tastes great its stuck half way between an APA & an IPA and doesn't have that big hop punch (flavour and aroma) that you get from Ferals Hop Hog, or Sierra Nervarda torpedo IPA.
      
      Recently I've been looking at Bob Brews black IPA and his heavy handed hop tactics ;) so I've upped the...

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      Hi Simon,
      It seems that CTZ is really just any of Columbus, Tomahawk or Zeus hops.
      Apparently all the same hop with different names or close enough that it doesn't matter.
      Meant to be good bittering hops.
      Hope that helps.
      
      Oh yeah, good point Odymate, I forgot about that, so you can order any of the 3 and they're pretty much interchangeable. They were on special from Yakima valley hops in America at the time so I bought a few pounds. It was a nice clean bittering hop
      26 Replies
      25854 Views
      Aces high
      10 years ago
   2. Using water from a Solar hot water system

      by Aces high, 11 years ago in Brewing Water

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      I have a solar hot water system on my brew shed. It seemed like a great idea when i was getting it and right now the water comes out at about 65 degrees straight from the tap (i removed the tempering valve)
      
      Since i have been using it my efficiencies seem to be down. Im not a sticklier for eff, but I used to always hit hte numbers that the calculator & brewmate told me i would get. Lately i've been down every time.
      
      The tank is a steel/ ceramic tank and it has a magnesium sacrifical annode....

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      So FWIW I taste tested the solar heater water once cool, and it tasted fine. Possibly better than our normal tap water, which I generally find unpleasant.
      
      I went ahead a tried a BIAB with the hot tap water which was around 65'C, so it took very little heating to get up to the 72'C required for pitching the grain. I used 10g of gypsum since I'm brewing an ESB style, calculated based on some Brisbane water (Mt Crosby) profile averages.
      
      I'd be curious to learn more about the chemistry of water...
      15 Replies
      23166 Views
      Dski
      10 years ago
   3. Perth Beer Swap 26th October - East Fremantle WA

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      by Aces high, 10 years ago in Australia & New Zealand

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      Ok, so this is a prequel to the Perth Beer Show. Bring your swap beer on the day (hopefully the one that you are entering into the show).
      
      For those that haven't done a swap before it goes like this. You put your name on the list below. On the day you bring 2 x 700ml PET bottles for every other person on the swap list below. We will stop the list at 10 (if we manage to get that much interest), so you arrive with 18 bottles of your beer and you leave with hopefully 18 examples of best in class...

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      gday guys, Ive been off line for almost 2 weeks due to internet problems. Just back on yesterday. Ive also been a slack bastard on my tastings so you're all owed at least one evaluation form from me.
      82 Replies
      94710 Views
      Aces high
      10 years ago
   4. Masher - My latest Score

      by Aces high, 11 years ago in Bags, Mashers, Thermometers, Kettles etc.

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      So PP swears by the potato masher as the best item for mashing in. Ive been using a traditional mash paddle arrangement until today when I was at the local 2nd hand machinery place.
      They also have a 2nd hand catering section and I came across this for just $10 bucks :champ:
      Masher 1.jpg
      Masher 2.jpg
      Its full heavy duty stainless steel and stands about 50cm or 60cm high so its a perfect size for my pot.
      There's also a second one there. If any perth brewer want it send me a PM and i'll direct...

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      Good on you Aces! That is perfect length etc for your set-up :thumbs:.
      
      After your next brew, can you let us know how you find the up and down motion the 'potato masher' uses compares to the round and round motion of the 'mash paddle' (spoon)?
      
      :peace:
      PP
      
      Off-topic: Maybe see you at the Norfolk tomorrow? Go to this post .
      4 Replies
      7554 Views
      PistolPatch
      11 years ago
   5. Water expansion

      by Aces high, 11 years ago in Measurement, Mathematics and Records

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      Hi all,
      
      I am just trying to calibrate my measuring stick which i use to fill the pot to the correct water volume. Because i often use hot water I was trying to work out how much correction i need.
      
      I found this quote The thermal coefficient of expansion of water is 0.00021 per 1° Celsius at 20° Celsius
      Does that mean that for each degree I multiply initial volume lets say 50L x 1.00021 x the temperature difference above 20 degrees. so for 60 degrees water it would be 50L x 1.00021 x 60. Or...

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      Thanks Pat, I knew i'd seen the conversion somewhere. I should have known it would be in BIABacus
      2 Replies
      5386 Views
      Aces high
      11 years ago
   6. Damn you Yeasties...

      by Aces high, 11 years ago in General Chit-Chat, Nonsense & Rambles

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      Well I did a brew on Monday and no chilled. Thinking I was being smart I put the cubes in my fermenting fridge and set the temp for 13 degrees. I had two stubbies of wyeast 2278 czech yeast from around 2 weeks ago in the fridge, so I also put them in the fermenting fridge thinking that it would all end up at 12 degrees and I could go ahead and pitch.
      
      I checked the fridge a couple of hours later to find the fermenting fridge at 30 degrees. So i pulled the yeast out hoping desperately that i...

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      Ok, so maybe it was closer to 40 degrees... 30 degrees made me sound less stoopid :whistle:
      
      :lol: :lol:
      12 Replies
      9016 Views
      mally
      11 years ago
   7. How much did you brew in 2012?

      by Aces high, 11 years ago in General Chit-Chat, Nonsense & Rambles

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      I did a quick tally of my brewing book for 2012 and found that I brewed just over 800L (211 US Gallons) in 2012 and averaged a brew day almost every 2 weeks :champ:
      
      Now ive either got a lot of thirsty friends or have major evaporation problems :dunno: My wife's 40th birthday party smashed through just under 120L in one night.
      
      I did throw one 42L brew away, not because it was infected, but just because it tasted like crap and I didn't want to make anyone especially myself suffer through...

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      115 gallons in 2012 (435L) - 23 5 gallon batches. I'd like to get closer to 200 gallons this year if work/life don't get too crazy.
      17 Replies
      13728 Views
      natept
      11 years ago
   8. Aeration & Oxidisation

      by Aces high, 11 years ago in Fermentation (Wort to Still Beer)

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      There's probably a very simple answer to this question which I was asked recently but I didn't have it. Im sure someone out there can help me out.
      
      We always talk about oxidisation and not splashing the wort around when filling kegs/bottles, there's also hot side aeration talk and all sorts of rumours etc about this.
      
      So how come when we put the wort into the fermenter its ok to shake the shit out of it and get as much air into it as possible. Wont this cause some type of oxidisation?
      
      I...

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      joshua.
      
      I tried Olive Oil in the past. I didn't seem to see a difference? But who knows. It takes less than a drop and I have trouble with numbers! I read a lot on the Olive Oil technique. Seemed like a good idea!
      21 Replies
      17746 Views
      BobBrews
      11 years ago
   9. Over Pitching

      by Aces high, 11 years ago in Fermentation (Wort to Still Beer)

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      Being a little bit lazy I pitched a 3rd 45L batch onto the same wyeast 1272 yeast cake. In hindsight i know it was a stupid thing to do, but hey I do a lot of stoopid things and its never stopped me before.
      
      So this batch was so ridiculuously over pitched that by the next day my 70 litre fermenter had a massive cling wrap bubble on top barely being held on by the rubber O ring and a whole pile of gunk had oozed out and down into the fridge.
      Here's what it looked like after I cleaned the...

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      1272 wasn't the only thing I scored. Thanks for the terrific beers Stu. Perfect end to the day and start to the weekend. That black IPA is excellent! :yum: :yum: :yum:.
      
      I hope you get a crane for Xmas to lift that fermentor :lol:.
      7 Replies
      8285 Views
      PistolPatch
      11 years ago
   10. Plate Chiller - My new score.

       by Aces high, 11 years ago in Chilling

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       I scored this plus a second plate chiller at work today. This one is about 14 plates and the 2nd one about 25, but its got a sligtly damaged inlet port. They were about to go to the scrappy before i saved them. They're quite large compared to standard brewing type units (see the comparrison to the keyboard) and have what looks like 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 inch (1.5 in = 3.81 cm) inputs. They have never been used and have been sitting on a shelf for about 5 years. The inside is all shiny as the caps have...

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       Dont worry yeasty, I had the thing in my hands and I was thing the same thing, then it finally clicked :scratch:
       
       Now i am trying to work out how they would attached a pipe to that side. The water side has a screw thread on the outside which I can work with
       
       It all depend upon what they were used for with regard to the cooling side fluid. I'd expect if it was nasty stuff the fitting would have to be welded. For your needs a large jubilee clip would do it if you can get a hose to fit over the...
       11 Replies
       10531 Views
       Yeasty
       11 years ago
   11. White Rabbit Dark Ale clone

       by Aces high, 11 years ago in Creating Your Own Recipes

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       I designed this recipe on friday night and brewed saturday morning. Australians my know the White Rabbit dark ale. Ive pieced together the recipe from a few other places and while its not exact it should be interesting attempt at a clone.
       
       Ive guessed that its similar to a Northern English Brown Ale, but i may be way off here. Different websites call it everything from a ale to a porter and their own website doesn't call it anything other than a dark ale, so Im not exactly sure the style...

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       I made the wife taste this out of the fermenter the other day. She said it tasted medicine-e. Which I can understand now that she has said it.
       
       I reall reckon its that wyeast ringwood ale yeast that has done the damage.
       
       I did a search on medicine taste in beer and its apparently due to something in the yeast reacting with bleach cleaners (according to John Palmer) But I use sodium percarbonate & then idophor on my fermenters, so i dont know.
       
       If the white rabbit clone is a bit off then you...
       9 Replies
       10927 Views
       Aces high
       11 years ago
   12. My new project

       by Aces high, 11 years ago in Kegging

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       I picked this freezer up on the weekend. Its about to become my new keggorator. Its 340L and I can fit 7 kegs in, plus with a gas bottle or some beer bottles on the compressor hump.
       
       The only drawback is that it is angled from back to front which makes the carpentry job of making a collar just that little bit harder. Ive got most of the tools, but my carpentry skills are sometimes pretty dodgy.. I need to work out how the taps are going to fit etc
       
       I spent a lot of time on the weekend staring...

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       Great work Aces, that looks a treat :)
       16 Replies
       20889 Views
       hashie
       11 years ago
   13. Hitting the high numbers

       by Aces high, 12 years ago in BIABrewer Old Hands

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       I knocked up a double batch of this black IPA today. My mate likes the WA bootleg brewery black IPA so i thought we'd make a copy for him. This is based on a 43L batch and had 14.5kg of grain to get to the 1.073 final figure, so its a big brew. I ended up with 1.060 after the boil, even though my volumes were correct right through. So my question is, is BIAB able to hit the big numbers like 1.073, or do you lose efficiency when trying this type of brew? I did a quick dunk sparge , but is there...

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       Yup, pretty much. As your mash thickness increases the mash efficiency goes down. It's due to grain absorption becoming more significant.
       
       You can counteract it with a dunk sparge
       
       You can use my CE calc to work out your process and it will accurately predict your results. It's been used for 1.100OG barley wines before.
       viewtopic.php?f=74&t=1066
       
       I would make the BIAB in your 20G pot, and dunk sparge in your 10G. Enter your gravity a d desired fermenter volume, the. Adjust the sparge value to...
       8 Replies
       9074 Views
       natept
       12 years ago
   14. New addition to the brewshed

       by Aces high, 12 years ago in General Chit-Chat, Nonsense & Rambles

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       Im getting one of these 300L split solar hot water systems installed on my brewshed this week for free, so Im a little bit excited. Its a new prototype unit and they wanted to test it out in the field where it wouldn't be used every day, but would get nice and hot so I kindly offered my 6 x 9M brewshed for the test. So I will now have hot and cold running water. They're not putting a tempering valve on it, so I should be able to get water out of the tap for half of the year at about 60 degrees...

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       Nice score :)
       
       My split solar system is stainless and has gas instantaneous boost, so the water always comes out at 60C+
       
       Unfortunately the tempering valve knocks it back to 55C :(
       
       Want to get a hot water tap outside near my brewing area :)
       7 Replies
       6508 Views
       stux
       12 years ago
   15. Getting the numbers right

       by Aces high, 12 years ago in Measurement, Mathematics and Records

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       So to give you a bit of background, I've done about 15 to 20 BIAB's, mainly double batches. Previously i've been using recipes from other people, with really good success. Recently ive gone back to try and learn the basics, so i've started doing some SMASH brews or just single hops with a fairly basic grain bill. Ive got things pretty sussed with my pot and pretty much always hit my numbers.
       
       2 weeks ago I did this recipe below, very basic and easy. I hit my 66 degree temp spot on, but my OG...

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       I wouldn't be worried about this for a second Ace ;),
       
       If it happens again, be on alert but not alarmed :). If it happens three times in a row, then it's worth slowing down and having a good think.
       
       There are way too many variables that can occur on a single brew. The most common one is simply incorrectly weighed grain but the list is endless.
       
       Brew on!
       PP
       
       Kegged this batch on the weekend, it tastes good, just a pretty basic easy drinking summer pale ale.
       
       Did another brew last weekend...
       9 Replies
       9049 Views
       Aces high
       12 years ago
   16. My new BIAB pot

       by Aces high, 12 years ago in Gas-Fired BIAB

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       I found this for sale recently, well about 3 months ago actually. It was put up for sale as a crab cooker.
       
       Its 25 UK gallons according to the label (114L) and is about 50 years old. Everything looked great and I picked up for just $90, only to find that they had resealed the bottom edges with lead based soft solder. I'd hate to think how many crabs they boiled in this lead filled water. After a bit of hunting I found a guy at my local pub who was a welder and happy to do it at work for a case...

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       Sounds excellent Aces :party:.
       
       Hopefully early new year is good for you but will send you a PM.
       
       Thanks a heap!
       5 Replies
       7306 Views
       PistolPatch
       12 years ago
   17. Volume in the pot

       by Aces high, 12 years ago in Measurement, Mathematics and Records

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       I want to mark out a ruler to measure what volume of liquid is in the pot and I thought I remembered seeing a formula here, but I can't seem to find it somewhere. My new pot is quite large at 580mm wide but 480mm high so I think I will struggle to get proper accuracy by just adding a litre of water waiting for it to settle and then marking the ruler. The pot has flat sides & bottom which makes thinks a bit easier
       
       Can anyone help please.

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       LOL Lylo :lol:. Now that's one problem I don't think I'm ever going to get here in Western Auatralia :P.
       7 Replies
       8026 Views
       PistolPatch
       12 years ago

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