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   1. Replacing some base malt with DME for a BIG Beer

      by aamcle, 9 years ago in Intermediate Brewing

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      Evening All.
      
      If you have time to look this over I'd really appreciate some advice.
      
      In January I'd like to brew Effin Stout it's a RIS with a OG of about 1.104, for 20 liters it takes 7kg of base malt and near to ten in total.
      
      Reasonably gear will mash 5 - 6 kg I don't think I can maxi baib it as it just wouldn't fit.
      
      7000g Pale Malt
      850g Flaked Maize (GW Recipe uses Maltose Syrup)
      790g Amber Malt
      500g Crystal Malt (105L - Standard Crystal)
      500g Chocolate Malt
      250g Black Malt
      It's a...

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      There is a fair bit on the net about reiterating mashes and I read a good deal of it before I considered doing it, it works but water treatment is a bitch, you are more or less guessing after the first mash. Fortunately I was able to get advice from a much more experienced and able brewer.
      Even so I resorted to a pH meter and constant checking it didn't go badly and although much too young to be at it's best the beer seems to be progressing well which is what's important.
      
      I was half asleep...
      12 Replies
      27501 Views
      aamcle
      8 years ago
   2. BIAB - the problem

      by aamcle, 9 years ago in General Chit-Chat, Nonsense & Rambles

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      Now we all know BIAB makes beer, it you do it all right it will be good beer but it's killing my inner geek.
      
      My poor geek is heartbroken looking at my shinny bits, pumps and valves, weeping over my Arduino n Ras pi.
      
      I got a huge amount of pleasure from building stuff for my brewing but stuff means extra cleaning and I don't like cleaning but then who does?
      
      So I'm errrr. stuffed!
      
      My cold side runs on STC1000s so that's done all I'd like to make now is a boil proof auto siphon and that's...

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      my inner beer geek got killed first time I had to clean up my HERMs system
      
      this is just to easy to deal with that again
      13 Replies
      24201 Views
      Jamato
      8 years ago
   3. Double Mash Biab 1/2 then 1/2 - please advise water treatment?

      by aamcle, 9 years ago in Intermediate Brewing

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      I'm planning a Big Stout and I going to have to split my grain bill and I'd really appreciate your help.
      
      Related BYO article :- 
      
      My plan is to mash 1/2 then this will require 33 litres of water and remove the grain. Sparge to make up to initial volume (33 litres), and then mash the other 1/2 in the wort from the first 1/2..   Sparge again to get to the correct pre-boil volume.  
      Continue with processing in the usual way.
        But I don't know about water treatment.  
      I'd very much like...

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      I have a report and routinely test for Alkalinity prior to brewing.  My water supply is very hard, so hard that I can't use it for lagers even with additions  but with little in the way of treatment it makes good stout.  
      
      ATB    aamcle
      9 Replies
      18495 Views
      aamcle
      9 years ago
   4. Continuing efficiency 2 - long sorry

      by aamcle, 9 years ago in Intermediate Brewing

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      Continuing efficiency 2
      
      To day I'm brewing a Directors clone – a Malt Miller AG kit.
      
      I set up to use Biabacus but it seemed to want 39 liters of water my calculations on paper and the calculations of Biabcalculator.com both came out about 33 liters and that is in line with my past experience.
      
      So in the end I mashed with 23 litres and sparged with 10 litres.
      
      Water Report from United Utilities.
      Ca…………...73ppm
      Mg…….…….29
      Cl…………….49
      So4…………..60
      Fe…..……....<3
      Na…………...29
      Alkalinity……211 tested...

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      I'm no pro, but, I had a Biabacus file that cot corrupted somehow and showed my kettle as 125 liters. I redownloaded the original file and I'm much closer to dialing in my system.
      7 Replies
      17315 Views
      FatDog
      9 years ago
   5. More water treatment partial BIAB

      by aamcle, 9 years ago in Brewing Water

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      I usually don't brew FVM, I save some of the total water and do a dunk or two often I don't even heat the sparge water and it still moves my efficiency from 65 - 66% to closer to 80%.
      
      I use a standard water calculator to calculate the additions to the volume of water I actually mash with.
      All I do with the sparge water is ensure the alkalinity is in the 20 - 50 range but do not other treatments..
      
      Is there some way I can improve my procedure?
      
      Many thanks. Aamcle

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      I want to encourage you to use that book. The BIABacus WILL scale the grain and hops automatically :thumbs:
      
      I was tinkering with what little I know about this recipe, my best guess is that it's for a 1.057 OG, is that right? That would put the grain bill at 6231 g, 26.6 L at VAW and 23 L into packaging and you could expect a 82% efficiency in kettle.
      
      That's FVM (full volume mashing)! You CAN do it !!!
      18 Replies
      29713 Views
      Mad_Scientist
      9 years ago
   6. Going Simple - 3

      by aamcle, 9 years ago in Intermediate Brewing

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      Thats my first Biab done without recirculation.
      
      a simple batch :-
      Pale 4kg
      Munich1 0.5kg
      Mash 65DegC
      Galaxy 30g at 70mins
      Galaxy 30g at 0mins
      Wai-iti 30 at 0mins
      Dry Hop 20 for 4 days
      
      I have some interesting numbers, because I found my self short of soft water I mashed with 20 litres and dunk sparged with 10 litres of hot tap water.
      
      After lifting the grain bag but prior to sparging.
      15litres in kettle 1.060 SG 63% Eff
      
      After dunk sparging a sample was caught dripping from grain bag....

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      I put the box together to run a Nextgen BM clone, the section on the left runs the on/off pump cycle that BMs require, the other functions are PWM and PID and there is a switch to choose between them.
      
      aamcle
      2 Replies
      11451 Views
      aamcle
      9 years ago
   7. Rye Beer and Rice Hulls

      by aamcle, 10 years ago in Intermediate Brewing

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      I'm planning to try a Rye beer again (Ratio 3/2.5 Rye to Pale Malt) on my recirculating system, the last time I tried this I got a stuck mash, very stuck even suspending the bag to drain resulted in a slow trickle of liquor.
      I had used a beta glucan rest but it still stuck this time I'll give it longer 20 mins at 45C and I'm considering adding Rice Hulls.
      
      I've never used rice hulls before, never needed to, my question is will they make the difference I need and prevent the mash sticking? I...

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      I don't think there's an absolute number. It will depend on your bag, other grains used and whether or not you are recirculating.
      14 Replies
      26584 Views
      Contrarian
      9 years ago
   8. Going Simple - 2

      by aamcle, 9 years ago in Intermediate Brewing

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      Next week or the one after I'll brew my first BIAB without recirculation, I'll either do a traditional no chill or chill in the boiler. I've just removed the tap and drain so now I have a simple boiler no nasty places for things to hide.
      
      Now when it comes to getting the wort out into a FV I'm inclined to use a syphon. I know I can fill it with StarSan and run it out or even suck and dump the the end into StarSan.
      
      But I have been thinking about alternative ways to start a syphon made from...

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      I've just bottled my current batch a Duseldorf Alt so in the next week or two I'll brew my first traditional BIAB no recirc or any other fancy things like dunking, my personal experience is that I'll need to add a little more grain but that's Ok.
      
      ATB. aamcle
      6 Replies
      13159 Views
      aamcle
      9 years ago
   9. Going Simple a couple of questions.

      by aamcle, 9 years ago in Intermediate Brewing

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      I'm swapping over to true BIAB no more messing about with PID's and recirculation and I'll be No Chilling.
      
      * Is it worth mounting a tap in the cubes lid?
      
      I bottle my beer and bulk prime.
      
      * Would boiling any flame out hops with my priming sugar and filtering into the bottling bucket work?
      I'd probably have to give the hops a rinse with a bit of boiling water to get all the sugar out.
      
      Adding the hops with the sugar would mean one less addition and so reduced chance of contamination, I doubt...

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      PP - I hear what you are saying, and my opinion is subject to change without notice , or more likely subject to change after a bad experience. I have not yet had a bad experience with using ball valves (neither in my kettle, nor my fermenters), at least not with my system and cleaning process... But that includes fermenters with ball valves that don't have heat from the boil... (The fermenter taps do get soaked in cleaner, and sanitized).
      
      My plastic Speidel fermenters with the spigots have...
      16 Replies
      18387 Views
      Scott
      9 years ago
   10. Sanitise a CFC with no pump?

       by aamcle, 9 years ago in Intermediate Brewing

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       After another PID Auto-Tune issue I'm thinking of trying a batch without recirculation.
       
       I cool my wort with a 10 meter CFC it is easy to sanitise using the pump I just recirculate through it for 10 minutes or so.
       
       I've tried draining the kettle under gravity through the pump (without the pump running) and the CFC, I went straight to pitching temperature. If I'm not going to recirculate the pump seems an over complication so I'd like to drain the kettle under gravity through the CFC without a...

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       Good point, although even Oxy throws a deposit in my hard water but it's still good stuf.
       
       Pete whats the lastes on Hops n No Chill? I'ts easy enough to clean a cube :) I'm not wed to chilling and I've had success with no chill in the past.
       
       ATB. aamcle
       10 Replies
       10762 Views
       aamcle
       9 years ago
   11. Probably paranoid - recirculating biab

       by aamcle, 10 years ago in Electric BIAB

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       I brewed a batch of Galaxy Delight a couple of days ago, my system is a typical recirculating BIAB. The bag is supported by a basket that keeps it off the walls of the outer vessel and off the heating element.
       
       When I mash in I am in effect mashing into the volume of water in the bag obviously this is less than the total volume in the urn. I heat the water in the urn to strike temperature.
       
       Issue 1. as a result of the above the mash in the bag will always start below the target mash...

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       I have, however I'll use a laptop next time I set up to brew. I find for general use the Nexus 7 tops it, the tablet's generally fantastic but hopeless with spread sheets.
       
       Aamcle
       7 Replies
       17008 Views
       aamcle
       10 years ago
   12. Update "still struggling with efficiency"

       by aamcle, 10 years ago in Intermediate Brewing

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       This is a follow up to my previous thread on efficiency, I've decided to do it as a “Brew Day” post as that covers everything and I don't write them often.
       
       As it happens I'm Screwed!! comparisons are not going to be possible.
       
       Now one of the probable issues is my hobby, I say I'm a brewer but my wife would say I “make stuff” my brewing equipment changes almost Brew by Brew.
       
       In this case I rigorously followed best scientific practices and changed all sorts of things including the bag support...

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       From the book I believe but cannot prove its 23 litre into bottles. It says it makes 23 litres of Beer and some bottle icons are next to the number.
       
       I halved everything in the usual way and should have expected to get the same FG and 1/2 the volume the book lists.
       As for the Rye the recipe is for a Rye Beer and gives the FG for that Beer. So they must have/should have allowed for that but did they?
       Did they do a test batch or just drag up a recipe for who knows were?
       
       What does BiaBacus say?...
       18 Replies
       17795 Views
       aamcle
       10 years ago
   13. New Build Recirculating BIAB

       by aamcle, 11 years ago in Electric BIAB

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       I'm planning to eventually have two systems the BIAB will be the bigger of the two, its based on a 50litre pot with two elements, recirculating via a mag pump and a spray head all of which I got from Homebrew Builder.
       The bag is supported by a SS basket made of mesh and the remains of an old Burco. I did a water test this evening and all's well although even with the tubing insulated I seem to have a 2°C difference between the temperature at the spray head and that measured at the bottom of...

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       Brew-Boss in 2015
       Three Tier Retirement
       BIAB Bound
       
       Jay
       Crab Eye Rising Brewery
       4 Replies
       10774 Views
       Jayb240
       11 years ago
   14. Side by Side experiments?

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

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       I can't find any, might be my fault, but are there any published side by side ie controlled experiments comparing no sparge with a squeeze against dunk sparge?
       
       I'm a dunker and according to the Brewers Friend efficiency calculator I obtained about 86% mash efficiency on my last two batches.
       
       They were brewed/mashed on a recirculating system, I recirc to hold temperature my pot is not insulated.
       
       Atb. Aamcle
       
       www.frankenbrew.co.uk

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       PistolPatch is right, as usual. I am hard-wired for yield - if there are sugars to be had easily from the pulled bag, I want them in the kettle. Squeezing is the obvious way to get them, and most of us don't have instruments sensitive enough to show that the last drips might have a higher concentration than what was in the kettle when the bag came out. Sparging (I may always have issues with that word) will rinse some available sugars from the wet grains BUT the difference translates into about...
       17 Replies
       19738 Views
       ShorePoints
       11 years ago
   15. Water treatment for FVM stems?

       by aamcle, 11 years ago in Brewing Water

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       Before anybody gets excited about partial pressures and reaction equilibria I feel that I must point out that I have trouble chewing gum and walking!
       
       What I've gleaned seems to focus on old style 3V systems not on FVM.
       
       My process is this -
       
       Mash in reserving some water for two dunk sparge.
       Mash as required.
       Remove bag and dunk sparge.
       Add the sparge to the kettle.
       
       All very standard if not pure full volume.
       
       Do I treat the full volume of water to reduce alkalinity or do
       I have to further...

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       PP I've read your reasoning as to why FVM doesn't benefit from sparging and I believe you have over looked something.
       
       The sugars from 5 to 6 kg of grain will dissolve in 20liters of water as readily as they would in 30liters. I can not persuade my self that their solubility coefficients are such that they suffer any issues at these concentrations.
       
       That's largely beside the point, the grain bed acts like a spong retaining wort and sugars. A sparge simply flushes the most of retained wort from...
       6 Replies
       16021 Views
       PistolPatch
       11 years ago
   16. Burnt my Lager??

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

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       Evening All.
       
       I did a Pilsner a few weeks ago, its in bottles now and it has a fault that seems to becoming more apparent as it ages.
       
       There is a distinct burnt taste to it, I boiled with a 3kw kettle type element and No Chilled in the kettle. Next morning I transfered it to a FV and inoculated it.
       
       I found that there was a considerable amount of crud built-up or baked on to the element.
       
       Is it possible that this buildup caused the burnt flavour?
       
       Is there anything I can do to stop it...

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       Thanks All.
       
       Aamcle
       4 Replies
       6535 Views
       aamcle
       11 years ago
   17. Shrinking my brew length.

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

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       I need to reduce I can't get through it fast enough so I want to brew enough to package 12litres, two crates. There is something special about a nice full crate :).
       
       I have a smaller urn, 23litres to the brim with a recommended Max boil volume of 19litres.
       
       Will this be big enough as it is or will I need to Maxi BIAB?
       
       Thanks All. Aamcle

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       Bob, I had a look at the video I wasn't sure it was the right one but I'll go back to the site.
       
       Rick.
       
       My Nexus 7 seems to have welded itself to my hand and I can't get Biabacus to run :(.
       
       I touch a PC about once a week to do my wife's expenses...
       
       Your right of course I need to get familiar with Biabacus.
       
       Thanks All. Aamcle
       7 Replies
       9134 Views
       aamcle
       11 years ago
   18. BIAB Pilsner and No Chill?

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

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       I'm going to give my recirculating BIAB rig an outing this week using an AG Pilsner kit and I thought I would ask for some advice.
       
       As I'll be no chilling and I know there is debate about the hop schedule, are any changes needed?
       
       I will use a hop sock to prevent hops getting into the fermentation but I'm concerned about the break material is it an issue?
       
       The instructions indicate that it should be a single temp plus mashout so I'm only recirculating to maintain temperature.
       
       Many for your...

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       I'm considering no chilling in the kettle prior to transfer to a FV and further chilling to about 10°C and pitching as soon as its all at temperature.
       
       I shouldn't get a huge amount of stuff through, I looking forward to this brew.
       
       Aamcle
       3 Replies
       5698 Views
       aamcle
       11 years ago
   19. Water treatment for FVM systems?

       by aamcle, 11 years ago in Intermediate Brewing

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       I'm thinking about going beyond adding a Camden tablet to my water, its very hard and at least getting the alkalinity down would be a good idea.
       
       I've had a look at a few calculators and the seem to expect 3V with a sparge.
       
       Is there a calculator for FVM? I should read up on water treatment is there a link you can recommend?
       
       Many Thanks. Aamcle

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       I have been using Brewer's Friend, Bru'n Water and E-Z water calculator for my last 7-8 brews. I also have a pH meter. I build my water starting from RO water from the store. So far I have found Bru'n Water ( pain version) and Brewer's Friend Advanced (free) to be pretty close to what my actual readings are with the pH meter. E-Z water always predicts higher than what I get. Most of my brews have only required adding gypsum and/or CaCl2 to the RO water but I finally had to get some phosphoric...
       3 Replies
       6061 Views
       monkeyman
       11 years ago
   20. Sliding sideways ?

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

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       I've been experimenting with using a solid sided mash pipe with a mesh bottom in a recirculating system. The flow rate l can get through the mash hasn't been good and I've thinking about possible reasons why there seems to be a difference between a mesh bag and a solid sided pipe.
       
       In my system all the liquid that goes into the top of the pipe has to go through the grain bed, however the commercial systems (HighGravity, Homebrewbuilder etc) all use bags.
       
       I'm wondering how much of the...

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       I'm running a system now were the returning liquor is split, some into the mash pipe but the majoratory of it is returned between the mash pipe and the wall of the outer vessel.
       
       It keeps temperature well.
       
       Aamcle
       4 Replies
       6343 Views
       aamcle
       11 years ago
   21. BM vs BIAB + a new build.

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

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       I've quoted a post I've made to a couple of forms
       
       I spent a lot of time and cash building Frankenbrew a BM clone based on a Burco urn it failed, the bottom of the urn only looked flat, I was given a second urn but it has the same issue.
       
       In the meantime to keep brewing I put together a small recirculating BIAB (basket rather than a bag) rig, it worked really well it held temperatures perfectly didn't block and was a joy to use. I was able to do a step mash easily it seems to do everything a...

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       The only thing better than brewing is building an awesome brew rig.
       Post away!!!
       2 Replies
       4452 Views
       Lumpy5oh
       11 years ago
   22. BIAC ! Brew in a can.

       by aamcle, 11 years ago in Full-Volume Variations - FVV (diluting and/or sparging)

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       I've just done a BIAC batch, I think its easier than using a bag. (Can = SS pot with mesh bottom)
       The solid sides simply make it easier to manipulate, lift it out, tap it out, quick rinse and its a hop spyder :)
       
       The only disadvantage I can think of is that it won't scale up as well, go big and it would get clumsy.
       
       I recirculated this time more as a test than for any better reason and to see it step mash. Next time I do a single temp mash the I may not bother with the recirculating , its just...

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       Thank you :)
       7 Replies
       17844 Views
       Yettiman
       11 years ago
   23. Stainless Mesh Cloth bag/malt pipe?

       by aamcle, 12 years ago in Bags, Mashers, Thermometers, Kettles etc.

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       I got very cheap a good sized piece of stainless cloth, and as my voil bag has turned out to be too fine I was wondering about using the stainless cloth.
       
       I count about 20 holes per Cm or 50 per inch do you think that this mesh size is suitable?
       
       What is the ideal mesh size for Voil or any mesh?
       
       Thanks. Aamcle

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       Thanks PP, I recounted the fine mesh using a light box and a glass, I think it's 75 mesh so that's about 40 threads per inch. So it should be good to go :)
       
       Atb. Aamcle
       2 Replies
       4921 Views
       aamcle
       12 years ago
   24. Counter Top Brutus 20 two vessel BIAB?

       by aamcle, 12 years ago in Full-Volume Variations - FVV (diluting and/or sparging)

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       Introduction.
       
       The Brutus 20 is a a Full Volume Recirculating System, you could think of it as a two vessel BIAB, specifically built to be as kitchen friendly as possible. The number of hose changes (connect/disconnect) is minimized, you don't need to lift a heavy bag dripping scalding liquid!, as an added bonus it packs up neatly and the wort runs clear into the kettle.
       
       I don't take credit for this design I copied it, links to the original are at the end of this post I built with what I could...

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       Pretty impressive system aamcle! At one point I had a system very similar, as did a lot of other members here. We all eventually got tired of the additional space requirements, hardware, costs, cleaning, hose changes, etc. and adopted a simple one bag & one pot approach (BIAB). There are an infinite number of ways to make great beer and we each settle upon a method that works best for us. Keep on brewing!
       
       --Todd
       1 Replies
       12314 Views
       thughes
       12 years ago
   25. Cube size n Co2 flush

       by aamcle, 12 years ago in Chilling

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       I'm doing small batches 11 to 15 litre, I would like to 'no chill' and ferment in the cube. In the UK I have not found a supplier of 15liter cubes but I can get 20 litre cubes.
       
       20liters would either leave a lot of head space or I would have to squash the cube a lot to get the volume down..
       
       I have a Co2 bottle would it be OK to fill a 20litre cube to say 10 litres with hot wort flush the headspace with Co2 seal the cube and proceed as usual, sterilising the cube etc.
       
       Atb. Aamcle
       
       ATB....

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       Picked up 2 x 20liter cubes this afternoon.
       
       Aamcle
       
       ATB. aamcle
       3 Replies
       6432 Views
       aamcle
       12 years ago

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