Grainfather

[Will_D]

Well the first brew on the GF went well.

It was a big grain bill 6.5 kg plus 0.5 kg of oat hulls.
So that was like 22.5 litres for the mash in.

Also it was mashed at 70C!

A few notes:

The gf really needs an insulating jacket as on the 500 watt mash setting it was only just keeping at 70C

I used a hop sock and there was no problem with the pumped cooling and the puming out.

A note about calibration.

After the brew I checked the STC-200 against a certified digital thermometer and it was with 0.2 C from 30 all the way to 95C

Also checked the embossed water scales and they were spot on at 20 litres.

I will probably make a false botton out of perforated SS as I dont like the little hop strainer!

Also for Irish outdoor use it needs a lid that stands proud of the boiler (so allowin a good boil off) but keeps the rain out!

All in all I am very impressed. Next is to insulate it and do some step mashes.

[Simon_]

https://youtu.be/alsSrbE_XhY?t=322

Small improvement in the latest stock. They've done away with the mini-bar bottle cap with something more finished looking. It's a SS cylindrical bung that slides down the overflow pipe.

[Simon_]

http://us8.campaign-archive1.com/?u=ccba2b8b21c27d9056584bbcb&id=e198fa810f&e=b9a681bd66

Details of new modifications that will be available as upgrades. The grain stopper should be the only thing any of us are missing.

[Will_D]

Been doing some insulation:

So far its 3 layers of B&Q "behind the radiator" insulation. This is 2 mm thick flexible polystyrene with a thick layer of Aluminium foil (well thick by kitchen standards).

There are 3 layers. Outside layer is nice and shinny but I might be able to improve on it!

[molc]

How does insulation like that influence cooling?

[fishjam45 (Colin)]

That looks pretty damn good Will!

[Will_D]

How does insulation like that influence cooling?

It has to affect cooloing naturally!

If you think of the time to get to strike temp, mash, raise to boil and finally boi  you are looking at 3 to 4 hours of heat loss.

Rate of heat loss is proportinal to temperature so the higher the temp the greater the heat loss
So at the boil we have a hugh heat loss per minute.

However as we cool the rate of heat loss also drops (this can be thought of as "cooling loss")

If we use a counter flow chiller then its just that the bulk of the wort stays just that little bit hotter!

Cooling typically takes 30 to 40 minutes and if there is a slight increase in time then I don't think it matters much.

[fishjam45 (Colin)]

Did this today.

[Leann ull]

Put it back in your trousers
Don't forget to mention the 90 min mash
Love to she how she performs on a really big beer on say a double mash.
In fairness its a clever bit of kit and if I was in a flat thats what I would be taking a long hard look at.

[Will_D]

Well John, Mine is about to meet up with a certain FES mash!

[nigel_c]

if I was in a flat thats what I would be taking a long hard look at.

FLAT?? Apartment my good man. Please.

[Leann ull]

  Your Flat has East and West Wings

[Simon_]

I'm not getting anything like the efficiency others are getting. I'm getting something like 65-75% mash efficiency. I did this brew yesterday. Getting 27.5 Litres of 1.050 pre-boil from 4Kg Pale Ale, 2Kg Vienna, 1Kg Rye, 200g Dark Crystal, 50g Special K. The Rye was pre-crushed. I crushed the rest.

I think it might be a combination of a few things
1) my grain mill is PITA and some of the grain might not be getting crushed but there isn't that much and it can't be the entire problem
2) my mash ph might be too high (need a decent ph meter)
3) might try sparging up to 30 Litre mark to drag that bit more out

Anything else that could be causing poor efficiency?

[Leann ull]

show us a picture of your grain mill and close up pic of some crushed grain, your problem is there.

[nigel_c]

Your Flat has East and West Wings

And a built in bottle shop