Temperature Control Update

I got my Ranco today.  It works great, not much different from my thermostat (except that the Ranco actually works), but it feels much more sturdy.  I saw some people leaving their cables dangle freely from the hole in the bottom of the box, but I opted for a cable connector (didn't like the idea of cables being held into place by nothing the terminals in the box).

Update on My Cheap Temperature Control

The repurposed thermostat that is the brain of my cheap temperature control has started malfunctioning after being in service for only about 18 months.  It's been switching from the hold temperature function I usually use to its weekly schedule function.

The thermostat was cheaper than the popular Ranco or Johnson controllers, but with only 18 months of use out of the thermostat, I decided to order a Ranco (which I've read can last for years).

Autosiphon Dime Fix Update; BIAB Water Absorption Rate

I just brewed today and experimented a little with my autosiphon.  In my last entry, I mentioned that I had fixed a problem with the little valve thing popping out of my autosiphon by dropping a dime into the larger tube.  Today, I tried using a nickel, but it kept sinking and blocking off the flow of liquid.  Then I tried two dimes, which seemed to get the siphon started faster.

Besides that, I noticed that the absorption rate of liquid using my dunk sparge brew in a bag method was 0.5 Gal/per Lb of grain (sorry I don't have a metric conversion). 

Autosiphon dime fix

After only about five brews, I've been finding that the little valve flap thing in my autosiphon keeps popping off.  At first, it seemed to only happen when I sucked up hop matter into the autosiphon, but last night the little thing popped out while I was running sanitizer through it.  I had wort chilling, so I didn't have time to spend popping it back in with a pair of tweezers as I've done before.  So I tried dropping a dime in the siphon as I've read on the internet.  It didn't work as well as the little plastic flap, but after a few strokes I did get a siphon started.

In summary, fixing an autosiphon with a dime does work.  (I have the half inch model of the autosiphon.)

Brew in a Bag Session 2

I did my second brew in a bag session today.  It was only four hours from the time I started heating my strike water till my my 65 degree F wort was transferred to a carboy and I finished cleaning up.  I did cut my boil time to 45 minutes.  If that doesn't lead to any dms  issues, I may just shorten up my normal boil time (I usually don't have a 60 minute hop addition anyway).

This batch may have given me an issue with efficiency (only 68%), but I may have messed up my measurement by drawing a sample from near the top of my kettle while I was chilling.  (I usually draw a sample at the end of my boil before everything gets stratified.)  My first brew in a bag batch had a 76% efficiency, so I think I just took a bad sample this time (especially given that this was a lower gravity beer).

I've added some photos this time to show how I executed a brew in a bag session in the kitchen of my condo.

This is my brew kettle just after adding my grains to my strike water.  I used the same formula for calculating my strike water as I did with a water cooler mash tun and it worked perfectly.  That is of course with a towel around my kettle for insulation.  

This is a second pot (5 gal.) that I  put my bag of grains into after removing it from the brew kettle for my mash.  I left the bag in here for about ten minutes and stirred up the grains.  I had an over flow last time.  Now I estimate that for a normal gravity beer, I can only have between 2-2.5 gallons in my 5 gallon "dunk sparge" kettle.  

After my "dunk sparge," I removed my grain bag to a large stainless steel mixing bowl where I caught some extra wort dribbling from the grains.  

Given my experience with this second brew in a bag session, I think I will be using this as my primary all-grain brewing method.  Finally, in my last post, I noted that this method produced very cloudy wort. This time, was no different.  I had a lot of break material in the bottom of my kettle after chilling.  But to keep from losing too much wort, I opted to use a hop sack.  I rarely use hop sacks, but I think I will be using them for brew in a bag.  So far, I think this is the best all-grain method I've found for brewing in my small apartment kitchen.  It's also pretty much as fast as knocking out an extract with specialty grains batch.  

Brew in a Bag Experiment

My local home brew shop started carrying large nylon mesh bags big enough for brew in a bag.  I tested it out  on my last brew with 13 lbs of malt and the seam on the bag ruptured in a few spots.  Besides the ruptures, which I've patched with some nylon thread, it was much easier than mashing in my water cooler mash tun.

If you've read my post on doing a full wort boil on a glass top range http://greatermonkey.blogspot.com/2012/04/full-wort-boil-on-glasstop-electric.html, you'll see I use a towel wrapped around my brew kettle to help me get 5.5 gallons of wort from mashing temperature to a boil in 20-25 minutes.  That towel worked great at retaining heat during the brew in a bag mash.  I only lost one degree F on a 1 hour mash.  The wort came out a lot cloudier than with my water cooler mash tun, but the beer still cleared out nicely after fermentation.  With the time I saved by not draining and then washing the mash tun, I think I may prefer mashing with brew in a bag to mashing in my water cooler mash tun.

I'll be testing out brew in a bag again tomorrow with my repaired and reinforced mesh bag.

End of the 2012 Hop Growing Experiment

My experiment on growing hops in the tropics is over and I didn't get any cones.  This year was hot and windy and I had trouble keeping the leaves on the plants from drying out without making the soil too wet.

I just dug up my rhizomes and stuck them in the fridge.  I'll probably give it another shot next year and hope for better weather.