On the 12th December I put the first brew through the re-jigged system. A lovely pale ale I've made a few times before, and just right for drinking quickly.
60ltr brew length, 75% efficiency assumed.
OG 1.055, IBU 40, FG 1.009, ABV 5.87,
In the tun (90 mins)
16.25kg Maris Otter, mash at 66 deg c.
In the copper (90 mins)
348g Mittelfrueh Hops 2.91%AA (FWH)
1 Protafloc tablet at 10 mins
217g Mittelfrueh Hops 80 deg c steep for 30 mins
This was the first time I'd fly sparged for 2 years and I was using sugar points to calculate my OG. Everything went well until it was time to sparge. At the end of the mash I pump the runnings from the mash to the copper, and simultaneously pump sparge liquor to the mash from the HLT. When I turned the pumps off to check the sugar points, the HERMS March 809HS pump decided it wasn't going to turn back on again. Luckily after 10 mins or so it started to work again. I have been advised that I may have tightened the impeller housing bolts too tightly, as when the pump heats up the impeller expands and can become stuck. I'll have too loosen the bolts off for the next brew day. Apart from that there were a few issues with pieces of kit I had forgotten to make, and I ran a few litres into an fv which still contained sanitiser, but apart from that not too bad. More importantly 52litres of lovely beer in the fv.
This beer is drinking incredibly well, a firm favourite in the V1 household
A blog dedicated to my HERMS brewery
